Cinna-Bun Cookies

What are your

family's favorite recipe

for Santa Cookies?

There's Chocolate Chip...

Frosted Sugar...

maybe Gingerbread?

I've been trying 

a few NEW recipes

to really stop Santa in his tracks!!

I may have stumbled across a keeper:

Ingredients
{Recipe compiled from several recipes including Baker's Royale and Official Cinnabon Recipe}
Cookie:
2 cups Flour, all purpose
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 stick Butter, softened
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg, yoke only
1/4 cup Apple Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Cinna-bon Smear:
{for inside of cookies}
3 tbsp. Butter, softened
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Salt

Cinna-bon Cream Cheese Frosting:
{to drizzle over cookies}
3 oz. Cream Cheese, cold
2 tbsp. Butter, softened
1/2 cup Powder Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/8 tsp. Salt

Method
In a medium size bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment - add in egg yoke, apple butter and vanilla. Slowly mix in flour mixture until batter is completely combined. Divide batter in two balls and wrap each in plastic wrap or wax paper, rolling up to be as air tight as possible. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

While the batter is chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees and make cinnamon smear by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.

When batter has chilled, remove from plastic wrap and place on a floured cutting board. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and evenly spread smear from edge to edge of dough. Starting with one end, roll dough onto itself until a log is formed. {Repeat with second ball of dough.} Cut the very end of each log off, so that you will have an even starting point. Cut the logs in 1 inch pieces and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool completely before frosting cookies.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare frosting by creaming the cheese and butter together in a kitchen mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Slowly add in powder sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat until frosting is fluffy and all powder sugar lumps are gone. Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cookies and serve with ice cold milk!

These cookies are

soft, chewy and loaded 

with cinnamon bun flavor!

And, the creamy frosting

tops them off

perfectly ...

just as the greatest cinnamon bun should be!

Santa will be  pleasently surprised

with a plate of these

come Christmas Eve!

Enjoy and Happy Baking!

Oh, yeah! I partied this week! ->

Check out my sidebar to find out where! 

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Mason is on this apple kick.

Like, two apples a day kind of kick.

And his interest has peaked mine

to re-think Apple Cupcakes.

There are so many different recipes

out there in bloggy world ... 

my biggest challenge was 

creating something unique.

My favorite part of 

a pie is the crust!

So, I wanted there to be a little

in each bite.

This, my friends, is how they turned out:

Warm spice cake with pie crust bits baked in and a cinnamon-apple filling. The cupcake is topped with crunchy pie crust bits and vanilla spice cream cheese frosting "ice cream."

This cupcake

BURSTS

with american apple pie flavor

and is cute-as-a-button to boot!

Ingredients
Refrigerated Pie Crust
2 tbsp. White Sugar
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 Green Apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup White Raisins or Dried Cranberries {optional}
3 tbsp. Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Juice from 1 Lemon
1/2 tsp. Apple Pie Spice
1/8 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp. Cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp. Water

2 1/2 cup Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 stick Butter, room temp.
1 1/4 cups of Light Brown Sugar, packed
3 Large Eggs
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
1 Vanilla Bean, split to expose insides

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Break pieces of the pie crust off and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden. Set aside.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add apples {and raisins, if using} and cook for 1 minute. Add sugar, lemon juice and seasonings and coat apples.  Let apples cook on low until tender - add cornstarch/water mixture and stir in immediately. When thickened, pull off of heat and set aside to cool.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl for the cupcakes and set aside. Cream butter and sugar with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until light and fluffy - add eggs one at the time until combined. Alternating the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, slowly add both to egg mixture. Once the batter forms, add the insides of the split vanilla bean and the baked pie crust pieces. Spoon batter into muffin cups, 1/2-3/4 full. Dollop a tbsp. amount of pie filling in the center of each. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the cake has set. Let cool on a wire rack.

To finish, I dolloped a "scoop" of my favorite vanilla cream cheese frosting with a dusting of cinnamon on top and more crumbled pie crust. This recipe makes 24 mini cakes.

These are truly an Apple Pie

in CUPCAKE form!

Mmm, mmm! 

The cake is super spicy.

The filling is sticky and juicy.

The frosting is light and sweet.

And, the pie crust gives the cupcakes a perfect crunch.

Move ova Apple Pie -

there's a new kid in town

and he ROCKS!

PS: These pictures were taken with my NEW camera!! Whoop, Whoop!! :)

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Exciting *NEW* Cupcake

One of my most popular cupcake flavors is Red Velvet. The mixture of buttermilk, cocoa and cream cheese frosting is beyond perfection to so many people!

Red Velvet has one problem amongst recent clients, though...

...it's RED!

There are growing numbers when it comes to baking {and eating} as natural as possible, so adding THAT MUCH food coloring to a product is starting to turn a few off. Not to mention, the color red just doesn't fit in to all weddings!

Well, my dears - I have a solution!

These luscious confections are a super light buttermilk cake {with or without} fresh raspberries baked in and topped with a smooth almond cream cheese frosting & a mini amaretto cookie. 

With this cupcake, you still get an outrageously moist buttermilk cake with everyone's favorite southern cream cheese frosting - only without all the extra dye. White Velvet is the perfect alternative and addition to any cupcake tower!