Snickers Cupcakes




Last weekend, I went out of town on girl’s weekend.  It was the first time I’ve ever been away from my 1 year old for more than a couple hours.  It was also the first time I’ve gone on a vacation by myself since marrying my husband 5 years ago.   Did I also mention that was my first time driving in a big city, by myself or otherwise?  Needless to say, this was a big step for me!

Since I knew I would be missing my husband and boys, and would be stressed out about the driving situation, I also knew that I would need some chocolate therapy.  Plus, what better way to kick off girl’s weekend than with a couple boxes of decadent Snickers Cupcakes and a bottle of wine?  I was even a nice thoughtful wife, and left some cupcakes behind for the boys (plus a Tater Tot Casserole and Creamy Chicken Taquitos—I couldn’t have my boys eating out all weekend!)

All in all, girl’s weekend was a blast!  My college girlfriends and I traveled from 3 states for a weekend of catching up and shopping.  My boys did great without me (but were very happy when Mama came home), and I even managed big city driving, at rush hour to boot!  And, of course, the cupcakes were a hit!


Snickers Cupcakes
Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Cupcakes
1 box of Devil’s Food cake mix
          Eggs, oil, & water as directed on the packaging
24 bite sized Snickers bars

Caramel Buttercream
Caramel Sauce
4 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (1 lb) confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup caramel sauce
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp heavy cream

Additional Snickers bars, chopped, for garnish


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.  Mix the Devil’s Food cake as directed on the packaging.

Fill each muffin liner about half full of cake batter (approximately 2 tablespoons).  Place one bite sized Snickers bar on top of the batter in each liner.  Top the cupcakes with an additional 1 tablespoon of batter until the all of the cupcake liners are filled and the batter is gone.  Bake the cupcakes for 30 minutes or as directed on the cake box.

Once baked, cool the cupcakes on wire racks.

While the cupcakes cool, make the caramel sauce by melting the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.  Add the sugar, stirring and cooking until the mixture begins to form and starts to darken.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the heavy cream.  Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the vanilla and salt.  Let the caramel cool to just over room temperature (warm enough to be workable, but cool enough so as not to melt the butter in the following step)

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, begin the Caramel Buttercream.  Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioner’s sugar until smooth and combined, and additional 1-2 minutes. 

Turn the speed to medium-low and stir in the vanilla, caramel sauce, and salt.  Add the heavy cream and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large tip and pipe the icing onto each cupcake.  Garnish with additional Snickers bars.

Makes 24 cupcakes

Enjoy!
YAmy