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Vanilla Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and Candied Walnuts

Here’s a cupcake flavor you can enjoy all year long. Vanilla cupcakes with maple frosting topped with homemade candied walnuts.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes:

  • 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (200 g)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (113 g) room temp, cut into small cubes or tablespoons
  • 2 large eggs room temp
  • ½ cup whole milk or half &half , room temp
  • 2 Tablespoon sour cream (30 g), room temp
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Maple Frosting:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temp, softened
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 3 Tbsp dark maple syrup
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • ¼ tsp maple extract ,optional but highly recommended

Candied Walnuts:

  • 1 cup walnut halves
  • cup granulated sugar
  • kosher salt or cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Vanilla Cupcakes:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter cubes. Mix on low speed until mixture resembles sand or almond flour.
  • Add eggs one a time, making sure first egg is incorporated before adding second egg. Mix on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
  • Combine milk, vanilla, and sour cream in small container. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add wet ingredients in a slow stream. Increase to medium speed and mix until batter is smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
  • Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin tin, filling each cavity about ⅔ full. Bake for 16-18 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, or until cake lightly springs back when touched.  Rotate pan halfway through baking.  Let cupcakes cool in tin for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Maple Frosting:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  Add maple syrup and heavy cream and continue to mix.  Add remaining confectioners’ sugar one cup at a time.  Add maple extract.   Beat until smooth and thick.

Candied Walnuts:

  • Lightly toast walnuts in preheated 350° F oven for 5-8 minutes.
  • In a sauce pot, heat sugar oven medium heat until sugar dissolves.  Stir with wooden spoon to ensure sugar cooks evenly.  Once sugar has dissolved, continue to heat until amber in color.  Remove from heat and stir in toasted walnuts.  Make sure walnuts are evenly coated with sugar syrup.
  • Pour out walnuts onto a silicon mat or greased parchment paper.  Spread out nuts and separate from each other with wooden spoon or fork.  Sprinkle nuts with salt or cinnamon sugar.  Let cool.