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Okay, so a beer cupcake sounds strange. I know, I know. I can just see it now, you people in your so-called forums. “Oh that sounds gross,” or, “I don’t know if that would be good.” Well, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
Let me just say I have a special friend who is possibly the pickiest eater I have ever met. I know 5-year-olds with more flexible taste buds. I handed him the cupcake to taste test, and as usual he would only try a mouse-sized nibble. …
“Woah that’s good.”
So if a person who refuses to eat anything besides burgers and Gatorade likes my beer and bacon cupcakes, then you should try it too.
I used this recipe for the golf ball cake pops from last week, but I know that some people like to stick to the original cupcake version as opposed to cake pops. I get it. I dig you. So, this works just peachy for Father’s day. He will love the fact that it has bacon and beer in it. And, yes, this is totally stereotyping. Don’t care. Anyway, I like beer and bacon so if I was a dad I would want it. If I am a mom one day, I still want it. So just remember that for the future.
This recipe is slightly different. For the Cake Pops, the frosting was more liquidy and the cake was more moist because I wanted a strong beer taste and it was all getting mixed together anyway. For the cupcakes, I made thicker frosting that would hold, and a cake that is still moist but not too moist so that it holds its shape.
Here is what you need:
For Cupcakes,
– 1 ½ cups of cake flour
– 2 eggs
– 3 tablespoons of butter
–a dash of salt
– 1 cup of light brown sugar
– 1 teaspoon of baking powder
–1 bottle or can of beer (Don’t get something super watered down. It will make the cake too wet.)
– ½ teaspoon of baking soda
For Frosting,
-Â 1 cup of butter
-Â 5 cup of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
– 6 tablespoons of beer
–bacon (Nature’s greatest miracle)
*Have extra sugar and beer on hand. Depending on the type of beer and the humidity, you may need to add more sugar or beer depending on how wet or dry it comes out.
For bacon ties and confetti,
–bacon (duh)
Materials
–cupcake liners
–round cookie cutters (optional, only if you want to make bacon confetti)
–aluminum foil
You start off very similarly to the cake pop recipe.
First, we need the cupcake batter. Grab your cake ingredients.
I strongly urge you not to go with some watered-down cheap beer.
Coors Light probably won’t work for this recipe. I used a Harpoon beer, and THAT was pushing it.
I chose a nice quality light-colored beer so that my cupcakes would be golden brown. I can’t wait to try a darker-colored beer.
Cream butter and brown sugar in a mixer.
Add eggs one at a time, until mixed.
Mix dry ingredients together. Pour in ¼ of the dry ingredients and mix. Then, pour in some of the beer and mix.
Continue alternating until all ingredients are mixed in.
For some odd reason, I obsess over foods that come in tiny, bite-sized portions or as larger-than-life versions. Sooo, I found these giant silicone cupcake liners. They don’t need a muffin/cupcake pan and stand just fine on their own. On the left is a regular-sized liner, so you can see the difference.
Bake at 350° until a toothpick comes out clean. For my mini cupcakes it took about 25 minutes. For the super large cupcakes, it took about 35 minutes.
I ended up having a little left over, so I also made some mini cupcakes. The batter makes about 5 giant cupcakes, so it will probably make about 8-12 regular cupcakes (let me know the quantity you get if you try regular-sized).
Allow cake to cool and in the meantime, prepare your frosting ingredients. If you don’t let them cool, they will be too wet on the inside.
* Tip: If you want cupcakes to peel out of liners (paper or silicone), then grease the inside with some butter and don’t miss any spots! Then, pour some flour and shake it on bottom and sides of liners until it is fully coated. Pour out excess flour.
Cream the butter and about a quarter of your sugar.
Then, just as you did with the cake, alternatively add some beer and then sugar.
If it seems to wet, then add more powdered sugar. If it is too dry, then add more beer.
Crumble up some cooked bacon and toss it into the frosting. Mix it in.
Now I wanted to add some fun decorations, but when you make something with beer and bacon, glitter, pretty colors, and flowers are a sin. That’s like putting the Rock in a tu-tu.
Wait a second…
I wanted to make bacon confetti for the mini cupcakes and small bacon ties for the large cupcakes.
Directions for bacon confetti can be found in my other post for beer and chocolate cake batter pancakes (yes, I use beer and bacon A LOT) here.
You will need a small, round cookie cutter for those.
As for the bacon ties, I made mini versions to place on top of my giant cupcakes.
They look like this before cooking:
As you can see, I cut a small slice and fold it to make an angle. Then, I do the same thing on the other side.
I use a small piece to cover, or patch up the middle. Then I wrap one short piece around the top to make the knot.
Use toothpicks to hold together.
Then cover VERY tightly in aluminum foil. If you plan on making these, please see my post for bacon ties and mustaches here. There is more detail about how to bake it. Since these are small, they took slightly less time than the larger ties I created before.
How fantastic do these look? I love the added touch of the bacon decorations.
The cupcakes are not very sweet.
They have a wam undertone of beer, with the frosting adding sweetness.
They are awesome.
Happy Father’s Day. I have a feeling this will be made for other days too.
I’m going to make up new holidays as an excuse.
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HOW did I miss these???? Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
I love bacon–and I imagine the sweet, salty and savory mix on these cupcakes is excellent. I HAVE to do these for my husband!
>Muah< You're the best! 😉
–shelley
@Shelley, thanks shelley always eager to please! ;0
Now, that IS original! Thanks for the great how-to (can just see you having to stop between steps to snap a photo)!
These sound awesome! But I do have a question; you listed 1 tsp of baking soda twice, do you need 2 or was it just a typo?
@Vickie,
thanks for pointing out, it was a typo. Only 1tsp baking soda 🙂 hope you like them!
Hi Jasmin,
I love this recipe! I was wondering if we could feature it on CraftBeer.com? CraftBeer.com is the consumer facing website of the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association for craft beer.
I would create a post similar to this one: http://www.craftbeer.com/pages/beer-and-food/recipes/recipes-list/show?title=beer-braised-leg-of-lamb-by-sassy-radish
and would include your logo/bio information as well as the link to your site. Please let me know if this would be possible. Cheers!
[…] Golden Beer Cupcakes from 1 Fine Cookie […]
Help! I tried making these cupcakes twice now and they keep separating. The bottom part will be heavier and more gooey than the top part that is a yummy cake. What am I doing wrong?
Ah! And thanks so much in advance! They looks so good when you make them and I really want to impress my boyfriend.
@ Kelly,
I have not had that problem before, and since you gave me no details as to how you made them there could be many many reasons why this happened… First did you make sure to follow the directions (I don’t mean to patronize, but sometimes my recipe is messed up, and then when I go back to look at the directions I realize I screwed up a step. Follow exactly as it tells you).
Also, I suggest not leaving the batter sitting for long. Make sure to mix the ingredients as directed-do not overbeat, you want to just barely mix everything in. Turn on the oven, and once it reaches the temp, THEN make the batter. Bake the cupcakes soon after mixing everything, and don’t let it just sit. Look at your ingredients- use good quality, not margarine and imitation brands. Saving money is always nice, but sometimes cheap ingredients can change a recipe such as this. Also, check the temp of the oven…They have thermometers to place in the over to check its accuracy because many ovens are not accurate.
Try lowering the temp and baking one trial cupcake to see how it works out. Also, you should be using a toothpick to poke through the cupcake to test if it is done. If the toothpick comes out with cake sticking to it, then it is not done.
What kind of beer are you using?? If you have followed all of the suggestions above and still have problems, then maybe try using a beer that is not a cheap American light beer, but also nothing too heavy and dark. Somewhere in the middle, perhaps.
If these are not the issues, then feel free to comment back and let me know in detail how you made the cupcakes (from start to finish). The more I know about how you made them, the more I can hep you.
I doubled the recipe based off of your thought that making regular cupcakes would yield 7-9 cupcakes. Wow! It made 24 cupcakes and a full loafpan of cake! They drew up quite a bit, but tasted good.
@ Gloria.. woah! Mind puffed up, but not that much! Did you double the recipe?
Yes, I doubled the recipe. They were really good, and very well received at the party today! I’m not sure why they shrunk up, but they still tasted good! I haven’t cut into the loaf cake yet.
@ Gloria, thanks for letting me know that. I always appreciate feedback like this. My batter def would not have gone that far, but I can at least make a range up to about 12 for the one serving. Glad you liked the taste. It is certainly comforting for this time of the year!
These look great!! I have a question about storing them – did you put them in the fridge because of the frosting and/or bacon or were they fine in an airtight container on the counter? I always make way more cupcakes than I need and like having the leftovers for the house for a couple days after a party. Thanks!!
@Erin, they were eaten right away in my place. The cupcakes could probably be stored in a container, but the frosting might need refrigeration due to the uncooked beer. You could leave the extras unfrosted, the grab the frosting from the fridge when you are ready to have them.
This Is Amazing! I Tweeked A few things, but its AMAZING
i can’t wait to try this recipe! have you tried it with a dark beer yet? i’m thinking about making these for st. patty’s day with guinness. do you think guinness will work well for this recipe?
@ Natalie, that sounds amazing! I have not tried it with Guinness. You could substitute in 3/4 cup of cocoa powder with the flour to give it a chocolatey flavor with the Guinness. let me know how it works out
Did you see 2 Broke Girls did this recipe tonight?
@kyle, I’ve never seen the show. Do you know which episode?
That’s how I found this site. My husband saw the show 2 Broke Girls and thought the cupcakes sounded amazing, so I did a search and found this site. SOO glad I did! These cupcakes are amazing! Everyone loved them! I followed the directions exactly except used a dark european beer. Delicious.
Ok so I made 4 batches of these with 4 different beers. I used a Vanilla porter and added a dash of vanilla extract to that batch. A double chocolate stout and added a dash of coccoa to that batch. Then I made a batch with a brown ale that had a bit of a nutty taste. The last beer was a smoked baltic porter, which was a bit hoppy, these turned out to be more like a spice cake. Each batch yielded about 15 regular sized cupcakes and I only needed about 1/3 of the icing that the recipe actually makes. These cupcakes were absolutely delicious even a week later as were still trying to eat them all!
@Nikki, don’t they taste fantastic?? I’ll bet the vanilla porter would have been my favorite. Thank you for letting me know the amounts. I think it sometimes depends on the carbonation in the type of beer as well. I am very glad you liked it all.
Actually I was kind of disappointed with the vanilla porter…it was definately the least flavorful out of the 4 batches, despite the addition of vanilla extract.
@Nikki, hmm interesting. Maybe because it was sweeter than the other beers and therefore blended in with the other sweet ingredients therefore offering no contrast of complimentary flavors.
How long do you bake them at what temperature
@Cheyenne, it says 350 I would keep an eye on it because my oven tended to cook lower than some.
How long minimum should I bake them
@cheyene, it explains cook time under the photo of the silicone cupcake liners
I saw the 2 broke girls episode too (on http://www.seriesid.com) and thats how I found your webpage, looking for the recipe on google. I have never tried anything like this but I will definitely be giving it a try tomorrow. On the show they are called “beer batter, maple bacon spring break cupcakes” and they look as good as yours do!!!! My family is big on my cupcakes so Ill come back and let you know how it goes 😀
I, too, watch 2 broke girls and have been wanting to try to make the beer batter maple bacon spring break cupcake, glad i found this recipe and can’t wait to try it out! Has anyone that lives at high altitude (i’m at 7200 ft) tried to make these? do you have any recommendations other than the typical high altitude alterations?
@Liz, 2 broke girls really ought to have cited 1 Fine Cookie in that episode (jokes). If you want it maple-like, use maple bacon and add a touch of maple syrup to frosting (remove a touch of sugar).
I am certain you already know most of the adjustments for baking at high altitude. I have a book with some notes packed away in one of my boxes, but this is a list I found:
Reduce baking powder by 1/8 – 1/4 per teaspoon
• Reduce sugar by 0 – 2 TB per cup
• Increase liquid by 2 – 4 TB per cup to counterbalance rapid
evaporation of liquids
• Use cold water and large cold eggs to give cake extra
strength
• Don’t over beat eggs to prevent too much air being added
• Generously grease and flour cake pans to prevent cakes
from sticking – with the exception of angel food and sponge
cakes which should always be baked in ungreased pans
• Fill pans 1/3 to no more than 1/2 full to avoid batter overflow
caused by rapid cake expansion
• Increase oven temperature by 25° to help “set†the batter
before it over expands
• Reduce baking time about 20% to prevent over-baking at the
higher temperature
• For yeast cakes watch dough carefully since they rise more
quickly judge rise time by change in dough’s bulk, not by
amount of time it takes
Hi! First of all, LOVE the favor of these cupcakes! Can’t wait to share them at my hubby’s birthday party =) I just have a few questions (so you know, I used premium ingredients and a New Belgium IPA)… First, do I use 1 tsp or 1/2 tsp of baking soda? The ingredient list shows 1/2 tsp but I read 1 tsp in the comments. Second, how high should I fill each (regular) size cup? I have a scoop that typically makes my cupcakes perfect, but these didn’t seem to rise, in fact, they actually fell a little bit. I read though your comments, specifically the reply to Kelly, and I saw that you suggested not allowing the batter to sit very long… Ironically, the second batch I put in the oven sat for at least 25 minutes prior to baking and these seemed to rise a little bit (I also filled these cups almost to the top so the result was nearly perfect). Also, the cupcakes seemed a little stickier than I’m guessing they should have been. Could it have possibly been my baking soda issue (I only used 1/2 tsp). I found that the cupcakes stuck pretty tightly to the bottom of the liner, but I think I will use a spray in them next time to see if that helps. Do you have any other suggestions for me? I want to make sure these are perfect for the party!!!
One more thing…instead of adding bacon bits to the frosting I substituted a little of the beer for Torani bacon flavored syrup…AMAZING!
@Autumn, Thanks so much.
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. There was a bit of confusion concerning that in the beginning. That being said 1 teaspoon of baking soda wouldn’t be a catastrophe for this recipe (at least in regards to my experience with making this).
When I said don’t leave it too long, I meant hours ha ha. 20 minutes is totally normal. I didn’t pop mine in right away either. Sometimes my crazy mind assumes people can understand what I’m insinuating.
In regards to the cupcakes falling. Stick to what worked the first time. Wait the 25 minutes, because maybe the carbonation of the beer needed to fizz out a bit. Continue to fill to top, but feel free to add a little more baking soda if you like. Did you open the oven a lot to check the first batch of cupcakes? I usually try to wait as long as possible to open them and test with a toothpick because every time you open the oven door the heat leaves. In addition to how high I filled a cupcake liner, opening the oven often resulted in deflated cupcakes for me.
I always line cupcake liners with butter. If using a silicone liner I dust it with flour too. Always. As for the stickiness, do you mean the top? Or the entire cupcake?
I used the bacon syrup to make something special which I will be posting about in the future, hopefully ;).
The added chocolate works well. Try adding 4 tablespoons of maple syrup (real not imitation) for real sweet ones. Uhhmazing!
I looked at this recipe and thought it looked so cute and the comments were so positive I decided to use it for my friends going away party (she’s leaving for Germany so I wanted to incorporate some of the culture into them). I’m not sure if I used the wrong beer or something, but they did not turn out like I had hoped.
The batter was very watery (I only used one bottle but maybe the bottle was too big?), the cupcakes were not sweet and tasted a little like flour, and they did not rise at all.
However, the frosting was adorable so I will try the cupcakes again with a darker beer and hope they turn out better next time.
@jill, I’m not sure of the details concerning how you made it so if you want to tell me step-by-step what happened I can help.
What kind of beer did you use? Maybe it had a lower alcohol percentage? I did mention avoiding watered down batters, but German beers usually are not the case. The batter is a little more watery than your typical batter, but the heat from the baking solves this.
Did you include the baking soda and baking powder? Does your oven tend to be hot or cooler (in other words do you find that following the baking temp and time for most recipes doesn’t work and that you have to adjust it to work for you?).
I do tend to make my recipes with less sugar than other recipes because I find that the majority of baked goods there have WAAAy too much sugar. That being said, they still come out sweet enough for me.
Let me know if there is any other information worth knowing concerning this and I may help you figure out what happened.
The same thing happened to me. I made the cupcakes with pure German beer 100 % not watered down. I followed the instructions exactly the way i should, but somehow I sill managed to make the batter far to liquidy… The batter ended up flooding from the liners.. Eventually i just decided to bake it as a cake instead :D. It tastes great! But you cant really taste the beer in it. Any Ideas how i could improve the “beer taste” ?
@sophie, I would try a different beer, and pour less batter into the liners.
SO excited to make these! I just wanted to clarify that the whole bottle of beer goes in? or if there is a specific measurement that you would recommend?
Thaaanks!
I ran across these on Pinterst…We only had Dos XX in the house, which I prefer with a lime. I made these today with Dos XX and a Lime Buttercream frosting. I have to admit, both my husband and I were skeptical about the beer batter, but I’m really impressed with these. The buttercream frosting with a hint of lime really tops it off. I can’t wait to make more of these when summer rolls around.
@Natalie,
Isn’t it so much better than those copycat recipes using cake mixes? It took a lot of trial and error to get them right, but well worth it.
Any way to cook the beer for the frosting? There is NO WAY I’m making cupcakes and our kids are going to dig in. Seeing the oldest is 7.. I don’t think alcohol cupcakes are a good idea. Want the flavor but want to cook the alcohol out. Any suggestions?
I did contemplate making a corona cupcake with a lime frosting.? Thanks in advanced. ~Joy
@joy,
I would try boiling the beer first (high simmer). Not sure how it would turn out so try one can to see. Or just using an alcohol free beer. Another option is to make some with just plain frosting and the rest with the beer. Let your kids have the ones without the beer (make them in mini cupcake form so they last longer and therefore direct attention away from the beer ones whilst being stored in fridge). Place the beer ones in a box/container FORBIDDING them to touch it.
My mom was a pastry chef and we wouldn’t dare feel her wrath when she was clear about not touching something. Especially if she gave us designated samples to try.
if I wanted to use PBR should I alter the recipe at all to avoid the cupcakes being too moist from the watered down beer? thank you in advance! i cant wait to try these
@Rachel, I would suggest using a touch less. The flavor won’t be as strong too. Check on cupcakes when baking as time may differ.
Just wanted to share positive feedback – I used your blog for inspiration to make a beer and bacon cupcake for an Oktoberfest last year. (100% all you on the frosting, but doctored a butter cake mix with ingredients inspired by your recipe on the cake for a last minute short cut.) We were invited again this year with a request for more cupcakes and the recipe. Thanks for sharing your great recipes!!
@Erin, glad you liked thanks for the feedback!
Im trying to make this recipe but do not have cake flour on hand….any suggestions
@Kara,
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/r/Cake_Flour_Sub.htm
Also im not using coors light but i did want to use coors
[…] CUPCAKES -Â INGREDIENTS (Adapted from 1 Fine Cookie) […]
Would Budweiser work?
@shelby, you can try baking at a lower temperature for much longer. It has a high water content so you have to be careful about soggy cupcakes.
I made these on Sunday to mail to my son who’s stationed in GA. His birthday was today (wed) and they arrived in time. Phew. He loved them, as did his buddies. I made a cake and cut it to fit into mason jars then spooned the frosting into the jars. There was extra frosting so I filled a jar with that and tossed a package of graham crackers in the box…I did warn them not to drive the tanks after eating them though 🙂 Thank you for sharing your creative ideas!
@cindy, thank you for sharing. I am so glad they liked it! Next time get photos and send them 😉
Made these with Atwater Vanilla Java Porter for my husband’s 40th birthday. I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract and I glazed the bacon with pure maple syrup as it cooked. I’d love to send you a photo… what’s your email?
@dana,
Ooh I’m friggin’ excited.
Jasmin@1finecookie.com
I just made these without the tie…just the bacon in the icing and on top. I made three flavors…1)with Coronado Brewing Co Coffee Stout – I added unsweetened cocoa to the mix. 2) with Belching Beaver Peanut Butter flavored Milk Stout – I added reese’s pb chips and 3) with Wells Banana Bread Beer – I added banana. They all came out pretty tasty. The hubby and I liked the PB one’s the best with the Banana one’s in a close second. The Coffee Stout was too plain (of course I meant to add a little vanilla extract and I forgot). Anyway…thought I’d share because they are definitely pretty tasty.
@trista, thank you for the feedback. This will help others when selecting different varieties of beer.