HappyTummy              

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Dorie’s recipe for Cinnamon Squares was easily adaptable to convert into cupcakes. Instead of baking these in a square pan, I wanted to make individual treats. The result: Sweet, very cinnamon-y cupcakes slathered with chocolate ganache frosting on top and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar… yum!

We had a Memorial Day BBQ to go to, and I thought these would be a perfect dessert to bring. And on top of that, we were celebrating B’s birthday a little early, so they were somewhat birthday cupcakes for him too! (He loved them.)

Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures picked this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe—check out her blog for the full recipe. My tweaked version of Dorie’s recipe is below!

Recipe: Cinnamon Squares
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan’s

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cups turbinado sugar
• 1 Tbsp.  ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup light whipping cream
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup Egg Beaters
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 stick plus 1 Tbsp. Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend, melted and cooled
• 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the frosting:

• 4 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend, cut into four pieces

Getting ready:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 cup muffin pan with muffin cups. Place pan on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake:  In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together cream, water Egg Beaters and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture, and whisk gently until you have a homogenous batter. Now, using the whisk or rubber spatula, fold in the butter with a light touch until the butter is absorbed. You’ll have a smooth satiny batter.

Using a cookie scoop, drop batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cupcake just springs back when touched. Take care not to overbake. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack, and let it rest for 15 minutes before unmolding them onto another rack. Cool to room temperature.

To Make the Frosting: Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl, and fit the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just until they melt. Be careful not to overheat mixture—the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and spreadable. Using an offset metal icing spatula, or table knife, spread frosting in generous sweeps and swirls over the top of each cupcake. Allow frosting to set at room temperature.