Cinnamon Cupcake Recipe

What are the qualities of a good cupcake?

You can check the quality of a cupcake by focusing on its texture, flavor, and overall appearance.

For texture, it should be light and fluffy with no holes inside. It should also be moist and not too dry.

The flavor should be not too sweet or bland. If it’s a chocolate cupcake, the chocolate flavor must shine.

For the overall look of the cupcakes, the whole batch should look consistent—uniform in size, color, and rise. This means that they cooked evenly.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The prep time needed to create the moist cupcake, buttery topping, smooth and velvety frosting, and to put them all together into one heavenly symphony, is quite a bit. But it sure is worth it!

• It’s fun to make with the kids!
• It’s sure to be a hit at parties. You can easily feed a crowd with one batch, and easily double or triple the recipe if needed.
• These cupcakes are very Instagrammable!
• Of course, if you’re baking anything with cinnamon and vanilla, it’ll definitely fill your house with a delicious aroma.

If you love baking dessert treats, check out these equally delicious sweet potato cupcakes.

🥘 Ingredients

The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe are common pantry ingredients that you might already have on hand. If you do not have them yet, you’ll easily find them in your local grocery store.

• Sweet cream butter: Also called American-style butter, it has lower fat content than European cultured butter. You can use either of the two as long as you get the unsalted one. Allow the butter to come to room temperature before baking.
• Baking powder and baking soda: This is often overlooked, but take time to check the expiration dates. They won’t work to give your cupcakes a lift if they’re expired.
• Eggs: Use the freshest eggs you can find.
• Heavy cream: Try to get at least 36-40% fat content.

See recipe card for quantities.

🔀 Substitutions

Sour cream: It has a good fat content as well as flavor. But if you can’t find it, you can also use yogurt or buttermilk. To make your own buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to every 1 cup of milk.

You usually substitute 3/4 cup buttermilk for every cup of sour cream. However, since this recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sour cream, you would substitute 6 tablespoons of buttermilk.

Sweet cream butter: It gives the pastry a premium taste, but you can use any unsalted butter you can find.

Cinnamon: If you discover you’ve run out of this ingredient, you can use a cinnamon substitute like allspice.

🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins

Here are easy ways to customize this recipe.

• Texture: Make it more exciting by adding nuts into the batter for some extra crunch! I think pecans, sliced almonds, and walnuts would work well. Toast them for a couple of minutes on the stovetop to bring more natural color and flavor.
• Filling: Go the extra mile by adding blocks of cream cheese inside the cupcakes! This is a variant that’s very reminiscent of cinnamon rolls. To do this, simply portion cream cheese into half an inch blocks, lay them on a parchment-lined tray, then freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then, after filling the cupcake liners, gently push down one piece of cream cheese block into each unbaked cupcake batter.

Speaking of cinnamon rolls, you should try my Air Fryer Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls.

🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools

You’ll need a few kitchen tools to help you make this cupcake recipe. Gather these tools and get ready to enjoy this delicious treat. 

• Piping bag and a star tip – This will make it much easier to frost your cupcakes.
• Oven thermometer – For a more accurate temperature indicator.

🔪 How to Make Cinnamon Cupcake Recipe

This recipe takes quite a bit of extra effort, but the result is well worth it. I grouped the instructions per component of this cupcake recipe to help make it easier.

Cupcakes:

Step 1: Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Preheating the oven ensures an even cooking temperature which is necessary for the cupcakes to bake evenly.

Step 2: Cream butter and sugar

Beat butter and sugar on medium speed, but be careful not to overmix. Otherwise, the mixture will turn grainy and soupy instead of light and fluffy.

Step 3: Add the egg

Beat in the egg until it’s fully combined.

Step 4: Add additional ingredients

Beat in vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Then, combine the heavy cream. Make sure to also scrape the sides of the bowl so that everything gets evenly incorporated.

Step 5: Add flour

Turn the mixer to low speed to prevent the flour from flying all over the place. Add it in half a cup at a time. I also recommend switching to a paddle attachment to prevent overmixing.

Step 6: Add in the sour cream

Mix just until incorporated.

Step 7: Spoon the batter into cupcake liners

Using an ice cream scoop will make this easier. You need to fill the liners only up to 3/4 full to give room for the cupcakes to rise and so that the batter will not overflow.

Step 8: Bake the cupcakes

Bake in the oven for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Do not be tempted to overbake the cupcakes. Once you take them out of the oven, let the cupcakes cool in the pan first for a while before transferring them onto a cooling rack to cool fully.

Toppings:

Step 9: Prepare the toppings

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl. You can also do this by heating up the butter on the stovetop.

Then, mix granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon in another bowl. Use a bowl that’s roomy enough to dip cupcakes in.

Lastly, prepare the churros by slicing them into 1-inch pieces.

Frosting:

Step 10: Prepare the frosting

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until combined. It will turn light, fluffy, and just heavenly!

Once done, scoop the frosting into a piping bag fitted with the star tip.

To assemble:

Step 11: Top the cupcakes

Dip the top of the cupcakes into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon sugar mix. Give the cupcakes a little shake after dipping into the butter to remove excess. Do the same with the cinnamon sugar.

Step 12: Frost the cupcakes

Put as much or as little frosting as you like. It’s your cupcake!

Step 13: Garnish and Serve

Drizzle caramel sauce on top and add a piece of churro.

Now, the only thing left to do is to devour the freshly baked cinnamon cupcakes! 

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

These cupcakes would be great served with a Coconut Lime Margarita or No Churn Apple Pie Ice Cream.

👩‍🍳 Pro Tips

Here are a handful of valuable tips you should know before you bake these cinnamon cupcakes to ensure that your home-baked treats will come out nicely.

• Keep the ingredients at room temperature before baking. The ingredients will be easier to incorporate and the mixture will turn out smooth.
• Measure the ingredients properly. For dry ingredients, a kitchen scale gives the most accurate results. However, if only measuring cups are available, fill the measuring cup, then level the top using the back of a butter knife or any smooth edge. For wet ingredients, use measuring cups. Fill them up to the line specified.
• Do not overmix the ingredients. Overmixing the cupcake batter will cause too much gluten formation and will result in tough and dry cupcakes. Mix them just until combined.
• Go easy on the cinnamon. I know that you love the warm, earthy cinnamon flavor, but don’t be tempted to add more than the amount the recipe requires. Ground cinnamon is strong and too much of it can be overwhelming.
• Make them ahead for parties! If you have a big gathering coming up, you can lessen the prep time on the day itself by making these cupcakes a day or two ahead. Just store them in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🙏 Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Cinnamon Cupcake Recipe:

• Creamy And Flavorful Mexican Hot Chocolate
• Fruit Berry Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
• Copycat Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream
• Homemade Tropical Ice Cream