A sip of cider

Have you ever been at the grocery store with your kids, and have them beg you for something that you're pretty sure they won't eat or drink? That happened to me this week. We were at the store, walking through the produce, when the kids spotted apple cider. I'm a big fan of cider, but I didn't think my kids were. Once they spotted it the 'pleeeaaaase mom's' started. I threw out the infamous "Ok, but you'd better drink it" line. Lucky for them, when we got home, they were both ready for a glass. On Thursday, I was pleased to see that 1/2 of the jug was empty, so I decided to put the rest to a more interesting use. Originally I was going to top these with a salted caramel frosting, but I managed to kill my caramel, so I went with a brown sugar/cinnamon frosting. I used some extra cider to even out the consistency, which worked perfectly. I delivered a few of these baked cupcakes to my kids at school, as a surprise, and they were big fans. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Apple Cider Cupcakes
Adapted from Faith, Family, & French Fries

For the cupcakes:

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 c sugar
4 eggs
3 1/3 c flour
4 tsp baking soda
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
2 c apple cider

For the frosting:


1/2 c light brown sugar
1 c unsalted butter, divided
1/2 c shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp apple cider
4-5 c confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pans with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In your mixer bowl, cream sugar and butter together, at medium speed, until smooth. Add your eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined. Decrease mixer speed to low, and add 1/3 of your flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the cider. Repeat this, ending with dry's.

Scoop your batter into your cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then place on wire racks.

For frosting, melt 1/2 a cup of butter with brown sugar in small saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cream remaining 1/2 c of butter with shortening, vanilla, apple cider, and cinnamon. Add brown sugar mixture to mixer bowl, followed by confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistency is met. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and slowly pour in whipping cream, against inside of mixer bowl. Whip frosting for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Pipe or spread on cupcakes.