Christmas Spiced Cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting

2016 has been such an amazing year for me, where I got to work with some great brands like Kerrygold and Carraig Donn. It was also the first time my recipes were featured in a catalogue and I couldn’t be happier with the result of the Carraig Donn Christmas Catalogue of this year! I’ve already shared my Fresh salmon starter with goat cheese, beetroot, apple and radishes and my Bacon wrapped honey glazed beef meatloaf with mushrooms and cranberries but now it’s time for dessert!

It can be very tricky to make dessert for the entire family for Christmas, so again I would suggest making a few options, you could make some Strawberry Santas,  Warm apple pie,  Traditional Antwerp Butter Cookies with Kerrygold butter and Guinness chocolate sauce. or even Chocolate lava cakes but one great addition to your dessert table are for sure cupcakes! You can make them beforehand and keep them in the fridge overnight so you don’t have to worry about a thing the next day. Plus it’s a great way to get the kids involved in the Christmas party planning as they can be your little helpers in the kitchen!

To make the cupcake base I used Belgian lotus Biscoff cookies as they are the ultimate Christmas spiced cookie. For the frosting I’ve added cinnamon, which to me is such a winter scent and taste in general. Other than that it’s a very basic cupcake recipe, and as long as you make sure your butter is at room temperature and you mix it well with the cream cheese so no chunks are left, you’ll have no issues making these. Don’t melt the butter though, cause you won’t be able to turn it into fluffy frosting. Both kids and adults will really love these flavour packed cupcakes!

Makes: 12, depending on the cupcake size of course
Ingredients

• 125g self raising flour
• 225g butter at room temperature
• 75g biscoff cookies (tip: use Belgian Lotus cookies)
• 2 eggs
• 50g sugar
• 300g cream cheese
• 100g icing sugar
• teaspoon of cinnamon

Preparations

Start by grinding the biscoff cookies. In a separate bowl, mix sugar with eggs fist, then gradually add 125g of butter, flour and grinded cookies for a couple of minutes. Scoop about 2 teaspoons into a cupcake liner and pop in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before adding frosting or the frosting might melt.

To make the frosting, mix 100g of butter with cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar until very smooth and no chunks of butter are left (at least 5 minuts). Decorate your cupcakes with the frosting using a piping bag and serve with some hot cocoa and marshmallows or Traditional Antwerp Butter Cookies with Kerrygold butter and Guinness chocolate sauce.

* Served on the two-tier cake plate from the Carraig Donn Seasons Fair Collection