Snickers Cupcakes

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Yesterday, on my personal Facebook page, I asked my friends, on a whim, what their favorite candy is. I loved reading all of the answers. Some were very surprising, and most surprising of all was that everyone said something different.

I’m a huge candy person…shocking, right? I mean, it’s a little obvious that I have a sweet tooth. Or two. I don’t think I could pick just one favorite candy. First of all, there’s the struggle between choosing something fruity or something chocolate-y. Of course, I don’t try to hide my love for chocolate, but there are so many tasty fruity candies out there too. It’s just too hard to pick only one. But while we’re on the subject, can you pick only one? And which one do you pick (I’m especially excited to hear from those of you outside the U.S. since you’ll have different candies than us)?

Today, I have a treat that is a combination of candy and cake…two of my favorite things in the world. :) The candy in question is Snickers. Now, unless you hate peanuts, or are unable to enjoy them due to allergies*, then you’re probably pretty interested in what I’m about to show you.

*If you do have a peanut allergy, I think these would be really delicious with other candies, as well. Anything that already has caramel filling would work great, but so would lots of other chocolate candies.

These are Snickers cupcakes and they are dangerously good. Really. If you’re a Snickers fan, you’re in big, big trouble. The chocolate cupcakes and caramel buttercream are delicious on their own, but hidden under that fluffy frosting is a little well filled to the brim with caramel-y, Snicker-y goodness! Annie over at Annie’s Eats is the genius behind this idea. As soon as I saw what she’d done, I couldn’t resist making some for myself! You can make any chocolate cupcake recipe that you like, but I’ve included one of my favorites below, along with a caramel version of my favorite buttercream. While your cupcakes are baking, you can prepare the irresistible filling.

For the filling, you’ll need Snickers, of course…lots and lots of Snickers. I used the Snickers miniatures because they’re easily quartered. Now all they need is some ooey gooey caramel sauce…

That’s the ticket. I used my favorite salted caramel sauce (recipe below), minus most of the salt. Once it’s cooled, you just pour it over the chopped Snickers…

…and mix. Try not to eat any of them, not even one, because you won’t be able to stop. Trust me on this one (Voice of Experience here).

Once the cupcakes are cooled, it’s time to fill them. Use a paring knife to cut a small cone of cake out of the center (or use an apple corer to core out a small piece of cake). Eat the extra little bits of cake. :) Really, you won’t be needing again, so have a snack!

Fill each cupcake with a portion of the Snickers caramel filling (about a tablespoon each, which will be five or six candies in each cupcake). The filling can be slightly higher than the cupcakes, you’re going to cover it with frosting anyway.

I frosted my cupcakes using a large round decorating tip, then I drizzled them with caramel sauce and garnished each cupcake with four or five Snickers candies.

These are in my top ten favorite cupcakes. They have everything going for them: chocolate ckae, rich caramel buttercream, yummy filling, candy… Really. They’re pretty perfect! As the hubster’s favorite candy happens to be Snickers, I’m sure you can imagine how much he loved them. :) Our anniversary is this Friday…maybe I’ll make him some more!

These take just a bit more effort than a lot of cupcakes, but they’re certainly worth it. If you want to save time, you can make each of the components ahead of time. The cupcakes can be frozen, in an airtight container, for up to two weeks. The frosting can be made two to three days in advance, covered, and refrigerated, and the caramel sauce will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least two weeks. Make these. Trust me. Enjoy!

Snickers Cupcakes
with Caramel Buttercream
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients

FOR THE CUPCAKES
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup boiling water
2/3 cup milk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup (can be omitted, but watch the sugar color more vigilantly)
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
pinch salt
5 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

36 Snickers miniatures, quartered

FOR THE FROSTING
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup caramel sauce (from the filling)
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream

FOR THE GARNISH
24 Snickers miniatures, quartered
about 7 tablespoons (scant half cup) of caramel sauce (from filling)

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large (4 cup) measuring cup, combine the water and cocoa powder and whisk thoroughly. Stir in the milk; set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, then scrape the bowl and add the vanilla. Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over the batter and beat until just combined. Add half of the cocoa mixture, mix until combined, then repeat with the remaining flour and cocoa mixtures, scraping the bowl as needed.
Place 2 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner and bake for 18-20 minutes, or untila  toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the filling: Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan, stirring to combine. Without stirring, bring to a boil over high heat, swirling the ingredients in the pan occasionally. Continue boiling until the mixture reaches an amber color. Remove from heat and very carefully (the mixture will quickly expand and sputter) add the cream in a slow steady stream, being sure to stir constantly. Once combined, add the salt and butter and continue stirring until both are completely melted and combined. Stir in the vanilla. Cool to room temperature before using. Reserve 3/4 cup of the filling for the frosting and garnish. Once cooled, stir in the quartered Snickers candy.

To make the frosting: Beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Stir in the vanilla, sugar, and caramel. Add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream and whisk on high for 4 minutes. If necessary, add more heavy cream, up to 1 extra tablespoon.

Assemble the cupcakes: Once the cupcakes are cooled, use a paring knife to cut a small cone of cake out of the center (or use an apple corer to core out a small piece of cake). Fill each cupcake with a portion of the Snickers caramel filling (about a tablespoon each, which will be 5 or 6 candies in each cupcake). Frost each cupcake as desired. Garnish with cupcake with 4 or 5 quartered Snickers candies, per cupcake, and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Snickers cupcakes inspired by Annie’s Eats. Cupcakes, filling, and frosting by Darla

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Comments

  1. Rach from aust says

    my fav chocolates are cadbury creme eggs, but its a good think theyre seasonal (although their ‘season’ last for about 6 months) because i would be rather sick if they where a year round thing.. other than that i suppose it would be turkish delight or pods..not sure if u have them in the us or canary islands but they are tiny chocolate biscuit cases filled with mars bar, snickers or twix ‘fillings’ with the choc on top…you must have them because they are amazing..i cant imagine a world without them..there are other flavours but i’ve forgotten them, so they are obviously not very good haha

  2. says

    This is my favorite time of year, because it is Spring and Spring means CADBURY MINI EGGS!! I hoard them all season, squirrel some away for that time around Easter when they *poof* disappear!

    I will most certainly be making those cupcakes, but I’ll substitute Milky Way, ’cause that’s just the way I roll….

  6. Melissa says

    I enjoy your website so much. The pictures are great and it’s just fun and whimsical. My husband follows this blog as well and requested the oatmeal cream pies. HUGE HIT!! Thanks a bunch!

  7. Susie says

    deliciously wicked!

    If anyone has a nut allergy and wants an Aussie substitute, use Mars Bars instead, basically a snickers with more caramel and no nuts :) If you’re being particularly good get the lower fat one in the red wrapping ;)

    • says

      Hi Susie, Mars Bars are what we call Milky Way. They’re the same…a snickers minus the peanuts. They’re made by Mars, so I wonder why they have different names. Funny, isn’t it?

  10. says

    My favourite lollies are anything sherbet-y! (I know, I’m still 6 at heart! :P )
    I will email you a recipe for Mars Bar Slice, which is amazing done with snickers too :)

    • says

      Thank you for the email….those bars sound delicious! Our version of a Mars bar is called a Milky Way, and our rice bubble are called Rice Krispies. Funny how different things are named around the world! :)

  18. Laura says

    Hi Darla! It took me 2 times to make the caramel right. I was impatient on the first batch, I guess I didn’t wait until it turned amber. Oops! The second batch was fabulous! My family LOVED these cupcakes! I am having some friends over tomorrow night to finish the rest off! Thank you for your fun recipes!

  19. Matthew says

    Hi, These look quite interesting and I am going to have an attempt at making them (Fingers crossed). Just wondering, did you refrigerate your Snickers bars before cutting them? Thanks

    • says

      Hello, They’re delicious, I hope you like them! I didn’t refrigerate them, I just used a sharp knife, but you can refrigerate them if you want to.

  23. Mohammed, Saudi Arabia says

    hello Darla, i’m planning to make this on next wednsday for my family gathirng, i’m also a fan of snickers chocolate bar, how long this will keep frosted, shall i keep them inside the fridge or at room tempruters until my guest arrive? also can you tell me how many carb in one frosted cup cake, and is it possible to divide this recipe in two cause it has 3 eggs? i would kindly suggest you mention the carbs count in each of your recipe of it is possible casue i am a diabtic and i need to control my carbs but i can’t resist your wonderful recipes, and i wish from you to mention on your recipes the storage method and period, especially for the cookies. thanks a lot, have a nice day.

    • says

      These will keep, in an air tight container, for at least 3 or 4 days, but may still taste great longer. I tend to refrigerate most of my baked goods to help them stay fresh longer.

      I would keep them refrigerated until the day you intend to serve them, then remove them from the refrigerator about 2 or 3 hours before you’ll be serving them.

      Also, I don’t have the means to calculate the carbohydrates in a recipe, unfortunately. I would love to be able to do so, but I don’t know how. I think I’ll research some online programs, though, and see if I can find something that can help me.

  24. Mohammed, Saudi Arabia says

    thanks a lot for answering my questions darla and can’t wait to try them and i let you know with the result.

  25. Bo from Bama says

    I was super excited to try the recipe. It is such a creative idea.
    I followed the recipe to the letter, but my cake was super dry. I used unsweetened cocoa. Does that play a factor? Do you have any tips on making the cupcakes more moist? I heard sour cream helps. Is this true?
    Thanks for all of your help!

    • says

      The cocoa powder wouldn’t play in as far as the cake’s dryness goes, but to moisten it up a bit, you can try replacing one or more eggs with apple sauce. Also, it’s important to be sure that the cocoa mixture is cooled before adding it. Finally, be sure not to over mix when making cake and cupcakes. Over mixing can cause dryness, as well.

  26. Mohammed, Saudi Arabia says

    hi darla, where are you finally i made them, it took me 8 months to try your recipe, i wonder how somebody says the cake turns dry, the only thing impressed me about this cake is the cake itself it is very moist and light and it has a good balance of sweetness, i followed your instructions exaclty and i succeded, my only note is, the cupcake with the filling and the frosting is very rich, one is enough, thanks a lot darla you are amazing can’t wait to try another recipe of yours, i can’t forget your soup in the bread bowel, please tell me where to send you my cupcake photo to show you how mine is look. thanks again.

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