Tag Archives: cream cheese frosting

Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Ruthanne

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These cute little bites of pumpkin and sweet cream cheese frosting are a perfect Fall treat! Top them with a little Hershey Kiss acorn, and they are a sweet place setting for Thanksgiving!

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If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that I hate pumpkin. I cave in to autumn recipes though and sometimes create pumpkin treats for you all. I rely on others to tell me how they taste, and these got RAVE reviews from my taste-testing friends.

They are an adaptation of my mom’s delicious Pumpkin Roll, but in cute and bite-size portions!

And then there are those cute little acorns- easy and fun to make for your fall celebrations.

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Here’s how we created all of this yummy-ness! (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 38-40 mini cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

2/3 cup pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda

Frosting: (halve this if you don’t like piles of frosting as shown in my photos!)

8 oz (1 package) cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips (melted)

Acorns:

40 Hershey kisses
40 mini Nilla Wafers
about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together all of the cupcake ingredients, adding the flour, cinnamon and soda last. Blend well.
Spoon into mini cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 14-16 minutes
Cool completely and frost.

Frosting:

On medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, until smooth.
Add melted white chocolate to icing and beat on low until completely combined.
Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe frosting on top of cooled mini cupcakes.
Add leaf sprinkles and acorn (if desired)

Acorns:

Count out about 40 chocolate chips, Nilla Wafers and (unwrapped!) Hershey kisses.
Melt remaining chocolate chips
Set Nilla Wafers flat side up on a plate.
Spread a small amount of melted chocolate on the bottom of a Hershey kiss and set it (melted chocolate side down) on a Nilla Wafer. Repeat until all kisses are placed and refrigerate until hardened together.
Use a toothpick to put a small amount of melted chocolate on a chocolate chip and carefully hold to the top of the Nilla Wafer until it hardens and stays (when the Nilla Wafer is cold from the fridge, this happens in seconds).
Use to decorate your table and your cupcakes!!!

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My thoughts: Cute, easy and (according to my friends!) delicious! I hope you get a chance to try these little bites of fall happiness! Enjoy!! ~r

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Other really fun and cute fall treats: (click on a photo to see the recipe!)

8 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged acorn, acorn candy, acorn cupcake toppers, cream cheese frosting, cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, fall, fun, leaf sprinkles, mini cupcakes, pumpkin cupcakes, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Easy Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting~ and a GIVE AWAY!!!!

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Ruthanne

The easiest “cupcakes” you’ll ever make- plus the yummiest cream cheese frosting ever!

This recipe has a story (and my very first give-away on easybaked!!!)

Awhile back, a lovely lady named Karin emailed me with a dilemma. She had recently started a business called Baketown Girls, making products for use in the kitchen. She hired a designer to create her logo and product labels, but a short time after receiving her product she was googling “cupcakes” and immediately saw a photo of our Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, and realized that her designer had stolen my photo for use on her product. Sigh. I cannot even tell you how many times that photo (in particular) has been stolen- people email me all the time about seeing it on products and logos. I’ve thought about slapping watermarks across all of my photos, but that’s just so SAD. I just shake my head and wish the world was a better, more honest place.

In any case, Karin felt bad, and offered to send me her product to try out. I’ve never use silicone cups (and actually never understood why you would use silicone cups), so I agreed.

About a week later, I got a box with 3 sets- one for me and 2 sets to give away to you all! More about that later.

I didn’t know how I would use them. I figured I could try making cupcakes in them, but (to be honest) my favorite part of cupcakes is matching fun liners with the cupcake recipe and these came in 6 colors which meant that no matter what, I’d be stuck with a variety of those colors. My other question- how do you give these away? I give away 99% of my blog desserts. Do I give away unwrapped cupcakes? That seems odd. And messy.

The day after I received this package of silicone cups I needed to make a batch of cinnamon rolls from one of those refrigerated tubes. I opened it (which is always a traumatic experience when it explodes open) and was ready to set them on a cookie sheet when I thought, “I should bake these in those silicone cups”. I sprayed 10 cups with non-stick spray and squeezed each roll into a circumference that would sit in the bottom of each cup and baked them according to the package.

They were AMAZING! They came out looking like little cupcakes and they were so much more moist than when they are baked on a cookie sheet.

I was genuinely surprised. I removed them from the cups, drizzled them with the provided icing and took them along with me to the event I was attending. People loved them.

I knew that if I added my favorite cream cheese icing on top that they would be even better….

They are cute in the colorful cups, but easily lift right out and can be served without the cups too. I’m a big fan of that, because I can bring them to events and not worry about tracking down my silicone cups.

Here’s how we made these cute little treats:

INGREDIENTS:

2 tubes of refrigerated cinnamon rolls- just the basic kind- not the super-sized jumbo rolls (makes 16-20 rolls, depending on the brand you use. I tried 2 brands, Pillsbury and a generic store brand, and both worked great)
4 oz (1/2 package) cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup of butter (softened)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to temperature required by package of rolls.
Set appropriate number of silicone cups on a cookie sheet with edges, and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
Open tubes of dough and squeeze each roll into a taller, smaller diameter size so that it will sit flat on the bottom of each cup.
Set each roll into individual cups.
Bake according to package (watch to make sure you don’t over-bake)
Serve warm with provided icing drizzled on top, OR cool and top with cream cheese icing:
On medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, until smooth.
Add melted white chocolate to icing and beat on low until completely combined.
Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe frosting on top of cooled cinnamon rolls.

Aren’t they fun?!?

Ok- so I have 2 extra sets of cups that I’d love to share with my readers! I looked into the various “raffle” sites available to host give-aways and they all seemed so complicated. I decided I will just do this myself.

Only 2 things I’d love to have you do (I can’t require them, but it would make me super happy!!):

1. Follow Easybaked here, by subscribing in the sidebar.

2. “Like” Easybaked on Facebook (here)- and COMMENT under this recipe. I will choose my winners (TWO of them) randomly from comments on Facebook under this recipe- so you actually do have to comment to be entered).

This is available for all readers in the United States (or readers who can have these cute little cups shipped to a US address).

The contest begins NOW and ends on Monday, 3-23-15 at 11pm. Good luck!!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS FINISHED 🙂 Cups have already been given away!

A special thanks to Karin for providing us with these fun cups to give away. Stay tuned for another fun use of these next week here on Easybaked!

If you don’t end up winning, you can find them at this link on Amazon.com:Baketown Girls Silicone Baking Cups.

Love cinnamon? So do we! Try some of our other yummy cinnamon recipes by clicking on a photo:

23 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged best, breakfast, cinnamon, cinnamon roll, cinnamon roll cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, cream cheese frosting, cream cheese icing, cupcakes, dessert, recipe, refrigerated cinnamon rolls. Bookmark the permalink.

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Ruthanne

This rich and creamy cheesecake has bits of cinnamon roll baked inside. Little pockets of cinnamon and sweet brown sugar make it into nearly every bite. You will have a hard time stopping at just one piece!!!

When a craving hits I generally create a brand new recipe to satisfy my curiosity. A craving hit me right in the middle of church last Sunday. Right in the middle of a great sermon on Romans I suddenly thought~ “I wonder what cinnamon roll and cheesecake would taste like all together”. I wondered if you could use refrigerated cinnamon rolls as a crust…I wondered if you could swirl a brown sugar/ cinnamon mixture into a cheesecake without getting tons of cracks…I wondered if the cinnamon cream cheese tubs would work…I also listened to the sermon. I’m fairly good at multi-tasking 🙂

When I got home I decided two things:

1. I am taking a vacation to Peru in a few weeks and I cannot spend any extra money- so the ingredients needed to be already in my house.

2. I would google “cinnamon roll cheesecake” to see what others had done.

The googling resulted in a surprise. Several blogs featured recipes and they were all the same recipe from the same source! Every one of the blogs just ranted and raved about the amazing-ness of this recipe.

I looked the recipe up in Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and realized I already had all of the ingredients.

It was meant to be.

It is, as all the other blogs out there have said, AMAZING. Unbelievably good. Exactly what I was hoping for in a combination of cheesecake and cinnamon roll.

It is also a labor of love. Regular cheesecakes take some time. This is a regular cheesecake and a batch of cinnamon rolls…all together. Set aside some time and several clean mixing bowls!!

Here’s how to make it:

INGREDIENTS:

Cinnamon Roll Batter:

2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cheesecake filling:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs

Cinnamon Filling:

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
milk (if needed to thin frosting)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9-inch Springform pan.

Cinnamon Roll Batter:

Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat for about one minute, scraping down bowl.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the creamed ingredients. Mix on low speed until throughly combined.

Cheesecake Filling:

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to beat cream cheese and sugar for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating together scraping down the bowl after each addition.
Add the vanilla and flour and beat for another minute.

Cinnamon Filling:

In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.

You have three individual parts to this cheesecake now. The batter, the cheesecake and the filling.
Here is how to put them together:

Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of the Springform pan. It will be sticky and thick so spray your hands with baking spray and press down. It will be a thin layer, but trust me it will rise up during baking.
Pour all of the cheesecake batter on top of the cinnamon roll batter that is in the prepared pan.
Drop spoonfuls of the cinnamon filling over the entire top of the cheesecake.
Take the rest of the base batter and drop spoonfuls over the entire top of cheesecake. Once finished, take a knife to swirl the ingredients together. I say swirl, but its really just a big yummy chunky mess– just kind of gently mix all the toppings together without digging into the bottom crust.

Bake for about 50-55 minutes, cake will be puffy and lightly browned.
Let it cool for 20 minutes at room temperature and then cover and move to fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
Remove cake and let it warm up to room temperature just a bit. While you are waiting, make your cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a clean bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together for about 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and beat until desired consistency is reached. If too thick, thin out with milk.
Pipe over the top of chilled cheesecake and serve….so yummy!

My thoughts: If you don’t mind a little extra prep time in the kitchen, this recipe is truly worth every bit of effort. The best part? Since it has cinnamon rolls in it you really CAN eat cheesecake for breakfast with no guilty conscience… and I can tell you that a piece of this with a cup of coffee really is a perfect way to start the day!!!! Enjoy!!! ~r

Is it cheesecake? Is it cinnamon roll?
It’s BOTH!!!!!

Other cinnamon inspired treats from Easybaked: Just click on an image to get the recipe!

50 Comments

Posted in Cheesecakes and tagged baking, breakfast dessert, cheesecake, cinnamon, cinnamon roll cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, Cream Cheese, cream cheese frosting, dessert, fancy cheesecake. Bookmark the permalink.

Red Velvet Cake Balls- filled with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Ruthanne

Surprise!!! These red velvet cake balls are filled with cream cheese frosting! A fun treat for birthdays, holidays, showers….it is all in the decorating!

INGREDIENTS:

One red velvet cake mix (with oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
One tub of ready-made cheesecake frosting.
2 (12 oz.) bags of Wilton White Candy Melts
Sprinkles or dark chocolate candy melts to use for decorating.

DIRECTIONS:

Bake cake mix according to package and cool
While cake is baking/cooling- spoon 1/2 of the tub of frosting into a ziptop bag. Clip a corner and pipe dime-size dollops of frosting onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper (pipe about 35-40) Place in freezer.

Cut cooled cake into pieces and chop into fine crumbs using a food processor or food chopper.
Mix cake crumbs with remaining frosting until it can be formed into balls that hold together (you may not need all the frosting).
Roll about one tablespoon of cake into a ball, press it flat and put a frozen frosting bit in the center. Wrap cake dough around frosting and smooth into a ball. (try to keep the frosting bits frozen- I did only 5 at a time and kept the rest in the freezer. The frosting will not freeze hard- it will be more like taffy when you peel it from the parchment paper).

Refrigerate cake balls for a few hours.
Melt Candy Melts in microwave in 30 second increments until smooth.
Dip cold cake balls into white chocolate candy melts (this is the hardest part for me….I made a huge mess trying different techniques and finally settled on a fork, tapping it against the edge of the bowl until excess has drained away. Some people use toothpicks or spoons or special dipping tools….I think this part is just a mess for me no matter how I do it!)
Place dipped cake balls on parchment paper to harden. If you are decorating with sprinkles, do this before the chocolate hardens. Otherwise, just drizzle with some dark chocolate for a more elegant look:

My thoughts: These are SO good. The frosting in the middle is a fun surprise and it adds a yummy creaminess to the cake balls. Hassle? Yes. I am convinced that cake balls and cake pops are not my gifting– so many people make them look effortless and that is NOT the case for me! I love the taste though….so once in awhile….ENJOY!!!