Believe it of not I’ve never baked anything with sweet potatoes. That’s all changed now that I’ve made these delicious…
Maple Bacon Sweet Potato Cupcakes
I was actually working on a different recipe (you’ll see it next month) brainstorming about flavor combinations. Naturally I was contemplating pumpkins because they’re starting to show up at the grocery stores when it hit me that I’ve never made sweet potato cupcakes before. I love sweet potatoes! They definitely make me think of fall and they’re just tasty. My mom makes an amazing sweet potato and spinach soup every Thanksgiving… sorry, I digress.
So I decided that I would just make my favorite pumpkin recipe and substitute the pumpkin for sweet potatoes. I made a cinnamon buttercream with a little cream cheese and topped it with some crumbled bacon that I drizzled with maple syrup. My sister’s opinion was that the bacon makes it! And my husband’s only critique was that there should be MORE bacon. LOL Oh, and the kids… you should’ve seen the look on their faces when I told them that they just had some sweet potatoes. Priceless! Needless to say they loved them and gobbled them up. 😉
These sweet potato cupcakes came together very easily. You can roast the sweet potato in the oven, but I just used my micro-cooker and steamed them in the microwave (peeled, cubed, with a little water) for about 8 minutes (checked them after 5 minutes). If you’re one of those folks that is not the biggest fan of all things pumpkin I highly recommend these as an alternative.
If you’re itching to do some fall baking this weekend give these Maple Bacon Sweet Potato Cupcakes a whirl and don’t forget to bookmark the recipe for your Thanksgiving dinner menu. 😉
Happy baking!
xox Roxana
- 1½ c flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground all spice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c sugar
- ½ c light brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ c vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- 1 c sweet potato puree
- ¼ c buttermilk
- 2 oz (1/4 of a brick) cream cheese, softened, but not warm
- ¾ c butter (1½ sticks) butter, room temperature
- 2½ - 3½ c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 - 3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 4 slices (cooked) bacon, crumbled
- about 1 tsp of maple syrup, plus more for drizzle if desired
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the sugars until no lumps remain.
- Add the oil and mix until incorporated.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the sweet potato puree and vanilla and mix well.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture a third at a time. Add more just before the last addition is incorporated. Turn the mixer off when the last of the flour mixture is almost finished incorporating.
- Add the buttermilk and fold in with a spatula just until the batter is smooth. Don't over mix.
- Using a scoop, scoop the batter into prepared pans to about ¾ full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 - 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for a couple minutes and remove them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter and mix until well combined on medium high speed.
- Turn the mixer down to low and begin adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
- After adding a cup of the powdered sugar, add the salt, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well.
- Add the remainder of the powdered sugar (one cup at a time) and beat on high until well incorporated.
- Add the heavy whipping cream and add to the buttercream, gradually increase the speed to high and beat til light and fluffy.
- If the buttercream is too loose, add more powdered sugar ½ c at a time until desired consistency is reached. (*TIP- cream cheese frosting can be finicky. If it's too warm then pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes and then mix it again to fluff it when you take it out.)
- For the garnish mix the crumbled bacon with a little maple syrup.
- Pipe a swirl of buttercream on the cooled cupcakes and garnish with the maple bacon and drizzle with more maple syrup if desired.
