Sweet Potato and Pecan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Week before last I was sitting at a red light in a bit of traffic. I looked to my right and caught the eye of the elderly gentleman on side of the road who was selling sweet potatoes.
Him: You don't need no sweet potatoes?
I laughed and pulled over. Apparently, I needed sweet potatoes.
So I returned home with 20 pounds of sweet potatoes for $10 which is a REALLY good deal but um...there are only two of us and sweet potatoes will probably go bad before sweet potato PIE time. That said...I've been being uber creative with sweet potatoes and searching out all types of different recipes online.
Today, I roasted cubes of sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil on a cookie sheet for thirty minutes at 425 degrees. Then...I put two cups to the side and seasoned the rest for lunch.
Have I mentioned we had 20lbs?
Yeah.
I found a recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting which looked promising so I swapped out the can of sweet potatoes for my smashed cubes of potatoes and they were soooooooooooooooooooooo delicious! I'm not a big icing person so I put far less icing on them than it seems most folks do but they were so good. Not too sweet and just perfect! The Robinator had three in twenty minutes. LOL! Good thing the recipe made 24!
I gave some to the neighbor using the awesome Dollar Store boxes I buy all of when I see them in NON-traditional Christmas print. LOL! They are $1 for 3 and they are super nice with a peek-a-boo top. And they are way nicer than the ones at The Container Store that you pay $6 for.
I feel safe telling yall that because I have like...a LARGE drawer full of them so I won't run out if there is a shortage. LOL!
This is a 3 bowl recipe for the cake. Use the biggest bowl for the creaming together the butter and the sugar. Oh...you'll need another bowl for the frosting. LOL!
Sweet Potato and Pecan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 1 (16-oz.) can mashed sweet potatoes OR two cups of mashed roasted sweet potatoes
- 2/3 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour OR 3 cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Garnish: coarsely chopped pecans
1. Place pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan.
2. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted, stirring once after 4 minutes.
3. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
4. Whisk together mashed sweet potatoes, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with sweet potato mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Fold in toasted pecans. Place foil baking cups in muffin pans, and coat with vegetable cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.
5. Bake at 350° for 28 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove immediately from pans, and cool 50 minutes to 1 hour or until completely cool. Spread cupcakes evenly with Cream Cheese Frosting. Add a pecan half to the top to make pretty.
The cream cheese frosting is the basic recipe.
1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy, gradually add powdered sugar on low until all gone and then add vanilla. Voila...cream cheese frosting!
These are EXCELLENT fall cupcakes and will be great for the dessert station for Thanksgiving! GO YOU!