Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes with Maple Bacon Frosting

I love cupcakes. I enjoy all flavors, varieties and sizes. I do not, however, bake my own, generally preferring fabulous treats from my favorite bakeries. So, I decided to conquer my fear of cupcake baking with a bacon and beer version that I developed myself. This took a few batches to get right, but I am so proud of how these came out. And they're super cute too!

Pumpkin ale helps to make a very fluffy and light cupcake with lots of delicious pumpkin flavor. I topped it with a maple cream cheese frosting, because cream cheese makes everything delicious. I was going to crush the crispy bacon and sprinkle it on top, but I thought the single piece made it a bit more artistic. You can do either.

WARNING: these cupcakes are addictive. I love miniaturized anything, but cupcakes are especially dangerous. Make sure to have some guests coming over so you don't eat the entire batch!

Full recipe after the jump!


Makes 24 mini cupcakes or 12 regular cupcakes


Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
6 oz pumpkin ale
4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Frosting:
6oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2.5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp maple syrup, divided
2-3 strips of bacon (depending on length/width)

Cupcake Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt, set aside
3. In a non stick frying pan, melt butter over low heat until slightly browned
4. In a glass mixing bowl, combine browned butter with granulated and brown sugars, whisk together until combined, wait 1 minute and then whisk again
5. Add eggs, pumpkin and beer to the butter sugar mixture. Fold together with a rubber spatula
6. Carefully fold wet mixture into dry, being careful not to overmix
7. Using a tablespoon, spoon batter into greased mini muffin tins evenly
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until fork inserted comes out clean
9. Cool

Frosting Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Brush bacon with 1 tbsp maple syrup on each side
3. Bake bacon on a cookie sheet until crisp, 12-15 minutes
4. Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 2 tbsp maple syrup, butter and confectioners sugar
5. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use
6. Remove bacon from oven and cool
7. Chop bacon into 1" pieces

Assembly Instructions:
1. Using a knife or plastic baggie, frost each cupcake with cold frosting
2. Garnish with bacon slice
3. Serve!!!