Take your favourite cinnamon/sugar treat and turn it into cupcakes! These Dulce de Leche Churro Cupcakes are a must for Cinco de Mayo! Soft and fluffy cinnamon cupcakes, filled with gooey dulce de leche, dipped in cinnamon sugar, topped with cinnamon buttercream and a dulce de leche filled churro!
Cinco de Mayo is a little over a month away, but I couldn't wait to share these cupcakes with you all! I don't personally celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but Churros are hands down my favourite Mexican treat, so these cupcakes were being made no matter what.
If you've never had a churro before, they're basically fried sticks of dough rolled in cinnamon sugar. You can enjoy them plain, or you can enjoy them filled with dulce de leche, chocolate sauce or strawberry jam! My two favourite churro fillings are definitely chocolate sauce and dulce de leche. Every time I buy churros, I ask for BOTH fillings (since they sell a minimum of 3).
For these cupcakes, however, I chose to go with the dulce de leche filling. But the best part about this recipe is that you can customize it to your liking! So if your favourite churro filling is chocolate sauce or strawberry jam, you can certainly fill these cupcakes with those instead! I'll definitely be remaking these cupcakes with those flavours soon.
These are literally churros in cupcake form! We start with a moist and fluffy cinnamon spiced cupcake and dip the tops in cinnamon sugar. Then we fill the centres with dulce de leche so it's like we're biting into a dulce de leche filled churro! Next they're topped with a delicious swirl of cinnamon buttercream, another dust of cinnamon sugar, a drizzle of dulce de leche and finally a dulce de leche filled churro on top. Are you tempted yet?
The cupcake itself is just my Perfectly Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes recipe with a generous amount of cinnamon added to it. The batter starts with mixing the dry ingredients together, then mixing the wet ingredients and putting wet and dry together. I used vegetable oil, which is the key to making these cupcakes extra moist. Then we add some buttermilk AND full-fat sour cream to give the cupcake that soft and tender crumb. I don’t recommend substituting the buttermilk for 2% milk or any other milk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can just sour whole milk using vinegar- I’ll give more details in the notes below the recipe.
Just like the traditional churros, these cupcakes are rolled in cinnamon sugar! I've seen a few recipes spread melted butter on top before dipping it into the cinnamon sugar, but there's no need for that. As soon as you remove the cupcakes from the oven, let them cool for 2 minutes, then dip them in the cinnamon sugar while they're still hot. You'll have to be careful as the cupcakes will still be a bit squishy and fragile, but dipping the cupcakes while they're hot will ensure the cinnamon sugar sticks perfectly!
To take these churro cupcakes to the next level, I filled them with thick, creamy dulce de leche! If you can't find dulce de leche where you are, you can easily make your own with a can of sweetened condensed milk. I'll include instructions on how to do this in the noted below the recipe. To fill the cupcakes, I used the bottom of a large piping tip (you can also use an apple corer) and I pressed it down into my cupcake to create a hole in the centre, then ate all the scraps (highly recommended). To make the filling process neater and easier, I poured the dulce de leche into a disposable piping bag and piped the filling into the cupcakes.
Now if you don’t want to fill your cupcakes you can skip this step, but the dulce de leche filling paired with the cinnamon cupcake and the crunchy cinnamon sugar topping give these cupcakes the perfect churro flavour!
I then topped the cupcakes with my Dreamy Cinnamon Buttercream. This silky, creamy, fluffy frosting was also modified from my Dreamy Vanilla Buttercream recipe. I guess you could say these are vanilla cupcakes with a cinnamon twist!
When piping the frosting, only pipe a small swirl in the centre of the cupcake. You only want to cover the hole in the middle of the cupcake and leave the edges bare so everyone can see that gorgeous cinnamon sugar topping!
To dress these cupcakes up some more, I topped them with more dulce de leche, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and some churros! I bought plain churros at a churro restaurant and cut them up into 1-inch pieces, then filled each one with dulce de leche. I know churros can be pretty hard to find, so if you can't find any you can make homemade. You can also leave them out completely since these cupcakes are already one big, sweet and fluffy churro.
Make these cupcakes for your Cinco de Mayo celebration this year. Even if you don't celebrate, these are a must make, especially for cinnamon lovers! If you're intimidated by making churros from scratch, these cupcakes are the perfect alternative. Enjoy!
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Let's get baking!
Yield: 18-20 cupcakes
Cook Time: 16 minutes
Total Time: 16 minutes
Take your favourite cinnamon/sugar treat and turn it into cupcakes! These Dulce de Leche Churro Cupcakes are a must for Cinco de Mayo! Soft and fluffy cinnamon cupcakes, filled with gooey dulce de leche, dipped in cinnamon sugar, topped with cinnamon buttercream and a dulce de leche filled churro!
Ingredients
Cinnamon Cupcakes:
- 1 and ½ cups All purpose flour
- 1 and ½ cups granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 jar Dulce de Leche (see notes)
Cinnamon Sugar:
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon
- 1 recipe of my Dreamy Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
Toppings:
- Cinnamon Sugar
- 3-4 Baked Churros, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Extra Dulce de Leche, for filling Churros and drizzling
Instructions
For the Cinnamon Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), and line a standard cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil, buttermilk and sour cream. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Fill each liner HALFWAY full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 14-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 2 minutes.
- Remove the cupcakes and transfer to a wire rack.
For the Cinnamon Sugar:
- Add the sugar and cinnamon to a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour mixture into a small plate. Dip the tops of the hot cupcakes into the cinnamon sugar and place back onto the cooling racks to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make a batch of my cinnamon buttercream. Set aside.
Assembly:
- Core the centre of each cupcake using the bottom of a large piping tip, or an apple corer.
- Using a spoon or piping bag, fill the cupcakes with dulce de leche.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe swirls onto the centre of the cooled cupcakes, leaving space around the edges to show the cinnamon sugar topping.
- Dust some cinnamon sugar on top of the frosting. Drizzle with dulce de leche. Take about 3-4 baked churros and cut out 1-inch pieces. Fill a disposable piping bag with the dulce de leche and snip off a small tip. Fill the churro pieces with the dulce de leche and place onto cupcakes. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute by adding ½ tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to ½ cup milk. Let it stand for 10 minutes before using.
- If you can't find dulce de leche, make your own! Peel the label off a can of sweetened condensed milk, place it into a deep pot and fill the pot with water, completely covering the cans. Bring it to a boil, then decrease to low heat and allow the can to simmer for about 1 and ½ hours. If the water sinks below the cans, add more so it's completely covering the tops. After 1 and ½ hours, turn the cans upside down and simmer for another 2 and ½ hours - 3 and ½ hours. The longer it simmers, the thicker the sauce will be. If you want a thinner sauce, stick to 2-2 and ½ hours.
Source: thepioneerwoman
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Love, Dedra ❤
