Chai Cupcakes with Brown Butter Chai Icing.
If you’ve actively been looking to break your resolution, I’m going to sell you right now.
One peek below into this swirly vanilla chai batter and we’re all done for. It’s OVER people.
Half of me wants to scoop this into a mug and drink it.
The other half doesn’t want to die from salmonella or, well… drink batter.
Also, I can’t stop typing “chair” instead of “chai.” My fingers automatically hit the R. I’m conditioned!
These cupcakes are so super fluffy and filled with tons of warming spice. It’s like a big mug of tea in cake. A big hug in a mug in a cake. Covered with an icing hat. The flavor is one that I didn’t have much interest in until I took a gigantic bite.
And died.
Also, is brown buttercream a thing? Should it be brown butter buttercream? I wanted to call it brown buttercream but thought you’d freak out and think that it was (or supposed be) brown. Which I suppose is not terrible since chocolate is brown. But still!
Regardless, the icing is made with brown butter. Shocking at this point, I know. So it’s made with brown butter, then covered in a crunchy sugar chai sprinkle. The coarse raw sugar adds the most wonderful texture on top of the fluffy buttercream cloud!
Like, hello: can I feel that crunch and fluff with everything I eat?
The best part is that I’ve never even cared about chai. It was never one of my beverages of choice, but after making these chewy chai snickerdoodles this past fall, I have changed my tune. I want everything chai. Especially loaded with sugar.
ALSO. This is the cupcake that I shared on my Tuesday Things post last week! Suspense is now over. A bunch of you have been asking and I have been a terrible person for ignoring you. Or, I just transferred the written recipe into an electronic version less than twelve hours ago because I’m struggling to get my life together. That’s real talk right there.
Now I know it’s still January and all but there are TONS of reasons that you might need a cupcake recipe, like a playoff football game, the superbowl, fat Tuesday or just this coming Friday night. When a blizzard hits. Be prepared. I personally choose the last option.
I know. This is your shocked face.
Chai Cupcakes with Brown Butter Chai Icing.
Ingredients
cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup whole milk
frosting
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, browned and cooled to solid room temp
- 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
crunchy sugar topping
- 1/4 cup raw sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Set it aside.
- Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat it until creamy. Add the sugar and beat with the butter on high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add in the oil and vanilla extract, beating on medium speed for another minute. With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the dry ingredients. Pour in the milk. Add in the other half of the dry ingredients and mix them on medium speed until the batter is combined.
- Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the tops are set, about 16 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
frosting
- Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high speed until creamy. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the sugar. Add in the ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and allspice. Beat until the sugar is incorporated and add the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. Beat the frosting on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and creamy. If the frosting seems too thick, beat in the tablespoon of milk for 1 to 2 minutes until combined.
- Frost the cupcakes once cooled. To make the crunchy sugar topping, stir together the raw sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom. Sprinkle on top of the frosting!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
But can you even?!
85 Comments on “Chai Cupcakes with Brown Butter Chai Icing.”
I haven’t had a cupcake in years and you’re making me see what my silly diet is making me miss out on. And yet, I’m in cupcake making mold right now as it’s my daughters B-day coming up and I have to make cupcakes for the class. So yes, I’m making frozen themed cupcakes but…….. now want to make these for the staff and teachers for something a bit more sophisticated! Chai is just wonderful.
frozen themed cupcakes! you must have the patience of a saint.
to answer your question – NO I can NOT even. also, I wasn’t even planning on serving desserts at my superbowl party, but once Frankie sees these he’s going to demand them (and I can’t blame him….)
Our husbands love chai lattes. We can’t wait to make these for them. And we love baking on a snow day! Being prepared is very important! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. This looked so yummy in your previous post, I had to have the recipe,
it should go lovely with a cup of tea.
I’m off to buy some ground Cardamom.
I never make resolutions so these sound fiiiiiine with me! LOVE the double chai flavours. Mmm mm.
My resolution is to make more cupcakes, always! Love chai, a great way to incorporate the flavor.
I absolutely love chai! These look incredible!
And brown buttercream should be a thing if it isn’t already!
it is now a thing!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE chai and cupcakes so I’m seriously jumping for joy over this recipe! I love the concept of the crunchy sugar topping! :)
HOLY MOLY, Jessica, these look absolutely ridiculously perfect. Come at me chai cupcakes, I’m ready for ya.
I love all things chai. Those chai snickerdoodles were amazing. These look amazing. Guess I know what I’m doing this weekend now! Baking these!!
I have been craving cupcakes so hard, and the thing I hate about this is there isn’t one of these in front of me RIGHT NOW. They look so good!
I am not a huge fan of chai either, but feel these may change that! We’re getting lots of snow this weekend and I may just have to try these! :)
seriously the cupcakes will change your mind.
For some reason I kept reading “chia cupcakes” instead of “chai cupcakes,” which sounds so much better, because I tried making chia cupcakes once, and ended up with a lumpy mess with giant pockets of chia slime. =/ Anyway, these chai cupcakes look AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to make them!
hahahaha oh the things i have tried with chia… i get you.
I love really love chai, so I can only imagine how much I’ll love these cupcakes if you’re not crazy about it! Yum!
Oh my gosh I’ve been having major chai cravings lately and these look incredible!!!
Kristina does the Internets
I need a cupcake cause its Wednesday and there are two more days of the week to get through. And hello snow storm? I need about 3 batches of these before next Monday!
get those ingredients before the weekend!
Reading this right before going to bed wasn’t the best idea I had… x
http://jessicawoods.fr
These look lovely. Like a big hug on a cold day! Beautiful pics!
oh man! That frosting with all those spices must be delicious! I need to make this ASAP!!
Chai cupcakes sound amazing! I love chai everything!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
What’s not to love? I’m in chai heaven! Gorgeous pics too Jess, you’ve taken us on a chai journey!
Just give me that icing and a spoon and I’m good to go!
Umm…I almost don’t have words for how much I want to make these. I’m still dreaming about the chai snickerdoodles and was just thinking of making another batch with the snowstorm coming this weekend…and yet this may have to take its place. And brown buttercream?! I made brown sugar cookies with brown butter frosting the past few Christmases and always thought of you. Didn’t even love the cookie (it was soft…I’m more of a chewy fan) but the frosting?! Really similar to yours here and it was enough to make me keep making that cookie!
those snickerdoodles have kind of changed my life!
Must have been fate – today is my husband’s birthday, so I made him these cupcakes tonight. So good! I didn’t have the time/patience for the browned butter…just means I’ll have to make them again as written to compare :)
so glad they were a hit!!
Thank-you! I’ll be making these tomorrow. :) I love Tracy Pale Yellow’s comment about her resolution being to make more cupcakes. I second that.
Update: While these cupcakes are delicious (even without the icing and sugar sprinkle), they required an additional 11 minutes of cooking time, and I increased the temperature to 375 for the last five minutes. My oven was fully hot when the cupcakes went in, and I do have an oven thermometer to ensure accurate cooking temperatures. I first checked the cupcakes at 20 minutes – they were still bubbly on top and a toothpick brought up batter. I put them back in for another 3 minutes, then another 5 minutes at 375. Watch for this if you make these. :)
I’m looking forward to trying these, but I just wondered, why is there a range for the measurement for the milk? Is there something in particular I should look out for when mixing the batter, so to know when to add more or less milk? Thanks for your help!
hi janey! sorry, should have included that – i would start with the 1/3 cup and if it seems dry at ALL, add the rest!
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These are absolutely delicious! I had to make these and couldn’t wait one more day. I’m quite certain I ate half of the frosting by itself. Mine took a little longer than 17 minutes to bake, but I also had my cupcake liners overflowing. I don’t waste batter around here. It was also my first time browning butter. Success! Thank you. & my whole family will be thanking you as soon as they all wake up from their naps.
These cupcakes look and sound amazing! I rarely ever eat sweets, being a pastry chef, but goodness, I really want to make these right now! I can just smell the chai, and it’s making my mouth water. I’ll certainly save this recipe for a rainy day, because nothing is better than baking something spicy and sweet on a rainy day.
Stephanie
http://www.thethriftyvegetarian.com
I just love chai tea and never thought about it as something over than tea…until now!! Oh my goodness you can see the yumminess!!! The icing must be delicious!! =)
Those photos are stunning!
http://www.patagoniamall.com
Those look like my favorite chai latte cake-ified! Wish I had one of those right now with a nice hot mug of chai :)
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Is there a big difference if I wanted to make a full cake instead of cupcakes?
One word: DE LI CI OUS!!
I was wondering how you managed to place the icing in such beautiful manner on top of the cake? Do you use a specific icing bag?
Thanks for sharing this beautiful recipe :)
These are SO GOOD! The cupcake, the frosting, DELICIOUS! Thanks so much.
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These are amazing! I think these are the kind of things that kind of sneak up on you, like they taste good, but then you can’t stop thinking about them. My official cupcake testers requested less frosting, but otherwise 2 thumbs up!
These are delicious! As a friend put it, it’s not in your face with chai flavor, but is still deliciously chai. Thanks for the recipe!
Ahhh these look amazing & I love Chai! I want to make them as a 9 inch cake tonight – what adjustment should I make to the cooking time and how many layers should it make?
I just made these and my tops came out flat. Not rounded like the photos. I whipped my butter over 3 min so ot was nice and fluffy. What might have I done wrong?