Rum Chata Cupcakes

After bringing home a rather large bottle of Rum Chata the other day, I decided I had to find some recipes to put it to good use. After searching Pinterest for a few minutes I decided this recipe for Rum Chata Cupcakes looked the yummiest! Here is the link to the pinned website Love Life and Creative Things: Rum Chata Cupcakes.

Now if there is anyone who hasn't had Rum Chata before, it is a liquor that tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it has a sweet, creamy, cinnamon flavor and works wonderfully in this recipe. So yummy! The recipe calls for 1 whole cup of Rum Chata... it seems like a lot, but it is just the right amount.

The Rum Chata cream cheese frosting makes a great contrast for the sweet and fluffy cake. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of cream cheese, but I only used one and it was delicious. It is sweet without being overly sweet. This recipe makes a lot of frosting, I only used half of the frosting and froze the rest to use at a later date.

Rum Chata Cupcakes and Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients
1/2 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
2 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Rum Chata
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
4 Egg Whites

Frosting Ingredients
12 Ounces of Cream Cheese (1 1/2 Packages, at room temperature)
1/2 Cup of Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla  Extract
5 Tablespoons Rum Chata
1 - 2lb Bag of Powdered Sugar

Cupcake Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F
In a mixing bowl, combine sugar & butter and beat until fluffy.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon  then set aside
In another bowl or wet measuring cup, combine Rum Chata & vanilla then set aside.
Alternating, add the flour mixture and Rum Chata mixture to the butter and sugar mixture.

In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
Use a spatula to fold egg whites into the batter mixture.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until cake "bounces back" when touched.
Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Directions
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Add vanilla.
Slowly add powdered sugar.
Mix in Rum Chata (use more or less based on the thickness you like)

Frost the cupcakes
Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is one of my Mom's recipes, it was also one of my favorites growing up. These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins remind me of deer hunting season, because they are the perfect snack to take up into the stand with you on a cold fall morning. But clearly it is not November and they are just as delicious. 

One of my favorite things about these muffins is their small size. I have made this recipe in regular muffin size as well as mini and regular loaf sizes. But it is the mini muffin size was my favorite. I have found that using the mini chocolate chips works best for this bite size recipe too. 

These muffins tend to fly off the cooling rack at our house, I suspect they should have the same result in your home too. 

 Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
4 Eggs
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1 Can 15oz Pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups Canola Oil
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth.

In s separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In small batches, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.

Add chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Fill mini muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 400 F for 10-11 minutes.

Enjoy!