These Maple Bacon Cupcakes are an extraordinarily sweet and salty treat. Soft maple cupcakes with a hint of bacon topped with maple buttercream frosting, crispy bacon bits and a touch of maple syrup.
MAPLE BACON CUPCAKES
Desserts with bacon started sweeping the food scene a few years ago. It was such a craze that people tried adding bacon to just about every sweet treat. Maple/bacon and chocolate/bacon seemed to be the most popular combinations. Although, maple and bacon has been together for a long long time already.
I used to see people pour maple syrup over bacon strips all the time when I worked at the Cracker Barrel. I honestly thought it was the strangest thing until one day, curiosity took over and I tried it. Not gonna lie, it was interesting and tasty! It could have been just a southern thing but it was tasty nevertheless.
So I can definitely see how maple/bacon desserts became so popular. It’s not just cupcakes that feature that flavor combination, I’ve seen in in doughnuts, muffins, waffles, pancakes and cookies. Maple bacon doughnuts are still on my list to try.
These cupcakes were actually my very first expedience with bacon in dessert. My best friend’s son got married last weekend and his bride asked if I could contribute to their dessert table with some cupcakes. Of course I said “yes!”
They had a sweet, small wedding and everything was fun and non-traditional. So she wanted some kind of unusual cupcakes and decided on maple-bacon. You know the rules, what the bride wants, the bride gets! So I whipped up like five batches of cupcakes to get three perfect ones for them. By the end, I could make these cupcakes with my eyes closed.
I was so nervous to find out how everyone liked them since it was a whole lot of strangers trying my cupcakes. I was very happy to find out the next day that everyone loved them. Very happy!
**UPDATED**
TIPS FOR MAKING THE CUPCAKES
**First and foremost, I want to THANK all of you for your patience in waiting on this recipe to be updated! It’s been quite a long wait and I’m so sorry for taking so long. It was a couple of trial and errors but I went a whole different route with these cupcakes.
The technique using beaten butter and sugar is usually hit and miss for me. It seemed like it was a hit and mix for some of my readers too. I truly apologize for that and not being able to figure out what went wrong with the old recipe.
So I remade these cupcakes using a recipe that I completely trust, that has not failed me yet. I’ve made these cupcakes a couple of times and sent them to work with my husband, for “taste testing.” The report came back very positive each time. No deflating, soft texture, and taste is right on point! I hope you will forgive the length or time it took for me to update this recipe.**
SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY
Strawberry Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes from Life In The Lofthouse
Nutella Stuffed Raspberry Cupcakes from Handle The Heat
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Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- Cupcakes:
- 4 egg whites room temperature
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup bacon grease grease from cooking bacon in the oven
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 cup low fat buttermilk
- Optional: 1 tsp maple extract
- Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups powder sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- Topping:
- 1/4 cup maple syrup for topping cupcakes
- 6-8 crispy bacon strips
- 1/4 cup maple syrup for topping frosting
Instructions
- UPDATED recipe:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. (I recommend parchment paper liners but you can use any your prefer.)
- Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together and set aside.
- Combine vegetable oil, bacon grease, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. (And maple extract if using.)
- Make sure your other ingredients are ready.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer (use paddle attachment), beat egg whites for about 30 seconds and slowly start pouring in sugar. Beat for 2-3 minutes, until white and fluffy.
- Start pouring in oil mixture, slowly, as the eggs are still beating on medium-high.
- Lower the speed to low.
- Alternating, add flour mixture and buttermilk in two parts. Mix until just combined. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and low mix a couple more seconds until incorporated.
- Divide batter among the cupcake cups, filling them about ⅔ of the day. (I recommend using an ice cream scoop so all the cupcakes are even.) Tap the cupcake pan on the counter a couple of times to help air bubbles come up.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.Take out of the oven and let them rest for 5-10 minutes. Gently take the cupcakes out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle about a teaspoon of maple syrup on to of each cupcake.
- Cool completely before frosting!
- Frosting:
- Beat softened butter in the electric mixer, on medium-high speed, for about 2 minutes.
- Lower speed to low and carefully mix in powder sugar, salt and maple syrup. Once sugar is incorporated, scrape sides and bottom of the bowl and raise speed to medium. Beat for another 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer frosting into a piping bag with desired tip attached. Pipe cooled cupcakes.
- Crumble crispy bacon and divide it on top of piped cupcakes.
- Drizzle each cupcake with some maple syrup.
Nutrition
Eunice says
Question some of the comments say 2 tsp of baking powder but your recipe says 1 tsp, what is the correct amount to use?
lyuba says
Hi Eunice!
This recipe has actually been re-worked and updated so some of the comments are old. The recipe itself is updated, so it’s 1 tsp.
I hope you like the cupcakes 🙂
Tami says
I, too, have a bride that wants a breakfast cupcake. The only difference is she wants minis. I picked 8 different recipes to try. This one was first on the list because I liked the ingredients. I am happy to say I don’t need to try the other recipes! This is delicious. I didn’t think I would like a breakfast cupcake, but I couldn’t stop eating these. It’s like something that would come out of Willy Wonka’s factory or Jane Jetsons food machine. It’s little, but you feel like you are eating a pancake and bacon breakfast!! Thank you sooo much for all the hard work you put into perfecting this recipe. It’s absolutely delicious!
lyuba says
Awe, you made me so happy, Tami!!
Thank you so much for letting me know and I wish your bride a lifetime of happiness!
Liana says
I am definitely going to try these! They sound delicious!
lyuba says
I hope you will and let me know how you liked it 😉
Thank you, Liana!
Liana says
I am definitely going to try these! They sound delicious!
Ashley says
So I definitely did not get enough bacon grease from baking the bacon in the oven…. I had like 1/8 of a cup, and I used the thick cut bacon. Mayne options for a substitution bc bacon is too expensive to waste just to get grease…
Caye says
What decorating tip did you use for bacon cupcakes?
lyuba says
Hi Caye! I used 1M decorating tip 🙂
Morgan M. says
This looks great! I can’t wait to try them out! I was going to make mini cupcakes. How should I adjust the cooking time/ temp? How many minis do you think this batch will make? Thanks!
lyuba says
To be honest, I don’t have much experience with making mini cupcakes but after looking around at some mini cupcake recipes, I would estimate this recipe to make about 4 dozen mini cupcakes. Looks like bake time for mini cupcakes is 11-15 minutes.
I hope you enjoy them!
Morgan M. says
Lyuba, these turned out amazing! Perfect combination of salty and sweet! The cake itself was not very sweet which I appreciated and the frosting was just enough sweetness.
I made mini cupcakes and found that 11-13 minutes did the trick. It made just over 4 doz mini cupcakes and once cooled I added a bit of maple syrup to the top prior to frosting. I baked the bacon so it was really crispy and minced it so each mini got plenty of bacon sprinkles! I didn’t drizzle more syrup on top of the frosting because they were so tiny and I didn’t want them to be sticky. Everyone loved them! They were a huge hit and will certainly be made again!
lyuba says
I’m so happy it turned out well, Morgan!
I don’t like desserts overly sweet myself so I’m glad you appreciate that 🙂 I’m so glad it was a success!
Lan says
Oh My! These are my new favorite. My friend requested bacon cupcakes and I’m soooo glad I found your recipe! It’s a good thing I made them specially for the birthday girl because otherwise I would eat the entire batch myself. Thank you so much!! Now to look through your website for other goodies.
lyuba says
I am SO happy yo hear that, Lan! Thank you 😀
Samantha Dominguez says
We weren’t paying attention and realized that we didn’t use the vanilla extract due to following the recipe it never called for it With a table full of ingredients we neglected to notice it was with the batter ingredients.
lyuba says
Thank you for letting me know, Samantha! I fixed that part. Luckily, vanilla extract won’t change the texture 🙂
Pamela Edwards says
My 3 granddaughters are in a performing singing group. I am always looking for fantastic new recipes for them. I made a double batch of your marvelous muffins for them when they performed at our church. I have been asked to make more every week. Everyone loved them and they turned out perfect. Thank you and God bless.
Lyuba says
I’m very happy to hear that! Thank you so much, Pamela 🙂
Taylor says
This sounds like a really yummy recipe and I can’t wait to make it! Is the bacon grease absolutely necessary in the cupcake?
Lyuba says
Thank you, Taylor! The grease adds more flavor, but can be substituted with oil.
Abby says
pps. notwithstanding the earlier comments I would love to try the recipe for you to see whether I have any problems on my end …if you are interested and willing to share it feel free to reach out.
lyuba says
Ho there! Actually, I’m very close to a new recipes. I’m planning on testing out one little change this week and then post it.
I did come up with an easy version of a recipe too, using a box mix.
With the holidays and then the move and all the other family related stuff, it took me a little bit to rework the cupcakes. I can email you the recipe that I had on here before, but I’d feel bad id it would flop on you too. Email me at lyuba1118@gmail.com
Abby says
Hi I was looking for the recipe and I saw that it was being reworked last year…is is available as yet?
lyuba says
Hi Abby!
This is LONG overdue but I do have a new recipe up. I hope that everyone will forgive me for taking so long to re-work the recipe. I hope you will give them a try too.
Thank you!