Maple Glazed Sweet Potato & Brown Sugar Cupcakes With Bacon (or Not)

With or without bacon these cupcakes are sure to be one of your fall favorites. To be honest I dont even like sweet potaoes, but I love these cupcakes. They are my second favorite. I know,I know...second???? My all time fave is pumpkin swirl cheesecake cupcakes . Which one will be your favorite. Funny thing is... I dont even like sweet potatoes but these are awesome.

Ingredients for the cupcakes:
 

1 cup  all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1  pinch salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

½  cup granulated sugar

½ cup of brown sugar

2  medium eggs

8 1/2 ounces, or 1 generous cup finely mashed sweet potato

½  teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1  cup of chopped cooked bacon (plus more to add on top)  (optional)

 

Glaze ingredients:

 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

 

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream(I have used 2% milk and it is still awesome)

 

1/4 cup maple syrup

 

1 tablespoon butter

 

Dash of salt

 

2 cups powdered sugar

 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

 

 

Clean the sweet potatoes and cut each potato into 6-8 pieces so they will cook faster. Bring them to a boil and then simmer about 25-35 min. pour into a colander and run cold water over them. Let cool completely then peel off the skin and use a fork to mash them. If this is hard to do then they are not cooked all the way.

 

Directions

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with baking cups and set aside.

2-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set aside.

3-In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating on low and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition, until well combined. Add sweet potato and vanilla and stir.

4-Add flour mixture and stir until well combined.

 

Spoon batter evenly into baking cups and bake 15-18 minutes or until tops of cupcakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tins for 2 minutes. Remove from tins and cool completely on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.

To prepare frosting, place 1/2 cup brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, maple syrup, 1 tablespoon butter, and dash of salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Cook 3 minutes, without stirring. Scrape brown sugar mixture into a bowl. Add powdered sugar; beat with a mixer at high speed 2 minutes or until slightly cooled and thick. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Frost the cupcakes right away. This glaze sets up pretty quickly. Mmmm... now it's time to enjoy.