Beer and Bacon Cupcakes

Beer and Bacon Cupcakes. Yep, you read right. Beer and bacon cupcakes. I know it sounds strange, but it's a chocolate cupcake topped with maple glazed BACON so don't knock it until you've tried it. I came across this recipe while trying to bake a birthday treat for a male friends 21st birthday, and quickly discovered that these would be perfect. Though my vegetarian choices bar me from eating such cupcakes, I do love the smell of bacon so I'm pleased to say that at least that much was enjoyable.

So yes dreams do come true, Beer and bacon cupcakes. Some people love cupcakes. And it's pretty hard to find someone that doesn't like bacon, so this dessert is a win-win. Complete with a Guinness chocolate cupcake, maple cream cheese frosting and maple glazed bacon these might just provide a definition for the American Dream. Savory as well as sweet these cupcakes can please even the manliest of men. Recipe below, please enjoy. 

And there's that bacon I mentioned earlier. Personally maple glazed and baked, be sure to watch it carefully as you'll have to redrizzle the maple syrup quite frequently and it easily burns if left unattended. I will warn you that your whole house is about to smell amazing. 

And no worries about above mentioned alcohol content, the first step for the cupcakes is to heat the butter, Guinness and chocolate chips, causing all alcohol to cook off. (And if it was the actual cooking off that you were worried about, my apologies. No tipsy cupcakes for you). In addition to that, if you choose not to use Guiness at all, I'm sure these cupcakes would be fine with some sort of dark cola like Coke as well. 

And here I give wonderful stirring credit to my roommate Miss Maddie T. Fair warning, this batter does seem like its a little dry, and almost a little spongy but just be sure that they bake long enough and it shouldn't be a problem.

And here they are, the pheNOMNOMNOMenal guinness cupcakes.

And finally: the finished product. Nobody can really argue with a cupcake that looks this good. 

Seriously, these are pretty beautiful. So I figured lots of pictures were appropriate. Now that your mouth is probably watering, I should probably let you know how to make them. 

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1 cup Guinness (or 1 cup Coca Cola)

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup chocolate chips

2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Maple-Glazed Bacon

3 strips bacon

1/3 cup maple syrup

Frosting

8oz block cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp candied bacon drippings

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Melt the butter and Guinness on the stove until they become one liquid mixture. (Note that if you choose to use Coke you should add it after you have added the mixture to the eggs and yogurt as I'm not sure how it would fare on the stovetop). Add the cocoa powder and the chocolate chips, and continue to stir until everything has melted together. Set aside to cool. 

In a new bowl mix the eggs and greek yogurt together. Add the chocolate-guinness mixture to the eggs and yogurt. (This is when you would add the Coke if you are using it in place of the Guinness). Make sure to do this slowly, as any heat in the chocolate will cook the eggs if added all at once. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir wet and dry ingredients together. 

Bake for about 15 minutes and allow your cupcakes to cool while you cook the bacon. 

For the bacon:

WARNING, your house is about to smell delicious. 

Turn oven up to 375.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lay your bacon strips on the foil. Using a pastry brush (or if you dont have one you can use the back of a spoon) cover each piece of bacon with a layer of maple syrup. It's good to use a Rimmed baking sheet for this step, as you'll be saving the bacon grease for use in your frosting (yes you read that right, bacon grease IN the frosting).

Bake for 5 minutes, re-apply some maple syrup and bake 5 minutes more. Flip the strips over, re-apply maple syrup once again and bake for another 10 minutes. One more time, brush you bacon with maple syrup and bake for another 10 minutes

In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the maple syrup, followed by the bacon grease. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until you have a thick and creamy consistency. 

Finally, crush and crumble your bacon and sprinkle over the top of your freshly frosted cupcakes. 

I have no doubt you'll enjoy these. Only because this is America, and these cupcakes have bacon. 

Nomnomnom until next time. 

Recipe credit to: http://www.justputzing.com/2012/06/chocolate-beer-batter-cupcakes-with-maple-bacon-frosting.html