Maple Pecan Cupcakes

These cupcakes are yummy. They ended up coming out with a more dense texture than a standard "cakey" cupcake. I'm not sure if this was the recipe or the user, but it was a nice change!

These are definitely one of those indulgences in spoke of in my Live Your Life post. I've been on a baking kick lately, but I'm still getting used to the amount of butter and fat that goes in to regular  (less health conscious) baking recipes. Of this 1 1/2 dozen batch, I had two and promptly shipped the rest off in a care package for the rest of my family! :)

                                        

Maple Pecan Cupcakes 

For the cupcakes:

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature 

3/4 cup superfine sugar

3 extra-large eggs

scant 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

For the frosting: 

1 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp. maple-flavoured extract

Pecan pieces for garnish. 

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Place 18 medium size baking cups in muffin pans. 

Beat the  butter and sugar together until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture, then fold in. Add the pecans and fold in. 

Add the mixture to the prepared baking cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and well risen. 

Let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the maple-flavored extract. Spread the frosting over the cupcakes and add pecans pieces for garnish. 

Makes 18 cupcakes. 

Every day I find so many baking recipes that I want to try, that I've found myself with a dilemma. Who is going to eat all of this? Although my boyfriend is more than willing to help out with the treat consumption, it's still not exactly healthy to consume an entire batch of cookies between two people! I'll bring some treats in to work, but my office is super tiny with other 3 other co-workers. 

Do anyone else have this problem? So much to bake and not enough people to eat it! What do you do?

I have an end of season potluck for my Ultimate Frisbee team tomorrow, and I've requested to bring dessert. After all, I'm going to jump on any excuse to bake for a reason! :)