Churro Cupcakes
These churro cupcakes are the closest you will get to eating a churro without actually eating one! They have loads of cinnamon in the batter, two cinnamon sugar layers, cinnamon buttercream frosting, and a dusting of even more cinnamon sugar on top!
Churro cupcakes are a fun option for Cinco de Mayo or anytime your want a special treat!
Ingredients
There aren’t any fancy ingredients in these cupcakes! Here are just a few things to note:
- You’ll find that many of of my cupcake recipes, this one included, use cake flour. The cake flour makes for a lighter cupcake. If you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute all-purpose flour. The cupcake will just be a little more dense.
- The recipe uses sour cream to make the cupcakes nice and moist. This can be substituted for plain yogurt.
- You’ll need two tablespoons of cinnamon for the cake batter and another tablespoon for the frosting. So, even if you already have cinnamon in your pantry, make sure you have enough before starting.
How It’s Made
Tip: If you’re a beginner baker, stop here and first take a minute to read my post on how to make cupcakes. It covers some of the basics and offers up a lot of tips. I also recommend that you get yourself some essential baking tools.
Start by mixing sugar, cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter for about three minutes with an electric mixer on high speed.
Mix eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract and add to the batter.
It’s very important to not over-mix the batter at this point. Mix until just combined. A cupcake with an over-mixed batter will end up squat and dense – something you definitely don’t want here. (See my post on over-mixing cake batter for more information.)
Add milk to the batter, mixing on low speed until just combined again. This cupcake batter is very thin – almost liquid.
Pour a thin layer of batter into the liners, then add a layer of cinnamon sugar. Continue filling liners about 1/4 full, then add a final layer of cinnamon sugar.
Top with more batter until the liner is halfway full. It is very important that you don’t overfill the liners.
Bake for 14 minutes or until done. You can check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of a cupcake; it should come out dry.
Remove the cupcakes from the tins immediately and set on the counter or a cooling rack to cool.
Once cool, frost with cinnamon buttercream and sprinkle with extra cinnamon sugar!
Expert Tips and FAQs
These rise a lot during baking. Make sure to only fill the liners halfway.
You can keep them at room temperature for three days or in the fridge for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving.
I suggest making my churros or air fryer churros recipe, but make them extra small. You can then set them right on top of the frosting just before serving and they’ll look super cute!
Related Recipes
- Cinnamon cream cheese frosting (this is a great alternative to the buttercream)
- Dulce de leche (you can use this instead of the cinnamon sugar layer to make an incredible filled cupcake)
- Cinnamon sugar cookies
- Cinnamon muffins
Churro Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour not self-rising
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract use pure, not imitation
- 2/3 cup whole milk room temperature
Cinnamon Sugar Filling Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Frosting Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar add more until it reaches your preferred consistency
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cupcake Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together sugar, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. and cinnamon.
- Add butter and mix on high speed with an electric mixer for three minutes or until fluffy.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
- Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined. The batter will be liquid. (Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. It's supposed to be that way.)
- Mix together the cinnamon sugar filling ingredients in a small bowl.
- Pour a thin layer of batter into the cupcake liners. Then, add a thin layer of cinnamon sugar on top.
- Add more batter on top of the cinnamon sugar until cupcake liners are 1/4 full. Then, add another thin layer of cinnamon sugar on top of the batter.
- Cover the cinnamon sugar layer with more batter until the cupcake liners are 1/2 full.
- Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it. If they are not done, test again in another two minutes.
- When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don’t own a cooling rack) to cool.
Frosting Instructions
- Beat butter on high speed with an electric mixer for about three minutes until light and airy.
- Mix in powdered sugar a little bit at a time.
- Add cinnamon and salt and continue to beat for another minute. If desired, mix in more powdered sugar to make the buttercream frosting stiffer.
- Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes and, optionally, sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top!
Notes
- Be careful not to over-mix the batter and not to over-fill the cupcake liners.
- Use room temperature ingredients – everything will mix together more smoothly that way.
- Because everyone’s oven is just a bit different and your liners may be a slightly different size than mine, I highly recommend that you bake a test cupcake before baking your whole batch. Read my FAQ on filling cupcake liners to learn how to do a test cupcake and why it’s useful.
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