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Ever since I was a kid, I remember my dad putting his candy bars in the freezer because he supposedly enjoyed them more when they were frozen. Amusingly they were always buried under a bag of frozen peas or a box of pierogies, so I tend to think he was attempting to hide them from the rest of us.
Now that I am a full fledged adult, I don’t eat candy bars all that often, but you can bet when I do indulge, those babies get frozen first. This recipe is a little homage to my frozen candy bar loving dad, Bill; although I like to call him Billiam for kicks.
These cupcakes consist of a moist doctored up cake mix recipe with a little surprise in the center, topped with creamy caramel buttercream and a finished with a little sprinkling of chopped Snickers and a caramel drizzle. Are you drooling yet? This recipe is rich, sweet, decadent and every candy bar lover’s dream!
This is definitely a semi-homemade type of dessert; if you’re opposed to doctored up box mixes, no worries, just sub in your favorite chocolate cake recipe. Personally, I think the cake recipe below is pretty rocking and I use it when I am in a hurry or need an incredibly moist cake. I hope you give this recipe a try because it’s definitely a crowd pleaser! Brian used the word incredible to describe these cupcakes and that is not an adjective he tosses around very often.
In other news, you will find my first vlog posted below. Yep, I busted out the video camera, put on my best campy voice and recorded a video detailing my favorite piping tips, and the super technical {note sarcasm} techniques that I use to frost the cupcakes you see on MBA. I promise when I venture into vlog land again, I will lose a little of the cheesiness, but hey, I was nervous! Enjoy watching; I hope my newly acquired Muppet voice gives you a little chuckle! Does anyone like the sound of their voice…mine sure makes me cringe!
Cupcake Piping How-To from My Baking Addiction on Vimeo.
Snickers Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 15.25 ounces devil's food cake mix
- 3.4 ounces instant chocolate pudding mix
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 24-30 Snickers Miniatures frozen, plus more for topping
For the frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup shortening
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ pounds confectioners’ sugar
- ⅓ cup caramel topping plus more for drizzling
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line (2) 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
- Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans. {I use a large cookie scoop from OXO to scoop my batter; it holds 3 tablespoons.}
- Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.
For the frosting:
- Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
- Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.
- Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.
Notes
- Not a fan of Snickers? Sub in your favorite candy bar, just make sure you freeze them first.
- Not a fan of vegetable shortening? No worries, simply sub in butter for the shortening.
- Edited: 6/26/15 due to a change in boxed cake mix content size.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
great tips! I would have never thought of using a cup!
I have a Snickers fan at home and some at work so I will deffinately be trying this on them. The vlog was very informative and put together very well.
To replace the shortening would it be with regular butter or unsalted butter?
Gaby-
Hi – thanks for stopping by. Yes, I would recommend using unsalted butter. Have a great day!
-Jamie
This looks amazing. I’ve been searching for the perfect snickers cake. Any chance this can be converted to a two layer cake?
I’m hoping to use the Snickers cupcake recipe for my sweetie for Valentine’s Day. He can’t have sour cream. Do you think I could sub in cream cheese? Any ideas would be most helpful. Love your blog and the video too. And I think your voice is just fine . . . now mine on the other hand . .. Ugh! :)
Thanks so much,
Adrienne
Adrienne-
I don’t think cream cheese would be a good substitute since the consistency is really different than sour cream. I would suggest using a basic chocolate cake instead of the one in this recipe. Thanks for stopping by!
-Jamie
I couldn’t find a 5.9 ounce box of instant chocolate pudding – do you mean the 3.9 ounce size (makes 4 1/2 cup servings of pudding)?
Never mind, I found the 5.9 ounce size!
when you say two sticks of butter.. how much exactly do i neeD?
Okay–these have become a family favorite. Amazing! They give a “wow” factor without a lot of work. Try them! =)
Awesome job on the video! I’m always curious about what piping tips everybody uses, I finally just bought 3 jumbo piping tips for myself and LOVE THEM! So much easier to make pretty cupcakes than those itty bitty tips. Thanks for posting the video, by the way my own voice makes me want to scream too! I don’t understand how people can even listen to me talk!!
These were the best cupcakes that I have ever made or even tasted. Awesome! Thank you for the recipe!