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I have been waiting so long to make a butterbeer cupcake.
Like too many years.
I do not know if you know this, but I am huge Harry Potter fan. I know, I know, who the heck isn’t. I am not one of those die-hards or anything, but I have to say, the Harry Potter books are about the only books I have ever read page for page and truly enjoyed. It’s just my era I guess, but I will always love Harry Potter. The series brings back awesome memories for me.
I will forever love the Harry Potter marathon weekends on ABC family. They will never get old. Never.
Ok, and I just have to throw this in there too, ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas? Yeah, that is something I look forward to all year-long. Like no joke, that is my favorite thing. Call me whatever you want but, I will always be a 25 Days of Christmas Girl… and don’t judge, you know you are too.
Come every October though, it seems I have Harry Potter on the brain. I mean, it makes sense since October is all about magical, spooky things. Normally, I just watch the movies over and over until I can move on to the Christmas movies, but this year that just was not enough.
I was out hiking the other day and I thought back to these broom stick cookies I made. They were one of my very first posts on this blog and the photos are horrific, but the cookies are cute, and so good. I was thinking about how cute they would be with a butterbeer cupcake and that was it, that was when the decision was made. I was making butterbeer cupcakes… death by butterbeer cupcakes.
Hey, it’s October. Death By Butterbeer just seemed fitting.
If you are wondering, butterbeer (or at least the butterbeer in this recipe), is basically just butterscotch mixed with a little butter extract. It’s beyond delicious you guys. Super sweet, crazy “fall” like, and I am not going to lie – so addicting. Literally, the butterbeer glaze could be a dessert in itself? I am thinking small espresso mug filled with warm butterbeer glaze, drizzle of chocolate and marshmallows. OH MY GOSH. That would be good. Gotta do that sometime.
Cupcakes today though.
The cupcake itself is really simple. It’s made with brown sugar and butter extract, but I also added in some vanilla bean and um, chocolate covered toffee bits because they just needed to happen. I have had a bag of bits sitting in my pantry since last fall and these cupcakes just called out to them. They’re a match made in the cupcake heavens. The vanilla beans just add such great flavor. You can never go wrong with vanilla beans. Honestly you just can’t. They work with just about everything and they make recipes that much more special.
For the frosting, I had to go chocolate…and chocolate treacle butter!! It may just be physically impossible for me to have an all non-chocolate dessert. PLUS butterbeer and chocolate together seemed like such a good pairing. Topped off with some chocolate covered pretzels? Yeah, why not? It is finally that time of year again, when chocolate, sugar salt, carbs and all the good stuff is totally acceptable – every single freaking day. Or at least in my head it is.
Good months ahead…
Really though, this frosting is oh my gosh, GOOD. It’s the whole treacle butter thing which is really just unsulphured molasses and salted butter. It may seem simple, but when combined with a little butterbeer and a little chocolate? Um just, yes!
Finally, I do realize that these photos sort of look like a craft project gone wrong AND most importantly that the scarf is scarlet and white, not scarlet and yellow. I tried so hard to find a scarlet and yellow scarf, but had no luck. I found one online, but I really did not want to wait for it to get it here. So… sorry for the scarlet and white. I tried, really I tried.
And the as for the photos themselves, I was SO close to not even showing you these because they are not “my kind of perfect”, but my mom talked me into keeping them. Sorry for my craft project gone wrong, but I promise the cupcakes themselves are delish.
Double finally, if you have kids these are the cupcakes that will make you the “cool” mom or dad – guaranteed. If I could, I would bring them into Asher’s school on Halloween, but they have this new rule of no sweets for birthdays and holidays. I get it, but at the same time, it’s so lame. For me, in school class parties filled with the homemade treats where the best. ESPECIALLY on Halloween.
Halloween is meant for an all day sugar high.
Death By Butterbeer Cupcakes w/Treacle Butter Frosting + Chocolate Covered Pretzels.
Servings: 18 Cupcakes
Calories Per Serving: 536 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- Seeds from one vanilla bean divided
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin beer * or cream soda
- 1 cup toffee bits optional
Butterbeer Sauce
- 1 (11 ounce) bag butterscotch chips
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon honey
Treacle Butter Frosting + Chocolate Pretzels
- 30-40 mini pretzel twists
- 9 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate melted
- 8 tablespoons salted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons unsulphured molasses
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar or more if desired
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- 1/3 cup butterbeer sauce directions above
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- [broom stick cookies | https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/witches-broom-sticks/] for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard cupcake pans with 18 liners.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, canola oil, butter extract, seeds from half a vanilla bean and the buttermilk. Beat until smooth.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low until there are no longer any clumps of flour. Add the beer and mix until combined. Batter should be pourable, but not super thin. Stir in the toffee bits - if using.
- Fill baking cups three-fourths full. Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Meanwhile, make the butterbeer sauce. Add the butterscotch chips, cream and honey to a small sauce pot. Set over low heat, stirring often until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
- To make the frosting, melt chocolate in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. You may also use a double broiler. Dip each pretzel in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Place on wax paper lined cookie sheets and chill in the freezer until firm, about 10 minutes.
- Add the butter, molasses and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer). Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until the butter is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, vanilla and butter extract. Beat, scrapping down the sides as needed another 2 minutes or until there are no streaks of white. Beat in 1/3 cup butterbeer sauce + the seeds from 1/2 of the remaining vanilla bean until smooth and creamy. Add 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream and whip the frosting for 2-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Taste the frosting and add more powdered sugar if you like a sweeter or thicker frosting.
- Now take about 1/3 to 1/2 the chocolate covered pretzels and finely chop them. Stir the pretzels into the frosting. Skip this step if you like a smooth frosting.
- To assemble the cupcakes, pipe frosting onto each cupcakes (or just smooth it on with a knife). Garnish each cupcake with a chocolate covered pretzel. If needed, warm the butterbeer sauce until just smooth enough to drizzle. Drizzle each cupcake with butterbeer sauce just before serving. Sink your teeth in!
That’s what butterbeer dreams look like. It’s the glaze and the pretzels and the treacle b butter frosting and most definitely the cupcake. Really it’s the whole darn thing!
These look beyond amazing! My daughter who is finally getting into Harry Potter (she’s 8) would lose her little mind if I made them for Halloween.
Thanks Lucy! Hope you get a chance to make and you all love them! 🙂
You did HP series proud with these cupcakes!! So delicious!!
THANK YOU! 🙂
I think you may be my favorite Muggle EVER. Seriously, we probably have kindred Patronuses or something–love these cupcakes to no end! They put my Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook to shame, and I love the idea of using treacle on these. I’m still waiting for the day when I can make some knickerbocker glory with plenty of ice cream on top 😉 Thanks for brightening my day, I’m rereading the series right now for the first time in about 7 years and we’re just entering the Triwizard Tournament. Cheers!
AWE!! Thank you!! I am watching the movies as I type! 🙂
Is there a sub I can use for the butter extract? It’s so hard to find!!
Hi there,
You can just skip it:) I hope you love the recipe! xT
Fellow HP fan here! Definitely cried at the end of the last book because it was over.
Oh, and these cupcakes? SO EPIC.
Haha! I think I did too. I so did not want it to be over. 🙁
Thanks Steph and have a great weekend!
These. Look. UH-MAZING!
I was such a huge HP book fan! I would reach each of them in one sitting, not stopping to eat or sleep, haha. I also totally went to the midnight book release parties.
I love the movies, too. But, the books are so much better 😛
Thanks Rachel!! I love the books, but also the movies too!
Being a teacher–my friends and I would stay up to midnight to get new HP book then read it till dawn or later.
My school allows birthday and party treats for now but it is really hard to say NO to all those treats.
Hallmark starts showing their Christmas movies on OCTOBER 31 !
By the way those cupcakes look great and I would not say no to one–LOL.
Haha! That is awesome!! 🙂
Thanks Nancy and have a great weekend! PS I totally have christmas movies ready to be tapped! LOL!
all of this – caramel and chocolate and cake and pretzels and these pictures and the frosting! LOVE!
Thank you!
I love Harry Potter too! These cupcakes look incredible, love the treacle frosting!
Thanks Laura! Have a great weekend!
Well done! love the creativity!
Thank you! Have a great weekend!
This looks all amazing girl and your mom was right – these pics are gorgeous and sometimes its nice to see not so perfect things!! Yummy!
Thank you so much!! Have a great weekend!
You did not! Omg! I can’t even tell you how much I love these. I had no idea that you were a Potter fan too. I’ve read all of the books at least 3 times. Oh, and I would so love to have a 25 days of Christmas movie marathon with you! In my house the Christmas marathons start before Thanksgiving so I totally understand.
THANK YOU! And um the Christmas movies start before Thanksgiving here too. I mean, they have too! 🙂
GIRL this is insane. There’s something about the word “treacle” that makes me feel like I need to eat this immediately. I was a little disappointed when my brother when to Harry Potter World and informed me that butterbeer did not, in fact, contain any beer at all…BUT butterscotch and butter extract probably make up for that…and chocolate and pretzels and cupcakes 🙂
Also I’ve read all of the Harry Potter books twice. Eep.
I know, the world treacle is the best. It’s just fun to say!! 🙂
Also, the beer. UGh. I know it’s not typical, but we never drink pop, so beer it was! Thank you so much, Katie!! Have a great weekend!
I own all of the HP movies (and the books and the audiobooks) but for some reason every marathon that ABC Family runs still sucks me in. EVERY ONE OF THEM. This cupcakes. Here’s me wishing they had existed back before the eighth movie came out and we celebrated with an HP movie and food inspired evening. I would have made them in a heart beat. Speaking of, when’s the next marathon, ABC Family? I gotta make sure I’ve got these ingredients ready to go. 🙂 Amazing creativity and execution, Tieghan!
ME TOO! I do not know what it is about that marathon, but it always gets me! HA!
Thanks Julie and have a great weekend! Oh and I have no idea when the next HP weekend is. I looked on ABC family and didn’t see it on the line up.
ummmm yeah wow, I neeeed to make these like now!
Thanks Sophia! Have a great weekend!
These are so freaking amazing!!! I love Harry Potter everything and those broom cookies? So adorable! Pinned!
Thank you so much! Have a great weekend! 🙂