When Apologizing, It's Always Best to Use Bacon

I know, it seems like most of these blog posts have an apology for why I haven't been able to post lately. This time I'm not even going to explain it because it honestly just has to do with me being lazy.That's right. I'm lazy. How lazy? Well, I had this whole blog post written about a month ago and I just now got around to editing it. Yeah. That's pretty lazy. That's why I have a surprise. Not only am I posting my amazingly delicious Bacon Maple Cupcake recipe, but I'm also linking you to the most amazing Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese frosting. They are the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving dessert buffet. I took these to work on Monday for our Thanksgiving potluck and they were a huge hit.

I'm just going to keep this short and sweet because I know why you're reading this, you probably want bacon and honestly I'd like to fit a nap in before "New Girl" because today was exhausting.
And now for my apology recipe; Maple Bacon Cupcakes. Trust me, it sounds odd, but it's not. Think outside of the Duncan Hines box. Relax, lay back, pour yourself some coffee and enjoy the breakfast explosion in your mouth (that's what he said). It's like bacon and pancakes with syrup (Also what he said. He lied.).

Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Candied Bacon

Butter Cake:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose soft-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Paper baking cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Place paper baking cups in 2 (12-cup) muffin pans, and coat with cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling make Candied Bacon.

Candied Bacon:

12 strips of raw bacon cut into quarters

1/2 C brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bacon and brown sugar in zipper sealed bag and shake until bacon is coated. Lay each piece on a baking sheet and bake for about seven minutes, flip bacon and then bake for five minutes more. Bacon should be crispy and sticky like toffee.

*Tip* The bacon grease and brown sugar forms an amazing sweet and salty toffee candy. It's an added bonus.

Maple Frosting:

1 cup butter

1 (16-oz.) package dark brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons maple flavoring

To prepare frosting, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in evaporated milk, baking soda, and light corn syrup; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and let cool. Transfer caramel mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add powdered sugar to caramel mixture; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in maple flavoring. Beat at high speed 2 minutes or until creamy. Frost using a cupcake tip, or just dip the cupcakes into the frosting for a nice even coat. Top with the candied bacon and enjoy.

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