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These Biscoff cookie butter cupcakes highlight one of my favorite sweet ingredients - cookie butter. Lightly spiced vanilla cupcakes filled with speculoos cookie butter, topped with cookie butter frosting, cookie butter drizzle and a Lotus Biscoff cookie. These cupcakes are so indulgent and so, so good, you will want to make these ALL the time.
Cookie butter is all the rage these days, popping up in baking recipes all over the globe. And for good reason. Cookie butter is so delicious and lends itself well to cookies, cakes and cupcakes, brownies, ice cream and more. Check out my Cookie Butter Cookies and Cherry Swirl Cheesecake Bars for other delicious ways to use Biscoff cookies and cookie butter.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- This vanilla cupcake is tender, soft and fluffy lightly spiced with cinnamon and filled with melty soft and creamy cookie butter.
- Cookie butter frosting is out-of-this-world. The buttercream is whipped to make it light, fluffy and smooth.
- Easy to follow recipe with step by step photo instructions for perfect Biscoff cookie butter cupcakes every time.
Recipe Ingredients
Cake flour
Granulated sugar
Baking powder
Fine sea salt
Cinnamon
Unsalted butter - room temperature
Milk - preferably whole milk, room temperature
Eggs - room temperature
Canola oil - or vegetable oil
Vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar
Cookie butter - I used Biscoff cookie butter, but other brands will work just as well
Lotus Biscoff cookies - or, speculoos cookies
Recipe Instructions
Before starting the recipe, preheat the oven to 350F and line a cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners.
- Make the cupcakes. Whisk together the egg, egg white, canola oil and vanilla.
- Combine the cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low to combine.
- Add the softened butter to the flour mixture.
- Beat in butter on low speed until its blended into the flour mixture. It should resemble coarse crumbs. You should be able to squeeze a handful of the mixture and it mostly sticks together.
- Beat in the milk on low speed until thoroughly combined. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for a full 90 seconds until lightened and whipped.
- Beat in the egg/oil mixture in two parts, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
- Divide the batter amongst the cupcake liners, filling them ⅔ full.
- Bake for 16-19 minutes until a few most crumbs stick to a toothpick inserted into the center and the tops spring back when touched. Don't over bake. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
- Prepare the frosting. In a bowl, combine the butter, confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla and salt.
- Beat on low until combined. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for 5-6 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the cookie butter.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star piping tip. Set aside. Alternatively, you can use an offset spatula to swirl frosting onto the cupcakes.
- Core the cupcakes by cutting a cone shape out of the center of the cupcakes. Fill with melted cookie butter. Place the top of the cone back on the cupcakes over the filling.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
- Drizzle with melted cookie butter.
- Garnish with cookie crumbs and a Biscoff cookie.
Baking Tips
- Avoid coring the cupcakes all the way down to the bottom of the cupcake so that the filling doesn't spill out once the wrapper is taken off. You can use a cupcake corer or a small paring knife.
- Make sure to use room temperature ingredients. Using cold butter, eggs or milk could leave you with split batter and frosting.
- Whole fat milk works best for baking. It has a higher fat content that lends more moisture to the cupcakes.
- Use a scale to make these cupcakes for the best results. Weighing ingredients is both accurate and consistent.
Storage and Freezing
Assembled cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Frosting can be made in advance, stored in an airtight container and frozen, for up to 3 months. Defrost the frosting in the refrigerator overnight, then leave out on the counter to come to room temperature. Rewhip the buttercream to bring it back to its fluffy texture. Rewhipping frosting that is too cold can cause it to separate.
Cupcakes are best and retain the most moisture the day they are baked. I rarely recommend baking cupcakes in advance (unless they're oil-based), especially if you don't have to, because they dry out easily. They lose moisture, amounts vary, regardless of the recipe.
If you need to freeze them, as soon as they're cooled, place them in an airtight container in a single layer. Wrap the container with Press and Seal or cling wrap, then wrap in foil. Defrost the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator, still wrapped.
FAQs
Cookie butter is a spread, similar in consistency to peanut butter, made from speculoos cookies, or Belgian spice cookies. It's absolutely delicious. The spread is creamy and silky, sweet, caramel-ly and filled with warm spices. Lotus Biscoff is the most widely known brand, but Trader Joe's also sells a popular version of cookie butter.
This was one of the first questions I got as asked as soon as I posted this recipe. There isn't cookie butter in the cupcake recipe for two reasons.
One, there's a quite a lot of cookie butter in this recipe as it is. I found that adding cookie butter to the cupcake recipe made the assembled cupcake a bit too heavy and too sweet.
Two, using cookie butter in the cupcake recipe would require not one but two jars of cookie butter, which can be pretty pricy.
There are lots of different cookie butters out there on the market. There's ones that have chocolate. There are cereal and candy butters. I've even seen pumpkin spice cookie butters. Feel free to experiment and use your favorites for this recipe.
If you make these Biscoff cookie butter cupcakes, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on social media. I love seeing your bakes and creations.
Enjoy!
Ash xx
More Cupcake Recipes To Try
Recipe
Biscoff Cookie Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup cookie butter
Assembly
- ½ cup cookie butter, melted and cooled
- Lotus Biscoff cookies, for garnish
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the egg, egg white, canola oil and vanilla.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix on low speed for a minute to combine.
- With the mixer still running, add in the softened butter pieces. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the milk, mixing JUST until the flour mixture is moistened. You may not use all the milk at this time. Pour any remaining milk into the measuring cup with the eggs and oil, and whisk to combine.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium and whip for a full 90 seconds. The mixture should be whipped up, thick, and lighter in color.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is properly mixed. With the mixer speed on low, add the egg/oil/remaining milk mixture in two additions, scraping down the bowl after each addition has been mixed in.
- Once all the wet ingredients have been added, give the bowl a final scrape and mix with a spatula. Divide the batter evenly between the liners, filling them about ⅔ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with few moist crumbs when inserted in the center of the cupcake. Don't over bake.
- Place the baked cupcakes on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the hot cupcakes from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Biscoff Cookie Butter Frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, confectioner's sugar, milk, vanilla and salt on low speed for 1 minute to combine. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for 5-6 minutes until very light and fluffy.
- Beat in the cookie butter, scraping down the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is well combined.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large piping tip.
Assemble the Cupcakes
- Using a sharp knife, cut a hole into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a space for the cookie butter. The piece you removed will be the shape of a cone.
- Spoon the melted cookie butter inside each cored cupcake. Fill the cupcake with the filling to the top, about a heaping teaspoon full. Slice off the pointy end of the cone piece you removed so that the top of it can fit on top of the filling, like a cap. Place on top of the filling.
- Generously pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes. Top with a Biscoff cookie crumbs and a cookie.
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