Stout Cupcakes

Happy (Belated) Saint Patrick’s Day everyone! I hope you beautiful people all had a fun, and safe, St. Patty’s Day! I sure did. I spent the morning driving back from California with my boyfriend; then we went to Rula Bula on Mill Avenue for some beer and food. If you are EVER in Tempe, Arizona you MUST go to this Irish pub. Their food is AMAZING, and the atmosphere is awesome. It is one of mine, and many of my friends, favorite places to go to for a drink, good food, sweet music, and a fun time. I got the corn beef and cabbage.

Alex got the shepherd’s pie.

Both were absolutely delicious. After dinner we met up with some friends and headed to Tempe Town Lake for the Flogging Molly concert. THEY WERE AMAZING. Anyways, I meant for this post to go up before I left for California, but I was so busy with errands and packing that I didn’t have time for it. So, I am posting it now – better late than never, right?
 

These stout cupcakes are to die for. The batter is not like your typical cake batter. The recipe calls for oil instead of butter, and there is no milk/buttermilk in it. However, there is Guinness and molasses – which combine to make one freaking awesome cupcake! Instead of the cupcakes being light and airy, they turn out very moist and dense (and delicious). Plus, they make your kitchen smell divine when they are baking in the oven (it’s reason enough to bake these bad boys as soon as possible). I feel like these cupcakes would be perfect to make during fall and winter because they have cinnamon and nutmeg in them; there is something about those spices that just warm me up!

Stout Cupcakes
(Recipe from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoon nutmeg*
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 ¼ cups unsulfured molasses
½ cups plus 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 large whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 ¼ cups Guinness

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F and line muffin tins with paper liners. In a medium sized bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, beat together oil, molasses, brown sugar, whole eggs, egg yolk, zest, and Guinness on medium-low, until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups. Bake for 20-22 minutes, rotating once. Let cupcakes cool on wire racks and then glaze them.

Stout Glaze:
(Recipe from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ cups Guinness

Directions:
Whisk together Guinness and powdered sugar until well combined. Use Immediately.

 * I only had a 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, so I substituted the rest for all spice.