Love and Olive Oil

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Whoops, another sugar craving. I needed to bake something. But what? Flipping through some of my old recipes usually helps. I came across a recipe for my mom’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake, something that sounded scrumptious but honestly I could never remember actually eating, let alone baking. Since cake takes far too much effort, a quick conversion to cupcakes sounded like a good idea.

These were the first cupcakes I’ve baked with eggs & butter since the whole love of cupcakes began. And honestly, they were too dense for me. I like my cupcakes light and airy – the kind of cupcakes that you eat one and wonder where it went. These, you definitely know where it went. That doesn’t mean they weren’t delicious – the taste made me feel like I was eating a cookie and a cupcake and a cake all at the same time. If I made them again though, I might try modifying one of my vegan cupcake recipes to mimic the same flavors, but without the density. That and I’d use mini chocolate chips. The big ones might be fine for a full cake, but they tend to take over the cupcake.

I topped these with a brown sugar variation on Swiss Meringue buttercream, and it was delicious. The rich flavors of the brown sugar pair perfectly with the toasty notes of the oatmeal and cinnamon. It’s more rustic with the brown sugar, and couldn’t have been more perfect.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Makes 12 cupcakes.

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Ingredients:

7/8 cup boiling water
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips (mini would work best)

Frosting:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350?F. Line muffin tin with cupcake papers.

Pour boiling water over oatmeal. Let stand for 10 minutes until absorbed. Add margarine and stir until melted. Add brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs. Mix well.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Add to sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in most of chocolate chips, saving approximately 1/4 cup.

Distribute 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle a few remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 2 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on rack.

For frosting, in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites, sugar, and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch. Transfer to the clean bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and cooled, about 15 minutes. Raise speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form. Reduce speed to medium-low; add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, until fully incorporated. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

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19 Comments

  1. I’ve made these three times before, each time I’ve attempted the frosting it has been a miserable failure, but the cake always comes out AMAZING!!!!!!! I’m making some right now with the addition of dried apricots. Yum.

  2. I tried to make the buttercream frosting, twice, but each time it came out the consistency of cottage cheese, but at the same time really watery and runny.
    I piped it onto the cupcakes anyway, then chilled them, and the frosting hardened and kept its shape, but it looks all lumpy and weird. What did I do wrong?

  3. I made these cupcakes last night and they are very good. The only trouble is that the mini chocolate chips that happened to be on the bottom, all stuck to the paper liners. When the paper was removed the chips literally pulled out of the cupcake! There were plenty more through out the rest of the cupcake and it did not effect the taste. The icing was really good and not too sweet. Very easy to make.

  4. What I have found with the buttercream recipe is that when you are cooking it go a little longer than hot to the touch. Once it is hot, I continue to cook it for a couple extra minutes. That seems to work for me…

  5. You didn’t fail, it’s a different type of frosting than your typical sickeningly sweet american buttercream. It’s supposed to taste like that. :)

  6. Ok apparently I FAIL at buttercream. I tried to make this frosting and it was not sweet at all and tasted like, well, butter. I’m sure I did something wrong! I have much to learn.

  7. Good heavens!! You have the most amazing combination’s! Thank you for sharing!

  8. Buttercream is HAAARD to make! Who knew it would be so hard to make. I ended up with a huge mess and had to start over with the regular old sugar + butter + dash of milk recipe.

    Darn you buttercream!! But otherwise the cupcakes were good. I should be posting my adventure soon on hilaryheartsfood.

    Hilary

  9. Sounds totally yummy especially the brown sugar buttercream frosting!!!
    ~ingrid

  10. This looks amazing, I really love the idea of brown sugar buttercream. I’ve made brown sugar meringue before, and it was great.

  11. Why did I come over here when I’m hungry??? Oh how I wish there were a dozen of these in the kitchen right now!

  12. I am now the newest person officially hooked to your food blog! I’m a personal chef who LIVES for food, but can’t write worth a crap! lol
    I’m so excited to have printed off 20 or so recipes to add to my “to try” pile!

  13. Love this recepie idea.

    BTW, how do you and Taylor stay so slender with all these sweets?! Damn genetics! :) I’m jealous….

  14. This recipe is actually from Nancy and I made it a lot when you were little. I love it because it is moist but I agree mini chips would be much better in cupcakes. I will have to try it now in cupcake form.

  15. Oh these look tasty!! I have to try them soon.

  16. I love how you piped the frosting onto the cupcake. It looks great!
    Michelle
    http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

  17. You did such a beautiful job with the frosting! I love the idea of a brown sugar buttercream too.

  18. amazing! i am obsessed with cupcakes, and this sounds like a really great flavor combo.

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