Honey Bun Cupcakes are lovely and soft with great flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with a delicious homemade honey buttercream frosting.
We've got a wonderful cupcake recipe for you, generously shared by one of our readers, Dianne MeMe Bolen. Dianne has made some fantastic tasting honey bun cupcakes, adapted from our honey bun cake recipe, and then made a smooth, creamy homemade honey buttercream frosting.
The cupcakes are as soft as can be, with the flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar running through them. The addition of a honey buttercream frosting is truly wonderful and compliments the cinnamon and sugar flavors in the cupcakes.
The recipe itself is very straightforward. You can use a shop-bought yellow cake mix, or use our homemade recipe for yellow cake mix. Choose whatever suits you best. I know some of our readers outside of the USA can't get hold of yellow cake mix, so we've added the recipe below for you to do it from scratch.
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These cupcakes are perfect for any occasion, whether it's to take along to a party, or to give to friends and family, or simply have at home as a nice sweet treat. I think these would also be great as part of a Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert table, and you could even add some seasonal sprinkles on the tops of the frosting for the festive period!
So let's get to the recipe, and a huge thank you to Dianne for sharing her very own recipe. Please enjoy!
Prep Time
30 Minutes
Cook Time
16 Minutes
Check out our handy Oven Temperature Conversion Guide!
Serves
24 cupcakes
Frosting recipe By Dianne MeMe Bolen and cupcake recipe inspired from Sally Hall's Honey Bun Cake recipe
Ingredients
1 Box Yellow cake mix
⅔ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
8 oz sour cream
1cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
The Frosting
2 sticks softened butter
½ cup shortening
4 cups confectioners sugar (may need to add a little more)
2 ½ Tablespoons honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 – 6 Tablespoons whole milk
*This is optional but if I have some on hand, I will add 2 tsp meringue powder to the frosting mixture which will help stabilize the frosting
If using our homemade Yellow cake mix, use the ingredients listed below:
- 2 ½ Cups or 310 g All Purpose / Plain Flour
- 2 ¼ Cups or 450 g Regular Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ Cup or 75 g Melted Butter
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Cup or 235 ml Sour Cream
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 Cup or 200 g Brown Sugar
Instructions
1. Pre heat oven to 350°F . Arrange 24 cupcake liners in baking pans.
2. In a bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream until all combined. About 2 minutes.
*** If making this using our homemade yellow cake mix, add all the cake ingredients EXCEPT the brown sugar and cinnamon to a bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Spread half of the batter in pan evenly. Then continue to step 3.
2. In a small bowl, add the brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Put 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of batter per cupcake liner, then sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top.
4. Put 1 tablespoon of batter on top of the sugar /cinnamon mixture
5. Bake for 16 minutes, remove from the oven, let set in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
When cupcakes are completely cooled, frost with the honey buttercream fro/sting.
Make sure the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.
5. For the honey buttercream frosting,
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and shortening until mixed well.
- Add the honey and vanilla and mix.
- Add the confectioner's sugar and meringue powder.
- Add in 2 – 3 tablespoons of milk and cover the mixer with a clean towel to keep sugar dust from flying everywhere.
- Mix on medium speed until you get a smooth consistency. May need more milk (add ½ tablespoons of milk at a time to loosen the frosting or a little more sugar to thicken the frosting until you get the consistency you like.
- Remove the bowl from the mixture and take a spatula and mix to make sure everything on the sides and bottom of the bowl is mixed in good.
If you are going to use immediately, put into piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. If not going to use immediately, I take the towel and cover the bowl until you are ready to frost the cupcakes.
Notes
1. I have found that this makes enough for at least 24 cupcakes. I like a lot of frosting so if you don’t use as much as I did, you can get more cupcakes frosted.
2. ONLY use BUTTER (I use 1 stick of Kerrygold and 1 stick of Challenge. In case you forget to lay the butter out – wrap the sticks in a clean kitchen towel and put them in the microwave for 15 seconds, remove and put them into the mixer bowl.
3. I have used Crisco and Great Value shortening and I prefer the GV brand.
4. The meringue powder doesn’t affect the consistency of the frosting but I have used it in other frosting recipes and I just like the slight difference in the way the frosting feels in my mouth when I use it.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Honey Bun Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream Frosting
Honey Bun Cupcakes are lovely and soft with great flavors of cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with a homemade honey buttercream frosting
Ingredients
- 1 Box Yellow cake mix
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 8 oz sour cream
- 1cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
The Frosting:
- 2 sticks softened butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 4 cups confectioners sugar (may need to add a little more)
- 2 ½ Tablespoons honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 – 6 Tablespoons whole milk
- *Optional: if I have some on hand, add 2 tsp meringue powder to the frosting mixture
Instructions
1. Pre heat oven to 350∞F Grease a 13 x 9 -inch pan
2. In a bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream until all combined. About 2 minutes.
3. In small bowl, add the brown sugar and cinnamon.
4. Put 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of batter per cupcake liner, then sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top.
5. Put 1 tablespoon of batter on top of the sugar /cinnamon mixture
6. Bake for 16 minutes, remove from the oven, let set in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
7. When cupcakes are completely cooled, frost with the honey buttercream frosting.
8.. For the frosting, In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter and shortening until mixed well.
9. Add the honey and vanilla and mix.
10. Add the confectioner's sugar and meringue powder.
11. Add in 2 – 3 tablespoons of milk and cover the mixer with a clean towel to keep sugar dust from flying everywhere.
12. Mix on medium speed until you get a smooth consistency. You may need more milk (add ½ tablespoon of milk at a time to loosen the frosting or a little more sugar to thicken the frosting until you get the consistency you like.
13. Remove the bowl from the mixture and take a spatula and mix to make sure everything on the sides and bottom of the bowl is mixed in good.
If you are going to use immediately, put into piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. If not going to use immediately, I take the towel and cover the bowl until you are ready to frost the cupcakes.
Notes
1. I have found that this makes enough for at least 24 cupcakes. I like a lot of frosting so if you don’t use as much as I did, you can get more cupcakes frosted.
2. ONLY use BUTTER (I use 1 stick of Kerrygold and 1stick of Challenge. In case you forget to lay the butter out – wrap the sticks in a clean kitchen towel and put them in the microwave for 15 seconds, remove and put them into the mixer bowl.
3. I have used Crisco and Great Value shortening and I prefer the GV brand.
4. The meringue powder doesn’t affect the consistency of the frosting but I have used it in other frosting recipes and I just like the slight difference in the way the frosting feels in my mouth when I use it.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 390Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 242mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 0gSugar: 38gProtein: 2g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
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