Cinnamon Browned Butter Cupcakes

...with Cookie Butter Buttercream and Apple Butter Buttercream frostings. I don't think these need much more introduction.

Cinnamon Browned Butter Cupcakes

1 cup butter, divided

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Prep:
Before getting started, brown the butter and cool it. Place 1/2 cup of the butter in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Stir the butter constantly to ensure even browning (a silicone spatula works wonders here). When the milk solids reach an even amber color, pour the browned butter into a bowl to cool completely. The total process typically takes me about 8 minutes. This can be made well in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before continuing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using dark pans) and line two cupcake tins with 24 liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Process:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and browned butter until smooth and creamy. Add the sugars and cream until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and mix. The mixture may look curdled at this point; don't let that bother you.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, until everything is incorporated. Scrape down the bowl of the mixer as needed.

Divide the batter between the cupcake liners and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because of the darkness of the batter, these don't appear to brown too much.

Cookie Butter Buttercream

1/3 cup cookie butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3-4 tbsp cream

Cream the butter and cookie butter until light and fluffy. Add in 1 cup of the confectioner's sugar. The mixture will be stiff. Add in 3 tbsp of the cream to lighten. Add in enough of the remaining confectioner's sugar to meet your sweetness/consistency desires. I wound up using about 1 3/4 cups in total.  Frost 12 of the cupcakes with this mixture. I then topped the cupcakes with a sprinkling of gold sanding sugar and cinnamon.

Apple Butter Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp apple butter, plus extra for filling
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups confectioner's sugar

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the apple butter and cinnamon. Mix to combine. Add in the confectioner's sugar gradually until desired consistency and sweetness are reached. Again, I used about 1 3/4 cups sugar, but I tend to like frosting less sweet than some. Frost a ring of frosting around the outside of the 12 remaining cupcakes. Fill the center with a dollop of apple butter.

I've noticed myself moving away from filling cupcakes. While not every cupcake needs to be filled, the apple butter adds excellent flavor and texture to the apple butter frosted cupcakes. But of course, it's completely optional.