Deliciously moist maple bacon and butter cupcakes with a rich flavor. These Maple Bacon Cupcakes are made with maple cream cheese buttercream frosting and pack plenty of real bacon for every bacon lover!
I’ve been meaning to make these Maple Bacon Cupcakes for some time now. I originally wanted to share them in fall where I think these flavors perfectly describe November. But since that didn’t happen, I wanted to share them in time for Father’s Day because what father doesn’t love bacon?! These Maple Bacon Cupcakes pack so much flavor. You’ll love the combination of salty bacon and sweet maple syrup and tangy cream cheese frosting!
Last week I shared my Churro Cake recipe and I loved the moist and tender cake so much that I’ve adapted the recipe and made that recipe into these Maple Bacon Cupcakes. The biggest change with the original recipe is that this one uses maple sugar. I’ve been holding onto some maple sugar in the pantry for about a year now and I’m excited about the flavor it added to this recipe.
I have not been able to find maple sugar in stores, but I did buy it on Amazon and it looks like Walmart now sells them online, too. If that’s an option for you then you won’t need to adapt this recipe. If you are not able to find it or you really want to make this recipe now, you can use granulated sugar in these manly cupcakes.
Finally, my secret to creating this gorgeous design with frosting is actually pretty easy. About 2 years ago, I bought Russian Cake Tips and these big ball tips have been used to frost all my cupcakes since then. There is an adjustment period to using these and I’d suggest using Wilton Stiff Frosting to pipe the cupcakes until you get the hang of using regular frosting.
The key to frosting these cupcakes is to rotate the cupcake while twisting the piping bag and slowly pull the bag up.
As I said, it takes some practice to get used to this and sometimes you’ll have to rotate bags as to not warm the frosting too much. The same goes with regular frosting. The more the bag is picking up heat from your hand, the harder it will be to pipe stiff frosting. Try piping a few at a time or refrigerating the frosting.
These moist Maple Bacon Cupcakes pack a delicious flavor that can’t be beaten. If you love buttercream cream cheese frosting and have a bacon lover in your life, this cupcake recipe is for you!
Looking for more delicious cupcakes recipes? Try these Churro Cupcakes or these Italian Cream Cupcakes. I love these Coconut Macaroon Cupcakes, too!
Maple Bacon Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups (minus 1 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup maple sugar (or 1 cup granulated sugar in place of maple sugar)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- â…” cup shortening, packed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup milk (I use half and half)
- 3 large eggs
- 3½ tsp maple extract (or imitation flavoring)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp pure maple syrup
For the Maple Frosting
- 18 tbsp (that's 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter (at room temperatureat room temperature)
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp maple extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 12 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1 cup shortening (packed)
- 2 lb bacon (finely chopped)
- maple syrup (garnish)
Instructions
-  Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a muffin tin pan with paper cups; set aside.
- In a bowl fit with paddle attachment, whisk together flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Â
- On low, slowly beat in chunks of shortening and butter. Turn mixer to medium. Beat until mixture has small crumbs.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, eggs, maple flavoring, vanilla extract, and maple syrup.Â
- Mixer on low, slowly pour mixture into dry ingredients. Turn mixer to medium. Beat until incorporated; about 1 minute. Whip down sides of bowl with a spatula. Sstir to mix.
- Spoon 2½ tbsp cake batter into each cupcake. Bake in oven for 27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool.
- Make the frosting. In a bowl fit with a mixer, beat butter, powdered confectioner's sugar, salt, and maple flavoring. Once smooth, turn mixer up to medium. Beat in chunks of cream cheese and shortening. Mix until smooth.
- Fill a pastry bag with a cupcake tip and frost each cupcake. TIP: Frosting may need to be chilled in a pastry bag to create same design as photos. Also, I used a Russian Ball Tip to frost each cupcake. See notes on where to buy, otherwise, any cupcake tip will do.
- To make bacon, cook according to package directions or to make in the oven heat to 400°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and spread bacon evenly on sheets without them touching. Bake for about 20 minutes or until bacon is golden brown. Transfer bacon to paper towel then finely chop.
- Add chopped bacon to the top of the cupcake and around the bottom frosting. Drizzle maple syrup over each cupcake if desired.
- Cupcakes need to be chilled until 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
54 Comments
Terri Griffith
10/16/2019 at 6:48 amI am making these for my daughter’s baby shower brunch!!! How many does this recipe make please?
Jessica Knott
10/26/2019 at 11:05 amAbout 34 cupcakes. To increase or decrease the size of the recipe, without doing all the math, simply highlight the serving size above the author name at the beginning of the recipe card. From there, you can slide the servings around and it will adjust the rest of the recipe.
Charlotte Urbanik
05/19/2020 at 3:55 pmI’m confused, what is meant by shortening, packed? Are you talking about a shortening like Crisco bars? And what do you mean by packed, just push it down with the back of a spoon?
Thank you.
Jessica Knott
05/21/2020 at 8:00 pmYes, crisco bars work otherwise be sure to push the crisco down in a measuring cup if using the bottle.
Kelli Isham
06/19/2020 at 7:13 pmCan you substitute the real bacon pieces instead of frying the bacon or will it mess with the flavor?
Jessica Knott
06/20/2020 at 1:20 pmI highly recommend making the bacon. Instead of frying, bake on a rimmed jelly sheet in a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes, then chop.
Kari
08/18/2020 at 1:06 pmMin are in the oven right now, 27 minutes????!
Kari
08/19/2020 at 11:55 amThese cupcakes were perfect, moist fantastic consistency and delicious!
Stephlyn
09/18/2020 at 8:55 pmPerfection! Followed the recipe exactly as written. Thrilled! I’ve used another recipe for years and this one stole the show.
Jane
12/18/2020 at 4:49 amHi Jessica. I’d love to try this recipe out. Just wondering your opinion on whether i can make this into a tiered cake instead? Do you think it would be dense enough to support? Thanks.
Lillie
02/06/2021 at 7:39 amThese are the best cupcakes I have ever had . I make them for my sales and there always the first to go ! Thank you for making this treat
Patricia Roehrich
02/14/2021 at 8:26 pmIf you don’t have maple sugar, then you would add a total of 2 cups of sugar? Or just 1 cup?
Swankyrecipes
04/20/2022 at 2:34 pm2 cups of granulated sugar total then.
V K
02/25/2021 at 8:04 amHas anyone tried making these with gluten-free flour? I’m wondering how it will affect the moisture.
Deugd
07/31/2021 at 8:16 pmHi, can I add bacon to the batter?
Swankyrecipes
04/20/2022 at 2:33 pmSure you can.
Jill Ellis
09/09/2021 at 11:31 amCould we use all maple sugar in this recipe?
Swankyrecipes
10/18/2021 at 5:27 amI do not see why not. Let me know how it turns out =)
Marcia Pruitt
09/15/2021 at 8:17 amPlease tell me how to get the bacon around the bottom of the icing so nice and neat. I’m wanting to do these for an upcoming bridal shower.
Swankyrecipes
12/22/2021 at 9:55 pmFinely chop. Cup crumbs in hands and rotate around the bottom of the icing.
LilliePreckajlo
12/13/2021 at 5:01 pmThese are the best cupcakes in the world . I make them all the time ,
Tyffiney Moser
01/17/2022 at 9:36 pmDo you use plain shortening or butter flavor?
Swankyrecipes
01/20/2022 at 1:00 pmI use plain
Deb
03/30/2022 at 8:26 amCan you use all butter and omit the shortening?
Swankyrecipes
03/30/2022 at 4:44 pmI have not tried, but let me know how it works out.
Chantel Carey
04/09/2022 at 6:31 pmHi. I would like to know if I could use this to make a 10X16 sheet cake? If so what degrees would I bake it on and how long? Also, could I use pure maple extract instead of imitation?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Swankyrecipes
04/10/2022 at 10:04 amBake at 325. Give it 30 minutes then check every 10 minutes or so until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.