I talk a lot about the nerdy gaming nights an old friend of mine and I participate in every Friday, and I love them for two reasons:
For one, I’m a nerd, so I’m all about playing D&D or whatever the latest in tabletop adventuring is.
And for two, having all these people in my house means I get more test subjects to cook and bake for more people.
It’s becoming my own personal mini-game, learning what foods they like and trying to find recipes I can make that they’ll enjoy.
Which, of course, brings me to these cupcakes.
Because you see, when I’m stocking our fridge for game night, Dr Pepper is always on the list of must-have beverages for our guests, even though it’s not a soda an old friend of mine and I usually keep in the house.
It’s not that we don’t like Dr Pepper – I can kick a few back just like the next person – it’s just not a soda we typically keep on hand.
So when game night is over, our fridge is usually cleaned out, which includes our special stash of Dr Pepper… but this past week a few cans managed to survive the night and were left alone, lingering and unwanted in our fridge.
Which, of course, got me to thinking:
If they like Dr Pepper so much, are there ay cool recipes I can make with it for next week’s game night?
Turns out, yes, there certainly are recipes I could make…
Like these cupcakes infused with Dr Pepper!
These cupcakes have a mild Dr Pepper taste, but still very much there – and it’s all wrapped up in delicious chocolate.
It’s hard to go wrong with chocolate buttermilk cupcakes, so it’s hard not to like them even if you’re not a Dr Pepper fan.
I’m happy to report these little guys were a total hit at our last gaming night, which is always a great feeling… and I totally think the good food karma helps my dice rolls, too.
Try as I might, I’m not very good at the games we play, so I can use all the help I can get!
And at least I can enjoy a Dr Pepper Cupcake after I lose.
Recipe Details
Dr Pepper Cupcakes
Ingredients
Instructions
For the Chocolate Dr Pepper Cupcakes
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare muffins tin by adding cupcake cup liners (22-24 total).
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In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
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Using a stand mixer (or a hand mixer + large bowl), add in butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on low until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
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Keeping mixer speed on low, add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix in the Dr Pepper. Add the other half of the dry ingredients as well as the buttermilk. Mix until just combined - try not to overmix. Batter should be thick and fluffy.
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Pour cupcake batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups 2/3 full.
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Bake cupcakes (in batches of 12 or so) for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.
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Place muffin tin on a wire cooling rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then pop cupcakes out and allow to finish cooling on the wire rack. Wait until cupcakes are completely cooled before applying the frosting.
For the Dr Pepper Cream Cheese Frosting
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Use a stand mixer (or a hand mixer + large bowl) on high speed to beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy, roughly 2 minutes.
- Drop speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Frosting may be and clumpy at this stage - that is okay.
- Keeping speed on low, slowly beat in cream cheese. I'd recommend cutting the cream cheese into 4-5 pieces and mixing in one piece at a time.
- Finally, add in the Dr Pepper. This frosting is very forgiving and easy to balance to your tastes. You can add up to 6 tablespoons of Dr Pepper (total) or up to 5 cups of powdered sugar (total) to get the flavor and consistency you'd like.
- Decorate cupcakes as desired.
Recipe Notes
* When baking, it's best to mix eggs that are room temperature. Place whole eggs (still in shell) in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes to bring them down to room temperature quickly.
Recipe adapted from Baked by an Introvert.
Cathycathy says
YUm, these look unbelievably yummy! This is this week’s fan favorite at Making Memories Mondays! 🙂
Cathy
Jamie says
YUM – that looks amazing!! I wonder if I would have to change anything being at a high altitude. Pinning it to try!
Chrisy says
Thank you Jamie! I think I remember reading that high altitudes usually means more heat but less on ingredients like baking powder, sugar, and liquids(?) I’d be interested to hear what changes you make and how it turns out!
Kylie says
Hi, I’m also a gamer and your recipe for Guinness cupcakes may have saved my chaotic neutral pixie with evil tendencies. I think I scored major points with the DM by bringing those. I was just wondering what the texture was of the Dr. Pepper cupcakes because I believe I really screwed them up big time. We just came home from putting one of our dogs to sleep, and I was a little too upset to function when I decided to bake. They were really dense and didn’t rise at all. I’m sure it was an error on my part in following directions, but I just want to make sure before I decide whether or not to go for a second attempt making them again.
Chrisy says
Hey Kylie! So sorry for the late response! And very sorry about your dog 🙁 I know just how hard that is.
For the cupcakes deflating or not rising… hrm, could be a few things. Did you check the age of your baking soda? It does lose it’s potency after a while. Another culprit could be overmixing – some say it’s best to stop mixing as soon as you no longer see any dry ingredients, but even that can vary a little. I’ll have to make this recipe again soon and see if I can pin down anything else that might be the cause.
Melanie says
I stumbled upon this recipe when a random cupcake hit me last week. I was intrigued, and ended up loving the taste! They’re not too Dr. Pepper-y, which I was scared about, the taste is subtle. It’s more of a “There’s something tasty in here, but can’t quite put my finger on it” kind of taste (if that makes sense). I did make the frosting recipe my own, though, because the original recipe sounded like it would be too sweet. My frosting was more of a subtly sweet cream cheese frosting, and still have enough frosting for another dozen or so cupcakes.
My frosting –
2-2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 “splashes” of Dr. Pepper
As the butter, powder sugar, and cream cheese mixture started sticking to my mixer’s blade, I added the liquids (1st time clumping – vanilla, 2nd time – 1 “splash” of Dr. Pepper, etc.). Taste as you go! You may want more/less sugar.
Peggy says
My boyfriend can’t have chocolate, can I leave it out?