Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes

Start by making the Cinnamon Toast Crunch treats:

Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

Remove from heat and add Cinnamon Toast Crunch pieces and stir until well coated.

Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a small pan coated with cooking spray. You want a thin even layer.

Allow to cool. Once cooled, cut into little 1-inch squares that you will use for topping each cupcake.

Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs. Set aside.

Stir milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat just until butter melts; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick enough for the batter to fall in a heavy ribbon when the beater is lifted, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour mixture; beat just until blended.

Beat in the milk-butter mixture just until blended. Stir in 1 cup crushed cereal. Divide batter evenly between cupcake liners. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs on top of each cupcake.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Filling:

Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes. Stir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil.

When thickened (consistency will be that of a thin pudding or custard), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature.

When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter (or shortening) and sugar together in a medium bowl until light. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the vanilla extract and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 7 minutes, add cereal crumbs (1/2 cup) and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip, or a large Ziplock bag with the corner cut off, and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.

Frosting:

With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. After two additions of sugar, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. Then add 1/2 cup of cereal crumbs and beat until mixed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes

After cupcakes have cooled, fill a pastry bag with the vanilla cream icing. To fill cupcakes (with the filling that you set aside), push pastry bag in the top of the cupcake as far as it can go without puncturing the bottom, gently squeeze bag while slowly pulling up until you reach the surface.

Using a piping bag with a round tip, frost each cupcake with vanilla frosting.

Top the frosting with a cinnamon toast crunch treat and dust with ground up cereal if you like.