These cinnamon toast crunch cupcakes are inspired by the famous Cereal Milk Desserts from Christina Tosi of Milk Bar! I used a similar technique of using flavored cinnamon toast crunch cereal milk in the cupcakes and frosting to enhance the nostalgic cereal flavor.
The cupcakes have a brown butter cinnamon cupcake base topped with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk frosting!
You might also like these Oreo cupcakes or these cookie dough cupcakes!
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Ingredient Notes
You only need a few fun ingredients to make these brown butter Cinnamon Toast Crunch cupcakes!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Cinnamon - I like to add a little extra ground cinnamon to the cake batter!
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal - I chose Cinnamon Toast Crunch for these cereal milk cupcakes because it's always been my favorite cereal! However, this same method would work with any type of cereal!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
I recommend making the brown butter the night before you make the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cupcakes, so that it has time to fully cool to room temperature!
Since both the cupcakes and the buttercream call for brown butter, I find it easier to just make one large batch and then weigh out the difference using a kitchen scale (½ cup of butter weighs about 113 grams). However, if you don't have a scale you can just make two separate batches of brown butter!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Cereal Milk Cupcakes
In a small bowl, let the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal steep in the milk for about 30 minutes. Then strain out the cereal milk and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar until combined.
Then add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until fully combined and smooth.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in ½ cup of the cereal milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from cupcake pan and let cool on wire rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
While the cupcakes are still warm, lightly brush the tops of the cupcakes with a little bit of the leftover cereal milk.
Frost cereal milk cupcakes, then garnish with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal pieces!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
I also like to just lightly brush the tops of the cupcakes with extra cereal milk for extra flavor and to help keep the cupcakes moist, but it's totally optional.
For these big beautiful frosting swirls on these cereal milk cupcakes, I use the 9FT tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
Garnish the cupcakes with cinnamon toast crunch cereal and a sprinkle of cinnamon!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving. Wait to top with Cinnamon Toast Crunch until right before serving.
No, but I recommend it! The brown butter takes both the cupcakes and frosting to the next level! However, you can substitute unsalted butter if you must.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Cupcake Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Cereal Milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup cinnamon toast crunch cereal
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup cereal milk
Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons cereal milk
Garnish
Instructions
Cereal Milk
- In a small bowl, let the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal steep in the milk for about 30 minutes. Then strain out the cereal milk and set aside.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted brown butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar until combined.
- Then add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until fully combined and smooth.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in ½ cup of the cereal milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from cupcake pan and let cool on wire rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- While the cupcakes are still warm, lightly brush the tops of the cupcakes with a little bit of the leftover cereal milk.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened brown butter until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time until fully combined and smooth. Then mix in the vanilla and cinnamon.
- Slowly drizzle in the cereal milk until fully incorporated. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
- Frost the cereal milk cupcakes, then garnish with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal pieces!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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