Tastes Like Christmas
Isn’t it weird how some food make you think of a certain time of year. No matter what the weather is like, that taste takes you back to some other time and memory.
That is what happened with hubby and I ate these cupcakes. They taste like Christmas. We both said it after the first bite. I was somewhat surprised because the cookbook has a gingerbread cupcake recipe in it and I thought that would taste like Christmas and these wouldn’t, but they do. They are very good though!
Spice Cupcakes – 5 WW PTS with frosting (from Crazy about Cupcakes) makes 12
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour – I use King Arthurs White Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat over to 350F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
In a small bowl combine the molasses and boiling water. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the egg to the creamed mixture. Beat well.
In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients.
Beat the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, alternating with the molasses mixture. Beat well after each addition.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.
Cream Cheese Frosting (cheat version)
Mix 8 oz cream cheese with a tub of store-bought vanilla frosting.
Nutritional Information (please double check with your ingredients and serving sizes – I use this recipe calculator)
Cupcake: 142.7 Calories, 4.6g Fat, 28.1 mg Cholesterol, 213 mg Sodium, 209.4 mg Potassium, 22.8 g Carbs, 1.6 g Dietary Fiber, 12.3 g Sugar, 2.4 g Protein
WW POINTS = 3
Frosting: 67.2 Calories, 3.1g Fat, 3.3 mg Cholesterol, 56.9 mg Sodium, 4.4 mg Potassium, 9.1 g Carbs, 0 g Dietary Fiber, 8.5 g Sugar, 0.7 g Protein
WW POINTS = 2
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
These look fantastic!
my husbands family calls them butter-gooey cake.
Hi! These are actually called Gooey Butter Cakes, and they are a Paula Deen recipe (hence the butter and cream cheese!) I love making them with a red velvet cake mix….so good.
Ooey gooey butter cakes have been around for decades – they started in St. Louis – very close to my hometown. I remember making this recipe years before Paula came on the scene. She just made them more famous! Everyone goes nuts when you make them – I make them with all kinds of flavors – pineapple, lemon etc. Yours look great.
Thanks for all the information about where the bars originate from. Wherever they came from, they sure are good. I saw some comments on the allrecipes.com link of variations that people have tried like swirling in some berries and using chocolate cake mix. Kind of like a cheesecake brownie
Here in Kentucky they’re called Chess bars and have been around for a very long time. I’m not a native to KY and a coworker introduced me to these. I looked at them and thought “What the heck is that?” but once I tried one I was HOOKED! I just love how simple they are to make.
Whatever you call them, they’re pretty darned good!
YUM! Those look really delicious. And I love the colors you always put in the background.; The blue with the orange tint of the abrs is just perfect!
Yours looks like how my first and only batch turned out but I think I’d like them better gooey and with a little less sugar.
~ingrid
Yum…I love these things!
These look delicious! And I love using boxed cake mix!
I made these for a friends birthday this past weekend and they were a big hit!
I just made these today and they are delicious! I left mine slightly gooey and it’s so good!
I love these bars!
ust made these, yum! But I am curious to know where I can find some variations, i.e., with nuts, chocolate, fruit flavored, etc……I love to experiment!
beantownbaker — March 16th, 2013 @ 2:49 pm
I haven’t had a chance to play around myself with this recipe. I’m sure if you searched online, you’d find some other variations. Let me know what you try!
My mom used to make them for us when I was little. I am 25 now. And I am pretty sure they have been around for quite some time. Paula Deen probably only highlighted the fact that they were around. But yes Yum!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday.
It’s always interesting to read through articles from other writers and practice something from other sites.
How can you make these to taste like pumpkin? If you add in pumpkin, do you need to cut back on something else??
beantownbaker — September 26th, 2013 @ 10:33 am
Oh that’s a great thought… What about using a box of pumpkin cake mix? And then throwing some pumpkin spices in the cream cheese mixture? If you try this variation, definitely let me know how it turns out!
Omg these look amazing cannot wait to try! I will experiment though!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:08 pm
If you do, let me know how it goes!
This has been around for years and yes it came from a Philly box. Was a family tradition for holidays at our house, but you can make with lemon as well
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Good to know!
I have been making these for years…but I dust with powdered sugar when cool. I can’t go to a family function without taking them.We call them Butter Cheese Squares.
I have made these for over 20 some years. I mix pecan pieces in the crust. Family just loves them. Making them tomorrow.
I make mine with Butter Pecan Cake mix and they are awesome. I am trying lemon this weekend.