Snickers Cupcakes with Nougat Frosting

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Snickers Cupcakes just sound like a party.  Chocolate cupcakes, caramel filling, nougat frosting, and a peanut garnish are all amazing on their own.  But together, these make one heck of a treat! Now you can enjoy this classic candy in cupcake form.

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Snickers or Milky Way?

Which one is your favorite?  Ben had his first and last Snickers after he went Trick or Treating for the first time at 2 years old.  He managed to scratch his gums on a peanut and we had to go to an emergency dentist visit the next day. Needless to say, he hasn’t had one since.

Personally, I love the creaminess of a Milky Way and I’m crazy about the Midnight ones.  But the crunch of peanuts in a Snickers is also irresistible. If you’re hard core Team Milky Way, just nix the nuts and you’ve got yourself a Milky Way Cupcake.

Snickers Cupcakes

I think the idea of this Snickers Cupcake recipe first came to me while we were living in Texas.  Granted, I am not even close to being the first person to come up with a similar dessert.  But I think mine is different because of the nougat frosting.

This recipe is fairly easy, but I’ll walk you through all of the components.  You’re going to be making chocolate cupcakes, nougat Italian meringue buttercream, and throwing in some caramel and peanuts to get the party bumpin’.

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Chocolate Cupcakes

You can use any chocolate cake or cupcake recipe you love to make these Snickers Cupcakes.  For these, I used my Devil’s Food Cake. A lot of chocolate cake recipes are runny, like my Dark Chocolate Cake, and that can make it hard to portion out the cupcakes.  This recipe is nice and thick and so easy to scoop.

If you need a gluten free chocolate cupcake, this vegan and gluten free recipe has been a huge hit.  It only makes a dozen cupcakes, so double it if you need to or be happy you don’t have a ton of cupcakes to deal with.

Homemade Nougat… Kinda

Now, my inspiration for this unique frosting comes from a Cupcake Jemma video.  She made a Snickers Cake and one of the fillings was a peanut nougat. It’s not really nougat, more of a shortcut version.

When you are making your shortcut nougat, make sure the sugar is dissolved before you remove it from the heat.  If you don’t, your nougat will have a grainy texture that is just not awesome, but it’s also not the end of the world.  You also want to make sure the nougat cools to room temperature before adding it to the frosting. Too hot and it will melt the buttercream, too cold and it won’t incorporate.

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Nougat Frosting

I decided to make my nougat without any peanut butter or nuts and I wanted to keep it a bit looser so that it would mix into the frosting.  In my humble opinion, the nougat is the best part of a Snickers, so my Snickers Cupcakes had to have some.  The frosting seemed like the perfect way to do this.

Italian meringue buttercream is light, fluffy and not too sweet, so it was the perfect choice for my nougat frosting base.  When you beat in the nougat, it’s going to look a bit ugly at first. Keep beating until it smooths out a bit. It will likely not be completely smooth, but that’s just fine.  If you’re making IMBC for the first time, check out this post.

Cupcakes… Assemble!

They make fancy cupcake corers, but all you really need is an apple corer.  Since the chocolate cupcakes are super moist, the corer is going to get pretty sticky after each cupcake.  I suggest wiping it down each time. Otherwise, the apple corer will begin to destroy the cupcakes and make a giant mess.  Boo.

Fill the cupcakes with caramel and peanuts.  I actually didn’t think to add peanuts until the final 3 cupcakes, but it makes so much sense for Snickers Cupcakes to be filled with both.  Top with a blob of nougat frosting and drizzle with the caramel. Add some peanuts as a tasty and beautiful garnish. Voila!

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Find Time to Bake

If you look at the recipe down below, it might seem like a bit of work.  But I’ve got a secret. All I actually made the day I threw these together was the nougat.  Truth! I had a dozen chocolate cupcakes in the freezer from a previous order. And when I made the filling for this German Chocolate Cake, I ended up with 4 extra egg whites.  So I made the Italian meringue buttercream and popped that in the freezer for a rainy day.

Finding time to bake recipes that are a bit involved can be a struggle for a lot of people.  I bake once or twice a week and decided to write up my best tips for finding time in your daily schedule to bake.  Read all about it here if you need some pointers.

Enjoy!

Snickers Cupcakes might just be your new favorite treat.  I don’t know why the salty peanuts, fluffy nougat frosting and caramel taste like heaven in a chocolate cupcake, but they do.  If nuts aren’t your thing, you’re going to love this recipe as Milky Way Cupcakes instead. Either way, your mouth will thank you.

I know some people love Snickers in a fanatical way.  Know someone like this? Send them this recipe (or just make them and send them a cupcake) and you might just make their day!

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Snickers Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes filled with caramel and peanuts and topped with nougat frosting. Add a drizzle of caramel and even more peanuts and you've got yourself a Snickers Cupcake.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Birthday, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Frosting, Nuts

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 24 cupcakes

Calories 435kcal

Author Colleen

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
• 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cup boiling water
• 3 3/4 oz all- purpose flour (3/4 cup)
• 3 oz cake flour (3/4 cup)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 oz unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
• 10 1/2 oz dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Italian Meringue Buttercream

• 4 egg whites room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 16 oz unsalted butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla

Nougat

• 30 g unsalted butter (2 Tbsps)
• 110 g sugar
• 35 ml evaporated milk
• 195 g marshmallow fluff (7 oz jar)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Toppings

• ½ cup caramel sauce
• ¼ cup salted peanuts

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line cupcake pan with paper cases. Set aside.
• Place chocolate and cocoa powder in a small heat proof bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Whisk and set aside.
• Beat butter on a medium- high speed for about a minute, or until creamy. Add brown sugar and beat on a high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl down.
• With the mixer on a medium- high speed. Carefully add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Scrape the bowl down.
• Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat on a medium speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl down.
• Add a third of the dry ingredients and beat on low until just combined. With the mixer running, add half of the chocolate mixture and beat until just combined.
• Add another third of the dry ingredients and beat on low until just combined. With the mixer running, add the remaining chocolate mixture and beat until just combined.
• Add the last of the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not over beat. Scrape the bowl down and fold gently to combine.
• Use a large cookie scoop (about 1/4 cup) to evenly dispense the batter into the cupcake pans. Bake for 15- 18 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5- 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before assembling.

Nougat

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium- low heat.
• Add the sugar and evaporated milk. Cook, stirring continuously, for 10- 15 minutes. The sugar should be melted (not grainy) and the mixture should be thickened.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the marshmallow fluff and vanilla. Make sure the mixture is well combined. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Place a lid on top, but leave a gap for the hot air to escape.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

• Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk. Begin whipping on a low speed to break up the eggs. Add the salt and cream of tartar.
• With the mixer on a medium speed, add ⅓ cup of the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Turn the speed up to medium- high and beat until you reach soft peaks.
• While the eggs whip up, place 1 cup of the sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Place over medium- high heat and bring the sugar to 235°F - 240°F. Do not stir the sugar as it heats.
• Once the sugar is ready, the egg whites should be at soft peaks. Slowly and carefully drizzle the syrup into the bowl, being careful to avoid the whisk. Continue to beat the meringue until it reaches room temperature. This will take about 20 minutes. Pack the sides of the bowl with ice or frozen veggies to speed up the process.
• When the meringue is no longer warm, switch to a paddle attachment. You can begin adding the butter one tablespoon at a time. Wait about 30 seconds between additions. The mixture will deflate and look loose, but it will thicken up again. If it looks too soupy at any point, pop the bowl in the fridge for 5- 10 minutes.
• Once the butter has been added, scrape down the bowl and add vanilla. Beat to combine.
• Once the nougat is at room temperature, add it to the buttercream. Beat until well combined.

Cupcake Assembly

• To assemble, core a cupcake, being careful not to remove the bottom of the cupcake. Fill halfway with caramel sauce. Add a few peanuts. Pipe a large blob of frosting directly over the hole to cover it. Drizzle with more caramel sauce and top with peanuts.

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