Churro Cupcakes
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Soft, spiced, and irresistibly sweet, these churro cupcakes are everything you love about churros—in cupcake form!
Who doesn’t love the warm, cinnamon-sugar goodness of a freshly made churro? These churro cupcakes capture all that sweet magic, with a soft vanilla base, cinnamon-spiced cream cheese frosting, and a buttery cinnamon-sugar topping. Want to take them up a notch? Drizzle on some caramel sauce. Perfect for a party—or just because!
What You’ll Need To Make Churro Cupcakes
- Flour: Provides structure; measure using the spoon-and-level method to ensure accuracy.
- Baking Powder: Ensures a fluffy rise.
- Cinnamon: Adds warm, churro-inspired flavor throughout.
- Butter: Adds richness, moisture, and helps the cinnamon-sugar topping stick.
- Sugar: Sweetens the cupcakes and topping, adding a slight crunch.
- Eggs: Bind the batter and add richness.
- Vanilla: Enhances flavor with warm, aromatic notes.
- Milk: Keeps the cupcakes moist and soft.
- Cream Cheese: The tangy, creamy base for the frosting.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Caramel Sauce (Optional): A decadent finishing drizzle.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two muffin pans with paper liners. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk in three parts, mixing until just combined.
Fill the muffin cups.
Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, then cool.
Put the melted butter in one bowl and mix the sugar and cinnamon in another. Brush the cooled cupcakes with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and sugar until fluffy.
Pipe onto cupcakes and garnish with additional cinnamon-sugar. The cupcakes can be prepared one day ahead of time or frozen without the frosting for up to 3 months.
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Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into a measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk
For the Topping
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz full-fat, brick-style cream cheese, softened but still cool
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar
For Serving
- Caramel sauce, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. In three additions, alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer them to the rack to cool completely.
For the Topping
- Place the melted butter in a shallow bowl. In another small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.
- Brush the top of each cooled cupcake with butter, then hold it over the cinnamon-sugar mixture and spoon the mixture over the top, letting any excess fall back into the bowl. Reserve the remaining cinnamon-sugar for the frosted cupcakes.
For the Frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and aerated, about 2 minutes. Gradually add 4 cups of the confectioners' sugar, mixing on low to combine. Once all the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. If the frosting is too thin, or you prefer a sweeter frosting, add the remaining cup of sugar and beat again.
- Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes, then dust lightly with the reserved cinnamon-sugar (you may not use all of it). Drizzle with caramel sauce, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments
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Hi Jenn! My family and I LOVE literally every single one of your recipes! I plan to try out this recipe as a cake according to the directions that you gave someone else in the comments… which got me thinking, would I be able to turn the Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting from your cook book into a cake if I doubled the recipe (since that recipe is for 12 cupcakes)? If this is possible, what size pan would I use and what would the cook time be? We LOVE the cupcakes, but I thought it could be a fun twist to turn it into a cake if it’s possible! Thank you so much for any help!!
Hi Sarah, thanks for your nice words about the recipes – so glad you like them! Yes, you can double the gingerbread cupcake recipe and convert it into a layer cake. I’d use two 8 or 9-inch round baking pans. Bake time should be about 30 to 35 minutes but keep a close eye on them. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
Hi Jenn, if I cut the receipe in half should I use 1 or 2 eggs I only want to make 12 cupcakes
Hi Michelle, I hate to be a stickler, but I would use 1-1/2 eggs (just beat one of the eggs and use only half). Hope you enjoy!
Does the butter for the cupcake need to be softened before creaming? Excited to try this recipe out!
Yes, Josephine, it should be softened. Thanks for pointing that out – I’ll add it to the recipe now. Hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
Amazing recipe thank you Jenn! I made this as a cake and my family loved it! I will be making it again soon and wanted to know if there is any benefit to substituting buttermilk or Greek yogurt for milk in the recipe? I want the cake to be even more moist and able to last longer on the counter. I only make the cake with no frosting or caramel. For the record, your recipe yields an amazingly moist cake and I am just looking at how to take it over the top. Thanks again!
Hi Jessica, happy to hear it came out so well for you! I recommend sticking with regular milk though.
Thank you and will do!
Hi,
I actually haven’t made them yet so it’s a preemptive rating but I love all the recipes I’ve tried over the years so I don’t think this will be any different. I was just wondering if I could make this into a cake? Would a 9×13 or two 9” round cakes be better? How would that affect the cooking times? Thanks for all your wonderful recipe ideas!
Hi Alisa, so glad you liked the recipes! The cupcake recipe makes enough to fill two 9-inch cake pans. The baking time for the cake layers will be about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Please LMK how it turns out if you tried it!
Turned out awesome, everyone ate it up and I didn’t have any leftovers! Thanks!
So happy to hear that — thanks for taking the time to report back!
My whole family loved these cupcakes. The caramel sauce is so good drizzled on top (I warmed ours slightly). The butter brushed on top with the cinnamon sugar adds a wonderful flavor and texture. This is definitely one of the more unique cupcake recipes I’ve made and will definitely make again in the future!
These are terrific! I do wish the instructions included how much to put in each muffin cup. I used a scoop so all of mine were even at about 2/3-3/4 full. They all spilled over and had to be trimmed—workable but not desirable. At 2/3 full, I suspect I would get around 26 cupcakes. I piped with a 2D tip and they were gorgeous. Plenty sweet without the caramel sauce. These were a big hit!
This sounds delicious ! I am wondering if I can use a tub style cream cheese( need it to be lactose free, butter is ok). Please advise !
Sure, Jan, I think you can get away with it. Hope you enjoy!