mini brown butter funfetti cupcakes + brown sugar buttercream
Five years! This week marks five whole years since I first pressed “publish” on a post on Girl Versus Dough. INSANE.

In some ways, that feels like forever and ever ago; in others, it feels like yesterday (cliche, I know, but the truth). Never in the wildest of my wildest dreams did I think, when I first pressed “publish” then, that now I’d be sitting here, doing what I love full time — that is to say, making things like mini brown butter funfetti cupcakes and chatting you up about them (because OMG, we have to talk about these). Is this real life? I still pinch myself sometimes to make sure.

Recently I’ve found myself hooked on “America’s Got Talent” (I promise this segue is going somewhere), which is SO STRANGE because apart from the melodramedy/train wreck that is “The Bachelor/Bachelorette,” I am not much of a reality TV watcher. But for some reason, this show has me hooked. Maybe it has to do with people doing crazy things like bending their bodies over their heads and flipping like a million feet in the air and performing magic tricks that make it look like they sliced their middles in half. In any case, now you know what I’m watching Tuesday and Wednesday nights — if you were wondering.


All of that to say, I’ve been trying to figure out what my talent would be if I went on the show, and I finally figured it out: Not eating these all of these cupcakes in one sitting. You think I’m kidding. But when you have brown butter, rainbow sprinkles, cake and brown sugar buttercream involved, it’s darn near impossible to avoid mass consumption. Give them a try and you’ll understand (and get your fat pants ready).

I thought this triple threat of a combo — that is, brown butter + funfetti + brown sugar — would be a perfect way to not only celebrate five years o’ blogging, but to sport these adorable push pops I received from Laguna Wholesale, a dessert tool/catering supply company. Aren’t they fun? They come in four different shapes and sizes, are BPA-free and they’re washable and reusable. I foresee a lot of push poppin’ in my future — not just with cupcakes, but also with fruit, or candy, or stacks of crackers and cheese for Avery’s school lunches when she is older. You will also enjoy this Moist Funfetti Cake!


Mini Brown Butter Funfetti Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream
- Prep Time: 4 hours 25 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 4 hours 40 mins
- Yield: About 48 mini cupcakes 1x
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup rainbow-colored sprinkles, plus more for topping
For the buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Continue to cook butter, stirring constantly, until brown bits form and butter turns a golden, caramel color. Remove from heat. Pour butter into a small bowl or cup. Cover and chill in fridge at least 4 hours until hardened again. When ready to make cupcakes, remove butter from fridge and bring to room temperature. Cut into small cubes.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 24-cup mini muffin tins with baking spray.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk flours, sugar, baking powder and salt (with paddle attachment, if using a stand mixer) until well combined. Gradually add the cubed butter and stir 1 to 2 minutes until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add eggs, milk and vanilla; stir until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally, until mixture is light and smooth. Fold in sprinkles.
- Fill prepared muffin tin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To make the buttercream: Cream butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer). Add vanilla; stir to combine. Gradually add enough powdered sugar until a stiff but smooth frosting forms. Transfer frosting to a piping bag.
- Pipe frosting on top of fully cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle tops with extra sprinkles. If using push pops, stack two mini cupcakes on top of each other and carefully place inside a push pop. Repeat with remaining cupcakes/push pops.
Disclosure: I received compensation from Laguna Wholesale for recipe development purposes. All opinions are my own.
For a summer celebration, I enjoy making a variety of frozen, dipped, half-bananas on popsicle sticks. I dip them in honey greek yogurt then cover them in crushed chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, pureed dried fruit or whatever fun combinations I can dream up. A little more healthy and big hit!
Five years!! You should be so proud of yourself and what you’ve created here! Seriously, girl, I absolutely love every single thing you do and am so happy that you enjoy what you do…there’s nothing more gratifying than being able to live out your passion!! Your minis…ugh, I want to carry them with me all over town!
Congrats on 5 years! I am getting close to 4 for mine. Funfetti is a great way to celebrate as I think it’s one of the best kind of cakes ever invented. I especially love the brown butter addition which I bet makes them even more addicting! And of course adorable presentation with the push pops. My favorite thing to make for a celebration is cupcakes.
I LOVE to make cheesecake. Gluten free crust, please!
My go-to treat for celebrations is anything mini– mini ice cream cone cupackes, mini tarts, mini cupcakes. Somehow there is less guilt when you eat three (or ten!) mini servings rather than one big one. : )
Julia — You’re the best, lady, thank you! I need to give you a hug in real life someday, dangit. 🙂
5 years!!! Wow you are such an inspiration. I hope you continue for many more years with recipes like this cute as cupcakes:)
cake!
Congratulations in 5 years Stephanie!! You are such an inspiration and I’m excited to watch as you continue to grow!
Happy bloggiversary! That is so awesome you’ve been blogging for 5 years! My favorite dessert to bring to a party is my bourbon salted caramel chocolate chip cookies, they are, without fail, so good and always a huge hit. Butttt…I just bought your amazing ebook and I’m going to be making your pepperoni pizza muffins for a party we’re going to next weekend!
Happy blogiversary!!! I love this space and am always inspired by your writing and wonderful creations. Muah! Also, my little niece just broke her arm and I am going to make these and bring them to her tomorrow! I will for sure send you a pic!
What I like depends on the what I am celebrating, but I love making pie and sheet cakes.
Yeah. Congrats on 5 years! Looking forward to many more years to come. Have you been watching Bachelor in Paradise? It’s really bad. And by really bad I mean REALLY GOOD! Ahhhh!!
those are so cute!!! i love making bars of any kind – makes it easier for big batches!
Phi — BOURBON in cookies? When can I come over? 😉 (Also, thank you so much for the eBook purchase; I hope you love the muffins!)