Remember last month when I shared my Milano Moment? As much as I love my Milanos and I love stealing a few moments for myself during the day, I do have one problem with this habit. Those Milanos are addictive! I could easily sit down and polish off a bag without even realizing it. That’s why I have to make sure I grab just my alloted number and tuck the bag away back in it’s dark and hidden corner.
Judging from the way others indulge in their Milano Moments, I’d say this is a fairly common problem. Apparently we all love our Milanos! Unfortunately for me, I’m finding the new Strawberry Milanos even harder to resist than any of the other flavors. I blame it on the pregnancy and this baby, who obviously has a thing for strawberries and chocolate!
So I’ve decided that it would be a good idea for me to mix things up a bit with my Strawberry Milano indulgences, at least for the duration of this pregnancy where my will-power is clearly out of my own hands. While I could eat my way through a bag of Milanos without realizing it, I definitely could not devour a batch of cupcakes at once. In fact, one cupcake is usually the most I can stand at one sitting. And since my Milano Moments are supposed to be about simple indulgences and not over-indulgences, I decided mini-cupcakes would be the perfect treat!
These cupcakes are so good. They retain all the original flavors, and even the melty, crunchiness of a Milano cookie. Yet because of the frosting, they are just sweet enough that stopping at one (or maybe two every so often) is easy. The cupcake batter is a very simple one because I didn’t want anything too rich or sweet that would detract from the flavor of the Strawberry Milanos.
Strawberry Milano Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 Strawberry Milano cookies
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp strawberry jam
- 1 – 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, beat together 1/4 c. butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk and almond extract and continuing beating until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and beat on low speed or mix by hand just until completely incorporated.
- Place the Strawberry Milano cookies in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. By hand, fold 3/4 of the crushed cookies into the cupcake batter and reserve the remaining cookie crumbs for garnishing.
- Fill greased or lined muffin tins 3/4 full. (This will make about 20-24 mini cupcakes or 8-12 regular sized cupcakes, depending on the size of your muffin tins.) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes for mini-cupcakes or 12-18 minutes for regular sized. Check with a toothpick to test for doneness. Cool on a wire rack.
- While the cupcakes cool, beat together 1/4 c. butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and strawberry jam until smooth. Add just as much milk as needed to reach desired frosting consistency. Frost cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with remainingcrushed Milano crumbs.
Notes
Two added bonuses to indulging in my Milano Moment with these cupcakes are 1) it’s a great way to really stretch a bag of Milanos, and 2) there’s enough to share with the family, if I REALLY want to!Stop by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more Tasty Tuesday.
Full Disclosure: I am a Milano Maven and this post is part of a sponsored campaign on behalf of Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Milanos. While I was provided with free product and compensation for my time, all words, thoughts, recipes and opinions are my own.
