xx Jenny
Mini Blue Moon Cupcake
Makes 24
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 oraange, zested (plus more for garnish)
2/3 cup Blue Moon beer
2 tablespoons whole milk
orange cream cheese frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a mini muffin tin with 24 mini cupcake liners.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream butter for 1 minute. Add sugar and cream together with butter for about 3 to 4 minutes.
4.
Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down after each addition.
5. Add vanilla and orange zest and mix until just combined.
6. In a mixing bowl whisk together beer and milk. Alternatively add beer mixture and flour mixture to butter mixture until fully incorporated.
7. Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full.
8. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Transfer cupcakes onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
9. For frosting: In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese. With motor running add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until all sugar has been added, scraping down sides of the bowl after each cup of sugar. Stir in the orange juice until fully incorporated.
10. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes or spread with an offset spatula and top with fresh orange zest. Serve.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Mm, I like wheat ales, too. Just got back from Austin… if you go, try the wheat ale from 512 brewery. Very good! Thanks for this cupcake recipe.
@ileana I live in Austin, and 512 is indeed a great brewery. If you’re feeling dark, you should try their 512 Pecan Porter… it’s delicious!
Great post! I just started a “cooking (and baking) with beer” series on my blog and wanted to try these cupcakes with a local beer similar to Blue Moon. Craft beer (especially local beer) is the best!
Yum, these look delicious! I can’t wait to try it with their summer seasonal — the Blue Moon Honey Moon Ale… drooling just thinking about it now.
Super creative! The orange zest was a brilliant addition. I just love the moon graphic in the first photo.
My stomach seriously just growled! My favorite beer meets my favorite dessert! You are amazing! <3
I love craft beers, especially IPAs. And I am all about these cupcakes! Thanks for sharing.
Love cooking and baking with beer! And although I’m more of a porter/stout girl myself I’ve been told blue moon is great…I think an introduction with cupcakes would be perfect!
South Bay? Are you talking about the San Jose area? If so, I’d love to know which liquor store you’re talking about. I live in the East Bay.
So I tried another Blue Moon cupcake recipe and it was pretty good, but the frosting was horrible. I think the cream cheese with orange sounds so good! I’ll have to make these soon!
Hi Aimee! I’m talking about South Bay in LA, sorry!
Yes, this frosting is my go-to frosting, with an addition of orange juice of course
Hope you like it!
My friend and I have recently started a blog, , running out of Adelaide, South Australia. We find incredible inspiration from Spoon Fork Bacon. Your photo’s are incredible and I particularly love the simple, yet gorgeous, layout of your website. Keep doing what you do!
These look amazing! My boyfriend loves blue moon we will definitely be trying these soon! In the 3rd step it says to add sugar and cream, but I didn’t see any “cream” in the ingredients list. Just wondering what the cream part is?
Hi Meredith! I meant to “cream” together the butter and sugar….hope that clears things up!
beer in a dessert
AND
orange cream cheese frosting….
your brain works in beautiful ways! love it!
How utterly pretty these look….and beer…genius!
Oh, yes. I think it’s about time I started to add booze to my cupcakes. These look fantastic!
These are so fun! Can’t wait to check ‘em out!
Just introduced to Blue Moon with the orange slice last weekend and really enjoyed it (it’s a sign…) This cupcake is like a little meal in itself. Looks like I’m baking this weekend.
Jenny, have you run across a cupcake (or shortbread cookie) recipe with French lavender in it? Maybe something with lemon zest?
Ugh please feed me!
fun fact about blue moon: it’s actually made by coors brewing company. even though it isn’t *really* a craft beer, it’s still delicious!
South Bay, as in Redondo Beach/Torrance? WHERE or WHERE is this Liquor Store? I live in Long Beach, and am married to a home brewer. WE love those beers that you mentioned. Finding Pliny the Elder is like finding the holy grail. Also, can’t wait to try this recipe.
Yes! It’s a liquor store called “Number 1 Liquor Mart”…it’s on the corner of Aviation Blvd and Grant Ave. It’s a very unexpected place…quite small, but great selection. FYI…they don’t always have Pliny the Elder. They get shipments every couple of weeks and usually run out the day it comes in (of course). I would give them a call before making the drive to make sure it’s in stock. (They also carry Pliny the Younger!) Hope you check it out, it’s great!
Apparently in Canada the exact same beer has another name, Rickard’s instead of Blue Moon. Weirdness. These little cupcakes sound so good! They definitely look awesome.
I’m a huge craft beer geek also! My bf is always looking for Pliny the Elder. I prefer darker beers though. Bourbon barrel aged beers are my favorite. I wonder how they would taste in a cupcake? hmmm…
Yum! These are so pretty and I love Blue Moon! I know, such a girly beer.
I think I’m addicted to your blog. Love the recipes and photos. Blue Moon beer is one of my favs, and it’s a pleasant surprise to see what you’ve made with it.
Thank you for the recipe. I don’t usually bake with beer, but I’m willing to give it a try. I’m excited to try this recipe.
before i became a glutard i was obsessed with blue moon! i wish i could make these!!
Such a great beer! I’ve always wanted to turn it into a cupcake of some sort. These look awesome!
These were AMAZING!! I made them for my 21st birthday tonight, and drank them with some ice cold Blue Moon-they complement each other perfectly!! The recipe made 48 mini cupcakes though-okay by me!!! =) I will definitely be making them again! Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Happy Birthday! I’m glad you like them!!
I love craft beer…I’m a huge fan Stone Brewery…the Ruination IPA, smoked porter…I love it all! I bet these cupcakes are insane!
Definitely going to have to give these a try. New Belgium’s Dig would make for an interesting substitute. It’s got a really nice apricot finish, and I could see it working well in a cupcake.
I made these this weekend, they tasted great and were a lot of fun to share with people. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to really taste the beer and was pleasantly surprised that I could =)
Made these tonight as a “thank you” to my internship this past semester, THEY ARE AWESOME! I used the seasonal Spring Blonde version and they turned out super moist and flavorful, I can’t wait to take them in tomorrow! Unfortunately I made the mistake of short-cutting and using store-bought cream cheese icing, big mistake because it was runny with the addition of the orange juice, I will definitely use the posted icing recipe next time so I can have nice fluffy icing!
I made some Blue Moon cupcakes as well from a recipe that I found on Pinterest. They were pretty good, not as sweet as I am used to because of the use of buttermilk and, of course, the Blue Moon in the batter. Another thing that was different, but tasty because of its subtlety, was the addition of coriander to the batter. In the frosting, there was also Blue Moon added. It was quite tasty and I would definitely try it again. I want to try your version next!
{ 8 trackbacks }