Cupcake Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon butter extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cream soda

Ganache Ingredients

• 1 11 oz. package butterscotch chips
• 1 cup heavy cream

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 16 oz package powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners. (Makes 18) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy (this can be done with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer – if using a stand mixer make sure you are regularly scraping the bottom of the bowl). Add sugars and beat until well combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla and butter extract.
3. Alternate adding buttermilk, cream soda and dry ingredients. Beat until combined – this is where the stand mixer comes in handy. (I’ve heard you are supposed to start and end with the dry ingredients, but not sure that actually matters)
4. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full. Bake 15-17 minutes, rotating the baking pans half-way through so that the cupcakes in the back are then in the front. (This needs to be done in my oven anyway). A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.
5. In a double boiler (I just use a sauce pan and a large metal mixing bowl), combine butterscotch chips and cream. Stir until completely combined and smooth. Cool to room temperature.
6. Fill a squeeze bottle with ganache and insert into center and squeeze until filling begins to overflow. (This method only really works if the ganache is still a little warm and runny. It seeps into the cake. When it is completely cooled, not nearly enough ganache gets into the cupcake. If you are going to cool the ganache to room temperature you will need to core out the center of the cupcake and then squeeze in the ganache with the bottle)
7. For the frosting, cream butter until fluffy. Add in ganache, vanilla, butter extract and salt. Mix until well combined. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until reaching desired consistency. Add cream by the tablespoon if needed. (Honestly, without specific instructions I wasn’t sure what to do here. I ended up using 1 tablespoon of cream and 2 cups of powdered sugar. It tasted ok to me, and then I had several people tell me they don’t normally like frosting, but they liked it this way. And my husband liked it and that’s a miracle!)
8. Frost cupcakes and drizzle with butterscotch ganache. I also sprinkled them with edible gold stars (Hobby Lobby)

These cupcakes are amazing!!!!!!! I have had this recipe for 10 years and never made it until now, but I am glad I finally did. You can’t eat just one – they are that good. I am about to make my third batch next week because people keep asking for them! So good!