Recipe for fluffy and moist chai spice cupcakes infused with tea and spices with chai buttercream frosting and a sprinkling of cinnamon. They’re perfect for Fall!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a small pot or using a microwave, bring the milk to a simmer. Add the black tea bag or loose leaf tea to the hot milk and let it steep for 5-10 minutes. Squeeze all the infused milk out of the tea bag or tea leaves before discarding. Set aside to cool.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again until creamy.
With the mixer on low speed, add in half of the flour mixture and all of the milk. Mix until just combined.
Add in the rest of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the batter is just combined and smooth. Don’t overmix.
Using a 2” ice cream scooper or two spoons, scoop 1 heaping spoonful into each cupcake liner until about ¾ full.
Bake cupcakes for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.
Chai Spice Buttercream Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter on medium-high speed with the paddle attachment for about 10 minutes until it becomes very pale in colour and creamy.
Add in the powdered sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.
Beat on medium-high speed for another 10 minutes until creamy and fluffy.
Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with an open star piping tip.
Pipe frosting onto the tops of the cupcakes starting from the outside into the middle.
Sprinkle cupcakes with a bit of cinnamon, if desired.