Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes

Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes with Cocoa-Cinnamon Buttercream
(Cupcake recipe adapted from Hello Cupcake)

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz.) box Devil’s Food (or other chocolate variety) cake mix
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
4 eggs
Frosting Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer dark chocolate cocoa, but any works!)
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)
Method:

To Make Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Add the first six cake ingredients (cake mix through cayenne) together in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, until the batter is well-mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.

Pour or scoop the batter into the paper liners until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack.

To Make Frosting:

Cream butter in an electric mixer on medium-speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Then add cocoa powder and cinnamon and mix on low-speed until combined. Gradually add in the milk and powdered sugar, alternately, until combined. Then beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes. (Add in more powdered sugar if consistency is too thin.)

***To frost 24 cupcakes as I did (pictured above), I’d recommend making a double batch of the frosting. But if you’re just spreading it on with a knife, one batch should be plenty! :)

Ali’s Tip:

For an extra kick, try grinding a pinch of ground sea salt on top of these! It truly kicks them up a notch! (And then you can tell your friends that they’re “salted cocoa-cinnamon buttercream”!)