Cranberry Crunch Cupcakes

Cranberry Crunch Cupcakes
with butter icing

 For crunch topping:
Ingredients
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 egg white
¼ cup sugar + additional sugar for sprinkling
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

 Directions
1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
2. Place egg white and pecans in a bowl, stir to coat.
3. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a shallow dish.
4. Toss egg-coated pecans in sugar mix. Spread on baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. Cool completely.

For butter icing:
Ingredients
5 Tbsp flour
1 cup cream
1/2 tsp butter extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar

Directions
1. In a stovetop skillet, whisk together flour and cream. Stir continuously over medium heat until thick-batter consistency is achieved.
2. Stir in extract. Set aside to cool.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. When sugar has completely dissolved, add flour mixture. 
4. Beat on high until desired thickness is achieved (approx. 5 minutes).

 For cupcakes:
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup cream
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
2 cups dried cranberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pans with parchment cups.
2. Cream together butter and sugars in a large bowl.
3. Whisk in buttermilk, cream and eggs.
4. Add flours, powder, soda, salt cinnamon and ginger to bowl. Beat with an electric mixer. 5. Stir in cranberries.
6. Fill muffin cups with 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle with raw sugar.
7. Bake 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool before icing. Sprinkle iced cupcakes with crunch topping.