An Experiment In Crockpot Cupcakes

When I posted about how to make cupcakes in a steamer, Michelle from Michelle and Corey’s Recipe Book commented and asked if cupcakes could be made in a crockpot. I decided this was worth a crockpot cupcake experiment!

Crockpot Inspiration

For inspiration, I checked out A Year of Crockpotting. This blog is run by yet another Stephanie (as you can see, she’s a ph-ie Steph). Steph decided to make a new crockpot dish every day for a whole year. I am in awe of that determination. I bake cupcakes and blog roughly once a week. I can’t imagine cupcake baking and blogging every single day. I’d be HUGE.

Steph had a recipe for crockpot banana bread. I figured if you can bake crockpot banana bread, you can bake cupcakes in a crockpot, too.

How To Make Cupcakes in a Crockpot

Prepare your favorite cupcake recipe. (I made mimosa cupcakes. The post about the non-crockpot version is coming soon.)
Fill 6 cupcake wrappers – if you have a large crockpot – 3/4 full with cupcake batter. (The steamer cupcake method only made four cupcakes at a time. Score 1 point for crockpot.)
Put cupcakes in the crockpot and prop the lid open slightly with a chopstick. (Michelle and Steph both had that suggestion.)
Cook on high for 4 hours. (I used the same setting Steph used on the banana bread.)

The Results of Baking Cupcakes in a Crockpot

I left the cupcakes alone in the crockpot while I went out to dinner. I returned 3 hours later and:

crockpot2

The edges of the cupcakes were burnt.
When I removed the cupcakes, I noticed the bottom of the cupcakes were also a bit burnt.
The cupcakes had also become a bit blob-like from not being in cupcake tins.
The cupcakes were generally less soft and fluffy than the ones baked in the oven.

Ideas To Bake Better Crockpot Cupcakes

The best thing (well really the only good thing other than not having to use an oven) about baking in the crockpot is being able to leave the house and come home to an amazing smell. This alone might inspire me to try this again. Next time I might try:

Using the low setting instead of the high setting. Maybe it wouldn’t burn?
Baking in party nut cups instead of cupcake wrappers. Clara of I Heart Cuppycakes suggested that I try this with the steamer cupcakes. It would help the cupcakes keep their shape. The downside is that I like sucking on cupcake wrappers and party nut cups are a bit too stiff for optimal sucking. I wonder if I’ll get any funky Google search hits from using stiff and sucking in a sentence?
Baking in silicone baking cups for the same reason as above. Silicone baking cups are sold on Amazon in a set of 6 and as noted above, large crockpots fit 6 cupcakes. Coincidence?

Do you have any other ideas?