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I’m been enduring quite a bit of harassment at work. No, not that kind of harassment, but harassment nonetheless. Ya see, I haven’t been baking a lot lately. I was sick, then lazy, then sick again and the coworkers weren’t getting their weekly sugar high, so my boss and the building resource officer set out to basically annoy me into baking.

I have not been greeted with a “Good Morning,” nope, it’s more like “Where are the cupcakes?” Which typically I’d brush off, but since Justin is moving to giant piece of self-sufficient land in the middle of nowhere very soon, I thought I’d give the guy a proper send off.

Both my boss and Justin are candyholics, yep, they’re the guys noshing on chocolate at 7:30am and have no qualms about consuming cupcakes with their morning coffee. Due to their love affair with chocolate, candy bars, and cupcakes, I set out to create something that encompassed all of these things.

These Heath Bar Cupcakes have that delicious, buttery toffee flavor baked right into the cake. They’re then topped with my favorite buttercream frosting and a drizzle of rich, dark chocolate ganache. As if that wasn’t enough, I nestled a piece of Heath Bar directly on top of each cupcake for a finishing touch.

These Heath Bar Cupcakes went over famously and were just what the coworkers were harassing me for. I don’t know what they’re going to do all summer without their cupcake fix because tomorrow is my last day or work. Woo-Hoo! I’m so excited to blog full time for the summer and can’t wait to share delicious recipes and giveaways with you all summer long!

Heath Bar Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup Heath English Toffee Bits

For the Buttercream

4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

For the Ganache

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla

5 1.4-ounce Heath Bars, chopped into large pieces

Directions:

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined. Fold in Heath English Toffee Bits.

3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

For the Buttercream

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

For the Ganache

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until very hot, but not boiling.

2. Place chocolate pieces in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined. Whisk in the honey, corn syrup, and vanilla. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Do not let the glaze sit for too long or it will harden up before you spoon it over the frosting.

3. Spoon the glaze on the tops of the frosted cupcakes, allowing it to drip down the sides a little bit. Don’t add too much glaze or it will drip all over your liners.

4. Top each cupcake with a piece of Heath Bar.

5. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator. Remove them to room temperature one hour before serving.

Notes:

- If you are not a fan of doctored cake mixes, no worries. Simply sub in your favorite from scratch recipe.
- Recipe for the ganache is from the fabulous Kristan, of Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.
- Brown cupcake liners are from Bake It Pretty.
- Frosting was piped using the large round tip from Bake It Pretty.
- For piping tips, check out my How To Video.

All images and text ©

Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!

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115 Comments

  1. Lily says:

    Hey! These look DELISH! Quick question…… In the ingredients list you have heavy cream…. And then you have heavy *whipping* cream. Is that the same thing? Thanks. ;-)

    1. Jamie says:

      Lily-
      They are the same. Thanks for visiting.

      -Jamie

  2. Sarah G says:

    I really want to make this for a relative’s birthday, but I can’t seem to find the instant espresso things, is there any substitiute? If so, how much would it alter the taste?
    Thank you so much!
    Sarah G

    1. Jamie says:

      Sarah-
      You could substitute with strong brewed coffee. I hope this is helpful.

      -Jamie

  3. Melissa says:

    How far in advance do you think can these be made? My mom would love these- but they’d have to travel.
    Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Jamie says:

      Melissa-
      I would say 1-2 days in advance. I hope this helps.
      -Jamie

  4. Jennie @themessybakerblog says:

    The same thing happens to me at work. The girls are always asking where their treats are. These cupcakes look addictive. I’m not above licking off the buttercream. Yum! Pinned.

  5. Rachel @ Bakerita says:

    I made these last night, and my only change was to roll the edges of the frosting in toffee bits before adding the ganache. They’re amazing, and everyone loved them! Thanks so much for the recipe :) it’s always nice having a great doctored up cake mix recipe to make cupcakes a little bit easier!

  6. kathy says:

    Hi there!
    Thanks so much for sharing tihis recipe, plan to make them this weekend! Just a small concern, does the ganache not melt the frosting even after resting for 15 mins?

    Warm regards
    Kathy

    1. Jamie says:

      Kathy, I found the ganache cool enough to pour on the frosting without melting. Feel free to refrigerate the cupcakes while the ganache cools so that the frosting is a bit firmer if you like.
      – Jamie

  7. Marla says:

    OMG…read this blog and thought I was reading something I deal with all the time where I work. Then I read the recipe and it’s just like the cupcakes I make. WOW…everyone loves them and I get requests all the time. Seriously…the cake prep method and ingredients is just how I make them…My frosting recipe is a little different…wow…a kindred spirit

    1. Jamie says:

      Maria-

      Great minds think alike! It’s great to hear that your recipe is in such high demand! Have a wonderful day.

      -Jamie

  8. kristen gerringer says:

    I made this recipe for my friend’s birthday so I made it into a two layer cake. It was crazy good! I put the frosting inbetween the layers, piped bumps on the top (sort of like bumpy cake) and covered the sides. Then I poured the ganache over the top, letting it run over the edge. It was beautiful and decadent! Thank you so much for the recipe–it is our new family favorite!

    1. Jamie says:

      Kristen-
      Thanks so much for commenting on your experience with the recipe. I am so happy to hear you enjoyed it as much as we did – I LOVE your cake adaptation! Thanks for stopping by – have a great day.
      -Jamie

    2. Loren says:

      I have made these is cupcake and cake form, and they are without fail a hit, but is there anyway to make a brownies variant of these?

  9. Megan says:

    I love cupcakes! And chocolate, so these chocolate cupcakes would be so good and the icing on top looks so fantastic. The health bar will add a hard and crunchy and chewy aspect to the flavorful mix in this dessert. This seems like it would be a great snack to have after dinner with a glass of milk. This is great because you can make them for any occasion, or even just if you are having some friends over for a night!