Chunky Peanut Butter M&M Cookies & Cookie Bites

Chunky Peanut Butter M&M Cookies & Cookie Bites

May 17, 2012 by · 2 Comments

I don’t know what my obsession with M&Ms is lately, but I seem to be buying out the stock of them in the store and baking EVERYTHING with them.  Maybe it’s because I like how colorful they  make my cookies rather than using chocolate chips…. maybe it’s just cause I love chocolate… or maybe… well who cares, I just love them!

I’m pretty sure a lot of you have seen the chocolate chip cookies that have been floating around Pinterest and the internet that require 36 hours of chilling before baking.  I had often wondered myself what all this chilling really does for a cookie… I have never really tried it with a cookie other than my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, but reading all these blogs talk about how amazing their cookies were after a prolonged chill… I got to wondering if this would work with other cookie dough recipes?

Peanut butter cookies are similar in ingredients to the chocolate chip cookie, brown sugar, butter, egg, flour, etc etc so I thought it might work.  Plus, everything I’d read about this long chill, the cookies turn out crisp on the edges and chewy in the centers… which is exactly what I wanted for these peanut butter cookies.

So, I’m patient… but I’m not THAT patient.  I didn’t chill these cookies for 36 hours, I made it about 19 hours.  But… I’m thinking that it’s a perfect amount of time because the cookies turned out perfect!! Chewy in the middle, a bit crisp on the edges, golden brown and so good!

Print
Chunky Peanut Butter M&M Cookies & Cookie Bites

Prep Time: 18 hours

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Total Time: 20 hours

Yield: About 32 3in cookies + 24 cookie bites

These peanut butter cookies are the perfect combination of crisp edges with chewy centers with a peanut & M&M in every bite!

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly soft but still cold
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla

  • 1 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped into chunks
  • 1 12.6oz bag of M&M candies

  • 1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in the chopped peanuts and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the peanut butter, butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and cream for another 3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl often to ensure everything is incorporated.
  4. Add the flour mixture in two parts, mixing until just combined.
  5. Fold in the M&Ms using a spatula (NOTE: You can use your mixer for this, but make sure you do it on low so the M&Ms don't break.)
  6. Cover dough and refrigerate overnight or at least 18 hours.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll out 2 inch balls of dough and coat with sugar.
  9. Place balls on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and press down with a fork in a criss-cross pattern until slightly flattened.
  10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or the cookie is slightly golden brown. NOTE: DO NOT over bake these cookies!! You want the middles to seem gooey still! I baked mine exactly 11 minutes, but every oven varies.
  11. Allow to cool on pan for 3-4 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. (Or if you're like me, you'll eat them straight from the oven!)
  12. Keep dough refrigerated between batches so it stays chilled.
    13. Cookie Bites:
  13. Spray lightly the insides of a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
  14. Place 1in balls of cookie dough into each opening.
  15. Bake at 350 F degrees for 7-9 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
  16. Allow to cool at least 5 mins in pan. Use a toothpick to pop out each bite. NOTE: If you try to remove the cookie bites too early, they may fall apart. You want to give them enough time to set up before removing.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/05/chunky-peanut-butter-mm-cookies-cookie-bites/

Filed Under: brown sugar, candy, candy filled cookies, chocolate, cookies, featured, M&Ms, mini, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate, peanut butter cookies, recipes
Mocha Mallow Cookies

Mocha Mallow Cookies

May 3, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Last weekend we had a neighborhood BBQ and of course, it’ was my job to bring dessert.  It’ was 80F degrees, so I didn’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen baking.  So, I decided to make cookies… but not just any old plain boring cookies would do.

I recently bought a couple containers of the KRAFT Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits.  If you aren’t familiar with these, they are super mini marshmallows, the kind you’d find in your packets of hot chocolate.  And ya know what? They are PERFECT for cookies!  (PS: They’re perfect for topping cupcakes with too!)  I made S’mores cookies a few days ago and today I’m making a Mocha Mallow cookie with these mini bits of heaven!

I started with a recipe that I’ve seen on several blogs from Annie’s Eats to My Baking Addiction and then put my personal spin on them.  I added the mallow bits, reduced the chocolate chips, added espresso powder and vanilla.   Adding the Mallow Bits was my hubby’s idea.  I think he’s a genius.  The original recipes for this cookie also wanted me to make them giant cookies… but I needed to feed a bunch of people, so I decided to make them a bit smaller so the batter would go further.

They turned out pretty darn yummy.

PS… For the I also made M&M Cookie Bars (which you should make too… cause UHM YUMMMM!)

Print
Mocha Mallow Cookies

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: About 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (18 Tbsp) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1¼ cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cold butter and sugar about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue creaming together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined.
  6. Add the chocolate chips and Mallow Bits and mix on low until incorporated. NOTE: Dough will be thick and you may need to incorporate the chips and bits by hand.
  7. Drop 1 1/2 inch semi-flat mounds onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate dough between batches.
  8. Allow cookies to cool 4-5 minutes on cookie sheet before remove to a wire rack to cool.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/05/mocha-mallow-cookies/

Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, featured, marshmallow, recipes
Grandma Dillow’s Peanut Butter Fudge

Grandma Dillow’s Peanut Butter Fudge

April 24, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Facebook is a wonderful thing.  It allows me to stay in daily contact with friends both near and far.  It allows me to learn, share and create ideas with friends, family, and even perfect strangers.

A few days ago, my friend Erica (she’s an Army Wife too & our husbands worked together at JBLM in Tacoma, WA.) said she was making peanut butter fudge and my ears perked up like a dog who heard a fire truck and wanted to run after it!  Immediately, I asked for the recipe and Erica responded with 5 simple ingredients.  Seriously, could fudge be that easy?  This recipe comes from her Grandma Dillow… which means it’s sure to be a winner if it comes from Grandma!

So today, I tried it.  Erica’s recipe didn’t call for the use of a candy thermometer, but I had a brand new one I wanted to try out, so I used mine.  I can’t say I’ve ever really been a successful fudge maker, but after making this recipe… I think I am!

Grandma Dillow didn’t top her fudge with chocolate, but I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter so, I added a thin layer of chocolate to the top of the fudge.  YUM!

Thanks Grandma Dillow and thanks to Erica for sharing this yummy family recipe!

If you’re like me and are new to making fudge, read this helpful post: Tips for Making the Perfect Fudge!

Print
Grandma Dillow’s Peanut Butter Fudge

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 64 1-in squares

Grandma's perfect peanut butter fudge... with a twist!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
  • 9oz (about 1 heaping cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 Tbsp for garnish (optional)
    • Tools Needed:
  • Medium/large heavy-sided sauce pan
  • Wooden spoon
  • Candy Therometer
  • Small off-set metal spatula
  • 8x8 baking dish + 1 Tbsp butter for greasing

Instructions

  1. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8x8 baking dish. (I used glass, but a metal dish is okay too.)
  2. Measure out the peanut butter & vanilla, set aside.
  3. In a medium/large heavy-sided sauce pan, bring the butter, sugar and milk to a boil - stirring constantly using a wooden spoon.
  4. While constantly stirring, bring mixture to 240-244 F degrees. Remove from heat and immediately mix in the peanut butter and vanilla.
  5. Press fudge into prepared dish using a small off-set metal spatula.
  6. OPTIONAL: While still warm, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top of the fudge. Using a small off-set spatula, once the chocolate begins to melt, spread it evenly. Allow to cool about 10 minutes then sprinkle evenly remaining 2 Tbsp mini chips as garnish without spreading.
  7. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving. NOTE: If you need to cut it sooner, place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/04/grandma-dillows-peanut-butter-fudge/

 

Filed Under: chocolate, featured, fudge, peanut butter, recipes
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

April 23, 2012 by · 13 Comments

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve actually baked a cupcake.  Weeks… probably more like months.  I’ve baked cookies, scones and crescent rolls, but no cupcakes!  Crazy, huh?  Cause this is supposed to be a cupcake blog, right?

Hmmm… So yeah.  I made cupcakes today.  And, I didn’t start back into baking cupcakes slowly.  No, I didn’t ease into things.  I went BIG!

Chocolate cupcake + Cookie Dough = HOLY GOODNESS!!!

Baked inside this cupcake is a chocolate chip cookie dough ball.  Yah, you read me right.  Cookie Dough.  The best thing that God ever created inside this cupcake.

And to make things even better…. the frosting.  Cookie Dough.   Both my hubby and my neighbor told me I needed to just make this frosting.  A big giant bowl of it so they could take a spoon and scoop it out and shove it in their mouth.  It’s that good.

Personally, I found the bottom of the cupcake to be the best.   But hey, everyone has their preferences.

Print
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
    • Chocolate Cupcakes:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Cookie Dough Frosting:
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Decorate:
  • additional mini chocolate chips
  • 12 mini chocolate chip cookies (I used Chips Ahoy)

Instructions

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips until smooth.
  4. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.
  5. Scoop out dough into 12 balls. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
    6. Chocolate Cupcakes:
  6. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
  7. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  8. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined.
  9. Fill each cupcake liner 1/2-2/3 full. NOTE: You may have extra batter... no worries, make extra cupcakes!
  10. Gently press a cookie dough ball into the center of each cupcake, only submerging the ball 1/2 way.
  11. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out fairly dry. Chunks/pieces of cake are okay, just not moist batter.
  12. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
    13. Cookie Dough Frosting:
  13. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
  14. Add the flour, milk and vanilla and beat on high until well combined.
    15. To Assemble:
  15. Pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.
  16. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top and garnish with a mini chocolate chip cookie.

Notes

Source: cupcakes & frosting slightly adapted from RecipeGirl

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/04/chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-cupcakes/

Filed Under: brown sugar, cake batter, chocolate, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cooking icing, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, recipes
Berry BlogHop: Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

Berry BlogHop: Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

April 1, 2012 by · 18 Comments

I’ve had my eye on these empanadas for a while now.  My friend down the street can make empanada dough from scratch and fills them with so many yummy things and then CakeSpy posted a recipe for peanut butter filled empanadas… I’ve been inspired.

So for this months Berry BlogHop I decided I needed to fill empanadas with berries and dunk them in chocolate.

Oh yeah.  OH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Print
Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

Rating: 41

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 45-50 Empanadas

Chocolate Dipped Berry Empanadas

Flaky crust filled with sweet berries dipped in chocolate... can't get much better than this!

Ingredients

    Empanadas
  • 2 boxes premade pie crust (4 crusts)
  • 2 12oz bags frozen berries (I used bags that contained blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cherries) NOTE: You can also use fresh berries - you'll need about 4 cups worth.
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla
  • 3 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 egg + 1 Tbsp water (for egg wash)
  • sugar, for dusting
    • Chocolate Ganache
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1/3 cup milk or cream

Instructions

    Empanadas
  1. Bring pie crusts to room temperature.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large pan, melt the butter on high heat.
  4. Add the berries and sugar to the pan and stir to coat the berries.
  5. Once the berry juice beings to bubble, remove 1/2 cup of the juice and combine it with 2-3 Tbsp of corn starch. Whisk the juice and starch together until all lumps are gone. Add this mixture back into the pan with the berries. Bring to a boil to thicken, stirring often and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  6. Once the mixture has thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pie crusts. Using a rolling pin, flatten out crust until it's as thin as a dime.
  8. Using a 3in round cookie cutter, cut dough rounds and place on cookie sheet.
  9. Brush egg wash around edges of dough round.
  10. Spoon 1-2 tsp of berry filling into the center of each round. Fold the round over and press the edges closed with a fork.
  11. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.
  12. Cool on wire racks.
    13. Chocolate Ganache
  13. Melt butter and chocolate together on low heat until smooth.
  14. Add the cream and stir until combined and smooth.
  15. Dip cooled empanada in the melted ganache.
  16. Set on wire rack to cool and harden before serving.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/04/berry-bloghop-chocolate-dipped-berry-empanadas/

Please be sure to check out what my fabulous co-hosts are bringing to the table:

A little bit of everything ~ Roxana GreenGirl ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
BigFatBaker ~ Erin Meyer ~ @bigfatbaker
Bon à croquer ~ Valerie ~ @valouth
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess.com
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Java Cupcake ~ Betsy Eves ~ @JavaCupcake
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ T.R. ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen’s Notebook ~ Elizabeth  Quirino ~ @Mango_Queen
Rico sin Azúcar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Simply Reem ~  Reem ~ @Simplyreem
Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna Segrave-Daly ~ @tspbasil
That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!! ~ Liz ~ @thatskinnychick
The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian
Vegan Yack Attack ~ Jackie S. ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma ~ Cindy ~ @vegetarianmamma

Filed Under: berry, blog hop, bread and pretzels, chocolate, desserts, empanadas, recipes
Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy Cookies

March 6, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I’ve only got a few more days of baking until my baby arrives!   And since I cleaned my baking corner this weekend, I realized I have a TON of half used bags of chips, pretzels and M&M’s to use up before they go bad! So today, I decided to make some cookies… Cowboy Cookies!

I’ve often wondered though… what exactly goes into a Cowboy Cookie?   I did a little digging online and couldn’t really find a solid history of the cookie.  I’ve seen them made with everything from nuts and coconut to oats and raisins and of course… chocolate! I kinda always thought of these cookies as a “whatever you’ve got left in your kitchen” type of cookie.  So, that’s what I’m going with today.

These cookies have butterscotch, white chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips, M&M’s and pretzel chunks.  Oh… and a special little ingredient for some added kick: espresso powder! (Everything but the kitchen sink!) I’ve made a cookie before with pretzels in them and everyone who ate them were surprised at how tasty they were… but pretzels in cookies?  Ya just gotta try it! YUM!

I made a double batch of these so I could take them into my husband’s office… made a few jumbo cookies and a few regular size too.  I’m pretty sure the soldiers will love them!

Print
Cowboy Cookies

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen jumbo cookies & 2 dozen regular size cookies

These cookies are perfect for all the leftover stuff you've got in your baking pantry! Just throw "whatever" into the batter and you've got some pretty tasty Cowboy Cookies!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs

  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder

  • 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a combo of mini and regular size chips just because that's what I had on hand)
  • 1/2 cup of M&M's + a few more to put on top
  • 1 cup pretzel chunks + a few more to put on top (I used pretzel rods, but any kind of coarse chopped pretzels will work. You want chunks, not too fine.)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar - about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla and eggs, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 4-5 minutes. You want this mixture to be light in color and fluffy.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it's all incorporated.
  6. Add the chips and M&M's and mix until combined.
  7. Fold in by hand the pretzels - you don't want them to break into pieces.
  8. For larger cookies, scoop 8 golf ball size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place a couple extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  9. For regular size cookies, scoop tablespoon size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place 1-2 extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 8-9 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  10. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/03/cowboy-cookies/

Recipe inspired by: For the Love of Cooking

Filed Under: butterscotch chips, candy filled cookies, chocolate, cookies, featured, M&Ms, pretzels, recipes, white chocolate
Cosmic Brownies

Cosmic Brownies

March 3, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Earlier this week I saw a recipe (by What Megan’s Making) for some cosmic brownies that looked like they needed to be made in my kitchen… like ASAP.  So, I bookmarked the recipe, Facebooked about needing brownies in my life… and then seriously, made it happen.

Usually when I bookmark a recipe, it stays there for a few days until I muster up the energy to make them.  But… not these brownies.  Two bowls, no mixer and only 18 minutes in the oven.  Seriously, it only took 45 minutes before I was putting one in my mouth.

The original recipe called for mini M&M’s on top… but I didn’t have any.  So I used rainbow sprinkle jimmies.  I also tweaked the ganache recipe a bit too.

So uhm yeah… make these.

Print
Cosmic Brownies

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 brownies

Thick, chewy brownies topped with a dark chocolate ganache... perfect Friday night treat for the family!

Ingredients

    Brownies:
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
    • Ganache:
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 7 oz 84% cocoa dark chocolate
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt
  • Rainbow Sprinkles/Jimmies to sprinkle over the top

Instructions

    Brownies:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease bottom of 13x9in metal pan with butter then line with parchment paper and butter top of paper and sides of the pan. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, melted butter, eggs, water, and vanilla until smooth.
  3. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the flour to the wet mixture and whisk until combined, about 25 strokes. Do not over mix.
  5. Pour batter into greased pan and spread evenly with an spatula.
  6. Bake 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbly brownie, no wet batter.
  7. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before frosting with ganache.
    8. Ganache:
  8. While the brownies are baking, prepare the ganache.
  9. Chop the chocolate into very fine pieces and place in a medium glass bowl.
  10. In a small sauce pan, heat the cream until simmering. Do not boil.
  11. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until smooth. NOTE: If chocolate seems too thick and does not smooth out, add a few more tablespoons of heavy cream and mix in until it becomes smooth.
  12. Stir in the salt.
  13. Add the butter and mix until smooth.
    14. To Assemble:
  14. Pour the ganache over the brownie while still in the pan. Use a spatula to spread.
  15. Top with Rainbow Jimmies.
  16. Put in the freezer for 20 minutes to allow the ganache to set up/harden or if you're more patient, just leave it out to cool completely and harden. (I'm not that patient!)
  17. Cut and EAT!
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/03/cosmic-brownies/

Filed Under: bars, brownies, chocolate, dark chocolate, featured, ganache, M&Ms, recipes
Strawberry M&M Rice Krispy Treats

Strawberry M&M Rice Krispy Treats

February 24, 2012 by · 3 Comments

A few days ago, I had an appearance on the morning show on AFN Bavaria radio so I made a batch of Rice Krispy treats to share with everyone in the studio!  I also brought a plate to my husband’s office.

They were gone in 5 minutes.

Seriously, go buy yourself a bag of Strawberry marshmallows, a bag of M&M’s and make these.  Simple, quick, easy and SO GOOD!

Print
Strawberry M&M Rice Krispy Treats

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 16 squares

A fun twist on the traditional krispy treat! This pink, strawberry and chocolate Rice Kripsy treat is sure to please everyone!

Ingredients

  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 10oz bag of Strawberry jumbo marshmallows
  • 6 cups Rice Krispy cereal
  • 1 bag of pastel M&Ms
  • butter - to grease pan
  • wax paper

Instructions

  1. Generously grease a 13x9x2in pan.
  2. In a large bowl, measure Rice Krispy cereal. Mix in all but 1/2 cup of M&M's. Set aside.
  3. In a large heavy pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
  4. Add the marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
  5. Add the cereal and M&M's to the pot and mix with a large wooden spoon until completely incorporated into the marshmallow mix.
  6. Press mixture into greased pan using a piece of buttered wax paper and top with remaining M&Ms.
  7. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/02/strawberry-mm-rice-krispy-treats/

Filed Under: bars, bars, chocolate, cookies, marshmallow, perfect for spring, recipes, snacks, strawberry
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Banana Bread

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Banana Bread

February 23, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Happy National Banana Bread Day!!!!

I’ve had 4 ripe bananas on my counter for 4-5 days now waiting for me to use them.  All I can think about is baking but my pregnant body just won’t have it.  HA!  So, I’ve procrastinated.  This morning my daughter wanted to eat a banana for breakfast but I was said, “NO! I might want to use those today.” Hahah, ya right.

But, then after my morning hour of drooling over recipes on the internet, I discovered that it’s actually National Banana Bread Day.  Well shoot, I have no excuse now… I HAVE TO make banana bread!

I didn’t want to make Emme’s Banana Bread again (although it’s probably one of the most tasty breads we’ve ever made here in our house) so I decided to come up with something new.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Bananas.  Can’t go wrong with that, right?!?

Print
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Banana Bread with a Peanut Butter Drizzle

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 1 large loaf + 1 small loaf

Celebrate National Banana Bread Day with this peanut butter & chocolate banana delight!

Ingredients

    Bread:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

  • 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter, heaping
  • 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 egg

  • 1 cup mini chocolate chips
    • Peanut Butter Drizzle:
  • 2 Tbsp peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips

Instructions

    Bread:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line bottom of loaf pan with parchment paper and then grease/flour the pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  3. In another large bowl, mash/whisk/mix together the bananas, vanilla, milk, sour cream, peanut butter, oil and egg.
  4. Make a well in center of the dry flour mixture and the pour in the wet banana mixture. Using a large spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold/stir/scrape about 30 strokes or until all the dry is combined.
  5. Add the chocolate chips and fold to incorporate.
  6. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the large loaf pan. Pour the remaining 1/3 into the small loaf pan.
  7. Bake small loaf for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Bake large loaf for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate loaves half way though baking time.
  8. Let cool in pans for at least 30 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    9. Peanut Butter Drizzle:
  9. Once bread has completely cooled, prepare the drizzle.
  10. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, sugar and milk.
  11. Add more/less milk depending on the consistency you desire.
  12. Drizzle over the bread and sprinkle with mini chocolate chops.
  13. Allow to set for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/02/peanut-butter-chocolate-banana-bread/

Recipe adapted from: Taste & Tell

Filed Under: banana, bread and pretzels, chocolate, peanut butter, recipes
Mocha Mocha Cupcakes

Mocha Mocha Cupcakes

February 8, 2012 by · 8 Comments

I had an order for a client today for some decadent Mocha cupcakes.  Mmmm coffee and chocolate… you really can’t go wrong with that combo. I decided that I would take my new favorite chocolate recipe that normally calls for the use of a Guinness beer and sub that for brewed coffee to create more of a mocha flavor.  I then topped the cupcake with a basic chocolate buttercream but threw in a little bit of cream cheese for some extra tang and smoothness. Really though, this recipe for chocolate cupcakes I’m finding to be very versatile and it creates a moist, dense cupcake… every time! So although this post is short and sweet…  these Mocha Mocha cupcakes are FULL of flavor!  YUM!

Print
Mocha Mocha Cupcakes

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp espresso powder (HEAPING tbsps!)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, add 1tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high, heat and whisk the butter and brewed coffee together until the butter has melted.
  4. Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder and heat until simmering. You want the mixture to thicken, but not boil. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
  5. While the chocolate/butter mix is heating/cooling, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
  6. SLOWLY pour the chocolate mix into the egg mix, whisking constantly. NOTE: Add only a couple tbsp to temper the eggs. You don’t want to add so much hot liquid too quickly, it will cook the eggs. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
  7. Whisk the flour/sugar into the wet mixture in two parts. Whisk about 50 strokes.
  8. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 with batter.
  9. Bake 18-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate pan after 12 minutes.
  10. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/02/mocha-mocha-cupcakes/
 
Print
Mocha Mocha Buttercream

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: Enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp espresso powder mixed with 2 tbsp warm whipping/heavy cream
  • 2lbs powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup whipping/heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. Mix in the cocoa powder and espresso powder/cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  3. Mix in the powdered sugar in two parts. Add a few tbsp of heavy cream after each addition. Beat on high until smooth.
  4. Mix in the salt. Scrape sides of the bowl.
  5. Add the remaining heavy cream until you get the consistency and texture you want.
  6. Beat for 4-5 minutes on high.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
http://javacupcake.com/2012/02/mocha-mocha-cupcakes/
 

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, Coffee, coffee cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, frosting and icing, mocha frosting, recipes
ChocolateLove Bloghop: Red Velvet Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies

ChocolateLove Bloghop: Red Velvet Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies

February 4, 2012 by · 26 Comments

Does anyone notice a theme lately?  Pink! Red!  Love!  YES! It’s definitely that time of year where all I want to bake and create are love themed and colored goodies!

Today… it’s Red Velvet, Cream Cheese & Chocolate Brownies.  Now, you may have noticed that I don’t make many red velvet things… I’m not really a huge fan.  I don’t always have red food dye on hand and I’m not a huge fan of cream cheese.  Call it pregnancy hormones and cravings… but for the first time in my life, I’ve been wanting to use cream cheese in every dessert I make.

The recipe is pretty simple… there are a few steps, but it really didn’t take much time at all to put together!

I made these especially for the #ChocolateLove BlogHop that I’m apart of!  So make sure you visit the BlogHop Co-Hosts listed at the bottom of this post and add your favorite CHOCOLATE recipe to the list!

ENJOY!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Makes 12-16 brownies

Brownie Batter:
9 tbsp unsalted butter
7oz 70% dark chocolate

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp red food coloring gel/dye

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake Batter:
12oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line 9×13 glass pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray (or grease/flour pan – I prefer parchment paper, makes the brownies easier to pull out at the end).
  2. In a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together.  Stir often.  Set aside to cool slightly when melted.
  3. While that’s melting, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.
  4. In an even smaller bowl, with a fork, stir together the cocoa powder and food coloring until it becomes a paste and set aside.
  5. While the chocolate/butter is cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth.
  6. SLOWLY pour in the slightly cooled chocolate.  Start with a little bit at a time, you don’t want to add it all too much, too hot and cook the eggs.
  7. Add the cocoa powder/food coloring.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat until your batter turns a dark red color.  If you want, you can add more red coloring at this time.  Make sure the food color is very well incorporated before you move on.
  8. Slowly add the flour and mix until smooth.  Don’t beat too much… just enough until all the clumps are out and the batter is smooth.
  9. Remove 1/2 cup of batter and set aside.
  10. In a clean bowl for the stand mixer, mix together the cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla on high speed until whipped and smooth.

  11. Spread brownie batter in the bottom of the pan, making sure to get it into the edges and corners.

  12. Dollop the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture.  Using an offset spatula, gently spread to cover the brownie mixture.

  13. Drizzle remaining brownie mixture on top of the cream cheese.  Using your offset spatula, swirl the three layers together.  NOTE:  Don’t swirl too much!  You want a lot of the white cream cheese to show through!
  14. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate pan, and cover with foil.  Bake another 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs, not wet batter.
  15. Allow to cool completely in pan before removing to cut into squares.

Recipe adapted from An American Cupcake in London

ChocolateLove BlogHop CoHosted by:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl * ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan * Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl * Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29 * Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins * Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha * BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker * Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth * CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog * Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess * Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue * Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22 * Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf * Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies * Elephant Eats ~ Amy * Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes * Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19 * Java Cupcake ~ Betsy ~ @JavaCupcake * Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica * Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking * Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk * No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley * Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose * Preheat the Oven ~ Jason ~ @officialchefjae * Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar * Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla * Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem * Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition * Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood * Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable * Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil  * That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick * The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal * The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict * The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd * The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian * Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack * Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma * You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Filed Under: bars, blog hop, brownies, cheesecake, chocolate, cream cheese, dark chocolate, desserts, featured, recipes, red velvet
Tagalong Cupcakes

Tagalong Cupcakes

January 28, 2012 by · 3 Comments

I had surgery on Thursday… and I was SUPER nervous.  It’s nothing too serious, just having 3 teeth pulled that should have been fixed a long time ago.  But now, I’m 33 weeks pregnant and in TONS of pain and just can’t wait any longer to have them taken care of.

So… to keep my mind occupied the day before (and hopefully off the throbbing in my mouth), I decided to bake cupcakes!  Last week, I made Thin Mint Cupcakes with Girl Scout cookies so today I’m trying out a recipe for Tagalong Cupcakes made with my favorite peanut butter and chocolate GS cookie!

I asked on my Facebook page how exactly I should make this Tagalong cupcake and I really enjoyed the suggestion of one reader to make a thick crumb cake.  I’ve never actually tried to purposely make a cake with a big crumb and I thought this might be the perfect time to try that.  I did an internet search for thick crumb cake recipes and found lots of recipes for a New York Style Crumb Cake and I thought hmmm…. with a little tweaking, this could be pretty darn good as a cupcake!

And of course, the cupcake has to be filled with peanut butter… just like the cookie!  For this filling, I used a variation of my favorite peanut butter buttercream recipe, but made it more creamy and smooth than thick like a frosting.

Oh the frosting.  When you see a Tagalong cupcake…. you first see the dark chocolate covering the cookie.  It’s shiny and sometimes, I just bite the edges of the cookie off and eat just the chocolate part first.  So I knew this cookie had to have that same shine and color.  Creamy chocolate was a MUST!

New York Style Vanilla Bean Crumb Cake
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup vanilla sugar (regular sugar is okay too)
1 large egg
seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract (split bean length wise and scrape out seeds)
1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and vanilla sugar for about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla bean seeds egg, scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat on high for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  5. Mix in the sour cream, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  6. Add the flour in two parts and mix just until smooth.
  7. Add the heavy cream and mix only until incorporated.  DO NOT OVER MIX!
  8. Scoop evenly into 12 cupcake liners.
  9. Bake 18-19 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes.
  10. Cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe inspired by: First Look, Then Cook

Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Makes enough to fill & garnish 12 cupcakes 

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter.
  2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.
  3. Scrape sides again, add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Whip on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 oz cream cheese
1 lb powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
  3. Add the sugar/cocoa to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
  4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the vanilla extract.
  5. Add up to 1/2 cup heavy cream or until you get the smooth consistency you want.
  6. Beat on high for 3 minutes.

To Assemble the Cupcakes:

6 Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies, halved
Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Piping bags & tips

  1. Core the center of each cupcake using an apple corer.  I wanted to make sure these cupcakes had LOTS of peanut butter filling, so I cored them all the way down to the bottom liner.
  2. Using a small closed star tip, pipe the whipped peanut butter filling into each hole making sure a little bit peeps out the top.
  3. For half of the cupcakes, I stopped there with the peanut butter filling.  On the other half, I piped a small layer of the peanut butter filling on top of the cupcake as well.
  4. Using a Wilton 1M tip, pipe a beautiful pile of creamy chocolate frosting on top of each cupcake.
  5. With the remaining peanut butter filling, pipe a small dollop on top of the chocolate frosting on the cupcakes that are only filled in the middle.
  6. Garnish with half a Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie.
  7. EAT!
Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, girl scout cookie cupcakes, recipes, vanilla, vanilla cupcakes
Thin Mint Cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes

January 25, 2012 by · 20 Comments

It’s totally that time of year… GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME!

I can’t resist.  I bought 10 boxes.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  10 boxes.

2 to eat (with in the first 24  hours).

8 to bake with.

Yeah… you read that correctly.  8 boxes to bake with.

Last year I made Samoa Cupcakes and Tagalong Brownies.  This year… I started with Thin Mint Cupcakes.  These cupcakes are a super decadent chocolate cake filled with a whipped chocolate ganache topped with a mint buttercream.  Serious amounts of NOM NOM NOM.

PS…. This is my new favorite chocolate cake recipe.  I know it’s got beer in it… but I’m totally using it for every chocolate cake I make from now on!!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 bottle of Guinness Stout Beer
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat.  Add the vanilla beer, whisk together and heat until it just begins to simmer.  Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder and heat until it just begins to bubble up.  DO NOT BOIL.  Remove from heat and whisk until smooth.   Cool slightly.
  4. In the meantime, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream.  Slowly pour in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. NOTE:  DO THIS SLOW! You don’t want to cook the eggs, so start pouring a very small amount of the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture… DO NOT DUMP IT IN ALL AT ONCE.
  5. In three parts, add the flour mixture to the chocolate/egg mixture.  Whisk until smooth.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, making sure everything is incorporated.
  6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.
  7. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Cool in pan for 3-4 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

4 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp corn syrup

1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium glass bowl.
  2. In a small sauce pan, heat the heavy cream and corn syrup just until it bubbles.
  3. Pour heavy cream over chocolate and stir until smooth.  If the chocolate doesn’t melt all the way, place the bowl over a double boiler and continue to stir until smooth.
  4. Mix in the butter and extract.
  5. Allow ganache to cool to room temperature.
  6. Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the cooled ganache until fluffy.  Don’t over mix or it will get grainy.

Vanilla Bean Peppermint Buttercream

12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 cup Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cream
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
pinch of salt
Wilton Green Food Gel

  1.  Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. Add half the powdered sugar and mix on high until incorporated and smooth.
  3. Beat in half the vanilla bean cream until smooth.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, making sure all the sugar is combined.
  4. Add the remaining sugar and the peppermint extract.
  5. Mix in the food gel until it’s the color you desire.
  6. Add remaining vanilla bean cream until you get the consistency you want.  Mix on high 3-4 minutes until smooth and fluffy.

To Assemble Cupcakes:

Thin Mint Cookies
Peppermint Buttercream
Chocolate Shavings
Piping bag & large round tip
Apple corer

  1. Core each cupcake using the apple corer.
  2. Fill each cupcake with whipped ganache.  (I filled a disposable piping bag, cut off the top and filled each one with that.)
  3. Using a large round tip and a piping  bag, pipe a round swirl of buttercream on to each cupcake.
  4. Top with a Thin Mint cookie and chocolate shavings.
  5. EAT! ENJOY!

And this is what you do when you have left over peppermint buttercream.  NOM NOM NOM

Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, ganache, ganache, girl scout cookie cupcakes, Madagascar vanilla beans, mint cupcakes, peppermint, peppermint and mint, recipes, whipped cream, whipping cream
Cookies ‘n Creme Brownies

Cookies ‘n Creme Brownies

January 23, 2012 by · 4 Comments

I had a potluck 2 weeks ago.  It’s theme is International Food.  So yeah.  I’m in Germany… which means technically American cuisine would be considered “international”, right?  HAHA

So brownies it is.  BUT!  Not your traditional brownie… it’s a cookies n’ creme brownie!  This delicious thing has oreos baked inside of the brownie as well as a creamy oreo buttercream slathered on top.

NOM!

It’s a pretty easy recipe too, only took me about 10 minutes to whip up and get in oven… then another few minutes to beat up the frosting, spread and cut!

If the soldiers at work don’t love these at the potluck… well shoot.  hahaha!

Cookies ‘n Creme Brownies
Makes 16 brownies (depending on how you cut it)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 oz (3 squares) unsweetened bakers chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

8 Oreo cookies, chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Great 9×15 in dark pan with shortening or butter.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.
  3. While that is creaming, melt the chocolate and set aside to cool for 2 minutes.
  4. Add the slightly cooled chocolate to the butter mixture, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix until combined.
  5. Mix in the vanilla.
  6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour and salt.
  7. Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix only until just combined.
  8. Remove bowl from mixer, scrape off paddle attachment and sides of the bowl.  Fold in the Oreo cookies and make sure the batter is smooth and combined.  This should take about 7-8 strokes.
  9. Spread batter evenly into the pan using an offset spatula.
  10. Bake for 25-35 minutes or just until barely done.  Do not over bake!
  11. Cool completely on a wire rack.  (If you’re in a hurry like I was, allow brownies to cool for 10 minutes in front of an open window, then remove them from the pan to cool more on the wire rack by the window!)
  12. Frost with Oreo buttercream then cut into squares!
  13. Eat…. nom nom nom!  Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from: How Sweet It Is

Oreo Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
8-10 Oreo cookies, in chunky pieces

  1. Cream together the butter, sugar and salt – about 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add half the cream and beat until smooth.
  3. Mix in the Oreos and beat until they are broken up.  You want a few chunks in the frosting, so don’t mix too long.
  4. Beat in the the remaining cream until you get your desired consistency.
  5. NOTE:  This frosting is VERY SWEET.  You can cut back on the sugar, oreos or add a pinch more salt to change the flavor.  Play around with it until you get it the right sweetness.
Filed Under: bars, bars, brownies, chocolate, cookies, cooking icing, desserts, frosting and icing, recipes
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hug Cookies

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hug Cookies

January 8, 2012 by · 3 Comments

Valentine’s Day is just a few short weeks away… and you know what that means? LOTS AND LOTS of delicious baked yummies all colored in pink and red for this holiday full of LOVE!

Actually, it’s just another reason for me to bake. Haha. My hubby and I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day because he’s either been in the field training or deployed to war. This year, he’s home…. but we’re still not celebrating.

Instead, I’ll be making cookies and cupcakes in the weeks leading up to this mushy, pink, lovey dovey holiday!

But seriously, is anyone really going to complain about that? Probably not!

My first cookie is a spin on all the holiday blossom cookies I made during December. Hershey’s has a raspberry filled white and pink hug KISS this season which I thought would go perfectly on top of a blossom cookie! So these cookies are made with my favorite raspberry jam and a super dark chocolate rolled in hot pink sugar crystals and topped with a Hershey’s Raspberry Kiss! nom nom nom nom

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hugs Blossom Cookies
Makes 3+ dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup raspberry jam (I used Smuckers because it’s my favorite!)
2 cups flour
2 tbsp milk
3.5 oz chopped 70% dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup hot pink sanding sugar
Hershey’s Raspberry Hug Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla.   About 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add the raspberry jam, scrape the sides of the bowl, and mix until well combined.
  4. Add the flour and mix on medium speed until combined.  Add the milk just before flour is completely combined.   This will help the flour incorporate into the dough.
  5. Add the chopped chocolate and fold in using a spatula.
  6. Chill for 20 minutes in refrigerator.
  7. Scoop 1 inch balls of dough and roll in hot pink sugar crystals.   Place on a baking sheet at least 1-2 inches apart.  (Note: Don’t roll dough balls any larger than 1 inch or they will spread too much on your cookie sheet!)
  8. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
  9. Immediately press a Raspberry Hug into the middle of each cookie.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Eat and enjoy!
Filed Under: blossoms, chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, dark chocolate, fruity cookies, holiday, raspberry, recipes, seasonal, valentine's day
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Blondies

December 27, 2011 by · 1 Comment

On Christmas, my family and I went to a community dinner sp0nsored by the USO.  Lots of people brought side dishes and desserts to the dinner and one in particular stood out to me…

It was a blondie of sorts.  A cookie bar.  Inside it had chocolate and marshmallow… and it got me to thinking, why haven’t I made more blondies before?

Since I had these two beautiful  jars of homemade peanut butter that I had just whipped up… I knew this was a perfect opportunity to make some peanut butter blondies!

The grocery store had a huge sale on it’s holiday bags of chocolate… so I picked up a couple bags of Hershey’s Chocolate Chunks for only $1 each today… so I knew I had to include some chocolate with the peanut butter!

This recipe makes a ton of peanut butter chocolate chunk blondies…. so be prepared to share!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Blondies
Makes 12 large squares… more if you cut them smaller

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup homemade peanut butter (see my recipe!)

2 eggs
1tsp vanilla

1/4 cup milk

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup + 1/4 cup chocolate chunks

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.  Great a 9×13 metal pan with shortening or butter.
  2. In a medium sauce pan, melt together the butter and brown sugar on medium heat… whisking often.
  3. Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter.  Whisk until all the peanut butter has melted.  Set aside to cool as you prepare the flour.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  5. Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the butter/sugar mixture.
  6. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pur the butter/sugar mixture in.  Using a spatula, fold the butter/sugar into the flour about 6-7 strokes.
  7. Add the milk and fold 4-5 more strokes.   You just want to barely combine the ingredients, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
  8. Dump in the chocolate chips and fold until combined.
  9. Pour the thick batter into your prepared pan and spread to the edges.  Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chunks.
  10. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top and edges have turned a golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan before cutting into squares.
  11. Drizzle with extra peanut butter, serve with a big glass of milk and enjoy!

Filed Under: bars, blondies, brown sugar, chocolate, featured, peanut butter, recipes
The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011

December 12, 2011 by · 2 Comments

I am so super excited to be a part of the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!   The cookie swap had over 600 participants in it’s first year… I’d say that was a HUGE SUCCESS!

I was paired up with two other fabulous military wives and bloggers here in Europe to send a dozen of my homemade cookies to!

Carrie Fields of Fields of Cake and Other Good Stuff

Jessica Sutherland of Jessica Lynn Writes

These fabulous ladies received one of my most favorite recipes for holiday cookies, but with a twist!  I took my tried and true recipe for sugar cookies and added a little mint, dark chocolate chips, and green food coloring turning them into “Grinch Cookies”!  Green and black mint chocolate chip cookies!  Seriously so YUM!

(Sorry, the only picture I snapped before I packaged them up was this pic with my camera phone!)

Grinch (aka Mint Chocolate Chip) Cookies
Makes 3 dozen cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp peppermint or mint extract
4-5 drops green food coloring
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used Nestle brand)

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together.
  2. Add the eggs and beat on high for 2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.
  3. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring and mix until all the color has been combined.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all the color is incorporated.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  5. In three parts, add the flour.  Between each addition add a tablespoon of milk.  Mix flour only until combined.
  6. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
  7. Cover dough and place in freezer for 20-30 minutes or chill in refrigerator for at least an hour.
  8. While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 400 F degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  9. After the dough has chilled, scoop 1-1 1/2 inch balls onto the cookie sheet 2in apart.  Press each ball gently until flat (unless you want little round ball cookies, then leave them round).  The rounder the edges of your cookies, the rounder they will bake.  If you like imperfection like I do… just leave them with jagged, rough edges.  I pressed a couple extra dark chocolate chips into the top of a few of the cookies, just cause it’s pretty!
  10. Bake 7-8 minutes.  Do not over bake!  You want the bottoms to just begin to get golden, brown but not dark!
  11. Leave cookies on pan for 30 seconds before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, holiday, peppermint, peppermint and mint, recipes, seasonal
Ooey Gooey Double Chip Surprise Cookie Bars

Ooey Gooey Double Chip Surprise Cookie Bars

December 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Another group of soldiers is in need of some TLC as they ship off to Afghanistan and it’s my job to make sure they have sufficient amounts of sugar as they board the plane on the biggest adventure of their life!

This time… it’s a cookie bar with a huge surprise in the middle.  Baked in these cookie bars are two kinds of chips and a Reese’s peanut butter cup! Seriously, I wish I had extra for myself, cause they are SO YUM!

Run to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these for your kids…. they’ll thank you for it.

(PS… I didn’t feel like breaking out the big camera to take pictures…. so, you get camera phone pics!)

Double Chip Surprise Cookie Bars
Makes 12 bars

8×8 glass pan
parchment paper
non-stick cooking spray

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
10oz bag + 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
12 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Lightly spray bottom of an 8x8x2 glass pan with cooking spray.  Line bottom of pan with a square piece of parchment paper.  Generously spray top of paper and sides of pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  In two parts, with the mixer on low, add the flour and mix until barely combined.
  5. Add the milk and mix until just incorporated.
  6. By hand, fold in the chocolate and butterscotch chips.
  7. Press half the dough into the pan.  Arrange 12 peanut butter cups evenly onto of this layer, pressing them gently into the dough.
  8. Spread evenly the remaining dough on top of the pb cups, making sure to spread into the corners.  Again, press dough gently into bottom layer.
  9. Bake in the center of your oven for 40-50 minutes or until baked through.  Do not over bake!
  10. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 12 squares.  Be patient, you want them to set up before you cut them… they will keep their shape better if cooled when cutting.
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate.
Filed Under: bars, bars, butterscotch chips, chocolate, cookies, featured, filled cookies, recipes
Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms

December 1, 2011 by · 1 Comment

I went a little bit crazy buying the different variations of the Hershey Kiss this holiday season.  And when I say a little crazy… I mean I bought at least a dozen bags of them.  Just to bake cookies.

I know.  Obsessive.

But whatever.  It’s Christmas!

So today…  I originally wanted to make a peppermint sugar cookie, but then decided to use these Chocolate Cherry Kisses that had been sitting in the candy bowl screamed to be used up.  Also in my cabinet was a jar of marichino cherries and some mini chocolate chips.

DING DING DING! We have a WINNER!

Cherries + Chocolate = DELICIOUS

Cherries + Chocolate + Cookies = HEAVEN

This cookie is so super simple and easy to make… almost too easy.   And even better than it’s simplicity… it’s almost VEGAN! No eggs or dairy!  (Sub a non-animal shortening for the butter and you’ve got Vegan! HORRAY!)

ENJOY!

Chocolate Cherry Blossoms
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on size)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 tsp Maraschino cherry juice (the juice your cherries come in!)
1/4 tsp almond extract (vanilla is okay too if you don’t have almond)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup Maraschino cherries, chopped
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup sugar
Hershey’s Chocolate Cherry Kisses, unwrapped

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Cream together the salt, butter and powdered sugar.
  3. Add the cherry juice and extract and mix until combined.  Don’t forget to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl!
  4. Add the flour and mix just until combined.
  5. Fold in the chopped cherries and mini chocolate chips.
  6. Using a tiny 1in ice cream scoop… scoop then roll 1in balls of dough in your hand.  Roll them in the 1/2 cup sugar and place them on your cookie sheet 2in apart.
  7. Using the bottom of a glass, press the dough slightly to flatten… not too much, we don’t want pancake cookies!
  8. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown.
  9. As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, press a Kiss into the center of each cookie.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.
  10. I actually ran out of Kisses, so some of the cookies got a drizzle of a simple chocolate ganache on top!
  11. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from  Chickens in the Road.
Filed Under: blossoms, candy filled cookies, cherry, chocolate, cookies, recipes
Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Sauce

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter Sauce

November 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

I had my friend Steffen and his daughter Robin over for a visit this weekend. Steffen is an American living in Germany and his daughter is 1/2 American, 1/2 German and only knows German culture. This was Robin’s first visit to our house and I wanted to spoil her with some delicious American baking! Brownies. Seriously delicious brownies.

I asked my BFF baker friend, Carrie Fields of Fields of Cake, what recipe I should use to make such brownie and she led me to the most amazing brownie I have ever tasted. Seriously, this brownie is AH-MAH-ZING!

It’s thick, moist, chewy and so chocolately that you neeeeeeed the whipped cream and peanut butter sauce to balance out the awesomeness of the chocolate.

And let me tell you about this peanut butter sauce. OH MY GAWG. I just want to eat spoonfuls of it. And really, can’t wait to buy some ice cream to top it with. You can use this sauce on ANYTHING. SO GOOD.

So, thanks to Steffen for wanting brownies and thanks to Carrie for the recipes! I changed things up just slightly, but for the most post… the recipes are all Carries!

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
14 ounces quality dark chocolate (85%), chopped coarsely
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9×13 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder and set aside.
  3. Using a large double boiler, melt together the chopped dark chocolate, cubed butter and instant espresso powder.  Stirring occasional until melted and completely combined.  Turn the heat off, but leave on the burner and keep the bowl on the double boiler.
  4. Add the sugars and whisk until combined.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes or until it comes to room temperature.
  5. Add three eggs, whisk just until combined.  Add the remaining two eggs and whisk only until combined.
  6. Gently stir in the vanilla.  Do not overmix the batter or the brownies will turn out cakey.
  7. Fold the flour mixture to the wet mixture just until all the flour has become wet and just combined.  Again, DO NOT OVERMIX.
  8. Pour the mixture into your buttered baking dish.  Using a tapered spatula, gently spread the batter into the corners of the pan, smoothing out the top.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.  Rotate pan half way through baking. Do not over bake.
  10. Allow to cool in pan completely before cutting and serving.
  11. Serve with unsweetened fresh whipped cream and peanut butter sauce drizzled over the top.

Peanut Butter Sauce
Adapted from Fields of Cake

1 cup sugar
½ cup honey
½ cup water
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp salt

  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, honey, water and salt with a whisk until all the sugar is dissolved.
  2. Allow to come to a boil and cook, without stirring, until the sugar turns a dark amber color.  This process can happen quickly, so watch the sugar closely so you don’t burn it.  It will start to smell like caramel when it’s done.
  3. Once it turns dark amber in color, remove immediately from the heat and whisk in the butter.
  4. Add the cream and whisk to combine.
  5. Stir in the peanut butter and whisk until combined.
  6. Taste the sauce, if it’s too sweet, add 1 tsp more of salt to cut the sweetness.
  7. Allow to come to room temperature to thicken before drizzling over brownies with fresh whipped cream.
Unsweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream, very cold
1 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Place the metal bowl and whisk of your electric mixer in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  2. After they bowl and whisk are very chilled and cold, attach them to the stand mixer.
  3. Pour in the heavy whipping cream and whisk on high for 3-4 minutes.
  4. Pour in the vanilla extract.
  5. Continue to whisk on high until it becomes thick.  Do not over mix or it will deflate.
Filed Under: bars, brownies, chocolate, featured, peanut butter, recipes, syrup
Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies

November 7, 2011 by · 2 Comments

This weekend was HUGE for me. 270 cupcakes all by myself, plus selling them. I was EXHAUSTED by the time Sunday rolled around. I thought I wouldn’t want to bake for a week.

WRONG!

Monday rolls around and I’m back in the kitchen baking. This time, one of my favorite combos: Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

I made these soft and chewy peanut buttery chocolate kiss cookies cause ya know, they’re my favorite and I made them HUGE because well, you know… everything is better when it’s HUGE!

Ultimate Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen JUMBO cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup peanut butter, extra crunchy
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 10oz bags HERSHEY’S mini chocolate Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
  3. Add the sugars and beat on high until combined.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix on high for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
  5. Beat in the corn syrup, water and vanilla extract.
  6. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
  7. Add the flour mixture in two parts to the cookie dough, mixing only until just combined.
  8. Fold in the mini kisses.
  9. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop 8 mounds of cookie dough onto your pan.
  10. Bake for 9-10 minutes.  DO NOT OVER BAKE!  You want them to begin to turn golden on top but still be soft in the middle.
  11. Remove to a wire rack immediately to cool.
Filed Under: brown sugar, chocolate, cookies, featured, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate, recipes
Graveyard Cupcakes

Graveyard Cupcakes

October 29, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Today is the Fall Festival for my husband’s Battalion here in Germany.  I am also an FRG Leader for one of the companies in the BN so I had a huge part in planning the festivities for today!  One of the events is a Bake Off (my idea, of course!  hehe)!  I wanted to make something that was not only delicious, but spooky and on theme for Halloween!

I decided to make an Oreo cupcake and decorate it like a graveyard as well as an orange flavored candy corn cupcake! I know that candy corn typically isn’t orange in flavor, but my friend Sarah sent me a package of blood orange candy corns… so this works out perfectly!

For the Graveyard cupcakes I made this oreo cupcake… it’s a favorite recipe of mine that works out perfectly every time I make it!   Instead of a cream cheese frosting like the recipe calls for… I used a standard buttercream and added oreos.  I made 1.5x the amount I’d normally make for a dozen cupcakes, just to make sure I had enough frosting.  Here’s that recipe:

Oreo Buttercream
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
10 Oreos, chopped
1/4 tsp salt

  1. Beat the butter until smooth.
  2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, alternating with a small amount of cream at a time, and beat until smooth and creamy.
  3. Mix in the vanilla.
  4. Add the chopped Oreos and mix on high for 2 minutes or until all the big chunks of Oreo are gone.
  5. Add more cream until you get your desired consistency.  You may not need all the cream.
  6. Mix in the salt until well combined.
Assembly of the Graveyard cupcakes is really a quite simple process.
Here’s what you’ll need:
6 Milano chocolate cookies, halved
Wilton Foodwriters pen
10 Crushed Oreo cookies (just the cookie, not the cream)
  1. Top the cupcakes with a generous mound of frosting.
  2. In a medium bowl, dump the cookie crumbs.  Turn your frosted cupcake upside down and dip it into the cookie crumbs.  You’ll want to put some pressure into the crumbs so that the cookies coat the entire top of the cupcake and frosting.  Roll the sides too if needed.
  3. Using the palm of your hand, pat the cookie crumbs until they form a nice round mound, like a grave.
  4. Using the food pen, write any spooky phrase you want on the cookie halves.  I wrote RIP. Place each cookie into the frosting.
  5. You could also put hands or bones, maybe gummy worms or other spooky creatures in your grave… really, the possibilities are endless!
Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, cookie cupcakes, cooking icing, cupcake recipes, decorating ideas, featured, frosting and icing, halloween, holiday, recipes, seasonal, tips & tricks
Pumpkin & Chocolate Bundt Cake with a Cinnamon Glaze

Pumpkin & Chocolate Bundt Cake with a Cinnamon Glaze

October 27, 2011 by · 4 Comments

I’ve never owned a bundt pan before. I know, hard to believe. But, it’s true. This week, I was going to borrow one from a friend to make a cake for a Bake Off, but then saw one for only €7 at Rewe here in Graf and snatched it up.

So for my first bundt cake… I decided on a chocolate and pumpkin combo. I figured it would be best to be safe and instead of doing two batters and making it marbled, I would make one batter with chocolate and pumpkin together.

For the glaze, I spent all morning pondering it… Do I make a vanilla & cinnamon glaze for a more dramatic effect or a thick chocolate ganache for flavor and texture? I’m leaning toward the chocolate because really, you can’t go wrong with chocolate. I guess we’ll know which one I decided on by the end of this blog! HA!

The cake batter is a little unorthodox in it’s ingredients, but trust me the cake will be AMAZINGLY delicious!  It’s super dense, moist and the pumpkin flavor is just enough to add some spice to the cake.  It leaves you wondering… mmmm, what is that?

Pumpkin & Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cup minus 1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn starch

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp espresso powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground gloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg white, room temperature

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350 f degrees.  Grease the inside of your large, deep bundt pan.
  2. Sift together the flour and corn starch in a large bowl.
  3. Add the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Whisk until well combined.
  4. In another large bowl, mix together with an electric mixer the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and brown sugar.
  5. Mix in the eggs one at a time.
  6. Add the canola oil, corn syrup and vanilla and mix until combined.
  7. Gradually add the flour to the wet mixture.  Fold in the flour mixture until just combined.  Do not over mix.
  8. Pour batter into bundt pan.  Pound pan on the counter 2-3 times to help the batter settle and to get any air bubbles out.
  9. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a long skewer/stick comes out with no wet batter or just a few crumbs.   You may want to rotate your pan after at least 40 minutes cooking to ensure even baking.
  10. Allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.
  11. Drizzle glaze over the top allowing it to drip down the sides.
  12. Top with mini chocolate chips.
  13. Cut into slices and enjoy!
Cinnamon & Sugar Glaze
1/2 cup packed powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp buttermilk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup packed powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp buttermilk
mini chocolate chips
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, buttermilk and cinnamon.
  2. In another small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and buttermilk.
  3. Drizzle the cinnamon glaze over the bundt cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
  4. Drizzle the sugar glaze over the cinnamon glaze, making sure it drizzles between the cinnamon glaze drizzles…. creating a contrast in colors.
  5. Top with mini chocolate chips.
  6. Allow the glaze to set before cutting &  serving.
  7. Enjoy!
Filed Under: bundt cake, cake, chocolate, featured, pumpkin, recipes
Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

October 25, 2011 by · 4 Comments

I have a meeting today.  A meeting I’m not looking forward to attending.  So… what do I do?  I make it tolerable by baking something delicious to distract myself with during the meeting.  Today, I whipped up a batch of Peanut buttery fudgey brownies.

The recipe inspiration came from what I had on hand in my kitchen.  No cocoa powder, but I had unsweetened baking chocolate,  no chocolate chips, but I had peanut butter chips.  Brownies! YES!

FYI… make sure if you want ooey gooey brownies that you do not over cook these!  I made sure they cooked just the right amount of time and they came out perfectly fudgey and gooey!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 cup flour, sifted
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 F degrees.  Grease a 9×15 cake pan.
  2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla.
  3. Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.   Make sure to scrape the sides/bottom of the bowl!
  4. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the melted chocolate.  Scrape the sides and mix on medium/high speed about 30 seconds.
  5. By hand, mix in the flour until just incorporated.
  6. Fold in the peanut butter chips
  7. Spread batter evenly into the pan.
  8. Dollop the peanut butter on top of the batter.  Using a knife, gently swirl the peanut butter into the batter.  Not too much though, you don’t want the entire top to be covered in peanut butter, just a nice swirl.
  9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving!
Filed Under: brownies, chocolate, peanut butter, recipes
Banana bites

Banana bites

October 16, 2011 by · 1 Comment

After making my Chocolate & Banana cupcakes, I had some extra peanut butter buttercream, banana slices, and melted chocolate.  So, I decided to make a little treat for the family!

 

Banana Bites! 
Sliced bananas
Peanut butter buttercream
Melted Chocolate

  1. Squeeze a dollop of buttercream on a banana slice.
  2. Add a dot of chocolate on top.
  3. Pop in your mouth and enjoy!
Filed Under: banana, buttercream, chocolate, peanut butter, recipes, snacks, tips & tricks
Banana, Espresso & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Banana, Espresso & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

August 25, 2011 by · 11 Comments

So, I’m a sucker for the goodies at Starbucks.  I’m not a just coffee kinda girl… oh no, I want a blueberry scone, perfect oatmeal, a ham breakfast sandwich, a good ol’ hawaiian bagel OR a piece of their banana chocolate chip coffee cake.  That coffee cake is delish.  I figured it would pretty easy to replicate in a cupcake… so that’s exactly what I did.

I started with my absolute favorite banana cupcake recipe, added 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips (I decided I like the mini chocolate chips better for just about everything-but it may just be because I’m on a mini cupcake kick lately-regular chocolate chips will work just fine) and a packet of Starbucks Via to the batter. They turned out great!

They weren’t too sweet.  They had a nice little crunch from the mini chocolate chips and the espresso flavor was there, but in a very subtle way.  I decided to go the cream cheese frosting route, but, 1. these would be amazing without frosting (if that suites your fancy) and 2. they would also probably be pretty phenomenal with a coffee buttercream.  As I’ve said before, anything in my house with cream cheese & bananas=breakfast, so these worked for every meal of the day :)

They’re not an exact copy of the Starbucks coffee cake, but, they’re close enough… they have frosting… and they’re free.  (SN: obviously not all the way free because I had to pay for the ingredients, but you’re smart people-you know what I mean.)

Hope you’re all having a fabulous week!

Ps. Just an FYI-the featured image is 3 mini cupcakes, the picture in the post is a regular sized cupcake.  All of the cupcake liners are from Bake it Pretty.

Banana, Espresso & Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1 regular size, Starbucks Via Mocha flavor packet (instant coffe or freshly brewed espresso will also work)
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 16 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
  2. In  medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  In the well combine, melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla extract and Starbucks Via packet.  Combine with flour until incorporated.  Do not over mix.
  4. Gently mix in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1-8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed to get desired consistency
  1. Cream butter and cream cheese until light fluffy in a standing bowl mixer on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes.
  2. Reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar and combine on low speed until incorporated, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Add heavy cream as needed.
  4. Pipe frosting with a large star tip.

xo-Jenn

Filed Under: banana, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, Coffee, cupcake recipes, posts by jenn, recipes, Starbucks
PB Twix Bars

PB Twix Bars

August 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

I’ve been dreaming of these Peanut Butter Twix Bars since I saw them on Pinterest a couple weeks ago.  Yah, that seems to be a huge theme for my blogs lately…. Pinterest.  If you haven’t signed up for it yet and want an invite… let me know.  It’s sooo addictive!!

So, my original plan was to make them look more like Twix and have them covered in chocolate, but it took a lot more chocolate for the top coat than what I planned for and didn’t have enough to dunk each one.  So, I cut them into bars instead of rectangles and dipping them in chocolate.  They’re still pretty yummy.  The only big downside is that the shortbread on the bottom comes off the peanut butter layer and is kinda crumbly.  If I make these again, I think I’ll use a different shortbread recipe.

Shortbread
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted salted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour. The dough may seem a little dry, but it will come together once you mix it more.
  3. Press evenly into the pan. Poke holes in the dough to help release air and promote even baking.
  4. Bake 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.
  5. Cool completely.
Peanut Butter Layer
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) room temperature unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

  1. Mix together the peanut butter, butter and vanilla.
  2. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
  3. Mix in the milk to loosen up the mixture.
  4. Press peanut butter mixture on top of the shortbread. Use an offset spatula to press into corners and smooth out.
  5. Put in the freezer to set while preparing chocolate.
Chocolate Layer
1 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp shortening
  1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening together.
  2. Pour over chilled peanut butter layer.  Use an offset spatula to smooth out and evenly distribute.
  3. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes to set.
  4. Cut into squares to serve.
  5. You could also melt more chocolate and dip each square into it creating a more “Twix” like candy.  :)
  6. Enjoy!
Filed Under: bars, bars, chocolate, peanut butter, recipes
Betty Crocker’s 1963 Chocolate Crinkles

Betty Crocker’s 1963 Chocolate Crinkles

August 18, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Every Christmas my Mom would make cookies for the family to enjoy and every year these Chocolate Crinkles would be on the top of my FAVORITES list.

The recipe came from the 1963 Betty Crocker Cooky Book and in my Mom’s kitchen, this book was like the bible.  As an adult, every year I’d try to sneak it out of the house to add to my own collection, but my Mom would catch me and tell me no.  It was until until last year when she passed away that I was able to add it to my own collection.

This book and this page in particular have been opened and used so many times, there are years of finger prints and cookie dough smudges on the pages.  It’s like opening up a memory box to some of the best memories of me and my Mom.  You can even see in the picture where I wrote as a kid the measurements to double the recipe.  Yah, it’s that good.  We doubled and tripled the recipe sometimes because they disappeared so fast! So yesterday, I thought I was going to be doing some baking to take to a meeting I have later today, but alas, my plans were thwarted when I was told that the host of the party didn’t want my baked goods.  *GASP* I know what you’re thinking…. WHO WOULDN’T WANT YOUR BAKED GOODS?!?!? I know, I almost took it as a personal insult, but then I realized who I was dealing with and remembered she had never had my baked goods to know what she was missing out on.   But, by the time I got told no, I had already made this batter and needed to roll out cookies.  So…. here we have it…. one of my favorite childhood cookies, the Chocolate Crinkle!

Here’s the recipe from the cook book. The ingredients are the same, but the method is a little different. I simplified things a little bit…. not that Betty’s recipe was hard, but I like things as easy as possible! Enjoy!

Chocolate Crinkles
Makes 3-4 dozen

4oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup powdered sugar

  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together melted chocolate, oil and sugar until well combined.
  2. One at a time add the eggs and mix in.  I used a wooden spoon which seemed to work really well.
  3. Mix in the vanilla.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  5. Add the flour to the oil mixture and stir together until completely incorporated.  I used a wooden spoon for about 50 strokes.
  6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.  If you want to speed up the process, put it in the freezer for about 90 minutes,  this is what I did this time!
  7. After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 F degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  8. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop 1 1/2 inch balls of dough.  Roll them generously in powdered sugar and place on the cookie sheet 2″ apart.
  9. Bake 10-12 minutes.  DO NOT OVERBAKE.  I actually removed them after about 10.5-11 minutes because I like them extra chewy and fudgey on the inside.
  10. Move immediately to a wire rack to cool.  Be careful, they will be very soft!
  11. Cool and enjoy!
Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cookies, cookies, recipes
Triple Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

Triple Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

August 10, 2011 by · 5 Comments

I had a request for cupcakes this week that included white, milk and dark chocolate.  There are so many different ways to make this cupcake and it was hard to not include every technique in them.  Ha! (Over achiever, I know!) I decided on a marbled cake with white and milk chocolate then I’d fill it with a bittersweet chocolate ganache and top it all with a dark chocolate frosting.

Seriously, if you love chocolate… then this cupcake should satisfy every chocolate craving you will ever have.

The first dozen I made, I also topped them white a swirl of white chocolate.  But… my chocolate wasn’t behaving for me, so I only did a dozen with the white chocolate.  It really looked awesome with the white on top… but my patience was running out by the time I got to the second and third dozen.  :)

These cupcakes are pretty labor intense and cost a little extra because of all the chocolate, but the presentation is gorgeous and they really are heavenly.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes

1 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz white bakers chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Milk Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes
1 ½ cups cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz milk chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Use the same directions below to make both batters.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a measuring cup that pours, mix together the milk and sour cream.
  4. Using a double boiler on medium-high heat. Melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool.
  5. In the meantime, using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.
  6. Add the egg whites one at a time and mix until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  7. Mix in the vanilla.
  8. On medium, slowly pour the chocolate into the egg/sugar/butter mixture. Scrape the sides and mix until completely combined.
  9. Add the flour and milk/sour cream alternating, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until combined.
  10. Add the hot water and mix just until incorporated.
  11. STOP. Make the 2nd batter. When that is completed, continue to the next step.
  12. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of white chocolate batter into one side of the liner. Scoop the same amount of chocolate batter next to it in the liner.
  13. Pound the cupcake pan flat on the counter 2-3 times to help the batter settle. Using a toothpick, swirl the two batters together 3-4 times. Do not over swirl, you don’t want to mix the two together, just create a marble effect.
  14. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  15. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  16. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, core each cupcake and fill with the chocolate ganache. Top with the dark chocolate frosting and a shaving of white chocolate (optional).
Chocolate Ganache
1 cups bittersweet chocoalte chips
4oz bakers dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
  1. Combine all ingredients in a microwaves safe bowl.
  2. Microwave in 30 second spurts and stir until 85% of the chocolate has melted.
  3. Remove from the microwave and stir until all the chocolate has melted.
  4. Let cool for 5-7 minutes to thicken.
  5. Spoon into cored cupcakes.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted into the cocoa powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted into the powdered sugar
8oz dark bakers chocolate, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream, heaping
1-2 tbsp milk
  1. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.
  2. In the mean time, cream together the cream cheese and butter.
  3. Add sifted cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  4. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again.
  5. In a slow stream with the mixer on medium, pour in the melted chocolate.  Mix until combined.
  6. Add the sour cream and beat into submission.  :)
  7. Add the milk until you get your desired consistency.
  8. Frost cupcakes immediately.
Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, recipes, white chocolate
Itty Bitty Bumblebee

Itty Bitty Bumblebee

August 7, 2011 by · 3 Comments

I don’t mess around too much with classic cupcake combos… like chocolate & vanilla.  I have a fav chocolate cake recipe that I love and I’ve recently become attached to the most amazing, light & fluffy vanilla buttercream but, when it comes to dressin’ them up a bit… that’s where I get to have a little bit of fun!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, cupcake toppers, frosting and icing, posts by jenn, Uncategorized, vanilla, vanilla frosting
Chocolate Amaretto Mini Cupcakes

Chocolate Amaretto Mini Cupcakes

July 19, 2011 by · 2 Comments

For some reason I thought of Amaretto today. I don’t know why… but it just came to me. It might have been because of the Amaertti German biscuits I bought at the German store today (which are SO GOOD). But the point is… I’m making these cupcakes! Ha! So, I ran BACK to the local German store and picked up a 700ml bottle of Italian Amaretto (for only €3,99!! liquor is so cheap here!) and came up with this recipe for Chocolate Amaretto cupcakes!

Since these are mini’s I won’t be drenching them in the Amaretto like I did the regular size cupcakes, but you definitely should poke some holes in your cupcakes and drench them with more of this delicious liquor if you decide to make regular size cupcakes with this recipe. I’m pretty sure that’d be just a little too much Amaretto for such a small cupcake, since there is Amaretto in the cake, ganache and the buttercream!

 

I’m bringing these to an FRG meeting tomorrow. (For those of you who don’t know… FRG = Family Readiness Group in the Army. I’m the FRG Leader of my husband’s company in the Army and it’s my first meeting after taking the job. I want to make a good impression!) I’m pretty sure these will be a hit with not only the other FRG Leaders but the soldiers who will be there!

Chocolate Amaretto Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini cupcakes and about 6 regular size cupcakes

1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur
1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line your cupcake pan with mini nut cups or mini cupcake liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, oil, sugar egg, and amaretto.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  4. In two parts, gently whisk the flour into the wet mixture.  Mix until all the clumps are out.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
  5. For minis: Scoop batter into liners about 1/2-2/3 full.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. For regular size: Scoop batter into liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Amaretto Ganache
This made enough to dip all the cupcakes with 1/2 left over

4 oz semi-sweet bakers chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream (I actually ran out of whipping cream, so I used 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup coconut milk)
3 tbsp Amaretto liquor, separated
1 tbsp butter

  1.  Chop the chocolate and place it in a glass bowl.
  2. In a double boiler, bring the cream and 2 tbsp Amaretto to a boil.
  3. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds.
  4. Stir until smooth.
  5. Add the butter and 1 tbsp Amaretto and stir until incorporated.
  6. Dip the tops of cooled cupcakes in the ganache.  Set aside before to firm up frosting.

Chocolate Amaretto Buttercream
Makes enough to frost all the cupcakes in the above recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur
2-3 tbsp whipping cream

Amaretti biscuit cookies

  1. Sift together the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder.
  2. Cream the butter until smooth.
  3. 1 cup at a time, add the sugar/cocoa.   Mix until smooth.
  4. Add the amaretto and mix until incorporated.
  5. Add the whipping cream until you get the consistency and texture you desire.
  6. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 30 seconds on high.
  7. Pipe a dollop of buttercream onto each cupcake.  Top with an Amaretti biscuit cookie.

Filed Under: alcohol, alcohol cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, ganache, recipes
Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

July 10, 2011 by · 8 Comments

Hola cupcakers! :) Hope that you’re all having a great weekend! I’m a little behind on posting, because July is a crazy busy month for us, but I’m always baking (of course!) these mint chocolate chip cupcakes were a big deal at work :) hope you like them too!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, featured, peppermint and mint, posts by jenn, recipes
Chocolate Chip Pancake With Maple Syrup Buttercream

Chocolate Chip Pancake With Maple Syrup Buttercream

July 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Happy weekend, JavaCupcakers! For those of you in the US, Happy 4th of July weekend! These cupcakes are a great way to start off your weekend ;)

[Read more...]

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, maple frosting, posts by jenn, recipes
Javachip Cupcakes

Javachip Cupcakes

May 25, 2011 by · 6 Comments

One of my resolutions this year was to give up Starbucks… every. single. day.  Delicious, but uber expensive.  Ask my mint.com account ;) To make things easier we started using our coffee maker in the office and I brought in some fun coffee cups from home…for the most part, this resolution = big time success.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, Coffee, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, posts by jenn, recipes, Starbucks
Tagalong Brownies

Tagalong Brownies

May 19, 2011 by · 2 Comments

As some of you know, I have been holding on to several boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  Well, today, I gave in and used a box in a batch of brownies I’m simply going to call… Tagalong Brownies. [Read more...]

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, girl scout cookie cupcakes, peanut butter, recipes
Birthday Trio

Birthday Trio

May 18, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Hey folks ;) sorry things have been a little quiet around here from me lately… life has kind of been super busy lately.  Good busy, but still super busy.  I haven’t had much time to write posts, but have no fear I have been baking!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: banana, buttercream, caramel, chocolate, cream cheese, posts by jenn, strawberry, vanilla
Nutella Bliss Cupcakes

Nutella Bliss Cupcakes

May 17, 2011 by · 2 Comments

I’ve never had Nutella before, seriously, not a lie.  But I’ve been told it’s fabulous. I’m pretty sure I’ve stayed away from it because I’ve been allergic to nuts my entire life.   [Read more...]

Filed Under: chocolate, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, Nutella, nutella cupcakes, peanut butter, recipes
Spaghetti & Meatball Cupcakes

Spaghetti & Meatball Cupcakes

May 9, 2011 by · 2 Comments

I love love love these!  They’re super easy and suuuuuper fun! :) Here’s the best thing, you pick your fav cupcake and add your favorite vanilla buttercream and then go from there!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: chocolate, cupcake recipes, posts by jenn, recipes, tips & tricks, vanilla
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

May 5, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Celebrate Mexico and their amazing hertiage with a little spice and a lot of chocoalte and these sooo yummy Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes!  [Read more...]

Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cupcake recipes, hot and spicy, marshmallow, recipes
Raspberry Almond Cupcakes & Dark Chocolate Buttercream

Raspberry Almond Cupcakes & Dark Chocolate Buttercream

April 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

It’s been kind of a long week over here on my side of the world….and I don’t feel like Friday will be here soon enough *le*sigh*  My solution?  Bake, of course!  I’ve had these cupcakes saved for a long long long time and never got around to making them.  I’m glad that I finally took some time to whip them up, because they totally made me feel better!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, fruit, fruity cupcakes, posts by jenn, recipes