Archive for the ‘Baking’ Category
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
I love my friends’ birthdays. Something about the excuse to spoil the crap out of my friends in embarrassing public displays of affection fills me with a joy I can’t explain. Now, it doesn’t stop me from being outwardly loud and obnoxiously loving on a regular basis, which most of my friends avoid me during these times, but then there’s one who reciprocates my affection. Meet Jay.
Jay is one of my roommates and he is my lovely lady killer. Yesterday, he turned 25, and I knew I wanted to make him something extra special. Step in Car Bomb Cupcakes. Now, I’ve never had an Irish car bomb, but they are traditionally a half a pint of Guinness, then a half an ounce of whiskey with half an ounce of Bailey’s, dropped in and then chugged. I’m not sure why someone would want to drink this, but the flavors sounded like a delicious combination for a cupcake!
I used Double Chocolate Stout instead of Guinness. The alcohol is burned off in one of the beginning steps of this, also, you can opt out of the whiskey in the middle and replace the Bailey’s with cream or half and half. Also, instead of doubling the recipe, i just made two batches but only one and a half times the filling and frosting.
Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes
from smitten kitchen. (I’m not one to directly take from the site, but Deb puts the instructions in such a precise way I found it hard to reword, so not all the words are mine, but I followed them and all the pictures and fat calories from eating a dozen cupcakes ARE mine.)
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes (but I got 30!?)
For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)
Baileys Frosting
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temp
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)
1/4 tsp of mint extract
1 tsp of the ganache
Special equipment: 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work)
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan.
In a medium sauce pan, bring butter and stout to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until blended well.
Beat eggs and sour cream together in an electric mixer until lighter in color, add chocolate mix, and beat slowly until mixed. Gently fold in dry ingredient mix until combined. Fill cupcakes about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 17-18 minutes until tester comes out clean– rotate once. Cool completely before removing the centers.
Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake only about 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar. Ice and decorate the cupcakes.
Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.)
Posted in Baking, Cupcakes, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Christine and Bread: A Love Story
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
During my detox, I woke up from a dream that entirely consisted of bread.
I was in my kitchen and a lovely two pound boule was set before me. Taking my trusty bread knife, I sliced the entire loaf into several thick pieces then set them carefully in my preheated oven. As they toasted to a slight brown, I unwrapped the gold package of butter and mixed it with chives, dill, and pepper. I removed the slices from the oven, now warm enough to melt butter and put them on a large plate. Then, I used both hands to shove the entire sliced up loaf in my mouth. Like a cartoon comic, crumbs flew from my mouth and scattered everywhere and I lapped them up.
It doesn’t surprise me I dreamed about bread. I was on day 17 of 18 on my detox which has kept me far from anything with gluten and if you read my twitter, I really missed bread the most (I’m sorry about the fact I can’t shut up about it.)
Enter my first trip to France. At 18, after high-tailing it out of high school a semester early, my best friend, her mother, and I hopped a plane to Europe to spend a month. I had my first French croissants and baguettes and knew I could never love American bread from the store again. In the mountains of Colorado, I searched for baguettes that were even remotely close and fell short. I thought and scoured but was too intimidated to try making a baguette.
Here I am, a longer time than I wished away from France and I’m still obsessed with finding delicious bread. There are bakeries I’ve purchased from, but nothing really compares. On my birthday in 2008, alone and away from my family, I decided to take the plunge and make my first loaf of bread all by myself:
The results were phenomenal. I made a fantastic BLT with it and though I was in and out of my affair with homemade bread for a few months, I’ve entered a union with it wholeheartedly. I would rather eat no bread than store bought bread.
I’m lucky though. While making a loaf a few weeks back with a friend, I noticed her looking cluelessly at the raw dough. I instructed her to, “knead it.” She grabbed an end and punched it a little. I took it over, showed her a few tricks and soon, she was kneading it with me. After a short rest, it was time for shaping. I said, “Just make a boule.” She looked at me confused. It was then I realized that because of my family tradition, I knew quite a bit more about bread baking than the average Jane.
So, I found two great bread recipes that are perfect for first time bakers. You don’t have to know what the gluten is doing or if the yeast is alive or not. It’s also a very simple recipe that is a great start to baking your own bread. Here’s a step-by-step guide you can bookmark and come back to, so you don’t have to re-read my ramblings.
Posted in Baking, Bread, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Vanilla Fig Tea Cupcakes with Root Frosting
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Dear World,
I am happy to announce that I have met my match. My one and only. My true loves of all. I regret to inform everyone that there is a little less love for everyone else because any extra love is going directly to these.
I know what you’re thinking. To you, they probably don’t look like much. Well… there’s so much more. See… in those are these:
Last year, I heard a lot of buzz about a new spirit on the market called Root. The local shop, Art in the Age, wrote up a lovely page dedicated to this beverage here. Basically, Root is the recipe, prior to the Prohibition, for root beer. After my first taste, strong overtones of vanilla bean, subtle root beer flavor, I knew I would be a fun ingredient for baking. Adding a light touch of alcohol is a great way to add depth and bring out certain flavors. Don’t go out and drink a whole bottle of this while eating cupcakes and write back, “Thanks for the alcohol poisoning.” Moderation, people, moderation.
Now the second element to this recipe, is tea. One of my bi-weekly errands is to local tea stores, I could wander over the lists of loose tea for hours and Philadelphia has some love for tea. I say some, because, sadly, my favorite tea bar, Remedy, shut its doors less than a year ago though you can find a majority of their tea is online.
As I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, searching for a chai that would go with these cupcakes, I discovered many things. Strong green tea from the Asian Market (mine), detox tea (mine), female cleansing tea (which I actually think one of the boys purchased on accident), sinus draining tea (Elizabeth), regular black tea for hot toddys (Jay), but mostly the four of us have a serious tea addiction. Seriously.
After moving onto the other cabinet shelf, I found the perfect match:
This Vanilla Fig Black Tea is available here. So, my dear readers, I’m done with all of your other cupcakes. Your fancy mcschmancy decorated ones with their fondant and their sparkles. These cupcakes might not shoot rainbows from their nether regions, but taste wise– they are, as my friend described, “delightfully complex.”
Relationship wise, until marrying these cupcakes is legal, I’m single as ever. Let’s fight for cupcake marriage.
Oh and additional bonus– these take one WHOLE stick of butter. For frosting AND cake.
Vanilla Fig Tea Cupcakes with Root Frosting
(adapted from Joy the Baker | Joy puts this in very good words, so I didn’t change the words much!)
1 cup all-purpose flour
a scant 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk (minus 2T)
8 oz of black tea (vanilla flavored is best for this recipe)
2-3 T of Root (optional)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan, heat milk to almost boiling. Steep tea according to instructions. Set aside to cool. Add Root.
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl and blend on slow speed with a mixer (or by hand.) until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half of the tea/milk/Root mix and beat until the liquid is just incorporated.
Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated. Scrape sides of the bowls well and mix until the batter is smooth for only a few minutes– do not overmix.
Line a muffin pan with twelve cups and fill all until a little less than 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden. Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
(frost 12 cupcakes, double for a 9 inch cake.)
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 T of milk
1/2 T of Root (adjust to taste)
a sprinkle of cinnamon
Beat powdered sugar and butter together until well mixed on medium low. Once well mixed, turn the speed to low and add milk and Root steadily and slowly. Once all incorporated, crank up the speed to high for about five minutes. Beating the frosting longer will make it lighter and fluffier.
Frost cupcakes and sprinkle some cinnamon on top!
Tags: Cupcakes, root, tea, vanilla fig
Posted in Cupcakes, Recipes | No Comments »
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
The city is tricky. Just when the snow seems to be calming down, it picks back up again and sneezes all over the place. It’s leaking into homes now. Not the actual snow, but with the flakes people carry in, their mood seems to dampen as well. Not only is it hard to out, it’s hard to be snowed in.
Yesterday, I woke up to sideways snow. I was not amused for a brief moment, when I felt a cat nestled up to me. She is warm and fuzzy and just the little happy push I needed. Then, I noticed the bright colors in my bedroom. The stray, bright yellow post it on my lampshade telling me if I have any errands to run. They all made me smile.
I’m one of those nerds who has to surround herself with bright colors. Otherwise, I get sucked into the droopy frowns too. In a couple weeks, the snow will melt and the sun will be so hot we’ll wish for cold weather back. Or at least, I will.
Since the weather has been taking its toll on my mood, I make an effort to remind myself of spring.
I buy new, open-toed shoes in a bright yellow.
I play with fresh herbs in my cooking.
I bought pretty new spring inspired cupcake cases for ridiculously bright cupcakes.
I used these key ingredients (plus buttermilk) to make a very specific, delicious cupcake.
Hm… that doesn’t look right.
Oh yeah!
Now, a short note regarding this Red Velvet cupcake. First of all, usually I read a recipe, think about how I made it then write it up. This time, because of all the ingredients and the preciseness of the original recipe, I barely tweaked it. I had to put it out there.
Second. I can’t say enough great things about how great these cupcakes are. If you only have one baking recipe in your arsenal, this should be the one. Two words: Worth. It.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
(via Paula Deen)
makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature (I used a cup of whole milk with a T of fresh lemon juice to make buttermilk.)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (I use food coloring paste and only needed a couple squeezes to get the color I wanted. Start with a little and add from there.)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder). In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Ingredient
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Tags: cream cheese frosting, Cupcakes, red velvet
Posted in Baking, Cupcakes, Recipes | 2 Comments »
Brownie Quest 2010
Friday, February 19th, 2010
my sous chef this post, Jo Anna
Like many people, I’m not that great at New Years’ Resolutions. I make them, I write them on my blog, then I promptly forget about them until three weeks later. That’s when I’m on the phone with a random relative, I look down and see my nails are nubs and my dad asks me, his voice filled with confidence in me, “So how goes the nail biting?” I mumble something along the lines of “Oh, just fine.” though I should just respond with the truth.
Terribly, Dad, terribly. It’s a good thing he’s 1,800 miles away or he could see the nail polish stuck in my teeth.
This year, I was resolved to be resolved. Except I didn’t really write down my resolutions. I just know there are little things I need to do to improve myself. Stop biting my nails. Walk when I have the chance. Stay away from boys. Volunteer. Be nice. Read more books. Update my blog more. Mostly, eat out less, eat fewer processed foods, cook more.
So far, my resolutions are going much better. Disregard the fact I did just bite one of my nails and my blog needs my attention. I still have eight getting a little too long and it’s February. There are ten more months to improve. . . or slack. No, improve. I am resolved!
Being that there are ten more months, also that these are not just for the year but as long as I possibly can. There is one late resolution and, of course, it’s about food. Not one of my resolutions involves “cutting back,” though I do try to stay away from eating SO much sugar, I’m more on the look out for finding recipes that are worth the slip of the diet.
Now, look, everyone who has or ever will name a recipe. Please, do your best to avoid superlatives. Why? Last weekend, Jo Anna was over and we decided to make some Valentine’s baked goods. A friend sent me a cute book, The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook, for my birthday a few months ago and I had yet to try anything from it. I handed her the book and said, “Pick one.” Almost immediately, she’d chosen a recipe simply named “The Greatest Brownies Ever.” When someone names anything the “greatest” or the “best”, it automatically sets a standard no one can really relate to.
These brownies will never stack up to my true brownie love– Betty Crocker brownies from the red box with an extra egg to add the extra fudgey-ooey-gooeyness. Though the self-proclaimed “Greatest Brownies Ever” were chocolate-y and tasty, we had to wait OVERNIGHT until they were firm enough to eat. They were moist, but thin and without that mysterious chocolate layer that I love. They were not the greatest brownies ever.
So in 2010, since I’m resolving to do things, I’ll be looking for a go-to brownie recipe, looking under every nook and cranny for a chocolate concoction good enough to be referred to as, “Christine’s Favorite Brownie Recipe.”
DECEPTORS!
Adapted from The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 1/3c semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1c unsalted butter
1/2c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1c sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1T instant espresso powder
1T vanilla extract
1T rum
Serving size, recipe says 12 3-inch brownies, but i’d actually use a smaller pan next time and get thicker brownies.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan for about 1 inch thick brownies.
Melt the chocolate however you prefer to melt chocolate in a saucepan with the butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Carefully pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool (about 20-25 minutes, keep an eye on it.)
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl while you wait for the chocolate to cool and measure out the other ingredients.
Once the chocolate is cool, add the sugar, eggs, espresso powder, vanilla extract and rum in the large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Combine the dry ingredients until everything is mixed thoroughly. This batter will be very runny.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (they’re done when you insert a toothpick and crumbs are attached. If you wait until the toothpick comes out clean, they are overbaked. Cool for a really long time, even overnight. We waited a few hours and it still wasn’t enough. Next time maybe stick them in the fridge to speed up the process.
I’m still a little bitter about these guys, I most likely won’t be making them again.
Tags: Brownie Quest
Posted in Baking, Other, Recipes | 3 Comments »
No-Knead Monkey Bread
Monday, February 1st, 2010
I love snow days. There’s nothing I enjoy more than an excuse to watch bad movies on TBS, lounge around in pajamas, and sleep in. If friends are over for me to feed, I’m even happier!
I knew the snow was coming this weekend. People talked about how excited they were for thick blankets of white to cover the streets and buildings. Philadelphia had a bigger snow earlier this season, so I wasn’t expecting much. On Friday, after walking around for a few blocks it was clear even without the inconvenience of snow, being out on Saturday would be miserable. I barely survived the Farmer’s Market while grabbing my meat for the week.
Philadelphia is much colder than Colorado Springs. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
With the temperature dropping, Ed, Jay, and I decided to have a WolfDen sleepover complete with morning brunch. Since Alyssa, Jo Anna and I were cooking a full dinner with girly wine and sake flowing the night before, I grabbed the easiest recipe to make ahead of time- a no-knead bread – and made it into monkey bread. I have a documented weakness for monkey bread.
This recipe makes a lot. I would say it could easily make three 8 inch cake pans full. We had five people and barely went through one pan. (I may have eaten half of our second pan over the course of the day.) The good news is you can let the rest hang out in the fridge for the week and make dinner rolls or more monkey bread for dessert. I’m going to try some brioche… Get creative!
*Aside from the argyle socks picture, the rest of the pictures were taken by the lovely Jo Anna Van Thuyne, Ed’s girlfriend. She did a great job capturing the action as it happened.*
No-Knead Monkey Bread
(adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day posted on Steamy Kitchen.)
Dough (made at least the night before):
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbl instant yeast (a package of yeast is fine)
1 1/2 tbl kosher salt (or 1 1/2 tsp table salt)
4 lg eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Cinnamon-Sugar for Rolling
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1. Combine all ingredients and stir until very well blended (no flour bits!)
2. Cover loosely and stick in the fridge at least overnight, but up to four days!
Day of Baking:
(You can also make these in muffin tins to make individual portions. About three to four pieces in a muffin cup are good)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Make the cinnamon-sugar and grab a shallow bowl with some water.
Pull off a chunk of dough about the size of a chestnut from the “mothership” of dough and roll in hands— the more you roll, the “nicer” they will look, but keep in mind lack of perfection really gives it some character. Dip the dough ball in water. Roll in cinnamon-sugar. Place in lightly oiled cake pan.
Repeat until the cake pan is full. As you can see from the pictures below, they rise while baking. Mine, on the left, had cracks between the dough balls before the rise&bake. Alyssa’s, on the right, was packed tightly. It’s really a preference thing, though the caramel topping got in the nooks and crannies of mine a little better.
Let rest for about twenty-thirty minutes depending on how warm the dough is.
Once the dough has most of its chill off/room temperature, start the topping. Melt the butter. Add brown sugar, whisk until mixture is smooth. Don’t touch the hot sugar. It’s tempting… don’t. Pour over the dough.
Put the pans in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. I would suggest putting tin foil on the rack below the monkey bread as the topping may boil over which isn’t a great surprise the next time you turn on your dirty oven. (May know from personal experience.)
Serve by putting a plate over the bread then flipping over. The cake pan should slide very easily.
Bacon Potato Leek Soup – Wednesday
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
I’m on Day Three of Chickenpalooza and after two days of broth-making, it’s time to make this broth work for us.
This recipe started out as a vegan broccoli and potato puree, but as I rummaged through my fridge, I found some lonely looking ingredients and… well, it’s clearly not vegan anymore. Nonetheless, I am not a vegan, so to me this is a delicious creation. You can skin the potatoes, I left mine on, because once my mother told me the skins have a lot of vitamins. Another tip— take it easy on the salt. Whenever I work with cured pork, I try to use very little salt since as the pork heats up, it releases salt.
I’ve made this soup twice in the last week with slight variations. I’m posting both pictures. The only difference is the greener version has double the broccoli.
Serves two as a meal, four as a soup course
4 oz of bacon, chopped into one inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large leek, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of water
1 pound of potatoes, cut into one inch cubes
3 sprigs of fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 of an 8oz bag/ 1/4 of a pound of frozen broccolli, cut into small pieces.
Pepper & salt to taste
1. Heat the bacon in a large pot. Once a little bacon grease gets going, put the chopped up onion, leek, and garlic. When the onion, leek, and garlic, get aromatic and soften, add the broth, water, potatoes, and seasonings.
2. Bring the broth to a boil and simmer for about thirty minutes or so. Add the broccoli and heat for about ten more minutes (until everything is heated thoroughly.)
3. Remove the parsley and bay leaves. The soup should still have quite a bit of liquid, drain about a cup or more of the broth. (I kept mine and put it aside for tomorrow’s recipe)
4. Puree the soup. Serve.
Top with a little bit of sour cream and a fresh sprig of parsley. Teh E Marl (Elizabeth) put some dried red pepper flecks on hers.
Also, here’s a cheddar biscuits recipe:
(makes 10 biscuits)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese diced
2 tsp baking powder
1. Combine flour and butter until butter is in pea-sized. Stir in the cheese. Slowly add water until the dough is comes together.
2. You can either do drop biscuits from here or roll them out and cut them into shapes.
To make them super flaky, roll out the dough, re-roll, then repeat a couple more times. It was awesome.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (or until edges are golden brown).
Tags: bacon, broccoli, cheddar biscuits, leek, potatoes, soup
Posted in Baking, Recipes, Soup | No Comments »
Pumpkin Pie Cookies
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
So Thanksgiving has been successfully tackled, hopefully all your dishes are washed by now, and any reminders of that large meal are probably going to make you hurl, but look, remember how you didn’t get enough dessert? Maybe you were full of wine, turkey, and good company. Maybe you were like me and already thinking about all the tacos you could eat the next day, but that thin little slice of pumpkin pie was good enough at the time. Now, looking back on that meal (which according to my friends, Thanksgiving is the one time of the year calories don’t count), there just weren’t enough sweets.
Do yourself a favor, pull out a few bowls and the measuring cups, start up the oven, and grab that extra can of pumpkin puree you have no idea what you were thinking when you picked up because seriously, who has time to bake a pumpkin pie from scratch for when Sara Lee has done it for you? These are so much more satisfying than a sliver of pumpkin pie and, bonus, travel so very well.
Pumpkin Pie Cookies
(adapted from Joy the Baker)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola, corn, or vegetable oil
1 cup canned pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie filling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Makes about 24 cookies, but I can’t keep them on my table worth crap so I’d double the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets.
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color. Add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Slowly add the dry mixture. (If you want, you can add chocolate chips or butterscotch chips at this point.)
Space cookies evenly on a baking sheet using about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough. I wipe my finger around the outside edges to get a more circular cookie.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until it passes the toothpick test (about 15-20 min depending on size of cookie.) Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Make sure they are cooled completely.
I drizzle royal icing on the top of the cookies, it adds a really simple touch but also enhances the flavor. Also, SUGAR!!!
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Peanut Butter on Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Hi! I know we just met, so I think I should tell you a little bit about myself.
I’m left-handed.
My favorite kind of cookie is either a soft Peanut Butter or Snickerdoodle.
I love the color indigo.
My favorite kind of candy is either Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Reese’s Pieces, or Peanut Butter M&Ms.
Laughing is my favorite activity.
My family has the “Uncle Don Rule” which, in short, is never share candy. I live by this rule to this day. It’s also why I’m a jerk and don’t give out candy trick-or-treaters.
I like to eat Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with a spoon of peanut butter.
In short, I love peanut butter. Growing up, we always had a jar for peanut butter/cinnamon sugar toast or any other concoctions three kids could imagine. I’ve always been a big fan of peanut butter, but it was always healthy until recently.
Keyword “WAS” because recently… I discovered this:
The creators of this peanut butter truly love peanut butter and peanut butter lovers. The beautiful, smooth texture is unlike any other peanut butter I’ve ever had. It’s simple, all-natural and relies on the peanuts to give the creaminess and taste rather than additional ingredients. The only way I can describe using this to bake or just eat with ice cream is it sings.
For these cupcakes, I used White Chocolate Wonder for the cupcakes then regular creamy peanut butter for the icing. I’m going to be trying these with other flavors as well.
A couple notes: I happened to have some uneaten Reese’s Pieces on hand for topping. Also, this was the first time we had fun decorating tools, so we were going for more fun than anything. We had some but not a lot of icing. I would suggest just eating the icing all the time though…
Peanut Butter on Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Found on Mommy’s Kitchen
Cupcake Ingredients:
2/3 cup of room temperature butter
1½ cups of granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup of peanut butter
¾ cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1¾ cups of flour
Make 21 cupcakes (24 cupcakes if you don’t eat half the batter like I did.)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and beat well until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix well, making sure the peanut butter is completely blended. Add milk and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder and flour.
4. Slowly blend the dry mixture with the peanut butter mixture. Adding the dry mix in parts will make it easier to combine and prevent clumps of flour from forming.
5. Once everything is combined, line cupcake pans. Fill the cups evenly (a little less than ¾ full will keep the “muffin tops” from forming, which I prefer.). Put in the oven for around 20-25 minutes (until golden brown/toothpick test)
6. Cool on a wire rack before icing.
Peanut Butter Icing
16oz/1 lb of powdered sugar
½ cup of room temperature butter
½ cup of peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
splash of milk (about 3 tablespoons)
(Ices about 24 cupcakes, I recommend actually cutting this in half, then making more if needed.)
1. Cream powdered sugar and butter together until mixture is light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and vanilla.
2. Blend in milk, you may need more or less depending on the consistency you like.
3. Frost/decorate/eat directly from bowl.
Posted in Baking, Recipes | No Comments »
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About Me
Hi! My name is Christine. I'm pretty excited about all this baking and cooking going on in my kitchen lately and I want to share these adventures with you.
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