Author: Amy

Marble Cupcakes

marblecupcakeMany people in my life have been to the beach in the last few weeks. The beach makes me think of ice cream, specifically those chocolate-vanilla swirl soft serve cones, and this is as close as I can get at the moment: a marble cupcake with a chocolate-vanilla buttercream swirl.

The cupcake recipe itself comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction and it’s delicious on its own; so delicious, in fact, I think the frostings are kind of too much for it. I used my vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream, which are also delicious on their own, but I think they’re a little too much for the cupcake. Next time I think I’ll use my cocoa frosting instead, so stay tuned.

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 plus 1 tablespoon milk, divided
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 batch vanilla buttercream
  • 1 batch chocolate buttercream

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 15 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, 3/4 cup milk, and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Remove 3/4 cup of batter and place in a small bowl; stir in cocoa powder and remaining tablespoon of milk. Batter will be thicker than that of the vanilla mixture.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop portions of vanilla batter into cupcake tins; top with a tablespoon of chocolate batter, then another scoop of vanilla, until all batter is used. Swirl if desired or just let the batters do their own thing, which is what I did.

Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make vanilla buttercream, place butter and salt in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat; add milk if necessary, but you want this frosting to be thicker in consistency so it’s easier to pipe along with the chocolate buttercream.

To make chocolate buttercream, place butter and salt in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder and beat on low speed until the sugar and cocoa are fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat; add milk if necessary, but like with the vanilla, you want this frosting to be thicker in consistency.

Fit an 18-inch piping bag with a large open star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and carefully fill half of the bag with vanilla buttercream and the other half with the chocolate buttercream so the frostings are side by side vertically in the bag. Pipe swirls onto cupcakes; you’ll have some frosting left over that you can use for other treats.

Rolo Cupcakes

rolocupcakesLast week’s pecan turtle cupcakes left me with about a cup of caramel sauce. Homemade caramel lasts about three weeks in the fridge, and while you could pour it over ice cream or drink it straight from the bottle, I decided to make chocolate caramel buttercream with mine. Think of a Rolo, probably the second best candy invention behind the Reese’s peanut butter cup, but in buttercream form.

I wish I’d baked a chocolate cupcake instead – I think the overall flavor would have been better – but these are pretty delicious.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

For the frosting

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • About 3/4 cup caramel sauce
  • 10 Rolos

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper liners; this recipe yields 10 cupcakes.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until very light and fluffy. Add egg and beat to combine, scraping down your bowl, then add vanilla and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternate batches, starting and ending with the flour and scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be kind of fluffy. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared pans, filling about half-full.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. My cupcakes were done around 17 minutes. Remove from oven and remove cupcakes from tin; cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt on low speed until the sugar and cocoa powder are completely incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce a few tablespoons at a time and beat to combine, scraping your bowl well along the way. Taste as you go; this is a fairly subtle flavor so you can go heavier on the caramel than you might think.

Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe swirls of buttercream onto cupcakes; top with a Rolo.

Pecan Turtle Cupcakes

pecanturtlecupcakePecans are good for you. Probably less so when combined with chocolate and caramel like in a pecan turtle, but let’s not get too technical here. These treats are a cupcake version of the turtle, with a chocolate cupcake base, caramel buttercream, toasted pecans, and milk chocolate drizzle. Wildly delicious.

I made my own caramel sauce for the frosting, but you can use caramel ice cream topping to save time. It’s not as sweet as you’ll expect, so add your caramel slowly and taste along the way to make sure you have the flavor you want. Whatever you do though, toast your pecans. They taste infinitely better when toasted instead of raw.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting and decoration

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • About 1/3 cup caramel sauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted and cooled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 15 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add caramel sauce and vanilla and beat to combine completely. Fit a large piping bag with a large closed star tip (I use the Wilton 1M) and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. Top with three toasted pecans and drizzle with melted chocolate chips.

Brownie Cookies

browniecookiesSo, all the benefits of a brownie in cookie form? Yeah, sign me up. I don’t know who thought of this, but they’re a genius and deserve some type of Nobel Prize. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were a Nobel Prize for baking? Anyway…

Not to be confused with the brookie, which is a combination of a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie, these brownie cookies are literally brownies in cookie form. They’re fudgy without being gooey – an important aspect of brownie-ness in my opinion – and just really, really delicious. The original recipe comes from Erren’s Kitchen, and I left out the optional sprinkle of sea salt because I didn’t have it – but I’m glad I didn’t, because I feel like these treats are perfect without it.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preparation

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine chocolate chips, butter, coffee granules, and vanilla and stir until melted and smooth; set aside to cool for a few minutes. In a mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light in color, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the chocolate/butter mixture, then fold in the flour mixture. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each – I baked 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set and tops are puffy. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 27.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

pbcupcupcakesThe Reese’s peanut butter cup is a work of art. And I like to think these cupcakes are, too.

Last week as I scrolled through Pinterest I found several peanut butter cup cupcake recipes; some have a peanut butter cup in the cupcake itself, but mine do not. This recipe comes from Live Well Bake Often, and while the cupcakes themselves aren’t as chocolaty as I’d hoped, the overall treat is pretty delicious. Also, I could eat this frosting with a spoon straight from the bowl and will probably use it again on brownies someday. Someday might be later this afternoon, so stay tuned. Note: For this recipe I measured by weight, rather than volume, so I’ve included both types of measurements below. 

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 cup (125 grams) flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cocoa powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

For the frosting and decoration

  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (250 grams) creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 full-sized Reese’s peanut butter cups, cut in half

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; this recipe makes 16 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in brown sugar and granulated sugar, then add vegetable oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add boiling water and espresso powder and stir to combine completely; batter will be very thin.

Using a ladle, fill cupcake wells just over half full with batter. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the tins for 1 minute, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, beat butter and peanut butter in a mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat to incorporate, then beat in heavy cream and vanilla. Fit a large piping bag with a large open star tip (I used the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes. Top each with half a peanut butter cup. Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature.

Monster Cookies

monstercookiesI’ve baked for most of my life and blogged recipes for more than 10 years now. But never until today have I made monster cookies, one of those staple recipes that you find in almost any baking book. And let me tell you: I have been missing out. These things are delicious.

Apparently they’re called monster cookies because they combine so many different ingredients, like Frankenstein’s monster. Despite this macabre analogy, they are amazing – a peanut butter oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and M&Ms. You can also add butterscotch chips or other ingredients if you want to, but I really had enough going on in my dough with just the basics. You’re also supposed to bake these in monstrous size – using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion out the dough – but I used a 2-inch cookie scoop. Seriously, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup M&Ms, plus more for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine; scrape your bowl a few times to make sure everything incorporates. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden but tops are still puffy. Remove from oven and press a few M&Ms into the tops of the cookies if you like. Cool on the baking sheets for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 25.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

chocolatepbcookiesSo, peanut butter cookies. Delicious, yeah? How about adding some cocoa powder to them? I’ve seen a bunch of chocolate peanut butter cookie recipes on Pinterest lately and took it as a sign from the universe to bake some myself.

This recipe comes from Kitchen Fun, and you can make them with either shortening or butter. I’ll use butter next time, and I also recommend rolling the cookies in sugar before baking them, like you would a regular peanut butter cookie. Be careful not to over-bake them; they’ll still look puffy and kind of underdone when you pull them from the oven, but they continue to bake on the sheets for a few minutes while they cool.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Granulated sugar, for rolling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat, then scrape down your bowl and beat in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll in granulated sugar, then place on baking sheets. Press down with a fork to make the crisscross pattern like on a regular peanut butter cookie. Bake for 7-8 minutes, until edges are just set. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 2-3 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely Makes 36.

S’mores Cupcakes

smorecupcakeHappy Father’s Day! My dad is no longer with us, and now that I think about it, he never took me camping. But camping seems like fatherly pursuit, and if you camp, you’ve got to have s’mores.

This recipe combines a cupcake base I found at Life Love and Sugar and a frosting recipe I’d used in the past, plus some Hershey’s and graham cracker pieces. A word of caution about the cupcake batter: it is literal liquid, and therefore difficult to transfer from your bowl to your cupcake tins. I used a two-inch cookie scoop for that, but next time I’ll probably transfer my batter to a measuring cup and pour. Another note for next time: the original recipe called for adding 1 1/2 tablespoons of graham cracker mixture for the base, but I think it needs more. I’ve adjusted the instructions below to what I think it should be ratio-wise – at least two tablespoons. We’ll see how it goes next time.

Ingredients

For the graham cracker base

  • 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs*
  • 5 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 5 tablespoons sugar

For the cupcakes

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting and decoration

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 7-ounce jar marshmallow fluff
  • 18 Hershey’s pieces
  • 1/2 graham cracker, broken into pieces

*This means about 8 – 9 rectangles. You can process them in a food processor or put them in a zip-top bag and beat them with a rolling pin, which is what I did and is much more fun.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line cupcake tins with paper liners. The original cupcake recipe said it makes 15 – 18 cupcakes, but I had some batter left over so I think it could make about 22 if you adjusted the graham cracker base. Anyway, start with 18 liners.

Make the crust: In a medium bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Place about 2 tablespoons of mixture into each cupcake well and press down – I used my tart tamper (yes, that is an actual piece of baking equipment) but you can just use your fingers or the back of a spoon. Bake crust for 7 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

While crust is baking, make the cupcake batter: combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil and mix to combine, then add boiling water and vanilla and stir to combine completely. The batter will be literal liquid.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop or other less messy transfer vessel, fill cupcake wells about half full with batter. Bake for 17 – 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add vanilla extract and marshmallow fluff, then beat to combine. Add remaining powdered sugar and beat to combine.

Place frosting in a piping bag with a large plain tip (I used the Wilton 1A) and pipe blobs of frosting onto each cupcake. You’ll have about a half-cup of frosting left over to slather on graham crackers, eat directly from the bag, etc.

Top each cupcake with a Hershey’s brick and if you’re serving them immediately, a sliver of broken graham cracker. If you’re not serving right away, store cupcakes in the fridge and add the graham cracker sliver right before you serve them – the graham cracker bits will get soggy from the frosting over time. Makes 18.

Chocolate Chip Toffee Blondies

chocolatechiptoffeeblondieWould I want to bake professionally? In a bakery, where you have to work at 3 a.m., not on your life. But in a test kitchen, sure. I imagine bakers in test kitchens don’t work at 3 a.m., plus they get to experiment all day long and that sounds like fun to me.

I’m convinced that Better Homes & Gardens has one of the best test kitchens around because their recipes never fail. These blondies are a “make it mine” version from the Better Homes & Gardens Baking book, where you use a base recipe and add whatever you want to it. In this case, I used milk chocolate chips and toffee bits, a basic but delicious combination. Think Heath bar, but in a blondie. As expected, they were delicious.

Ingredients

  • 10 2/3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, plus about 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
  • 3/4 cup toffee bits, plus about 2 tablespoons for sprinkling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with baking spray.

In a large saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture melts and becomes smooth. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cool, add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda; batter will become fairly thick. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits; the mixture will be thick. Spread into your pan, then sprinkle additional chocolate chips and toffee bits over the top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is a very light golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cut into bars while still warm; when completely cool, remove from pan and store in an airtight container. Makes 24.

Cinnamon Pecan Blondies

cinnamonpecanblondiesLet’s talk about how dark brown sugar for a second and how every time I use it, I end up wasting half the bag because it solidifies in my cabinet, turning into a rock-hard mass that could probably give someone a concussion if used as a weapon. I even bought one of those little terra cotta discs that’s supposed to keep it from doing this, but maybe I wait too long between recipes? Anyway…

My solution is simple: I’m baking with as much dark brown sugar as I can within a few weeks before it has a chance to become something that might be admitted as evidence in court one day. Hence these cinnamon pecan blondies, which used up the second half of the bag I bought for those brown sugar cookies a few weeks ago. Apparently dark brown sugar will last about two and a half weeks in my cabinet before it becomes dangerous…and these treats are really delicious, so you know, win-win.

Ingredients

  • 10 2/3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with foil, extending foil over the sides. Lightly grease foil.

In a large saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture melts and becomes smooth. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cool, add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda; batter will become fairly thick. Stir in toasted pecans and cinnamon chips – the cinnamon chips will start to melt, but that’s okay.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread out into an even layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is a very light golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cut into bars while still warm; when completely cool, remove from pan and store in an airtight container. Makes 24.