Peanut Butter Cupcakes

There are a lot of reasons for my long absence, most of them silly excuses. I'm back now, with several recipes. The first of which is... healthy. Crazy right? I still have a preference for the decadent and indulgent, but it feels like it's time to start offering a lighter option at our gatherings.

So I present to you Peanut Butter Cupcakes, 145 calories and 2 grams of fat per cupcake. I was surprised at how perfect the mix of Cool Whip and peanut butter was. It becomes a subtly sweet peanut butter mousse. A perfect accompaniment to the virtually fat free chocolate cake underneath.

The cake is a variation on my favorite vegan cupcake recipe, so the cake without the frosting is vegan. If you want to keep it that way, mix tofu and a little melted chocolate together in food processor. It'll become a perfect chocolate pudding texture and a great topping for the cupcakes.

I garnished the cupcakes with a little chopped peanuts and mini chocolate chips.

I could probably stretch the amount of frosting the recipe yields to 24 cupcakes, but if you need to double the recipe and you like a lot of frosting you might want to double the frosting recipe too.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients until well combined.
Place cupcake liners in cupcake tray and spray with nonstick spray (these cupcakes stick to their liners).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, and let cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Mousse Frosting

1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip Free
2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
3-4 tablespoons of skim milk

In a large microwave bowl mix the milk and peanut butter. Microwave for 30 seconds, and then whisk until smooth. (You're thinning out the peanut butter so it will be easier to add to the Cool Whip.) Let it cool for a few minutes and then gently fold in the Cool Whip. Transfer to a piping bag or disposable gallon sized bag (then cut off one of the bottom corners). Pipe onto the tops of the cupcakes.

Store cupcakes in the fridge to avoid melting frosting.

Banoffee Pie

Disney World was amazing, and admittedly I haven't been doing much cooking since I got back. Luckily though I threw together this amazingly simple and unique pie before I left (laziness has kept me from posting it until now).

I made homemade dulce de leche for some ice cream sandwiches for my Star Wars party, and I had so much leftover that I thought it would be nice to use it up in another dessert. I saw a recipe for Banoffee Pie ages ago and it looked like concentrated deliciousness. Banoffee Pie consists of a graham cracker crust, layer of sliced bananas, a layer of dulce de leche and then a generous helping of whipped cream, the whole thing is topped off with chocolate shavings or mini chocolate chips.

Normally I would make my own graham cracker crust and whipped cream, but I was feeling lazy so I used a storebought crust and cool whip. It was delicious (and very fast), but next time I'll be making everything myself.

You can buy cans of dulce de leche or you can make your own with sweetened condensed milk (which will save you a couple bucks). I used this method to make dulce de leche. Be careful though, once you make dulce de leche, you'll constantly be thinking about making more. It's crazy delicious. The combination with of bananas and dulce de leche in Banoffee Pie is especially delicious and nearly addictive. (Seriously, this is my new favorite pie.)

Banoffee Pie
1 store bought graham cracker crust
1 1/2 cans of dulce de leche
1 tub of Cool Whip
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
2-3 bananas

Slice bananas.

Place bananas in the graham cracker crust in an even layer.

Cover with dulce de leche.

Top with Cool Whip.

Sprinkle mini chocolate chips.

Let the pie set in the fridge for an hour (or longer, the longer it sets the tastier it is. It's amazing the next day.)

Slice and enjoy. You can slice small servings and feed a lot of people, because it's pretty rich.
Messy slices are just as delicious.

Oreo Truffles

Originally I had planned elaborate treat baskets for all my friends for Valentine's Day, but I decided to make them into favor bags for Charlie's upcoming birthday party.

I've already made regular chocolate truffles for the favor bags, but I thought it would be nice to try out a new recipe too. Just about every food blog I read as made Oreo Truffles, and being so simple I just couldn't resist them. After having tried one I know I'll be making them again.

These Oreo Truffles are SO good. The centers are crunchy and creamy. They're so rich and decadent that I really only needed to eat one.

From what I've read you can use any kind of Oreos to make the truffles, so whatever flavor you feel like. I wouldn't recommend using Double Stuffed, people have said they fall apart and I think they would be too sweet. But feel free to experiment with golden, mint or chocolate filled Oreos. (I used generic Wegmans Sandwich Cookies and they worked perfectly.)

Use chocolate or white chocolate candy melts, it doesn't matter. I like the contrast between the centers and the white chocolate, but regular chocolate would be very delicious.

Oreo Truffles
(as seen on the internet everywhere)
1 package of Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 lb(ish) white chocolate candy melts

Crush the Oreos as fine as you can get them, either with a food processor or a large ziplock bag and a lot determination. (I smashed them in a ziplock bag and it worked out great.)

In a large bowl, mix the crushed cookies and cream cheese. You can use a spoon, but it's much easier to mix by hand.

Scoop and roll out small balls of the cookie mixture. You want to get about 35-40 truffles, so use a teaspoon as a scooper. They should be one bite.

Chill for about an hour in the fridge (or half an hour in the freezer if you're impatient).

Melt white chocolate wafers in a double boiler or in the microwave. It took about 2 minutes in the microwave. You don't want it too hot, so pull it out before it's completely melted and stir it the rest of the way.

Dip each truffle into the melted chocolate and drop onto a parchment paper/wax paper lined tray. Once you've dipped them all, use a fork to shake any remaining chocolate over the top of the truffles.

Refrigerate until set.

Starbucks VIA Coffee Pudding (for two)

Starbucks VIA is delicious. I've pretty much stopped going to Starbucks during the week because of the 50 count box of Starbucks VIA at my house. (Unfortunately, no one is paying me to say this.)

So when I found this effortless Espresso Pudding recipe I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate my favorite instant coffee and of course it would save me a trip to the store since I had all the other ingredients.

The recipe yields just enough for two people, so it's perfect for date night. I poured it into martini glasses to chill. I added chocolate chips because my pudding was a little lumpy (I didn't pay enough attention to it, because I was also baking naan.) The end result was super delicious.

Starbucks VIA Coffee Pudding
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used light brown)
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 packet Starbucks VIA Instant Coffee
1 ¼ cups half-and-half, divided

In a saucepan mix the instant coffee, cornstarch and brown sugar (do not heat yet). Add 1/4 cup of the half-and-half and whisk until the instant coffee is mostly dissolved. Add the rest of the half-and-half. Whisking frequently, bring to a boil over a medium heat and whisk constantly at a boil for a minute. Remove from heat and pour into cups, ramekins, or martini glasses. Chill for a few hours and enjoy.

Puff Pastry and Chocolate Croissants

All summer I thought about making puff pastry from scratch, but I didn't want to attempt it until the weather was cold. I think the wait paid off because the puff pastry was super simple and I didn't have a problem keeping it cold at all.

The most important tip to remember about puff pastry is that you can't let it get warm. If the butter gets warm and soft you won't have a flaky layered end product.

I'm including the steps to make chocolate croissants, but the uses for puff pastry are endless. It makes great appetizers (sundried tomato pinwheels), main courses (beef wellington), and desserts of course (apple turnovers).

The process may sound complicated, but if you go through it step by step it's very simple and just requires a little upper body strength and a cold fridge.

Puff Pastry

1 lb cold unsalted butter (4 sticks)
3 3/4 cups flour
1/2-1 tbsp salt (use less if for sweet preparations, more for savory)
1 1/4 cups ice water
extra flour for rolling dough out

In a food processor or stand mixer (I used the latter) mix together the flour and salt.
Add all of the water at once and mix until the dough forms a ball on the blade/paddle.
The dough will be soft and wet, it should be squeezable and pliable.
Roll the dough into a ball and slash the top into a tic tac toe pattern with a sharp knife.
Wrap the dough in a damp paper towel and let it rest in the fridge while you start the butter.

To make it easier to roll the butter out to an inch thick, slice each stick of butter in half, arrange the pieces in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap in a rectangle. Roll it until the pieces of butter are fused together and it is about an inch thick.

**Very Important: If at this point your butter is soft and oily, chill it in the fridge/freezer until firm again. Chill the butter while you roll out the dough.

Dust your workplace with flour (I used the counter next to a window that could be opened to further cool my kitchen) and unwrap the dough.
Roll the dough out into a 10 inch square. (Doesn't have to be perfect.)
Keep the dough well floured and turn it frequently to avoid the dough sticking.

Place the chilled butter in the center and fold the edges or 'ears' over to completely encase the butter. If you need to stretch the dough to cover the butter, stretch all the dough, not just the edges.

**Crazy Important: If the butter starts to ooze out or it seems too warm, play it safe and chill the dough for awhile. I keep my window blasting me with cold air while I rolled the dough out, just to be safe.

Now it's time to start rolling. You want to do six total 'turns of the dough', with at least 30 minutes chilling time between each set of 2 turns.

The first turn: 'gently but firmly' press down on each corner with your rolling pin to help keep the dough a square.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle that is about 24 inches in height. Make sure to roll from the center to ensure that the butter moves with the dough it is encased it. You may need to roll pretty hard to achieve this.

Once the dough is 24'' fold the dough into thirds like a business letter and brush off the excess flour with a pastry brush.

The second turn:
Turn the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Roll the dough to 24'' and fold into thirds again.

At this point if the dough is still cold you could do the next two turns, but I preferred to take a break (my arms were tired). So the dough went into the fridge for 30 minutes.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth turn:
Exactly the same as the second, with chilling breaks whenever you need them.
Once you have finished rolling the dough you should chill it for at least an hour before you use it.

Chocolate croissants are effortless and tasty after all that rolling. Perfect for breakfast or dessert (or both).

Pain au Chocolate aka Chocolate Croissants
1/2 the puff pastry recipe
6 oz quality chocolate (chocolate chips work fine)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out the puff pastry to about half it's thickness (you'll probably need a little flour). Cut into 6 even sized rectangles.
Arrange 1 oz of the chocolate at one end of each rectangle. Roll each rectangle up.

Place each croissant diagonally on a baking sheet and brush with egg wash (1 egg mixed up with a little water).

Bake 10-15 minutes until golden and flaky.

Drizzle with extra chocolate and serve or devour immediately.

Peanut Butter Kisses

This week has been a whirlwind of baking, but I knew I had to make a big batch of my dad's favorite cookies.
I didn't realize till about halfway through making the dough that I was using a recipe that's already tripled. So it made A LOT of cookies (I'll be giving you a scaled down version, you probably don't need 12 dozen cookies).

Make sure to unwrap all the Hershey Kisses ahead of time, they need to go on as soon as the cookies come out of the oven. Better yet, have someone who isn't baking do it for you (you will have to repay them in cookies.)


Peanut Butter Kisses
(yields 4 dozen cookies)
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 bag of Hershey Kisses

Another 1/2 cup of sugar (to dip the cookies in)

Cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract together in a mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.

Scoop out balls of dough slightly smaller than a tablespoon (these cookies should be very little) and roll the balls in sugar.

Place about one inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden.

When you remove them from the oven, quickly transfer to a cooling rack and press a Hershey Kiss down into the center of each cookie. The Hershey Kisses will melt, let the cookies cool undisturbed until the Kisses set back up.

Fresh from the Oven- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

The countdown to Christmas has begun, so this week I've got lots of baking to do.
It pales in comparison to the elaborate cookie baskets we made when I was little, sometimes we'd make a dozen varieties to give out. It was pretty chaotic.
This year my dad and I decided to just make three. (He's handling the sugar cookies.)

I had to track down a recipe online for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, because I couldn't find our family recipe. Luckily these tasted exactly the same as I remember them growing up.
The cookies taste like little brownie bites. When I make them again I think I'll add walnuts.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Combine cocoa powder, sugar, and vegetable oil.
Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract.
In another bowl mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture. (The dough should be pretty thick.)
Chill the dough for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Scoop out tablespoon sized pieces of dough, roll into balls. Roll in powdered sugar.

Place on a greased baking about an inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

DIY: Hot Chocolate Spoons

Homemade edible gifts are the best.
They're cheap, just take a little time and effort and the recipient doesn't have to worry about finding a place for another piece of kitsch.
Also they're delicious.

I found this post in the summer and couldn't use it then, I've been saving it.
Today when I ran out of the powdered stuff, I knew it was time to try it out (and make enough for stocking stuffers).

While the resulting hot chocolate spoons don't look anything like the ones in the original post, they do make a rich delicious cup of hot chocolate.

An ice cube tray and some disposable spoons work perfectly, no need for any fancy candy making supplies.

I have to reiterate the original blogger's warning: Do not use candy wafers or chocolate chips, they won't melt properly. Use baking chocolate or real chocolate. Also don't add water, the whole thing will seize up.

Hot Chocolate Spoons
11 plastic spoons
ice cube tray
1 plastic baggy/piping bag
8oz of chocolate (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, whatever you want)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup of powdered sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (at 30 second intervals).
Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. If it gets to thick to stir, give it another 30 seconds in the microwave. This happened to me and I panicked for a moment, but a little time in the microwave smoothed it out.
Pull into a piping bag or plastic baggy (I always just use plastic baggies).
Fill each square of the ice cube tray individually, nearly to the top (I had enough to fill 11 squares). Give the ice cube tray several sharp taps against the counter to shake out air bubbles.
Stick one spoon into each square and let set in the fridge for about an hour. (Don't leave them in much longer, chocolate tends to soak up odors in the fridge).

Once they have set, carefully remove the chocolate squares. (I found that bending the tray a little caused them to pop right out.) If they won't come out, put back in the fridge for another half an hour.

If you don't like how they look, dip them into some more chocolate and let them cool. Decorate with sprinkles or marshmallows. Wrap in little treat bags and give to friends or store for yourself. Dark chocolate lasts a year, white or milk chocolate last a few months.

Enjoying the Hot Chocolate Spoons
Heat one mug of milk to piping hot. (I used skim milk, but whatever you like works.)
Stir with hot chocolate spoon, until chocolate melts.
Drink.

Halloween Treats Part 2- Ghostbusters Cupcakes

This post is SO late, I'm really sorry. (As soon as I finish it I'm writing up 2 more.)

As previously mentioned, I made these showstopping Ghostbusters cupcakes for our annual Halloween party. Everyone seemed really impresssed, at first by the adorable white chocolate logos and then by the surprise "slime" filling.

The original recipe is here, but of course changes have been made.

I cheated, as much as I love making things from scratch, but then I've got 3 other things to make and the party is quickly approaching, I turn to the boxed cake mix. Boxed cake mix is great, and with the homemade slime filling, no one could tell the difference.

The logos might seem a little daunting (and I wish I had more pictures of steps), but if you give yourself enough time and work slowly, they'll turn out great.

Ghostbusters Logos
(makes 24)
14oz of red candy melts
about a 1lb of white chocolate or white candy melts

Line two trays with parchment paper. Find a smallish cup about the size you want the logos to be. Trace the bottom twelve times onto each sheet with a marker. Flip the pieces of parchment (you don't want to get ink on the chocolate.)
Melt about half of the red candy melts (it's a lot easier to it in batches) in the microwave (30 second intervals will work). (I always use sandwich bags).
Pipe circles onto the parchment, using your tracing as a guide. Then put a slash through each like the Ghostbusters logo.
Let the red circles set completely, if you're impatient put them in the fridge/freezer.

Once they have set, melt some of the white chocolate and pour the chocolate into a pastry bag or a disposable plastic baggie. Fill in both sides of the circles and 4 lines on each side (for the hands). Next to each logo pipe out and fill in a tear drop shaped head. Let everything set up. Then take each of the heads and using a little white chocolate adhere them to the logos.
And that's it.
Now to the cupcakes!
"Slime" Lime Curd Filling
3 eggs
1/3 cup juice from about 8-10 Key limes
1 t. finely grated or chopped lime zest
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
green food coloring

Combine the lime juice, sugar, and eggs in a metal bowl. Heat up a couple cups of water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and place the bowl on top of that, heating up the mixture and stirring constantly. Keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately pour it into a fine mesh strainer to remove any pulp or eggs that could have curdled. (Never skip straining!)

Stir in the butter and the zest, and then add in a couple drops of green food coloring until you get the desired shade of “Slimer” green. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool in the fridge.

Mix up your favorite vanilla boxed cake mix (or if you're feeling ambitious your favorite from scratch batter).

Put cupcake liners in your baking trays and then fill each with 1/3 of the way with cake batter, then add about a teaspoon of the lime curd. Then fill it up with more cake batter, to about the 2/3 mark.

Bake as directed for the cake mix.

Frosting time! The Ghostbusters recipe called for a buttercream frosting, but I felt like using my old standby frosting recipe.

Vanilla Frosting
1 cup of Crisco (vegetable shortening)
6 cups of powdered sugar
a few tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cream Crisco in mixer and slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk to smooth it out then let the frosting whip for a few minutes to get airy.

To assemble the cupcakes, just frost and top with the candy logos.
Drizzle extra lime curd over the cupcakes just before serving.