Snickerdoodle....Cupcakes!

Nothing is better than a warm, spicy snickerdoodle cookies....except maybe that in Cupcake form! I had to make treats for a winner of a fun contest at work and make treats for a sorority alumnae function. I found this recipe from Martha Stewart's website and tweaked it a little. I think adding the almond extract made the flavor a little more nutty. And, it was just the right amount of cinnamon to add a little something, and everybody seemed to love them!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

makes 24(ish) cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your muffin tins by using liners or spraying with cooking spray.

Sift first five ingredients together in a medium bowl. In your mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add 4 eggs, one at a time scraping down the bowl often. Add the extracts and mix until incorporated. Add the flour and milk alternately, beating well after each addition.

Fill liners 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

After cooled, frost with desired frosting. I used SMBC with a hint of cinnamon added in.

Enjoy, and take a bite!

These cupcakes are the only pictures I got of this recipe--decorated for my sorority's alumnae function with our symbols--a kite and a pansy!

GOLDEN Birthday Cupcakes!!

A little over a month ago, I celebrated my golden birthday! I really wanted to make golden cupcakes (yes, I do make my own cake for my birthday :)), but hadn't found anything that would have golden frosting (and was something that I thought looked good). One of my gifts from my sister, was the cookbook Cupcake Heaven and while flipping through it I found a recipe for peanut butter and jelly cupcakes...and the frosting looked golden...PERFECT! And that they were :)

Peanut Butter and Raspberry Jelly Partycakes

makes 12 (I think it made about 15 for me)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour (called for self-rising, but I used all purpose plus the baking powder and salt)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp raspberry (or strawberry ) jelly (I used raspberry preserves)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in pans. Beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture and fold in.

Spoon teaspoons of batter into the liners, flatten slightly and make an indent. Drop about 1/2 tsp of jelly into each indent. Top with the remaining batter. Bake 18-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan about five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut butter frosting

I didn't want to use the frosting the recipe called for, so I just used a basic butter/powdered sugar frosting recipe and added peanut butter.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I prefer JIF)

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp milk (more or less depending on consistency)

Beat butter and peanut butter. Add powdered sugar. Once completely mixed in, add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until frosting is spreadable. Beat for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.

Spread frosting on cupcakes. Enjoy, and take a bite!

Rustic Peach Cake

While visiting a friend in Nashville over the 4th of July holiday weekend, we had the opportunity to serve some of his friends down there by helping out a mom and her young children while their father was gone for a few weeks. My friend had called me before I left and asked if I would bring a few recipes to bake while we were there and him and the others were doing outside work. Of course I said yes, and brought a few trusted recipes and this new one to try. I figured while we were in the south, we had to make something with peaches! I had this cake on my "to-make" list for a while, and now it is going in my book as a recipe I love! Light and moist, fruity and buttery. Beautiful and delicious, easy and nutritious...hey, it has some fruit in it :)

Rustic Peach Cake

from Cook's Country, June/July 2008 issue

peaches

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 medium peaches, pealed, pitted and cut into wedges

cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 tbsp sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup dried peaches or apricots, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9-inch springform pan. (I had to use a 10-inch, as that's all there was and it worked fine.) Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl, reserve 2 tbsp mixture. Add peaches to bowl and toss to coat.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in bowl. On medium high speed, beat sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until incorporated. Reduce speed to medium low. Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into prepared pan. Scatted dried peaches or apricots over batter.

Arrange sugared peaches in circular pattern over the top, reserved 3 slices for the center. Sprinkle reserved sugar mixture over peaches.

Bake until cake is golden brown, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Cool for one hour. Serve...enjoy, and take a bite!