Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes!

With it being the time of year it is, there is one flavor I naturally gravitate towards--mint. Whether it be in a Ho-Ho Mocha from Caribou or Candy Cane Jo-Jo's from Trader Joes--I love it all! So of course, I had to try my hand at peppermint cupcakes. Oh yah, and of course they had to be chocolate too...So after some searching for the perfect recipe, I found this one. I made some modifications as I went, and used SMBC with peppermint extract as the frosting.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup cooled, strong coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with liners. In a large bowl stir the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Make a well and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Mix until smooth. Fill liners about 2/3 full. Bake until top springs back, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cool completely.

Candy Cane White Chocolate Ganache

14 oz white chocolate (not almond bark--make sure there is cocoa butter in the ingredient list.)2/3 cup heavy cream
8 candy canes, crushed

*Make sure the candy canes are really crushed, or they won't be able to fit through your decorator tip when filling the cupcakes.

Place white chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat heavy cream until simmering, then pour over white chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Allow to cool, then add the crushed candy canes.

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Follow the instructions here.

Once cupcakes are completely cool and filling is completely cool, use a medium sized round tip and fill the cupcakes with the ganache. Frost with Peppermint SMBC and decorate as you wish--I used red and white crystal sprinkles and crushed candy canes. Enjoy, and take a bite!

Chocolate + Caramel

Most of the time, my idea for a dessert or treat that I want to make starts out as something and ends up as something pretty different--probably having the same basic idea but not using what I intended to use or not the form I was thinking of...for example, these cho

colate sandwich cookies filled with homemade dulce de leche. I wanted to make something chocolately made with caramel bits. I got my something chocolately, but missed the boat on using these. Oh well, that just means more baking later :)

Chocolate Drops

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Melt the unsweetened chocolate, either over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Stir in the flour, making sure not to over mix.

Fold in the melted and cooled chocolate until just combined. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Place cookies on cooling racks and allow to cool completely

Dulce de Leche

(recipe created/adapted from multiple recipes/tips I read online)

1 quart whole milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

In a large, heavy pot mix the milk and sugar. Place on medium high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture reaches a slight boil.

Remove from heat and add baking soda mixture. Beware that it will bubble up, just keep stirring. Once it goes back to the original volume, place back on burner on low to low/medium heat until it reaches a brisk simmer. Let it be for an hour-ish (aka no stirring needed), until it becomes golden brown.

Cook about 20-30 minutes until it is close to a spreadable consistency. (It will thicken up after it cools though, keep that in mind!) Once it is done cooking, place in a small bowl and refrigerate to speed the cooling.

Once the cookies and dulce de leche are ready, it's assembly time! Put about a teaspoon of dulce de leche on the bottom side of one cookie and top with another cookie.

Smush (yes, that's a technical term!) together until a little oozes out the side. Adjust the amount of dulce de leche you put in the middle if needed.

Enjoy, and take a bite!

Monster Cookie Bars

A while ago when I was talking to my grandma on the phone, she mentioned that she had made these Monster Cookie bars and that they were super easy and really good. I always trust my grandmas judgement :) So 0f course I was intrigued and told her I wanted the recipe. So along came the recipe and a giant jar of Skippy peanut butter--I guess she thought I would want to make a lot :) Well I finally got around to making them and packaged some up to send to a friend and took the rest to Kansas City last weekend for tailgating at the ISU game! I got them packaged up so quick that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product...oops! They were quite delicious though, I knew my grandma wouldn't lead me astray! Just like monster cookies--moist, chocolately, and chewy--but with a little less work!

Monster Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 eggs

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup M&M's

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12x17 inch jelly roll pan. Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter and mix until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Add the oats and mix well. Stir in the M&M's and chocolate chips by hand. Place dough in prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy, and take a bite!

You can't go wrong...

...with a good solid chocolate chip cookie recipe. And an award winning one at that! I recently entered these cookies in the Minnesota State Fair and won third place! I was excited to win with just one of my entries, after seeing the dedication some people put into the baking contests! Haha! I'm totally willing to share my recipe so everyone can enjoy...and if you're lucky enough I might even bake some and bring them to you, like I did for my friends in Ames the weekend before last :)

This recipe is definitely one of my favorites, adapted from an America's Test Kitchen recipe for Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies. We used to make it all the time when I worked in the kitchen at Riverside Bible Camp. This cookie and a glass of milk is just about perfect!
I love having a variation of mix-ins (as you might recall from this post), so while I always stick with the basic chocolate chips, I've also made them with Heath toffee pieces too! (that's what the pictures of forming the cookies are from)

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes a bunch :) probably around 2 dozen if made bigger, 4 dozen if smaller

12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2- 2 cups chocolate chips (or other chip)

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Make sure and melt your butter right away so it has time to cool. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. Beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. Slowly add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

To form cookies, first roll dough in a ball. Next pull the ball in half(as in picture below).

Then smash halves back together with pulled away sides facing upwards.

With this technique, you'll end up with "rugged" tops on the cookies. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy, and take a bite!

a little blogging hiatus...but definitely not a baking one!

It's been a little over a month since my last post...I guess I could blame the BEAUTIFUL Minnesota weather we've been having. I have not stopped baking (when could I ever...) but with the nice weather I have spent more time outside, have been a lot busier at work and have seemed to have something going on every night for a while...apparently I'm reverting to my college days a little quicker than I expected! But, I have made quite a few delicious things for some parties, barbeques and family events that I'll be sharing very soon! I'm travelling for work this week, so I actually have some down time at night and hopefully can get some good recipes shared :)



Way back at the beginning of May I co-planned a bachelorette party for my awesome friend Jenn, who actually got married last Saturday...so needless to say it was another eventful weekend! Anyway, I of course went a wee bit overboard on the treats I brought--cupcakes and cookies and bars and muffins. Uff-da. I guess I just have all these ideas of what I want to bring and can't narrow it down! The cupcakes were cream filled chocolate cupcakes with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. The cupcakes were moist and had a great chocolate flavor with a suprise of sweet marshmallow-y cream in the middle. The frosting definitely is another winner! I can't seem to make anything else...and just keep finding ways to modify it to fit what I want to make. Definitely great for a girl's night...all we really need is chocolate...and cream :)

Marshmallow Cream Filling

(modified from this recipe)

2 tsp hot water

1/4 tsp salt

1 (7 oz) container marshmallow cream

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla

(I used butter instead of shortening even though it wasn't as bright of white and a little more vanilla)

Dissolve the salt in the water in a medium sized bowl. Add the marshmallow cream, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on low speed with a hand mixer until combined. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Use the swiss meringue buttercream recipe found here, and add 4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate that has cooled a little to the frosting at the end.

Assembly: While cupcakes are baking, prepare the filling and frosting. After the cupcakes have cooled, place the filling in a pastry bag with a wide circle tip. Poke it into eac cupcake and squeeze until filled. Swirl the buttercream on top, enjoy and take a bite :)

ps...will update later with some pictures...

Truffles...oh so EASY!

Truffles, like a lot of candy making can be intimidating. VERY intimidating.

Even for someone like me...a kind of self-proclaimed "foodie"...I have always been a little scared...or I guess more apprehensive of trying to make them. In order to find a winning recipe to start my truffle adventure with, I went to the most reliable baking/cooking/candy source I know--Betty Crocker :)

I have now found out what I have been missing all this time! There is absolutely nothing to be scared of. As long as you can be patient and attentive, there is no way you can mess it up! I made them for the first time to take to a girl's day with some friends...I figured chocolate would go over well! I loved them so much, I made a different variation to give to a friend for her birthday last Tuesday. They're just so super easy and fancy....love it!

So, for the recipe :)

Chocolate Truffles

(adapted from Betty Crocker's Marvelous Chocolate Truffles)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or 12 oz. semisweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

4 Tbsp. butter

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

sprinkles, nuts, other toppings

Melt chocolate, heavy whipping cream, and butter in a heavy saucepan on low heat or over a double boiler.

Once completely melted, cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until firm, stirring occasionally. Take out and scoop and roll into balls. Place on foil or wax paper lined baking sheet. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Take out and dip in melted chocolate or peanut butter chips. Sprinkle toppings over melted chocolate shell before it cools.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

(adapted from the BHG New Cookbook)

1 cup dark chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

6 Tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves or jam

cocoa powder, chopped nuts, sprinkles, edible glitter, other toppings

In a double boiler or in a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt the dark chocolate chips and heavy cream together. Remove from heat and stir in seedless raspberry preserves. Allow to cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until firm, stirring occasionally. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, portion the truffle mixture and roll into balls. Place on foil or wax paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and roll in toppings.

My personal fav is the red one in the back...rolled in EDIBLE GLITTER...yes there is such a thing...A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Enjoy, and take a bite!

Chocolate and Family Recipes

One of my favorite cookbooks I own (and I have quite the collection!) is one put together by my mom that includes pages and pages of family recipes from my dad's family. When she and my aunts first had the idea to put it together, they "borrowed" my grandma's recipes for a couple of months (she was not pleased--even though she never used them!) , stood over my grandma while she was cooking and write down recipes as she made them, and collected multiple stories, pictures and recipes from family and close friends. It truly is a treasure to have all these recipes that evoke so many good memories of holidays, fishing trips, butchering, and most importantly family time! I know that all of the recipes in this book will be delicious, because I personally know who contributed it! If you haven't done it, I encourage you to collect family recipes...because you may not always have grandma around to make her famous apple strudel anymore!

One of my favorite go-to recipes comes from my Aunt Kelly via this cookbook. It is titled 30 minute brownies but also is known as Texas Sheet Cake. It is SUPER simple and I always have the ingredients on hand. It is a more cakey brownie, but rich and super moist. It is great to take to potlucks or have around when people come to visit. I made them a few weeks ago for my bible study group and they loved them!

30-Minute Brownies

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 cup softened butter (in my aunt's recipe, it calls for 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup oil...I personally like it better with all butter)

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. soda

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease and flour a jelly roll pan (15"x10"). Sift flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Bring water and cocoa to a boil in a small saucepan.

Pour cocoa mixture over sugar and flour. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, either by hand or with a mixer. Pour in prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool and make the frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

5 Tbsp. buttermilk

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

In saucepan, bring butter, cocoa and buttermilk to a boil. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well. Pour over brownies and spread to cover completely.

Also, my project for tonight is chocolate truffles that I'm making for a get-together with some good friends on Saturday. After the weekend, I will post the details for those :)

Enjoy, and take a bite!