My sister is coming to visit this week and I have so much flour and sugar from when I was baking every week that I decided to make some desserts that she would enjoy - and so my ingredients would not go to waste. I have not had sugar in so long that when I tasted one of these it almost sent me into a diabetic coma! Amazing how different foods taste when your body gets unaccustomed to them. But they were so good that I have been struggling not to sneak another one. She better get here fast or I might be in trouble.
I have been looking for an excuse to make the base of this recipe again, after using it for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes a short time ago. These cupcakes resemble a chocolate snickerdoodle. Try it with either frosting. Although I am not a coffee drinker, I consider coffee to be an essential ingredient for my chocolate cakes. So I prefer the frosting with a hint of coffee in there as well.
Spiced Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
1 3/4 c AP flour
2 c sugar
3/4 c Hershey’s cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c canola oil
2 lg eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla flavoring
1 c hot coffee
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line three muffin tins with liner paper.
Sift the dry ingredients together, including the sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and the remaining wet ingredients, with the exception of the coffee. Using a mixer at low speed, combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, incorporating the dry ingredients ½ cup at a time. Slowly incorporate the hot coffee, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cinnamon Coffee Frosting
1/2 c butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp instant coffee
3 c confectioners sugar
2 tbsp soy or 2% milk
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high until smooth. Add the spices, coffee and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Alternately beat in sugar and milk until the frosting is fluffy.
Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 c confectioners sugar
Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Add sugar mixture to the butter mixture. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes, until it reaches desired consistency.
All photographs are actual pictures of the recipe listed, prepared by Sweet Treats 'n Good Eats, and cannot be used without the owner’s consent.
No matter the holiday, it is always a good time when folks can get together and fellowship. I have not seen my some of my girls since the end of last year and am looking forward to hanging out and catching up with them for our pre-Fourth of July get together.
We each have things we are good at preparing and my area is dessert. So this go round, I wanted to do something we had not done in the past. I am a creature of habit so I typically whip up a cheesecake, pound cake, red velvet or carrot cake. Today, I decided to make chocolate peanut butter cupcakes.
I love a good chocolate cake. And coffee and Kahlua transform chocolate cakes to a new level of decadence. Since I am not a coffee drinker, I hated having to brew a pot of coffee just to include a cup or so in a cake batter. So I happened to stumble upon some coffee singles from Maxwell House that do the trick without wasting a half a pot of coffee. These little packets work much like a tea bag. You just heat or microwave your water, dip them for a few minutes, and voila! I get excited about the simplest things.
These cupcakes are moist and delicious and almost taste exactly like a bite from a Reese's peanut butter cup. Not too sure it was a good complement for the new drink Renee was preparing, the Purple Alaskan Thunderfu*k. There were at least 8 different types of alcohol in this concoction, along with some soda, pineapple juice and grenadine. Surprisingly, everyone was still standing and speaking clearly as we prepared for the drive home.
As with most of our time together, it came to an end too soon. But, I am anxiously looking forward to the next time we can all get together.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
1 3/4 c AP flour
2 c sugar
3/4 c Hershey’s cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 c buttermilk
1/2 c canola oil
2 lg eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla flavoring
1 c hot coffee
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line three muffin tins with liner paper.
Sift the dry ingredients together, including the sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and the remaining wet ingredients, with the exception of the coffee. Using a mixer at low speed, combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, incorporating the dry ingredients ½ cup at a time. Slowly incorporate the hot coffee, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Frosting
5 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 c confectioners’ sugar
1 c creamy peanut butter
3/4 tsp vanilla flavoring
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 c soy milk (or heavy cream)
1 c Reese’s peanut butter cups, cut into small pieces
Bring the butter to room temperature. Place all of the ingredients, except the soy milk (or heavy cream), in a bowl. Mix on medium speed until creamy. Slowly incorporate the soy milk and beat until light and smooth. Refrigerate frosting for at least an hour. Frost cupcakes. Garnish with candy pieces.
*Recipe adapted from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa
All photographs are actual pictures of the recipe listed, prepared by Sweet Treats 'n Good Eats, and cannot be used without the owner’s consent.
The holiday season is in full swing! I had three Christmas parties to go to in one night. I love holiday parties…looking at the Christmas décor, listening to the sounds of the season, eating some fabulous foods…but for some reason, on this particular Friday, I couldn’t quite get into the holiday spirit. Could it be because it is so cold outside (and inside, too) that I was dreading leaving my humble abode to run in and out of these events on three separate occasions? Or perhaps it is because I had such a long week and Friday evening parties don’t allow time for a nap. Gosh I sound old. I cut on my Sounds of Christmas playlist on my iPod to get in the mood…that helped a lot!
My first party was an annual Christmas party with a group of women I have come to adore over the last two years. We each bring a dish, open our Secret Santa gifts, finalize a community service project to assist someone less fortunate during the holiday season, and have lots of grins and giggles…and libations too! My contribution is always dessert. And I wanted to do something different that made me think of the holidays. So I decided on some Chocolate Peppermint cupcakes. I was thankful for an excuse to cut the stove on to get some additional heat generated. The temperature was 34 but it felt like half that. Brrrrrr.
Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in vanilla flavoring.
Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake for 12 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.
Peppermint Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar
4 ounces cream cheese
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
16 hard peppermint candies, finely crushed (about 1/3 cup)
Combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, and peppermint extract in a mixing bowl. Frost cupcakes. Garnish with peppermint candy.
All photographs are actual pictures of the recipe listed, prepared by Virtually Everything Sweet, and cannot be used without the owner’s consent.
