Heart-shaped Cookies Make the World Go Round, plus Texas Sheet Cupcakes!



    Volunteer cupcakes are the perfect opportunity to test out a Pinterest recipe.

My friend Kayla has made me her cupcake slave, and it's the best job I never had. She keeps having fundraisers and things that she just so happens to need cupcakes for. That, or she wants to make me feel that my baking has a purpose. Either way is appreciated.

For her scrapbooking fundraiser, I tried out a recipe for Texas Sheet Cupcakes. You all know what Texas sheet cake is, basically a single-layer chocolate cake with a rich as hell chocolate glazed icing. They're basic, but awesome. Plus, it's more appealing to say "Texas" when referring to cake.

The recipe isn't too hard, although there is some stove work. The icing pours right on, so you don't have to worry about being fancy. The finished product is insanely good and rich and, of course, must be served with a glass of cold milk.

 

 

In the same night, I needed to make a dessert to take to Kyle's for the weekend. What kind of girlfriend shows up to their boyfriend's house without baked goods? Not this one.

His favorite is oatmeal raisin cookies. Pretty standard, but I wanted to leave an impression, so I turned to Pinterest. Thus I found a heart-shaped oatmeal raisin cookie cake. It was the perfect amount of awesome that I was going for.

 

Girls, I highly recommend turning any batch of cookies for your boyfriend into a heart-shaped cookie cake. For one, they're still delicious cookies. Two, he'll think you went out of your way, when really it's quite easier and a lot more fun.

There might be better recipes out there for the actual cookie part. After refrigerating the dough for an hour, it seemed very dry. I added a couple teaspoons of water and pressed it all together, which worked fine. Also, I used Craisins instead of raisins, because that was what I had.

The maple frosting, however, was incredible. Kyle, who hates frosting, absolutely loved it.
I will definitely make this again and maybe add some white chocolate chips or something fun. Or maybe on a rainy night I'll just whip up the maple frosting for myself.

Texas Sheet Cupcakes

 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup water

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 cupcake liners into muffin pans. In a small sauce, bring the butter, water, and coco powder to a boil. Turn off and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and coco mixture. Stir until well blended. Pour into cupcake liners. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until done. They will be moist. Do not over cook. Cool completely.

Fudge frosting:

6 tablespoons milk

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter

4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine milk, coco powder, and butter. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and powdered sugar.Stir until it starts to thicken slightly. (I stirred it for 3 1/2 minutes) Drop a tablespoon full onto center of each cupcake. The frosting will thicken quickly, so do not make the frosting until ready to put on cupcakes.

*This is a pour on frosting. It is not a spread or pipe on. It will still be a little runny when it is applied. The frosting will harden as it cools on the cupcake. The best way to tell when it is ready to use is to drop a spoonful on a plate and see how far it spreads. When it spreads just to the width of a cupcake, it’s ready. If it spreads too far, stir for a little longer

 

 

Oatmeal Cookie Cake

 

Makes one 9 inch cookie cake3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup raisins
1. Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
2. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
3. Add cinnamon, flour, cornstarch and baking soda to a medium sized bowl and combine.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter and sugar mixture.
4. Stir in old fashioned oats and raisins. Dough will be thick.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight. I very much recommend overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Place parchment paper into the bottom of your cake pan to help the cookie not stick.
8. Spread the dough out into the cake pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden. The center may not look completely cooked, but it is.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the cake pan. Be careful of removing the cookie cake from the pan too soon. If it hasn’t cooled enough, the center will be very soft and easily breakable. I let mine cool for at least an hour before removing.
Cinnamon Maple Icing
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp water
1. Beat the shortening and butter together until smooth.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar. Mix until combined.
3. Mix in the maple extract and cinnamon as well as desired amount of water to get the right consistency.
Enjoy!

(Sh)Ande's Mint Cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes are all about the recipient, which is why I've renamed these Ande's Mint cupcakes to Shande's Mint cupcakes for my friend Shannon on her day of honor. 

The Andes Mint cupcake has been teasing me on Pinterest for some time now, and they just so happened to be what Shannon wanted. The picture is so pretty, and although I'm not a fan of mint, who doesn't love those Andes Mints? But a mint flavored cupcake didn't appeal to me much. However, baking cupcakes you don't think you'll like can do wonders for your diet. I didn't taste test every five minutes like I usually do.
 

"Mint" must have heard that I don't care much for him, as he set out to ruin my baking experience at every possible chance.

The mint filling was anything but simple. If you're going to make these, I highly recommend purchasing a cupcake injector. I realized my severe need for one of those as I made a mess of chocolate all over the kitchen with my own less intelligent technique. After all the hassle, I don't think you could even taste the mint filling.
 

In my first frosting attempt, "mint" got the best of me again. I began mixing a stick of butter and a package of cream cheese together. When I went to add the teaspoon of peppermint extract, half the bottle dumped into the bowl! There was the dilemma of moving forward with extremely minty frosting, or sadly using another package of cream cheese and stick of butter. The strong smell of the frosting seemed almost poisonous, and I didn't think it would be very nice to poison Shannon with an overdose of peppermint on her birthday. Down the garbage it went.
 

The next batch of frosting went much smoother, but I think I added to much green dye to it. It's not as light as the photo. I guess that makes it more original?
 

I broke down and tried one after the cupcake received raving reviews at Shannon's birthday dinner. I'll admit, the mint had me hooked. I refrigerated the ones I left at home, because I think of "cool" when I think of mint. It tasted very cool and minty. Like I said, I didn't get the oozing effect of the mint injection that I was hoping for. Maybe it would have been different if I had the right tool. The frosting was so minty that it may have overridden the mint filling.
 

Overall, the Shande's Mint cupcake is a great cupcake for mint lovers, and apparently for non-mint lovers like myself, too. I think I'll have more requests for these in the future.

 

 

Shande's Mint Cupcakes

 

Makes 24 cupcakes

Chocolate Cakes:

1 cup sour cream

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

¼ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Chocolate Mint Filling:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

6 tablespoons butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Using a whisk, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well in between each addition.

3. Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix.

4. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until and inserted knife come out clean.

5. Chocolate Mint Filling: Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar.

6. When cupcake come out of the oven, use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcake with the filling, or use the filling as a ganache and dip the tops of the cakes into it.

7. Mint Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well

8. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Chocolate Mint Filling and an Andes Mint.

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Mine did not look this good.

 

But they still looked that good.