Coffee Mug Cupcakes

The weekend before I left Streator, the Chalkey's (my aunt and uncle) had a family party. Baking ingredients in our house were sparse, considering we were all packing up at that time, but I couldn't show up without cupcakes. I wasn't about to be that person who blogs about all the cupcakes I'm making and not bring any for my family.

In the pantry, I had a box of cake mix, a can of frosting and a bag of Milano Pirouette cookies left over from my birthday cake. My creation was obvious: 

Coffee mug cupcakes! I had to go the easy way out and use a box cake mix and canned frosting, but I could still dress the cupcakes up and make them cute. The coffee mug costume is an easy way to disguise a simple cupcake. Stick part of the pirouette cookie on top of white frosting and crush part of the cookie on top. Cream and cinnamon to the imaginative eye.

Of course these would be much more darling in a little tea cup, but any of those I had were packed away. But I have the little saucer plate!

I would have liked to try a coffee-inspired recipe since these look like coffee mugs, but I wanted to use up the things we had. My challenge for this week will be to come up with a coffee cupcake recipe. I just got the Folger's mocha-flavored coffee and it is delicious! Be ready for some mocha cupcakes later this week. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

When I was in college, I worked at The Great American Cookie Company. Shocking, I know. What's really shocking is that I hated that job more than any other part-time gig I've held. Probably because it was more of an unwanted full-time gig, while I was a full-time student, and added more stress than any college class would ever cause.

However, they did have good cookies. The job certainly had its perks. My roommates loved that I brought home boxes of cookies and cookie cakes every night.

One of my favorites was the peanut butter cookie. This weekend I made my own peanut butter cookies in attempt to match the cookie that kept me company the first semester of junior year (had I worked there any longer my teeth would have fallen out from all the sugar).

What I loved about those cookies was that they had actual peanuts in them, giving them a little more zazz than plain old peanut butter. I made mine with chopped salted peanuts and peanut butter chips. As always with peanut butter cookies, dab the tops in a bowl of sugar and make the criss-cross with a fork before pressing them down. That's just how peanut butter cookies work! At least in the Chalkey house.

These cookies are so good right out of the oven with a glass of cold milk.

Now we have plenty of cookies in the cookie jar! Which means we need visitors to help us eat them!

I noticed a certain someone got into the cookie jar this morning and left me half a cookie.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2c. butter, softened
• 1/2c. shortening
• 2 eggs
• 3/4c. brown sugar
• 3/4c. sugar
• 1t. vanilla
• 1t. baking soda
• 1t. salt
• 2 1/4c. flour
• 1/2c. peanut butter, I used creamy
• 1/4c. chopped salted peanuts
• 1/2c. peanut butter chips

1. Beat butter, shortening, eggs, both sugars and vanilla together in a large bowl. 
2. Add in peanut butter until well blended.
3. Add baking soda and salt. Add flour gradually, until mixture is thick enough.
4. Mix in peanuts and peanut butter chips.
5. Refrigerate at least one hour.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. Peanut butter cookies tend to take a little longer than chocolate chip cookies.
7. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Banana Bread

As I mentioned in the previous post, the Barichello's came to visit last weekend and so I baked them a bunch of stuff. I already wrote about the strawberry cheesecakes and the Oreo puppy chow I made for the occasion. Today I'll share the recipe I (kind of) came up with for the best of the three, Cinnamon Banana Bread.

The photos hardly capture the awesomeness of this stuff. Notice there is a ton of sugar and cinnamon on top :)

I found a recipe for cinnamon Amish bread and another recipe for cream cheese banana bread (from acooksquest.blogspot.com). I really wanted both, so I made them into one Cinnamon Cream Cheese Banana Bread.

It's a basic banana bread recipe, using cream cheese instead of milk or buttermilk. The cream cheese makes the bread a little softer and mushier and very delightful. All I did to make it a cinnamon bread is add a mixture of cinnamon and sugar in the middle layer of the bread and poured the rest on top. I suggest adding more in the middle so you don't have as much on top. All that sugar was a little intimidating (but yummy, nonetheless). I also put pecans in my banana bread, because I enjoy a good crunch.

This recipe would probably make really awesome muffins as well.

We ate a good chunk of that bread over the weekend, picking at it between beers in the apartment and warming it up with butter for breakfast.

We had to go out Saturday night so we wouldn't keep eating it.

Kyle's momma, Sharon, and I had a little too much fun while the guys went golfing.

Cinnamon Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 3/4c. softened butter
• 8oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 eggs
• 2c. sugar
• 3c. flour
• 1/2t. baking powder
• 1/2t. baking soda
• 1/2t. salt
• 1 1/2c. mashed bananas (about 4 bananas)
• 1c. chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/2t. vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar filling and topping

• 2/3c. sugar
• 2T. cinnamon

Directions

1. In a bowl combine the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until well blended. Add the two eggs and blend well. Add the dry ingredients and mix until everything comes together, do not overmix. Add the vanilla, nuts, and bananas. 
2. Pour half the batter into a large greased loaf pan or two smaller ones. Add most of the cinnamon/sugar mixture across the top, the add the rest of the batter. Sprinkle the leftover cinnamon/sugar blend across the top. 
3. Bake at 350 for about an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Oreo Puppy Chow

The Barichello's came to visit this past weekend, giving me yet another excuse to bake a whole bunch of stuff. Puppy chow is my version of having chips and dip at a party; you can pass it around in a bowl, get a good crunchy fix, but, the best part, it is sweet and chocolatey, unlike chips and dip.

It was my first time making puppy chow, and I can't believe how easy it was. It's something you can mix up in just fifteen minutes or so. It would be perfect for bringing along on a road trip, to a pot luck, or for your kids' sleepovers.

And when it looks as yummy and sinful as this, how can you resist?

I've come across a ton of puppy chow recipes, and it's basic enough that you can play around with it. Oreos have always been a favorite of mine.

There's chocolate and white chocolate in here, which makes the otherwise plain Chex cereal taste sweet and incredible. Add in the crushed Oreos and you're in puppy chow heaven. The powdery crunch of cookies and cream is so delicious, it's impossible not to go back for more.

The Barichello's loved it and so did we. I sent a ton of it home with them because the bowl seemed to keep calling my name. I hate when that happens!

Like I said, puppy chow is incredibly easy to make, and it's fun to be creative with it. What versions have you tried?

Oreo Puppy Chow

Ingredients:

• 5c. plain Chex cereal
• 5oz. milk chocolate
• 5oz. white chocolate
• 1/2c. powdered sugar
• 8 to 10 Oreos, more for garnishing

Directions:

1. Place five Oreos in one gallon-size Ziploc bag and five Oreos in another. Crush both bags of Oreos, either with a rolling pin or with your hand, getting any frustration out.
2. Separate the cereal into two bowls. 
3. Melt chocolate and white chocolate in separate bowls at 30-second intervals. Once melted, pour milk chocolate over cereal in one bowl and white chocolate over the other bowl of cereal. Mix each bowl thoroughly. 
4. Add each bowl of chocolatey cereal into the separate bags with Oreos. Add 1/4c. powdered sugar to each bag, and shake bags around until the cereal and Oreos are mixed together and covered with powdered sugar. 
5. Add both bags to a large serving bowl. Add extra crushed Oreos for more decoration. Enjoy!

Birthday cake for a golfer

My awesome boyfriend (and now roommate!) turned 23 last week. For someone who is not a big fan of cake, which breaks my heart a little, I had to do something that would make him love it anyway.

This Wilton golf bag cake pan was just the answer:


Kyle might not like cake, but he loves to golf. Who wouldn't like a cake shaped as their favorite hobby?

This pan was very easy and fun to use. Just grease the inside or spray it with cooking spray and pour your cake mix in to fill it. (I made a lemon cake, which Kyle loved, and I hated.) Bake the cake for the same amount of time you would for a 9x13 pan, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Let it cool, at least twenty minutes, then level off the top with a knife. Once it is completely cool, place a plate or cake board on top of the cake, and flip the cake onto the board keeping both hands on the pan and cake board. Lift pan off cake carefully, and your cake should look like this:

Decorating is the fun part! I made a fluffy vanilla frosting (I was going to make it lemon, but I forgot to add lemon juice. I guess I was looking forward to decorating too much.) Kyle's favorite color is green, so I made a green golf bag and red and blue clubs. Basically, follow the image on the pan to decorate. However, the cake comes out facing the opposite way than in the picture, so keep that in mind!

Also, I am not a golfer and had no idea that the numbers on the clubs pictured on the pan meant anything. I thought for sure I could substitute Kyle's age, but he didn't seem to get why there was a "2 iron" in the golf bag. I guess that's not a thing.

It takes some time to make a good-looking golf bag, but I watched a lot of Reba and had a good time with it.

Anyway, Kyle was pretty stoked about his golf bag cake (or he did a good job pretending to be). I know I'll get a lot of use out of this cake pan with the golf guys in my family. Also, Wilton has cake pans for just about every character and hobby out there. I really want to get some of the princess ones, but I think I'd be the only one getting any enjoyment out of them.

Strawberry Cheesecakes

There are so many recipes to try that I always have a hard time picking one from my baking board on Pinterest. Now I know I just need Kyle to take a quick look at it with me, and his reactions to the pretty pictures of cupcakes and brownies make my answer for me.

He saw the pin for strawberry cheesecake bites and cried "Why haven't you made these for me???" So I click the link and there's a blog post, and a picture of a happy couple mixed in there. "We could be as happy as this couple if you make these!!"

How could I say no to that?

These strawberry cheesecake bites are delicious. They're great for summertime, since they're cold and refreshing. The original recipe makes them into smaller bites, but I set them in cupcake tins because I thought that sounded more fun.

 They are fairly easy to make. I filled a few with more crust, because the graham cracker crust is so crunchy and tastes great after the fruity, creamy "cupcake." The recipe says to refrigerate for two hours before serving. Mine didn't want to set too well in the fridge - I think I may have filled them too high with the cream cheese mixture. I kept them in the freezer and just took them out about five minutes before Kyle and I dove in. We split one, and instant happiness and bliss was achieved:

This is payback for always stealing my camera.

 Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Makes 16 cupcakes

ingredients:

for the strawberry cheesecake:
2 cups strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3 tbsp + 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp + 1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup boiling water
1 tbsp plain gelatin
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
8 oz cream cheese
¼ tsp salt

for the graham cracker crust:
1-1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

directions:

for the strawberry cheesecake:
- Combine strawberries, 3 tbsp sugar, and 2 tsp lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Push mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds. Set aside.
- Mix gelatin and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl. Add the boiling water and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fit with a whisk attachment, beat the heavy cream to form stiff peaks. Add the cream cheese, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and salt, and beat on medium-high speed until mixer is smooth and well incorporated, at least 3 minutes.
- Slowly add the gelatin mixture to the cream mixture and gently fold to blend. Add the strawberry puree and continue to slowly fold the mixture until well incorporated.

for the graham cracker crust
- Line cupcake pan with liners
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl.
- Add the melted butter and mix until well combined. Press a ~ ¼” thickness of graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each well. Use the bottom of a shot glass or small cup to flatten out each crust.
- Divide the strawberry cheesecake mixture evenly among the cupcake wells and refrigerate (or freeze) for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and a strawberry slice if desired.

Brown sugar cream cheese frosting

I've been treated to a lot of good meals since moving to Ames, and I don't mean at fancy restaurants. Had I known Kyle was going to cook for me, I would have moved in a long time ago! One night last week, we had our first family dinner with his old roommate Tom, and his girlfriend Kaitlyn. Since they've all been cooking together for so long, I needed to bring something to the table.

But let's face it, I can't cook. So I made dessert.

I whipped up a box mix of pound cake (taking the easy way out, I know), but I made a new frosting recipe: brown sugar cream cheese frosting from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book. It is so easy and so delicious! The brown sugar adds a yummy twist to your classic cream cheese frosting.

Since our dinner meal was pretty healthy, I added some strawberries for design and nutrition. If there's fruit in it, it's healthy, right? Let's just pretend.

This was a quick and easy dessert for a dinner party, (I'm not sure if eating on the couch and a small end table counts as a dinner party, but that was the intention) and it's pretty simple to dress the plate up so it looks like you put more work into it. Place any kind of berries on the cake or around the plate and your dessert is instantly more fancy and appealing.

Everyone is familiar with cream cheese frosting, but adding brown sugar instead of powdered sugar makes your frosting unique and memorable. This frosting pairs well with carrot cake, peach, lemon, and definitely sweet potato cupcakes. It's an easy staple frosting that can be mixed up in five minutes.  

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2c. butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1c. packed light brown sugar

Mix!