It's All About Me

Week 22/Recipe 14- S'Mores Cupcakes

Joe had come out of nowhere sometime last year with "How good does a s'mores cupcake sound?  Doesn't that sound good?  Do you think you could make some?"  I thought it sounded like a great idea, but I never got around to making them. Then, after my "Sprinkle's" experience this past March, I knew I had to try and find a recipe to use here at home.  

I searched high and low, sifted through SO many that all looked so yummy! Well, today I finally made some time to give some of them a go... and this one ends up being different than the others as well which makes me love them even more!  Now, even though I made time today to make them, I realized as I was preheating the oven and getting my ingredients together that I was totally out of cocoa!  Yikes, cant make a chocolate cake without some of the good stuff right?  BUT alas, I did see a box of chocolate cake mix hiding in the pantry... SCORE :)  So I guess these are considered cheat cupcakes, gotta love that too!  

 

 

So here is what we need:

INGREDIENTS:

for crust- 

- 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (approximately 1 1/2 sleeves) 

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 6 1/4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

- 1/2 cup mini choc chips

- 1 cup mini marshmallows

for cupcakes- 

1 boxed chocolate cake mix

for filling and/or frosting-

- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

- 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

- 3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff

- 1 tablespoons heavy cream

for topping- 

- 3 oz semi sweet chocolate/chocolate chips

- 1/4 cup heavy cream

- 1/4 cup of softened butter

- 2 cups mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° and grease/line cupcake pans (I got exactly 28 cupcakes so I lined 2 full pans and then 4 on a 3rd pan).

1. Prepare the crust!  Grind up your graham crackers in a food processor.  They should be ground up pretty fine, like when making cheesecake or pie.  Melt butter... I always just do it in the microwave. Set it to 35 seconds to start, let it run, stir and add an additional 8-10 seconds if needed.  Add sugar and melted butter to the graham crackers and let the food processor go and get the mixture combined.  Once it starts to held together a little bit, take out the blade carefully, and then add the mini chocolate chips.  Stir with a spoon until distributed evenly.

 

2. Using a TABLESPOON, spoon mixture into the bottoms of each cupcake liner.

 

Press each mound down into the bottom and slightly up the sides, not too much, but make sure each one is fairly compacted in the pan!

 

Let me stop here for just a second and say that I literally tried 4-5 different versions of this cupcake today, all using the same ingredients, just changing things up ever so slightly!  One of the bext things I did was add this step... putting a few mini marshmallows right on top of the pressed crust.  I added 3 because I didnt know how it would effect the cupcake, but I would totally add at least 5 mini's :)  It makes the crust even gooier and richer!  A very nice touch!  

 

3. OK, once those are all set and pretty, throw them in the oven for 5 minutes...

4.  While those are baking, get your cake batter ready!  Of course you dont have to use a box like I did, but if you want to save just a smidge of time, go for it... I wont tell :)  If you wanna make your own, I really have found this one by Hershey's to be great!       

 

5.  Bake 18-20 minutes, do NOT over bake. As soon as the cupcakes bounce back slightly to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean when you test it, they are done!  Does this not look good enough already?  Holy cow... yum!

Check out another version I made putting marshmallows directly into the batter & putting a few right on top!  What a mess lol!  They actually still tasted really good, I just didn't account for the marshmallows expanding quite as much as they did IN the batter...

Oh well... we still ate those while I finished up the real batch :)  Moving along...  

6.  With the cupcakes cooling nicely, start to make your filling!  Add the softened butter, marshmallow fluff, and powdered sugar into a bowl and beat until whipped and fluffy.  Add the heavy cream and beat for about a minute longer.  

7.  I think the easiest way to get the filling IN your cupcakes is to use a piping bag and circular tip.   Prepare bag and then place it in a large glass, fold top edges down, and begin adding filling.

 

8.  Place tip of piping bag into the center of each cupcake and gently squeeze bag AS you slowly lift the bag out of the cupcake.

 

 

Try to level off the tops a bit...

 

9.  Once those are all filled, begin making your ganache!  Add all ingredients to a glass bowl and set over a double boiler.  Cook over low heat until the chocolate and butter have all melted and its nice and smooth.  Take each cupcake and turn it upside to coat the tops.

 T

The next few steps are a little bit of a blur... I had a few ideas that I wanted to try, but once I said the words "TORCH" to my husband, well, everything just moved so fast lol!  First, I tried a few using some of the filling as frosting, then added some mini marshmallows to the top.  Well, that didnt workout too well because I left too many spaces in between each marshmallow so when Joe torched it, the frosting just began to melt!  

Let me note, though, that Joe liked this version the best, even though the marshmallows weren't all nice and toasty, he thought the frosting was great on top, but I thought it was way too sweet!  For those of you who do not have a kitchen torch, you could totally make more frosting (double the recipe I give here), pipe it on top, and then add mini marshmallows right on top, and sprinkle with some crushed graham crackers like this:

 

Completely good and pretty all the same!  You could even add a small Hershey's chocolate and make it even more special :)

For everyone else, this is what I did and I thought they tasted perfect... also a great step for the kids to help out with!  Add mini marshmallows ALL over the top and then try to layer a few on top of those, pile it high as ya like :)

 

 

  

Again, perfectly yummy just like this and if you don't have a torch, another great option!

But if you want to take it a step further and possibly get your husband involved with some "power tools", have him fire up a torch and lend you a hand...

 

and the finished product...

 

 Not too shabby if I do say so myself!  You can download the printable recipe card HERE and ENJOY :)

Week ??/Recipe 13- Red Velvet Cookie Sandwich's

Shocking... I'm behind with another project?  Been a crazy month here filled with photo sessions, my kids' crazy afternoon schedule's, and even a car accident!  Yup, a couple of weeks ago when Makena and I were getting ready to pick up Blake from gymnastics, we got rear ended at a stop light... thank God it wasn't anything serious and nobody was hurt. The worst thing that happened was I jammed my finger (have no idea where, the steering wheel or window maybe?), broke my nail down, way down, that had to be the most painful part... and then bruised some tendons in it from the impact.  Doctor xray'd it and splinted me up.  It was impossible to be on the computer with my hand wrapped and I had to cancel a couple of sessions that were scheduled since I couldn't hold the camera lol!  I was sore for a few days, but again, nothing to complain about too muc! Car is now in the shop and should be done very soon!  Glad its all over with though :)  Makena was perfectly fine, got a bit scared when she saw my bleeding finger and when the cops arrived to do the incident report, but soon got over it!

So, like I said, hectic over here!  Been itching to bake and yesterday I forced myself to make some time in between Blake's homework and going to the gym!  I decided I wanted to do something pretty easy and since I never got a chance to share these before, my Red Velvet Cookies were the perfect pick!

Normally, I don't do the heart cut out, but Makena wanted to help so I gave her something to do while I made the frosting :)  Here is the recipe!

INGREDIENTS: 

- 1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix (I like "Moist Deluxe")

- 2 eggs

- 1/3 cup of oil

For FROSTING:

- 4 oz softened cream cheese

- 1/4 cup room temperature butter

- 1 tsp heavy cream

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 2 cups powdered sugar

This is so easy.. seriously!  First preheat your oven to 375 degrees!

1.  Grab the cake mix, eggs, and oil.  Add them all to your bowl/stand mixer and beat until combined.  IF you want, you can sift the cake mix to make sure you dont get any mix lumps!

 

2. Using a scoop (my scoop gives about 1 tablespoon or so), start dividing up your cookies.  Scoop and roll in the palms of your hands to shape and smooth.  

3.  Place each one on a baking sheet.  I like to line it with parchment paper :)

 

4. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  I like my cookies slightly under done so I take them out at 9 minutes, no more, no less!  It's actually pretty easy to tell when these guys are close to done since the tops of them WILL crack, some more than others!  

 

5.  Let them cool slightly on a wire rack and in the meantime, make your frosting!  You could totally cheat here and use a tub of pre made stuff too... I promise, I won't tell :)

6.  Cream butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy and combined.  Add vanilla and cream.  Then slowly add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.

 

7.  Ok set that aside for a minute... now it's time to make your cut outs!  You could really use any cookie cutter, but try and find ones that are less than 3/4" or so!  I chose hearts because, well, it just goes with the red cookies :)  I got these at Michael's, right in the baking/cake decorating aisle!

 

8.  Divide cookies up into pairs.  They should all be similar in size if you used a scoop or spoon to measure, but the oven may have made them a little "off"!  I think I got 24 cookies, so I got to make 12 sandwich's!  Take the "tops" of each cookie and cut out away!

 
   
 

So, the cookies are really yummy, BUT unlike my husband who likes the "crusts" and edges, I'm a soft and mushy and squishy kind of girl so I LOVE the insides of any cookie!  They are my favorite part.  Of course I kept ALL of these to myself...

yum... heaven :)

But before I ate them, I had to play with them and this shape was the most fitting to make!

ahhhh, feel the love :)

9.  OK back to doing something productive right?  Grab the other "half" of your cookie sandwich and turn it over.  This should be a more flat surface!  Grab some of your frosting and plop it right down in the center.  Smooth it out towards the edges slightly.  Not too far out though since once you place the top on it will spread even more.

 

10.  Grab the tops of your cookie and place it right on top!

Share them with someone you adore and love....   
    

Week 12/Recipe 11- Lowfat Carrot Cake?

Does it get better than that?  A home baked dessert that isn't super, uber, duper fattening?  Gotta love that....

A few years ago, I was on a mission to find a carrot that I really liked and was super easy to make... the hardest part being the grating of the carrots, a recipe that didn't have too much going on, no raisins or crazy stuff like that!  Well, I think I found something that I love and the people that have had a taste of it, haven't complained either!  I modified a Paula Deen recipe and it turned out great...

Perfect... except next time I "think" I might want to add some candied walnuts!  Actually, this recipe could have been used for 3- 9" pans but I wanted to make some cupcakes with them also and the little candied walnut would have looked great right on top... couldn't get to the store in time though, those guys were GONE quick :) Ok recipe time!!!

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cups of flour

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/2 cups of apple sauce (the secret ingredient :) )

- 3 eggs

- 1 1/2 cups of sugar

- 3 cups grated carrots

1 1/2 cups candied walnuts

FOR FROSTING:

- 1 8 oz package softened cream cheese

- 1 stick butter

- 1 box powdered sugar (16 oz's)

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat over to 350 degrees, grease 2- 9" circle pans.  I also put parchment down just in case this thing felt like sticking :)

 

1. grate approximately 5 large carrots (to yield 3 cups).  I LOVE using my food processor for this kind of madness.  Totally worth cleaning the thing to have it done in literally 60 seconds or less!

2.  In the bowl of your mixer or any large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir to combine.  Or have your helper do it :)

3.  Add eggs and apple sauce... 

 

 
 loving the fact that it's not oil or butter by the way :)

4.  Add in shredded carrots AND nuts if you choose to use those bad boys!

 

Batter will obviously be chunky!

 

5.  Divide batter into the 3 pans.  I like using a cup measure to make sure I get them as even as possible! 

Ok seriously... how easy was that?  Throw the pans in the over and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes.  Bake just until you touch the tops and they bounce back ever so slightly.  Also, as soon as you see the cake pulling away from the pans and its light golden brown, pull em out!

 

Let the cakes cool completely before frosting them!  You can take them out of the pan after about 15 minutes and cool them on a wire rack also if you are so inclined.  I left mine in because I had a lot of crap to do lol!

6.  Go ahead and make your frosting.... YUM and I don't really even like frosting that much, but this stuff is good AND perfect for the cake!  Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar and beat until soft and fluffy.  My batch was pretty "loose" so I put it in the fridge for a few minutes just to make it a bit more firm.

7.  Once the cakes have cooled, grab the frosting and go to town!  Because I am not a huge frosting fan, I only frosted the top and middle of the cake.  I found that this was just the right amount of "sweet" without over powering the cake.  I guess you could even put the nuts in between the layers also instead of IN the batter?  That might be a nice little surprise too!

 

Just put a big ole dollop on and spread to the edges!  Then put the 2nd layer on...

 

and frost that too the same way!   

 

Viola..... remember,I made cupcakes with extra batter so I don't have a 3rd layer!

and yum....

  

Week 9/Recipe 8- Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread or just the BEST Banana Bread Ever

Banana bread has always been one of my most favorite desserts... well not really dessert, but a good snack anyways!  I used to have a REALLY good recipe for it, but lost it a couple of years ago in the shuffle of moving.  Since then I have tried quite a few recipe's I have found on the internet, but none of them made me smile.  Last week, I had some banana's that were just on the verge of going bad, the kind that are PERFECT for some banana bread, so I thought what better time than now to come up with a recipe... I kind of pulled parts from here and there and I think I ended up with something very close to perfection! It's so moist, full of banana flavor, and personally, anything that has Nutella in it can't be bad right?

 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 very rip banana's... already turning brown perferably

3/4 cup Nutella (hazlenut spread)

1/2 chopped toasted hazelnuts (OPTIONAL)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat over to 350 degrees and grease 2 large loaf pans or 4 small loaf pans like I did (perfect for gifts for friends) :)

 

When I bake, I kind of like getting all of my ingredients together and all lined up, ready for me to use. Not sure if it ever saves any time, but at least I dont have to run around the kitchen while I'm mixing stuff up!  

1.  Before you get your mixing started, go ahead and put all of the dry ingredients into a small bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).  I like having a kiddo do this because they seem to like mixing stuff up!  Makena was my helper of course :)

 

You can also have a kiddo mash the banana's up... this is my daughter's favorite part!

2.  Once that's done or while your little helper is doing those things, go ahead and cream butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy.  

3.  Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition.

4.  Add sour cream AND vanilla... and mix until well combined and incorporated.  

 

Now up until recently I was always super hesitant to cook or bake with this stuff because I HATE sour cream!  Fortunately, it doesn't give any baked goods the flavor, just a bit of moisture and maybe even just the tiniest bit of tang.  I find myself using it more and more in baked goods!  I just try and hold my breath while I am getting a big scoop of it AND until its all mixed in lol!

5.  Add mashed banana's and mix until everything is combined.

6.  Now add dry ingredients in 3 batches, mixing well in between each addition and then after until flour has all been absorbed and incorporated.

Batter will be thick and lumpy!

If you are planning on adding the optional nuts, not would be the time :)  Most of my friends have small children, so nuts wont work for me!

7.  Divide batter into the 2 large loaf pans OR 4 small loaf pans.  I like using a 1/2 or 1 cup measuring when dividing batter... this will ensure you divide evenly!

8.  Now the fun part... adding the chocolate!   Put the Nutella in the microwave for about 30 seconds just to thin it out a bit and get it nice and smooth.  Take a spoon and drizzle the tops of each loaf with about 3 tablespoons of Nutella (for large loaf pans- use at least 6 tablespoons).

 

7.  Now take a knife and just run it through the loaf to swirl the Nutella... I actually used a chop stick for my 2nd batch and liked that much better.  You want to get nice, big swirls, but be careful NOT to over mix!  I like seeing the big swirls and gobs of chocolate :)

8.  Place in the over and bake for 30-35 minutes (for large loaf pans, bake for 45-50 minutes).  The tops of the loaves will slightly brown!  Do NOT overbake... that would be a shame!  I actually think this 2nd batch I did could have used about 3 minutes less time!  I was busy playing Super Mario Bros. on the WII lol!  Hopefully the people I made these for couldn't tell!

 

Um, YUM :)

 

Enjoy with a nice glass of COLD milk!!!

 
I have 2 crock pot recipes I tried over the past week also, hopefully I can swing some time to post them soon!  

Week 7/Recipe 6- Joe's Peanut Butter Pie

Looks like I have already seemed to get behind and totally skipped on a recipe last week!  Luckily I think I have 2 this week so I should be good!  Before I get to the recipe though, I wanted to say thanks to those of you who had left me a comment and for the kind words about my new Project 365 kit.  I have decided to name the series "Celebrate Everyday"... seems so fitting since thats exactly how I like to live my life, appreciating all of the good I see everyday and how blessed I am!  I was originally going to do a drawing... which I actually did do and found a few winners:

 

But, I'm feeling good tonight and have decided to give everyone who left a comment on this post the starter kit!!! So all comments left BEFORE 11:00pm on 2-15-10 will get the goodies!  Go ahead and leave me a little note that has your correct email on it here or at cnielsen11 AT hotmail DOT com and I will get you a gift certificate to the store to grab it :)

Alright, baking time!!!  Well, after a brief little story....

So this past weekend was Valentine's Day.  Normally my husband and I don't celebrate it, he normally has some flowers sent or something small like that, but this year he decided to go way out!  He had an entire weekend getaway trip planned for the 2 of us, kids going to grandma's house :)  He booked a room at my favorite San Diego resort:

 

I adore this resort, but there spa is the bestest AND as it turns out, my husband also surprised me when he said he booked me a massage also!  Man he is a good boy!  Rose petals greeted me as soon as we arrived...

 

I actually didn't get a chance to shoot the pic right when I got there, so by the time I left the spa, all of the flowers were all pretty much squashed lol!  It was gorgeous though, I was totally not expecting any of this.  We drove out to Riverside to drop the kids off and then drove back to San Diego.  Keep in mind I still had no clue where we were going, what we were doing, nothing!  I was just along for the ride!  

My massage was fab, the facility... amazing as always!

 

 

and here he is waiting to pick me up...

 

Then when I was done, he said we had dinner reservations at one of the hotel restaurants.  My husband is NOT a fancy kind of guy, so he just changed his shirt and kept his jeans on.  I had intended on wearing a dress, but dulled it down a bit to match him better :)  Of course he wouldn't take a picture of me because he knew it would be posted here or on Facebook lol!  

 

We left Sunday afternoon, grabbed the kids some Valentine's gifts for them, and called it a day.  All in all, it was a GREAT weekend!  I love my hunny bear!  So considerate, so thoughtful!  So, what does a good wife do for her husband after a weekend like that?  Makes his favorite dessert ever:

Peanut Butter Pie

 

A few years ago, he told me that his grandmother used to make something similar to this and my husband just loved it.  I searched high and low and found a similar recipe with JIFFY peanut butter.  I made some minor changes and it seems to be a big hit around here!

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 sleeves graham crackers (they come in a 14.4 oz box and you use 2 of the 3 packages inside)

- 1 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP's granulated sugar

- 3/4 cup melted butter

- 1 cup creamy peanut butter

-8 oz of cream cheese (at room temperature)

- 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip

- 1 cup heavy whipping cream

- 1 jar hot fudge (I like this one HERE)

RECIPE:

So easy..... melt butter in a microwave safe dish about 1 minute.  Stir and let stand for a couple of minutes to cool slightly.  Meanwhile, add all of the graham crackers to a food processor and pulse until completely crushed and smooth.  Add 3/4 cup sugar, pulse to combine.  Slowly add the melted butter until the crust begins to form a ball and pulls away from the sides.  Add all of the crust to the bottom of a greased plate.  Begin to press into bottom and up edges.

 

Once the crust is formed and in place, place it in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour to harden up.  In the meantime begin filling.

Place cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1/2 cup sugar into a mixing bowl.  Whip until light and fluffy.  Gently fold 3 cups of Cool Whip/whipped topping in until combined.  Spoon mixture into pie shell and smooth out to edges.

 

Place back in refrigerator for another 1/2 hour.  

Take the hot fudge topping and reserve approximately 2 tablespoons into a small bowl.  Put the remaining fudge in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute.  Spoon hot fudge over the top of the peanut filling and out to the edges.

 

Put back in fridge... 

When you are ready to serve the pie, whip up the heavy cream for about 2 minutes until soft peaks form.  Slowly add last 2 tbsp's of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in the last cup of Cool Whip/whipped topping.  add that on top of the hot fudge layer (which is now cooled and slightly hardened).  

Microwave the reserved 2 tbsp's of fudge for about 10 seconds or until smooth and loose enough to drizzle.  You can either add this to a small piping bag, zip lock, etc. to drizzle or you can just use a spoon to do it!  Cover the top in drizzles and voila :)

This is a super rich, creamy dessert!  Perfect with a glass of milk!

Until next time....