Mocha Cupcakes with Homemade Coffee Icing

I love coffee as much as the next person, but I can't drink it all too often! So when I stumbled upon this recipe on the HowToEatACupcake blog, I jumped for it. I mean... coffee-flavored cupcakes! That's AWESOME. I like to sample all sorts of coffee-flavored things, so I just had to try these. They could be absolutely delicious or horrendous(like that coffee yogurt I had once UGH!)

I hate coffee as a kid! It was bitter and nasty and it always burnt my tongue. It was only when my dad introduced me to Starbucks that I first fell in love with it. Although, I think if I made these back when I was a little girl, I would have been hooked a whole lot sooner. So here's some mocha cupcakes for you coffee freaks.

Non-edible Materials:

Cupcake tins.
Cupcake papers.

Edible Materials:

1 1/3 cups of all-purpose flour.
1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.(I used Nestle Tollhouse.)
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
1/4 teaspoon of salt.
1/2 cup of milk.
1/2 cup of brewed coffee.
1 stick of butter, softened.
1/2 cup of granulated sugar.
1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar.
1 large egg.

Time to get messy!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brew your coffee. When it is finished, pour a 1/2 cup of the coffee into a measuring cup or glass. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
3. While waiting for the coffee to cool, mix together your cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Set aside.
4. Beat together the sugar and butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add the egg.
5. Add 1/2 cup of milk to the coffee and stir.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture in 3 parts. Between these parts, add the milk+coffee mixture in 2 parts.
7. After everything is combined, line your cupcake tins with foil. Use an icecream scoop to fill each foil half way.
8. Bake the cupcakes for 16-20 minutes. When a toothpick or knife is inserted into the middle and comes out clean, they are done!
9. Let them cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack(you don't want to burn yourself!)
10. Let these cool for about an hour. In the mean time...make some icing!

11. To make the icing, cream 1/2 cup of shortening and one stick of butter together. Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 cup of your brewed coffee(or to taste.) Beat in one cup of powdered sugar. Repeat this 3 more times. After all the powdered sugar is mixed in, add 2 tablespoons of milk. Cover and refrigerate the icing until you're ready to decorate.

12. Decorating time! Make a make-shift pastry bag by spooning all of your buttercream into a ziploc bag. Cut off one of the edges and pipe them onto the cupcake. You can smooth it out or leave as is(if you get a nice swirl going, roll with it!)
13. Add a nice sprinkle of cocoa powder on top.
14. CONSUME! <3

Warm Apple Crumble

On Wednesday, fall will be officially here! Fall is my favorite time of year. It's not too cold, and it's not too hot. It's just the perfect balance of summer and winter. Not to mention, my favorite treats revolve around autumn! Cinnamon, maple, brown sugar, pumpkin, apple, yam, etc. I love all the warm, inviting smells of autumn desserts!

So what better way to celebrate the new season than to make something that encompasses that little essence of fall? To me, apple crumble is the perfect fall dessert. It's warm and crispy. It smells amazing when you put it in the oven...and it tastes even better when shared with friends and served over icecream. What dessert could be a better fall-time treat? If you're still not convinced, you will be by the end of this recipe.

Non-edible Materials:

Ungreased 9-inch round pan. Preferably glass.
A fork!

Edible Materials:

For the Crust...
1 cup of all-purpose flour.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1/2 cup of stick butter.

For the Apple Filling...
1/2 cup of sugar.
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
3/4 tablespoons of ground cinnamon.
1 1/2 cups of sliced Granny Smith apples. Slices should be thin.

For the Crumble...
2/3 cup of all-purpose flour.
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar.
1/4 cup of stick butter.

Time to get messy!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the Crust...

2. Pour sugar and flour into a medium-sized bowl and mix together.
3. Cut the butter into pieces, and begin to mix with the sugar and flour.
4. When the mixture is crumbly, pour it into the bottom of a round pan, and press it down easily. You can use the bottom of a measuring cup as well.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.

For the Apple Filling...

5. Begin to peel and slice the apples.
6. When they are sliced, set them aside and grab another medium-sized bowl. In this bowl, mix the cinnamon, flour and sugar together.
7. Pour the apples into the mixture and stir until they are completely coated.

For the Crumble...

8. Set aside the apple topping. In a small bowl, mix all of the crumble ingredients and repeat the steps for the crust.

9. When the crust is finished baking, spoon the apple filling over top.
10. If you have cinnamon-sugar, you can sprinkle some over top.
11. Pour the crumble over top of the apples.
12. Bake for 30 minutes! When the crumble is a lovely golden brown color and the apples are soft and tender, you're all done! Let it cool for 25 minutes after removing from heat.
13. Serve warm with icecream! If you're eating some the next day, microwave it for 15 seconds on high.

Peppermint Meringue Kisses

I hate it when I have stuff in my cupboard that I'll never use! I found a bottle of peppermint extract from last Christmas just today. Now, I love mint when it's used right. But... how should I use this? I ultimately decided on a peppermint-flavored meringue base. These were relatively hard to make, but boy, were they fun.

Non-edible Materials:

Cookie sheets.
Parchment paper.
Ziploc bag.
Electric mixer.

Edible Materials:

1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract. Or 1 teaspoon if you're into that!
1/2 cup of sugar.
Green food coloring. Or red, if you prefer.
2 egg whites.

Time to get messy!

1. First of all, preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
2. Crack your eggs. Throw out the shell and yolks. Dump the whites into a medium-sized bowl.
3. Beat the egg whites on high until they become frothy.
4. Slowly add in the sugar and peppermint. Begin to make a meringue. It will be finished when your mix forms stiff peaks.
5. At the last minute, add your food coloring. It can be neon green, light green, PURPLE, whatever floats your boat.
6. Transfer the meringue into a ziploc bag.
7. Cut a small hole in one of the edges of the bag. You can pipe the meringue out of this.
8. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and begin to make small blobs of the meringue. They can be side-by-side. They will not raise or flatten like a cookie, so you needn't worry.
9. Pop them in the over for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes is over, lower the oven temperature to 175 degrees and bake for 40 minutes.
10. Your meringue will be done when it is dry. If it seems gooey, put it in for another 10 minutes. If not, nom away!

Cake Mix Cookies

I was at the Unimart with a friend yesterday, and I saw some Funfetti cake mix! I had a craving, so I went for it. I wanted to find something fun to do with it, but all I could find was the cookie recipe on the side of the box. So as I mixed my dough, I considered all my options. Inspiration struck just as I was rolling them out into balls!

When I was a little girl, I always asked my mom to make me pancakes shaped like different critters. I don't know why I like animal shapes so much, but they're fun! So, I made my cookies animal shaped. In addition to sharing the recipe(which is nothing special, I assure you), I'll teach you fun ways on how to shape them! Plus, the clean up is simple as can be! The kids will love this one...!

Non-edible Materials:

Cookie sheets.
A glass dipped in flour.

Edible Materials:

A box of cake mix. You could use Strawberry, Chocolate, etc.
2 eggs.
1/3 cup of oil.

Time to get messy!

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix together the cake mix, eggs and oil until well blended.
3. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet.
For shapes, see below.
4. Flatten the cookie with the bottom of the glass(which should be coated in flour.)
5. Put cookies in the oven and let bake for approximately 8 minutes. The edges should be golden brown when ready.
6. Let cool, and if desired, frost and sprinkle!

Now it's time for the fun part...

Bunny: Take a ball and set it on your cookie sheet. Then, take make 2 smaller "cylinder-shaped" pieces of dough and place them so they look like the bunny's ears. Flatten with your glass. Now take a small piece of dough and flatten that slightly. When it comes out of the oven, take a knife and make two eyes, a nose and a mouth.

Bear: Take a ball and set it on your cookie sheet. Then, take make 2 small balls of dough and place them for the ears. Flatten with your glass. Now take 2 very small pieces of dough and place them side by side for the mouth. Flatten that slightly. When it comes out of the oven, take a knife and make two eyes, a nose and a mouth.

Kitten: Repeat all the steps for the bear, except when you get to the ears, pinch the tips to make them pointed. When they come out of the oven, add whiskers in addition to the mouth, eyes and nose.

Puppy: Repeat the steps for the bunny, except arrange the ears so they are floppy and laying against the head. Also add a piece of dough to the mouth part for it's nose.

Heart: This one is easy enough. Take two cylinders of dough and arrange them in a heart shape. Flatten this. VOILA!

After they are almost cooled, take a sanding sugar of your choice and sprinkle it over the cookie, it'll get caught in the creases of the "mouth", "eyes", etc.

Quick Cake

So imagine this... You're sitting there, minding your business, when all of a sudden you want chocolate cake! And what do you know? There's no box mix or anything to be found! And making a homemade cake takes way too long... Or does it?

I found myself facing this unfortunate event one day, and then to my delight, I found a recipe for 5-minute brownies in a cup. I grabbed my coffee cup, mixed the ingredients, popped it in the microwave and...eww. I was chewing on a chocolate sponge! So I ditched the cup and went for the big guns! I was setting myself up for disaster, but, to my pleasant surprise, I was successful! In fact, if you're wondering why there is no picture, it's kind of because I ate it all...!

So are you ready to make your very own sinfully easy cake? I thought so.


Non-edible Materials:

Greased microwaveable container.
Microwave!
Plastic wrap.

Edible Materials:

3 tablespoons of softened butter.
1/2 cup sugar.
1 egg.
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup.
1/4 cup milk.
1/2 cup flour.
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder.
3 tablespoons of chocolate chips.
A dash of salt.

Time to get messy!

1. Grease your container with a non-stick spray.
2. Mix together the butter, sugar, syrup, egg and milk in a small bowl.
3. In another small bowl(there's a lot of bowls involved!), mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
4. Slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet until smooth. After the mixture is smooth, pour in chocolate chips and work through the batter.
5. Pour your batter into the container and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap.
6. Put the container in the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Your cake will rise as will the plastic wrap, but rest assured, nothing will explode(hopefully!)
7. Stick a toothpick in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is ready!
8. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes.
9. Tip it onto a plate and BON APPETIT!

Now, there's many things you can do with this cake. You can frost it and put sprinkles over it. You can also eat with icecream and hot fudge! The possibilities are endless... I mean, it's a 5-minute cake! Even if you do mess up your recipe, at least it didn't waste too much of your time! In the end, the cake will turn on dense and chocolatey! I recommend a glass of milk to wash it all down!

FOR THE GLUTEN-FREE FOLLOWERS:

To make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour and add in a tablespoon of xanthan gum!

Buckeyes

So today. We're making peanut butter bonbons, or as I like to call them: "buckeyes." Imagine enjoying a frozen Reese's Cup and then multiply that by at least 10. These little suckers are perfect for Reeses fans. They're really rich, so you won't have to worry about scarfing them all down at once. They're enjoyed best one by one.

So where do we start?
Here's what you need to grab:

Non-edible Materials:

Cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
Wax paper.
Large bowl.
Microwave-safe container.
Metal spoon.

Edible Materials:

1 stick of butter(softened.) Or 1/2 cup of margarine.
3 cups of confectioners sugar(unpacked)
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter.
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Time to get messy!

1. Now, this is an insanely messy recipe, so I recommend putting down some parchment paper. It makes for easy clean up.
2. Mix together your confectioners sugar, butter, peanut butter and vanilla. Once it's mixed pretty well, feel free to use your hands to knead it. It's fun!
3. Roll the mixture into 1-2 inch balls and set aside.
4. Dump your chocolate chips into the microwave safe container and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir occasionally and continue microwaving your chocolate until it is fully melted. Let cool for a few seconds.
5. Take one of your balls and coat 3/4ths of it in chocolate. Place the peanut butter side down on the parchment. There are different methods you can go about this.
6. Stick the finished tray in the freezer and gently lay a sheet of wax paper over the wet chocolate.
7. When the chocolate is frozen successfully, the wax paper will lift off with no problem.
8. Put all your little bonbons in a container and refrigerate(or freeze)!

The end result is a nice little indulgence for you peanut-butter lovers. If you're not much of a fan, I don't recommend these!