An Update: Its Been A While

Senior year is pretty awesome. It is also extremely busy and unfortunately, this blog has taken the back burner on my priority list for the past month. I have, however, still been cooking! Here is a photo of mini-cupcakes I recently made for my cross country team using this recipe. It's a bittersweet moment to be saying goodbye to my last year of high school varsity athletics as the cross country season comes to a close. The sprinkles are black and yellow for my school colors to pep people up for the upcoming cross country competition next week that ends the season. Go Panthers!

I will most likely be blogging on and off for the rest of this semester while college applications and senior-year stress prevail. However, be prepared for regular blog posts as usual come begining of next year!

An Albino Brownie

(above) Chewy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Blondies

Bar cookies are super easy and quick to make. Why? Simply press dough into the pan and bake! Life is a lot easier with out scooping, rolling, cutting and shaping dough into neat individual cookies. I was really surprised when I found out that none of my friends knew what blondies were. Blondies are basically vanilla brownies or brownies minus the chocolate. These blondies are chewy, sweet and buttery. My brother thinks that these blondies are a bit granola-bar like but I disagree. They are more like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in bar form. The chocolate chunks were a wonderful addition as nothing makes your day like biting into a chunk of melty chocolate goo. Of course, you can add whatever you like to the blondies such as M&Ms, nuts and chocolate chips, or you could just make them plain. Light bulb moment: white chocolate chip macadamia nut blondies. Those would be amazing!

(above) You start by creaming together brown sugar and butter.

(above) I decided to coarsely chop 4oz of semi-sweet chocolate to create chocolate chunks.

(above) I added some extra oats and chocolate chunks to sprinkle on top of the blondie before baking.

(above) This recipe makes 16 pieces of blondie.

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Blondies

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks + extra for topping
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add in flour mixture; mix just until combined. Mix in 3/4 cup oats. Mix in chocolate chunks. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Using an offset metal spatula or table knife, smooth batter evenly. Sprinkle with remaining oats and extra chocolate chunks, pressing gently to adhere. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan 30 minutes.
4. Using overhang, transfer blondie (still on paper) to a wire rack to cool completely. Place on a cutting board (peel off paper); using a serrated knife, cut into 16 squares.

5-Stars!

(above) 5-Star Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

If a recipe has almost 3,000 five-star ratings from people all over the world, you know its got to be good. Today I tried this recipe from Allrecipes.com and was not disappointed. Why do I like this recipe?

1. Its easy and surprisingly quick to make.
2. The cake is pretty much as good as carrot cake can get.
3. I'm going to consider it healthy. It has a lot of carrots in it, really!
4. The frosting is now my stand-by cream cheese frosting.

I halved the original recipe to make twelve cupcakes. I also made quite a few alterations after reading the reviews it got on the website. I used a half light brown sugar and half-white sugar combination in the cake and added a quarter teaspoon of allspice and an extra half teaspoon of cinnamon to the half-batch I made. I also used a little more than half the confectioners sugar called for in the frosting. As you can see, each cupcake got a generous dollop of frosting, which was perfect since the frosting (with the alteration) wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. I love the frosting for its rich and creamy texture and flavor. You can see from the photos that it pipes nicely as well.

(above) The wet ingredients + the sugar(s).

(above) I halved the recipe and used 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots (around 1 1/2 large carrots).

(above) Halving the recipe gives you twelve perfectly sized cupcakes.

(above) I like how the tops of the cupcakes don't have too much of a dome.

(above) Making the frosting (cream cheese left, butter right).

(above) I didn't use a frosting tip to ice these. Instead, I used a frosting bag with just the coupler. I like the look of these!

(above) Carrot cupcakes.

Five-Star Carrot Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
   In a large bowl, beat together 4 eggs, oil, white sugar, brown sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, allspice and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in walnuts. Divide evenly into two 12-cup cupcake pans.
2. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool on a wire rack.
3. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Notes: The above recipe has my alterations included. It is also makes double of what I made today since I halved the recipe. You can find the original recipe here.

Movie Night?

(above) Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

I love sugar on my popcorn. I have been witnessed dumping spoonfuls of sugar into bags of the plain popcorn sold every week at school to the chagrin of my disgusted friends. "Sugar? On popcorn?!", they think. I really don't think they should be that shocked though because it's pretty evident that I have a ridiculously big sweet tooth. Because sugar + popcorn = really really delicious, I decided to make my own caramel corn.

In this recipe, popped popcorn is thrown in a simple caramel sauce and baked in the oven until crispy; the result is a wonderfully crunchy, sweet caramel popcorn. It wasn't exactly like movie theater popcorn though, because the coating wasn't as smooth and shiny. Nonetheless, this popcorn was delicious and a perfect snack to stash away in zip lock bags. I would highly recommend that you let the caramel sauce cool down before pouring it over the popped popcorn to avoid popcorn shrinkage. I also cut the baking time to around 25 minutes. I might try adding in chopped cashews as the recipe suggests to add different flavors and textures.

(above) Half a cup of popcorn kernels makes a surprisingly large amount of popped popcorn.

(above) A big pot of fresh, plain popcorn!

(above) Butter, brown sugar, water and salt create the caramel coating.

(above) The popcorn coated in the caramel - before baking.

(above) Caramel popcorn!

Crunchy Caramel Corn

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1/2 cup corn kernels

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking sheet
1 cup cashews, coarsely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
Coarse salt

Directions:

1. In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, stir together 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 cup popcorn kernels; cover partially with lid to allow steam to escape.Cook over medium heat until popping slows, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand (covered) until popping stops, 1 minute.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter a large rimmed baking sheet; set aside. Place popcorn in a large bowl; if using cashews, add to bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, bring butter, sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil, stirring constantly. Working quickly, drizzle popcorn with sugar syrup, and toss.
4. Spread popcorn evenly on prepared baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally, until golden and shiny, about 40 minutes. Transfer hot popcorn to parchment-paper-lined baking sheet; let cool. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.

Peanut Butter Granola Bites

(above) Peanut Butter Granola Bites

It's hard to believe that school is already starting after two wonderful months of summer. To be honest, I'm kind of excited for school to start - I actually miss it and I can't wait for cross country season to start. Oh yeah, and I'll also be a senior in high school.

After seeing Joy the Baker's post on these granola bites, I just had to make them. These granola bites taste a lot like Quaker Chewy Granola Bars and might even be able to pass of as being healthy. They sound like the perfect pre-workout snack and maybe even breakfast. I customized these chewy granola balls by adding in some dessicated coconut and chocolate chips. I stirred in the chocolate chips when the granola mix was still warm, so there were swirls and gobs of chocolate throughout the granola bites. You could also use mini-chocolate chips and stir them in once the granola mixture has cooled off a bit so that they don't melt. Oh, and a helpful tip. Let the mixture come to room temperature for easy scooping.

(above) I used Rice Krispie cereal and unsweetened dessicated coconut.

(above) Combine butter, peanut butter and honey in a pot and warm it up on a stove.

(above) The warm peanut butter mixture is poured and mixed into the dry ingredients.

(above) I added in 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips into the granola mixture. I added them in when the mixture was still a bit warm, so most of them just melted into the granola.

(above) I used a cookie scoop to scoop out the granola mixture.

(above) I recommend scooping out the granola after it has firmed up a bit (around room temperature).

(above) Scoop out the granola bites on parchment paper.

(above) Transfer the chilled granola balls into mini-cupcake liners.

Peanut Butter Granola Bites
adapted from Joy the Baker
makes 24 balls

Ingredients:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup cold cereal like Rice Krispies
1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the maple syrup or honey, peanut butter and butter. Heat until the butter is melted and the peanut butter is loosened.
2. Combine cereal, oats and coconut in a medium bowl. Pour the warm peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and fold tom combine. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened by the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to cool a bit for easier scooping. Mix in chocolate chips if desired.
3. Using a small scoop, scoop mixture onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. Press balls together with clean and damp fingers if they break apart a bit. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes to harden and set. Place balls in cupcake liners and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

I'm a Barbie Girl, In a Barbie World

(above) Barbie Cupcakes - white cupcakes with butter frosting.

I believe that this is the sort of cupcake that make cupcake bakeries famous; in fact, I know it. Vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream frosting (nicknamed the "Barbie Cake") were actually the first type of cupcake that Magnolia Bakery ever sold. The best memories I have of barbies is my sister ripping the heads off her barbie dolls.

I tried a new recipe and made white cupcakes with butter frosting that I tinted pink. The cupcakes (which technically aren't even white because they contain egg yolks) are honestly, really really good. The cake has a texture that I can only really describe as fluffy and has a good, sweet buttery flavor to it. If you are going to try one vanilla cupcake recipe from my blog, I'd recommend this one. The frosting, by the way, is wonderful as well. I usually ignore recipes for buttercream frosting and just dump enough icing sugar until the frosting seems right. Don't do that. Follow this recipe and you will get a lovely, light and creamy frosting that unlike many buttercreams, isn't overwhelmingly sweet.

(above) Evenly fill the cups with batter.

(above) These cupcakes were done after around 13-14 minutes.

(above) The cupcakes, frosted and sprinkled!

(above) Sweet, cute and pretty. It's pretty clear why these cupcakes are named after barbie.

White Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Recipe from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (175 grams) sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar, divided
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In a mixing bowl sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.Beat in the vanilla extract. Then,with the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
3. In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate.
4. Evenly fill the 12 muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Butter Frosting

Recipe from Joy of Baking

Ingredients:
2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2-3tablespoons milk or light cream

Directions:

1. In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract.
2. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Tint the frosting with desired food color.

Chocolate Lava Cake

(above) Chocolate Lava Cake

In need of a chocolate fix? Well, this will pretty much do it. Today I tried Alton Brown's "Chocolate Lava Muffins". The recipe is incredibly simple and the ingredients equally so. The only really difficult thing you have to watch out for is the baking time. Do it just right, and you will get a chocolate cake with an ooey-gooey chocolate filling. Do it wrong and overbake it, and you'll end up with a delicious brownie. I ended up slightly overbaking it. I did get a bit of gooey filling (so I can tell you just how delicious it is!) but not as much as I would have liked. Do me a favor and bake it for less than 10 minutes. You really won't want to miss out on the gooey chocolate filling that gives chocolate lava cake its name. If you're up for it, sift some powered sugar over the cake and serve on a plate drizzled with chocolate sauce.

(above) Use lots of semi-sweet chocolate...

(above) ...and melt it down with some butter...

(above) ...until it all melts together.

(above) A bit of sugar, flour and salt. Thats all the dry ingredients. Seriously.

(above) I've heard that some people have problems getting these cakes out of the pan so I buttered the cups generously and then dusted them with cocoa powder.

(above) I used half a recipe that made 6 cakes. Look at my new 12-cup cupcake tin! Pretty.

(above) All baked up! Although possibly a little overdone.

(above) The cakes.

Chocolate Lava Muffins

Recipe from Alton Brown

Makes 12 cakes
Ingredients
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Butter, to coat muffin tin
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place a small metal bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter in the bowl. Stir in vanilla.
   In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour and salt. Sift these into the chocolate and mix well with electric hand mixer. Add eggs one at time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. Beat at high until batter is creamy and lightens in color, approximately 4 minutes. Chill mixture.
3. Coat the top and each cup of the muffin tin with butter. Dust with the cocoa powder and shake out excess. Spoon mixture into pan using a 4-ounce scoop or ladle. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. Outsides should be cake-like and centers should be gooey

An Apple A Day

(above) Applesauce.

It's my birthday and I'm not baking a cake. Surprised? I am. But I have a valid reason! I'm going on vacation in two days and there is no way I or my family can finish an entire cake in that period of time. So, the birthday-cake-baking will have to be delayed. On that note, since I'm going to be away, I won't be blogging for a week or two. However, despite the lack of cake, I still have a birthday dinner which involves honey-glazed ham. To accompany the ham, I made apple sauce. For many of us, I am sure, applesauce was probably the first food we ever ate. Baby food aside, applesauce has many uses whether it be in baking or as an accompaniment to a savory dish. However, feel free to season the applesauce with cinnamon or nutmeg and eat it right out of the bowl. It makes a great breakfast and goes well mixed in oatmeal or eaten with yogurt.

Site note: This is my 25th post on this blog! How about that? Now I have two things to celebrate today!

(above) Wash and dry apples.

(above) Peel apples and spritz with lime or lemon juice to keep the apples from browning.

(above) Dice the apples into chunks (mine were around 0.75 inch squares in size).

(above) Heat a pot filled up with enough water to cover the apples. Once the water is boiling, pour in the apple chunks and let them cook for around 10 minutes or until tender.

(above) Drain the apples and let them cool until they are warm in temperature. Pour them into a blender and blend until smooth. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste.

(above) Applesauce