Red Velvet Cupcakes- Made with love for Mikey and Jenni

I just want to say, for the umpteenth time, how proud I am to be a part of the blog world.


I don't know if you've read Jennie's post yet, but it brought tears to my eyes.  Go to her page to read what she wrote, because there's no way I can recreate her heartfelt words.


TasteSpotting has dedicated a whole page to Jenni and Mikey. There are posts all over foodgawker dedicated to them.  Food blogs are posting peanut butter posts dedicated to them.  Last but not least, the words of love, encouragement, support, and prayers are overwhelming on her blog.  It's so reassuring to know how people come together to help someone in their time of need.


Jenni, I know these aren't peanut butter, but they're for you.  And for Mikey.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Carrot Top Mom

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour (I use all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring
• 4 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• Frosting

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in Greek yogurt, milk, food coloring and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Gently remove from oven (these are super-moist, and will collapse if you aren’t careful). Cool in pans on wire rack at least 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.
4. Frost the cupcakes generously, and serve at room temperature!

Yellow Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hello, guys!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  Mine was spent with Kellen, friends, food, and fireworks!  Can't get much better than that. :)

Okay, so I of course wanted to make a festive dessert, and I did, but I just couldn't decide what I wanted to make.

I ended up deciding on cupcakes and I was completely pumped about it and ready.  The recipe looked great and the whole time I was thinking "this had better be the best cupcake I've ever made" because they're pretty labor intensive.

Nope.  I overbaked the first batch and the frosting wasn't so great (If you make these, I recommend turning the temperature down to 350).  But hey, they were still red white and blue!

Anyway, I'm still on the hunt for the best cupcake recipe ever.  What is yours?? And what did you all do for the 4th?
Also, I always mess up cream cheese frosting!  It gets all elastic.  What can I do to fix that?


Yellow Cupcakes
Click here for recipe!

 To make egg whites, it's best to have a cold mixing bowl and room temperature whites!

Overbaked. :(

Funnel Cake Cupcakes

Oh my gosh!

I have like 3 or 4 other recipes I've made the past few days that I'm dying to tell you about, but they have to wait.

Last night I made some muffins.  They're really good and I'll give you the recipe soon.  Promise.  But this is important#!$!@!

After I made muffins last night, a genius idea struck me.... Funnel cake cupcakes!

I love, love, love funnel cake, but let's get real... it's one of those foods you should probably only eat once a year at the fair or wherever.  It's deep-fried and too much of it will make you sick, but too many baked cupcakes will not make you sick! (Don't quote me.)

These are only 78 calories each.  With powdered sugar, they're 93.  You need powdered sugar, though, so disregard my first statement.   93 calorie funnel cake?!  YES!

Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for this recipe (which is why there aren't any preparation pictures.. sorry!).  I searched for "baked funnel cake" on Google before I made these and couldn't find anything so I just assumed it probably wasn't a good idea, but went for it anyway.  I tried to make it into funnel cake shape on a pan first, but that was a disaster, so I just put the batter in a cupcake tin and crossed my fingers.  Oh wooww... I can't even tell you how excited I was when I tasted these.  I tried half of one and I knew it would taste just like funnel cake if I topped it with powdered sugar.  And it did.  And I was happy.  And I sent Kellen this text:

BUT!!! There's always a but, huh?  But, I tried these this morning and they didn't taste like funnel cake anymore.  They were still good, but they tasted like regular cupcakes.  So if you're going for the funnel  cake taste, eat them ALL straight out of the oven. ;)

Funnel Cake Cupcakes

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg beaten

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. 
2.Whisk the egg into the milk mixture, then add to the flour mixture and mix. Mixture should be like pancake batter. 

3. Pour into cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way.
4. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are golden brown.
5. Dust with powdered sugar.

**If you just want to make this a regular funnel cake, fill the bottom of a skillet with vegetable oil and heat.  Then slowly pour funnel cake mixture around until golden.

Vanilla Cupcakes for ONE!

Sometimes, I just can't handle more than two cupcakes.

Am I being for reeealll???  Yes, I'm being for real.

I just can't do it.  Especially since Easter was yesterday and Easter means Easter Bunny.  Easter bunny means:

That's not even the half of it, or the third of it... I would even venture to say that that's not even the 1/16th of it.  Candy overload.  I act like this is a problem, though.

As much as I enjoy it, I was still thankful to find Jessica's one bowl vanilla cupcakes for two.  I may or may not have turned them into one bowl vanilla cupcakes for one.  But, I healthified it, so that's fine, right?  Just like it's fine to make up words...

How was your Easter?!  Did the Easter Bunny bring you anything?  I'm pretty sure I'll be receiving an Easter basket until I have children.

One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes for... One

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

serves 1

Ingredients

1 egg white
2 tablespoons Splenda (or sweetener of choice)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla (yes, a full teaspoon – they are super vanilla-y!)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons (almond) milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 2 liners.

In a bowl, add egg white and Splenda and whisk until combined. Add in vanilla and pumpkin and stir until mixed. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in milk. Divide batter equally between the 2 cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until cake is set. Let cool completely, then frost as desired. 

Frosting:  I used a mixture of one tablespoon Mascarpone cheese, one tablespoon powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons cocoa powder for one and the other I did the same thing, only I added 2 teaspoons of peanut butter instead of cocoa powder.

White Chocolate Frosting

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! :)


I hope you're all wearing green.  

 Yes, I'm aware that I look 12, but I'm makin' St. Patty proud.


Anyway, I hope you're all celebrating!


I am...

I made you green cupcakes... I wish I could share!  

That may or may not be the same bow from my hair...

But instead, I'll just keep posting pictures because I took about a billion... approximately.

These are the same cupcakes I made a couple of days ago, but instead of chocolate chips, I used white chocolate, instead of chocolate frosting, I used white chocolate frosting, instead of yellow cake I used white cake, and I used food coloring to dye the cookie dough green!  

This frosting is seriously THE BEST FROSTING I'VE EVER HAD!!!!  Yes, I'm screaming at you.  Seriously, I have no words to describe it because I couldn't do it justice.  Just make it... you have to. You don't even need to make something else to put this on, just eat it.  You + white chocolate frosting + spoon =  blissss.  I promise. I tested the equation, it's accurate.   Call me 


P.S. Thanks for all the comments, guys!  I love comments... it's like getting a letter.  I get so excited every time I read a new one.  But anyway, my p.s. was meant for this question: Does anyone know how to set the comment section up so I can reply individually to each comment instead of having to post my own separate comment?  Help me, I'm not so tech savvy.


P.P.S.  Q: How can you tell if an Irishman is having a good time?  A: He's Dublin over with laughter!

White Chocolate Frosting
Jessica at How Sweet It Is
Ingredients

1 stick of butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces white chocolate (I used six segments of vanilla almond bark and melted it with a tablespoon of oil to make the consistency thinner)

1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

Instructions
Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla.
Slowly add in powdered sugar on low speed.
Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated.
If at this point it's not at desired consistency, add in milk a teaspoon at a time on low speed.

Gooey Surprise Cupcakes

All I know right now is that these are possibly the best cupcakes ever invented.  I wish I could be the one to take credit for them, but that credit goes to lovestohost on All Recipes. 

I made these cupcakes...cookies... cookcakes... for a friend's birthday.  She said she wanted a cake... with cookies in it.  I'm sure she would agree that this is the best cupcake ever.

I followed the recipe to a tee and I even cheated and used box cake mix like the recipe calls for.  I hate using box cake mix, but I was strapped for time and it was convenient.  The only thing I did differently was add chocolate frosting, which I recommend!!  The cookie dough doesn't bake in these, because it's frozen beforehand, but it gets all melty and gooey.  I really need to broaden my adjectives... :/  I'll work on that if you guys please try this recipe!!

Gooey Surprise Cupcakes
All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
•  
• 1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 16 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• Sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter.  Add in the vanilla.
• Alternate adding in the powdered sugar mixture and the milk until fully combined.
• Make a mess like me and pipe your frosting on.  Or not... just use a knife.

**Everyone go check out Colleen's giveaway

\

Cupcake