Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I have been CRAVING Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream since I saw a post on Pinterest for a Mint Chocolate Chip Pie! Weird, cause I am normally not a fan of mint and chocolate together unless it's Peppermint Patty! I still haven't bought the ice cream, but I did decide to try a Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcake in an attempt to kick my craving. It worked! This is a good cupcake!

A co-worker mine is a huge fan of mint chocolate, and she recommended a dark chocolate cupcake. I was thinking the same thing. Add some espresso powder to this cupcake, and I think it would be perfect! Or you could try the recipe I posted for the chocolate espresso cupcake under "Caramel Frappuccino Cupcakes". I think this would be perfect paired with the mint buttercream.

The mint buttercream is very light and creamy! I think this is the perfect buttercream recipe!

Adapted from Bakersroyale

Makes 20-24 cupcakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour (I used all purpose)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix sour cream and baking soda in a bowl and set aside

3. Sift flour and cocoa powder together in a bowl and set aside

4. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugars until fluffy

5. Add in salt and mix well

6. Add in eggs and mix well

7. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well

8. Use a spatula to fold in sour cream mixture and flour mixture, alternating until just combined

9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full

10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

11. Cool before icing

12. ENJOY!!!

Mint Buttercream:
1 cup butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp whipping cream
1/3 cup crush Andes Mints or 1.5 tsp cream de menthe (I used mint extract)

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy
Add vanilla and whipping cream until combined
Fold in Andes Mints or beat in extract

*I added a touch of green food coloring to change the color of the buttercream!

Garnish with Andes Mints or mini chocolate chips!*

Peace Love and Cupcakes

Gees Louis! How cool are these cupcakes?!?! I really wanted to try something fun, so I went with these! They are surprisingly simple to make. You could use any cupcake recipe with a thick batter, but you are in for a real treat with this recipe! It's super simple and so moist and delicious!






Before we get to the "how to", I need to introduce our new puppy, Snoop!


His big brother Willis is not too fond of him yet, but he is warming up. I don't think you've had the opportunity to meet Willis, my absolute favorite being in the entire world!

These cupcakes remind me of my favorite time of the year, summer time! They are just so colorful and fun! I am seriously missing warm weather, the beach, and boat rides, and so is Willis...



Moving on (with a sad face)...

Ingredients:
1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine all ingredients and scrap the sides down

3. Mix for 2 minutes

4. Evenly divide batter up in separate bowls (depends on how much many colors you want)



5. Add a different color to each bowl of batter (I used pink, yellow, green, blue...in that order)

6. Layer each color into lined cupcake wells (you may have to spread the batter around with your finger because it is super thick, it helps if you wet your finger first or use a wet spoon to spread the batter)

7. Bake for about 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

8. Cool before frosting

9. ENJOY

YUM!!

*I put about 2 tbsp of each color into the wells and filled them to the top. My cupcakes were HUGE and it made about 13. I would recommend filling the wells about 2/3-3/4 of the way full.*
These cupcakes can be super fun to decorate, get creative!

Here's the recipe that I used for the icing. I am very excited to share this with you because it is AMAZING!

3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (salted, or unsalted and add salt, see substitutions page)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla (plus an extra dash)

1. In a saucepan on medium heat, whisk flour and milk until thick

2. Cool completely in freezer or refrigerator

3. Beat sugar and butter until it is fluffy (I used butter a little cooler than room temperature)

4. Add flour mixture and vanilla

5. Beat this mixture until it is creamy and fluffy, this takes about 8 minutes

My little helper, Kaden!

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

These cupcakes just keep getting better and better! It doesn't get any cuter than this!

Here's what you will need!

**You can use any of your favorite cupcake and icing recipes as long as you use white icing in order to color it blue. I a sour cream white cake and vanilla icing**

Blue gel food coloring

Wilton vanilla candy melts for the eyes

Chocolate chips for the eyes

Chocolate chip cookie (cut in half) for the mouth

*I put a little icing aside before coloring it blue and used it to glue the chocolate chips on the candy melts*

*I also cut out a little bit of the cupcake in order to secure the chocolate chip cookie to make the mouth*

Elmo Cupcakes

HOW.CUTE.ARE.THESE.CUPCAKES?

I attended an Elmo themed birthday party for Cavern, who is turning two years old this weekend. Since I'm on this cupcake kick, I totally wanted to make him some Sesame Street cupcakes to fit the theme of the party!

Cavern's parents, Chad and Rebecca, went all out with the Sesame Street/Elmo theme, and it looked awesome! It was nice to see all of the kids having so much fun! Everyone, including the adults, had a good time. Oh, and my cupcakes were a hit!

Seriously, how cute is he???

Lets get to the how to....

You can use any of your favorite cake and icing recipes for this cupcake. Just make sure you use a white icing in order to color it Red for Elmo's face. I made a sour cream white cake withvanilla frosting. YUM!

Here's what you will need to make Elmo:

1. Chocolate Chips (for his eyes)
2. Marshmallows (for his eyes)
3. Chocolate cookies, halved (for his mouth)
4. Orange candies, skittles, gumballs, M&Ms, jelly beans (for his nose)

*I would recommend that you use a gel food coloring because the icing will need to be dark and the regular red food coloring make the icing a little soft*

I used icing as glue to attach the chips to the marshmallows and ensure everything else was glued on*

Check out my "Recipes" page to learn how to make the Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

Try these for your next kids birthday party and let me know how they turn out! I know they will be a hit! They are just too darn cute not to fall in love with!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Ummmm....yummmm!

You're really going to love this one! I know I do! I ate it for breakfast yesterday morning and a snack before the gym yesterday afternoon. Don't judge me.

You can use store bought cookie dough to cut down on the prep time if you're looking for a quick and easy dessert that is sure to please! Add some ice cream...heaven! This would also be good with a cold glass of milk...yum.





How to:

Spread half of the cookie dough on the bottom of the pan.

Spread Chocolate Chips over the cookie dough.

Top the chocolate chips with the remaining cookie dough.

Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees or until the edges are golden brown.

*You can cook this in a larger dish if you'd like. I thought the individual dishes were fun!*

Here is Nestle's recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies if you want to make your own cookie dough.



Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz. bag)

Directions (for cookie dough):

1. In a bowl, whisk together salt, baking powder and flour

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Slowly add eggs.

3. Slowly beat flour into sugar mixture

4. Fold in chocolate chips

Blueberry Bread Minis

So my boyfriend tends to come up with these awesome recipe ideas (insert sarcasm here). Example: Crushed up tortilla chips and salsa on a flour tortilla, Crunchy taco shells with cinnamon and sugar on a flour tortilla...you get my drift... So when he comes up with my next "awesome dessert idea" I tend to tune him out, but he continued to ask me to make him a blueberry and walnut cake. Finally I gave in, although I was not fond of the idea of blueberry and walnuts together. Here's what I came up with....

Adapted from plainchicken..com

Ingredients:
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups white flour
1 cup rolled oats
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
1 tbsp turbinado sugar

1/2 cup walnuts chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease loaf pan (I used mini loaf pans and it made 4)

2. Mix sugar, oil, milk, and eggs with mixer

3. Mix in remaining ingredients except for blueberries

4. Fold in blueberries

5. Pour in loaf pans and sprinkle sugar on top

6. Bake 40-45 minutes until tester comes out clean

7. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan

8. ENJOY!!!

*Note: This is more like a bread than a cake. The oats dry it out some. Nick said he really enjoyed eating it with his coffee, and the blueberries help to keep it moist. Side note: I am very happy that Nick is a coffee drinker now. He can understand my request to be left alone and not spoken to until my first cup of coffee:)

Sweet Corn Bread Muffins

Not what you expected huh? A muffin...with no chocolate...no sprinkles....no caramel..? I was starting to go into diabetic shock, so I decided to bake something a little less sweet. Note..."a little less sweet". These are still plenty sweet with the white and brown sugar, and a perfect side for just about any dinner! Give them a try. I know you'll love them! I do!

Ingredients:
1 cup sweet corn (I used about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup milk

*You could also add cheese! I love love love cheese, but my boyfriend isn't a fan. So I left the cheese out**

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease cupcake pan

2. Cream oil and sugar in a bowl. Beat in eggs and salt. Mix in cornmeal, baking soda, flour, and milk. Fold in corn.

3. Pour batter into cupcake wells and bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean (about 22 minutes)

4. ENJOY!!!

Pretty~In~Pink Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

I have never tried Sprinkles Cupcakes although I am a huge fan of Candace Nelson, the founder of the first cupcake bakery, Sprinkles Cupcakes, and a judge on one of my FAV shows, Cupcake Wars. I bought some fresh strawberries to try a banana split cupcake, but I have not been in the mood for banana lately. I had to use these strawberries up, so I took full advantage on my day off yesterday. I found a recipe for Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes...I'm not sure if this is really Candace Nelson's recipe for Strawberry Cupcakes or if this cupcake just taste like hers. Either way, you're in for a real treat! I found this recipe on Oprah.com.

This cupcake is definitely for the one with the sweet tooth! The strawberry buttercream is so sweet, and a little goes a long way, but it is so good! I could eat it on anything....cupcakes, cake, fresh fruit, hamburgers...well maybe not hamburgers but you get the idea! And what a perfect Valentine's Day cupcake!!! These would also be super cute in a cupcake bouquet! So give it a try for a perfect gift to that special someone!

If you don't have a sweet tooth like I do, you could try a strawberry whipped cream icing!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp course salt
1/4 cup whole milk (I only had 2%, so I used 2% plus a touch of heavy whipping cream...hey, it worked)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
2 large egg whites at room temperature

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake tin

2. Puree strawberries in a food processor, you will need 1/3 cup strawberry puree

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt

4. In a small bowl, mix together milk, strawberry puree, and vanilla

5. In a large bowl, cream butter with a mixer until fluffy gradually add sugar and beat until well combined and fluffy with mixer on medium-high

6. Slowly add eggs and egg whites at medium speed with mixer

7. Slowly add half of the flour mixture, then slowly add the milk mixture, finish by slowly adding the remaining flour mixture until well Incorporated

8. Divide batter evenly into lined cupcake wells

9. Bake until cupcakes are dry to the touch, about 22-25 minutes

10. Cool completely before frosting

11. ENJOY!!!

*I added a touch of Rose Pink food coloring to my batter, because the batter looks a little gray without food coloring*

I sift the flour as directed, and realized that I had about 1/2-3/4 cup more flour after it was sifted. Then I questioned if I was supposed to sift the flour before or after measuring it. Thank God for google! Here's what I found...If the recipe calls for "flour, sifted" then you measure it prior to sifting it. If it calls for "sifted flour" then you sift it before measuring it. Good to know.

Strawberry Buttercream Icing:
1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly cold and firm
pinch of course salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sift
1/2 tsp vanilla

1.Puree strawberries

2.Beat butter and salt until fluffy
3.Reduce mixer speed and add confectioner's sugar gradually. Beat until well combined
4.Add vanilla and 3 tbsp of strawberry puree
5.Mix until just blended

*I used half of this recipe for the cupcake recipe above, 12 cupcakes*
*I also added some extra strawberry puree. It made the icing a little softer, but I liked the flavor*


Let's get to the decorations! I bought some awesome pearl sprinkles at the Wine and Cake Store
in Norfolk. They don't even look eatable! I also bought some butterfly candy molds, and made some pink butterfly candies to garnish the cupcakes. Sooo cute!


I also bought some disco glitter from the Wine and Cake Store. It is pretty expensive, but it goes a long way. They have ever color you can imagine, and it is sooo pretty! The pictures don't show the glitter, but it really adds sparkle to these cupcakes!!


The possibles are endless when decorating these cupcakes! Get creative! I used pink vanilla candy melts to cover some small strawberries to garnish some of the cupcakes. I also drizzled some white vanilla candy melts over the pink candy coating. Fancy huh?


I hope you have as much fun with these pretty little cupcakes as I did!

Apple Cinnamon Sticky Bun Cupcakes

Yes, you read that correctly! Apple Cinnamon Sticky Bun...CUPCAKES! You're in for a real treat with this one! A cinnamon bun cupcake...who would have thought?

I am a firm believer that the messier the food is....the better! And these are definitely sticky and messy! I brought these in for everyone in my office and the office next door, and they were a hit! A few people asked for the recipe and I got nothing but positive feedback!

The tart apples really balance out the sweet cinnamon bun...perfect match! Pop these in the microwave and you're in a for a super gooey sweet treat!



I am still using up these apples that my mom brought me, but you could easily leave the apples out with this recipe. I think the tart apples add a little something extra though!

I totally tested my abilities with this cupcake! I have never made dough before, and it's more challenging than I expected. I got sick of all the kneading, so I threw the dough in a bowl and prayed for the best....lucky me, they turned out! This is why I NEED (notice "need" not "want") a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer...hint hint Nick.

Lets get to the how to....

Dough Ingredients:
2 cups milk (2%)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups finely chopped tart apples (I shredded three granny smith apples)

Icing Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2-3 tsp apple cider (I used milk)

Directions:
1. Heat milk to 110 degrees and dissolve yeast and sugar

2. Add salt and 2 cups of flour, beat for 2 minutes

3. Beat in eggs and butter

4. Stir in remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time making sure all is Incorporated

5. Kneed dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes)

6. Place dough in a large bowl and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for about 40 minutes or until doubled in volume in a warm spot

7. Roll dough out in a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick

8. Brush with half of the melted butter

9. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, apples, and pecans and spread over the dough, leaving about 1 inch uncovered on all sides

10. Roll dough from back to front and slice into 24 even sections

11. Place pieces in a lined cupcake tin. If they do not fit, make a "C" shape

12. Cover in a warm spot and allow to rise for another 40 minutes

13. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

14. Brush the tops of the pieces with the remaining melted butter

15. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown (mine baked exactly 20 minutes)

16. Mix the confectioners sugar and milk OR cider and drizzle over the cupcakes

17. ENJOY

Apple Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

Man have I got a treat for you! I know I keep saying, "Best cupcake yet!" But seriously, best cupcake yet! As you already know I am a fan of apple! Anything apple! This combination of the apple cupcake and brown sugar frosting is AMAZING! This cupcake is dense but sooo moist!

I am still trying to use up all of these apples my mom brought! I made one batch of these yesterday (13 cupcakes), and I loved them so much I made a second batch of them at 10:00 last night to share with my coworkers. I also made enough to take to my Dad's office for them to try. I have to admit, I am pretty proud of this cupcake! Try it, I promise you will love it!


The recipe for apple cupcakes is adapted from rachaelraymag.com and it called for a caramel icing, but the reviews for the caramel icing scared me a little so I went with a brown sugar icing. Perfect marriage of flavors! I love Rachael Ray, and have purchased most of her '30 minute meals' cookbooks, and for that she is a saint! But I have an all new respect for her after trying this recipe! I cannot express my overwhelming excitement to share it with you!

My boyfriend loved these! He prefers his without icing though, and the cupcake is good enough to stand alone! It really doesn't need icing. Leave the icing off and you have a perfect breakfast food, or if you're like me...add the icing and you have the perfect breakfast food! Cupcakes for breakfast...what a concept!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 Rome apples peeled and shredded ( I used 3 granny smith apples)
*Shredding the apples helps to keep the cake moist.*

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with paper liners
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon
3. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth
4. Add oil and vanilla to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth
5. Whisk the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined
6. Fold in the shredded apples
7. Spoon batter into the cupcake wells until wells are almost full
8. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
9. Cool before icing
10. ENJOY!!!



Brown Sugar Icing recipe: (Adapted from cupcakeproject.com)
1 stick butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioners sugar

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan
2. Add brown sugar
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium low, and continue to boil for 2 minutes stirring constantly
4. Add the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly
5. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm
6. Add confectioner's sugar (Sift sugar to ensure that frosting will be extra smooth)
7. Beat until thick enough to spread. If icing is too thick, then add a little bit of hot water

I went to my new favorite place this weekend, the Wine and Cake Store in Norfolk. I also visited Ben Franklins and Michaels to stock up on some baking necessities. I found some fun candy molds that I thought would be great to decorate my desserts with. The shell candy molds I purchased at Ben Franklins and are made my Wilton. I used Wilton Candy Melts, chocolate and vanilla, to make these little candy sea shells. I garnished the cupcake with brown sugar. Cute right???