Chocolate Death Cupcakes

First off let me just apologize. These cupcakes aren't good for you by any means but they are AMAZING. I mean everything is good in moderation right? These cupcakes barely lasted a day in our house! 

Chocolate Death Cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 C. flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C. milk

1/2 C. unsweetened Cocoa

1 C. sugar

3/4 C. vegetable Oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla 

Whisk flour and baking soda and salt in a bowl. Heat the milk until hot. Pour over the cocoa powder in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Let it cool slightly. Whisk in sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Then whisk in the flour mixture until combined. Pour the batter into the cupcake an and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool. 

Filling

8 oz.  semisweet chocolate chips

1 C. heavy cream

1 tbs. unsalted butter at room temp.

Pour chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the heavy cream until hot then pour over the chocolate chips, add the butter and whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly then core the cupcakes and fill them with the ganache. 

Frosting

1 C.softened butter

4 C. powdered sugar

1 1/4 C. Hershey's cocoa

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/3 C. milk

In  a large mixing bowl cream the butter, then mix in the sugar, vanilla and cocoa. Add milk slowly and mix until all combined. Frost cupcakes and top with remaining ganache. Enjoy!

Please let me know if you like them!

{Recipe} Homemade Mint Lemonade

Hey guys!

The weather is getting warmer so it's time to break out the swimsuits and sunscreen! Today I have a recipe to share with you. This recipe is from my 1950s Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I bought from an antique market for $2! It's a little worn but it's my favorite cookbook. 

This recipe is for lemonade and it is super easy! But I've added a little twist by adding mint to the lemonade because I love mint.

Ingredients

-  1 C. Sugar

- 1 C. Water

- 3 or so Lemons

-Fresh Mint Leaves

Directions 

1. Cook the sugar and water for 3 minutes to make a simple syrup; Store in the refrigerator. 
2. Juice the lemons. 
3. Muddle the mint leaves in a glass
4. Mix 3 to 4 tablespoons of simple syrup, 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 1 cup of water per serving.
5.  Pour over the mint leaves and add ice; Enjoy! 

Honestly when it comes to mixing the lemonade I have more lemon juice than anything else in mine. I like my lemonade to me more tart than sweet. So really you can just play around with mixing it to see what you like best!

What's your favorite drink to beat the heat? 

{Recipe + Review} Mini Fruit Tarts

The last time I had a fruit tart (aka fruit pizza) was in my Family and Consumer Science class in 6th grade. We had to follow a recipe and cook for the teachers. My group made a fruit pizza and it was awesome. I picked up these Wilton mini tart pans at Bed, Bath and Beyond last week and I was itching to use them. 

I found this Paula Deen fruit tart recipe on the Food Network website and it is amazing. The recipe is very easy to follow and the results are great. I made them in these mini tart pans but you can do like the original recipe and use a regular size tart pan. The mini sized tarts would be great for little kids or even for better portion control. The recipe includes a glaze but i totally omitted the glaze because I didn't think it was necessary but feel  free to check out the original recipe and add the glaze!

Ingredients

Crust:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and sliced

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust: In a food processor, combine the confectioners' sugar, flour, and butter, and process until the mixture forms a ball. With your fingers, press the dough into a 4-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, make sure to push the crust into the indentations in the sides. Pat until the crust is even. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until very lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

For the filling and topping: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Spread over the cooled crust. Cut the strawberries into small chunks and arrange around the edge of the crust. For the next circle, use kiwi that is also cut into small chunks. Add another circle of strawberries, filling in any spaces with blueberries. Cut them in half with a sharp knife if you need to. Cut the raspberries in half and place in the center of the tart

Keep the tarts covered and in the fridge but try to use it the same day or the fruit will start to look sad.

Enjoy!

Make sure to let me know what you think!

{Recipe} Valentine's Day Mini Cupcakes

Let me just go ahead and say that this is the best picture of anything that I've ever taken in my life and I'm insanely proud of it! These adorable cupcakes are a very slightly altered version of Brown Eyed Baker's Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting. These cupcakes are amazing and the buttercream frosting is to die for! Buttercream frosting is the best frosting ever created, in my opinion anyways. 

The only real alterations I made to this recipe is I made them mini cupcakes, I used Wilton No Taste Red food gel to dye the frosting and I used Wilton Nonpareils Sprinkles that I found at Michaels. I didn't want to alter too much since these cupcakes are pretty much perfect. I think they would be awesome for a party since they're little so you can eat them two at a time :) You can also make the cupcakes for nay holiday or theme just by changing the sprinkles and food coloring!

Anyways I know you're really only here for the recipe so here you go!

{Recipe} Mini Tarts

Hey guys! It's a new week which means new recipes! Your Home Based Mom, one of the blogs I follow, posted a recipe for Lemon Curd which sounded amazing so I got the idea to make lemon tartlets! But I also had to make chocolate tartlets since some people don't like lemon. What weirdos. Anyways I've also seen a lot of people make the tart shells out of sugar cookie dough so I decided to give that a whirl and the results are amazing. This is kind of a Franken-recipe made from recipes from different sources but they turned out great. Check them out: 

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Hey guys!

It's smack dab in the middle of the week and I know you can probably use a pick me up and I think these Peanut Butter Cookies fit the bill. You could even add a hershey kiss after you take them out of the oven! I got this recipe from Best of the 3 Ingredient Cookbooks by Ruthie Wornall, which is a magical book. I can't believe how many recipes only have 3 ingredients!

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe by Ruthie Wornall

Ingredients

• 1 C. peanut butter
• 1 C. sugar
• 1 egg

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat oven at 350 and place parchment paper on a cookie sheet
2. Mix all the ingredients together
3. Roll the dough into balls, place on the cookie sheet, and use a fork to pat the cookies down
4. Sprinkle sugar on top of the cookies and bake for 8 minutes
5. Enjoy!

Let me know what you think!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

It's almost Friday! Yay! What better way to celebrate than with cupcakes?

I made these Carrot Cake Cupcakes for my brother's birthday last week and they were amazing! I got the recipe from my Better Homes & Garden's cookbook! It's a cake recipe but it works just fine for cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting is to die for. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 C. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 C. finely shredded carrots
• 3/4 C. vegetable oil
• 1 Recipe Cream Cheese Frosting

Cooking Directions

1.) Allow the eggs to get to room temperature meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a two cupcake pans with wrappers.

2.) Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside.

3.) In another bowl lightly beat eggs: add the carrots and oil. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until combined.

4.) Pour the batter in the cups until half full. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5.) Cool and then frost!

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 C. butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 1/2 - 5 C. powdered sugar

Cooking Directions

1.) In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with a mixer until light and fluffy.
2.) Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency
3.) Frost!

I hope you enjoy these delicious cupcakes! Make sure to let me know in the comments if you like them!

Black Bean Brownies

Yes. You read that title right. It does say Black Bean Brownies and I know you probably have a look of disgust on your face but I promise you that I would never post something that wasn't good.

These are amazing! Even my brother said they were better than regular brownies! The Black Bean Brownies are moist and rich. They're sweet without being overwhelming plus they have protein! I'm sure you could make them sugar free by omitting the chocolate chips and using brown sugar splenda!

I found this recipe on Taste of Home, which is the best cooking magazine/website ever, and it is a very simple recipe! I think you should totally try it for your next gathering and not tell anyone that they're not regular brownies. What they don't know, won't hurt them :)

Black Bean Brownies

Prep time: 15 min.

Cook time: 20 min.

Total time: 35 min.

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 C. semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbs. canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 C. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C. baking cocoa
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Cooking Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-in. pan with cooking spray
2.) Blend the beans, chocolate chips, and oil in a food processor until blended.
3.) Add in the eggs, brown sugar, cocoa, vanilla, baking powder, and salt; Blend
4.) Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.        
5.)Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Try these out and let me know what you think!

Dark Chocolate Clusters with Cranberries and Almonds

Hey guys! I'm back with another recipe post! This one is an adaptation of a recipe over at Food for Fit; Fit for Food which is run by a really awesome lady named Allie! She was my English Lit. teacher m y senior year. She is great!

This recipe is amazing. These clusters taste like candy but they're not as bad for you! Let me know how you like them!

I'll see you guys again on Monday!

Holiday Recipe Roundup

Hey guys!

Since I've kind of had a holiday theme going this week, I thought I would keep it going by posting a Holiday Recipe Roundup! I follow quite a few amazing food bloggers and they have awesome recipes for the holidays! Let's get to it!

Orange Cranberry Cookies from My Baking Addiction

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Ganache

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

The cupcake and frosting recipes are from Sally's Baking Addiction.

 The ganache recipe is from Earthy.com. I just put them all together with some slight changes:)