Chocolate Peanut Butter Cuppycakes

I actually made these cuppycakes once back in November but somehow failed to take any pictures of them. Then a friend of mine came in town to visit a couple months ago, so I made them again... only with a fortuitous accidental modification.

My intention was to make the cake part using the dark chocolate cupcake recipe in this post. That's how I did it the first time I made the chocolate peanut butter cuppycakes, and it came out delicious. However, I accidentally grabbed the wrong chocolate from my pantry, and used 60% cacao instead of 85%.

The cupcakes came out good anyway. They didn't taste like dark chocolate, but they were way more moist than the batch I made with the darker chocolate.





Chocolate Peanut Butter Cuppycakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes:
* 3 to 4 oz. good-quality 60% cacao chocolate (I used Ghirardeli)
* 12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) butter
* 1 1/8 c. sugar
* 4 eggs
* 5/8 c. flour
* 1/8 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
* 3/4 tsp. baking powder
* Pinch salt

For the peanut butter filling (adapted from here):
* 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract


INSTRUCTIONS

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 F (I actually preheated mine to 325F).

Chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add butter to the chocolate and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate melts and butter is combined.

Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes. Beat in an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 10 seconds between each.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into the mixture, return to the electric mixer, and mix until blended.


To make the peanut butter filling:

In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 12 balls. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.


To assemble and bake:

Scoop batter into cupcake cups (I filled mine pretty full - 2 level scoops with my small cookie scoop, which I think holds 3/4 tbsp). Roll peanut butter filling into balls and place one ball atop each cupcake (do not press down into the batter). Cover with a small amount of batter (I used a small "eating" spoonful).

Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops look cracked and brownie-like and a toothpick inserted in the side (not the center) comes out clean.

I baked these cupcakes for about 25 minutes. Given the fact that they were soft and falling apart, I think they could have stayed in another minute or two but they tasted AWESOME.

Wait until cupcakes cool completely. Then frost with the peanut butter frosting recipe from here.

Paula Deen's Monster Cookies (Rawr!)

Apparently, monster cookies are well-loved by a lot of people, but I had never heard of them until recently when I found the recipe on Paula Deen's website. Now I've made them twice in the past month or so just because they are so easy to make and people always seem to love them.



Monster Cookies
(makes 36 cookies)

INGREDIENTS
* 1/4 cup raisins, optional (I recommend Newman's Own organic raisins)
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
* 1 stick butter, softened
* 1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 teaspoon baking soda
* 4 1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)


INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

(Note: I usually preheat my oven to 25 degrees lower than what recipes say, because it runs about 10 degrees hot and also I use nonstick bakeware. So I actually baked these at 325. And I did not use the parchment paper for these cookies and they were fine.)

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets (I actually used a medium OXO cookie scoop, which is 1.5 tbsp).

Bake for 8-10 minutes (my cookies were a little larger and took 14-15 minutes to bake). Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags (or an airtight container like the one I use, pictured below).

Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies

This was my first time making peanut butter cookies. I lovingly borrowed this recipe from here.



Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies

INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup butter
* 1 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs (room temperature)
* 2 tsps vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 cup powdered sugar (or more as needed for rolling)


INSTRUCTIONS

The original recipe says to preheat your oven to 350. I usually preheat my oven to 25 degrees lower than what recipes say, because it runs about 10 degrees hot and also I use nonstick bakeware. So I actually baked these at 325.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I skipped this step).

Place powdered sugar in shallow bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and peanut butter. Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined. Chill dough for 10-20 minutes.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Gently roll the dough balls into powdered sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press down on each ball with a glass to flatten tops slightly. (NOTE: The cookies that turned out the best for me were the ones I pressed into thick disks (almost like a round Tinker Toy piece shape.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes (it was actually 16 minutes for me) in the preheated oven, or until top is crinkly and edges are set. Cool on sheet for 10 minutes and transfer to baking rack to finish cooling.

Chocolate Cuppycakes with Coffee Cream Filling

I'm so behind on posting things to this blog!



I made these cuppycakes back in October, after a friend of mine found the recipe for me on Food Network. They were yummy, but I think they could have been more coffee-y. I think this is because I used instant coffee. Next time, I will use espresso powder.



Chocolate Cuppycakes with Coffee Cream Filling

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes:
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 cups sugar
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled (I recommend instant espresso powder dissolved in boiling water)
* 3 large eggs
* 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Chocolate covered coffee beans, for garnish, optional (I didn't use these)

For the coffee cream filling:
* 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
* 1 (8-ounce) container frozen chocolate flavored whipped topping, thawed


INSTRUCTIONS

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, coffee, and eggs. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.

Spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, for 16 to 18 minutes. Let them cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on wire racks.


To make the coffee cream filling:

In a small bowl, whip the cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the liqueur and fold in the whipped topping. Cover and chill.

I filled the cupcakes using the cone method. The original recipe suggests using a squeeze bottle to "inject" it into the cupcake.


Coffee Buttercream Frosting

INGREDIENTS
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 3 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee (as above, I recommend espresso powder dissolved in boiling water)


INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium bowl, beat the butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth, then beat in the coffee.

Spread the Coffee Buttercream frosting evenly over cooled cupcakes and garnish with chocolate covered coffee beans, if desired.

Alton Brown's Beer Cheese Bread

I love Alton Brown, and this bread was easy and delicious!



INGREDIENTS
* Nonstick spray
* 8 ounces all-purpose flour
* 4 ounces whole-wheat flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
* 4 1/2 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
* 12 ounces cold beer, ale or stout
* 1 to 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, optional


INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the inside of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick spray and set aside.

Whisk together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and dill in a large mixing bowl. Add in the cheese and stir in the beer just to combine. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the sunflower seeds, if using.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 to 55 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Grammy's Chocolate Cookies

Someone posted this recipe on LiveJournal, and I just had to try it. It's a Martha Stewart recipe. Martha is my hero, and I don't care who knows it.




INGREDIENTS
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping (the "dipping" sugar should be the raw kind)
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, 2 cups sugar, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and combine with mixer on low speed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dip top of each ball into sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

(I have nonstick cookie sheets, so I preheated my oven to 325 degrees and I believe the cookies stayed in the oven for 10-11 minutes. Also, I did not use the Silpat baking mats.)

Paula Deen's Spinach and Bacon Quiche

I have always seen myself as a good baker and a hopeless cook. However, joining some new baking communities recently has made me realize that I can use my baking skills to make meals sometimes, too. This weekend, I made my first attempt at a quiche. This is actually the second attempt because my husband liked it so much that I made another one! (The first one failed to get photographed because we had friends over).

I was so proud! I like baking because you put the ingredients together and then you're done. Whereas with cooking, you're standing there over the burner with your food about to turn into a blackened lump (if you're me) and wondering what to do right now.



Anyway, here is the recipe I used, courtesy of the Food Network and Paula Deen. No butter, but lots of eggs, cheese, bacon and heavy cream. Hmmm, wonder why I never seem to lose that extra 10 pounds. ;-)

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

Wacky Cake

I had never heard of Wacky Cake until I met Mike (my husband). Apparently, however, it's a pretty common thing - I think it may be Southern. His mom makes it with this insanely sugary caramel topping, which seems to be somewhat unusual. But it's good that way.



According to this blog, Wacky Cake originated during WWII. Because butter and eggs were rationed, people came up with cakes like this one that didn't require these items. I haven't checked Snopes, so feel free to do so yourself if you want and be like, "Oh noes, Wacky Cake originated in Ming Dynasty China before eggs and butter were invented" or whatever. Really, I don't mind. :)

Yesterday afternoon, I asked Mike what I should bake this weekend, and he suggested Wacky Cake. I was surprised by this suggestion, but why the heck not? The only problem was that the recipe is written on an envelope in Mike's mom's sort of hard-to-read handwriting. It was pretty sparse in terms of instructions, so I have added my own embellishments, accomplished through research and, um, mistakes.

You can see from the strikethrough text below what mistake I made. Oops. The cake still tasted fine with the extra vanilla, though.

Dry ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp cocoa powder

Wet ingredients:
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp vanilla 2 tsp vanilla
2 cups cold water (some people sub one cup of cold coffee for one of the cups of water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or 325 for non-stick pans).

Sift dry ingredients together and place in a mixing bowl. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9" cake pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out (almost) clean and the top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then run spatula along the edge of the cake and remove from pan to cool the rest of the way.

Caramel Frosting
2 cups brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tbsp vanilla

In a pan, cook butter, brown sugar, and milk on medium-low heat until the mixture reaches the softball stage on a candy thermometer. Add vanilla and beat until thick. Spread on cooled cake.

The instructions I had were really vague and didn't indicate what level of heat to use when cooking the caramel for the frosting. I tried using low heat and it took FOREVER. Then Mike decided I need to crank it up to high. The caramel finished cooking faster that way, but it didn't seem quite as voluminous as I was expecting it to. Mike talked to his mom and said it's supposed to work sort of like fudge. Based on perusing some fudge recipes, I believe this frosting needs to be cooked on medium low heat. Will do that next time.

Because my frosting didn't fluff up as much as expected, I didn't have enough to cover the whole cake. I tried to make an extra half a batch, but I was almost out of vanilla. Sadly, I didn't realize this until the brown sugar and butter was cooking on the stove. Without enough vanilla, this batch of frosting came out crumbly and looking like the creeping crud. Sigh.



Might as well post my failures as well as my successes, right?

Mike says the cake is really good. He even said that after eating one of the creeping-crud pieces. Ah, true love.

I will admit that the prettier pieces of the cake are pretty darn tasty. Next time, Gadget.