Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Fudge Frosting (Reposting the recipe)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

From: Cooking on the side

yields: 1 dozen cupcakes

Cupcake:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 sifted cake flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

Frosting:

3 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 stick butter, softened

4 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate,melted and cooled

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan with liners.

2. Cream butter and slowly add in sugar until fluffy in a medium bowl. Add in eggs one at a time until incorporated. 

3. In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. 

4. Mix the milk and extracts in a small bowl.

5. Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture to the butter mix, beating after each addition until smooth.

6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes of until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. 7. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and cool completely on cooling racks.

Frosting:
1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Add in the chocolate  and beat until blended.
- If necessary add more milk 1 tbsp at a time until to get desired spreading consistency. Using either a piping bag, a spoon, or an offset spatula to frost the cupcakes.

Notes:
- I only got 1 dozen regular cupcakes out of the batter
- My cupcakes were done at 17 minutes instead of the original 20.

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake

I have been wanting to publish some new recipes, but the weather here has been anything, but pretty. The days have been switching between 70 to the 40's, raining off and on, and the last few days have been extremely foggy which is not a good thing when needing natural light for photos. My mom actually bought me a inexpensive indoor lighting set, but I need to put stronger bulbs in and I haven't really put the time into experimenting with it lately. 

The fog makes everything look a little creepy.

  Last week my spring class started, but it wasn't until Thursday that I could actually do some work since the online site was having problems and both students and teachers were locked out for several hours. I've been spending most of my time printing and going over specific instructions for each class, compiling all of my due dates into my Iphone calender, and working on a few simple first assignments. Work has been going much better thankfully and I can also start taking my laptop to work on school during my lunch break or it I finish work projects early. Since the new system is up and running, I have been organizing and scanning customer information for my mom along with helping some other coworkers organize their paperwork and help with projects.

I used my Canon 430EX II Speedlite. 

It's Snowing Again + Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

I passed my Wintermester class with a B!

 I decided to work most of the days this week before my Spring classes start next Tuesday. I got a message from my mom saying that if I decided to bake something and bring it to work that her coworkers would happily dispose of them. 

hint taken.

 The only rule was whatever I made could not contain nuts of any kind since a few people were allergic. Plus the dessert had to travel well and didn't need refrigeration since the fridge at work is always packed full.

White & Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies

This is what Christmas day looked like in our part of Texas. 

 If we ever do get snow in our town it normally doesn't stick so it's not really snow, but this year we got at least 4-6 inches of the white stuff. Before I got sick I used to love the snow, but the freezing temperatures are too much for me now so I only got a handful of pictures. Our goats {Annabelle & Princess} who have been sporting their thick winter coats looked like little cotton balls because they are so fluffy!! Nala, our huge potbelly pig hasn't come out of her house since the temperatures have dropped and I doubt we'll see her until New Years. 

Christmas was a simple celebration this year. Our family really isn't one to go all out for the holidays like the families you see in the Christmas movies, but it suits us. I ended up getting a flash for my camera, many White Barn Nutmeg and Spice candles & wallflowers from Bath & Body Works which smell AMAZING, and a new laptop which I was going to buy myself, but my mom got it for me. I've decided that I might keep my old laptop for my photography and use my new one mainly for school. 

Giveaway Winner & Sugar 'n Spice Candied Nuts

Congratulations to Kylie Carlson for being the winner for 1 Qrt. of Tropical Tradition's Virgin Coconut oil.

Warning: If you share these with friends & family, you will be asked to bring a batch every time you have a dinner or party. 

These nuts are so addicting and everyone loves them which is why I was asked to make a double batch for Christmas!

Toffee Blondies {Desserts in Jars}

  Today I started my first college class! My other classes are for the Spring, but my computer class somehow got switched to be a wintermester class {which is only  4 weeks long instead of average 12-16 weeks} so I'm going to be busy studying for the next month.

I also set up a tumblr blog {curiouscountrycook.tumblr } this weekend. My tumblr blog is just another place where I can share my food posts, recipes from other blogs, and food styling tips. It's basically the tumblr version of my pinterest food boards. 

I used regular chocolate chips since we didn't have any mini's.

I'm actually not a fan of toffee, but these blondies were really good. My dad hates toffee, but he ate 4 pieces without realizing that he was also eating the crunchy candy. The good thing about this recipe is that you could just make the batter and use whatever type of add-in's you {or the person you might give a jar to} prefer instead of the toffee and nuts. Or if you are a huge toffee fan {like my mom}, you can skip the nuts and double the amount of candy. .

Dark Chocolate Gluten Free Brownies

  Brownies are basically the only dessert that everyone in my entire family agrees on {but there's a debate on  if they should have nuts or not} so I tend to try and post a lot of different brownie recipes. I'd actually bookmarked this recipe a few months ago and  figured that since I am hosting a giveaway for coconut oil it would the perfect time to make and share this recipe. 

  These brownies have a rich chocolate base and the coconut oil gives them a light coconut[y]-vanilla tone that gets a little stronger as the brownies age. I used Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil which has a milder flavor compared to other brands that I have tried. The ingredients for these brownies can be mixed together and ready for the oven in about 5 minutes which is another reason to love this recipe.

Plus, they taste really really good :)

Instagram, Raw Brownies, & A Future Giveaway

I'm letting you know now that this post involves several different topics and may be lengthy.

  This past Saturday my mom and I along with our assistant pastor, his wife, three of his girls, his sister (our past youth leader), his niece, and nephew went shopping at the Grapevine outlet mall as a day of fun. We all met up at cracker barrel for a late breakfast before spending 7 hours roaming the very crowded mall.  My mom was told by some friends that we had to eat at the Rainforest Cafe because it is a unique experience so we made reservations to have a late lunch/early dinner. When it's was time to be seated, we were lead into a dark room that is heavily decorated to look like a rain forest with mist machines at the bar, mechanic animals that move every few minutes with sound effects, and the staff was dressed like safari guides.

Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies

  Black Friday has always been something that puzzled me. I mean, you camp out in front of your favorite stores to push 'n shove other people to get the best deals only hours after being thankful for everything you have. I participated in Black Friday for the first time except I skipped the chance of getting trampled by shopping online. Later on my mom and I went Black Friday shopping to stores that most people forget about like Home Depot and the Pet Store {where I got a hamster} before going to Ulta and Dick's which were still crowded at 3pm.

  On Saturday our new living room furniture and 2 dressers for my room arrived early which meant all weekend I was organizing my room, choosing what clothes and books to donate, and completely forgot about my blog. Since the night before Thanksgiving I haven't really cooked except dinners which weren't anything to blog about and made zero desserts. I thought about sharing another recipe for sugared nuts that I made for Thanksgiving that were a favorite, but I remember how good these cookies were and thought I should share this recipe first. These cookies are similar my peanut butter crinkle cookies because you roll the dough balls in sugar before cooking and they have the same soft center yet slightly crunchy edges.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Bars

  Since Thanksgiving is in a few days I thought it would be a good time to share this delicious dessert recipe that also happens to be healthy{which can't be said for many holiday desserts.}This Thanksgiving we are gathering at my aunt's house and I'm in charge of bringing the stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, and a dessert which will be these bars. Even if you don't have anyone in your family that has to follow special dietary needs {I'm the only one in my family} these bars will pass the taste test.  

  The texture of these bars is a mixture between the creamy custard  like these pumpkin pie cups and a soft cake. When you take a bite of the soft bars you will first notice the creamy pumpkin flavor paired with the spices before tasting the nutty almond butter. I have made this twice since I found the recipe online and both times the bars were gone in less than 2 days. You could even try using pureed acorn squash or sweet potato instead of pumpkin and pecan butter would give the bars a nuttier, richer taste.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Dough! {No Bake}

  Lately I have been posting mostly sweet recipes and it kind of bugs me since I don't want y'all to think I only eat chocolate-covered treats throughout the week, especially since most of the recipes I've been sharing I actually made as far back as a few weeks ago but waited to post about it. After stopping by Central Market the other night and buying a few pounds of chicken breasts, a pound of large fresh scallops, and a lot of green veggies like baby bok choy (one of my favorites) I have several savory recipes in mind to share soon. I've also been thinking up a few new recipes for soup since according to my mom the changing weather will be "soup weather" soon.

But right now we are still talking about sweet treats. 

  Have you ever stopped by Katie's blog: Chocolate-Covered Katie? Her blog is full of amazing small portioned desserts that are healthy so you don't have to feel guilty about having nutella fudge, chocolate pumpkin brownies ,and I especially want to try the cookie dough dip. This recipe was kind of inspired by her cookie batter recipes.

Pumpkin Pie Cups

Pumpkin.Pumpkin.Pumpkin.

 That seems to be what everyone has on the brain since pumpkin recipes are becoming very frequent on all of the food sites. I love both the taste of pumpkin and their appearance; we are selling at least 5 different types of squashes at work and all of them look completely different.

Some Turban Squashes from work: My favorite.

Healthy Zucchini Brownies (Paleo)

  The "usual" brownie recipe contains butter, cups of sugar, oil, eggs, cocoa powder, and flour. This brownie recipe doesn't contain any of the above except 1 egg.  Some might argue that this dessert isn't a "brownie"  because the batter doesn't contain cocoa powder or melted chocolate, just chocolate chips that melt when baking. Some might categorize this as a healthy blondie, chocolate chip zucchini bread,  or a snack cake which is okay.

   I found this recipe about a week ago when searching from a healthy chocolate recipe. The more I searched for chocolate recipes that contained zucchini, the more I discovered that a lot of people have made this recipe and blogged about it. I noticed that in some pictures, the brownies were more of a golden brown color instead of the rich, chocolate brown in the original picture. For a second I thought about adding some cocoa into the batter thinking it may not be chocolaty enough, but decided against it to try how I liked the original recipe as is first and I'm glad I did. I did add 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chip on the top of the brownies since it was all that was leftover from another recipe. 

Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge

 My mom and I finally went to Costco's this past weekend after having it been open in the next town for about 3 years. We used to shop at Sam's, but there isn't one anywhere close to us so we went into Costco's. We only got a few things which included a 1.5lb box of Macedonia nuts which was way cheaper than at Whole Foods, Dried fruit for baking, packages of both salmon and turkey burgers, some granola cereal, and a fuzzy throw blanket for me. I thought it was okay, except for the fact that my mom and I don't eat much processed foods which is almost everything they sale at those stores in bulk to eat. So I decided that someone should have a bulk store except with gluten free, vegan, dairy free, organic, and other "healthy" things (like a bulk Whole Foods) because I know that we'd be customers for life.

Peanut Butter Cake Bars

Need a quick, last minute dessert for the family or potluck? 

We were having family out for our usual Sunday Supper and I had no idea what to make for the dessert so searched around Pinterest and found this easy recipe.

Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies

  I originally posted this recipe last year before Christmas, but I decided to re-post it with better pictures and content.These cookies were a hit seeing as  I made 2 or 3 batches for the holidays and another batch for a family friend's birthday. Peanut butter has always been a staple in our house, but for some reason I never made peanut butter cookies. I'm not sure why though since I have tried many other cookie recipes, but I decided to try a recipe from Everyday Home Cook.

Turning 18 & Chocolate Coconut Pudding

    I'm officially 18. It's weird, it seems like yesterday when the biggest decision I had to make in middle school was who to sit by at lunch, dealing with the challenges of high school life, and complaining about living in a small town with all of the other kids and planning our escape plans as soon as we could. It's crazy how when all of that stuff was actually happening, time seemed to move at the pace of a sloth, but now looking back it went by really fast. I guess that quote about how nothing seems to change from day to day, but when you look back everything has changed. I can testify that this past year has be hectic to say the least with my health issues, new family situations, discovering new passions, and trying to figure out where I fit in this big world.

The Baked Brownies & Giveaway Winners

 This actually wasn't the recipe that I was going to make for the family dinner this weekend, but since my aunt, Angie (the one who recently moved back) has a birthday soon and she likes brownies I decided to make a batch.

  Angie is a very, very picky eater. She doesn't like fruits, only eats a few vegetables,and she only likes simple flavors. She didn't even like this and it was a huge hit at Thanksgiving, but she likes plain (nut-free) brownies. I knew that I couldn't add any special ingredients like roasted cherries, bourbon vanilla, or anything like that in the dessert or she wouldn't touch it so I looked up for a basic brownie recipe. The recipe also had to make enough to serve a big crowd since there were going to be 15 adults, a 4 1/2 year old, an almost 1 year old, and a 2 month old at this Sunday's dinner. 

Peaches & Cream Popsicles

  The last time I made popsicles, the sticks ended up coming out, but the filling stayed in. I think it has something to do with my cheap, but cute popsicle molds. Earlier this summer, my mom and I went shopping to find some popsicle molds since we had lost our old ones, but none of the half dozen stores we checked had them. I've used little paper cups for the doggie popsicles I've made (a recipe I'll share later), but I didn't want to use them for regular popsicles.  Well, she ended up getting me a 10 pop mold online and the very next day when we walked into World Market there was a small 6 popsicle mold. 

  I found this recipe the other day and really wanted to make it so I did and prayed that the popsicles would actually come out of the mold this time. I filled the sink with a little water and let the molds sit for a few minutes to help loosen them up. Well, history repeated its self; the handle came out,but with only half of the stick and the filling stayed in the mold. I then ran a little warm water over the ends of the remaining molds and tried again and it worked! These popsicles are creamy due to the yogurt and are packed with delicious peach flavor.

Roasted Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies

   I'm warning ya'll now that this is the 2nd cherry recipe that I've shared so far and I have at least 2 more to share this summer. One is a recipe for a cherry fruit drink that I made up and the other is a cherry sauce/jam which you can have on yogurt, biscuits, or in drinks.I'll try to space out the recipes so I won't be overloading ya'll with 3 cherry recipes back to back; sometimes, I get a little hung up on a certain ingredient or dish and right now it's cherries.

   I found this recipe through Foodgawker and I knew I had to make it since it involved three of my favorite things: cherries, dark chocolate, and brownies! I told my dad about the recipe to see if he had every tried anything like it before and he said that he had, but those brownies were about 80% cherries & 20% brownie. I thought this recipe would be a winner since it only has 1 cup of cherries so they won't over load the dish and that everyone in our family  house are brownie-fanatics so it would be good.