New Year's Eve Dessert ( for the win): Churro Cupcakes

Adapted from: Lady Behind The Curtain

This years New Year's Eve was one of the best NYE celebrations to date. I celebrated

with the love of my life and his mother. Obviously that is not many people, but it was amazing quality time with both of them. We were supposed to be with my boyfriends family members, but they cancelled and celebrated at a home much farther away. I didn't know that before I made the cupcakes so I made exactly 14 cupcakes because including me that's how many people would be there. I made these after coming home from work and I am proud of how they turned out. I dug out my piping bag and went to work. These were pretty simple to make ( even after 8:00) and scrumptious! The addition of cake flour and buttermilk ( my secret) makes them even better. The cake is slightly sweet and very tender. The cinnamon sugar topping makes a nice contrast with the cake and cream cheese icing. I did not use the cream cheese icing recipe because I did not feel like washing extra dishes at night (lazy me). Canned is fine if you are dolloping on a little bit as I did. As a last note, I made half of this recipe, but I will give the full amounts ,which makes 28 cupcakes.

      Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

    1/2 tsp salt

  1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 sticks unsalted butter ( at room temp)

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 large eggs ( at room temp)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* milk ( 1 cup buttermilk , 1/4 cup regular milk)

Cinnamon Topping

4 tablespoon melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Steps: Have your eggs and butter at room temp. Have flours and other dry ingredients measured! 

MICE EN PLACE.

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Whisk both flours,baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

3.Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

3. Add eggs in one at a time. Scrape the bowl as needed with a rubber scraper.

4.Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk.

5.Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full until all the batter is used.

6. Bake for 20 minutes until cake is set.

7. Cool cupcakes ( I cooled them on the window sill) ;)

8. Brush with melted butter and dip each cupcake in the cinnamon sugar mix.

9. Pipe out small dollops of frosting with a piping bag.

These are some of the BEST  cupcakes I've ever had. They surpass Crumbs and other bakeries.

                                                     

Thanksgiving Dessert: Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Thanksgiving seems to be one of the more complicated holidays. I find

that most people like turkey, but not everyone agrees on the sides and desserts.

This year, my family had a very nice and delicious menu for thanksgiving. It consisted of

: turkey

gravy

mashed sweet potatoes

regular mashed potatoes

homemade veg. stuffing

bread

green beans 

cranberry sauce

red wine :)

shrimp w/ cucumber appetizer

cheese and crackers

nuts and chex mix

kielbasa

lemon tart

CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE

It seems like alot of food, but as of December 2 most of it is gone. It was quite the successful thanksgiving it was! I made this coffee cake for my aunt because she wanted to eat lighter this holiday. Plus, we celebrated her birthday (Dec 1) that day. I was in charge of making her cake. No problem. This is not your traditional New York/ NJ ,overly sweet, crumbly coffee cake. This is a more sophisticated cake. It is not overly sweet, yet it has the wonderful taste and aroma of cinnamon every coffee cake should have. It's weird, some people actually think coffee cake has coffee in it . Silly gooses.. This recipe, unlike most of mine is not from a blog. It is from an old baking book called the Cake Bible. I think people who are over 40 will know what I'm talking about (since the book is from the 80's. A great and talented chef at my college knew of it so I guess I chose the right source for my recipe. Not like I don't like blogs or anything LOL. 

From: The Cake Bible! (cookbook)

Ingredients: Streusel Topping and Filling

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 cup walnuts or pecans

1 1/2 tsp good quality cinnamon

1/2 cup cake flour

4 tbsp butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

Batter

4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups unsifted cake flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

12 tablespoons butter, softened

Steps: Have measuring cups ready, oven preheated, mixing bowls, and electric mixer handy. Mice en place!

Preheat oven to 350.

1. To make the streusel and filling, process sugars, nuts, and cinnamon until the nuts are coarsely chopped. * Reserve 3/4 for the filling.*

2. To the remainder, add the flour, butter, and vanilla, and pulse briefly to create a coarse, crumbly mixture for the topping.

TIME TO MAKE THE BATTER

1. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, 1/4 of the sour cream and vanilla.

2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for

30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining sour cream. Mix on low speed until

the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to high speed ( if using a stand mixer switch to medium)

and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as you go.

3. Incorporate the egg mixture in 3 batches.

               

^ This is what it should look like after everything is incorporated. Nice and fluffy!

4. Reserve 1/3 of the batter and scrape down the remainder into a prepared pan.

Try to smooth the batter as much as you can so the cake bakes evenly.

5. Sprinkle the streusel filling and spread over the top of 

prepared batter.

6. Add spoonfulls of the reserved batter over the top of the streusel.

7. Spread the mounds of batter over the streusel topping. This may be tedious to do,but do your best.

It's worth it, I promise.

^ See I did it!

8. Sprinkle with remaining streusel topping made earlier.

9. Bake at 350 for 55 to 65 minutes. Cover loosely with buttered foil after 45 minutes to prevent 

overbrowning.

Serves 8-10

It makes a great birthday cake for anyone who isn't into 

those overly frosted and sweet birthday cakes. You know what 

I'm talking about.

Try This For Breakfast: Dutch Puff Pancake!

From:WholeFoods Market site

Look how puffy it is!! Look at it! So it's that time of the year again. My brother has come back

from college for his first fall break. My mother made him all his dinner favorites such as pasta with meat sauce and steak. Now I wanted it to be my turn to make something special. It seems he doesn't eat anything exciting at his dorm for breakfast because he is far from the dining hall. That means he just has boxed cereal almost every day. BORING! I researched through my recipes for a great breakfast recipe and I remembered that I have been meaning to make this. I'm not sure why they call this a Dutch "pancake". I'm not sure what it looks like, but it tastes good too. It reminds me of  a very light,crispy, and eggy version of a pancake. It is delicious nonetheless. I served this with some homemade cinnamon apples.Feel free to fill it with whatever you like, though.  This is a quick recipe to make, do not be discouraged by the looks of it.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter/margarine

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs

a pinch of vanilla

* Cinnamon Apples ( you can fill it with anything you want)

Steps: Have butter melted and eggs beaten : MICE EN PLACE. There's not much to say since this is an easy recipe. :)

1.Preheat oven to 425. Grease a 8 in pie pan with spray or butter, set aside.

2. Melt butter over low heat and place in a small bowl.

3. Place eggs, flour, milk, and vanilla in a blender.

4. Blend until smooth and lumps are no longer visible.

5. Pour mixture in the greased pie pan.

6.Bake for 25 minutes, or until pancake is puffed and golden brown.

7. Top with your desired filling and cut into slices.

^ Isn't it pretty?!

Crisp on the outside, light and soft on the inside.YUM. 

 

Serving Size: 4-5 people

Did Someone Say French Toast?!: French Toast Flavored Protein Shake

From: The Dashing Dish

I promise this will be one of the last healthy recipes.. JUST KIDDING. Last weekend my parents went on vacation, so I had the house to myself. Most would think I would cook up a storm , but I wanted to focus on getting a lot of homework and exercise completed. I mean who wouldn't take advantage of being alone. You don't have to tell anyone you are going out/ won't have anyone distracting you. Sorry that was an ADD moment right there.. back to the protein shake! I've made quite a few of these shakes over the past week, this one was pretty damn tasty. It does not taste exactly like French toast but it has a fresh maple and brown sugar flavor. I especially enjoyed this recipe because the cottage cheese was muted out more than the previous shakes I have made.I know putting cottage cheese in a shake scares most of you, but I assure y'all it makes the shake more "shake like". As a final note, I suggest making this for breakfast or a snack because it will not keep you full during lunch.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 scoop vanilla protein powder(Designer Whey)

2-3 tsp sugar free/regular maple syrup

3-4 tsp stevia

3/4 cup water

6 ice cubes

 

Steps:

1. Blend everything together until desired consistency is reached. Top with whipped cream or cinnamon!

 

Worth Waking Up For: Protein Packed Vanilla Cran- Banana Pancakes

Adapted From: Designer Whey Website

I am really crazy about Designer Whey Vanilla Protein Powder. Ever since I made my first shake with it a few days ago, I can't go without it. At 100 calories per scoop and over 20 grams of protein there's no reason not to like it. I especially love it because it keeps me full. After going through a few

protein pancake recipes I chose this one because it was a simple and delicious recipe. I left out the blueberries in this recipe because I didn't have any. These hotcakes were great without them, they tasted like banana pancakes with some vanilla. These pancakes had a nice texture and were filling for an 8:00 breakfast. I also added a tablespoon of plain yogurt for moisture.

     Ingredients

 1/2 scoop Designer Whey Vanilla Protein Powder

1 large egg

1 medium banana

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons flour ( I used all purpose)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

dash of cinnamon

1 small handful of craisins
1 tablespoon plain yogurt

Steps: Have all ingredients out and a hot pan ready when the batter is prepared.

1. Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a medium bowl.

2. Heat a pan with non- stick cooking spray. Wait until the pan gets hot before you pour the batter on.

3. Spoon batter onto the pan. Make the pancakes large or small, I don't care! I made 3 small pancakes and one medium one.

Look at the beautiful babies cooking!

4. Cook until both sides are nice and golden brown.

5.Top with syrup, jam, or NUTELLA!

Serves: 6 small pancakes, or 3 small + 1 medium pancake

Using What I Have: Raspberry Oatmeal Parfait

Adapted from: Dashing Dish

I want everyone to know this... I LOVE BREAKFAST. Unlike some of my peers I am a breakfast person. Without this meal at the beginning of my day I would probably pass out. Yes, it's true. I cannot focus without eating in the morning. I am on a health kick, but that does not  mean I am sacrificing a full stomach with food that tastes good. I recently stumbled upon a site called DashingDish.com. This blog site is not funded by advertisements, so if you want access to all of the wonderful recipes you need to pay a small monthly charge. I'm cheap, though and will find the free recipes and try them out. I made this recipe my own by adding raspberries instead of blueberries, and plain yogurt instead of greek yogurt.The oatmeal prepared with bananas and almond milk is absolutely delicious, I would eat that by itself! This recipe is around 320 calories, but think of it of a healthy sort of fill. You are getting a good source of grains, calcium, vitamin c! This parfait is pretty and even better to eat.

Ingredients:

Oatmeal Layer

1/2 cup quick oats

3/4 cup almond milk

1/2 small banana, mashed

2-4 packets stevia sugar

Yogurt Layer

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2-4 packets stevia

Raspberry Layer

1/2-1 cup raspberries

 

Steps: Have all wet and dry ingredients ready for use . Prepare oatmeal layer first. MICE EN PLACE!

1. For the oatmeal layer: Add oatmeal and almond milk in a bowl and microwave 2-2.5 minutes ( or until oats are cooked).

2. Stir in mashed  banana and set aside.

3. Yogurt Layer: In a separate bowl stir together the yogurt and sweetener.

Assemble the Parfait:

4. In a large glass,bowl, or mason jar begin to layer the parfait starting with the yogurt,raspberries and oatmeal. Continue this process until all the ingredients are gone.

DEVOUR!!

Serving Size:1 huge parfait

 

 

 

Another "Better For You" Sweet: Cosmic Chocolate Fudge Brownies

adapted from: Chocolate Covered Katie

As some of you know I love 2 things:

1. CHOCOLATE

2. DESSERTS

I really love chocolate desserts that are guilt free. Yes, I am still on my health kick.

Recently, I came upon a healthy dessert blog called "Chocolate Covered Katie."

This blog pretty much saved my life. It reassured me that I can have naughty food

that won't go to my hips right away. I was kind of skeptical about using this recipe because

it had no eggs and included tofu. The picture was very attractive and the reviews seemed

positive, so I took a risk. Luckily, the risk I took was one of the best risk's I've ever taken.

These brownies were some of the best homemade brownies I've ever had. Especially if

you add some low sugar chocolate frosting. I did not use the frosting/coating recipe

she posted because I did not have maple syrup and coconut oil. Plus, I'm not so sure about

the taste of that combination. Instead, I frosted these brownies with a thin coating

of sugar free frosting and a ton of SPRINKLES! It was a great way to use them up.

I'm definitely looking forward to making more of Katie's (from Chocolate Covered Katie)

guilt free treats. PS: These were a hit with my friends from culinary school. See, food doesn't always have to be so decadent to be delicious. :) Changes I made are in red.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp instant coffee granules

1 cup truvia*

1/2 cup large chocolate chips

6 tbsp silken tofu

2/3 cup applesauce

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk of your choice

Can of sugar free chocolate frosting

SPRINKLES!!

 

Instructions: Have all your ingredients on hand and measured before you start putting these brownies together. MICE EN PLACE

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease/spray a 9x13 baking pan.

2. Combine all your dry ingredients,including chocolate chips and stir well.

3. In a smaller bowl, combine all your wet ingredients.

4. Pour your wet (weird looking)mixture into your dry ingredients. Stir well until the mixture is lump free and resembles brownie batter.

5. Pour mixture into your prepared pan and bake 30-34 minutes.

6. Allow to cool and spread with a thin layer of chocolate frosting. YOU WILL NOT NEED THE
WHOLE CAN. Lastly, top with as many sprinkles as you like.

Refrigerate after using. They taste better a little firm.

Serves: 15-20 Little Debbie size brownies