Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes

This is a great recipe to make with your kids.  They can be your little helper and have lots to do.  And if you love mint in your brownies, then this will be your new favorite! Fudgie and minty and oh so good.  But after a lot of trial and error with various mint patty products, use York Peppermint Patties.  If you use anything else, they melt during the baking process and just make the cupcake a mushy minty mess.  Trust me, it's not pretty.  Tasty, but hard to eat.  Save yourself the trouble and just buy a bag of York Peppermint Patties and you will have no problems whatsoever.  And this is another recipe where you don't need to break out your mixer, all you need is a bowl and a whisk.  I pull out another go to cookbook, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.  This book gets a lot of use as well, but it's still in great shape, unlike my cookie one that is limping to the finish line. 

The batter is super simple, as are most brownie batters.  And before you know it, you are filling up the cupcake tins with some batter. 

just a tbsp of
batter

Once you get to this part, the kids can help.  They can unwrap all of the peppermint patties and then place one inside each cupcake. 

a little fudgie home
for the patties

Then you cover each pattie with batter and make sure that each one is covered completely.  Bake away and before you know it you are all done.  They smell amazing while baking.  Wait until they are fully cooled to eat, they taste better that way. 

delicious :)

Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes

makes 12

8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted

12 small (1 1/2") mini York Peppermint Patties

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.  Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water.  Stir occasionally just until melted, 4-5 minutes.
2. Remove bowl from heat.  Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; whisk in eggs to combine.  Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth (do not overmix).
3. Spoon 1 heaping tbsp of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top, genlty pressing into batter.  Top with 2 tbsp batter, covering patty completely.  Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes.  Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. 

Pear and Prosciutto Appetizer

I had surgery the other day to fix a nerve issue.  It was a success and I'm back home resting and healing.  I do have some posts saved from me, but I also asked some friends to do a guest post for me.  So I decided to start with this one. This is from one of my favorite people in the world - and not just because I'm related to her.  AD has amazing skills in the kitchen, and one day I hope that she makes her dream of opening her own restaurant come true.  I asked her to do a post for me while I'm out for surgery and she gave me two! I'm so honored that she did this for me.  Love you AD - you are the best :)


Here is a super quick and delicious appetizer.  We were having friends to dinner and one of them happens to be allergic to gluten.  I had to rethink the menu, forget the shrimp bruschetta appetizer. The imported cheeses (sans crackers or pita) wouldn't cut it for our gluten free friend but fresh fruit would be a great alternative as long as there was more to chew on then fruit.  Because our friend is a bit of a carnivore, I figured I could put prosciutto on most anything.  If it's summer, we grill peaches and prosciutto, fall and winter means pears.  Just slice up some ripe bosc or anjou pears drape with thinly sliced prosciutto, drizzle with honey and good olive oil, then sprinkle with fresh crushed black pepper.



so pretty - and tasty :)



Cinnamon-Raisin Bread

I got my order from King Arthur Flour and I was so excited for it! I did a little happy dance when my UPS man delivered it to me.  I got a super duper new candy thermometer (I don't know what happened to my old one, but this one is FANTASTIC!), a box of cake flour, and the most amazing yeast set in the world.  Now that I had my fancy, new yeast, I had to make something with it! What to make?! So many possibilities, I wanted to make something that I haven't made before.  And then I found it......cinnamon-raisin bread.  I love anything that is cinnamon-raisin - bread, bagels, english muffins.  And it's my dads favorite as well.  So I go over to my parents house and get started on baking!  Let's be honest - I do love to use their oven, plus they have the counter space I need to make this, and it would be a little cramped if I made it at my place.  Anything that involves me rolling out dough is an automatic making it at my parents. 

One of my friends was on standby incase I had any questions with bread, or dare to say it, yeast problems.  So I go in with the attitude that this bread will turn out amazing and I will have no yeast problems because I now have the worlds best yeast.  And I'm happy to say, that's exactly what happened.  I got to work on the dough for the bread, and before I know it, I get to knead in the cinnamon and raisins.

let the fun begin

Now, it didn't turn out to be so easy, since I had to knead mainly with my left hand since my right hand is still injured.  But a couple minutes later, its all kneaded and goes into the bowl to rise. 

go yeast go!

Making bread takes up a good amount of doing nothing - just waiting for yeast to do its job and rise.  So I catch up on some TV, do my laundry and play with my parents dogs while I wait.  Once its doubled in size, I get to split the dough in half, make the cinnamon filling, fill them up and roll them into logs and put them into the bread tins to rise again.

yes, they don't look
so pretty and a little deformed

Once, again, back to the nice warm, sunny window they go to rise.  And one of the dogs was interested in what was in the tins and sat next to them while they rose.  Once they were at the tops of the tins, I brushed those bad boys with an egg wash and put them into the oven.  I love the smell of baking bread, and it quickly filled my parents house.  Soon, it was time to take them out.  I must say I was truly impressed with myself.  No yeast issues, the bread looked and smelled amazing.  I left a loaf for my parents and I took one home with me. 

golden brown goodness

I talked to my mom later that night.  She said her house smelled amazing when she got home.  And then when my dad got home, he was extremely happy to see a fresh loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread waiting for him.  The next morning I sliced myself 2 pieces and put mine in the toaster - buttered it up and was in heaven.  So good and a perfect way to start my morning with my cup of coffee. I will so be making this again.

Pizza Meatballs

I saw this recipe and was like "NO FREAKING WAY!" Pizza is one of my all time favorite foods - I never get tired of eating it.  And if you don't like pizza, then there must be something wrong with you.  So this recipe was a must make in my book.  And it didn't let me down at all! So good! And you can change up the filling, and I have a feeling no matter what filling you choose to put in it, it will not disappoint at all.  It was a huge hit with my entire family.  And I can't wait to make these again.  Makes an excellent snack or a good appetizer for a party. 

You also have the option of what kind of pizza dough do you want to use - whole wheat or regular.  Or you could always make your own dough as well.  I went the easy way and bought premade regular pizza dough at my local grocery store.  You only need 1/2 pound of dough, so I froze the other 1/2 for the next time I make these. 

The recipe calls for sweet or hot sausage - your choice of pork, chicken or turkey.  But you can really fill it up with whatever toppings you love on your pizza.  I think next time I make these it will be a mixture of bacon and pepperoni - a favorite of Ween and my Dad. 

I get to work on making the filling.  The hardest part was taking the sausage out of their casing....so easy.  Once I get the filling made I scoop out a tablespoon of filling and shape into balls and set them aside.

waiting for their doughy
home

Now comes the fun part, playing with the pizza dough.  You need to make sure that you have enough even pieces for the meatballs so they cook up evenly.  So I work with the dough and make it so I have enough even pieces for all my meatballs.  Then its all easy from this part on.  Take a meatball, place it in the dough and seal the meatball inside the dough so nothing is showing and its firmly sealed.




pre-sealed



all sealed and
ready to go

Now you get to fry them up in a pan, or you can bake them off in the oven if you don't want to fry them.  15 minutes later, heat up some sauce to dip them in and you are ready to go!



a fantastic snack

 

Pizza Meatballs

makes 16

1/2 pound sweet or hot uncooked Italian-flavored pork, chicken or turkey sausage

1 tbsp chopped parsley or oregano

3/4 grated mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

2 tbsp Parmesean cheese

1/2 lb pizza dough

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup jarred marinara sauce, heated

pinch of salt and pepper

1/4 cup flour

1. Remove sausage meat from casings into a medium bowl.  Add mozzarella, Parmesan and the parsley or oregano, salt and pepper.  Mix with your hands until just combined.  Form into 16 even balls (1 tbsp each)
2. Seperate pizza dough into 16 even pieces (about 1" balls).  Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten it with your fingers and stretch dough.  Lighly dust dough on both sides with flour.  Wrap dough around a sausage ball and pinch dough well to seal.
3. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over moderate heat and cook pizza balls over moderately low heat, turning them, until golden brown and sausage is cooked, about 15 minutes (cut one in half to see if cooked through).  Let pizza cool for 5 min before serving.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Butterscotch Chips

I had a very nice request for some peanut butter cookies from an adorable man.  I thought no problem! I've got tons of recipes for those! Easy, done.  Then he threw out that he wanted butterscotch chips in them.  Strange I thought, but he said that these were his favorite cookies. So I did a little comparing of recipes and ultimately came up with my own recipe for these bad boys.  

I get out a couple of my cookbooks and start to compare recipes.  They vary a little from book to book, so I decide to take what sounds the best from each cookie recipe to make my own "super cookie".  Super cookie indeed! So creamy and delicious.  Peanut Butter Cookies aren't really my favorite, but I will definately make these again if someone wants Peanut Butter Cookies. 

I think the key with a cookie like this, is that you want a really creamy, fluffy batter.  And that's what I got



look at how creamy and
fluffy it is!!

And I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about adding butterscotch chips, but they totally made the cookie have that little something extra and a little unexpected.  And it is a really tasty cookie.  I scoop the batter with my trusty cookie scoop (if you don't have one, you really should get one - I love mine....it makes making cookies so easy since they all come out the same shape and size) and bake them off.




perfect size with my
cookie scoop :)

10 minutes later, my house smells amazing and I have cookie perfection. 



golden brown and delicious

 I let them cool and then pack them up in a tin for the adorable man who requested these.  I was extremely pleased with how good they turned out on my first try with a new recipe.  Usually I can find things that I don't like about it and make a note for the next time I make it.  But I feel really confident with this version and am going to not change anything about it.  And the recipient was a very happy camper :)   They turned out better than I thought they would - and he said they tasted better than he could of imagined.

So here's my "super cookie" recipe.  I hope you like them

Peanut Butter Cookies with Butterscotch Chips

 makes 2 1/2 dozen

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 sticks butter (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter

6 oz butterscotch chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Put butter and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add egg; mix until well combined.  Mix in vanilla and then peanut butter. Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.  Stir in butterscotch chips.
3. Drop batter by heaping teaspoons onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats, spacing about 1 1/2" apart.
4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until centers are firm and edges are lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completley. 

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

I love brownies - especially fudgie chocolaty ones.  And that's what these are.  I've made them so many times (from MS' Martha Stewart's Cookies) and I love them so much.  Sadly, the book is falling apart and pages are falling out.  What to do?!  Slight panic and terror sets in. I gently tucked them back in their place and I know the end is near for this beloved book of mine.  Making these so many times doesn't stop me from trying new things with it.  I now use it as a base recipe and constantly change things up when I make them.  And I must say, what I did this time was a success.  They came out extra fudgie and oh so good. 

Now, if you're thinking "I can make brownies out of a box and they are great" you are so wrong my friend.  Try these and you will never go back to boxed brownies. I promise you - that good. The great thing with this recipe is that you don't even need to get out your mixer, all you need is a whisk.  Even better, right?!  The batter comes together quickly, and the hardest part of this is that you make a peanut butter filling as well.  I think you can handle it :)

I get the oven preheating and get both batters going.  I fill up my pan with most of the chocolate batter and then I put dollops of the peanut butter filling in the pan.  It's kinda fun, who doesn't like to play with their food?  Reminds me of childhood.  Once I'm done putting in the peanut butter filling I add the rest of the chocolate batter. 

it looks like a mess

And now comes the fun part.  I take my knife and swirl all that goodness together - trying to make a fun design so it will bake up pretty.  It never looks pretty no matter how I hard I try. 

swirled goodness

Into the oven it goes, and sadly they do bake for a long time - which is the only draw back from boxed brownies.  But they are so worth the wait!!  45 minutes later and here it is - brownie goodness

they taste better
than they look

My house smelled amazing all day thanks to these.  And they are always a hit with everyone - even people who aren't really fans of peanut butter will love these.  I highly suggest that you try these next time the urge to bake comes over you. 

Here is the recipe from MS's Cookies Cookbook

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

makes 9 large or 16 small

For the batter:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter an 8" square baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2" overhang.  Butter lining (not overhang)
2. Make batter:  Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted.  Let cool slightly.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture.  Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Add flour mixture, stir until well combined.
4. Make filling:  Stir together butter, confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, salt and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
5. Pour one-third of batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula.  Drop dollops of peanut butter filling (about 1 tbsp each) on top of batter, spacing about 1" apart.  Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan.  Drop dollops of remaining peanut butter mixture on top.  Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers.
6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes.  Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes.  Life out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares. 

Amazing Doughnuts

One of my best friends runs her own business and I'm a huge fan.  If you aren't following her on her website and blog then shame on you.  You should become a fan right now! I've taken countless recipes from her and everything I've made is delicious.  Please check her out at the following websites - I promise you will not be disappointed at all. 
Arubula's Kitchen is where you can get weekly menu planning.  And her blog is Running Amuck with Arubula.  I plug her constantly, and not just because we've been friends for 17 years, but because I'm a huge fan of hers :) She is truly talented.  And I love that we share recipes all the time. 

She recently did a blog post about chocolate doughnuts.  I love doughnuts.  Who doesn't?!  We were talking about it and I said that I had to make those soon.  She sent me her base recipe and I couldn't wait to make them!  Finally this weekend rolled around and it was time to make the doughnuts (yes - I went there).  And let me tell you - AMAZING! I seriously can't stop eating them.  The fact that this recipe doesn't have yeast in it (cause we all know how I have issues with yeast) made me want to make them that much more! Super easy and damn tasty!

I get to work on making the dough - so easy.  I love easy recipes.  Anything that isn't too labor intensive is great in my book.  She had warned me ahead of time that once I turn the dough out to chill that it needs to be well floured.  I told her I would flour the crap out of that dough.  And that's what I did. 


you should of seen the amount
i had under the dough!

Off to the freezer it went to firm up.  20 minutes later it was time to cut the doughnuts.  I don't have a doughnut cutter and all my cookie cutters were way too ginormous to use, so I used what was handy in my parents kitchen - a small glass and a nifty looking tall shot glass.  Success. 




doughnuts and doughnut
holes

Once all cut, they go back into the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.  Then its time to fry the doughnuts.  I get the oil all ready and away I go.  Now, I've never made doughnuts before, so this was kind of fun for me.  I get the first few in and they puff up and cook nicely.  And of course I eat one after its cooled a little - sooooo good.  I fry away a couple more and then I hit a huge snag.  All of my doughnuts and doughnut holes have stuck to each other!  CRAP! 
What to do?!  I try to pull them apart from each other, but they wanted no such thing.  They were very happy to be stuck together and didn't want to let go.  :(  So I did the only thing I could think of, smooshed it all together to make one massive blob of dough and then pull off balls of dough and fry them up.  So I had a couple of fantastic looking doughnuts and then came this mess of the worlds ugliest looking doughnuts.  It was amusing to say the least. 

Once all fried off, I had two options for toppings.  Cinnamon sugar and a glaze.  Away I go dipping in cinnamon sugar and glaze......who cares if they don't look good!  They taste amazing! 

glazed goodness

These were the best looking ones.  The next photo will give you some chuckles.  Although I did my best to hide the truly strange looking ones underneath the pile. 

at least I got one perfect
doughnut on top :)

So far this morning, I have to say, I can't stop snacking on them.  I left half at my parents house and took the rest home with me and my sisters.  The glazed are all gone and theres only a couple of cinnamon sugar ones left.  Go to my friends website and get the recipe! Become a follower of hers!  Support her amazing talent and love for food!