Cookies & Cream Cookie Bars

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These Cookies & Cream Cookie Bars are always the first thing to go when I bring them to a party. Everyone loves them, and when you cut them into smaller servings, there is more to go around (and you don't feel as guilty)! If your stumped on what to bring to a party for New Year's Eve, these cookie bars are great as either an appetizer or a dessert or both! The pictures show the Halloween Edition of these cookie bars, but as the seasons change, so do the editions of Oreos, so these practically go with any holiday or occasion!

Oreo Cookie Bars - Adapted from Skinny Not Skinny

Yield: 16 - 24 bars depending on the size

Ingredients:
1½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
20 Halloween Oreos (chopped) - Or Red Holiday Oreos for Christmas - or regular oreos for an everyday treat!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in large bowl; mix well. This mixture will be crumbly.
2. Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper with shortening. This is VERY important to do or your bars are going to stick to the bottom of the pan. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture and press remainder onto bottom of the baking pan.
3. Bake 10 minutes.
4. While the crust is cooking, chop the Halloween Oreos into pieces.
5. After removing from oven, immediately pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crust.
6. Sprinkle with chocolate and white chocolate chips and top with Oreo pieces.
7. Top with reserved oat mixture; press down firmly.
8. Bake an additional 25 minutes. Topping will be lightly browned.
9. Cool bars for at least 15 minutes and then cut into bars.
10. ENJOY!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Whether your waiting for Santa to arrive or snuggling underneath the mistletoe, these Red Velvet Cupcakes are perfect for your holiday festivities. Personally, I love getting cozy by my Christmas tree and indulging in this delicious dessert. It's hard to share these with my family while they are in town, but there is no way I could eat all of them! Enjoy this recipe and leave comments; I am excited to hear your feedback!

Happy Holidays!

Red Velvet Cupcakes - Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 12 cupcakes or about 48 mini cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 1/2 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 Tablespoons Red Food Coloring - way less if you are using gel food coloring!
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 Teaspoons Distilled White Vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 Ounces Butter, at room temperature
4 Ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.

2. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste - or if you are using gel food coloring, just add it to the batter.  Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

5. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.

7. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

8. To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

*Note: This recipe can be doubled to make an 8 or 9-inch layer cake.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cake

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Its that time of year again where I have to think of a good cake to make for my Fiance's birthday.  This year I decided to hoard all the Reese's I could find around Halloween time and save them to make this cake.  This cake was a huge hit with him, his family, and all our neighbors.  My future brother-in-law requested it for his birthday as well.  The frosting is what makes the cake, its perfectly rich and creamy. I got the idea for this cake from Make Bake Celebrate but I used a different recipe.   If you know a peanut butter lover, I am sure they will love this cake!

Happy Birthday Joe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes - Adapted from My Baking Addiction

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 4oz Package Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Water
4 Eggs, room temperature

1 Bag of Reese's Mini - (I used a combination of Reese's regular size and some of the small ones)

Peanut Butter Buttercream
Ingredients:
3 Sticks Butter, unsalted and room temperature
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
5 1/2 Cups Confectioners' Sugar, sifted
6-8 Tablespoons Heavy Cream - I used about 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your cake pans, I used 2 8in round pans.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, water, and eggs. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.
3. Divide the batter between your two pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. 
5. Allow cake to cool for about 10 minutes.
6. Remove cakes from pans and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cakes are cool, you can either freeze them or frost them right away.  I would reccomend you freeze them becuase it makes it easier to frost them.    
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. 
8. Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.
9. Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy
10. To assemble the cake, I spread one later of frosting on the bottom layer of cake and then put a layer of chopped Reese's.  Put the second layer of cake on top and then cover the whole cake with frosting.  I then melted some chocolate and poured that over the top.  I then put the remaining Reese's on top.
11. ENJOY!!

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

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Its fall and there is a huge rush of pumpkin baked goods in my kitchen.  I kept seeing these recipes for pumpkin donuts and decided I need buy myself a donut pan so I can make pumpkin donuts.  Now my fiance is a little pumpkined out so I agreed to give him a short break and make these.  Don't worry, pumpkin donuts are next!  I bought the Wilton donut pan and I am now obsessed.  Its so quick and easy to make donuts on a Saturday morning that I think my pan will get a lot of use!  This is just a basic recipe, good for first time donut makers like me.  I cant wait to start making other flavors, see keep reading for more in the future!

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Yield: makes 6
Adapted from shutterbean.com

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1 Teaspoons Vanilla

For the topping:
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions:

1. For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a PAM to coat the pan.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. Whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
4. Fill the wells of the doughnut pans a bit more than three-quarters full with the batter.  I filled mine too much but next time I will put less batter in and make more donuts - the recipe makes about 8 if you don't overload them!
5. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the wall of a doughnut comes out clean and the doughnuts are puffed and lightly browned. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently invert the doughnuts onto a rimmed baking sheet.
6. While the doughnuts are cooling, make the topping.  Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
7. Brush the warm doughnuts with the melted butter, then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture on one or both sides. Serve warm.
8. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

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I woke up this weekend with pumpkin on my mind.  I made a pumpkin latte for breakfast and then onto these cookies.  I love pumpkin and I love snickerdoodles.  These cookies were a no-brainer.  I am pretty sure these are my new favorite fall cookie.  I like the taste and texture.  I feel like most pumpkin cookies are super cakey but these aren't as much.   I don't have much more to say, so Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles - Adapted from Annie's Eats

Yield - 3 Dozen

For the Cookies:

3¾ Cups Flour

1½ Teaspoon Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1 Cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

½ Cup Light Brown Sugar

¾ Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 Large Egg
2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

For the coating:

½ Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
Dash of Allspice

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 
2. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. 
3. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. 
4. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. 
6. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. 
7. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.
8. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.
9. Enjoy!

Easy Pumpkin Ice Cream

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Today is the first day of October and that means its pumpkin season!  For the next two months I will eat as much pumpkin as possible, with a minimum of one serving per day, if not more.  So I had an opened can of pumpkin and needed to make something with it and needless to say, ice cream was the winning recipe.  I couldn't find a good recipe that I liked to I made my own.  There is a recipe for easy vanilla ice cream on Allrecipes.com that I have made before and its delicious and quick so I used that as a base.  I dumped in the rest of the can of pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and vanilla and whisked it up.  I added it to my ice cream maker and within 20 minutes I had a wonderful batch of pumpkin pie ice cream.  This recipe is super simple and easy for anyone new to making ice cream, or if you don't have time to make a more complicated ice cream.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Let the pumpkin season commence!!!

Pumpkin Ice Cream Recipe

Yield: 1.5 Quarts

Ingredients:

1 (14oz) Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

3-4 Cups Half & Half - I used milk because that was all I had but any combination of milk to cream works, just depends on how creamy and rich you want it.

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (This amount doesn't have to be exact, I used just over a cup)

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon Cloves

1/4 Teaspoon Ginger

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to large bowl and whisk together.
2. Add all ingredients to your ice cream maker and let churn for 15-20 minutes.
3. Let the ice cream get hard in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
4. Serve and Enjoy!



Chocolate Espresso Cupcake

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Its that time of year again, my mom's birthday.  This year she requested these.  I brought them to her party and they were gone before the birthday girl could even get one.  But she told me that everyone was raving about them.  My mom not getting one is just a good excuse for me to make these again. So good!

Happy Birthday Mamma!

Chocolate Espresso Cupcake - Adapted from The Baker Chick

Yield: 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Large Eggs - room temp
3/4 Cup Freshly Brewed Strong Coffee
3/4 Cup Buttermilk - I made my own buttermilk with vinegar and milk, it worked great!
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Instant Espresso Powder - I used 2 packets of Starbucks Cafe Via Blonde Roast

Espresso Buttercream
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, softened
4 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Instant Espresso Powder - I used 4 packets of Starbucks Cafe Via Blonde Roast

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2-6 Tablespoons of Milk or Cream

24 Chocolate Espresso Beans + some for snacking on (optional)


Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.
2. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
3. Stir the espresso powder into the hot coffee until dissolved. Let the coffee cool for at least 20 minutes.
4. Add the eggs into the bowl with the flour, along with the coffee/espresso mixture, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.  The batter will be liquidy, not thick.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 18 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. 
6. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Frosting Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the espresso powder, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk or cream. Stir together until powder has dissolved.  I let this sit for about an hour and it made for a strong coffee flavor!
2. Put the softened butter into a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and creamy.
3. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until thick. Add the espresso/vanilla mixture and continue to beat frosting well.
4. Add a teaspoon at a time of milk/cream until frosting is creamy and pipe-able. 
5. Frost cupcakes as desired, and top with a chocolate covered espresso bean. 
6. Enjoy!!

Cookies & Cream Cake

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It was time to make a cake and this cake caught my interest.  It lived up to my expectation and everyone love it.  The cake is very moist and has great flavor.  I love the whipped cream frosting as its not as heavy and filling as a normal buttercream frosting.  I don't have much else to say other then, THIS CAKE ROCKS!

Cookies & Cream Cake - Adapted from Bird On A Cake

Cake Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Package (3.4oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Lukewarm Water
3 Eggs (room temperature)
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
14 Oreo Cookies (chopped into quarters) 

Oreo Whipped Cream Frosting Ingredients:
1 Quart Heavy Whipping Cream
3/4 Cup Sugar
14 Oreo cookies (remove the filling and crush the cookies)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325. Line the bottoms of two 9 inch round cake pans with wax paper and grease the sides or spray the whole pan with Pam.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking powder and baking soda. 
3. Add the oil, water, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract. Beat with mixer on medium speed until well blended. 
4. By hand, mix in the Oreo cookies.
5. Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake for approx. 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool completely - or even freeze.
6. With an electric mixer, whip the cream and sugar until it forms stiff peaks (3-4 minutes). Fold in crushed Oreos. Keep refrigerated.
7. To assemble your cake, level your cakes and slice them each in half, to make four cake layers. 
8. Spread frosting between the layers and cover the entire cake with frosting. Keep refrigerated and garnish with Oreo cookies right before serving.
9. ENJOY!

Fluffy Snickerdoodles

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I am a huge fan of snickerdoodles and these ones are pretty amazing.  I made these for my manager for her birthday.  She loves snickerdoodles a little more then I do and she was amazed when she tasted these.  She said she wasn't going to share any of the cookies and just hoard them in her room until they were gone.  These cookies have more cinnamon in them then any other recipe I have seen and I am obsessed with cinnamon.  They are perfectly soft and fluffy, and will just melt in your mouth.  I like that the recipe only makes 20 too.   Try these, you will not be disappointed!

Fat Fluffy Snickerdoodles - adapted from How Sweet Eats

Yield: 16-20 cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Butter, unsalted and room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 3/4 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Tablespoons Milk

1/4 Cup Sugar + 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon for dipping

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. 
2. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. 
3. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375.
5. In a bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. 
6. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven when they are golden brown but still soft.  Place on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. 
7. Enjoy!

Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

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It was fathers day on Sunday so I hosted a Father's day dinner at my house for my future Father-In-Law (Yes I finally moved into my new house, and yes I finally got engaged! All on the same day actually...) So I wanted to make a classic cookie that I know he would love.  Peanut butter cookies just seemed right.  I made the dough before they came over to let it refrigerate for about 2 hours before baking.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner of Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos and then it was onto dessert.  These cookies were amazing and made the house smell great.  Perfectly soft and chewy came out of the oven and we had a feast.  My future Mother-In-Law ate one too, which is rare because she normally doesn't eat cookies or sweets.  These cookies wont look done, but they will be.  Pour yourself a big glass of milk and enjoy these cookies!

Just got word from my Fiance that these cookies are like crack.  He has been hording some at his work and rationing his supply.   Little does he know I have more dough in the freezer....

Ready for the oven.

Adapted from Une Gamine Dans La Cuisine
Yield - About 2 dozen
Ingredients:
1 3/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cream or Milk (I used milk)
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 Large Egg, room temperature

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, cream, and vanilla. Beat on med-high speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
3. Add the egg and beat for about 30 seconds - until just incorporated. 
4. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour. I let mine chill for 2 hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use AirBake cookies sheets.
7. Using a medium cookie scoop, form the dough into balls and place them onto the prepared sheets, allowing about 2-inches of space between each cookie. 
8. Slightly flatten each ball of dough with the tines of a lightly-floured fork, creating a crisscross pattern.
9. Bake for 7-8 minutes - do not exceed 9 minutes. The tops should look underdone - they will firm up as the cookies cool.  My cookies were perfect after about 8 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 10 minutes before removing transferring to a cooling rack.
10. Enjoy!!

Key Lime Cupcakes

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Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter.  I love holidays so I have spent the last week getting decorations ready and trying to plan everything out.  We dyed some Easter eggs, had an egg hunt, and ate a ton of food.  In my opinion, these cupcakes were the best part!  I was a little disappointed I didn't double the recipe.  They were a big hit at both my moms house and at my boyfriends family party.  The cupcakes were very light and refreshing, a perfect summer recipe.  I have a half bag of key limes left and I am seriously considering just making more cupcakes to eat, and not sharing this time.  Please try these! I can guarantee you will love them!

I love all the lime zest!

Key Lime Cupcakes - Adapted from Sprinkles Cupcakes

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:
1 1/2 Cups Flour, sifted
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Whole Milk, room temperature - I used 1% Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoon Key Lime Juice - Plus some for brushing on after baking
1 Tablespoon key Lime Zest
1/2 Cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg, room temperature
2 Egg whites, room temperature

toothpick or skewer

For the Frosting:
1 Cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter , firm but not cold
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
3 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted - I am lazy and didn't sift...
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Tablespoons Key Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Key Lime Zest
1-3 Tablespoons Milk - depending on desired consistency


Cooking Directions

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, key lime zest and the lime juice; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. 
5. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
6. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
7. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely.
8. Use a toothpick or skewer to poke the tops of the cupcakes with holes. Use pastry brush to brush remaining lime juice over the top of the cupcake.
9. Let cupcakes dry slightly before topping with key lime frosting.

For the frosting:

1. Beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
2. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. 
3. Add vanilla, key lime juice and zest; mix until just blended. Do not over mix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream. - I didnt want mine as thick so I added more milk. 
4. Frosts over one dozen.
5. ENJOY!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

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So remember the Super Bowl a few weeks ago, well we were invited to a party and it can be considered rude to show up at a party empty handed, so I made these.   They were a huge hit and everyone loved them!  If only the 49ers would have won, it would have made these taste even better.   Although, they did taste pretty good with a few beers in my belly.  I thought it would be fun to make football themed cupcakes so I found these cupcake toppers online somewhere and glued them to toothpicks.  I hope you like them!

  

This chocolate cake recipe comes out perfect every time!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes - Adapted from My Baking Addiction

Chocolate Cupcake

Yield: 24 Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 5.9 Ounce Package Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix - I used Chocolate Fudge Pudding
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
4 Eggs, room temperature
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Instant Espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water - I use a Starbucks VIA packet
24 Reese’s Miniatures, FROZEN - this prevents them from disappearing into the batter

Peanut Butter Buttercream
Ingredients:
3 Sticks Butter, unsalted and room temperature
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Vanilla
5 1/2 Cups Confectioners' Sugar, sifted
6-8 Tablespoons Heavy Cream - I used about 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well. Press one frozen Reese’s Miniature into the center of each cupcake.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. 
5. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
6. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. 
8. Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.
9. Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy
10. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
11. ENJOY!!

Citrus Sugar Cookies

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I love citrus.  I love the smell of citrus, the taste of citrus, when my fingers smell like citrus and more.  These cookies have lemon, lime and orange in them.  They are super refreshing and taste like summer.   I made my cookies a little big, and my helper (aka my boyfriend) smashed them pretty flat with a cup.  But the flavor was great and this is for sure one of my favorite sugar cookies.  The best part is using the extra zesty sugar to dip strawberries.  Delicious!

Adapted from Shugary Sweets
Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups Sugar, divided
1 Egg, room temperature
2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Orange, zested
1 Lemon, zested
2 Limes, zested

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, zest all the citrus. Remove about 2 tsp of zest and place in a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar to the 2 tsp of zest. Combine with a fork and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, add butter and remaining 1 cup sugar. Beat for 1-2 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat until combined. Add in zest.
3. Roll cookies into 3/4-1inch balls. Then roll them in the sugar/zest mixture, coating generously. Place ball on cookie sheet and repeat. 
4. Using a flat bottom of a cup, press the ball slightly to form a disc. Repeat for all balls. I then pressed a little extra sugar on the tops of the cookies at this point (totally optional). 
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack.
6. Enjoy.

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

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Question -Who doesn't love Cookies & Cream ice cream?  Well everyone does in my house.  I made this ice cream and it was gone in like a day.  Its kinda annoying when you go into the freezer for something and its all gone.  But on second thought, at least you know it was delicious.  This ice cream was very easy, quick and amazing.  The best part about this recipe is the extra Oreo's left over that you can eat... Yum.

Cookies & Cream Ice Cream - Adapted from Erica's Sweet Tooth

Yield - 1.5 Quarts

1 1/2 Cups Whole Milk - I use non-fat milk
1 1/8 Cups Sugar
3 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
15 Oreo's Crushed - I used about 20

Directions:

1. Make sure your ice cream maker is in the freezer for at least 24 hours before starting this recipe.
2. Stir the milk and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
3. Mix in the cream and vanilla
4. Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and let it run for the manufacturer’s recommended time.   I ran mine 15 to 20 minutes.  Add the Oreo's in about 3 minutes before the time is up
5. Put the ice cream in the freezer to firm up completely.
6. Enjoy!

Mint Chip Ice Cream

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This year I asked Santa for an Ice Cream maker, and guess what, I GOT IT!  Best gift ever.  Its now January 12th and I have made 5 different types of ice cream already and I have a big list of recipes to make.  Needless to say, ill be busy the next few months making ice cream and sorbets.   So all the recipes I have made have been super easy.  I have been too impatient and lazy to make the fancy ice creams where you have to temper in egg yolks and drain it through sieves and chill for hours.  These next few recipes I am going to post are fool proof.   This mint chip ice cream was truly amazing!  I would highly recommend this Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.   Its quick and easy, what more can you ask for.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - Adapted from All Recipes
Yield - 1.5 Quarts
1 1/2 Cups Milk - I used non-fat milk
1 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
2 or 3 Drops Green Food Coloring - optional
3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips - or Shaved Chocolate

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the green food coloring.
2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After about 10 minutes into the freezing, add the chocolate chips. After the ice cream has thickened, about 10 minutes later, spoon into a container, and freeze for 2 hours.