Stephanies Kitchen

Orange Zested Cookies w/ Sweet Orange Glaze

May 3, 2011 By Steph 25 Comments

I live in Utah. I think it is written in the Utah Code that it must always snow on or a day before May 1st. Never fails. So one day it will be 72 degrees and the next the gardens are frozen and we have inches of snow on the ground. I don’t get it. Doesn’t seem right to me, but I choose to live here so I must live with it, right? I am most definitely looking forward to bright and sunny days ahead.

So as I sit there and watch the snow flakes fall, I crave spring, I crave summer. Nothing says spring or summer like citrus. Am I right? I made a version of these cookies using lemon zest and lemon juice. They were delightful. Perfect texture, perfect tangy lemon-ness. Didn’t get those photographed, but I was craving them again so I decided to switch them up a bit and use fresh oranges instead. I have to say, they were amazing. I think oranges seem to get a little neglected in the baking world. They are an amazing fruit, and they make amazing cookies. Give them a try and brighten up your day!

Orange Zested Cookies w/ Sweet Orange Glaze

makes about 2-3 dozen (depending on the size)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 egg

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
fresh orange juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until zest is throughout the sugar. The sugar will become moist from the oils being released. Using a mixer, cream the butter and orange zested sugar. Add egg and orange juice. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. At this point you can chill for an hour or so or overnight. I was impatient and baked them! Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roll into smooth round balls. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until very lightly golden on the bottoms. Don’t overbake or they will be a bit to dry and lose the perfect texture.

Mix the confectioners’ sugar, orange zest and enough orange juice to get a glaze consistency and mix until smooth and creamy. Pour glaze over the tops of the cookies and let set.

Feel free to mix up the citruses. Use lemons or limes instead of oranges, or use some of each. Delicious!

Filed Under: cookies, desserts, fruit, lemon

Chocolatey Pirate Cupcakes

April 29, 2011 By Steph 3 Comments

My sweet little boy turned 4 on Wednesday. Time has flown by soooo fast. These are his Pirate Birthday Cupcakes. He is incredibly obsessed with Pirates right now. It might have something to do with my Husband letting him watch Pirates of the Caribbean a while ago. My 6 year old girl had nightmares for weeks and my son begs to watch it everyday. Different than night and day those two.

I thought I would post both a simple Chocolate cupcake recipe and a simple Vanilla cupcake recipe since I get requests all the time for just that. I have a couple of recipes for both deep in the archives, but these two are recipes that I have tweeked and perfected over time. Perfect go-to recipes that will turn out every time. I have mentioned this before, but these recipes call for Cake Flour. I never buy cake flour. I simply add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup all purpose flour and voila, cake flour! A little tip from me to you!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for the Belgian Chocolate!!! Simply post a comment (before May 2nd) on the Giveaway Post (click here). (Not on this post, the previous post!!!!) I will announce the winner Monday, May 2nd. You don’t want to miss it!!

Onto the recipes:

Chocolate Cupcakes
recipe makes 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour (or use all purpose flour and add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups oil
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup sour cream

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa and sugar. Set aside. Using a mixer, mix together the eggs, vanilla, oil, water and sour cream. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Scoop into 24 muffin cups lined with papers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Vanilla Cupcakes
recipe makes 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour (or use all purpose flour and add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use a vanilla bean)
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk and mix until well incorporated. Scoop into 24 muffin cups lined with papers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Have an awesome and delicious weekend!

Filed Under: chocolate, cupcakes, desserts, giveaway

Caramel Marshmallow S’more Pops and a Giveaway…

April 26, 2011 By Steph 88 Comments

I hope you all had a great Easter. I ate way too much. Stuffed my face full of amazing food. As I always do.. My Mom and I made these in between cooking Ham and Potatoes. Marshmallows covered in smooth caramel, dipped in mixed nuts (mine were dipped in coarsely chopped graham crackers) and then slathered in chocolate. You really can’t go wrong. Get creative. Package them up and give them as gifts or just eat them all by yourself while sitting in front of the T.V watching The Biggest Loser. (I have never done that, I’m just sayin….)

This is the Marshmallow Pop w/Caramel and Mixed Nuts

What you will need:

Sucker Sticks
Large Marshmallows
Melted Caramel
Chopped up Mixed nuts (we used pecans and almonds)
Graham Crackers, coarsely chopped
Melted Chocolate of your choice
Parchment Paper placed on a cookie sheet
Cooking spray

1. Stick your marshmallows on your sticks (we did 4 but that made them HUGE)
2. Dip the marshmallows in the melted caramel. (If you over dip, your topping will slide off, so be easy on the caramel and let it drip off a bit before you go to the next step)
3. Roll the marshmallows in the toppings of your choice
4. Place onto the parchment paper and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to help the caramel harden.
5. Dip the marshmallows in the melted chocolate and place back on the parchment paper until the chocolate sets.
6. Try not to eat every single one before you have a chance to share.

And now onto the giveaway!!!

I was contacted by Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolate a while ago and asked if I would like to receive a sample of there decedent Belgian Chocolate to try. Um…what kind of girl would turn that down? Not me. It was like Christmas morning when I opened up the large box to reveal the amazing chocolate inside. Wow. They did not let me down. It was amazing chocolate. Best I ever had. Honestly.

Would you like a chance to try their chocolate for free? Well they are giving you a chance to do just that. A sample of there amazing chocolate will be shipped to your door. Here is how to enter for the chance:

Just leave a comment on this post. For additional entries:

1) Become a Stephanie’s Kitchen follower on Facebook

2) Become a Stephanie’s Kitchen follower on Twitter

3) Blog, tweet or facebook about this giveaway and leave me the link in the comments

Make sure to leave your email address if it’s not already linked up to that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner!

Good luck! You have until Sunday May 1st at 11:59 p.m to enter and I will announce the winner May 2nd.

Filed Under: candy, chocolate, desserts, giveaway, no bake desserts, reviews

Crispy Peanut Butter Marshmallow Truffle Eggs

April 21, 2011 By Steph 4 Comments

You are welcome. Trust me.

Have a great weekend!

Crispy Peanut Butter Marshmallow Truffle Eggs
makes about 2 dozen (depending on the size)

1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups puffed rice cereal
1/2 cup marshmallow creme

chocolate for dipping

I used a mixer for this, but you could totally do this by hand if you feel you need a workout. Cream the peanut butter and butter. Add the vanilla extract. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar and than add the puffed rice cereal. Don’t over mix that too hard so it stays crispy. Stir in the marshmallow cream. It will have a marbled effect which is just what you want. Use a regular sized ice cream scoop and scoop the peanut butter mixture onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Shape into egg shapes. Or leave in a round ball. Totally your preference. Freeze for about 1 hour. Melt your chocolate and dip the eggs into the chocolate. Place on the parchment paper. Let the chocolate set. I put some melted white chocolate on top to make it extra pretty. Enjoy!

Filed Under: candy, chocolate, desserts, holiday, no bake desserts

Banana Cupcakes w/Caramel Frosting

April 19, 2011 By Steph 8 Comments

Welcome to the new Stephanie’s Kitchen! I am so excited to have this all done and show you guys! It has been so much fun to see it come to life. It took a while for the whole process to be complete and then with all of my fabulous luck that I was born with, someone hacked into the server that holds the website! Can you even believe it? It threatened everything that had been done on it, but I do have some luck because I am married to a computer genius and he was able to save it. Yay! So drama behind us, here we are.

Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments this last week. And just so everyone knows, my daughter is doing perfect, the dog is doing great and everyone is happy (at the moment).

So onto the cupcakes. These were amazing! I had never had caramel frosting before, but had heard of it recently so I decided to try my hand at it. It was so tasty and the perfect addition to these light and fluffy cupcakes. So if you have some ripe bananas sitting on your countertop like I do all the time, give these a try! Don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t frost half of them and fed them to my kids for breakfast. After all, cupcakes without frosting are just muffins, right?

Have a great week everyone!

Banana Cupcakes w/Caramel Frosting
makes about 2 dozen

2 1/2 cups cake flour (or just add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup of all purpose flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup milk
1 cup mashed ripe banana

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Mix in the vanilla and milk. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until smooth and creamy. Fold in the mashed bananas. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Equally distribute the batter between the muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Frost with caramel frosting, add mini chocolate chips to the batter before baking or just eat plain.

Caramel Frosting

5 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a medium saucepan, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the milk. Let sit to cool for about 30 minutes. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth. Add more sugar if needed to get a frosting consistency.

Filed Under: cupcakes, desserts, fruit