Cooking, Sweets, Blog, Desserts
We have a winner folks. So wish I could give them to all of you. Thanks again for all who entered! Here is the lucky winner:
True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 84
Result:
15
Judi says:
Oh, yes….I’ll take some chocolate!
Congrats Judi! Send me your address so I can get those chocolates out to you ASAP!
Thanks again everyone!
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!
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.
So lets get right to the giveaway! I had so many wonderful comments and so many great fall baking and cookies ideas, thanks everyone! It made me hungry just reading them. So using Random.org, I got to random numbers:
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
53
72
Timestamp: 2008-10-28 21:04:35 UTC
So, that means the first winner of the lovely French Linen Apron goes to Dawn of Vanilla Sugar! Yay! You have 1 week to email me your address so I can mail this beauty out!
And the second winner, of The Gathering Of Friends Cookbook goes to Aubrie of We Eat, What Else Is There?. Same goes for you, you have 1 week to email me your address so I can get that cookbook out to you!
Thanks so much everyone for participating and hopefully we’ll have another great giveaway soon! So, are you in the mood for a really awesome cookie recipe? Great. These cookies are probably one of my favorites so far. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies. ÂYes, they sound so simple, but these cookies are extraordinary. They are delicious. My husband had been requesting them for months, and I finally got around to making them and now I want to make them every week. That’s how good they are. I added the cute Halloween m&m’s just for some pizazz, and my kids love the cute colors. Hope you all have a great week and I’ll be back tomorrow for Daring Bakers, so be sure to check back! Happy Tuesday!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups oatmeal
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup m&m’s
1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time until mixed through. Add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined.
3. Stir in oatmeal, chocolate chips and m&m’s.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Do not overbake.
*Also seen on Cafe Zupas Blog
Happy Thursday everyone! And a happy 100th post to me! I can’t believe it myself, but I am officially not a newbie foodie anymore. I’ve made it past the hump and now I’m an experienced blogger(chuckle). I don’t know how experienced I feel quite yet, but maybe eventually it will come to that. I’m still feeling a little out of sorts here lately but I hope to be getting back into the swing of things soon. In honor of my 100th post I am doing a giveaway! Yay! The only thing you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite fall food is. Anything you can think of will do. I would love some good ideas! You have until Tuesday, October 28th at 12:00 noon. I will announce the winners shortly after that. Would you like to know what the giveaways are? Here it goes…
My beautiful mother has kindly donated one of her gorgeous hand made French Linen Aprons. Make sure you check out her site, My French Table. ÂShe sells handmade French Tablecloths and Linens. They are gorgeous and affordable. So to one lucky winner, this apron will be all yours!
And for the last item, I received this wonderful cookbook in the mail, The Gathering of Friends. It is a great cookbook with some great ideas for entertaining and beautiful recipes. So, make sure you post your comment on this post before Tuesday so that you can have a chance at winning one of two fabulous prizes!!
Now onto the recipe!! These muffins are so delicious and moist and tasty that you can’t eat just one. They are filled with fall spices and topped with a brown sugar cinnamon crumble and drizzled with a cinnamon cream cheese glaze. You just can’t beat that combination my friends. And I can only tell you that the aroma of your home while these are baking should be bottled up and made into a candle because it is delightful. I hope you enjoy them and have a great weekend! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway and tell all your friends to enter too!
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
recipe by Steph
makes 12 muffins
For the muffins:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup pureed pumpkin
For the Crumble:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoons melted butter
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 ounces softened cream cheese
dash of ground cinnamon
dash of milk, if needed
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray regular muffin in with non stick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, mix the butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk and cream. Add pumpkin puree. Do not overmix.
4. Divide batter evenly between the muffin tins, filling to the very top and a little over.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the crumble. Crumble on top of each muffin batter. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
6. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the glaze. Drizzle over the tops of the muffins.
