Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in.. a year.... /: ooops. I'm not as into baking as I used to be because I'm healthy and I don't have an eating disorder anymore but I'm still pretty fasinated by food and all these complicated recipes that I have not yet tried! Like you know at Byerly's they have all these amazing looking desserts? I want to try making those! Anyway, enjoy all the things on this site I may post something soon if it gets to be a rainy day but enjoy the nice weather while it's still here!

-Danielle

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

As soon as I saw these cupcakes, I really wanted to make them. I think I was mostly excited about the white chocolate buttercream frosting. I've never made a white chocolate frosting before! They were very worth it. I wanted to just eat the white chocolate frosting by myself.. but it tastes even better on the cupcake! The cupcake is almost like a moist brownie, but in cupcake form. I only made a few changes to the recipe, like adding more chocolate and sugar. Next time, I'll just add more butter to the frosting.



Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes
recipe adapted from Disney Family

Ingredients
6 oz semi sweet chocolate
4 tablespoons (half stick) Light butter, room temperature
1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a large pinch of salt

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
3 oz white chocolate
5 tablespoons light butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confections sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin cup with 8 paper liners. Set aside.

Melt the plain chocolate over a pan of hot water and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Cream butter and sugars in a bowl until fluffy then beat in the cooled plain chocolate, followed by an egg, vanilla, and sour cream. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder, plus a large pinch of salt, into the bowl and fold in.

Spoon into cupcake (around 2/3 full). Bake for 18-20 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch. Allow to cool thoroughly on wire rack.

To make the buttercream, melt the white chocolate in heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla together with a pinch of salt then beat in the cooled chocolate. Spread the frosting on the cupcake when cooled, then store in airtight container.

Cake Pops 2

I lovee making cake pops. I made these for Christmas. I used vanilla flavor red & green melting chocolate, and cocoa flavor melting chocolate. I didn't think people would like these when I brought them to Christmas eve, but they were a hit! It was perfect because everyone was so full from dinner, and they were like the perfect dessert because they were so little.



I have learned a few things making cake pops, and these tips should make them perfect(:

-When you mix the frosting in, use a canned frosting and only 1/2 the can. The canned frosting will make them firm a little better, when I made a homemade frosting, the cake pops just got too mushy.

-Dip frosting on the stick before you attach it to the cake ball, this will make it not fall off when you dip it.

-Freeze the cake pops for at least 2 hours. This made everything soo much easier! The chocolate dried within 3 minutes because they were so cold, and the cake pops never fell off their sticks!

Have a happy new year everyone!!(:

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!(: And that the baking ideas were useful. I have been dying to make truffles forever! Especially those cranberry ones. Unfortunately, my mom doesn't want to see another truffle for a while because my neighbor just brought a bunch over and I got her some from See's candy. So truffles will have to wait until Valentines day.

This cheesecake, was maybe one of the best I've made in a while(: Not really any cracks in the top either! I brought this to Christmas and everyone loved it! It's pretty easy too, but next time I'll try to find regular chocolate graham crackers instead of using teddy grahams.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

4 ounces chocolate graham crackers

3 tablespoon canola oil

cooking spray

1 1/2 cups cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup Chambord (raspberry liquor)

3 tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

2 (8-ounce) packages block style 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

4 ounces block style fat free cream cheese, softened

1 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg whites

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan tightly with a double layer of heavy duty foil.

Place crackers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Drizzle with oil. Pulse until combined. Press mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Place cranberries, sugar, liquor, and water in a saucepan. Boil. Cook 8 minutes or until cranberries start to pop and mixture is syrupy. Cool 20 minutes. Place mixture in a food processor. Process 1 minute or until smooth.

Combine 1 cup sugar and cheeses in large bowl; Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in yogurt, vanilla, and salt. Add whole eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Place 2 egg whites in a medium bowl; Beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Fold beaten egg whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour filling over crust. Spoon cranberry mixture over filling. Swirl together using the tip of a knife. Place spring form pan in a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 2 inches. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes or until center of cheesecake barely moves when pan is touched.

Turn oven off. Cool cheesecake in closed oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Run a knife around outside edge. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Christmas Baking Ideas

It's getting to that time of year again. The neighbors are making fudge and truffles, and I'm starting to bake dessert for Christmas Eve. If you have no idea what to make for Christmas, here's a few yummy ideas(:

Cranberry Orange Truffles
This recipe is on my to make list. Don't they look good? Different from your regular truffles, but probably still delicious.

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

Yummmm. I'm not really a peppermint kind of person, but these look amazing.

Eggnog Cheesecake

I've tried the Soy Nog and that was really Delicious so I bet this would be even better!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I think Red Velvet is always a favorite.

Easy Sugar Cookies

These cookies don't look that hard to make. So if you're not good with decorating icing like I am, they're perfect!

Gingerbread Cake Pops
These are super cute. And cake pops are always a fun treat to make.

Happy Baking Everyone! And Merry Christmas(: I'll be posting new recipes after Christmas.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These cupcakes, were probably the best cupcakes I've ever had/made. As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew that I had to make it. They were worth all the hard work! You have to make the cookie dough, freeze it for about 3 hours, make the yellow cupcakes from scratch or use a mix, put them in the oven, and then make the frosting. I was skeptical at first because I thought the whole thing would be pretty doughy, but it was perfect the day after they were made. I'll for sure be making these again, I ate one everyday for breakfast until they were gone(:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

1 box yellow cake mix plus ingredients to prepare mix or yellow cupcakes from scratch

Directions

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just Incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; Mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon sized balls; Place on baking sheet and freeze until solid, about 2 1/2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; Continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepare cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on top of the center of each cupcake, and smooth down to the bottom, covering the dough ball with batter.

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the dough ball) comes clean, about 15-18 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 11 cupcakes

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup powdered sugar

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk and sugar.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

I've never made these cookies before. I was really excited to make them because I love making cookies, and they looked pretty easy to make. And they were! I mainly made these because my neighbors bring over fudge every year, and we never know what to give them in return (besides shoveling their driveway) so I made these! My parents were pretty sad that I gave most of them away because they loved them, so I'll definitely make these again. I only adapted the recipe a little bit, but next time I might use chocolate nutella instead of peanut butter. Either way would probably be really good(:

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

1/2 cup light butter, room temperature

3/4 cup Jiff omega 3 peanut butter

1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar

1/3 cup organic sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons soy milk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Coating:

1/3 cup organic sugar

Garnish:

48 milk chocolate Kisses, unwrapped

Directions

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Set aside.

In medium bowl with electric mixer, beat the butter. Add peanut butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. Beat in the milk. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. And to the peanut butter mixture and beat until Incorporated. Cover and chill the batter for about an hour, or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven.

Roll the batter into 1 tablespoon round balls. Place the organic sugar in a shallow bowl and roll each ball in the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cooking for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, place a chocolate Kiss in the center of each cookie, pressing down until the cookie just starts to crack. Cool completely on wire rack, then put in a sealed container.

Makes about 2 dozen big cookies, or 4 dozen small cookies

One Serving Mini Cheesecake

I was really excited about making this. When I first saw it, I was a bit skeptical but I'm so glad I tried it! It's really easy to make. All you have to do is stir up all the ingredients and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I ended up making three of these because my parents both wanted one and I made a few changes to the recipe. I used 100 calorie chocolate chip cookies and organic sugar because organic sugar tastes better than splenda. But, I'll definitely be making this again. It was such an easy dessert, and I think it's almost better than regular cheesecake.

One Serving Mini Cheesecake

recipe slightly adapted from Hungry Girl.com

Ingredients

1/2 pack Nabisco 100 cal chips ahoy thin crisps, divided

1/4 cup low fat part skin ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons fat free cream cheese, room temperature

2 teaspoons organic cane sugar

1/2 tablespoon Jell-o sugar free fat free instant vanilla pudding mix

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup Cool Whip Free, thawed

Directions

Break half of the cookies into small pieces, and finely crush the other half. Set both aside separately.

In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese, cream cheese, organic sugar, pudding mix, and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip, and then gently stir in the broken cookie pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Making 1 serving

For nutritional information, click here

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

I know this has been all over the blog world lately, but that's what made me want to make it. Everyone said it was really good and worth trying, so I decided to try it. And it's worth it! It's really good. Not as good as the Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie, but still pretty good. Next time, I'll probably make my own graham cracker crust and add more to the bottom layer.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of the batter and spread into bottom of crust. Set aside.

Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over batter in the crust.

Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before cooling.

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

I've been really wanting to make some vegan desserts lately. I'm not really sure why, they just seem so interesting! I really think people are wrong when they say vegan food isn't good. It's delicious! My dad used to think that, until he tried this cake. The whole layer cake was gone within 3 days(: And only 3 people were eating it! I see that as a good sign.

This cake is really easy to make. I added a lot more food coloring than the recipe called for, but I liked that it had a nice red color. I used a vegan buttercream frosting, but next time I'll use a vegan cream cheese one. I think Red Velvet Cake is almost not complete without cream cheese frosting.

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

recipe from The Daily Green

Ingredients

for the cake:

3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

2 cups non dairy milk (I used soy milk)

2/3 cup canola oil

6 tablespoons red food coloring

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

For the Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup nondairy nondydroginated butter (I used Earth Balance), at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons nondairy milk (I used soy milk)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 8-inch round cake pans.

To make the batter, in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Create a well in the center, and add milk, oil, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined.

Divide cake batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Place pans in the oven spaced evenly apart. Bake for about 35 minutes, rotating 45 degrees halfway through. When the cakes pull away from the sides of the pans and a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean, they are ready.

Let cakes cool 10 minutes in the pans, then run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides. One at a time, invert cakes onto a plate and then re invert onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

To make the frosting, with an electric hand or stand mixer, cream butter until it is smooth and begins to fluff. With the mixer on low speed, add powdered sugar and fluff for another few minutes. Add vanilla, milk, and food coloring. Add additional milk if the frosting is hard to work with.

Once all ingredients are well-combined, beat on high until frosting is light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more milk to achieve the right consistency. Cover the frosting with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out until ready to use. Rewhip before using.

To frost cake, place one layer, rounded-side down, on a plate or cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula, spread some frosting over top of cake. Carefully set other layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Cover entire cake with remaining frosting.

Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie

I've been wanting to make this for a long time. It just looked so good! And it is. I think it's one of the best things I've ever made. My mom brought this to Thanksgiving at my uncles house and she said it was a hit! She said it was gone pretty quickly, but she brought me back a piece.

I'm so glad I got to try it, it tastes amazing! I've never made a pie that had a brownie bottom. Next time, I think I might try making a Blondie bottom with a different type of pudding filling. The best part is, it takes almost no effort to make! I'll for sure be making this again.


Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie
recipe from Kraft Foods

Ingredients
4 squares Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped Planters Pecans
2 1/2 cups cold milk
2 packages (4-serving size each) Jell-o Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip Whipped topping, thawed
Grated Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on High 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Stir in flour and nuts. Spread into greased 9-inch pie plate.

Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. DO NOT OVER BAKE. Cool Completely on rack.

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread over pie. Top with whipped topping; Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Thanksgiving Ideas

I'm really excited about Thanksgiving now. I'm having a vegetarian thanksgiving with my dad (and I'll share the recipes later) so I don't have to worry about not getting protein. But, If you haven't figured out what to make or bring for Thanksgiving, here are some ideas.

If you aren't sick of pumpkin yet, Pumpkin Pie Pudding!

I made this a while ago. Mocha Pumpkin Cheesecake. It was a hit. My dad keeps telling me to make it, but I'm not making it for Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll make it again for Christmas.

I thought this one was pretty cool. Baked Brie with Pecans. You could bring this as an appetizer and it's super easy to make.

Curry-Spiced Sweet potatoes. Yum! I love sweet potatoes. I'm for sure making something with sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.



Deviled Eggs. These have always been a favorite of mine. And these ones have tofu in them! If you're always short on protein like I am at thanksgiving, These would be the thing to make.


And lastly, Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Strudel. I'm sad I just found this recipe! I'm definitely going to make this soon. Maybe I can even make it for Christmas.



Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

I've wanted to make these for the longest time. The recipe pictures made them look so good! And really easy too.

The were actually pretty easy, but I just made a few changes to the recipe. The crust is the hardest part, it kept sticking to my fingers! But I just floured a spatula and pressed the crust into the pan no problem. These would be great to make for Thanksgiving because you can make them in advance. And the recipe can easily be modified and changed.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars

recipe adapted from Splenda

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend

1/2 Splenda sugar blend

1 cup old-fashioned oats

3/4 cup light margarine

8 oz fat free cream cheese

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 CUP canned pumpkin

1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend

1 cup chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine flour, Splenda brown sugar blend, the Splenda sugar blend, and oats. Cut in the margarine with a fork until mixture is crumbly.

Press the crust mixture into the bottom of prepared pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Beat cream cheese and pumpkin together. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until combined. Add the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and the 1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend and beat until blended.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the pre-baked crust and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until set. Lift from pan to cool. Cut into 24 bars.

Pistachio Pudding Cookies

These are probably the favorite cookies I've made so far. And you really only need four ingredients to make them! My mom's lovess Pistachio and it was her birthday so I wanted to make something Pistachio flavored. First I wanted to make a pistachio cheesecake, then a pistachio layer cake, but I finally decided on the Pistachio cookies. And she loved them!

These cookies are really easy to make and can easily be switched with a different pudding. You can also add any chocolate and nuts to them you want. I added some white chocolate chips and some milk chocolate chips to it. Next time, I think I'll make Vanilla or Cheesecake pudding cookies.

Pistachio Pudding Cookies
recipe adapted from Eggless Cooking

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix- 1 package (3.4 oz)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F

In a small mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter and pudding mix together until smooth.

Gradually beat in flour.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Take a tablespoon of dough and drop it on the baking sheet sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-13 minutes until light golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before transferring to airtight container.

Mistakes in Baking

I'm sure everyone has made mistakes when they're baking or cooking. Baking is a learning experience, everything can't be perfect alll the time.

I wanted to bring some kind of cupcakes to Thanksgiving so I decided to try and make Tiramisu Cupcakes. I've never made them before, so it thought it would be fun. Um.. wrong.

The recipe was very bad/: Sorry, but it's true. The directions were not very good at all and the steps were very complicated. The recipe had me form stiff peaks with egg whites once, and whipped cream twice! That's a lot of whipping. And I only have a hand mixer so it takes longer than it would with a kitchen aid.

But, the good part is I made my own frosting! The custard for the tiramisu came out very runny but the cupcakes were fine so by that time, I just wanted to make a simple frosting and be done with it. Everyone liked the frosting a lot!(: I'll be making that again soon.

White Ladyfinger Cupcakes

recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

5 egg whites

Directions

Sift together flours, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, (if using a stand mixer use paddle attachment), cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and beat until Incorporated.

In separate small bowl, combine oil and milk.

Add flour and milk/oil mixture alternately to the butter and sugar mixture. Beating on low speed after each addition.

Pour mixture into large bowl. Scrape down the sides to make sure you get all of the batter.

In small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to "lighten" the batter. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Grease and lightly flour two muffin pans. Fill each cup half full.

Bake at 350 Degrees F for 18-20 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.

Mascarpone Frosting

recipe by Me

Ingredients

8 oz mascarpone cheese

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond milk (or regular milk/soy milk will work)

1 teaspoon vanilla

(butter can also be added to the recipe, if needed)

Directions

Using an electric mixer, beat mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar together. Slowly add almond milk in 1/2 teaspoon measures. Add the vanilla. Mixture should be thick, but not runny. Do not over beat.

If you want to make the tiramisu cupcakes, the recipe is here.

What was your biggest mistake/fail in the kitchen?

Lemon Blueberry Bread

This bread is probably the best way to remember summer. Now that it's getting cold out, I'm missing summer a lot. It's even going to snow tomorrow! Warm baked bread takes me away from that for a little bit :)

This bread is pretty easy to make. I've made it before, but the first time it didn't go so well. If you make it, make sure to leave the bread in the pan for at least 20 minutes! Last time I left it in there for 5 minutes and tried to get it onto the cooling rack and it fell apart! But this time it stayed together. If you are going to make it, don't be afraid for the bread to get soggy from the glaze. The more glaze, the better.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

recipe from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup blueberries (can be frozen or fresh. I used frozen)

Lemon Glaze:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

For the bread: Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 loaf pan.

In separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in 3 additions) and the milk (in 2 additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55-65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the 1/4 cup sugar and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or a toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with the hot lemon glaze. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

Sweet Potato Pie

I know that I wanted to make some kind of pie for Thanksgiving. I just didn't know what kind of pie. I've never really made a real pie before, not counting the quick pies just made from pudding and milk and poured into a pie crust.

Since this was my first one, it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good for my first try. I did use an already made pie crust, so next time I think I'll just make one from scratch. Me and my mom didn't like it, but my dad loved it! He ate the whole pie (except for one slice) all by himself! I think that's a good sign :) The only problem with this recipe, was that it was a little bit too sweet and a little watery. Next time I'll add less sugar and milk.

Sweet Potato Pie
adapted from Food Network

Ingredients
2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 stick melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup milk
9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 eggs whites
1/4 cup sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F.

For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 2/3 cup sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Place the pie on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.

For the meringue, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until delicately browned. Cool and serve.

Chocolate Yogurt Pops

Okay, this isn't exactly a Thanksgiving recipe, but trust me it's really good!

Me and my mom lovee Skinny cow Truffle bars. We buy them every week and run out of them within 3 days. So I wanted to see if I could create something similar and that I can make whenever. These aren't like the skinny cow truffle bars, but they're pretty good! And the best part is, you can make them in a variety of flavors. Next time I'll probably make a french vanilla flavor or a chocolate vanilla swirl one. Either way it would be delicious!

Chocolate Yogurt Pops

recipe from Splenda

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) container plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup sugar free cocoa mix

1/4 cup Splenda no calorie sweetener, granulated

4 Popsicle sticks

Directions

Mix all indigents together in small mixing bowl. Spoon mixture into four, 3 ounce paper cups. Set cups in a muffin pan or on a flat plate. Place Popsicle sticks in the center. Freeze about four hours, or until solid.

Peel paper cups away and thaw 3-4 minutes before serving.

Gingerbread-Sour Cream Muffins

I haven't really baked much in the past week, but starting this week I'm going to start baking a lot more. Why? Because I'm in charge of making all the desserts at Thanksgiving and I want to test out a bunch of recipes to see which are best :)

This recipe isn't exactly for Thanksgiving, but it's sort of in season so I wanted to try it out. I saw these in Better homes and gardens and they looked really good. Well.. every recipe in that issue looked delicious! I think I book marked every page. These muffins aren't too sweet, which is probably why I didn't like them as much but my parents loved them! They said they're almost as good as the Zucchini Muffins. Next time, I'll probably add a little less ginger and a little more molasses, but I'll definitely make these again. They were a hit!

Gingerbread-Sour Cream Muffins

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon allspice or cinnamon (I used allspice)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 8-ounce carton sour cream

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup mild-flavor molasses

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons finely snipped crystallized ginger (I omitted this)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Grease the bottoms of twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, baking powder, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center of flour mixture.

In another medium bowl, combine egg, sour cream, milk, brown sugar, and molasses. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each nearly full.

In small bowl, combine granulated sugar and crystallized ginger. Sprinkle over muffin batter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Remove from pan. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Yay more pumpkin recipes! I've been finding even more ways to use pumpkin. I usually use them in desserts, but lately I've been thinking about using them in main dishes. There's lots more pumpkin recipes to come, I want to try them all before the season is over.

I've always wanted to make whoopie pies. The name sounds fun and they always look really good. I've made sandwich cookies before but they were the hard kind that aren't good after they harden too much. This cookie is great because it's almost cake-like. It's very soft and it never gets hard. This was also another great way to use pumpkin! The recipe called for 3 cups of pumpkin but I only used two cups and it was still delicious. Everyone loved them and I'm sure they'll be gone soon ;)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

for the cookies

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup canola oil

3 cups chilled pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the cream cheese filling:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

To make the pumpkin cookies, preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I used aluminum foil). In large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside. In separate bowl, whisk sugar and oils together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined. (Batter should be smooth. Not doughy.)

Use a small ice cream scoop to drop pumpkin mixture onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 4 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining pumpkin mixture.

To make the filling, in a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful to not over beat the filling or it will lose structure.

To assemble, turn half of the cookies upside down. Pipe filling onto the flat side of the overturned cookies. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Yield: about 21 sandwich cookies