Inside Out Carrot Cupcakes

I've never been a big cake fan (Don't get me wrong, if there is cake in the room, I will eat it). I do love carrot cake.  This has been a favorite since childhood.  We even had carrot cake for our wedding cake.

I needed to make something for school, but wanted something pretty easy to make.  Cupcakes are nice, but I wasn't up for the extra step of frosting them.  I found this recipe for Inside Out Carrot Cupcakes on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect.

They turned out very yummy.  At first I thought they were a little dense, but overall they were great.  Everyone at school thought they were delicious too.  There were a few leftovers that got eaten up the next day.

Inside Out Carrot Cupcakes

Filling one 8-ounce package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese 1/4 cup granulated sugar a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia flavor, optional (I didn't have it and mine were still tasty) Muffins 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar ¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 cup grated carrots, lightly packed; about 2 medium-large carrots Directions 1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin pan. Or line the pan with paper muffin cups, and grease the cups. 2) To make the filling: Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds. Stir in the sugar and flavor. Set aside. 3) To make the muffin batter: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 4) In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, and oil. 5) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. 6) Fold in the grated carrots, stirring to combine. 7) Drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. 8) Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling; a level tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. 9) Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. The batter will come to within about 1/4" to 3/8" of the top of each muffin cup. But don't try to use all the batter; unless you have particularly deep cups, you'll have abut 1/3 cup batter left over. Bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired. 10) Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the cake part of one (not into the cream cheese filling) comes out clean, about 20 minutes. The tops of the muffins will feel firm to the touch. 11) Remove the muffins from the oven, and as soon as you're able to handle them, transfer them to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it'll firm up. Yield: 12 filled muffins plus 1 unfilled muffin. A great treat without the extra step of frosting them.  This also made them easier to transport and take to school because I didn't have to worry about the frosting getting messed up.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to make it. They were delicious, although very rich. A glass of milk is a must.

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE cookies.

These were a hit when I took them to school with me.  Everyone was sharing them.  The teachers at my husbands school loved them too.

Peanut Brittle Bacon Cookies

As much as I love peanut butter, my husband loves bacon.  He may actually like bacon more than I like peanut butter.  People often send me recipes and links to bacon recipes.  This week I decided to try a recipe that my sister sent me that combined our two loves, Peanut Brittle Bacon Cookies.
They were pretty yummy.  The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of bacon.  I cooked what we had in the fridge (6 pieces) and it only came to 1 cup.  They didn't have a that much of a bacon taste to them.  The peanut brittle was really good though.

Tip:  I cooked the bacon in the oven.  I lined a small cookie sheet with foil and cooked it for about 15 minutes at 450.  This is how we usually cook bacon.  Less of a mess and I could work on the batter while the bacon was cooking.

Yoga Mat Bag

A few of us from my school have started taking a yoga class on Monday afternoons.  The class is relaxing and challenging at the same time.  It's a great way to start the week.

Of course I needed a cute bag to carry my yoga mat. I found a great Amy Butler tutorial online. Her designs are amazing.  I have been admiring them for months, but this is the first one that I have tried.  The directions were clear and easy to follow.

It fits my mat perfectly.

There are two pockets to fit my keys and my phone.

Along with the yoga class I try (key word is try) to make it to a Jazzercise class twice a week.  I have to take my mat and hand weights with me.  I decided to make a coordinating little bag for the weights.  This is the second time I've made a bag using this tutorial.  They are a great size and are pretty quick to make. 

This will fit my weights and a little towel.

I love the way they look together.  Now I just need to motivate myself to go to the class more often!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Roll

I love peanut butter.  If a dessert has peanut butter in, I will eat it.  When I saw this recipe, I knew that I had to make it.  It is a nice twist on a Rice Krispie Treat.  As I was making these, I realized that I don't think I've ever made Rice Krispie Treats before.  I don't think I'll ever make regular ones after having these.  They were delicious.  They were also pretty quick to whip up if you need a dessert and don't have a lot of time.

The recipe came from MADE, one of my favorite blogs.

Prep:
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Generously spray it with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, microwave for 2 min:
1 package mini marshmallows - 10.5 oz (appx 6 and 2/3 cups)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
 

                          

Stir ingredients and add:
5 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

Mix well and spread mixture on the greased waxed paper. Coat hands with non-stick spray and flatten out Rice Krispie mix until it is even and compressed. Set aside.

Melt Together: 

1 1/3 cup Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

I used a double boiler on the stove, but she recommended microwaving in 20 second intervals.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't burn the chocolate.

Spread the melted peanut butter and chocolate onto the Rice Krispie mixture.

Roll the Rice Krispie mixture horizontally into one log--lift the wax paper at one end to help. Refrigerate for appx 30 minutes. Slice and serve.

My brother was kind of hovering over me as I was making them.  I think he was disappointed I went to bed before I cut them!

Happy New Year

It's a new year and time for resolutions.  One of my resolutions this year is to make a treat a week.  I always find new dessert recipes that I want to try, but never find the time.  This year I am going to make the time.

I started the year with my first treat, Champagne Cupcakes.

Champagne Cupcakes
From Some Kitchen Stories. 
… made 36 mini cupcakes…

Cupcake Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup champagne (I used Mumm which is what we had to toast at midnight)
6 egg whites

Champagne Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature

Directions
Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Prepare a cupcake pan with liners. 
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.
In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Frosting:
With an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Mix on low until well blended, and then on medium for another two minutes.  Add vanilla and champagne, beating on medium for another minute.


They were delicious!  Kevin and I had a few to ring in the new year and then we had some more when my family came over for dinner the next day.

Another resolution that I have is to get back in a running routine... I have to make sure I don't double my size with all of the yummy treats I'll be making:)