Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish you all a very healthy and safe Holidays! I will be posting more often on this blog by next year. I've been slacking badly! That will be my New Year resolution. Hopefully I stick to it! lol

If your wondering about those delicious looking cookies, yes I made them and I will post the recipes up soon! Crossing my fingers they will be up by tomorrow!

Liz

xo

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's not Thanksgiving until tomorrow but my boyfriend and I had it a day early, so it was more like Pre-Thanksgiving for us. The reason being that I wont be home for turkey day so I didn't want him to miss out. It was a small one for us, and first. So it was special. :)

I made his and my favorite. Pumpkin Pie! Now he's allergic to dairy so I made him this recipe, that I also made for him 2 years ago. This recipe calls for eggs, but eggs aren't a dairy product. It's an animal byproduct. Which, if your interested you can find out more here! 

This pie is absolutely delicious! It will make you go back for seconds! If you don't like pumpkin pie, then that's okay cause there's other pies out that like apple. I didn't make my own pie crust for this recipe. I was too busy to actually make one. So I used a frozen pie crust (unbaked) that you can find at your local food stores.

There's so many things that I'm thankful for this year. This piece of pie is one! Happy Holidays!

Enjoy!

Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Pumpkin Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg or Allspice
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Large Eggs
1 15-ounce Can Pumpkin Puree
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Regular Canned Coconut Milk
1 Unbaked Pie Shell



 Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Combine the sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg or allspice, cloves and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar mixture, pumpkin, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the coconut milk.

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue to bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.  It may be a bit wobbly still, but it will firm-up as it cools.

Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours (Be patient! This is important).  Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: godairyfree.org

Chocolate Birthday Cake with Whipped Vanilla Frosting

How could I totally forget to write a blog post about this delicious Chocolate Birthday Cake! Well let me get started then!

It was my best friends birthday about a month ago and I asked her what kind of cake she wanted? She said she didn't want a cake. I was like "What?". Everybody deserves a cake for there birthday, right? Plus birthdays give me a great excuse to bake a new cake recipe! So I tried again, and asked her what she wanted instead. Her answer...Banana Bread. I told her no problem, so I made one plus a cake. I very pink cake if I might add. A very pink cake with Whipped Vanilla Frosting (that taste like ice cream!)

 The cake it self is very moist chocolate cake. It's super delicious, together with the frosting makes an awesome combination. I got this cake recipe from Sweetapolita. I used her Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes recipe 3-times the batch. Each batch makes 1 (8-inch round layer).

For the Whipped Vanilla Frosting I used her frosting recipe from her Vanilla Birthday Cake. The frosting is super creamy. Almost taste like ice cream! I'm all for frosting that taste like ice cream! This frosting also pipes really nice. I used Ateco #849 for the top border and Wilton #2D for the bottom border. At the time I didn't have a cake spatula, so I had no choice but to use a butter knife. It would have came out a lot cleaner with an angled spatula. To ahieve pink frosting I used a few drop of AmeriColor Gel Paste in Electric Pink. Don't forget every pink cake needs to be dressed up in sprinkles! Go on, don't be shy...pile tons of it on!

Over all this cake turned out great. It was a huge hit on her birthday. She end up loving it and the Banana Bread!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cake

(make 3-times this recipe for 3, 8-inch round pan)

Ingredients:

For Cake Layer

3/4 cup (95 g) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 g) white sugar

1/4 cup (30 g) dark cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon (3.5 g) baking soda

3/4 teaspoon (3.5 g) baking powder

3/4 teaspoon (3.5 g) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon (4 g) salt

1/3 cup (80 mL) buttermilk

1/4 cup (60 mL) brewed coffee or espresso, hot

3 tablespoons (45 ml) vegetable oil

1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten

1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL) pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F and line a muffin/cupcake pan with your favourite cupcake liners.

In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.

In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, coffee, oil, egg and vanilla.

Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splashguard that comes with mixer), Divide batter among (2/3 full or just less) liners. Batter will be liquidy, and cupcakes will rise.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until toothpick or skewer comes out with a few crumbs. Try not to over-bake. Carefully remove cupcakes from the pan immediately (it's hot!), and place them on a wire rack until completely cool. 

Source: Sweetapolita

For the Whipped Vanilla Frosting 

2-1/2 cups (5 sticks)(575 grams) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

5-1/4 cups (600 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted 

4-1/2 tablespoons (70 mL) milk

1-1/2 tablespoons (23 mL) pure vanilla extract

pinch or two of salt

few drops pink gel colour

pastel sugar pearls, or any other sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on low-speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy. If you want all of your frosting (for filling and frosting cake) pink, then add a drop of pink gel colour and mix again, adding one drop at a time until desired pink shade is achieved (see notes). If you want just the outside of the cake pink, you will fill the cake layers first, and then colour the remaining frosting pink.

Best used right away (for ideal spreading consistency), but keeps well once frosted. 

Source: Sweetapolita

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Happy Halloween!

How's everyone doing on the east coast? This hurricane sandy was just crazy! But I just didn't want to let this hurricane keep me away from my baking. While I still have power, I wanted to bake up some very yummy Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes. Just in time for Halloween too! I wanted to incorporate some pumpkin into my chocolate cupcakes, so I found this wonderful recipe on I am Baker. This is the most moist cupcakes I've ever tasted!

For the Cinnamon Buttercream, I found this recipe on My Kitchen Addiction. I minus the brown sugar in this recipe because I didn't want it overly too sweet. This frosting is so darn good! I love the added cinnamon in this frosting, gives it a kick. Combine together makes the most delicious cupcakes, I've tried!

I also love these cute Halloween baking cups I bought from Tops. I think I'm going to go back and get some more for next year! ^_~

 For the finishing touch I drizzle some Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce on these babies! This caramel sauce is so so good! I drizzle this sauce on everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! I love drizzling this on top of ice cream. Oh man...I think I'll have some when I'm done with this blog post...lol I will post this recipe soon!

This is a wonderful treat for Halloween. If your going to have a party, make them. If you have kids, make them, and if you don't and it's just you...make them!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tablespoon vanilla

3/4 cups softened butter

4 Eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cups cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350

In a small bowl combine buttermilk and pumpkin. Just mix together until incorporated.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixer, beat the butter, sugars, and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

Alternating, add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the sugar mixture. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Mix for 1 minute on low until fully combined. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup, place batter in prepared cupcake pan.

Bake for 16-20 minutes. Cupcakes are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Source: I am Baker

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I excluded this ingredient)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups powdered sugar (varies based on temperature/humidity)
3 tablespoons half and half (varies based on temperature/humidity)

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and shortening. Whip together with the whisk attachment until light and fluffy. 

Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and whisk until well combined.

Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Alternately add the half and half, whipping the icing on medium-high speed after each addition, until the desired consistency is reached.

Fill a pastry bag with the icing and pipe the icing onto the cupcakes. Top the cupcakes with Halloween candy and a sprinkle of cinnamon, if desired.

Source: My Kitchen Addiction

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake

I've always loved to bake birthday cakes for my family and friends. One of my dearest friend's birthday was coming up and I was having a bit of trouble deciding on what type of cake to bake for her. But as I thought I remembered her loving peanut butter. Peanut butter goes great with chocolate so I googled for a chocolate peanut butter cake recipe and came across this one from Annie's Eats Blog. I've made lots of recipes from her blog so I was super excited to give this cake a try!

The cake it self is delicious and very moist, so be careful when trying to assemble the cake layers. One of my layers broke in half, but it was okay cause once the cake layers come together, you wont noticed it. ~_^

This cake is absolutely delicious! The frosting is super yummy. It taste like peanut butter whipped cream! If you love peanut butter, you'll love this cake. This cake would be great for Halloween! Make it! You wont regret it!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake

Yield: about 16 servings for 8-inch round cake pan

 

Ingredients:

For the cake
1¾ cups plus 2 tbsp. (9 3/8 oz.) all-purpose flour
1½ cups (4½ oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pans
1 tbsp. instant espresso or coffee powder
1½ cups boiling water
¾ cup sour cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups plus 2 tbsp. (18 3/8 oz.) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt

For the filling and frosting
¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
3¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided
1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt

To garnish
Mini peanut butter cups, halved
  
Directions:

 

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Butter the edges of 3 8-inch round cake pans and dust with cocoa powder, shaking out the excess. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, and boiling water. Whisk until smooth; set aside to cool slightly. When cooled down a bit, whisk in the sour cream and vanilla. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually blend in the sugar and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes more. Blend in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk to blend. 

 

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream mixture, beating each addition just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cake layers for about 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans during halfway through to ensure even baking. Transfer the baked cake layers to a wire rack and let cool in the pans at least 30 minutes before inverting onto the rack to cool completely. 

 

To make the filling and frosting, combine the heavy cream and ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until light, fluffy, and stiff peaks form, being careful not to over mix. Transfer the whipped cream to a separate bowl. In the now empty mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and peanut butter. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 45 seconds. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix in, slowly at first until incorporated, then increasing the mixer speed to high. Blend in the vanilla extract and salt, and continue to whip on high speed until very fluffy, about 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Use a large spatula to gently fold about a third of the whipped cream into the peanut butter frosting. Once the first addition has been evenly incorporated, gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain.

 

To assemble the cake, place one of the cake layers on a cake board or serving platter. Spread an even layer of the frosting over the top of the cake. Top with a second cake layer and another layer of the frosting. Place the final cake layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake using a thin crumb coat at first.  Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to set. Reserve about 1 cup of the remaining frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip (Annie used a Wilton #21). Once the crumb cake is set, frost the top and sides of the cake again using an offset spatula for a smooth finish. Use the reserved frosting to pipe a border around the base of the cake. Pipe swirls evenly around the top border of the cake. Finish by garnishing with halved peanut butter cups. (I find that freezing the candy for an hour or so beforehand helps them unwrap and cut while still looking nice.) Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

 

Source: Annie's Eats

 

Notes: I used a Wilton #1M

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

I love fall! I also love when the holidays come around and I get to bake up some delicious warm holiday foods. I love the smell of spices when something is being baked in the oven. 

It's been getting a bit colder where I live so I thought "What better way to warm up then to bake up some coffee cake!" But not just any old coffee cake, pumpkin coffee cake. Loaded with cinnamon streusel in the inside and out. 

I found this recipe on Two Peas & Their Pod. Looked so good that I just had to give this cake a go! This cake is delicious and easy to bake. I love when it bakes and all the smells come together. My house starts smelling like the holidays, love it! 

If your not so sure about pumpkin, don't be afraid. The flavor isn't over powering, so your going to taste all the yummy flavors that are included in this recipe. I'm planning on making this again, and again. It's that good!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

Yield: Serves 8 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon streusel:

2/3 cup all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Coconut Milk)

For the glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

To make the streusel, in a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add in the butter, using 2 table knives or your hands, and cut into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside.

To make the cake batter, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add in the vanilla extract. Add the pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt and mix until just combined. Slowly add in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick.

Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the streusel and top with the remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack.

Make the glaze while the cake is cooling. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon, milk and vanilla. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Cut into wedges and serve.

Source: Two Peas & Their Pod

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Nothing smells better than a freshly baked banana bread! Plus cinnamon...smells soooo gooood! I love Banana Bread, and so do my family. So when I told my dearest friend I would make her a recipe of Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread for her birthday. She was so excited to get her hands on it. When it comes to sharing, it's not an option! She was not going to share with anyone! (well she did share with me!)

Anyways I just had to bake up another Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread for my boy friend and I. I couldn't past this recipe by because of the cinnamon swirl sugar and the sugar glaze. Adds that extra goodness to your banana bread.

 

Biting into this was just like walking into heaven. This bread is so moist and delicious. The yogurt in this recipe will make for a really moist banana bread. So don't skip out on that! Like always I used coconut milk, instead of milk or yogurt. 

I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour. I love how whole wheat flour adds that texture to this banana bread. I also love how you can actually see the cinnamon swirl in this bread. Can you say Yummy!

If you have over-ripped bananas that are just about hitting that rotten stage, don't throw them away! There just about perfect for this recipe. Over-ripped bananas will bring out that sweetness in this bread. This is a simple easy recipe so give this a try!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

Makes 1 9×5-inch loaf

Ingredients: 

2 cups white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour) 

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1  tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2 large eggs

1 and 1/2 cups mashed very ripe banana (about 3 bananas) 

1/3 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I used Chobani Vanilla 0%) 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Swirl

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Simple Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.  In a separate large bowl, beat the brown sugar and butter with a stand or handheld mixer on medium speed until well blended – about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a wooden spoon, stir in the mashed banana, yogurt, and vanilla.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Do NOT over mix.  Batter will be thick.

Spoon half of the batter into prepared loaf pan.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar swirl ingredients.  Top with remaining batter. Bake for 40-45  minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

While the bread is cooling, make the glaze in a small bowl by combining the powdered sugar and heavy cream.  Add more powdered sugar until you reached desired thickness.  Drizzle over banana bread.

Source: Sallys Baking Addiction

Blueberry Muffins

I’m telling you, one day I’m going to turn into a blueberry…lol I love blueberries, there one of my most favorite fruits! Love adding them to pancakes, pies, muffins and even just munching on them alone is a great treat. Since I had some in the fridge, thought I whip up some Blueberry Muffins. Any kind of muffin is my type of morning breakfast, hell even cupcakes will do! I also love when recipes have a crumb or streusel topping. In this recipe you make a crumb topping, which is the best part!

This recipe is from Allrecipes.com. I love going to this site, especially when the holidays are around the corner. There are some great recipes on there!  

These Blueberry Muffins are so good. They’re more of a cake like batter. Meaning they taste denser. These did taste a little dryer then other types of blueberry muffins I had before. But that didn’t stop me from having one or two. There really good but I wouldn’t say there to “ to die for”. I’ll let you be the judge of that! 

 If you want a simple easy recipe, I say give this one a try!

Enjoy!

 

 Blueberry Muffins 

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Ready In: 40 minutes Serving: 8

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk (used coconut milk)

1 cup fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To make the Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated over, or until done.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Savory Sweet Life's "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER!

My mood this week has been a bit down. I've tried cheering myself up by doing the things I love, but nothing was really working right. I'm guessing the cause is from the summer heat, which is keeping me away from the kitchen. It kept me out the kitchen from doing the two things I love, cooking and baking. But a girl has to eat! So I thought what better way to brighten up my melancholy mood than to crank up the oven and bake Savory Sweet Life's "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER"!

I found this recipe off of a blog called, My baking Addiction. So I followed the link and headed over to Savory Sweet Life's blog. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is from a cook book called, Savory Sweet Life's: 100 Simply Delicious Recipes for Every Family Occasion.
 The author of book is Alice Currah and her blog, Savory Sweet Life. I'm so adding this book to my Amazon wishlist!

I must say these cookies are so deliciously chewy and soft. The dark brown sugar adds a deeper rich flavor, unlike light brown sugar. Though I'm not saying you don't get great cookies with light brown sugar, it's just you can taste a differences. I divided up both semi-sweet and bitter-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe. I didn't have enough semi-sweet chocolate, plus I like the combination of both chocolates. Definitely one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've made by far!

These cookies sure did brighten up my mood, I'm sure yours will too!

Enjoy!

Savory Sweet Life's "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER"

Yield: 4 dozen cookies Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour *If at all possible, please weigh the flour
3/4 tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 360 degrees. 

Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed on a K-5). Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick. 

Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Savory Sweet Life's Notes

*please do not use table salt, the sea salt gives the cookies a nice flavor and hints of texture. If you only have table salt, use 1/2 tsp.

 *When using sea salt, you will get small crunchy flecks of salt when you bite into the cookie. If you do not like this taste, go with 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

*I realized grocery stores sell bags of chocolate chips in 12 oz bags but this recipe really needs every last chip. Otherwise you’ll get cookies with only a few chips in each one and this recipe requires lots of chocolate to bulk the cookie up. You’ll need about 1 1/2 bags.

Source: Savory Sweet Life

Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

This summer has been pretty hot for me. With this heat comes less baking. I find so many great recipes to make but knowing I have to be in a hot kitchen with the oven on turns me off. But since last weekend has been a busy crazy week, I decided to bake something that's going to perk me up in the mornings. These Blueberry Doughnut Muffins with lemon glaze are a prefect summery treat! Will definitely do the trick to cooling me off from this hazy summer heat.

 The added lemon zest is super refreshing in this recipe. Fresh blueberries are deliciously moist and brust with flavor in your mouth. To top it all off, these yummy blueberry doughnut muffins take a dip in lemon glaze. I double dip my blueberry doughnut muffins! I just love the refreshing flavor of lemons and blueberries.

I'm looking forward to eating one of these babies tomorrow morning. They'll go quick before you know it!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Doughnut Muffins 

Yield: 12 muffins Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15-17 minutes

Ingredients:

zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk  {I used coconut milk}
1 1/3 cup fresh blueberries

For the Glaze
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon warm water

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, or line with 12 paper muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, combine the lemon zest and sugars. Use your fingertips to incorporate the zest into the sugars until it is moist and fragrant.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.

Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.

In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and water. Whisk until smooth.

When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. I glazed my muffins twice.

Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

Source: My Baking Addiction & adapted from King Arthur

Roasted Banana Streusel Bread

I'm a huge Banana Bread fanatic, so when my boy friend asked me to bake Banana Bread I went on the hunt to find a yummy recipe. I already have many great recipes but I wanted something different. I like trying different types of recipes even if it's on banana bread or chocolate chip cookies. So I found this one from teenagetaste.com. I wanted to try this recipe out because of three things...

1. Instead of just adding the bananas in the microwave and mashing them. This recipe tells you to roast them. When roasting bananas they start to burst with juicy flavors and you do taste a differences. Really delicious. I will be roasting fruits more often for a burst of flavor.

2. The Streusel! Really loving the streusel topping. In this recipe you get to add some streusel into the batter which makes it taste even better! Yum! I love the crispiness on top of this banana bread. It also adds texture to it.

3. I Love Banana Bread!!!

This Banana Bread is super moist and rich! You can see the streusel in and on top of this bread! Really good, wish I had some more but like always it was gone before you knew it! I think this is a really great Banana Bread recipe that I will be making over and over.

Enjoy!

Roasted Banana Streusel Bread

Source: teenagetaste.com

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

Streusel: 

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Bread: 

1 ½ cups sliced ripe banana (about 2 ½ large bananas worth)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

½ cup + 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (I used coconut milk)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions: 

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the streusel and work with your hands until large crumbs form and the pieces of butter become pea-sized. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside. Grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Place the butter in a small bowl and microwave until melted, about 20-30 seconds.

Set the banana slices on the greased baking sheet and brush the tops with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Remove the bananas (and all the juices) from the oven and change the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mash the roasted bananas and stir in the yogurt, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, eggs, sugars, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Fold in the majority of the streusel and pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle with remaining (about a handful or so) of streusel.

Bake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was craving for some chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't want to make a big batch of cookies like I usually do. So I got my Kindle, and scrolled down to my Baking Recipe Books. I decided on baking a cookie recipe from Cookie Cravings: 30 All-Time Favorite Recipes. I got the Kindle edition when it was only a dollar. It's great book with tons of great cookie recipes! The author of this book which is Maria Lichty, is from Two Peas and Their Pods. Tons of great recipes on that site!

These cookies are mini and so cute, that I almost didn't want to eat them...almost! But I did and boy there really good! The mini chocolate chips come in handle when baking up a small batches of cookies like these. They almost look like store bought cookies. These cookies are great for any occasion. Be prepared cause they will go quick! I have many cookie monsters at home, I don't mean kids! haha

I'm loving this cookie spatula that I got for a dollar at Rite Aid! I can transfer two mini cookies on it or one big cookie, one at a time. I love getting things for a dollar! ^_^

You can also find this recipe on her site (link here!)

What are your favorite cookies?

Enjoy!

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: Makes about 3 dozen mini cookies / Bake Time: 8 minutes

Source: Cookie Cravings: 30 All-Time Favorite Recipes

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.

2. In medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla extract.

4. Slowly mix in the flour, until combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

5. Roll dough into tiny balls, about 2 teaspoons of dough. Place on baking sheet and slightly flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Bakery-Style Cupcakes

 

 I couldn’t resist, I just couldn’t…I’ve been in the mood to make some delicious Bakery-Style Cupcakes. Found this recipe online at Sweetapolita.com. I noticed I’ve been baking delicious recipes from her site and I’m going to keep them coming! Her blog is just irresistible! I’ve fallen in love with these cupcakes, there just so yummy and so cute cause there PINK! Well the frosting is, if I had it my way I would make the batter pink too!

This recipe is inspired by Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. I live in New York City so I’m familiar with this Bakery. Though I never had one before (I know, I know…) but I’ve always wanted to try one. So I opted for this recipe instead! I’m glad I did cause at least I get the sense of what I’m missing. Now that I’ve had a taste I really want to try out Magnolia’s cupcakes!

The batter itself is very moist and delicious, not overly sweet. Instead of whole milk I used coconut milk. It tasted really good. The reason I used coconut milk is because  my boy friend is lactose intolerance and he seems to handle coconut milk well. The frosting is very sweet, I loved it and so did my family who had some. They especially loved the frosting. My brother and boy friend found it a be a little bit sweet but they still loved it non-the less. These cupcakes are finger licking good!

To achieve pink frosting I used Americolor in Electric Pink. I piped a generous amount of Vanilla Frosting with a Wilton #1A. To finish them off, I added a bunch of different types of sprinkles to the tops of these cupcakes. These cupcakes are super yummy and great for any occasion.

Good Luck!

Bakery-Style Cupcakes 

Yeild: 24 standard cupcakes

Source: Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes from Food Network

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (190 grams/6.5 ounces) self-rising flour (made my own self-rising flour)

1 1/4 cups (160 grams/5.5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks/227 grams/8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups (400 grams/14 ounces) white sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup (250 mL) milk (used coconut milk)

1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners of your choice (24 total).

In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners and bake in middle of oven until tops turn golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out just clean (a few crumbs is okay), about 18 minutes.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Frosting

Bakery-Style Vanilla Frosting

Source: Sweetapotila

Ingredients:

3 sticks (340 grams/12 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

5 cups (625 grams/22 ounces) confectioners’ sugar (icing, powdered)

2 tablespoons (30 mL) milk (used coconut milk)

2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Method

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 5 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.

Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 5 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

Add touch of gel food color, if desired and mix until blended.

Best used right away.