Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

With a wedding less than 9 months away, I'm having a hard time justifying all the baked goods in the house, unless of course they are relatively healthy and low cal/low fat. Unfortunately, these desserts really aren't much fun to make and can often taste like cardboard. I found this recipe for PB&J muffins and thought I'd give it a whirl- after all, how bland could PB&J anything be?? Considering the recipe called for very little butter, no oil and I substituted the sugar with Splenda (both white and brown sugar) I think that the final product came out quite delish! A great little treat for anytime of the day!

Ingredients:
(makes 12 muffins)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam
  

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through vanilla); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Fill each cup half full with batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into each cup. Spoon remaining batter on top to cover jam. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

A Special Birthday Cake

Martha rarely disappoints when it comes to finding unique yummy cakes and this almond crunch ice cream cake was no exception! Normally this isn't a cake I would pick out on my own but living with an almond-lover I instantly stopped in my tracks when I saw this cake and bookmarked it to make for Dan's birthday. The sponge cake didn't rise as much as I had thought it would, so instead of making this a 3-layer cake, I had to modify it slightly and make a 2-layer with only one ice cream filling, but overall it came out amazing and made for a very happy birthday boy!

A Break from Christmas Baking...

A few weeks back I had to take a break from my Christmas baking to make some special cookies for some very special ladies in my life! I figured they couldn't say no if I asked them with a cookie!

Linzer Cookies

This Sunday marks the second annual KB cookie swap! I always have a hard time narrowing down what cookie I want to make. I even caved and bought a special Christmas Cookie Cookbook in hopes of finding the perfect one. Some are too easy, some are too bland, some have been done a million times over. The cookies I made last year were one of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes ever! If they didn't take so long, I would probably add them into my yearly repertoire. I decided to try something a little easier this year. For some reason this holiday season has gone by so fast. I think part of it is the wedding planning! I thought these cookies would be a great addition to the swap this year. They came out perfect and I doubled the batter to have extras for my Christmas cookie trays!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup almonds
  
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
• 1 12-ounce jar raspberry jam

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes; let cool.
2. In a food processor, process the almonds and ¼ cup of the brown sugar until the almonds are finely ground.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and the remaining ¼ cup brown sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the almond mixture, then the flour mixture, mixing until just combined (do not overmix).
5. Divide the dough in half, shape into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
6. Heat oven to 350° F. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out each piece of dough to a ⅛-inch thickness. Using a 2- to 2 ½-inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Using a ¾- to 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the centers from half of the cookies. Reroll and cut the scraps as necessary.
7. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
8. Sprinkle the confectioners’ sugar on the cookies with the holes. Spread 1 teaspoon jam on the remaining cookies and top with the sugared cookies. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Pepparkakor Cookies

The countdown to Christmas is on and it's time to kick the baking into high gear! First up, a Swedish cookie that I'm surprised I haven't made sooner, considering they're my Dad's favorite! This cookie is similar to a gingersnap, but it's a bit more spicy. According to Swedish custom you should place a Pepparkakor cookie in the palm of your hand. Then, make a wish. Using the index finger or thumb of your free hand, tap the cookie in the middle. Swedish tradition states that if the Pepparkakor breaks into three pieces, your wish will come true. If the Pepparkakor does not break into three pieces, well, you'll just have to enjoy eating the cookie in smaller pieces.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks salted butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup OR molasses
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons cardamom (optional)
• 1tsp nutmeg(optional)
• 1/2 tsp all-spice(optional)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange zest (you can use lemon in place of orange if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in egg, corn syrup, orange juice, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; stir into the creamed mixture until combined.
3. Place dough in the fridge over night.
4. Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies on wire racks.

Punkin' Pie Cake

I am loving fall baking and the endless recipes I'm finding for pumpkin! It's such a versatile ingredient and can be used in cheesecake, muffins, cake, whoopie pies, cookies... the list goes on. This recipe was absolutely delicious and a little on the "lighter" side substituting out some eggs and using a liquid substitute and a lighter cream cheese for the frosting. The result was a fabulous cake that I will probably be making again when Thanksgiving rolls around, possibly in cupcake form!

Ingredients
Cake:

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• Orange slices (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, coat 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray. Dust pans evenly with 2 tablespoons flour.

Combine 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until well blended. Add egg substitute and eggs; beat until well blended. Add pumpkin, beating until blended.

Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating just until blended. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove cake from pans; cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until blended (do not overbeat). Add juice, stirring until blended.

Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Spread 1 cup frosting over layer, and top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with pecans, and garnish with orange slices, if desired.

Chris & Erin's Engagement Cupcakes

Last night we celebrated the engagement of one of my very best friends, Erin and her amazing fiancee, Chris. Chris' sister threw a great bash at the Beverly Depot and I was honored to make the cupcakes for the party!

I made two cupcakes and two different frostings, all of which I've made before and are my go-to fabulous cupcake recipes! The first was a chocolate cake with a butter cream frosting and the second was a vanilla cupcake with a mocha butter cream frosting on top. For the mocha frosting use the same recipe as linked above and just add 1/4 cup of cold, strong coffee and 1/4 melted & cooled semi-sweet chocolate chips .

Here are some pictures of the cupcakes!
For the little toppers with their initials, I rolled out fondant and cut out little circles with a cookie cutter and piped their initials on it with royal icing. I also love the black cupcake wrappers. I think this is a great way to dress a cupcake up for a special occasion!