Banana Blueberry Lemon muffins? Yes please!

Guess who went to the farmers' market? THIS GIRL! And I bought blueberries! Fresh, delicious, perfectly blue (well, they are actually more of a purple), blueberries! So I had to find a fantastic recipe for blueberry muffins (my favorite muffin!)

Fresh BC blueberries. Nothing better!

And I found this one. A recipe for Banana Blueberry Lemon muffins. I do like banana, but I don't like overpowering banana. I also like lemon, but again, not an overpowering lemon flavor. These were perfect! The batch made 12, and I have been enjoying them for breakfast. I tend to pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds which releases an amazing fruity smell, then melt a little butter on them... YUM! I want one now!

Muffins! with the fancy pull wrappers and everything!

Here is the recipe, in case you don't want to click on the above link!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

2/3 C. brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 C. butter, melted

1 TBsp. vanilla

1 TBsp. lemon juice

1 C. blueberries

2 TBsp. lemon zest

3 TBsp. granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and 1 TBsp. of lemon zest.

Beat together bananas, eggs, brown sugar, butter, lemon juice, and vanilla until blended.

Stir in dry ingredients. Gently add blueberries. Spoon into muffin tin. (If you don't use liners ensure you lightly grease the tin!) Combine granulated sugar and remaining lemon zest. Sprinkle over top of the muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter. Can there be anything better?

So good, and incredibly rich! I combined ideas from a few different recipes that I found to make these. I used a basic chocolate cupcake recipe that I have in one of my cookbooks, chopped up baker peanut butter cups and mixed them into the batter, made a cream cheese peanut butter frosting, topped them with a mini reeses' cup and then some milk chocolate shavings. Did I mention these were really really rich? Have a large glass of milk on hand if you decide to try out this recipe. It is required!



Animal print cupcake liners? YES PLEASE!



Chocolate Cupcakes:

(You can use any recipe for these or even a box but here is the recipe I used)

3/4 C. butter

3 eggs

2 C. flour

3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 C. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 C. milk

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temp. for 30 minutes & preheat oven to 350 degrees, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl beat butter with mixer for 30 seconds and gradually add sugar until combined. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in Vanilla.

3. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to butter bowl. *

4. Spoon into cupcake liners (in your pan) and bake for 18-22 minutes. Allow to cool before decorating.

* after all the ingredients were mixed well I used a spatula to fold in the peanut butter cup chunks.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Allow one 8 ounce package of cream cheese to stand for 30 minutes at room temp.

2. In large bowl beat cream cheese with 1/2 C. creamy peanut butter & 2 tsp. vanilla.

3. Gradually add 6* C. powdered sugar. Add milk 1 tsp. at a time until you reach the consistency you would like for spreading or piping the frosting.

* I did not use 6 C. of powdered sugar. I found the icing to be plenty sweet at 4 1/2!

Indulgence at it's finest!  

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Remember back in June when I was supposed to make Root Beer Float Cupcakes? And then remember that time that I made them and they were disgusting so I refused to even show you a picture? Well. I have found a recipe that redeems that attempt! These cupcakes were fantastic. This might sound weird but they had a spiciness to them, that wonderful spiciness that exists in root beer. 

Aren't they cute? The perfect little Root Beer Float!

Here is the recipe that I used, for all those of you who love root beer and need to try them out!

Ingredients:

1C. Root Beer Soda

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

3/4 C. sugar

1/3 C. canola oil

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. Root Beer extract (I found some through Watkins)

1 1/3 C. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt.

Preheat over to 350 F, and line muffin tin with 12 liners.

Combine soda and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes.

Add in the sugar & oil. Whisk until slightly frothy.

Add extracts, and gently add the flour along with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Do not overmix (I really have no idea what this means but it's in the directions)

Fill cupcake liners approx. 3/4 full.

Bake for 18-22 minutes.

Now the recipe I used called for a vanilla buttercream frosting. I cheated. I bought a tub of cool whip, then using my cookie scoop (I heart my cookie scope) I put a blob of cool whip on top of the cupcakes. I also used these incredibly cute stripe paper straws to add a little flair.

If you are a Root Beer fan, I highly recommend these!

Cookies

It's no surprise that I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate (as will again be proven by some future posts), totally my vice. So when I was craving the fantastic combination last night, I just had to whip up these cookies. I'll admit, I cheated and used a Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix, but I love how quick they were, and oh so good! Melting chocolate, and the sweetness of a little sugar.... mouth watering right now & wishing I had thought to bring a couple to work to munch on.

Can I just say how much I love my double decker (can be triple) cooling rack!

Simplest cookies ever! 

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Follow instructions on Betty Crocker Peanut Butter cookie mix package.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls.

Coat in granulated sugar.

Place balls on parchment paper lined cookie sheet approx. 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes (I only baked them for 8)

While cookies are baking unwrap Hershey kisses.

Immediately after you take the cookies out of the over, place a kiss in the center of each cookie.

Allow cookies to cool & then enjoy the goodness! 

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

These were the September cupcake on my list. And they were yummy! I love strawberry shortcake as it is, but these are the perfect size and the fact that the frosting even has strawberry flavor to it made them that much better!

cutest liners ever! however difficult to tear into, so if you use similar liners, you'll need to cut a small slice in them so you can peel it off before you enjoy!

I found the recipe for these online, again, searching the images and deciding on which ones were most visually appealing. So here it is! Make them. You won't be sorry!

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

yields 12

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 C. plus 2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

3/4 C. sugar

2 large eggs at room temp.

1 1/4 pure vanilla extract

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1/4 C. vegetable oil

1/2 C. milk at room temp.

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.

3. In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs, & vanilla on medium high with electric mixer until smooth and thickened slightly. (approx. 3 min.) Add butter & oil; beat until incorporated. 

4. Add dry ingredients and milk in 3 alternating batches, beating between additions. 

5. Fill liners 2/3 full & bake for 20-23 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients:

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

2 C. powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp. milk

strawberry jam

1. Beat butter until smooth.

2. Add icing sugar, vanilla, & salt. Beat on low until combined.

3. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix until smooth. Add milk & beat until light and fluffy. 

(approx. 2 min.)

4. Mix the frosting with strawberry jam (to taste)

5. Frost cupcakes, then top with fresh strawberries

Yum!

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Wow. I've been neglecting my blog! It's a sad thing, because it means not as much baking has been occurring. I had kind of a hectic August however, so I really didn't have time to bake. But I've made up for it in September! So check back over the next few days to see what I've been up to. I'm also doing another wedding cake in October so that is very exciting!

I made chocolate nutella cookies the other day and they were yummy! I didn't take any pictures, because they really aren't that much to look at, but here is the recipe. I found it at Our Best Bites. Great website. Look it up and be inspired in your culinary masterpieces. Simple and delicious!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

2/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon hazelnut extract (you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla if you can’t find or don’t like hazelnut extract)

1/3 cup Nutella*

1/3 cup milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325°

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed  until smooth. Add the extracts and beat for another 30 seconds. Add the Nutella and beat until smooth.

With the mixer running, add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk, mixing until combined completely, then add the remaining flour mixture and mix completely. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes (and as long as 2-3 days). I would leave it longer than 15 minutes because I still found the dough to be a little sticky.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or sil-pat. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them on the lined cookie sheet, 2" apart
Lightly press the dough balls and  bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are crackly on top and soft, but starting to set. Remove from the oven and allow them to stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

* I want to try again with a little more nutella to make them a little more nutella-y. Or maybe spread a little nutella on one and top it with another cookie, to make little chocolate nutella sandwiches. Yum!
 
But there it is. Again, sorry for no pictures. Just picture in your mind small round brown cookies that are quite flat, and you really have no need for a picture! Have fun baking! And don't forget to check back over the next week, 3 cupcake flavors are going to be posted!