Spiced Glazed Muffins

Spiced Glazed Muffins

These were one of the yummiest recipes I have made in quite a while!!

I found the recipe on Pinterest, and was intrigued by their name, "Glazed Doughnut Muffins."

The recipe came from My Baking Addiction

After I made them, I really didn't think they tasted like a Krispy Kream Donut as said?

I don't eat them much, but from my memory they didn't?

HOWEVER.... they were DELICIOUS!!

I love spice cake, and to me, they were very much like one, with the consistency of a muffin.

Add that warm glaze and WOW!!

So, when I saved the recipe I re-named them for myself, and decided to call them Spiced Glazed Muffins.

Spiced Glazed Muffins

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 2/3 cups flour

1 cup milk

Glaze:

3 Tbls melted butter

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

2 Tbls hot water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line or grease muffin cups.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar and oil.

Add eggs and beat to combined.

Stir in baking powder, soda and spices and vanilla.

Stir in the flour and milk, alternating until combined.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, about 2/3 full.

Bake the muffins for 15-17 minutes or until they are pale golden brown, and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Make glaze by whisking all of the ingredients together.  

When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin tops in the glaze, allow glaze to harden. you can double dip them if you choose! :)

Serve warm or store in fridge for 24-48 hours.

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

I pinned these on Pinterest last year, and have always wanted to try them.

The recipe comes from A Little Bit Crunchy, A Little Bit Rock 'n Roll

I decided to whip them up yesterday for the kids for a fun Halloween treat.

They were super easy, and the kids loved them.  

Plus, they make a bunch!!

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla (+1/2 tsp almond extract, optional)

5 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and eggs, and beat well.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well.

Spread into greased 13x18 pan, bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Cool, and then frost.

Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon almond extract

pinch of salt

4 cups powdered sugar

5 Tbls milk

food coloring (optional)

sprinkles (optional)

In a mixer, cream together butter and shortening, add vanilla and salt.

Add powdered sugar and milk a little at a time, mixing until fluffy.

I tinted mine orange for this batch and topped with Halloween sprinkles.

The second batch I made (4 days later!!) I varied a bit. had a friend make them and add almond extract to the batter and to the frosting.  So I gave it a whirl.
YUM!!

I baked these up for a function at my husband's office tomorrow, 

I tinted them lime green!!

So, with or without the almond extract, they are SUPER YUMMY!!

Tiffany blue with multi -colored sprinkles

At Easter I made them with my White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and added White Chocolate M&Ms!

These were ESPECIALLY GOOD!!

Can you say bake sale??

:)

I 

I cut them with my pizza cutter!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

Recipe for cake from Half Baked

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1.2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients.

In mixer cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

Add dry ingredients and milk until combined.

Mix in pumpkin.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.

Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool.

Once cupcakes are cool, frost with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting.

Cinnamon Butter Cream

4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Cream together butter, vanilla and cinnamon.

Gradually add powered sugar and milk, creaming together until well combined.

Frost cupcakes.

White Chocolate Truffle Center Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

White Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

Found this idea on Pinterest, where else??

The recipe I found was a Pampered Chef recipe.

I had made the white chocolate cream cheese frosting a while back and thought they would pair perfectly with this scrumptious frosting!

I made a white cake mix for the cupcake itself.

Then, while they were baking I unwrapped a bag full of these yummy Lindor white chocolate truffles!!

When the cupcakes come out of the oven, simply core out the center and press one of these right into the middle of the warm cupcake!

The chocolate melts and puddles in the centers!!

Easy!!

Top cooled cupcakes with the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting you will find on my blog

HERE!

Enjoy!!

Chicken Pot Pie

I was in need of a little comfort food last weekend.

I decided to make homemade chicken pot pie in my cute little crocks I love to use!

I was posting progress pictures on my facebook page while I was making them, and so many people asked for the recipe.

Well, I really wasn't measuring, but I thought I would share with you what I did.

I thought I would give you the recipe for making one large pie, instead of minis, but you will get the idea.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 whole chicken cut up

chicken stock

onion

Salt and Pepper

flour

milk

veggies: whatever you want, I used:

carrots

celery

potatoes

peas

double pie crust

Place cut up chicken and onion in a stock pot, salt and pepper and cover with chicken stock.

Place lid on pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and continue cooking until chicken is done and begins to fall off the bones.

Remove chicken from pot.

Add your cut up veggies to the broth, and simmer them until they are a firm tender.

(they will continue to cook in the oven, you don't want them soggy.)

While they are cooking, de-skin and de-bone your chicken., cut up and put back in the pot with the veggies.

Add equal parts milk and flour in jar and shake to combine for your thickening agent.

Make sure there are no lumps!!

Add to simmering broth, and stir.  It will get thicker as it simmers.

Watch it for a few minutes, if you want it thicker, then add a little more flour/milk mixture.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour into prepared deep dish pie crust.  Top with crust and vent.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until crust is brown and flaky.

You can use whatever veggies you want, and as many as you want!  We used quite a bit, because we LOVE our VEGGIES!!

I am sorry this recipe wasn't more specific, next time I make it I will measure everything out!!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Candy Corn Cupcakes

We are going to dinner at a friend's house tonight, and I told her I would bring dessert.  

The theme is JAMAICAN JERK.

She is making jerk chicken and lots of Jamaican fixings to go with it.

The dessert I made for the adults is a Jamaican Rum Soaked Peach Pound Cake, which will be on my blog soon.

I figured that was not a kid oriented dessert?

So, I decided to make them some candy corn cupcakes. 

There really isn't a "recipe" for them, but I thought I would share with you how I did it!

Yellow Cake Mix

White Cake Mix

Sprinkles

Candy Corn

Marshmallow Butter Cream Frosting

Make both cake mixes as directed, or make your own scratch recipe. 

 Honestly, you can just make white, too.  I just wanted both.

I took 1/3 of the white and 1/3 of the yellow and combined them. 

That was my base for my orange, I tinted with food coloring.

You already have the yellow and the white!

Layer batters in the cupcake liners with yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle and white on top.

(after I frosted them I thought to myself that you really only need two colors, because the frosting is white....)

Bake as directed.

Prepare Marshmallow Butter Cream as instructed.  I added a dash of almond extract to mine for these.

Frost, and add some sprinkles, and top with a candy corn!!

Easy!!

"It would be SWEET if you would go to HOMECOMING with me" Cookie.

Remember when we were kids and you just simply got up the nerve to ask a girl to a dance?

(or a boy to a Sadie Hawkins Dance...)

Yes, it was stressful and nerve wracking, but these days?  

You have to make some grand gesture!

It used to be that they did this for Prom, but now homecoming, too?

homecoming invitation giant cookie

Funnier thing? 

Even if you have been dating for 6 months, and you already know you're going, 

I mean you have the dress, the shoes, the tie.  You even know where you're having dinner....

You still have to come up with some clever way to ask.

My daughter, Kenzie, has been dating her boyfriend, Austin since early last Spring.  

She has been so stressed out about what to do to ask him.

She had her idea all ready to go, and someone at school used it.

She didn't want to "copy!"

So, I suggested the idea you see here.

pizza-boxed up

She got a small pizza box and she (yea...we will go with SHE...not ME...decorated the cookie)

She was so excited to surprise him with it last night.  

She closed the lid on the box, and sat it on the stove.

This is my daughter, Kenzie and her boyfriend, Austin.

Really couldn't ask for a sweeter guy for her to be dating!!  

(Austin, if you are reading this... take care of her and BE GOOD!!!)

So, they go to different schools and if you think it's hard for a girl to come up with an idea like this, how about a teenage boy?!?

So, yesterday, when he came over, he texted her from the driveway and said he was here.

She ran out to the drive, and he was standing there with roses and a poster board.

   

I stole these photos from her twitter account! ;)

Can you believe that she didn't whip her cell phone out right there and take his picture?!?!?!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

I wasn't even here!!

Of course, I totally had it pictured like this:

but I am a child of the 80's....

When I think of homecoming dances I think of dancing to "Crazy for You" by Madonna.

So, to make a short story even longer....

he walks in the kitchen  (Austin ALWAYS the SHY one.... )

Sees the box and says "Oooooo! PIZZA!!"

Walks over and opens the box, and sees his homecoming cookie!!

All in all it turned out well, I just wish I could have witnessed in person!!

So, if your teen is looking for a good idea...go ahead and steal it!

Happy Homecoming, everyone!!