Tag Archives: Baking

Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

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I recently attended a nearby small town Pumpkin Show.  HOLY PUMPKIN! This festival takes place every year and this was my first time attending.  Out of control  Let’s begin with what I ate (please don’t judge)… pumpkin chili, pumpkin blossoms, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cream elephant ear, apple cider slush…oh, and a cream puff.  I wish I could say I ate all of this by myself, but I can’t.  It’s still a pretty impressive amount of food, right?   Man my mouth is watering just thinking about the food I consumed. I’m surprised I didn’t die of a heart attack.

Did I mention the world’s largest pumpkin pie?  Oh yes.  And check out all those ingredients.  INSANE, I know.

 

 

To continue my pumpkin high, I made these fabulous pumpkin Nutella muffins and they were delicious.  They turned out perfect, not too sweet and super moist, they even “iced themselves” with the Nutella topping! Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 1 – 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons natural cocoa powder
  • 12 teaspoons Nutella for topping
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line or spray a 12-cup muffin pan, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice,  sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, vanilla and brown sugar.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

3. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups evenly (will be about 3/4 full).  Scoop a heaping teaspoon of Nutella onto the top of each muffin.  Use a toothpick or skewer to swirl the Nutella slightly around the top of the batter.
4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
5.  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, enjoy!

 

It’s Pumpkin Time: Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

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It’s that time again, pumpkin season!!! Things are cooling off here in Ohio and fall is quickly setting in.  I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year.  I love the fresh air, the flavors, the leaves changing colors… but I hate that winter will be here sooner than I’d like.

I tried to hold off on baking with pumpkin for as long as I could, but I just could not hold back any longer. Tomorrow night a friend is hosting a Lia Sophia jewelry party, so I used that as an excuse to bake.  These pumpkin cheesecake muffins are to. die. for.  Every bite is like a little party in your mouth, I’m not even kidding.  I got this recipe idea from the lovely Pinterest, of course.  The original recipe came from Annie’s Eats. 

If you are a pumpkin fan of any sorts, make these asap! Seriously.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  🙂

Ingredients:

For the filling:

  • 8 ounces  cream cheese, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoont flour
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/2 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbls vegetable oil

For the topping:

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. flour
  • 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Instructions: 

1. To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese, egg, flour and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.

2. To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

3. To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

4. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Add a dollop of filling on top. Sprinkle with topping. Bake or 15 minutes

 

Mini Nutella Cups

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A friend and I made these (Hi Nour!) and they turned out delicious! Love, love, love this recipe.  I have been on quite the chocolate kick lately and these certainly hit the spot! They are the perfect size to satisfy a sweet tooth.  I can’t wait to make these again!

Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup butter (softened)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Jar of Nutella (12 tablespoons per batch)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your mini muffin tin (unless it is nonstick like mine).

2. Cream butter and both sugar in bowl until light, smooth and fluffy! Beat in eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. Gradually add dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) until all the flour is mixed in!

3. Roll dough into balls 1.5 inches thick. (If dough is too runny, place in fridge for 10 minutes until it is a moldable consistency).  Place in mini muffin tins and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

4. When done, remove from oven and let sit for about 1 minute. Then make wells for the nutella with a shot glass, a similar object or a spoon. Add 1 tbsp Nutella to each cup.  Let cool for 15-20 minutes.

Get creative with toppings! We topped some of ours with m&m’s and pieces of snickers! Yumm!  This recipe made about 3 dozen – so be ready to chow down!

Original source: Daisy Chubb’s

Here are a couple other recipes I have made using Nutella:

Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Balls

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Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I have a big week ahead of me, tomorrow is my first official day in clinic! Pretty exciting.  My first rotation is in the pediatric dentistry clinic. Open wide kiddos! I’m pretty excited/nervous. I’ve worked so hard for the past two years to finally get to this point! Let’s do it!

I love the way these peanut butter balls turned out.  Delicious! I do need to work on my presentation a little bit though. My kitchen was super warm the day I made these and the balls started softening before I could even get them in the chocolate.  So some of them turned out a bit sloppy, but I progressively got better! I also love that these are bite size desserts, they hit the spot when you need something sweet after dinner.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • ¾ cup crushed nuts (I used almonds)
  • 1 – 1 ¼ cup chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate)

Directions:

1. Take your graham crackers and blend to crumbs in a food processor until you get 1 ½ cups. Add graham crackers crumbs to the 1 cup of peanut butter. Add powdered sugar. Mix well.  You want the mixture to be dry enough to be able to form balls. Add a little bit more peanut butter or cracker crumbs to achieve this consistency if need be.

2. Form 20 even sized balls with your hands and place on a wax paper covered plate, cutting board or baking sheet. Freeze for 30-60 minutes.

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave until just melted (do not overcook!) or use a double boiler and stir chocolate until melted. Placed mini chips or crushed almonds in a small bowl. (You can use whatever topping that you would like, be creative!)

4. Using a toothpick or fork dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate, one at a time, and then toss in the topping until covered. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Recipe from: Baby Gizmo Blog

Brownie Cupcakes

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Happy 4th of July! What’s everyone up to today?  We  are going out to celebrate a friends birthday (Happy Birthday Andrew!!)  at a new Brazilian Steakhouse, here in Columbus.  I’m pretty excited to check this restaurant out, I’ve never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse before.  From what I hear, I need to be ready to chow down.

In other news, I passed boards part I! Oh my goodness, what a relief. Thank you to everyone who supported and believed in me 🙂  It was a rough road! I think little Leo was my lucky charm. Check out Leo and Diesel napping together, so cute right?

I made these cupcakes for Andrews birthday and he told me to dye the icing blue, so I went full force patriotic! Two birds, with one stone.  This is a great recipe, they turned out so delicious.  I topped the cupcakes with a buttercream frosting and add a chocolate/caramel drizzle to half of them, just to switch it up a little.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Brownie Cupcakes: 

  • 3/4 stick of butter
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions for Brownie Cupcakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In pot, melt butter and two types of chocolate tougher.  Stir until smooth and lump free! Remove from heat and whisk both types of sugars in to chocolate mixture.  Add eggs one at a time.  Blend in vanilla, flour, and salt.

3.  Line 10 muffin pans and divide batter in to muffin tins.  Place in oven for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Ingredients for Buttercream Icing:

  • 1 cup solid vegetable shortening*
  • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon clear butter flavoring
  • 2 tablespoons water (or milk)
  • 1 tablespoon merengue powder (optional)
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

Instructions for Buttercream Icing: 

1. With an electric mixer, soften shortening.  Add vanilla, butter flavoring, water (or milk), and merengue powder.  Mix well.
2. Start adding powdered sugar, one cup at a time until well blended.  I like my buttercream frosting to be really sweet, so taste as you go and add more or less depending on your sweet tooth
3. Once cupcakes are completely cool, its time for the best part – decorating! Decorate as you wish 🙂 I added blue dye to the icing and used a piping bag to decorate the cupcakes.
 Happy Fourth of July!!! 

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bread

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Every time I manage to use bananas that are on their death bed for something delicious, I get super excited. I can proudly reassure myself that the few dollars I spent on those bananas did not go to waste.  Great feeling.

A friend gave me the idea to make Banana Oatmeal Cookies, but I didn’t quite have enough oatmeal – so instead I made a bread so that I could use part oatmeal and part flour.  This bread turned out delicious, super moist.  Also, it’s very easy to throw together!

I have to admit, the original recipe didn’t actually include chocolate chips… I couldn’t help myself.  Who doesn’t need a little chocolate in their life?

Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cup light margarine
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat milk

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9×5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

2. Cream together the margarin, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until fluffy.

3. Sift together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients alternately with bananas and milk. Mix until blended.

4. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes; remove from oven and cover for 5 minutes.

Rolo Cupcakes

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Brace yourselves for an incredible cupcake recipe.

Husband asked me to bake something for a bake sale they were having at work for breast cancer. So naturally, I decided to bake a cupcake. Everyone loves cupcakes and I love baking new, fun things inside of cupcakes.  So why not a Rolo, right?  A friend from school had never even heard of rolo’s before.  Whats that about?  If you’ve never tried one, please go buy some and try one, and then bake these cupcakes because they turned out phenomenal!

The cake recipe was from Cake Mix Doctor, so it was super easy to throw together and the cake turned out very moist! I toped each cupcake with a caramel buttercream frosting. Worth. Every. Calorie.

Enjoy 🙂

For the Cupcake: 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package Devil’s Food Cake mix
  • 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs; lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 24 frozen Rolos (freeze for at least 2 hours)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 2.  Line muffin pan with paper liners (24) or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, water and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

4. Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans. {I use a large cookie scoop from OXO to scoop my batter; it holds 3 tablespoons}.

5. Gently push a frozen Rolo into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy with batter.

6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch. A small divot may appear in the center of the cupcake, no worries though because you’ll cover that with frosting.

7. Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

They balloon up! So be sure not to overfill…

For the Frosting

Ingredients: 

  • 2/3 cup solid vegetable shortening
  • 2/3 cup caramel icing toping
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
  • 4 cups (~1lb) confectionaries sugar
  • 2 teaspoons milk or water

Instructions:

1. Cream shortening, caramel ice cream topping, vanilla, and butter flavoring.

2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk or water and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. (add more or less milk to get to the consistency you want.

3.  For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.

Now all you that have left to do is frost your cupcakes!

 

 

(Every one always asks how I make my icing look so pretty, I use a pipping bag and pipping tip!  You can find them in cake decorating isle at Walmart or online at Wilton’s.  I promise it’s easy to use! 🙂 )

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

 

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Why is this the very first time I’m making these cookies?  have no idea why it’s taken me so long! These Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies turned out so so delicious.

I’m depressed that it’s Sunday evening at 9PM, where did the weekend go?  Maybe another cookie will help the situation… 🙂 Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Enjoy.

Ingredients: 

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup nutella

 

Instructions: 

. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, continue to beat until well combined.

2. Place flour and baking soda into a bowl; mix to combine then add slowly to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips.

3. Scoop a large spoonful of dough and flatten it into the palm of your hand. Add in some nutella into the middle, about 1-2 tsp. Then fold cookie dough back up so that it seals and covers the nutella entirely.

4. Bake for about 10-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool for a few minutes before serving.(Mine were perfect after 11 minutes)

 

 

Green Bean Casserole

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Happy Easter!!

I’m Orthodox, so we actually celebrate Easter this coming weekend on April 15th.  But this year, we get to celebrate it two times!! Some awesome friends of ours (thanks Jess and Ryan!) invited us over for a little Easter dinner this past Sunday.  It was quite the feast: mac and cheese, cheesy potatoes, ham, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, rolls…the food was endless and delicious!

We typically eat a traditional Egyptian meal on Easter, so I had to ask Jess what their traditional Easter meal was.  When she told me that it’s tradition to eat ham on Easter the first thing that popped in my head to bring was a Green Bean Casserole (second to dessert, of course!).   I have no idea why I choose green bean casserole, before Sunday I had never eaten green bean casserole, let alone made one! But after much research and a combination of a couple of recipes I seem to have come up with a pretty yummy dish!

Ingredients: 

  • 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, diced
  • 1/2 cup freshly chopped mushrooms
  • 2 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 8 cups cooked green beans
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/3 cups French fried onion
  • 3/4 cup crushed butter crackers
  • 1 cup sharp cheddar shredded cheese

Instructions: 

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add margarine to pan on medium heat.  Sauté mushrooms, garlic and onion in pan until onions are a golden yellow colored.

3.  In 2 quart casserole dish mix together sautéed mushrooms, garlic, and onion, cooked green beans, cream of mushroom, salt, pepper, milk, 1/2 cup of french fried onions, 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheese.

4.  In pan, add 1/2 tablespoon margarine, crushed crackers, and remaining french fried onions – until golden brown.

5. Top casserole with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and cracker-fried onion mix.

5.  Bake in oven for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown.

 

Of course I couldn’t help but bake some Easter cupcakes to take along as well: funfetti cupcakes with a chocolate buttercream icing! Delicious. 🙂 Recipes to come.

After dinner, we went outside and played a little bocce ball.  That was my first time playing… I have to admit, I wasn’t very good at it.  But that’s ok – I kept saying “We’re all winners,” to make myself feel better.  All in all, it was a great evening!

Husband and I

 

Nutella Peanut Butter Puppy Chow

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I was craving something sweet (I guess I’m always craving something sweet…) so I decided to whip up this chocolatey peanut buttery sugar covered deliciousness.  That’s exactly how it turned out too.  So delicious, yet so simple to make.

Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine
  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 1/2 cup creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 13 cups (more or less) or one 12oz box Chex cereal
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions: 

1. In a pan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips, stirring constantly.

2. When all is melted and smooth, remove from heat and stir in the Nutella and Peanut Butter

3. Slowly pour the chocolate Nutella mixture over cereal in a large mixing bowl. Wash your hands and use them to stir everything together until fairly evenly coated.

4. Wash those hands again and add the cereal to a gallon sized ziploc bag.

5. Pour in the powdered sugar and shake, starting with 1/2 cup at a time. You want to make sure everything’s coated, but not too sweet!