Thin Mint Cupcakes

It comes around once a year and creates a shopping frenzy...and no, I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie time!! Ever since I was little, I can remember my mom buying those green boxes of Thin Mint cookies and storing them in the freezer to last until they were sold again the next year. Of course, the cookies were always completely devoured well in advance of the next Girl Scout cookie sale, but we savored every one!!

This year, though, when I saw the Girl Scouts out selling, I wanted to try something different. Since I (obviously) love baking, I thought I'd try to incorporate them into some sort of recipe. After a bit of searching, I stumbled upon this recipe at Food Librarian and decided to give it a whirl. The result was a delicious chocolate cupcake with a subtle but not overwhelming mint flavor...and then I decided to whip up some mint buttercream frosting to give it a bit more punch!

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 sleeve crushed Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Combine crushed Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs, warm water, milk, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth (about 3 minutes). Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes. Yield: 24 cupcakes


Mint Buttercream Frosting
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup butter or shortening
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. green liquid food coloring

Mix butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in peppermint extract, food coloring, and half of the powdered sugar. Mix until well-blended, then add milk and remaining powdered sugar. Mix until well-blended. Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency.





There you have it! I chose to decorate my cupcakes with a simple dark chocolate ganache made with Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and heavy cream...feel free to get in touch with your creative side and decorate as you want!

Happy baking!


Riley

Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

There are few dessert items more classic than a chocolate cupcake!  So, when I really wanted to bake cupcakes the other day, that was what I decided on. However, I also happened to be out of butter, which tends to eliminate a lot of my usual recipes.  But, I stumbled upon Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake recipe (which is the recipe on the back of all of their cocoa boxes, in case you were wondering) which requires no butter at all!  Now, the buttercream, of course, did require butter...but I had to do something while all those cupcakes were cooling so I made a field trip to Meijer.

This cupcake recipe is quite unique compared to a lot of other chocolate cake recipes I've tried.  It's not dense, but it's also not light and airy.  It's not super moist, but it's also not dry.  It's not overwhelmingly chocolatey and it's a bit on the sweeter side.  If I had made this recipe before, I probably wouldn't have made buttercream for the topping (the end result was a little too sweet for my taste...but I'm also a fan of bittersweet chocolate so take that suggestion with a grain of salt).  But, my grandma requested caramel buttercream so I adapted a recipe based on what I had on hand
and here's the results!

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water (I just microwaved a bowl of water for 2 minutes)

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add in eggs, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and water.  Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Fill prepared paper cups 1/2 full with batter. Bake for 21-23 minutes.  Yield: 30 cupcakes

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, not packed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter or shortening
• 5 cups powdered sugar

Melt 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup brown sugar in a pan on the stove.  Bring to a boil and cook (while stirring constantly) for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and whisk in milk and vanilla extract.  Mix the other 1/2 cup of butter (or shortening) with 2 cups of powdered sugar until well-mixed.  Alternate adding the brown sugar mixture and remaining powdered sugar. 

There you have it...sorry for my absence here for the last month.  Finances haven't been great and thus I haven't gotten the chance to try out many inventive recipes.  I am, after all, a poor grad student!  Hopefully once all the conference I'm going to are over, I'll have more time for posting!

Happy baking!

Riley =)

Vanilla Melting Shortbread

A couple of years ago when I went on a study abroad trip to Scotland, I came back with a few new obsessions: cashmere, plaid...and shortbread (yes, I know...stereotypical tourist stuff!).  After downing a couple of boxes of the Walker's variety, my obsession waned a bit, but I still hold a special place in my heart for it!  So, whenever I come across an appealing shortbread recipe, I always tuck it away for the day when a shortbread craving hits me.  Today happened to be one of those days!

This particular recipe is another from BakeBakeBake that I modified a bit.  It's an incredibly simple recipe (as most plain shortbread recipes are, with the occasional variation in type of flour or whether or not they use cornstarch), so it's quite convenient if you need a fast and elegant dessert.  It's also very easy to put your own spin on this recipe - throw in some chocolate or butterscotch chips, change up the type of extract, dip an end of them in melted chocolate... Shortbread recipes are great to have fun with!

Vanilla Melting Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 270 degrees F.  Very lightly grease an 8in x 8in pan.

Mix together the butter and powdered sugar until well-blended (the colder your butter, the more difficult this will be...but colder butter also tends to result in flakier shortbread if that's your preference!).  Mix in the vanilla.  Add the flour and cornstarch and mix until fluffy.

Using the prepared pan, press the dough into the pan.  Using a fork or toothpick, make several tiny holes in the dough prior to baking. Bake for 50-60 minutes.  If the edges begin to brown, it's been in the oven too long, so be sure to keep an eye on it!

The shortbread was a hit with my family...I just made sure not to mention how much butter was in it when my health-conscious father decided to take a taste!  And a quick note about vanilla extract...I strongly believe that in recipes like this it is very important to use a good quality vanilla extract.  I prefer Nielson-Massey Madagascar Bourbon vanilla (which you can buy at Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma...or on Amazon if you're like me and aren't always close to one of those stores).  Some of my friends call me crazy, but I think the difference in taste is very evident when using pure as opposed to the fake stuff.  If you don't believe me, try a taste test sometime!  So, go ahead and have fun inventing your own shortbread creations...let me know what all you come up with!

Happy baking...

Riley

Christmas Cookies

One of my earliest baking memories was making Christmas cookies every year with my family.  We've used the same recipe for as long as I can remember, from the same old cookbook that continues to reside in my parents' kitchen cupboard (and that I've already claimed as part of my inheritance someday).  We've had a few fun stories and odd traditions evolve over the years as my siblings and I get older, but the cookies always stay the same.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it uses almond extract.  It gives these cookies a little bit more of a kick than most sugar cut out cookies.  It also makes them slightly addictive (at least to me!)!  Hopefully you enjoy them just as much as me and my family have over the years!

Betty Crocker's Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter (I use unsalted), softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix together powdered sugar and butter until well blended.  Add in extracts and egg.  Mix in the remaining ingredients. Once the dough has been mixed together, shape into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for 2 or more hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  After dough has chilled, roll out on a floured (or powdered sugar-ed) surface and cut out shapes as desired.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges.

For icing, I use a simple powdered sugar and milk glaze.  It's very sweet, but it hardens well and takes far less time than royal icing.  It isn't as easy to decorate with as royal icing, so don't expect intricate designs if you take this icing route!  But...it's our tradition, so we always make the best decorations we can with our powdered sugar glaze!

That's it for today.  I hope you all have an excellent holiday season whatever holiday you celebrate!

Merry Christmas Eve...and Merry Baking :)

Riley

Cheddar Beer Bread

So, today while reading through BakeBakeBake (one of my favorite sources for new recipes and ideas...it's a Livejournal community and arguably the only reason I'm still on LJ), I found a recipe for Alton Brown's Beer Cheese Bread.

Cheddar Beer Bread (adapted from Alton Brown's Beer Cheese Bread)

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
5 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
12 ounces cold beer, ale or stout (I used Budweiser)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9in x 5in loaf pan and set aside. Mix together the flours, baking powder, sea salt, sugar, and dill in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add in the grated cheddar cheese. Slowly pour in the beer until it is all mixed together (do not overmix or it will get too tough!). Put it in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes.

My sister/sous chef and I attacked it right out of the oven and both thoroughly enjoyed it. The cheddar and beer flavors balance one another out perfectly! One thing I might change for next time, though, is baking it slightly longer. I only baked it for 46 minutes this time and, while it was still tasty, I think the middle could've used a few more minutes to be all the way finished. It might also be fun to experiment with the flavor when using other beers...I used Budweiser because it was all I had on hand (and you can't buy alcohol on Sunday in Indiana), but it might be fun to see how it tastes with a stout. I'd imagine you could get quite a range of flavors just from changing up the beer!

Happy baking!

Riley