Baked By Buttercup

Megan's Dutch Apple Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 06:30:00 +0000

It's been a minute since I wrote a blog post. Well, more than a minute. Safe to say that a lot has happened since March of 2015. To sum it all up: I got engaged, married, traveled to Europe twice, adopted a dog, had a baby, and bought a house!

And in all that time, I've done a lot of cooking and baking. I've even taken pictures of what I was making in the hopes of writing a blog post, but never got around to it. But I sit here now, starting this entry after finally typing up the perfected version of my Dutch Apple Pie. I have another Dutch Apple Pie recipe on this blog, but it is so different from this one. This one is the stuff dreams are made of. It's a rich crust with matching crumb topping and warm, diced apples enveloped in sugar and spices. It's like fall wrapped you in a hug and welcomed you home.

I've made this pie so many times without writing down the exact measurements of everything. I make it every year for Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving. It always tastes the same, but I needed to write down exactly what I did so I wouldn't forget. Back in August, my friend Gaby requested this pie for her birthday since it is her favorite. Actually, in July, Gaby and Stephen texted me and said I should enter my pie into the Orange County Fair. It was too late to enter any contests this year, but I may consider it for next year. Which means I probably shouldn't share this recipe now, but I just can't wait! It's THAT good. Anyway, when I made the pie for Gaby's birthday, I finally wrote everything down. Now it's 3 months later and I'm getting around to typing it up in time for Thanksgiving. Such is life with a baby, I guess.

Okay, here it is. My pride and joy. My Dutch Apple Pie. I really hope you love this pie as much as I do!!

Megan’s Dutch Apple Pie

Crust and Topping:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups brown sugar

¾ cup oats

9 tablespoons butter

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¾ tsp ground ginger

Filling:

⅔ cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ¼ cup cold water

4½ - 5 cup diced, peeled tart apples (Honeycrisp, Pink Lady)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

2 pinches kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, brown sugar, oats, butter, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger; reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture onto bottom and up sides of an ungreased 9-inch pie plate.

In a large saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and water until smooth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in apples, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.

Pour filling into crust. Crumble topping over filling. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Happy Thanksgiving!

<3 Buttercup

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Applesauce Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 01:06:00 +0000

Applesauce Bread!

For those of you who know me well, know that I don't traditionally do well with free time. Once I even said it scared me! But I think that has changed. I am currently in the middle of my first week of my two week Spring Break. Two whole weeks off! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful and relaxing just the thought of two weeks off has been. But the reality...oh it is even greater than I imagined! Chris and I went to Arizona for Spring Training for a few days and then did a little Costco tour along the 10 on how way home. Now my days involve working out in the morning, catching up on all my shows on the DVR, going to all the grocery stores, and cooking.

Today I felt inspired to bake and decide to make SkinnyTaste's Applesauce Nut Bread. It's a low-fat quick bread that just sounded incredible and I wanted the apartment to smell like baked apples. The original recipe called for chopped walnuts but Chris isn't the biggest fan of nuts and I need to make sure that he will eat this too...otherwise I'll eat it all myself! :D I also used honey instead of agave since it's what I had. I also decided to try something different to lighten up this recipe even further. It really didn't need to be lightened up, but I was curious to see if I could find another substitute for vegetable oil. Applesauce is my usual oil substitute but since this recipe already calls for 1 1/2 cups of applesauce, I wanted to try something different. I probably would have tried pumpkin if I didn't think I would have wasted the rest of the can. I also thought about using yogurt, but all I had was plain, nonfat Greek yogurt and I was worried that it would dry it out. Looking back now, that was probably silly as it only calls for 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to begin with. Anyway, I had reduced fat buttermilk in the refrigerator from making Irish Soda Bread last week and found (via the wonders of the internet) that it could be a substitute for vegetable oil! Score! The bread came out moist and delicious and it knocked a one Weight Watchers point off the serving size. Between the buttermilk and not including nuts, it went from 4 Points Plus per slice to just 2!

Applesauce Bread

1 large finely diced, peeled apple, diced into ¼" pieces

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

1¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1½ cups applesauce

1½ cups white whole wheat flour

¾ cup brown sugar, not packed

1 tsp baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch allspice

¼ tsp salt

2 tablespoons reduced fat buttermilk

2 large egg whites

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1½ ounces chopped walnuts (optional)

cooking spray

In a medium bowl combine diced apple, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, honey, and lemon juice. Set aside.

I used a Jonagold apple...delicious!

How cute is my honey bear?

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

The dry ingredients!

In a mixing bowl combine buttermilk, egg whites, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

All the wet ingredients + brown sugar.

Add the flour mixture and blend at low speed until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in apples.

All together now! :) But sorry I forgot to take a picture of the apples folded in.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake in the center rack about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Into the loaf pan it goes!

Let the pan cool at least 20 minutes, bread should be room temperature before slicing. Makes 16 servings (½ inch slices).

Baked perfection!

Thanks for reading!

<3 Buttercup

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Deanna Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:37:00 +0000

Deanna Cookies are Gluten Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies :)

Once upon a time, I updated this blog on a regular basis. Now, whenever I get around to it, I seem to be apologizing for my absence. Well, here we go again. It's been almost a year since my last baking blog post and boy has my world changed. I moved to Rancho Cucamonga, moved in with Chris, and finally started working as a full-time school counselor at a school that I love, in a wonderful, small district, and with coworkers I adore. I'd say life is going pretty darn well. It's officially 2015 and I'm a very happy person! I do miss my friends and family in San Diego dearly, but it's a quick 2 hour drive (that I know SO well from the long-distance thing with Chris) and I have managed to make it back quite frequently.

So, let's chat about cookies and my friend Deanna (who I often just call D). Deanna is a girl I met through Chris because he grew up with her husband Blake. Deanna is gluten free and we found this recipe back in 2013. One day, Chris and I were hanging out at Blake and D's house and we wanted to bake. As we rummaged through their cabinets to see what we had to use, I did a real quick internet search and found this recipe. It sounded perfect. We made them and they were divine. I think D made them a couple of times right in a row because she was so excited to find this recipe. I remember back in July of 2013 that we couldn't find the recipe. The website we got it from was gone and we had only bookmarked the page, not saved the recipe or printed it out. It was a pretty anxious time as we tried to figure out how to get it back. Somehow D managed to find it in temporary internet files or something like that...somewhere in the depths of her computer. I got an email from her with the subject "that was a CLOSE one!! so panicked!!" when she had finally recovered the recipe. Unfortunately, I have NO idea who to give credit to for this recipe because we didn't keep the name of the website or the author. So, to the internet: if this is your recipe, please let me know and I will gladly give you credit! Until then, I'm calling these Deanna cookies because they were made for her and it is much easier to say and type than Gluten Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Deanna, Blake, and Deanna's Dad George came over to our apartment on Saturday to watch the Panthers beat the Cardinals and eat incredible tri-tip. While they were over, Deanna was flipping through my Grady Family Recipe Book and we were chatting about various recipes. Also in this binder are a ton of recipes I have printed out from the internet. She came across a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies and I explained that I have a rarely updated baking blog. I sent her a link and she immediately checked it out. She casually said that I should get back into the blogging. I explained that although I still bake and take the pictures, it's always the actual writing and the posting that holds me up. Until today. Deanna's birthday is on January 7th and as part of her gift, I have made these cookies AND written all about them! I guess I just needed a little motivation. :)

My Gluten Free cast of characters.

On to the recipe! I had never purchased gluten free oats or flour on my own, so I started looking at grocery stores and realized they are gosh darn expensive!! Fortunately, Trader Joe's sells great, inexpensive gluten free products, so they were used in this recipe. I also discovered that Nestle's Toll House semi-sweet morsels and Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter both note that they are gluten free. Color me impressed! There was no doubt that I could make these cookies for D. The recipe is pretty straight forward, although it is really specific as to how long to mix things in your electric mixer. My first pan was a bit a dry and I think I overcooked them because I wasn't sure exactly what shade I was looking for in golden brown. I had the first pan in for 14 minutes, so it could have been just slightly overcooked. But I'm not sure if they could have also been overmixed. I'd have to experiment more. To be safe, I baked the subsequent 2 pans for just 11 minutes each and I think they turned out better. I told Chris that the dry cookies are just begging to be paired with a cold glass of milk!

Deanna Cookies
½ cup butter, cold but not hard
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1 cup GF Flour (OR 2/3 cup millet flour + 1/3 cup sweet rice flour)

½ GF-certified oats (OR ½-2/3 cup sliced almonds)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar for 4 minutes on medium. Add vanilla and egg. Beat mixture again for 2 minutes on medium-high. Add peanut butter. Beat again for 2 minutes on medium-high. Add flour(s), oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix again. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Butter and sugars before turning the mixer on.

After beating for 4 minutes.

Add in egg and vanilla.

Ready for the peanut butter! Such an unexpected treat in these cookies!

All the time in the mixer makes a really light and fluffy dough prior to adding the dry ingredients.

Here it is with the GF flour, GF oats, baking soda, and salt...dough is a little bit thicker.

And what's a cookie without chocolate chips??? Answer: probably a sugar or molasses cookie! ;)

Shape the cookies into small balls. I used my Oxo Small Cookie Scoop to do this. It makes a cookie out of 2 teaspoon of dough.

I'm obsessed with cookie scoops to make PERFECT cookies.

16 perfect cookies on parchment patiently waiting for the oven.

Place the cookies on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for 11 minutes and remove from the oven when the top begins to turn golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes on the pan before moving them on to a cooling rack.

They cook for about 11 minutes, just until they start to turn golden brown.

Perfect Deanna Cookies! :) Happy Birthday friend!

A great friend unpacks your kitchen with you on move-in day while the guys do the heavy lifting!

I hope you all enjoyed this first post of 2015. I hope to blog more than just once this year...but I make no promises. ;)

<3 Buttercup

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Black Bean Brownie Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 05:31:00 +0000

Black Bean Brownie Bites!

Well friends, it’s been too long. I haven’t posted in about 11 months and I sincerely apologize. Life has been wonderful in this past year and I just don’t have a reason to why I have been gone for so long. But you know what?? I am back! :)

Today I came home from work and I wanted to bake. But more than that, I wanted to blog! This is a rarity. I have baked plenty of delicious things in the past year, but never had the desire to photograph it and write it up for all of you. I think today was different because I didn’t spend my day sitting in front of a computer, so I don’t mind typing now.

So let’s talk brownies. I love them. And today I wanted a serious brownie, but I wanted something on the healthy side of life. I had heard about black bean brownies, and decided to give them a try today. I reviewed a whole bunch of recipes and ultimately decided that one that baked brownies in mini muffin pans would be best for me to ration out brownies.

I was able to work on the recipe and lighten it up a bit, so each cute little brownie bite is 1 PPV…in Weight Watchers, that means 1 PointsPlus Value. I cut out the oil in the original recipe and used pumpkin instead. I wanted to use applesauce, but the jar we had in our fridge was no longer good. Luckily I keep pumpkin on hand! Oddly enough, the brownies tasted a little dry when they were warm but moist when fully cooled. So, I guess these brownies are best cooled! :) Your really can’t taste the black beans and they add soooo much fiber and protein. Also, these brownies are totally gluten free! There is NO flour. :)

Next time around I would probably pulse the black beans without any other ingredients in the food processor and then add the other ingredients to the mix. I think that they need to be totally and completely pulverized before trying to bake with them.

Black Bean Brownie Bites

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, well rinsed and drained

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons pumpkin puree

¾ cup cocoa powder

pinch of sea salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup raw turbinado sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ cup mini chocolate chips

1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray mini muffin pans with cooking spray.

Puree black beans through baking powder in a food processor for about 3 minutes, pausing once to scrape down the sides, until the consistency of brownie batter. Add mini chocolate chips and pulse to mix.

This is everything from black beans to baking powder!

Ohhh oh, we're halfway there!

Oh hey, brownie batter. Imagine that!

Chocolate chips are just a necessity. You have to add them. You HAVE to.

Fill mini muffin tin to just below the top with batter, about 1 tablespoon each. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the sides and a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.

A cookie scoop is perfect for this!

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sea salt, and let cool completely before removing from pan. Makes 36 brownie bites.

Add salt and let them cool!

Adorable black bean, chocolate perfection!

Thanks for reading and coming back to Baked By Buttercup!

<3 Buttercup

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Cauliflower Pizza Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 01:54:00 +0000

Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Pesto, Artichoke Hearts, Mushrooms, Arugula, and a drizzle of Balsamic Glaze.

Back in August, one of my Facebook friends posted a picture of her cauliflower pizza crust. I thought that was interesting, so I searched some food blogs for recipes. I found one on Recipe Girl that had nice step-by-step pictures (despite the fact that she made a Hawaiian pizza...eww, pineapple!), so I saved the link and emailed it to my sister Erin. I tend run new ideas by her before I actually tackle them. Well, in August we thought it was a good idea and now it's March. So, it took me 6 months to actually buy a head of cauliflower, but I guess that's what a day off is for!

Side note: speaking of my day off, let's recap the last few months, shall we? After Thanksgiving, I quit my job at the career college to go back to the uncertain world of school counseling. I missed it so much and I was miserable at the college. A friend was going on maternity leave and needed a substitute while she was gone. I was perfect for the job. I started working at Marshall Middle School on December 5th. That long-term position ended on Valentine's Day. It was one of the most incredible schools I've ever worked at. The kids were amazing and I miss lunch supervision with my 6th grade boys!! The administration is phenomenal. The principal and the counselors there are my professional heroes and mentors. I want to be these women someday. Anyway, I am in between sub jobs at the moment, which is how I have a day off. I'll start my next job on March 8th, subbing as a counselor at De Portola Middle School. I can't wait!

Awesome. You are caught up on my work life now and understand how I have a day off. Let's continue with the cauliflower. I was in the mood to cook something new and blog about it, so I decided it was time to actually make the cauliflower pizza crust. I had never really had cauliflower before. I skipped it at salad bars and avoided it in mixed vegetables. It just felt boring and unimportant to me, so I have had been hesitant to but a head of cauliflower in the first place. So, as I was preparing the cauliflower dough, I ate some of it raw. You know what? It's tasty. Why have I avoided this vegetable for so long? It reminded me of mashed potatoes, so I think it would be good roasted or steamed. I've been converted. So please feel free to share your cauliflower recipes with me!

Now, I made a fancy pizza today because I was in a fancy mood. But I think this crust would lend well to any toppings. My next cauliflower pizza will have turkey pepperoni on it because that stuff is super tasty without all the fat and calories of the regular stuff. The cauliflower crust was just delicious. It definitely creates more of a "fork and knife" pizza than an "eat with your hands" pizza, but it was still great. I had to be creative and skillful in getting the pizza off of the pan in one piece, but I made it work. I used a metal spatula to loosen the pizza off the pan and then slid a thin, flexible cutting board in between the pizza and the pan to transfer it. Worked like a charm!

I hope you enjoy this pizza! It's a clever way to sneak in an extra vegetable and a great way to go gluten free for a meal. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust (Points+: 2 per slice)

Yield: One 9 to 12-inch pizza, cut into 6 slices

½ large head cauliflower (or 2+ cups grated/shredded cauliflower)

1 large egg

1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic)

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Grate the cauliflower into small crumbles with a box grater. (You can use the food processor if you'd like, but you just want crumbles, not puree.) Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. Let cauliflower cool for about 5 minutes.

Grating the cauliflower was SUPER easy!!

This is half of the large head of cauliflower grated, about 3 cups before it went into the microwave.

And this is after the microwave. A little less than 2 cups now.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray (or use a nonstick surface). In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles with the egg, cheese, oregano, minced garlic, onion powder, and salt until well combined.

That's all that goes into this pizza dough! Incredible!

Can you believe that this basically cauliflower and cheese?!

Pat the dough into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan. Spray the crust lightly with nonstick spray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

It was a lot easier to pat into a round than I expected. The dough is easy to work with and didn't fall apart.

Mine was deliciously golden brown after 12 minutes, so keep an eye on your crust!

Then top with your favorite toppings! (See below for my creation.) Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into 6 slices and serve immediately.

Pesto, Artichoke, Mushroom, and Arugula Pizza (Points+: 5 per slice)

1 cauliflower pizza crust

¼ cup pesto sauce (I used Buitoni Pesto with Basil, Reduced Fat)

1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese

½ can artichoke hearts in water, cut in half and blotted dry

2 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1-2 cups arugula

1 tablespoon balsamic glaze (I used Trader Giotto’s Balsamic Glaze)

Spread the pesto sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle cheese on top and add the artichoke hearts and mushrooms. Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Sprinkle arugula on top and drizzle balsamic glaze over arugula. Put back in the oven for 1 minute. Cut into 6 slices and serve immediately.

All my toppings are on and ready to be broiled!

This was after being broiled for about 4 minutes.

Then I sprinkled on the arugula and drizzled on the balsamic glaze and put it back under the broiler for another minute.

Pizza perfection!!!

A little slice of heaven! :)

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what your favorite pizza toppings are in the comments. :)

<3 Buttercup

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Dark Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:56:00 +0000

Dark Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere. In the case of this recipe, it came from my brilliant Uncle Sean. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of having a meal prepared by Sean, let me explain. He is a culinary genius. He opened my eyes, heart, and taste buds to the magic that is arugula, now my favorite green. He paired arugula with portabella mushrooms, onions, and a balsamic reduction to make the best salad I have ever had. His pizza is out of this world. Simply put, the guy knows his way around a kitchen. So on Friday night, while we were texting about dinner at his house for Saturday night, he requested that I make dessert.

Here is our conversation:

Did he just pair goat cheese with chocolate and a Thai chile? Yeah, he did. So I was inspired. I started searching for desserts that used goat cheese and chocolate. Originally it felt like an unlikely combination, but then I started seeing cheesecakes and brownies. That was too much. We wanted small and intense. Then I found it: Chocolate and Black Pepper Goat Cheese Truffles. Bingo. These were originally made by Joy the Baker, but reprinted with permission on Serious Eats.

I wasn't really feeling the black pepper, so I went for my own spicy variation. I remembered how much I loved the combination of cayenne and cinnamon in my Mexican Mocha Brownies. So I went for it. And it was a brilliant idea. The tang of the goat cheese, the slight sweetness of the dark chocolate, the heat from the cayenne. WOW. It was incredible. I made half the recipe without cayenne and cinnamon so that others could enjoy them. I was able to convince my 6 year old cousin Molly to taste the regular ones...she didn't enjoy the tang of the goat cheese. But Caitlin, the 8 year old, did enjoy it. It took her a moment to process the flavors, but she ended up enjoying it. Her taste buds are expanding!

So here they are. My Dark Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles. The recipe below made 24 truffles. I only made 12 of them with the cayenne and cinnamon. Pay attention to the note below about the spices!!

Dark Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles (Points+: 1 per truffle)
4 ounces dark chocolate, 70-72% cocoa, coarsely chopped
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
coarse sea salt

Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a pot simmering water to melt the chocolate. Once chocolate is melted, remove bowl from pot and set aside to cool slightly.

I used 2 different types of dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, hence the different colors.

Let it melt, let it melt, let it melt. :)

Ahhh I'm melting!! Hehe. :)

In a medium bowl, whisk together goat cheese, melted chocolate, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy and well incorporated.

Goat cheese and chocolate in the same bowl...my version of heaven.

So rich and delicious!!!!

A note about the spices: If you want them all spicy, double the spices above (use 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon). If you want none of them spicy, skip the spices and move on. If you want half of them spicy, divide the goat cheese and chocolate mixture and add the 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to one half. A 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne makes them have some serious heat. if this worries you, add it gradually. You can't take it away once it goes in!!

Cover the mixture in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

On the left: spicy. On the right: not spicy.

Once firm, portion a heaping teaspoon of the goat cheese mixture into clean hands and roll into a ball. (I used my kitchen scale to help make all of the truffles the same size. All of mine weighed 9 grams each, which is a heaping teaspoon.)

I know this is not the most appetizing picture, but it's real life.

Now it's all pretty and a perfect 9 grams!

Roll the ball in cocoa powder and sprinkle with coarse set salt. To help distinguish between spicy and regular, I also sprinkled cinnamon on the spicy ones. Serve slightly chilled.

Let the good times roll!

Sprinkle, chill, and enjoy!

Makes 24 truffles. Truffles will last, in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Thank you so much to my Uncle Sean for being my baking muse this week!

<3 Buttercup

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Banana Oatmeal Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:03:00 +0000

Banana Oatmeal Muffins!!

Hello hello!! I'm Buttercup is BACK!!! So sorry for the delay, but I haven't been baking much these past few months. Back in July, I joined Weight Watchers. To make a long story short, I was miserable at my job and needed to do something good for myself OTHER than work 40 hours a week. Since then, I have done exceptionally well on the program. The only problem?? I don't bake as much as I used to which is why I have been very quiet in cyberspace these days.

Back to the baked goods at hand. :) I found these Banana Oatmeal Muffins from a web search which led me to a blog called Keeping Up with the Joneses. Super cute couple and great recipes on the blog. I was really intrigued because she used her blender to whip everything together! Awesome. :) They are a little spongy but I think that is because there is no fat in the them. Next time, I might use low-fat Greek yogurt instead of non-fat. Either way, they are delicious and freeze well! I froze half of them and then could take one out of the freezer in the morning before work. By the time I needed something to eat at work, it would be defrosted! Awesome!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Points+: 4 points)
2 bananas
6 ounces non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2½ cups old-fashioned oats

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or line with silicone or foil liner (paper liners stick too much in a base without flour). Place all of the wet ingredients in a blender or food processor and then add the dry ingredients.

First you add the wet ingredients.

And then you add the dry!

This is oddly beautiful to me, so I felt compelled to share. :)

Blend until the oats are smooth.

Shout to my sister Erin for my awesome blender! :) It was a 21st birthday present!

Divide batter evenly among muffin tin.

I opted to use cooking spray instead of foil liners.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Golden brown and puffy! So cute!!

Ready for breakfast! Or a snack... :)

Thanks for coming back! :)

<3 Buttercup

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:16:00 +0000

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies...heavenly!!

I've seen recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough dips, spreads, and frostings, but never felt compelled to make them myself. Cookie Dough is so delicious that I did not need to know how to make it solely for eating the dough (without eggs) and never baking cookies. But then my best friend Pam found this recipe and shared it on Facebook with her fiance Chris, joking that they should have this instead of wedding cake.
Side note: did you know that Pam, my former roommate and best friend, is engaged? Well, she is and it's super exciting! No doubt I'll have posts that refer to that in the future! Chris proposed over Memorial Day weekend and it is such a relief to not have to keep that ring a secret anymore! I'm so excited to be a part of their special day! :)

Anyway, that Facebook post got me thinking and part of me wanted to try this recipe out. Then, a few weeks later, I really wanted to bake something and Pam suggested these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies from Recipe Girl. Her best friend Joy was getting into town and Chris was in soccer camp, so we had plenty of people that I could share this creation with, so that my roommate Margaret and I wouldn't eat all of them! I knew they'd be dangerous in our apartment, so I had to have a plan for sharing!

Turns out they were one of the most phenomenal and sinful treats ever. I am wary of new brownie recipes, but this one is spectacular. It is the perfect density. It's fudgy and chocolate, and firm enough to support a massive layer of cookie dough on top. And the cookie dough? It's perfect too. Honestly, it tastes just like cookie dough I would make to actually bake cookies, but there are no eggs. This layered brownie creation is best served cold, so the cookie dough is firm.

These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies got rave reviews from Chris' soccer team (the US Paralympic Soccer Team...no big deal) and my friends. I'm grateful to Pam for finding this recipe! Thank you! Oh, and please note that my pictures are of a doubled recipe, since I was feeding a soccer team, but the recipe below is just for one pan! :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Brownies

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature or almost melted

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup miniature chocolate chips

additional miniature chocolate chips, if desired (to garnish the top)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x9-inch pan with nonstick spray, then line with a strip of parchment paper so that it covers the bottom and comes up two sides of the pan. Spray the parchment with nonstick spray too.

In the top of a double boiler or pan set on top of a pan of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate chips together until all is melted and smooth.

Nothing beats melting butter and chocolate together!

Whisk in the sugars, then whisk in the eggs, vanilla and salt.

Whisk me away to sweetness! Haha. :)

Going counterclockwise: egg, salt, vanilla. :)

Sift flour into the bowl and mix.

You can't tell in this picture, but I did sift the flour!

Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie layer is cooked through (toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Place the pan of brownies in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process (or cool at room temperature and add the cookie dough layer later).

Ready for the oven! Remember, I made a double batch...

Brownie perfection! I probably could have just stopped here, but I didn't. :)

Once the brownies have cooled and are firm, begin preparing the cookie dough. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugars, and salt until soft and creamy.

This is exactly what I would do if I intended to make cookies!

Mix in the milk and vanilla. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in the 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Milk instead of an egg...I like it! :)

Scoop the cookie dough onto the top of the brownies and spread onto the brownie layer. Wet your hands or spray them with nonstick spray and pat the cookie dough on top in an even layer.

That is A LOT of cookie dough. Yay. :)

It was surprisingly easy to spread!

Sprinkle additional chocolate chips.

Chill the brownies until firm, 1 to 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Hope you have enjoyed these incredible creations! I certainly enjoyed making them and sharing them with my friends and Chris' team!

Thanks again!

<3 Buttercup

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Snickers Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:04:00 +0000

Snickers Cupcakes...sinfully delicious :)

Have I told you about Friday Friends Dinners? I'm not sure that I have. Just in case, let me explain them now. About once a month, a group of us get together for dinner on a Friday night at a different restaurant each time. One person plans the dinner and invites all of us on Facebook. I have yet to plan one, but I look forward to it! Well, for the month of May, Nicky had us all over to her apartment building downtown to watch the Padres game from the 14th floor rooftop. Everyone brought a dish to share and we had a phenomenal potluck. It's awesome having friends who can cook well! :)

I was sort of stressing about what to make because it is rare that I have such a captive audience. I knew it had to be easy to eat, from scratch, and appeal to a wide range of people. I searched high and low for the best dessert I could find when I stumbled upon Homemade by Holman. Within this blog, I discovered the incredibly delicious Snickers Cupcakes.
As much as I like to try out new recipes, I get nervous when I'm making new something for an event. What if it doesn't taste good? What if people don't like it? Maybe this fear is why I don't feel like I can sell something I make...but that's a different story. Anyway, I think that I felt comfortable making these cupcakes for the potluck because I trusted the cake recipe. Even if the frosting had been terrible (which it definitely was NOT), my friends would eat a delicious chocolate cake and Snickers pieces.

Have you ever had caramel buttercream frosting? Well, you have certainly been missing out if you haven't. This recipe pairs one of my favorite chocolate cakes with a frosting that is to die for and then sprinkles one of the all-time best candy bars are on top. I think this is what heaven tastes like.

Snickers Cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners. Combine all dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer.

It is already looking chocolaty!

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on low until just incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat two minutes. Stir in boiling water, the batter will be thin.

It's thin, but it produces a super moist cupcake!

Transfer batter to prepared pans, filling each liner about 2/3 of the way full, approximately 1/4 cup of batter.

Ready for the oven!!

Bake approximately 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans about five minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

No idea why the cupcakes turned out so funky! This has never happened before!

When cool, fill a frosting bag with a 1M tip with caramel sauce. Insert the tip into the cupcake, about halfway into the cupcake and fill with caramel sauce.

I'm a little disappointed in myself that I used store bought caramel sauce, but it was delicious!

Insert the frosting tip straight into the cupcake...

...and stop it when the caramel peeks out!

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup caramel sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups (1 lb.) powdered sugar
8 mini Snickers bars or 3 full size Snickers bars, chopped, for garnish

Beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Add caramel sauce, heavy cream and vanilla and mix to incorporate.

The start of the most delicious frosting ever!

Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating on low speed until incorporated to reach the right consistency. Increase speed to medium-high and whip about one minute until light and fluffy.

Light, fluffy, and so addicting. :)

Fill a frosting bag and pipe onto cupcakes or frost as desired.

A perfect swirl!

Coarsely chop candy bars and sprinkle over the top of cupcakes.

Candy bars on cupcakes!? Amazing!

Snickers Cupcakes for the win!!!

I hope you enjoyed these incredible cupcakes!!! I know my friends and I certainly did!

<3 Buttercup

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Cinco de Mayo Pinata Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:13:00 +0000

Back in the beginning of May, my lovely sister Lauren shared a link to a recipe with me. It was for these adorable Cinco de Mayo Pinata Cookies that she discovered on Pinterest. Of course, being the baker that I am, I wanted to make them immediately. Cinco de Mayo was only 3 days away, which felt like plenty of time to put these together for my friends. Boy was I wrong! Pinterest should come with a warning label:

Warning: Things on Pinterest are harder than they appear.

My Cinco de Mayo Pinata Cookies

These were the single most difficult thing I have ever attempted to make. But, I did it and my roommate Margaret loved them. So, I would consider this baking adventure a moderate success. Normally when I share a recipe, I type it out again for my readers to follow step-by-step without leaving my blog. Today I don't think that is necessary. I am going to share with you step-by-step the craziness that went through this blog. I would highly recommend you visit the original site for a more detailed look into exactly how this is supposed to be done. I'm just here to share my hilarious experience. :)

With that big head, he is definitely a smart ass!! :)

Let's get down to business. For starters, I had the hardest time finding a donkey/burro cookie cutter. I went to Michael's, Target, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Wednesday afternoon and could not find anything that was even remotely appropraite. I went home, dejected and disappointed, and called my sister Erin for cookie cutter advice. We discussed looking online and trying specialty stores, but I didn't feel like I had the time. On Thursday, I had to run errands for work and took my lunch break while I was out. I stopped into Michael's again, armed with some great coupons, determined to find an animal cookie cutter that would work. And that's when I saw the display: 30% off all Cinco de Mayo stuff! And there was the donkey cookie cutter. Sure his head was really large, but he was a donkey and he was ready for a fiesta. I snatched him up quickly and was ready to bake!

Best idea ever! And there were tons of leftovers!! :)

Next up was the procurement of the ingredients to make the colorful sugar cookies filled with mini M&M's! Most of the ingredients were pretty standard, but finding those DARN mini M&M's was next to impossible. After failing at multiple stores, my friend Laura suggested heading a frozen yogurt place and just buying toppings. And that is exactly what I did! The recipe also called for gel food coloring, but I couldn't find it in the neon colors I was hoping for, so I had to settle for the regular liquid stuff. But, now I have plenty of black and neon food coloring.

Pretty basic ingredients, except the Almond Extract. That made them special! :)

Making the dough and dying the dough really wasn't all that difficult. I used my KitchenAid to actually make the dough, and after I divided into 6 separate balls, I used a clean bowl on the mixer to mix in the food coloring. Of course some food coloring got on my hands and by the time I was done, I looked like I had murdered a few Care Bears!! Layering the dough was by far one of the most difficult parts. I felt like I didn't have enough of it to make an even layer. I also think that I didn't use a proper size Tupperware container for this step. It just wasn't working. I tried flattening it with my hands and then laying it in. I tried putting the ball of dough in the container and spreading it out with my hands. Nothing worked well, and even after I re-watched the video tutorials, I still couldn't figure it out. Somehow I ended up with a very short stack of cookie dough.

I had really high hopes that the dough would expand while baking.

Onto the baking! For some reason, this recipe had me "waste" a lot of cookie. Fortunately, I hate waste and came up with an alternative to this (wait for it at the bottom of this long blog). Anyway, the recipe asked you to cut 1/4 inch slices of the dough and bake them. Then, the moment they come out of the oven, you are supposed to press the cookie cutter into them. Why not use the cookie cutter on the uncooked dough? I have absolutely NO idea, but I did it anyway.

In what universe did I think this was going to work?

Eventually I decided that I was going to have to smush (technical term) the dough together to make bigger pieces that would actually fit the silly donkey with a big head. It was all such an ordeal and I was only able to cut out a total of six donkeys...and each 3-D donkey required three cookies. So yes, if you do the math, you will discover that this entire recipe only produced two complete donkeys for me!! I think it should have made quite a few more...but obviously my dough was not cooperating with this process. You'll be able to see all of this below:

That is three slices of dough smushed together to make one large enough for a a donkey.

DONKEYS! And two with the cutouts to fit the mini M&M's!

Then came the assembly of these awesome pinata cookies. Basically you using a frosting glue (powdered sugar and milk) to glue them together. Then add the mini M&M's and top it with another donkey. BAM. Pinata time. And that's all assuming your donkey's limbs don't fall off and you don't have to perform emergency surgery with frosting. Because that happened...multiple times...and it was not fun. I don't think the donkey's liked it either.

These donkeys have HUGE heads.

See the frosting glue?

Decapitated donkeys.

The mini M&M's were definitely the tasty part!

So, this was by no means easy or fun the whole way through, but I am really glad that I tried it out and stuck with it until the end. I'm not a big sugar cookie fan to begin with, so I had absolutely no interest in eating the donkeys. Thankfully my roommate liked the cookies so they didn't go to waste! Oh, speaking of things NOT going to waste, I wanted to tell you what I did with the leftover cookie pieces! I used the food processor to make some cookie crumbs. Then I melted some butter and added it to the cookie crumbs to make a pie crust! I found a box of jello chocolate pudding mix in my cupboard, so I prepared that for the pie filling. Then I sprinkled some mini M&M's on top of the crust poured in the chocolate pudding. After a couple of hours in the fridge, viola! Chocolate Pudding Pie with a Sugar Cookie Crust!

The sugar cookie crust and mini M&M's!

The finished pie!! SO incredible. And so much easier than the donkeys!

Well, thanks so much for sticking with me through this post. A special thanks to my sister Lauren for sharing the recipe with me and insisting that I attempt these pinata cookies! They may not have turned out perfectly, but it was a (mostly) fun experience. I'll be excited to try something similar in the future...I like the pinata dessert idea a lot and would like to come up with something more baker-friendly!

<3 Buttercup

Brown Sugar Mini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Brown Sugar Mini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting

I am a terrible blogger. When I renewed my URL for 2 more years, I had no idea it was going to be this difficult to continue you writing, baking, and sharing pictures of tasty treats with all of you. Why is it so hard? Well, first of all, it is expensive. I need to start generating income from this blog through ads or something to help supplement the cost. Secondly, it's time-consuming. I baked on Saturday and took the pictures, which is all fine and dandy. But then finding the time in the week to sit down and write is hard. I sit at a computer 40 hours a week, and turning on my laptop at home takes more motivation than I have. Please note: it is May 2nd, and I am turning on my laptop for the first time since March 23rd when I had my IT Department clean up my computer for me. Yeah, it's pretty terrible. Anyway, the third and final reason for the long delay: my roommate had to give up sweets for 28 days and it was in the middle of Lent when people at work were staying away from desserts, so I felt like it would just be cruel to bake. Plus, I didn't want all of the leftovers to myself!

So, where does that bring me today? A few recipes behind (I even have a draft of something saved from January) and trying to catch up. I'll get back to those things I've made in the past couple of months eventually, but for now let's focus on the present. I'm back. I'm going to do my best to be here regularly!!! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the blog!

On Saturday, my dear friend Chanel and her wonderful boyfriend Ian had a housewarming party for their new apartment in Little Italy. First of all, they are about the cutest couple in the world. And secondly, their apartment is amazing. I'm totally in love everything--from the location to the size, from the decorating to the cats that live there. Love, love, love. So naturally, I needed to bring something that showed how much I love everything about them and this party!! I opted for mini cupcakes because there were going to be quite a few people at this shin-dig (close to 40). I have never made mini cupcakes before, but they were SO much fun. And so cute!! And I happen to have this awesome cake carrier that perfectly holds 24 mini cupcakes without letting them touch one another. Brilliance. My frosting job on these little guys isn't too shabby either. I used the Wilton 1M tip, and it worked so well! Love it!

So, these were not your typical cupcakes. I found the recipe through a blog my roommate follows called How Sweet It Is and it really is an amazing blog. Jessica, the author, comes up with incredible combinations and I am consistently amazed by her recipes! We all know how much I love anything and everything with chocolate, so I was very surprised when I found myself making something WITHOUT chocolate. But, I have a weakness for peanut butter and brown sugar, so I was sold pretty quickly on these cupcakes.

If you've ever made chocolate chip cookies from scratch, you've creamed together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Now, have you ever tasted just that? It's delicious and tastes like sweet, buttery caramel, but with the grainy texture of sugar. Take that flavor and imagine it in a soft, fluffy, moist cupcake. That's what these cupcakes taste like. And then there is the frosting. I love my peanut butter frosting, but this one might take the cake. (Haha.) Cream cheese, brown sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and peanut butter....it is like everything I love in one place. Put it on a chocolate cupcake and you'd never get me to leave. The tangy flavor of the cream cheese balances the sweetness of the sugars, and then it's like POW! Peanut butter time. Seriously, it is fantastic. I'm still amazed at how something can be so amazing and not have chocolate. Like, at all, not even a little bit, not even a chip. So, without further ado, I share with you Brown Sugar Mini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting, courtesy of How Sweet It Is! Enjoy!!!

Brown Sugar Mini Cupcakes

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring to mix. Set aside. Line a mini cupcake tin with liners.

Your basic mixture of dry ingredients. :)

In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar and egg until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and milk, again mixing until combined.

The beginning of something so amazing!

Beautiful, tasty, and smooth!

Slowly pour in melted butter, continuing to whisk.

I really could have used 3 hands for this picture....

Add in the flour, soda and salt, mixing with a large spoon until batter is smooth.

The batter is this awesome consistency of smooth and think that makes it so easy to use for cupcakes!

Using a cookie scoop, add batter to liners and fill 2/3 of the way. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until tops are puffy and golden, and don’t jiggle when touched. Let cool completely. Makes about 30 mini cupcakes.


It's hard to tell, but those are mini cupcakes! Sorry that I forgot to take a picture of them baked, but without the frosting!

(Note: If you decide against mini cupcakes, this recipe makes 12 regular cupcakes using a 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake and cooking for 16-19 minutes.)

Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting

6 ounces cold cream cheese
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
raw turbinado sugar for topping, if desired

Add cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until smooth, then add peanut butter and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.

Cream cheese was a great idea for the base of the frosting.

And adding peanut butter is just inspired.

Add in brown and powdered sugars gradually, with the mixture on low speed. Once everything has been added, turn to medium-high speed and mix for 4-5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides. If you’d like the frosting a bit sturdier, add additional powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, mixing like before.

Delicious Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Frosting!

Frost cupcakes! I used the Wilton 1M tip to swirl the frosting on like a professional. It's important to just put about 1/2 cup of frosting at a time in the frosting bag, otherwise your warm hands will melt the frosting! Once frosted, sprinkle on raw turbinado sugar for a sweet decoration!

Time for a mini cupcake photoshoot!!

A close-up...I love the raw turbinado sugar topping!

Quite impressed with my frosting ability on these babies!

No two cupcakes are exactly the same and I love it! And I love my mini cupcake tray!!

I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at mini cupcakes! They certainly were a hit at the party! I can wait to make more mini cupcakes in the future, and maybe pair this cake with a different frosting (probably chocolate) and this frosting with a chocolate cake! :)

Thanks for staying with me!

<3 Buttercup

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Peanut Brittle

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

So, once again, it's been far too long since I posted anything. The holidays flew by and somehow it is 2012. I can't believe I have been at CCSD for 3 months now and that I am just days away from my health insurance kicking in! It's a bittersweet time though, as I am happy to be in a stable job, but miss the middle school counseling daily. I'm constantly plotting ways to go back and visit my previous schools. One of these days I'm going to show up at Lewis for supervision at 7am and see what happens. And still try to make it to CCSD by 8am (totally doable). Anyway, I apologize for the lack of posts. I sit at a computer 40 hours a week and I often avoid my laptop like the plague when I get home. But I'm getting back into the blogging starting now!

Over the holidays, I had some really delicious peanut brittle at a friend's house. She had it sitting out with other food and I was drawn to it. I love, love, LOVE the stuff and can't get enough of it, but it's one of those things that I never buy and don't really think of until I have it unexpectedly. Then it's all I want. And I mean it: ALL I WANT.

As luck/fate would have it, the incredible Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker shared a recipe for homemade peanut brittle and I made it. I picked up the ingredients weeks ago, but I was waiting for the perfect time to make it. It didn't quite seem like a treat I would make and bring to work, not like cake or cupcakes or homemade bread. But I also didn't have any gifts to give. Instead, this past weekend, while I had the apartment to myself, I felt the urge to do something and be creative...which meant bake. But I didn't want to go to the store or deal with leaving the house. That's when I spied the peanuts in my pantry! Success! I knew exactly why to make it: just because I can. :)

It's a really easy recipe and it does not require a candy thermometer, which is excellent because mine gets hard to read when it's in a hot pot! As always, I write the blog to help share the things I learn along the way with any recipe. This one wants you to take the sugar and water mixture off the heat when it is a deep golden color. But what color is that really? And how do I know if it's gold or deep gold? And what is too deep? I honestly ask myself these questions, which is why I take so many darn pictures. Anyway, with this recipe in particular, I watched the time, the color, and the smell to tell me it was ready. And even then I think I hesitated a bit too long (meaning I took an extra picture) and let it cook a little too long.

Peanut Brittle

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
½ cup light corn syrup
½ teaspoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 cups salted dry-roasted peanuts (about 1 pound)

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray; set aside. (Can I emphasize lightly enough? Too much and your brittle will have a light film of cooking spray that really doesn't taste good. I wiped mine off the brittle once it was hard.)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a rapid simmer over medium-high and cook until deep golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. You should just be able to smell the sugar caramelizing! Watch the process below:

Sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt waiting for the heat!

Starting to simmer, but hasn't changed color yet.

Just a hint of mellow yellow.

A light gold color, but not quite deep enough yet!

This is my idea of a deep golden color. I should have stopped here!

But I'm learning and left it on a few seconds too long.
See the brown spots? That's my visual hint that it's caramelizing too much!

Remove pan from heat. Stir in butter, baking soda, and peanuts (mixture will foam).

How delicious do those peanuts look??

Stir until mixture is no longer bubbling and caramel is smooth, 1 minute.

Working quickly, transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread with a lightly greased spatula.

When I say work quickly, I really mean it.
I think it was starting to harden before I got all of it out of the pot!

Let cool until firm, 15 minutes. Break into pieces. The brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Homemade Peanut Brittle for the win!

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Good luck sharing it! ;)

<3 Buttercup

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Halloween Mummy Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:51:00 +0000

I know this post is a little late, so I apologize profusely for that. I guess I was pretty busy right around Halloween and never got a chance to write about these cupcakes! I also made these the day before Halloween, so there was little chance of me posting before the holiday was over. Better late than never, right?

Margaret found the idea for these adorable cupcakes on Skinny Taste and shared them with me. Of course, I used my own recipes for the chocolate cupcakes and vanilla frosting, but the inspiration came from this blog. I made these to bring to work on Halloween to celebrate the holiday and my co-worker Amanda's last day before maternity leave. After I made these, I realized just how perfect this Halloween treat was for the occassion. Amanda LOVES Halloween (it's her favorite holiday) and she is about to be a mommy...so mummy cupcakes were perfect! I was cracking up all day when I told people this! :)

My favorite chocolate cake is Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake, so I decided to cut the recipe in half and make a dozen cupcakes out of it. Best. Idea. Ever. Gosh, if I thought the cake was amazing, the cupcakes are even more perfect. They came out super moist and chocolatey...I almost didn't want to bother frosting them!

For the frosting, I consulted a cookbook my dear friend Chanel gave me last Christmas: 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and Other Tempting Treats by Suzanne Lee. The beginning of the book has numerous basic frosting and icing recipes, so I was able to find, combine, and adapt her buttercream and vanilla frosting recipes to make my own perfect vanilla frosting.

These cupcakes look like a labor of love, but it really couldn't be easier. The hardest part was imaging how a mummy looks and getting the frosting to look right. But really, whatever happens with the frosting will probably look great. And if you aren't happy, spread the frosting all over the cupcake, add the eyes, and call it a ghost! :)

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cups sugar

⅞ cup all-purpose flour

⅜ cup cocoa powder

¾ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg

½ cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pan.

Because of the runny batter, spooning it in leaves quite a mess!

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks. Cool completely.

Mmm so delicious. I almost didn't want to frost them and bring them to work!

Vanilla Frosting

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Chocolate chips or M&M’s

Place butter and vanilla in a bowl and beat until fluffy. Gradually sift in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add milk and beat again until creamy.

Using a pastry bag and a flat/basket weave tip, pipe frosting back and forth over the top of the cupcake, mirroring the strips of cloth of a mummy. Make sure to leave some of the cupcake exposed underneath the frosting. While the frosting is still wet, place two chocolate chips or matching M&M’s for eyes.

BOO! Aren't they adorable little mummies?!

Thanks for reading!!

<3 Buttercup

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Classic Banana Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:40:00 +0000

Growing up, we only had one recipe for banana bread. It comes from the Good Housekeeping cookbook and it is phenomenal. Last December, I shared this recipe with all of you (you can read it right here). This year, I have a new recipe to share with you. My sister Erin found it from Cooking Light and likes it much more than our old recipe. I had to give it a shot because there is no harm in having a healthier version of something you love…especially a breakfast food. :)

First off, I noticed that there is no shortening and very little butter in this recipe. Remember, it’s a Cooking Light recipe. :) The next interesting ingredient is the use of plain low-fat yogurt. I didn’t have any of that in my fridge and really didn’t feel like going to the grocery store just to buy yogurt, so I improvised with plain non-fat Greek yogurt. The batter tasted just fine, but the texture was off in the first cooked piece I tried. The ends were a little dry and tough, but as my roommate Margaret and I worked towards the middle of the loaf, it was much, much better. Moist, delicious, and totally irrestible!

After consulting with Erin, we came to some possible reasons as to why it was more dry on the outside. First of all, maybe it needs more fat. I used non-fat Greek yogurt, not low-fat regular. Greek yogurt is thicker than regular, so that could have contributed to the toughness. The other possibility is that I over mixed the batter. Actually, that’s very probable. When you make this yourself, only mix until the flour is mixed in. Then stop. If you over mix your batter, your bread will be tough. Or it just was overcooked? The middle came to a very high peak, so it took a while to fully cook. I think the ends were done far before the middle.

Side note: Thanks for the tips, Erin. I probably should have talked to you before I made this loaf, not after!! I think I learned my lesson!

Anyway, the flavor of my loaf was still delicious, so I will definitely be making this bread again. Erin and I agree that the hardest part in making banana bread is waiting for the bananas to ripen. So, while you’re waiting for those bananas to ripe, do yourself a favor and stock up on the right ingredients for this delicious banana bread!

Classic Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

¼ cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

⅓ cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

I love a reason to use my pretty purple whisk!

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute).

I still can't get over the fact that there is only 1/4 cup of butter!!

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

I like this pale yellow color. It's really calming...

Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended.

Remember to mash the bananas first!

I used Chobani Plain Non-Fat Greek Yogurt because it's my favorite to eat and always in my fridge!

Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Mix in walnuts. (Be careful not to over mix!!)

Probably over-mixed...haha.

Spoon batter into an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

That is going to make one big loaf of banana bread!

See how tall it is? And the edges are very dark. It took the full hour to bake.

Mmmm these slices were perfectly delicious. :)

Thanks for reading today! When I make this banana bread again, according to the original recipe, I will update all of you!

<3 Buttercup

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Erin's Pumpkin Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:49:00 +0000

Hello friends! Continuing the pumpkin kick that captures everyone’s attention in the fall, I bring you a classic family recipe. These are my sister Erin’s incredibly delicious Pumpkin Bars. They are the first treat I made for my new job, and they were definitely a hit. My coworkers loved them and I even had someone ask me when I was going to make them again. That always makes me feel great about my baking‼

I love the spiciness of the pumpkin cake paired with the creamy, sweetness of the cream cheese frosting. It is just a beautiful combination. Pumpkin and cream cheese goes so well together—oh gosh, have you ever had pumpkin cream cheese??? Divine‼

A few tips for making these pumpkin bars. I have had issues in the past with undercooking the pumpkin bars, so you really have to make sure that they are fully cooked. You’ll know they are done when a toothpick comes out clean from the center. The pumpkin bars are so moist, so I promise you won’t overcook them if it comes out perfectly clean!

As for the cream cheese frosting, it is so simple to make and so perfect. But it is important to wait to make the frosting once the pumpkin bars have completely cooled. Otherwise, the frosting starts to melt and that’s just not fun. Also, because there is cream cheese in the frosting, I usually keep the pumpkin bars in the refrigerator. :) Enjoy‼

Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs

1⅔ cups sugar
1 cup of cooking oil
1 16 ounce can of pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat together eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until fluffy.

Orange, fluffy, pumpkin goodness!

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly.

Might look a runny, but it makes one very moist cake!

Spread batter in ungreased 13x9” pan.

Mmmm ready to for the oven! :)

Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Warm, delicious pumpkin bars anxiously awaiting frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 ounces of cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups sifted powdered sugar

To make the cream cheese frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter.

Cream cheese and butter are the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar a little at a time.

Oh so delicious cream cheese frosting!

Spread evenly on completely cooled pumpkin bars.

Ready to share with work and friends!

Thank you so very much for reading!

<3 Buttercup

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Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:09:00 +0000

This blog post is coming out of order--but it's a really quick one! I made the Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie again this year, and I wanted to share it with all of you once more!

Here's the thing...if you read the blog around this time last year, you would know that I made a lot of pies (4 total) for Thanksgiving. One of them was this decadent treat. :) Now, since the recipe is already posted, I'm not going to give it out again. However, I thought it was important to tell you all about this year's pie making adventure because I actually remembered the milk chocolate layer! Last year I forgot about it, so it was really only a Double Chocolate Pumpkin Pie.

So, this milk chocolate drizzle. It is supposed to be 1 ounce of milk chocolate, melted, and drizzled on top. Can I just tell you how hard it is to get milk chocolate to drizzle. Well hold on, the recipe says to drizzle just before serving. Since I made this pie for a Thanksgiving Potluck at work today, I had to do it at work, thus lacking my array of kitchen tools. I had a bowl, a spoon, and some milk chocolate chips. I microwaved the chocolate chips in the bowl to melt them. When they were smooth and creamy, I dipped my spoon in the bowl and tried to drizzle.

Glop.

That's what the chocolate sounded like when it hit the pie. My coworker Kristen and I stared at the blob and wondered how to fix it. Luckily, I brought more that 1 ounce of milk chocolate chips (2.5 if we're getting technical) to work, so I was able to do a layer of milk chocolate on top. Win. It was a great idea and so delicious. Next time I will come armed with my frosting knife so it is a truly smooth layer, but I don't think anyone minded one bit.

May not be a smooth milk chocolate layer, but it is delicious!

So incredible. The best part might be the crust...so happy about leftovers!

If you are in need of a tasty, rich, decadent, unique dessert for your table this year, I highly recommend the Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie!!

Thanks for checking in!!

<3 Buttercup

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:11:00 +0000

As September came to a close, I felt the urge to bake all things pumpkin. The baking was easy enough, but blogging about it is so time-consuming! And then I started a new job where I sit at a desk with a computer all day, so I never want to come home and write.

Side note: WHOA. Hold the phone. I haven’t posted since September, so some of you might not know what’s been happening in my life. Long story short, I got into a car accident that totaled my car—it wasn’t my fault and I’m okay, but my little Nissan Sentra didn’t fare so well. Then my mentor and favorite professor from Saint Mary’s passed away so very suddenly. I went home for the services, which were wonderful and really helped me gain closure. The trip home was also good because it allowed me to lease a new car with the help of my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad, I love the Hyundai! :) Anyway, upon my return to San Diego, I got the call with a job offer! I started applying and interviewing for this position around the last time I blogged. And now I am a Student Advisor at California College San Diego. Woo hoo employment! I love my new job, my coworkers, and my paycheck! :)

Okay, so now that we are all updated on my life, let’s try to get this blog updated. Last fall, I wanted to make the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins that Starbucks sells. (This was before I had this blog.) They are absolutely delicious, but not always worth the price. When I first made them, I didn’t like how the frosting turned out, so this time around I decided to do something different. Previously I used the method of rolling the filling into a thin log, freezing it, cutting it into small pieces, and baking it into the muffins…SO tedious. This time I just piped the frosting in using a decorating tip, which turned out pretty well.

You really can’t go wrong with these muffins. Although, I’m not really sure you can call them muffins when there is absolutely no doubt that I piped a ton of frosting into them. Wouldn’t that just make them cupcakes? But they are breakfast appropriate. Hmm sounds like an identity crisis to me. Anyway, enjoy them any time of day…whether you call it a muffin or cupcake.

Pumpkin Muffins

3 large eggs
1¼ cup milk
¾ cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated or ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease muffin pan or line with paper or foil liners.

Combine eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla together.

Admittedly, this doesn't look appetizing. Haha. But it gets better!!

Add pumpkin, sugar, and brown sugar until thoroughly combined.

Mmm orange foods are awesome. I <3 pumpkin.

Add the dry ingredients with a few light strokes. Do not overmix; the batter should not be smooth.

See? Not smooth. This is just how it should be. Let the lumps live!

Fill muffin cups with batter and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 2-3 minutes before removing from pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Fill them up! You are going to put filling in them, so they need to be tall cupcakes!

Honestly, these pumpkin muffins could be left alone. But why would we let them?? :)

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly incorporate the confectioners’ sugar until blended and smooth. Add vanilla.

Standard cream cheese frosting. Always a crowd pleaser. :)

Prepare a decorating bag with a decorating tip for filling cupcakes and muffins. I used the Wilton No. 230 Round Decorating Tip. Fill the decorating bag with about 1 cup of frosting.

Buying a set of 4 decorating tips was a very good purchase!

Insert the decorating tip through the top of the muffin and pipe in frosting. Stop when the top of the muffin just barely cracks or you can see frosting coming out.

Making filled cupcakes is really this easy. Love it!! <3

Can you imagine anything more delicious??

Adapted from Joy of Cooking, Sunset, and my family cookbook. :)

Thank you so much for reading‼

<3 Buttercup

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Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Up close and personal with sea salt. :)

Apparently I’m on a salted caramel kick this week. I came across this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker this week, but it was Foodie Bride who did it first. So, when I went to make them myself, I went to the original source. I was really nervous about making caramels, but I decided I owed it to the world to try since my Salted Caramel Brownies were so successful! :)

What really made want to try out this recipe were the vanilla beans. I’m sure that a normal kitchen does not have a stash of vanilla bean pods lying around, but that’s what makes me unique. Erin gave me vanilla beans last year for Christmas and it took me 9 months to find a recipe that was worthy of cracking them open! I think that you’ll agree this was a good one to start with. Erin had told me that when I use them, I need to make sure that the vanilla beans get to shine and be the star of the show. What that really means is that I probably shouldn’t waste them on something with chocolate.

Note: if you have never used vanilla bean pods before, there is some technique to getting the beans out of the pod. First, split the pod down the middle lengthwise (hotdog style for those of you who prefer elementary school terms) using a paring knife. Next, scrap the inside of the pod with the back of the paring knife. To do this, start in the middle of the pod and work your way to the skinny end. Repeat with the other side. The vanilla beans will collect on the blade of knife and you can scrap them in your bowl. Thank you for Erin for this great advice!

Close up on the vanilla bean pod after it has been split open with my paring knife.

I was quite successful scraping out the vanilla beans! :)

I was also nervous about capturing this recipe on camera because I know caramel can go from good to bad in seconds. I had to be skillful about stirring and snapping pictures at the same time. In the end, it appears I was bit too cautious and took the caramel off a bit early. Probably because the smoke detector was going off and I was nervous that I had spilled some caramel that I didn’t realize and was going to start a fire. Really, I was freaking out. I had to call my Mom and ask how to turn off the smoke detector. Her advice? Take out the battery. I felt a little silly that I hadn’t thought of that first…haha. Anyway, it looked like my candy thermometer read 248°F, but it was hard to tell. The result of slightly undercooked caramel? It’s gooey and a little runny. The solution? Keep it in the fridge and don’t care if it’s not as pretty you hoped. It’s still super tasty, and that’s really what matters!

Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels

1 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 vanilla bean pod, split and scraped

1¼ teaspoons sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

1½ cups sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup water

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly butter parchment.

This looks vaguely familiar...haven't I done this already this week? :)

Bring cream, butter, vanilla, vanilla beans, pods, and sea salt to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

Before the heat is turned on...

It started to boil, so it came off the heat.

After sitting for a few minutes, it starts to settle and thicken up a bit.

Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel.

This is before it starts to heat up.

Coming to a boil...

And turning a light golden caramel color. Isn't it pretty?

Remove pods and carefully stir cream mixture into the caramel (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on your candy thermometer.

It was right around this time that the smoke detector started going off.
Tip: make sure your fan is on for this part!! :)

SO PRETTY! And probably could use another 30 seconds...I'll remember that for next time!

Pour into baking pan and cool 30 minutes. Sprinkle another pinch or two of salt over the top of the caramel for a nice salty crunch and let sit until completely cooled. Cut into 1-inch pieces using a buttered pizza cutter and wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting the two ends to close. Makes 64 candies.

I love the little flecks of vanilla bean!!

Using a buttered pizza cutter was an inspired idea from Foodie Bride!

My Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels!
They look like candy you might buy in a store! :)

Adapted from Confections of a Food Bride.

Thanks for sticking around for my Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels‼

<3 Buttercup

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Salted Caramel Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 06:57:00 +0000

Salted Caramel Brownies

Last week I had a wonderful birthday lunch in La Jolla with my friend Sapna. Sapna and I went to high school together, but we don’t get to see each other as often as either of us would like anymore. She was living in San Diego for college and med school, but is spending this year in NYC to do some research. Lucky for me, she’s in town for a week for a wedding and a conference and I get to hang out with her! She took me to Prepkitchen in La Jolla for lunch and wouldn’t let me pay on account that we were celebrating my birthday. Being the amazing person that she is, Sapna insisted on dessert and ordered the Salted Caramel Brownie. Oh. My. God. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever had. I can still taste the warm, fudgy brownie, the ooey gooey caramel, and the crunchy pecans. How amazing does that sound??

Anyway, a few days later I came down with strep throat and was lying miserably in bed (this was before I ended up in the hospital…long story). I decided that I needed something to cheer me up, so I started researching salted caramel brownies. Nothing fit the bill like the one from Prepkitchen. On a whim, I searched for the Prepkitchen recipe and FOUND it‼ By the grace of God, someone asked the San Diego Union-Tribune to coax the recipe out of Prepkitchen for these decadent brownies and the UT was successful.

Now that I am on the mend from being sick, I decided to test out this recipe. It’s not exactly an easy one. There is a lot of “hurry up and wait.” Kinda like being in a hospital. Haha. :) First you have to melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. And then the chocolate has to cool to room temperature. When making the brownie batter, you wait for it to get thick and “holds a ribbon with the whip” of the electric mixture. I have no idea what that means, and mine certainly wasn’t very ribbon like, although it was thick. You’ll have to see the pictures to really understand what I mean. Once the brownies were done, you have to wait to until they cool completely to even start making the caramel. Then you have to wait for the corn syrup and sugar to turn a rich amber color. More waiting. And then if that all wasn’t enough, you have to wait at least 30 minutes while the caramel sets on the brownies in the fridge. I tell you, its torture.

As a SF Giant’s fan, I am used to the torture. ;) And the waiting gave me a chance to wash dishes and do laundry. So I guess it wasn’t all bad. Just don’t expect to quickly whip up this treat. It legitimately takes all day. But it’s worth it, I promise you. I even did a teaser Facebook status about this post because I knew they were going to be so incredible. So, this post is worth the time. It’s been a while since I posted—baking is expensive when you are unemployed AND I broke my camera…sigh—but I am bake with a great recipe. I’ve got a few other things that I’ve made this summer waiting to be written about, but this one trumps both of them. I hope you enjoy this incredible Salted Caramel Brownie‼

Salted Caramel Brownies

For the brownies:
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) butter
3 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
5 large eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9-by-13-inch pan that has been prepared with parchment paper.

I used the chip clips to hold the parchment paper in place.
Once I poured the batter in, I could release the clips and trim the paper.

Combine butter and chocolate in small heatproof bowl and use a double boiler on medium heat until melted. Set aside until room temperature.

I don't actually own a double boiler, but a heatproof bowl and a pot work just as well. :)

Melt and stir until smooth, then let it come down to room temperature.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine eggs, brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Whip on high until mixture is thick and holds a ribbon with the whip.

The start of some amazing brownie batter. :)

This didn't exactly scream "ribbon" to me, but it was definitely thick.

Take bowl off mixer and pour in chocolate and sift flour over mixture. Gently fold mixture with a spatula.

Note: as the chocolate gets poured into the batter, it sinks to the bottom of the bowl.

Sift the flour directly into the bowl.

Fold everything together gently, remembering to mix in the chocolate that sank to the bottom.

Spread into pan and bake about 25 to 30 minutes. Brownies will still be fudgy, but the top should be shiny and cracked. Cool completely in pan.

It's really thick batter, but it cooks really evenly.
And the parchment paper was an inspired idea on my end. You'll see why later...

25 minutes later and it really does come out shiny and cracked. Amazing!!
Now it just has to cool completely...torture!!

For salted caramel layer:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted
1 tablespoon sea salt

In a medium-sized saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, and just enough water (approximately 3 tablespoons) to make the mixture the consistency of wet sand. Wipe down the insides of the pan with a wet brush so that no granules of sugar remain.

Wet sand really is the best way to describe the consistency of this mixture. Way to go, Prepkitchen. :)

Cook this mixture over high heat until it is a deep amber color.

It starts as a nice white color.

Then transitions to a lovely shade of light yellow.

Now it's a light amber color. Almost there.

This is what I considered a deep amber color, although I worry that it might have been a little too dark/overcooked.

Immediately take off heat and slowly pour cream in (mixture will bubble and expand vigorously, so use caution). Add vanilla extract and salt. Add pecans and stir to coat with caramel. Immediately pour over brownies.

You've got to act quick with caramel, so there was no time to take pictures of each step! But doesn't it look devine??

Refrigerate brownies for 30 minutes so that the caramel firms up. Use a serrated knife cut.

Seriously. I'm so proud of these brownies. Don't you just want to dive in??

I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the individual brownies with my new camera.

A perfect Salted Caramel Brownie. :)

This recipe was adapted from Prepkitchen’s Fudge Brownies with Salted Caramel and Pecans, as reported in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Thanks so much for stopping by‼

<3 Buttercup

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Mom's Fudge Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:05:00 +0000

There are some recipes that should not be tampered with. You know, in that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” sort of way. I believe that my Mom’s Fudge Brownies are just the sort. They are perfect in almost every way: that perfect combination of fudge and cake, dense and moist, delicious in every bite. That’s why I always, always have the ingredients to make these brownies on hand. You never know when you are going to need to whip up a perfect dessert.

Baking these brownies is easy and familiar, and reminds me of baking in parents’ kitchen back home. I remember making them as a kid for family gatherings, birthdays, and just because. I love them best when they are served warm with vanilla ice cream á la mode. Seriously, it’s the best. :)

Flash forward to college and these delights became affectionately known as “Breakfast Brownies.” I believe I’ve told the story before about my old boss Laura at Saint Mary’s. I brought these brownies into work one morning and it was decided that they would be “Breakfast Brownies” so that we didn’t have to wait until the afternoon to eat them. These brownies also marked the first time Laura had ever had brownies made from scratch! Amazing.

So, in a word, these brownies are legendary. They have been in my family for as long as I can remember and they are a staple in my everyday life too. I hope that you enjoy these brownies as much as I always do! :)

Mom’s Fudge Brownies

10 tablespoons of butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups of sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons of vanilla
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ to 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9 by 13-inch baking pan; set aside.

In a 2-quart pan, melt butter and chocolate over medium-low heat; stir until well blended.

Anything that starts with butter and chocolate is a good thing in my recipe book!!

Melted goodness! :)

Remove from heat and stir in sugar, salt, and vanilla.

One thing I don't mess with in this recipe: the vanilla.

Sweet, chocolatey, and amazing. You could almost just stop here and eat it.

Add eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the eggs, one at a time, nice and easy.

Stir in flour, then nuts if so desired. (I usually don’t when I’m making them for large crowds…nut allergies…you never know who’s allergic!)

And with the flour, it's brownie batter!!

Pour into prepared pan. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting–otherwise brownies will fall apart. Cut into 2-inch squares to serve. Makes about 2 dozen squares.

Ready for the oven!

Watch the time carefully, your nose should be able to tell you when they are done!

I enjoyed sharing this family tradition with you! Thanks for reading!

<3 Buttercup

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Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 05:30:00 +0000

In honor of the 4th of July, I decided to make an All-American dessert. I could have made something festive with red and blue, like a fruit tart or this cherry cheesecake from Cooking Light that my sister shared with me, but I decided to go with something about little more simple and classic. Okay, realistically I didn’t want to leave the house today and there are only a few things I can make in a moments notice. So, I decided to make Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Now, I usually use the Tollhouse® recipe found on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. But today I wanted to venture outside my comfort zone and use someone else’s recipe. I really just did a simple search for “best chocolate chip cookie” and this amazing recipe came up as the third link on Yahoo! This helped me discover a brand new baking blog and opened me up to a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. What makes a cookie perfect? Honestly, I don’t know. As long as a cookie isn’t over cooked and brunt, can you really go wrong? No, I don’t think you can. :) I’ve had some pretty amazing chocolate chip cookies in my life, so I’m determined to share as many of those recipes as I can get my hands on.

I think that my favorite part of Savory Sweet Life are the little troubleshooting trip that Alice, the author, included at the end of her recipe. She provided a few solutions for flat cookies, like weighing the flour for a more exact and precise measurement. Did you know that if your baking soda and baking powder are more than a year old, they have probably lost some of rising abilities? I certainly didn’t know that! Alice’s recipe also uses sea salt/kosher salt instead of table salt and it really gives the cookie a nice texture. It’s fun, if salt in a cookie can ever be considered fun. :)

So, I give you the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever, as decided by one person on the internet and until I find another one to replace this one. Oh, it should be noted that I didn’t do a darn thing to alter or adapt this recipe. If someone says its the best, I’m going to try it the way they suggest first before I play with it. So pour yourself an ice cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

2 sticks salted butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2¾ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour (weighing flour is preferred)

¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt/kosher salt (or use ½ teaspoon table salt)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoon baking powder

2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 360°F. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it’s nice and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

Emphasis on light, fluffy, and creamy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

So soft and sweet and creamy. It's pretty incredible.

Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated.

Kosher salt!

Exactly 12 ounces of flour. :)

A little thicker than I am used to, but it makes a great cookie.

Add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.

Soooo delicious. The recipe would have made 48 cookies if I hadn't had to taste-test the dough so much! ;)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop.

I'll never stop loving my cookie scoop!

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Perfect! And clean up is a breeze when you use parchment paper!

Perfect golden brown edges.

Maybe these are the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Independence Day!!

<3 Buttercup

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Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:34:00 +0000

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Have I mentioned that I have a summer job? Well, I do. I'm working as an Executive Assistant for a social media marketing company in North Park. It's delightful because 1) I work with my friends, 2) I can walk to work, and 3) it's part-time. The best is probably #3 because I have free time to move to a new apartment, apply to jobs, and BAKE! I can imagine that all of you are most excited about the third one as well. :) My summer goal is post once a week, so let's see if I can do it!

After our staff meeting on Monday morning, I realized that these next few weeks are going to be really busy at work for my coworkers, so I have even more of a reason to bake. Baked goods make everything and everyone better, right? Right. So get ready for a lot more baking than these past few months have seen. :)

So, these delicious Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies are yet another Brown Eyed Baker creation that I discovered. I found them in May and couldn't wait to get to the kitchen to whip some up for myself. As any regular reader of this blog knows, I adore any combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Well, these brownies come a delicious, fudgy, dense brownie with an even more incredible, creamy, sweet peanut butter swirl. I love brownies, peanut butter, and anything with a marbled, swirly topping.

I struggled in finding the right amount of the right chocolate at the right price. The original recipe called for dark chocolate, but wasn't specific about what kind exactly. Bittersweet? Hershey's Special Dark? What should I use? I ended up buying 3 bars of extra dark chocolate that has 78% cacao. I also added a little more espresso powder and vanilla because I think you just can't have too much of either.

Mmm 78% Cacao....delicious!

The peanut butter swirl is sweet and rich, and reminds me so much of the wonderful peanut butter frosting I've made or the peanut butter cup bars. Something about peanut butter and powdered sugar whisked together with butter and extra vanilla just makes me weak in the knees. It is that good, I promise. I had so much fun with the swirling too. I expected the swirl to go deeper and be more pronounced throughout the whole pan, not just the top.

The brownie took longer to cook than I expected, but the end result was magnificant. There is a lot of chocolate brownie, so I might consider cuttng the brownie recipe in half next time...but we'll see. Anyway, the edges of this brownie are crisp, baked, and perfect--simply an amazing crust. The center is gooey and chocolatey, like biting into a piece of rich fudge. The peanut butter swirl swoops in at just the right moment and brings the brownie together, making it utterly irresistible. I sincerely hope you enjoy these!!

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

For the Brownies:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder

11½ ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used bars with 78% cacao)

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder

1½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

5 eggs, at room temperature

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Peanut Butter Swirl:

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup powdered sugar

1½ cups creamy peanut butter

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

All of this recipe was made by hand...no KitchenAid was used!

Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.

So much chocolatey, buttery, espresso goodness!

Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Chocolate and sugars, oh my!!

This whisk got a workout, as did my arm. :)

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Do not overbeat the batter! :)

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Gently fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula.

These brownies look good enough already and we haven't even made the peanut butter swirl!

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the peanut butter swirl ingredients.

Sweet, creamy, delicious. YUM!

Using a spoon, place dollops of the peanut butter mixture all over the top of the brownie batter.

Before the swirling took place...

Using a butter knife, swirl the chocolate and peanut butter, running the knife crosswise and lengthwise through the batters.

And after! How gorgeous is this!?!

Bake in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then cut into squares and serve.

A whole pan of delicious Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies!

Here you can see how thick the brownies are, and see the crust on the bottom that I was talking about earlier.

This shot really shows the moist, gooey center.

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Thanks for reading!!

<3 Buttercup

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Club Med Pasta Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I discovered this delicious pasta salad at Vons. When I bought it, it didn’t have a name or even a price, but the guy at the deli counter let me buy it anyway. I was apparently the first person to ever try this pasta salad at this store, and it was incredible. I brought it home for dinner with Pam and Chris. We devoured it. I realized that it couldn’t be too difficult to recreate, so a week or two later, I tried it myself. Amazing‼

I finally saw it at Vons again and this time it had a name and a price. It is called the Club Med Pasta Salad and it is the perfect name for it! I made it again for a BBQ last weekend and everyone raved about it. It’s perfect the same day it’s made, but it’s even more amazing as leftovers later. Pam and I have been known to eat it right out of our Tupperware!

So, in honor of summer, BBQs, and venturing outside my baking box, I give you the Club Med Pasta Salad!

Club Med Pasta Salad

1 pound medium shells pasta, slightly undercooked (I used Barilla)

½ -1 pound kalamata olives, rinsed, pitied, and sliced in half

8 ounces julienne cut sundried tomatoes in olive oil (I used Mezzetta)

6 ounces crumbled feta cheese (I used Athenos)

11 ounces pesto (I used Buitoni)

extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Introducing the cast for today's feature presentation: Club Med Pasta Salad!
(Just missing the olives...)

Cook the entire box of pasta according to box instructions, but leave it slightly undercooked.

Barilla Medium Shells.

While the pasta cooks, rinse the kalamata olives, then slice them in half lengthwise and remove the pits. (When I got the olives from the farmer’s market, I had to pit them myself. But, when I got them from the deli counter at Vons, the pits were already removed.)

Whole kalamata olives, fresh from the Hillcrest Farmer's Market!

If you can’t find julienne cut sundried tomatoes, just buy regular ones and cut them up yourself. I cut them to be about the same size as the olive halves.

Mezzetta Sunripened Dried Tomatoes, cut into small pieces.

Combine hot pasta, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes (with olive oil they came in) and feta cheese in a large bowl/container (preferably something with a lid). Once mixed, add pesto in small amounts. If your pesto sauce is dry, drizzle in additional olive oil to keep pasta salad from drying out.

Athenos Crumbled Feta Cheese.

Buitoni Pesto with Basil...not as delicious as my homemade pesto, but a decent substitute!

Chill for 2 hours or until cold. Serve and enjoy!

Club Med Pasta Salad!!

Thanks for stopping by!

<3 Buttercup

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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:56:00 +0000

When I think of cake, I think of a true classic: buttery, yellow cake with a rich, chocolate frosting. It’s the epitome of birthday cake. Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, and Betty Crocker all know what I’m talking about, which is why you can find a million different box mixes in the grocery store to make such a cake. But what about those of us who want to make it on our own? Well, it’s tough because the boxes are just so easy, come out perfectly every time, and require no guesswork. But where’s the fun in that for a girl who loves to bake? Right, there is none. So, I am officially embarking on a quest for the perfect yellow cake recipe (as I already have a perfect chocolate frosting).

I came across this recipe about 7 months ago. I wanted to bake a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my Dad’s birthday and had bookmarked this recipe. Chaos in the Kitchen titles her post with this recipe as “Perfect Yellow Cake.” The original recipe come from a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia called Restaurant Eve, and was originally posted by the Washington Post. I decided to give this recipe a whirl, since it seemed to get rave reviews.

Let me tell you right here, right now: I was disappointed in this yellow cake. Honestly, it wasn’t buttery and rich enough for me. It was light, airy, and a little too sweet. It was very similar to an angel food cake, but not as sticky. Despite my disappointment, it was still a delicious cake. But it wasn’t quite what I had hoped for in making a yellow cake, so I’m glad I didn’t make it for my Dad’s birthday!

When I researched more about this cake after making it, I realized that another blog, Food Loves Writing, compared the taste to that of a buttery, sweet sugar cookie. That totally fits this cake and was completely not the taste I was hoping for, so it makes sense that this cake did not meet my expectations.

I don’t want this to deter you from trying this cake, so if I made it again, I would pair it with a plain buttercream frosting or something with fruit. I would not use my delicious chocolate frosting again (I used Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting) for this cake because chocolate just didn’t pair as well as I’d hoped!

Yellow Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

2 cups sugar

2½ cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.

Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in the large bowl of a stand mixer. On medium speed, add the butter, incorporating in several additions.

This recipe uses melted butter instead of creaming it like most other recipes do.

Beat for about 2 minutes, or until combined; the texture should resemble cornmeal.

Yup, looks like cornmeal!

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla extract and milk. Add to the flour-butter mixture in two batches (scraping the bowl once), and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until smooth.

I liked beating the eggs separately; I found it to incorporate nicely and produce a very smooth batter.

Light, fluffy, and incredibley smooth. And it tastes amazing :)

Distribute the batter evenly between the two prepared pans.

My Wilton cake pans are two of my favorite things. They bake cake perfectly every time!

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes.

See what I mean? Golden delicious!

Remove cakes from pans to cool completely.

Seriously, how pretty are these cakes?!

Frost the cake with Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting, also found on my blog. :)

I really need to take a cake decorating class to work on my piping skills.

Clearly my friends liked this Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting!!

Thanks for sticking around for this recipe!

<3 Buttercup

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Mexican Mocha Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (Megan) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:48:00 +0000

My Mexican Mocha Brownies <3

First of all, allow me to apologize for the delay in posts. I had no idea how busy the end of the school year would be! It didn't stop me from baking and cooking, but it did keep me from blogging. So my next couple of entries will be things I didn't have time to write about in the past few weeks. I apologize to all of my readers, especially those who are "reading for two" like my sister Erin! It is my goal this summer to bake and blog like crazy to make up for a slow spring!! So without further ado...a post for you!

A good Mexican Mocha is one of my favorite coffee drinks, mostly because it’s delicious but also because I have great memories of sharing them with my best friends. My first Mexican Mocha experience was in Cuernavaca, Mexico with my best friend Kelly. She was studying abroad for the spring of our sophomore year and I remember hearing all about these delicious blended coffee drinks that she was having all the time in Cuernavaca. I went to spend a long weekend with her during Lent and had given up chocolate and coffee that year…which was one of my worst ideas ever! Anyway, down there in Mexico with my best friend, I couldn’t resist this tasty treat.

Somewhere around the same time, Java Junction opened up in Evergreen, near my parents’ house. There hot Mexican Mocha was to die for, and my friends and I from high school started to make it a tradition to meet there when we were all home from college. More often than not, the store would be closed by the time we got there, but just the idea of the Mexican Mocha brought us together.

So, when we were having a Mexican themed potluck at work, I had to come up with something amazing. I’d never made flan and tres leches cake weird me out a little, so I decided to try to create something new and different. I searched online for Mexican desserts, and came across a recipe from the Food Network for Aaron Sanchez’s Mexican Brownies. I tweaked the recipe, combining it with Giada de Laurentiis’ Espresso Brownies to create my very own Mexican Mocha Brownies.

Now, I like spicy foods a whole lot, but I wasn’t sure how spicy brownies should be. In the end, I thought that some of heat would cook out, so I made the batter a little extra hot. When you bite into these brownies, you first taste the chocolate as it overwhelms your tongue. Then you can taste the coffee waking you up. Finally, as you swallow, you feel the heat in your throat. When all is said and done, you have a mocha aftertaste that leaves you wanting one more brownie.

I hope you enjoy these unique treats as much as my friends, family, and coworkers did‼ Let me know what you think if you try it out!

Side note: Please excuse the poor photo quality in this post. My camera battery was dead, so I had to use my iPhone. Usually the iPhone takes great pictures, but it wasn't cooperating well this time. Sorry!!

Mexican Mocha Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for greasing

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tablespoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons espresso powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Press the paper into the corners of the pan and lightly grease the paper with butter.

Melt the 2 sticks of butter in a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat; do not boil. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Slow and steady wins the race!

Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

The eggs and the vanilla really give it a nice golden color.

Add the cocoa powder, flour, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper, espresso powder, salt and baking powder and mix until smooth.

Before we mix...

After we mix until smooth! Mmm delicious!

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out fudgy, 18 to 20 minutes.

Buttering the parchment paper made spreading the batter in the pan a breeze!

Remember: these brownies should be taken out when still a little fudgy...no clean toothpicks here!

Cool in the pan on a rack, then use the parchment paper to lift out the brownies before slicing.

Fudgy on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside. Delicious all the way through!

Thanks for reading!!

<3 Buttercup

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