S'mores Cupcakes

♥♥ Intermediate

I know that S'mores are typically a summer treat, but we seemed to be having them a lot around the new year (didn't I hear some where that they will bring luck to you throughout the year?) so I thought that it might be a good time to capitalize on a potential S'mores Cupcake.


If you like S'mores, you'll love these. If you're diabetic however, stay far away! These have double the sugar that most cupcakes do, and they're likely to put you in a sugar coma. These have by far been some of my favorite cupcakes yet.

What you'll need:

• 1 Box Dark Chocolate Fudge (Duncan Hines) Cake Mix (You can use any chocolate mix, but this is the best) 
• 1 1/3 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Marshmallow Cream 
• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Mini-Marshmallows
• Chocolate (for decoration. I like Milk Chocolate Candiquik) 

How it's done: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F, and line muffin tins with paper cups. Spoon 1 Teaspoon graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each liner.

2. Combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined. Fill liners 3/4 full of cake mix, and bake for 19-22 minutes. Baking times will vary.

3. While cupcakes are baking, in a small bowl combine cream cheese, marshmallow cream, and powdered sugar until combined.

4. Once cupcakes have baked and cooled, make a small hole in the top of the cupcake and pull out a small amount of filling. (I like to use my hand-held apple corer for this job!)

5. Pipe cream cheese/marshmallow cream mixture into cupcakes. (Fill as much as you would like, but stop when cream reaches the top of the cupcake.

6. Pipe cream cheese frosting on top of cupcakes, and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Drop a few marshmallows on top, and drizzle with chocolate. (If you use the Candiquik, the chocolate will harden quickly.

ENJOY!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

♥♥ Intermediate

It's been far to long since the last post... but weren't those enchiladas scrumptious? I'm still dreaming about them. In fact, I might make more today.

However, these are the perfect dessert to those enchiladas - or the perfect breakfast for a nice Sunday Morning! (But they really should be eaten as soon as they come out of the oven, because they are soooo good warm.) By the way, I totally stole this recipe from my friend Kate over at A Dash of Sass. She has two cinnamon roll muffin recipes, but this is the one I like so I adapted it to my tastes.  Thanks for your help Kate!

Mixing in Flour

What you'll need:

• 1 Cup Buttermilk (or 1 Cup Milk with 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice) 
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (I even added more, because I'm a sugar addict) 
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Egg
• 3 Cups - 3 1/2 Cups Flour
• Icing (I used a cream cheese frosting - yumm!!!) 

Filling- 

• 4 Tablespoons Butter, room temperature
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar 



Not exactly a rectangle... 

• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

How it's done:

1. Combine the Milk, Brown Sugar, Baking Soda, Salt, Vanilla, and Egg in a mixing bowl.  Slowly add the Flour until combined.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for a minute or two.

3. Roll the dough into a 12 x 24 Inch rectangle. Spread the butter on top, and sprinkle with the Brown Sugar and Cinnamon.

4. Roll the dough into a log, beginning on the long side. Stretch the log slightly after it is rolled. Cut the log into 2 Inch pieces and place them in the greased muffin pan (or pan with cupcake liners).

5. Bake at 375*F for 18-20 Minutes, or until golden brown. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan.

6. Drizzle with icing, and ENJOY!

Rich Cream Cheese Frosting

♥ Beginner

Cream Cheese Frosting is one of the two frostings that I like to use all of the time.  It's either cream cheese or buttercream, and the cupcake pretty much determines which one I use.  The only bad thing about the cream cheese frosting is that it needs to be refrigerated after you make it.  So I like to keep it in tupperware if I make it the day before I serve them, and then just decorate right before they are served. It lasts about 3-4 days covered in the refrigerator.

The best thing about cream cheese frosting is that you determine how creamy it is.  I LOVE the taste of cream cheese, so I often keep the powdered sugar on the minimum (basically just for consistency) so you can still really taste the cream cheese.  My husand is a huge fan, just last week I caught him going back for a THIRD cupcake.  I'm sure many of you would feel the same!

I'll keep this recipe pretty basic, but you can always substitute for a flavored extract or real fruit juice. Even a great slice of strawberry added to the top is a great addition. ** My suggestion is to try this on a great red velvet cupcake - it's so great it will make you crazy!

What you need:

• 1 (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese, at room temp.
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp.
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

How it's done:

1. Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.

2. Add the extract, blend on medium speed until it's mixed in.

3. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time on medium speed, blending completely before adding the next cup. Add to taste.

4. Add color if desired!

See, isn't that easy???