Black Bottom Cupcakes

I'm finally back from my cruise/family vacation! I went on a 5 day cruise to Ensenada, and honestly, if I had the choice, I wouldn't do it again. Cruises are just not for me. That was my first cruise that I've ever been on and I just wasn't very impressed. I'm not a fan of being stuck on a boat for a week. Don't get me wrong, the idea of an all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal and 24 hour room service are definitely some perks, but I'd much rather spend my vacation roaming on land than going 20 miles max in the water.

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and was very pleased with it! I halved the recipe and it made 10 cupcakes. The only difference is that I upped the cocoa powder for more of a chocolate flavor and added more vanilla extract that usual. Also, I would keep my eye on this when baking and lower the baking time. I don't think they needed to bake for that long, since the top came out kind of dry. The inside was pleasantly moist, though.

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake

So with all my free time lately, I decided to re-watch Battlestar Galactica, starting with season 1. It's just that good. Don't judge me until you've seen it! It may be totally nerdy, but it's amazing.

I went on my first beach trip of the summer yesterday and decided to bake some goods to take along in my "new" picnic basket. I've been hunting for a picnic basket for a year, but didn't want to spend the 100 bucks on it (seriously, they're THAT expensive for a good one!). I finally found one at a garage sale.. brand new with tags! The real bang is that I got it for 2 whole bucks! I guess the phrase "someone's trash is another one's treasure" really is true.

This coffee cake is perfect. It's ridiculously moist and just delicious in every way. Everyone that tried it loved it and even came back for seconds. I got it from Cooking Dunkin Style and you can find the recipe HERE. I sprinkled some raw sugar on it afterwards, which is always a good idea to me :) I also used cookie cutters to cut it into fun shapes.

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup milk, I used 2%

Topping

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbl butter

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.) Mix flour, baking powder and salt on waxed paper.
3.) Cream softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, beat in the egg.
4.) Place blueberries in a small bowl, dust with a small amount of the flour mixture. Toss to coat.
5.) Add the remaining flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, mixing continually
6.) Gently fold blueberries into batter.
7.) For the topping, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon (Ginger if you wish) in a small bowl, cut in butter until crumbly.
8.) Spread batter into a greased 8 inch square baking dish.
9.) Sprinkle topping over batter.
10.) Bake for 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

Things are finally beginning to wind down. Hooray for that! I have more free time to myself and time to just relax, although job hunting isn't very fun. Anyone know of a job available in Southern California? Being a recent graduate really sucks with this economy. :/

Who doesn't love an easy dessert that tastes amazing? I'm not gonna lie, I love cake mixes and any dessert using them is okay by me. These were of a brownie texture, thick and chewy. It made about 2 dozen cookies. As always, you can throw in whatever you want in them.. in my case, it was nuts and chocolate chips. The perfect combination! If you're in a rush and want to whip something semi-homemade, give these babies a try. They won't disappoint! You can also try using different flavors of cake mix for the cookies, if you'd like. Funfetti's my personal favorite.

• 1 package devil's food cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• handful of chopped walnuts
• handful of chocolate chips

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil together until just blended. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
3.) Roll the mixture into rounded tablespoons and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4.) Bake for 8-10 minutes.
5.) Let cool on sheet after taking them out for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Dorie Greenspan's Chewy, Chunky Blondies

I told you I'd be backkkk (with a really good recipe, too)! As always, when I have no idea what to bake, I turn to my trusty Dorie Greenspan. This time, these blondies caught my eye because they had toffee and chocolate! Score! Blondies are basically brownies, but more of a cookie texture and blonde instead of brown. :) I always thought the name was so cute.

These tasted amazing, straight out of the oven and after they've cooled. I can only imagine how good they'd be with a bowl of ice cream. Mmm.. that's definitely pizookie status! I left out the coconut and nuts, just because I wasn't feeling either at the moment, but feel free to add them in to your liking. Heck, add whatever you want it... it's just one of those recipes that can be easily adapted. Enjoy!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p.109)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I left this out)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I left this out as well)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

been busy this past week.

Oh gosh, this past week has been crazAAAy! Excuse me for my lack of posting. I baked 14 dozen cookies this past weekend for my graduation party. I made oatmeal toffee cookies, chocolate chip cookies, andes mint chocolate cookies, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Sorry I don't have any pictures of them! The only picture I had was the first one my dad took of me baking.

I feel like this week really has been non-stop, with my graduation, my parents 25th anniversary, my older sister's birthday, and looking for a job. I'll be back soon with some new recipes!