Tuesdays With Dorie-- Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

"Cookies, cookies, best things to eat. Chocolate cupcakes are also a treat!"

Cookie Monster says it all for me. I am truly a lover of cookies, but cupcakes also make a nice treat! After reading post after post on TWD about dry cupcakes, I put all kiddos down for naps and set out with hopes of making deliciously moist and delectable chocolate, chocolate cupcakes!

I consulted with both Sarah and Whitney about possible solutions to the dry problem. My gut instinct was to add another egg, but in the end I decided not to and just shortened the bake time a little. My cupcakes looked great, had fantastic flavor, but they were a little dry. In retrospect I should have added another egg, or substituted oil for some of the butter.

My honey believes that if you add enough frosting to anything, it will cover all blemishes or baking errors (he has the same theory for brown sugar and hot cereal). This rich ganache-like glaze did just that! I could have eaten it by spoonfuls, but instead, I frosted these beauties.
All my kiddos and honey agreed they were tasty. Nothing out of this world, but an easy and rich chocolately treat!

Here's the recipe for those interested.

Hi girls! I'm on and ready to bake! I'm still waiting for my book to arrive. I think this will be lots of fun! Fall time is the perfect time to start something like this. I find myself baking up some special confectionary delight almost daily. If I don't I end up eating a half a bag of peanut butter m&m's like last night. Thanks for including me!

Tuesdays With Dorie--Pumpkin Muffins

This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was Pumpkin Muffins. 

I am all about enjoying really great baked goods, but father time often gets the best of me and I use short cuts and baking mixes. I really enjoyed taking my time and making something so wonderful!! I used a little creative license and changed up the mix-ins. I also used half the amount of ginger, because I always taste the ginger first. I guess I have a ginger super-sense. And I doubled the recipe. 12 muffins just isn't enough for my hungry family and friends.

I started with this...

...and I used my new muffin pan my friend Shelley gave me for my birthday. Aren't those pumpkins cute? I love baking with these silicone muffin pans. The muffins just pop out with out greasing or anything. AND you can just put the whole pan into the dishwasher.

I also used my traditional muffin pan as it cooks a lot more muffins at once. I also made a coffee cake topping to put on a few. They were great, but the sweetness overpowered the pumpkin-ness a bit.


I ended up with a plate full of this....

The verdict... Nate gave it 2 thumbs up and a smile. These muffins were firm enough to be hearty and moist enough to really enjoy the flavor. I thought about adding some chocolate chips to the last batch, but really loved the warm deliciousness of the raisins and pumpkin flavors together. Hubby and I enjoyed it with a hazlenut steamer. Yummy!!

The full recipe is posted here.

Chocolate Marshmallow Deliciousness.....

I am so excited to be a part of the Celestial Confections blog! Thanks Whitney for inviting me to participate! Since I have to wait 2 more days for Tuesdays with Dorie, I thought I'd share my weekend baking adventure.

My little friend Dax had his 4th birthday this week and I had the privilege of baking him some cupcakes. The timing was perfect because I had just seen this and was dying to try it. I used the basic recipe with vanilla instead of barley syrup (that was a no-brainer) and I used Rachael Ray's Marshmallow Frosting recipe, mostly because I wasn't sure about taking a meringue icing to a child's birthday party.

I quadrupled the cupcake recipe to make about 24 cupcakes and the icing recipe I made as directed. They are super-duper chocolatey and ooey gooey delicious! I may never use a cake mix again! Enjoy!

Tuesdays With Dorie: Lenox Almond Biscotti

This is my first official post as a Tuesdays With Dorie baker! 

I have to admit that I was quite neutral about making biscotti. I guess I just think of biscotti as something you buy at a coffee shop, not bake at home. My sweet husband told me he thinks of biscotti as a stale cookie-breadstick. Boy, did we learn our lesson. There was nothing stale about these crunchy little delights. They were fabulous! 

This being my first attempt at biscotti, I wasn't quite sure what I would think but ended up being pleased with the outcome. 

I made the Almond version first...

 

and then decided to do a Chocolate Chunk variation at the request of the husband.

It was a chilly Sunday here in Utah, we even woke up to our first measurable snow in the valley. A cup of hot cocoa and biscotti made for the perfect Sunday evening treat. 

I even took some of the Chocolate Chunk ones and dipped then ends in some melted semi-sweet chocolate. They were the favorite of the husband and of my sweet neighbor Nancy. 

The verdict...I think I will make biscotti again and maybe experiment a bit more with the mix-ins. I love almond flavored treats so personally I don't think you can go wrong with the recipe as is, but it would be fun to play around and see what other crispy delights arise. 

They were a bit time consuming considering the double bake but all-in-all, it was worth the time and effort as I dipped my Lenox Almond Biscotti into a cup of my favorite hot cocoa. 

For the complete recipe go to Gretchen's blog here.

Let's Make it a Family Affair

After thinking about it I figured why should just Lizzie and I do this when we are kind of a family of baking-cooking queens! I just talked to Sarah and invited her and will see if Rach wants to join in as well. I am sure that April will join us at some point but with a baby just days away this is one stress she doesn't need in her life! Happy Baking Everyone!

Here we go!

So, I have wanted to join the Tuesdays With Dorie group for a few months now and finally figured out a way that I could make it feasable. With four young children it isn't realistic for me to post every week, or even every two weeks, but I had the brilliant idea to invite my baking-queen of a sister-in-law, Lizzie, to join with me so here goes! Next week will be our first post. I can't wait to bake and test out the recipes in the fabulous Baking: From My Home to Yours.