S'mores Cupcakes

I'm slightly addicted to watching Cupcake Wars. Every time I watch it I feel inspired to get in the kitchen and create my own cupcake concoctions. My mother rolls her eyes at me when I tell her I want to create my own desserts. She knows that I nearly always mess something up. But, hey, what's the fun in having everything go right? Am I right? 

I cant tell you how long I have been thinking about creating these cupcakes. I wanted to make them for the longest time but did not know how to execute them. Do I make a chocolate cake or a graham cake? Marshmallow frosting or a chocolate frosting? Do I put a chocolate filling in them or put toasted marshmallows in them? If you know me, you know I'm the most indecisive person ever...or at least I think you think I am...I'm not sure. So you know the delimia I was in when I couldn't decide on the perfect way to make a s'mores cupcake. Well, I finally decided on how I wanted to make them and I am definitely, 100% positive that I made the right decision.

Graham crackers kind of act as the base for a real s'mores, so I relayed this base into the cupcake by making the cake with graham crackers. If you've never made a graham cracker cake, prepare yourself. The smell of graham cracker cake cooking in the oven is intoxicating...maybe more so than cinnamon cooking in the oven (yet again, I can't decide.) The one problem I faced with using graham crackers in the cake batter though is that it resulted in a crumblier cupcake. It wasn't as moist as I anticipated. Don't let that keep you from making these. I wanted these to taste like a real s'mores, which required having toasted marshmallow and milk chocolate. There actually isn't that much chocolate in these cupcakes; just a drizzle over the cupcake. But it was perfect. I then filled it with some marshmallow fluff and topped it with some toasted marshmallows. I suggest eating these directly after toasting the marshmallows. Warm, gooey, and chocolatey s'mores...tastes like summer will be here soon.

Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 whole crackers finely ground in processor)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- 8 ounces bittersweet (I used milk) chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff

- Mini or regular sized marshmallows for topping (about 2 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Whisk graham crumbs, flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in vanilla. Add graham-cracker mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with graham-cracker mixture. 

This batter looks a lot less than appealing...but don't let its appearance fool you. It tastes heavenly. I might have tried it.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups.

5. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center come out clean, about 22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool completely. 

6. Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream just to boil in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let stand 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool ganache until lukewarm.

  

7. Push apple corer about 1 inch into top of each cupcake; remove cake, forming hole. You can also use a spoon to scoop out the middle.

8. Spoon 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff into resealable plastic bag, pushing into 1 bottom corner. It's easiest if you put the bag in a cup then put in the filling. This will help keep the bag in place. Cut 1/2 inch off corner. 

9. Pipe into holes in cupcakes. Spread 2 teaspoons ganache over each cupcake.

10. Preheat broiler. Coat rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place marshmallows on to sheet. Broil until slightly charred about 1 to 2 minutes. Top cupcakes with toasted marshmallows. I made little piles so I could place a pile on top of each cupcake.

How can you turn that down. 

Christmas Cookies

My computer has been broken for awhile now, which means my baking has been on full speed ahead. As it SLOWLY gets cold in Alabama, my desire for holiday baked goods begins to build. Last Friday I made sugar cookies, which began the snowball effect. Then on the same day, gingerbread cookies, hot cocoa cookies, and Pizzelles were all made while Christmas music was blaring and the fire roaring. Next thing I knew, I had about a hundred and fifty cookies. What the heck do I do with a hundred and fifty cookies!


 I was cookied-out. I was so caught up in cookie world that in my obliviousness I forgot to take pictures of the final results. But let me assure you, they were delicious.  Noble was there with me to the finish helping me cut-out, bake, and decorate. Thank goodness. Then with flour hand prints on my pants and royal icing on every inch of the kitchen, the cookies were completed!  Although the holiday spirit I had at the beginning of my baking day was almost depleted to nothing after the cookies were finished, the holiday spirit Christmas cookies bring to people make me want to bake 24/7. I love sharing baked goods, and baking these Christmas cookies was only the beginning to many more holiday treats.


For the sake of the amount of cookies made, I am only including links to pages.


All of these cookies required the dough to be refrigerated for at least an hour before baking, so be prepared to wait before baking them. 


Sugar Cookies:
From Glorious Treats
 I made the cookies pretty thin because I wanted them to to be more crispy. The flavor turned out great. Roll the dough out less if you want them to be softer.

Putting parchment or wax paper over the dough before rolling helps the dough not stick to the rolling pin. A tip I wish I knew a longggg time ago. 

Gingerbread Men:
From McCormick 
I was out of Nutmeg, but these still turned out tasty. The flavor was spot on, and they stayed moist and chewy. I'm into gingerbread men.

 Gingerbread family.

You can tell Noble and I were in the kitchen a little too long with this kind of gingerbread man coming out of the oven. He was supposed to have hair... 

Royal Icing:
From: Martha Stewart 
I used vanilla instead of lemon. I am not experienced in the royal icing area, but I though this turned out well. The icing hardened a little more than I had anticipated. To make it thinner,  I added cold water until I got the right consistency.


Hot Cocoa Cookies:
From: Pip & Ebby
I can't say enough about these. Warm out of the oven with melted chocolate and marshmallow on top, these cookies were the highlight of my day. I rolled them in a little flour before rolling them into balls. It helped with the stickiness. They were beautiful too. These would be a great treat to share with friends.

Pizzelles:
From: Post-gazette (we made Mary Bruno's Pizzelles)
Christmas wouldn't be the same without these cookies. My mom has been whipping these up every year since I was little. We substitute the anise extract with almond extract. I always get excited when my mom brings out the Pizzelle iron because these little cookies have so much flavor!

 They look like snowflakes! That is, if we in Alabama actually knew what snowflakes looked like..

-Sarah-

Oatmeal Cream Pies

I think everyone has a favorite Little Debbie treat, although some people don't want to admit their love for Zebra Cakes or Swiss Rolls. But I will go ahead and tell you that I love Oatmeal Cream Pies. Maybe I love them so much because I think I am eating healthy when I see the word "Oatmeal," or maybe it's because they are just so darn tasty. I have always wanted to recreate the amazing "Oatmeal Cream Pie," and I found a recipe that did just that. Now I am not one to claim that "these treats taste like the real thing," but I'm going to just go ahead and say it: these homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies taste like the real thing. They are the closest thing to the original (if not better.) The Oatmeal cookies were soft and chewy, while the Marshmallow filling was nice and fluffy. I always love a good copycat recipe because I no longer have to shamefully hide my face at the grocery store while I am stuffing Little Debbie treats into my cart. These are simple to make, which is why I will make them over and over and over and over....


From: FakeGinger
Ingredients for Cookies:
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon - 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups quick oats

Ingredients for Cream Filling:

- 1/2 cup Butter or Cream Cheese(we used Cream Cheese because we were out of butter)

- 1 1/2 cups marshmallow cream
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla- 1-2 tablespoons milk

Directions for Cookies:

- Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixer.

- Beat in vanilla and the eggs, one at a time until well   incorporated. 

- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and oats. Beat into the cream mixture.

- Drop about 2-3 tbsp. (depending on how large you want the cookies) of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

- The centers should still be slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven. Cool completely on a wire rack.

- Spread about 1-2 tbsp of cream filling on the bottom of one cookie and then top with another cookie.

Directions for Frosting:

- Cream the shortening with the marshmallow cream

- Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla, beat on low for about a minute.

- If it’s too thick, add a little water. You want it to be spreadable but not runny

-Sarah-