Lovin' From the Oven

Junior Mint Cupcakes

by 3 Comments

mint-3

mint-7

mint-2-2

mint-3-2

mint-5

mint

mint-2

mint-4

mint-6

I was playing the game “never have I ever” with a couple of friends the other night and was intrigued by all the information I learned about others. Here’s a couple of facts that you may not know about me:

  1. I’ve never had a manicure or pedicure.
  2. I’ve never broken a bone.
  3. I’ve never been skiing.
Have you ever done any of those? As for breaking a bone, it’s definitely a boy thing. Most girls haven’t done it and most boys have. What’s something you’ve never done?
These cupcakes come from Domestic Fits and turned out beautifully. The cupcake rose with ease and the frosting was the perfect consistency for piping. The cupcakes were a little lighter than I’d hoped, but the taste was spot on. I used dark cocoa instead of regular cocoa, which explains the darkish color.

 

Print
Junior Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Chocolate cake:
  • 2 2/3 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used hershey's special dark cocoa)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, cooled
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 2 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
    • Mint Buttercream:
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp natural mint extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins.
  2. In your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, coffee, and vegetable oil. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
  3. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
    4. Mint Buttercream
  4. In a stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
  5. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Slowly beat in the milk and mint until you get a smooth consistency. You can add more powdered sugar or milk depending on your taste.
https://lovintheoven.com/junior-mint-cupcakes/

Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies

by 8 Comments

pbchocolate-2

pbchocolate

pbchocolate-3

Question. How many of you gals (or guys) reading this know how to tie a tie? I’m talking about the windsor or half windsor knot. The majority of the guys I ask have no idea how to tie their own tie, including my DB. Yes, that means I tie his tie for him anytime there’s a formal event.

What’s up with that? Even my dad doesn’t know how to tie a tie. He keeps all of his ties knotted, hanging in his closet so that he can just re-adjust it and slip it over his head. Maybe it’s because our generation is so laid back; Boys hardly wear ties on a daily basis anymore so there’s no need to learn how to make a knot. Such a shame– ties are so cute on boys! I’d wear them all the time if I was a guy. Maybe.

Now onto the cookies.. they were not too shabby. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, then yes, you’ll enjoy them. If you don’t really care for that combination, then you won’t really care for these cookies (like me). I did like the look of the hidden peanut butter center, though.

 from Picky Palate

For the peanut butter center:

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
For the chocolate cookie:
  • 2 sticks softened butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s special dark)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. First make the peanut butter centers. Mix the three ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Add in the eggs and vanilla.
  4. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into the wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. 
  5. First roll peanut butter cookie dough into about 1 tablespoon balls with your hands. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop chocolate dough on top and on bottom of peanut butter dough. Pinch together on the sides, until the peanut butter dough is covered.
  6. Place onto baking sheet and bake for 14 to 16 minutes.

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

by 3 Comments

IMG_3751

IMG_3764

IMG_3765

I’m excited to report that I am not a horrible mess in the cooking department. I’ve officially been away from home for over a week, which means that I am forced to start learning how to cook and experiment on the stove rather than in the oven. My DB definitely has nothing up his sleeve in the cooking department, so it’s all on me. I mean, I can’t eat dessert for every meal. I might die of malnutrition. Maybe….maybe not. My point being– You can look forward to real food recipes coming soon.

I’ve loved having all this free time with my DB. We’ve been sleeping in for who knows how long, catching up on Fringe (the TV show… totally addicted, btw), spending hours in used bookstores, eating breakfast at 1PM, and running random errands to get things that we forgot to bring. As lovely as that schedule sounds, I’m ready to get back into an organized routine. To start, I’ll get into a more consistent blogging schedule. I’ve already started that on my other blog!

These cookies will help you bounce back into it. Soft, chewy, and chocolate-y, they’ll shock anyone back to life. I got this recipe from Itsby Bitsy Foodies.

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups oats
  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and both sugars. Mix in the vanilla and eggs. 
  3. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda until just incorporated into the batter.
  4. Gradually add in the oats and chocolate chips. 
  5. Drop the dough by tablespoons onto a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until they are just set.

Categories