Candy Bar Cupcakes

Candy Bar Cupcakes

This is the recipe I made for Valentine's Day...and lovvvved it! I found this recipe in my Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine. I will be making them again! They are a chocolate cupcake, with a cream cheese/Snicker filling, with a caramel frosting. Mmmm..

Make sure to look at the last photo. It shows what the cupcakes look like when you bite into them. I love how you can see the cream cheese center and the candy pieces inside the chocolate cupcake!

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES:

1 c sugar

1 c buttermilk

1/4 c oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1/3 c baking cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

FILLING:

6 oz fat free cream cheese

2 T powdered sugar

1 egg

2 Snickers candy bars (2.07 oz each), chopped finely

FROSTING:

1/3 c butter, cubed

1/3 c packed brown sugar

3 T fat free milk

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until blended. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended.

2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; mix well. Stir in the candy bars.

3. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Drop filling by tablespoonfuls into the center of each cupcake. Bake at 350 20-25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

4. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to a boil; cook for 2 mins, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; stir in the milk, then powdered sugar. Cool until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes... I frosted the cupcakes by using the ' dip method. ' Just tipped the cupcakes upside down by holding them by the base and dipped the tops in the pan of frosting. Then just used a butter knife to smooth the frosting out and make them look nice. Then top with sprinkles!

**These are best when eaten soon after frosted!! After a day or two the frosting gets hard. Still good, but best the day of!

Homemade Honey-Cinnamon Granola

I'm baaaack.. haven't posted in a LONG time. Have moved and am finally settled. I am working full-time now, so don't have quite as much time to try new recipes, but am going to try to get back into posting recipes on here!

This recipe is from my friend Amy. It's awesome! I eat this with Greek yogurt with a little honey on top or just with milk is really good for breakfast.

This granola is an easy recipe and makes a pretty big batch. It can easily be doubled and whatever nuts/dried fruit you prefer can easily be used or substituted.

*When making this the measurements don't have to be exact. Here is an estimation of how much I used. Add more or less depending on how many nuts/fruit you like and how large of a batch you want to make.
Ingredients:
2 to 2 1/2 c. Old fashioned oats
2 to 2 1/2 c. Kashi Honey Puffs cereal
1/4 c. toasted Wheat germ
1/2 c. Almonds
1/2 c. Walnuts
1/3 c. canola oil
2/3 c. Honey
1 T. Cinnamon (I think the more the better, so add as much as you'd like)
1/2 c. Raisins

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees
1. Mix first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. On stove top. Heat Honey, oil, and cinnamon just until slightly bubbly. This will thin the mixture so it will mix easier with dry ingredients.
3. Pour honey/oil mixture into bowl of dry ingredients. Mix with wooden spoon until coated.
4. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
5. Spread granola evenly on sheet.
6. Bake about ten minutes, then take granola out and add raisins for last few minutes of baking so they won't burn. Mix in the raisins while turning the granola on the sheet.
7. Place granola back in oven and bake up to and additional 10 mins. Watch closely! Remove once slightly browned.
8. Let cool completely. Store in air tight container.

Banana Streusal Muffins w/Caramel Glaze

I'm pretty sure I've already stated several times that using bananas in baking is one of my favorites and banana-themed recipes are becoming sort of a trend in my blog. Soooo..why not add another! This recipe comes close to a tie in my book for being as good as the banana bars recipe I have posted. (Close and not equal only because my mom always makes the banana bars, so they are extra special:)) But, these are definately my fav muffins now!

This recipe comes from over at Krista's Kitchen blog. Which, by the way, is an awesome blog that you should really check out! (She's great. Has meal plans and everything with simple, but really, really good recipes!) Anyway...she said she based the glaze for this recipe off of a glaze she uses for her banana bars. After making these muffins, I can't wait to try making her bars!

I'm just going to post my pictures below and you can click here to get the recipe!
Oh! PS: Try to resist completely scraping the glaze bowl clean and licking the spoon, spatula, or anything else that the glaze is on...I couldn't! It's THAT good :P

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Once again, my photographer skills are lacking in this one, but I made this yummy sweet potato casserole last night to test it out before Thanksgiving. I wanted to make this recipe beforehand to see if it passed approval for the Thanksgiving Day menu. It definately did! The dish has a sweet potato base and is topped with a brown sugar, cinnamon, pecan topping.
**Update: made this for our Thanksgiving crowd of 18 people and it received rave reviews..It's a keeper!

The recipe listed fills a 9x13 in pan. (I only made half in the pictures)
Ingredients:

• 5-6 sweet potatoes
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 c unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c sugar
• 3 T milk or heavy cream (I used milk)

For topping:

• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 3 T all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c packed brown sugar
• 2/3 c chopped pecans
• (Feel free to add more of this topping mixture..it's the best part!!)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F
• Lightly grease 9x13 in bakin dish. Bake the whole sweet potatoes for about 35 mins or until they are soft. Check softness with a fork. (Mine were not completely soft, so I put them in the microwave to finish cooking). When done, cool slightly then peel.
• In a large bowl, mash the peeled potatoes and mix in salt, 1/4 c butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, milk. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 c butter, flour, b. sugar, chopped pecans. Mix until the consistency of course meal. Spread it over the sweet potato mixture.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is crisp and lightly browned. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Cookie Recipe

MMMmmm...Chocolate Chip Cookies = my favorite thing ever! I sought out a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, and came up with (what I think is) the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe! As far as cookies go, I consider myself an expert...second only to my father:). There are many different preferences when it comes to cookies. Some like crispy, some like chewy, some like cakey. Personally, I like soft & chewy with lots-o-chips. I searched the net for 'ultimate cookie' recipes and combined three different finds (1 from Food Network's Giada de Laurentiis, 2 from fellow bloggers). After these turned out so well, I'm never going to buy pre-made cookie dough again.

Here is what I came up with:
This cookie is soft and chewy and it contains dark chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, and oats. From Alton Brown's advice, I used 1 whole egg and 1 yolk, as he says egg whites lead to a more dry cookie. I added some nuts and oats from Giada's recipe (although she used hazelnuts) and opted to use Hershey's special dark chocolate chips because of my own preference. Next time I would like to try chopped dark chocolate.
Ingredients:

• 3/4 c butter, soft
• 3/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 c quick oats
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 12 oz dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 c toasted, chopped walnuts
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325degrees. Toast walnuts for a few minutes on baking sheet, then chop.
Meanwhile, cream sugars and butter with mixer in large bowl. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla; mix.
In seperate bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt.
Add half of flour mix to wet mixture. Mix. Add remaining half of flour mixture. Mix.
Fold in chips and nuts.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls on to parchment paper lined cookie sheets or sheets sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
Bake @ 325 degrees for 14-17 minutes or to desired doneness.
*Also, can roll dough into logs and freeze to have cookie dough ready whenever it strikes you:)

Here are some alterations to form YOUR ultimate cookie:

Peanut Butter:
Add 1 cup peanut butter to butter and sugars. Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Decrease salt by half.

Hazelnut + Toffee chip:

This is more similar to Giada's recipe. Add 3/4 c chopped, toasted hazelnuts instead of walnuts. Add 4 oz chopped chocolate-toffee bar(like Heath). Only use 3/4 bag of chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Raisin:

Decrease flour to 1 1/3 c. Increase quick oats to 1 cup. Add 1 cup raisins to chocolate chips. (or can eliminate chocolate all together and increase raisins). Add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon-optional.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

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Pumpkin is everywhere these days! Candles, food, in coffee, I've seen pumpkin ice cream, in cappuccino, on clothes, on porches..haha, so why not put it in your cheesecake? :) I recently became a huge fan of pumpkin and am finding ways to put it in more things. I love putting pumpkin spice in coffee, canned pumpkin in oatmeal, and trying this new pumpkin cheesecake recipe. Hands down, I WILL make this again! The good thing about this recipe is it doesn't take as long as some cheesecake recipes. Trevor and my parents loved it and it was gone waaay too fast, so that is a good sign:)

The original recipe called for chocolate chips sprinkled on top of the batter before baking. I left the chips out this time, but may add them next time to try it out. Also, the original recipe called for a crust made with gingersnaps, but I opted for a more traditional graham cracker crust. However, I guess it wasn't completely a "traditional" graham cracker crust (at least the ones I'm familiar with) because I found a 'heart healthy' recipe made with oil instead of butter, and with a little honey and cinnamon. Sooo here it is..!
Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 c finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (used food processor)
• 2 T honey
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake:

• 8 oz cream cheese, slightly softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
• 1/2 c plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c canned pumpkin puree ( NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• 2 egg whites

Directions:

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with fork until well combined.
Press mixture into a 9 in round pie pan, coated with nonstick spray.
Bake for 8 mins @350 degrees. Set aside to cool
For cheesecake:
Lower oven temp to 275 degrees
With electric mixer, beat cream cheese and yogurt until smooth
Beat in pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, egg.
In separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
With a spatula, fold the eggwhites into the pumpkin cheesecake batter.
Pour into prepared crust. (This is where you could sprinkle the top with chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or pecans if desired).
Bake 60 mins. Turn off oven. Let the cheesecake remain in closed oven for 1 hour (prevents cracks).
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Tranfer to refrigerator, chill @ least 3 hrs before serving.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

This is always a hit at our various family occassions/parties. This broccoli cauliflower salad is my mom's signature salad she brings to potlucks or gatherings and has been asked for the recipe several times. Try this!
*This is a great salad to assemble the night before and just add the last 3 ingredients just before serving!
Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli, cut
1 head cauliflower, pieces
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 lb bacon, crumbled (can use turkey bacon if desired)
1 c shredded cheese

small can sliced olives

sliced mushrooms

8 oz light mayo

1/2 c sugar
4-5 T vinegar
Directions:
1. Fry bacon and cut into pieces.
2. Combine first 7 ingredients in large serving bowl.
3. Mix last 3 ingredients and add to salad just before serving.

Pineapple Coconut Zucchini Bread

Tonight I spent my night making this bread and decorating noise-maker milk jugs for the USF vs. UND game tomorrow in Grand Forks. We (me, my parents, Trevor's parents) are taking off tomorrow a.m. and heading north for the first-ever USF-UND match-up, so it should be interesting! It will be nice to be in a dome and not frrreezing!

On to the recipe... I get bored making the same zucchini bread, brownies, or bars, so I tried to find something different to try. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I like finding recipes on there and basing my choice off of the reviews from people who have tried it and gave their rating. This was a 5-star rated recipe and I agree. I like the combo of coconut-pineapple-zucchini-and a little pumpkin spice. The texture of the coconut and moist chunks of pineapple make this bread special. Gets my stamp of approval and I will definately make it again.

It made enough batter for 2 loaves+some..so I made 2 mini loaves from the remaining because I wanted to use the mini-loaf pans I got from my grandmother's collection. Too cute!
















Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (Original called for just 3 c all-purpose-I subbed in 1 c whole wheat instead and couldn't tell @ all)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (again the original called for 1 c oil, but I used 1/2c and 1/2c applesauce-worked great)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup white sugar (I used about 3/4 c)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (I peeled mine!)
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 9x5 inch loaf pans. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl until well blended; set aside.
2. Whisk eggs, oil, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream, vanilla, zucchini, pineapple, and coconut. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing just until moistened.
3. Divide batter between the prepared loaf pans.
4.Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.














These are the mini loaves..CUTE

Mom's Pork Crockpot Roast

I've realized with my posts that I am in need of a better camera..as far as for food photography anyway:) Ignore the dim lighting and my lack of photography skills if you can..because this is a great stand by recipe for a pork roast. Can't take credit for this one though..my mom made this roast this week for supper, just like she has many times before and it was, as always, deeelicious. It's hard to beat a roast that has been cooking all day in a crock pot. It makes the meat really tender and these few ingredients my mom adds to it makes it melt-in-your-mouth good. Try this, I dare ya! You will be glad you did!

Ingredients:

4-5 lb loin end pork roast (*can use any cut of pork--shoulder, loin, or whatever is on sale:))

Salt, Pepper

1 large clove garlic

1 onion sliced into rings, not chopped

2 bay leaves

1 whole clove

1 c hot water

2 T soy sauce

Directions:

Rub pork roast with salt/pepper. Make tiny slits in meat and insert slivers of garlic. Place roast in broiler pan and broil 15-20 mins to remove excess fat.

Put 1 sliced onion in bottom of Crock Pot. Add browned pork roast and remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW until done-about 10 hours.

To thicken gravy: Remove roast to serving platter. Blend 2 T cornstarch w/2 T cold water to form paste. Set on HIGH and pour in paste. Stir well and let come to boil-about 15 mins-until thickened. (depending on how much liquid is left in the crock, you may need to continue to add more cornstarch mix to reach desired thickness).

Instant Black Bean Soup

I have been a little slow on posting recipes lately..I guess that is because I haven't been doing much cooking lately! My latest plans are to relocate to Lincoln, NE so I have been busy job hunting for Dental Hygiene openings there. I had a couple interviews this week, so along with traveling to Trevor's football games, I haven't been home much!

This recipe is from Cooking Light. I love beans:) So much so that Trevor calls me black bean..haha, odd I know, but I can't help it! Anyway..it's getting cold outside and it prompted me to attempt a black bean soup. I found this recipe on Cooking Light's website and decided to try it after reading some of the 43 positive reviews by people that had made the soup. I really did like the result, and my parents said they did too (even though they were very skeptical at first). However, I would change a few things about the recipe if I were to make it again. It was too runny, which some of the reviews had stated. So next time I plan to use much less broth and maybe drain some of the liquid from the beans, which it says not to do. All in all though, this was a good black bean soup and is done in no time at all. Oh..I sauted onion and garlic in the saucepan before beginning the recipe, because what soup isn't better with onion and garlic added to it?

Ingredients:

2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added black beans, undrained
1/2 cup bottled salsa
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 (16-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (would use less!)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
5 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
5 tablespoons minced green onions
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (didn't add b/c I don't like cilantro;))

Directions:

Place beans and liquid in a medium saucepan; partially mash beans with a potato masher. Place over high heat; stir in salsa, chili powder, and broth. Bring to a boil. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese, sour cream, onions, and cilantro.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 212 (21% from fat)
Fat: 4.9g (sat 2.6g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.5g)
Protein: 14.7g
Carbohydrate: 28.7g
Fiber: 5.4g
Cholesterol: 13mg
Iron: 2.9mg
Sodium: 411mg
Calcium: 163mg