Chocolate Orange Cupcake

Hello everyone! I had a recipe to post last week, but never had time to take some pictures through the process--soo I re-made the recipe tonight to share with you all. I made these last week in a jar to send to my husband. One of his favorite things to eat is a chocolate orange. Anything that has the flavors chocolate and orange in it, he's trying it. I searched for weeks for a recipe worth trying and finally settled on one. The batter tastes absolutley amazing. It's hard to believe because there is no butter and are no eggs involved! That was what threw me off of the recipe because it's very rare you see one without those two key ingredients. It turned out though and you can actually taste the orange. I was surprised. The tops of the cupcakes came out a little hard both times but once you put some frosting on them, it really didn't matter. I've never zested anything before, and I don't own a zester. Thanks to youtube, it talked me through the process of zesting with a potato peeler. You just have to use a paring knife to scrape off the extra white pieces of skin off of the orange. After you do that, you just chop the peels up into very small pieces. The pictures I'm posting aren't as much as the whole recipe makes--I halfed it and got seven cupcakes out of it! So for a small family, I recommend doing that. For the frosting, I doubled the recipe. Hope you enjoy :)



Chocolate Orange Cupcake Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
*1/4 tsp salt
* 3/4 cup orange juice (you can get 3/4 cup if you squeeze all of the juice out of the 3 oranges used for zesting)
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 tbsp orange zest (I used three oranges to make sure I had enough zest for the frosting and cupcake)

Orange Zest Buttercream Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup butter, softened

* 2 cups confectioners sugar

* 1 teaspoon orange zest

* 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice (if you don't have enough from the oranges, you can just use your preference of orange juice)

NOTE: for an extra orange kick, add orange extract 1 teaspoon at a time until you have your desired taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Zest and juice oranges.

This is right after peeling the orange. notice the white--use a paring knife to slice it off



 After peeling the white off

All chopped up

This is how much juice I got squeezing out the three oranges. Just enough for the cupcake batter!!

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa power, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together orange juice, vegetable oil, vanilla and orange zest.

4. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

5. Distribute batter evenly.

6. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting

Orange Zest Buttercream Directions:
1. Cream together zest, vanilla, orange juice, butter, and confectioners sugar. If the confectioners sugar isn't mixing well, add 1/4 cup butter until it is combined. I doubled the recipe and added 1/2 stick butter extra. For the extra orange kick, add orange food coloring!

THIS IS FROM LAST WEEK: CHOCOLATE ORANGE CUPCAKE IN A JAR:



Ultimate Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bar

NOTE: it is super gooey, but is cooked, i promise!

I am officially addicted to pinterest. One night, I was browsing through desserts and came across the highest calorie thing I've ever seen. It made me gain ten pounds just from looking at it. I thought to myself that I could never make this because I'd surely die after the first bite. I mean, a chocolate chip cookie with oreos on top with brownie on top of that?! Who could resist that temptation! Obviously not me! This week I decided I'd make it so that I could stop wondering how it would taste! It is a chocolate lovers dream. Given the obvious that it tastes like a chocolate chip cookie with an oreo with a brownie, you get everything you love in one bite! The best part for me was that the oreo's didn't turn soggy while baking. They actually stayed crunchy. You can taste every flavor. Given the dessert is so thick, some of it came out gooey, but that for me was the absolute best part! My brother and sister also chowed down on the gooey part and it became their favorite. I'd say try this recipe atleast once to say that you did it! you won't be disappointed! Make sure you have a BIG glass of milk next to you while eating this.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup light brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
* 1 pkg Oreos
* 1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper.

7. Top with a layer of Oreos.

8. Mix together brownie mix.


9. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos.

10. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

as you can see, this came out to almost as tall as the pan

delicious!

* To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, just half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients. Enjoy!

 



Brownie Sundae Cheesecake

Since my husband isn't around to eat my creations for now, I'm taking this time to make things I know he won't eat! For example, anything with fruit or cream cheese in it. I had full intentions of making something else today, only to discover I didn't buy dark brown sugar--so I was out of luck. I then went to the second option on my list. My mom sent me this recipe about a month ago and I've been waiting to try it out! It was really, really easy to make. You can distinctly taste the brownie in this cheesecake as well! I just took a quick bite of it, but it's only been in the fridge for about 4 hours so it isn't the full effect yet. I expect by tomorrow all of the flavors will be perfect and the temperature will be right!

Ingredients:

I forgot to put the syrup bottle in this picture...so it got it's own special picture.

For the Brownie:

* 1 box of brownie mix and whatever the mix calls for

Crust:

* 1 1/2 cup crushed vanilla wafers (about 45 cookies)

* 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder

* 6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

* 1 stick melted butter

Cheesecake:

* 4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temp

* 1 cup sugar

* 4 eggs

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* chocolate syrup

Directions:

Brownie:

1. Bake brownies according to the box. Let cool.

Crust:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. Put vanilla wafers into a blender and grind to a crust consistency.

2. Add cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and melted butter and mix it together.

3. Press mixture into a 9 inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes and let cool.

Cheesecake:
1. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.

2. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each time.

3. Pour half of the mixture onto the crust.

4. Cut brownies into small pieces. You'll only use about half of the pan of brownies.

5. Push brownies into the mixture. When it looks like you can't fit anymore, that's when you know to stop! If the brownies in the middle of the pan are too fudgy to take out, cut small squares on the opposite side of the pan and use those.

6. Spread the rest of the cheesecake mixture over the brownies.

7. Pour chocolate syrup on the top and then swirl with a butterknife.

8 Bake for 50-55 minutes. When you take the cheesecake out, let cool for about ten minute. Cover it and then put it in the fridge for atleast 4-5 hours, if possible leave it in the fridge over night.



*adapted from Just A Pinch

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Hello everyone!!! I'm so sorry that it's been a couple weeks since I last posted. I'm back though! After baking the Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey, my mind started to wonder what I'd make next. I knew whatever I made next would be the last thing I baked that my husband would get to try for a while. I had a couple of things that I debated between but in the end, I chose to do snickerdoodle cupcakes. Chris tried his first snickerdoodle not too long ago and absolutley loved them! I figured I'd try out a snickerdoodle cupcake for him. We luckily got to celebrate his birthday together, so it turned into his birthday cupcake! He now can't figure out which one he likes better--the salted caramel cupcake or the snickerdoodle cupcake! It actually tasted like a snickerdoodle and at the same time tasted like cinnamon toast crunch. He wanted to put the cupcake in a bowl and pour milk on top of it for breakfast, that's how good he thought it was! The entire process of making this, I thought in my head, "this isn't going to taste good at all...I just can't see this tasting good." I was wrong! If you have a snickerdoodle recipe for the cookie that you already like, I'd go ahead and use that one and just roll the balls smaller. I used the recipe that came with the cupcake recipe and it wasn't my absolute favorite--but it worked. I tweaked some of the recipe from the original and it worked out perfect! If you decide to make this, I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

Snickerdoodle Cookies
*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1/4 cup shortening
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 egg
Cinnamon-Sugar covering for cookies:* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 Tablespoon cinnamon


Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 3/4 cup milk, room temperature


Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting:

* 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

* 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

* 3 -4 tablespoons milk 

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.


3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. In a mixer, cream butter, shortening, and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes.

5. Add egg and mix until combined.


6. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.


7. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.

8. Form dough into small, round balls and roll into cinnamon sugar.

9. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies begin to crack. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.

Cupcake Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. Line regular and miniature cupcake trays with paper liners.


3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.


4. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes.


5. Add eggs, one at a time and mix until combined.


6/ Add vanilla and mix until combined.


7. Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar in three additions. Alternate with milk in two additions.


8. Fill baking cups about 3/4 full.

9. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.


10. Remove cupcakes from trays and let cool.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Directions:

Directions:

1. Place butter in large bowl.
2. Beat on low 30 seconds.
3. Add sugar about a cup at a time, beating on low between each addition.
4. Add 3 tablespoons milk, vanilla and cinnamon.
5. Beat on medium 1 minute.
6. Blend in up to 1 tablespoons of milk if frosting is too thick.

Here was the finished product:

*adapted from Bakerella, Food.com