(cheater) Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting

When you're in a pinch, you're in a pinch and you make it work.  In this case, it did!

The Perfect Cupcake Recipe (using a box mix)
Ingredients:
1 box mix (any flavor, but get the good kind - Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted (use butter, not margarine!)
1 cup of water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave.
3. Add cake mix, eggs, and water to the butter in large bowl.
4. Mix on low for 1 minute.  Then mix on high for 1 minute.  You will be amazed that your batter is nice and thick and creamy - not thin and runny like it is when you follow the box instructions.
5. Fill cupcake papers (tip: use an ice cream scooper, one scoop is just the right amount per cupcake!)
6. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Let cool.

Salted Caramel Frosting
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter at room temperature
8 ounces of cream cheese
3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. 1 cup salted caramel (recipe in above frosting link)
2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
3. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.
4. Add 1 cup of the salted caramel and beat to combine. 
5. Add additional powdered sugar until the frosting is the sweetness and consistency you desire.

Comments:

• I didn't have time to make the salted caramel for the frosting, so I used Trader Joe's Fleur del Sel caramel sauce.

Recipes from Tidy Mom and Kimberly Taylor Images

Taco Pasta Salad

Where do you go to find your recipes these days?  Seriously, does anyone use allrecipes.com anymore?  I don't.  My recipes search engine is Pinterest (<-- follow me!).  I am a totaly Pinterest-a-holic!  And I openly, freely admit it.  So when it came to needing to make a side dish to take to a BBQ that's where I went to search.  And I found this Taco Pasta Salad recipe.  Sounded good to me!

Taco Salad Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (recommend something smallish)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen corn
2-3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
8 oz shredded Mexican-blend cheese
1 1/2 cup fresh salsa
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup olive oil
3-4 tbs lime juice
1 tbs cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions.  Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl (or 2 medium bowls), combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, salsa, olives, and cheese.  Once pasta is cooled, stir in and mix to combine.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. Pour over pasta salad and mix well.  Stir in cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Just before serving, dice the avocado and carefully stir into salad.

Comments:

• For the salsa, I used pico de gallo
• I omitted the avocado, because I didn't have one.
• I used reduced fat cheese. 

Recipe from The Sweet Life

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Many, MANY months ago my brother had a birthday.  We all planned to get together for dinner to celebrate.  But instead of sharing a silly little scoop of ice cream between 8 people, I offered to make cupcakes.  And in my family we have a tradition of making "party in your mouth cake", aka funfetti to the rest of y'all.  But this year I decided to make homemade party in your mouth cupcakes!

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes


1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup assorted brightly colored sprinkles, plus more for top of frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.  Add the milk.  Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.  Fold in assorted sprinkles.
4. Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool, then frost.

Vanilla Buttercream
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tbs of milk, if needed

1. Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixture until completely smooth and creamy.  With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly.  Gradually increase mixer speed and add vanilla, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl.  If frosting is too thick, and milk 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.  If its too thin, add sugar gradually until it thickens.  Frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles.

And boy were they good!

Recipe from the ever fabulous How Sweet It Is

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

 Sometime ago, I think it was in ... late February?  I don't know.  But my parents and Kaitlin were gone to Arizona to pick up the new boat.  So I was a little lonely.  But Kevin and his roommates were having a yard sale.  So I thought I'd be nice and make them some donuts to munch on.


By the way, go get yourself a donut pan asap!

I found this recipe on www.bunsinmyoven.com and decided they sounded good. Needless to say, they were a hit at the yard sale.

Baked Donuts
Ingredients
for the donuts:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (or make your own with milk and vinegar)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs butter, melted

for the topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F degrees.  Lightly spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter until well combined.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Fill your donut pan 3/4 full and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched.  Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.
6. To make the topping, mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Dunk each donut into the melted butter to completely coat and then swirl around in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Bun In My Oven

Mississippi Sin

We're going way back in time.  Here's one of the dishes I made for my New Year's Eve party...

Mississippi Sin

Ingredients:
16 oz sour cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 c cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c chopped ham
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
French bread loaf

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except French bread; stirring until well blended.
2. Cut a thin slice from top of bread loaf; set slice aside.  Using a gentle sawing motion, cut a vertically to, but no through, bottom of the loaf, 1/2" from the edge, to cut out center of bread.  Lift out center of loaf.  Fill hollowed bread loaf with the dip.  Wrap loaf with foil.
3. Bake dip at 350F for 1 hour.  Serve with reserved bread cubes, crackers, or potato chips.

Adjustments:

• Most likely, I used fat free sour cream
• And 1/3 less fat cream cheese.
• I had Canadian bacon on hand, so I used that instead of ham.

Source:   Plain Chicken