With Sprinkles on Top

A simple and delicious recipe for your Monday morning.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes
Recipe source: Paula Deen
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1 box spice cake mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 can (15 oz.) sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, oil, water, and eggs; add to cake mix mixture. Beat a medium speed with a mixer until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean (Mine had to bake for about 25 minutes — so check the timing!) Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then cool completely on wire racks.
4. Spread cinnamon-cream cheese frosting evenly over cupcakes and garnish with cinnamon.

Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
7 cups powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, cream, honey, and cinnamon at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Happy Saturday! The weekend, for many people, brings relaxation, sleeping in, and the time to cook a warm breakfast. If you want to make something delicious and easy, try these mini muffins. Serve them warm and enjoy! Have a good weekend, everyone.

Mini Maple-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe Source: Bakerella.com
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2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup real maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 24 miniature muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, beat buttermilk, egg, 2 Tablespoons syrup, and the butter with a wire whisk. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Reserve a few chocolate chips to sprinkle on muffin tops. Fold remaining chocolate chips into batter. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkles with reserved chips.
3. Bake 12-14 minutes or until very light brown around edges and a tester comes out clean. Cool 3-5 minutes and remove from pan. Place 1/2 cup syrup in a small bowl; serve with warm muffins for dripping.

Or just pour some syrup straight from the bottle onto the muffins! Yum. Taking this photo made me realize how difficult it is to hold a camera, compose a halfway decent photo, AND cover the muffins with syrup. I call bullshit on the food bloggers who claim to have no help when taking these sorts of photos!

A sure sign of autumn and winter: cranberries! This cake is simple and delicious and would make a perfect fall dessert.

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
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Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
6 oz fresh or frozen, thawed, cranberries

Cake:
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1-1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. To prepare topping, lightly coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Heat brown sugar and 2 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes or until butter melts and sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Pour sugar mixture into prepared cake pan, tilting pan to coat bottom evenly. Arrange cranberries evenly over sugar mixture.
3. To prepare cake, weight or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Beat the egg whites with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Spoon the batter over the cranberries, spreading evenly. Bake for 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen cake from sides of pan and place on a serving plate. Let stand 5 minutes and remove the pan.

I saw this recipe in a Paula Deen magazine and instantly squealed with joy. Oreo cookies + pound cake + Paula Deen? Seriously.

Oreo Cookie Pound Cake
Recipe source: Paula Deen
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1-1/4 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
25 Oreo cookies, crushed
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 12 or 15 cup fluted pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour alternately with cream, beginning and ending with flour, beating until just combined after each addition. Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Top evenly with half of crushed cookies; spoon remaining batter over cookies. Top with remaining crushed cookies. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
3. In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and garnish with cookie crumbs.

Peanut butter. Oh heaven. If you’ve spent any time on this blog you have probably noticed that I LOVE peanut butter. LOVE. And don’t even get me started on my love for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I don’t have a flat stomach for a reason, folks. But I digress.

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Recipe source: Paula Deen
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1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut buter
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
24 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and peanut butter at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until just combined after each addition.
4. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold beaten egg whites into butter mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. Place 1 peanut butter cup in center of each muffin cup, pressing down until edges of peanut butter cup are even with cupcake batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges of cupcakes are golden brown. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Frost with creamy peanut butter frosting and garnish with a sliced peanut butter cup.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe source: Paula Deen

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Add milk and vanilla, beating until combined. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.