With Sprinkles on Top

In honor of Mother’s Day, I decided to make some flower cupcakes. As you may or may not know, I’m in the middle of moving from Chicago to Madison. So most of my baking stuff is packed in a box. Sniff. However, I made the best of it and decided to make these pretty cupcakes – that don’t involve any fancy tools or complicated techniques.

The cupcakes were made from a store-bought marble cake mix. The frosting is all store-bought as well. M&Ms, chocolate chips, mini-chocolate chips, and a few ziploc bags were all the supplies I needed. I tinted half a tub of cream cheese frosting yellow, and the other half orange. I put the frosting in two separate ziploc bags and snipped the corners in a V shape. This will give the effect of the sunflower petals. Wilton makes a pastry bag tip that will do the same thing, but the ziploc bag technique is cheaper and easier. I placed a circle of chocolate frosting in the middle of each sunflower cupcake and dipped them in mini-chips. Then I piped on the orange and yellow petals. The final step was to place a red M&M on the flower and pipe small little dots (to resemble lady bugs) using chocolate frosting and a ziploc bag (snip off the smallest part possible on the corner of the bag).

And a note about the petals — to get the frosting to look as much like petals as possible, be sure that you pipe each petal quickly. Start piping close to the chocolate chips, and then quickly pull away. This will help you achieve the tapered ends on the petals.

The other cupcakes are just decorated using some M&Ms & chocolate chips. Yum!

So as part of my inheritance from my Grandmother, I’ve received a big box of old recipes- books, clippings and nigh 20 different scratch papers with about 20 different recipes, each claiming to be something called an “Italian” cookie. I love looking through them- it’s a little time machine, such as the booklet entitled “10 Cakes Husbands Love Best”. I’ve noticed among many of the dessert recipes, most of which are some horrific-looking gelatin creation, several cookie recipes use cornflakes as a ‘mix-in’. Personally, I’d never thought to try it and was skeptical they would go soggy in the dough, but then I thought that people who lived through the Depression probably wouldn’t be so wasteful as to include soggy mix-ins, so I picked a recipe and tried it out. These turned out really well and the corn flakes add a really nice, subtle crunch. I will definitely make these again, in spite of the fact that my husband was sure these were blueberry-flavored cookies(?).

Black Walnut Cornflake Cookies
Print Recipe

1 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 drops black walnut flavoring (I used LorAnn’s available here– use VERY scarcely, they are really strong!)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs  (Note: I used extra large eggs when I made these- though, not on purpose…)
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. corn flakes
1 c. black walnuts, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 ^oF. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
• Cream together shortening and sugars. Beat in vanilla, walnut flavor (if using), salt, baking powder and baking soda. Beat in eggs for ~ 1 minute. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time. Stir in corn flakes and walnuts.
• Drop by scant tablespoons onto cookie sheet, leaving ~3″ space in between. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Centers will look puffy and slightly under done. Let cool on cookie sheet (they will firm), before transferring to a container.

Today’s post is a guest post by my lovely sister-in-law, who is also lethally-infected by the cupcake bug. Enjoy!

“These are cupcakes to celebrate spring. They are from the May 2009 issue of Cooking Light, and the picture looked so good I just had to try them. Those who know me well know that buttercream frosting is one of my weaknesses, and this particular frosting certainly did not disappoint! I was so sure I would love it – who doesn’t like tart, sweet, and buttery? – that I made 1 ½ times the frosting so my cupcakes would each have a generous crown.”

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

Cooking spray

4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

3 tablespoons potato starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2/3 cup fat-free milk

2 tablespoons flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

FROSTING:

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon half-and-half

1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4.75 ounces powdered sugar, sifted (about 1 1/3 cups)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. To prepare cupcakes, place 2 muffin cup liners in each of 12 muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.

4. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (mixture will be the consistency of damp sand). Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in coconut and vanilla.

5. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 2 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

6. To prepare frosting, combine 3 tablespoons butter and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until smooth. Spread about 2 1/2 teaspoons frosting onto each cupcake.

There are so many good jellies/jams/preserves out there and kolaches put them to good use! Plus, this dough comes together really quickly and behaves really well. Plus, you don’t need to wait to for the dough to chill before you roll it out (I personally HATE chilling dough because I am inherently impatient).  I used pomegranate jelly I found at the store to make them seem fancy, but these are just one of those cookies that is bound to taste good with whatever you have hanging around the kitchen. Just a quick note though: when you fold the edges together, make sure you press them together really well because, as they bake, they will want to unroll on you. Trust me- I have a lot of disk-shaped kolaches with a jelly stripe that somehow didn’t make it into the picture, hmm…

Orange Pomegranate Kolaches
Print Recipe

1/2 c. butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. orange extract (or grate in some zest if you have it)
1 1/4 c. flour
~1/2 c. pomegranate jam
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 ^oF. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
• Cream butter and cheese together. Beat in salt, sugar and extract. Add flour and mix just until dough comes together (it will seem crumbly).
• Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead a few times to make thee texture smooth and elastic. Roll out to 1/8″ thickness. Cut out 2″ rounds with a floured cutter.
• Transfer rounds to prepared cookie sheet. Spoon or pipe a small stripe (~1/2 tsp.) down center of each round. Fold sides over each other (like a little loose burrito) and pinch edges to seal, leaving ends open.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Transfer to cooling grid immediately when done. Dust with powdered sugar.

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and just had to try it (and speaking of Smitten Kitchen, I must say, I love her site. She has the best recipes — both baking and regular cooking). Oh how I adore a good, homemade peanut butter cookie. And these cookies are DELICIOUS. I normally only have a bite or two of the treats that I bake (I have a sweet tooth, but luckily, it doesn’t take much to satisfy). Well, I’ve already consumed two of these cookies and I’m not going to lie, I’ll probably have a couple more. Diet, what?

Anyway. I’m in the process of moving, so I’ve packed up all of my baking gear except what is required to make cookies. So you’ll probably be seeing a lot of cookies on here in the next week or so. :)

Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe source: Smitten Kitchen
Print Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

For sprinkling: 1 tablespoon sugar, regular or superfine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Place sprinkling sugar — the remaining tablespoon — on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisss-cross pattern (I used the back of a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.