Breakfast and Boozy Cupcakes

It's my boyfriend, Brian's, 21st birthday! To celebrate this exciting occasion, I made him breakfast, and then together we made cupcakes! My Secret Santa in my fraternity got me a book called, Intoxicated Cupcakes.  It's adorable and all the cupcakes are based off of drinks and involve booze.  Brian picked out the mojito cupcake recipe and we made them!  To be honest, I made them and Brian did the dishes, but I think that was for the best :).

For breakfast, I made pancakes (not from scratch because I was tired).  They turned out really great and I highly recommend them.  The mix was from target and it was an apple pancake mix with a cinnamon streusel topping.  We topped them with REAL maple syrup from Canada.  MMM!

In the afternoon we made the Mojito Cupcakes.  They came out amazing! Now it's off to dinner with his family and then hanging out with all his friends!

Mojito Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

(adapted from Intoxicated Cupcakes)

Ingredients: 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp dark rum (we used Captain Morgan)

zest from 1/2 lime

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 cup finely chopped mint

1/2 cup light sour cream

Frosting:

5 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp dark rum

1 tbsp milk (I used skim)

1 tbsp mint, finely chopped

1 tbsp lime juice

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2-4 drops green food coloring (I put WAY too much in)

1/2 lime zest for garnish (optional)

Brian's 1st Legal Beer!

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners (I was able to make 15)

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking power, and salt.  

3.  In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until light at fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Add lime zest, juice, rum, and mint and continue to mix until well incorporated.

4. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and sour cream in about 3 additions.

5. Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Mine took around 20 because they were pretty large cupcakes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

6. To make the frosting, mix all ingredients except for the sugar, food coloring, and zest.  Slowly add sugar and mix well.  Add in the food coloring until you have the desired green coloring.  Frost or pipe cupcakes and add lime zest or lime slices as garnish.

Enjoy :)

Source: VeganYumYum
my cupcakes looked a little awkward because
of how green the frosting came out...
this is what they should look like :)

Hanukkah!

Hanukkah is almost here! Therefore, I have been in a "Jewish food" mood.  Last night, we had a family get together at my brother's place to celebrate Hanukkah and my sister-in-law's birthday.  My mom made this great green bean dish that would make anyone crave veggies.  It was great!

Today, I am still in a Hanukkah-y mood and I've been wanting to try out a recipe for home-made challah.  What can I say, the Challah-days are coming up and I want to celebrate (so punny sorry!).  I found a recipe for a Harvest-Challah which is a loaf made in a spring-from pan and incorporates apples!  I LOVE apples.  This recipe does take some time so if you are going to make it for a brunch, definately make it the night before (so then you can sleep in!).  I think it would also be a great dessert served with some honey.

This morning, I woke up, went for a six mile run, and then decided I wanted to make that Challah.  This was great because I threw it together, then as it was rising for 2 hours, I showered and got everything else I needed to do out of the way.  Then I finished up the loaf!  Today has been a perfect day and a great improvement from my first day of break (see previous post).  Now, I'm off for a little date night: Portillo's and the new Sherlock Holmes movie.  I'll have to let you know how it is!

Green Bean Almondine

Ingredients:
2 1bs green beans
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil (you can use 2 tbsp butter and no olive oil, but she likes to lighten things up)
1 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch or two of salt.  Cook green beans in boiling water until they are done.
2. In a skillet, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add sliced almonds and brown them until they are fragrant about 5 minutes.
3. Drain green beans and place in casserole dish.  Add browned almonds and toss together!
Enjoy :)

Apple Challah

Yeast Mixture

Add the rest of the dough ingredients

Form into a ball and let rise

...until double in size!

mmm apples!

yea...it's gonna get messy

Oven ready!

Fresh out of the oven

We dug right in

Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey (I only had a little bit left and I'm pretty sure I only put in 1/8 cup or so)
1 package instant yeast
1/2 cup warm water
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
6 tbsp canola oil
2 gala apples (my mom's favorite) NOT peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
honey to drizzle (optional)

Directions:
1. In a stand mixer, mix the warm water, honey, and yeast until the honey is dissolved.  Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes until slightly frothy.
2.  Mix in flour, eggs, salt, and canola oil until just combined.  Switch to a dough hook attachment and knead until the dough comes together.  Ball up the dough on the bottom of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 2 hours.  Dough will rise to double in size and get a little poofy. 
3. Place a 9-inch spring-form pan on a cookie sheet and coat with cooking spray. 
4.  Mix cut up apples with cinnamon and sugar (I used more cinnamon than the original recipe because I love it).
5. Transfer dough to a greased surface and flatten in a rectangle (about 8x10 inches).  Place half the apples down the center of the dough (long-ways) and fold over half the dough.  Then, place the other half of the apples on the folded part and fold over the other side.  With a knife or pizza cutter (I thought the pizza cutter was easier) slice the dough down the middle long-ways and then slice about 8 times on the sides.  The apples will fall out, don't worry about it.   Place the dough pieces on the bottom of the spring-form pan so that they are all smashed together.  Place any of the fallen apples on the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Brush the top of the bread with an egg wash (1 egg and a tbsp of water) and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 55-60 minutes.  Mine took 60. Serve warm and drizzeled with honey if you want!
Enjoy :)

Inception Cookies

Ahh...home sweet home! I am finally on Winter Break!  Unfortunately, I seem to have bad luck associated with the start of break.  Senior year of high school, I had my wisdom teeth removed on the first day of break and it was terrible! I couldn't eat during the holidays! Today didn't start out so great either...I woke up super early because my ear was killing me.  Turns out, the back to my new piercing fell off and my ear was growing back. Ouch! I decided to get my stuff together and go home to figure out what to do.  As I was packing up everything, I smacked my forehead on a glass shelf in my room.  Double ouch! Now, I have a gash on my forehead, a headache that won't go away, and I am on my way to a Hanukkah party where my sister-in-law is going to re-pierce my ear.  (She's a doctor so it's pretty legit). 

But, enough of all this depressing stuff! As I walked in the door, the first thing that happened was that my little brother showed me a video that he made inspired by the movie Inception.  Check out the video at the end of the post! This made me remember our epic Inception Dinner night and so I decided to post the recipes from it!

 

I love making Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies.  They have sort of turned into one of my signature items.  Over the summer, my brother, Zack, and I had an inception night where we watched the movie Inception and made Inception Cookies and Inception Cupcakes.  These are cookies within a cookie and a cookie within a cupcake.  They are amazing and so cute! I used nutella frosting for the cupcakes because it is my favorite, but you can use any flavor! Brown sugar icing, or chocolate would be delicious as well.

Inception Cookies

Source: 9gag

Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies (I've used regular, low-fat, and double stuffed and trust me, double stuffed are the best)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. In medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. You can use an ice cream scoop, but I think your hands work best.  With your hands scoop out some cookie dough and press an oreo on top of it.  Then take some more cookie dough and place on top.  Press the sides of the cookie dough together and ball it up so that it covers the oreo. 
5. Place onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
This makes some epically huge cookies.  Usually I cut them in half because then you can see the cookie within the cookie and its a more typical portion.  

Inception Cupcakes

Source: Amandeleine

Ingredients:

Filling:
4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 a can)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Cupcakes:
1 Betty Crocker Supermoist yellow cake mix (and ingredients package calls for)

Nutella Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup nutella

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1-2 tsp milk if needed


Directions:
1. Make the cookie dough: combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a tablespoon, scoop out balls of cookie dough and place on a cookie sheet.  Cover the sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
2. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Make the cake mix according to the box directions. Fill cupcake slots about half full and then drop a ball of cookie dough in.  Continue to fill up the cupcake slots until they are 3/4 full.
3. Bake according to directions on box.  You may need to leave these in a little longer than normal.  Bake until a tooth pick comes out clean.
4. For the frosting, beat butter and nutella on medium speed until smooth.  Add in sugar and mix well.  Add milk if the frosting seems too thick.   

Some Seriously Good Mac N Cheese

Yesterday, my house had a Harry Potter Marathon Study Day.  The day before finals start at the University is a Study Day where no one has classes.  As academic chair, I felt it was a great idea to play every single Harry Potter movie and let people come and go as they want.  You can study while watching Harry Potter (especially if you are me and know every single line/scene without even looking at the TV) or you can take a study break to watch some Harry Potter.  Plus, this has been a goal of mine for some time.  I was able to get all the movies (1-7 Part 2) and I started Movie 1 at 10 AM.  Therefore, 7 part 2 ended around 4:30 AM.  Strangely, we went from having 2-3 people watching at 10 AM and ended with 8-10 people watching at the end.  It was epic!

I can't believe we actually watched every single Harry Potter! And, the best part is, I didn't have to study so I could just enjoy myself! Now, I am sitting at work, slightly sleepy, but totally satisfied!  Being a little tired, I am craving random foods.  I was thinking about some of the best foods I've had this semester and I decided that one of my favorites has to be this mac n' cheese dish that I made with my friend Emily for our Labor Day Pot-Luck.  It was all whole wheat and low-fat, but it was honestly some of the best mac n' cheese I have ever consumed!  (A close second is the frozen meals from Trader Joe's...seriously, it's so good that I forget it's a microwavable meal!)  Also, some of my friends have been requesting a good mac n' cheese recipe, it is finals after all.

Mac N Cheese with Caramelized Onions (adapted from Style That Food)


Indredients:
16 oz dry whole wheat macaroni
1 1/2 large white onions, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 cup whole wheat panko crumbs
1/2 oz shredded Parmesan cheese
Cheese Sauce:
3 cups unsweetened almond milk
4 oz light cream cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups light shredded cheese (I used cheddar-jack)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp dry mustard
pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp cold water until dissolved


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat olive oil in medium skillet on medium heat and add onions, salt and pepper, cook slowly until brown and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions, add salt to cooking water. Drain when finished cooking.
4. In a medium sauce pot, on medium high heat, heat almond milk to a simmer. Turn to low heat and add cream cheese, shredded cheese, onion powder, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Whisk until all is combined and cheese is melted. Once combined, add in cornstarch mixture to thicken sauce, bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.
5. Combine sauce with cooked, drained pasta. Pour into a 9 x 13 dish that has been sprayed with olive oil. Top pasta with caramelized onions, panko crumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper. Spray top with olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes until top is golden brown.

Source: Delish
Enjoy :)