Skinny Funfetti Cupcakes

I made these awhile ago when I was still living in Ft Lauderdale. They were super yummy, especially if you're on a New Year's diet!

Skinny Funfetti Cupcakes

• 1 box funfetti cake mix
• 12 ounces Diet Sprite/Sprite Zero

Mix these two together & spoon into cupcake tins. I like using a springy ice cream scoop to get perfectly even cupcakes :)

Bake according to directions.

For the frosting, use one container Cool Whip with a few drops of vanilla extract. (The original recipe called for using a package of sugar-free vanilla pudding mix mixed in with the Cool Whip, but I found that it made the frosting really gritty.) Frost then add some rainbow sprinkles and VOILA!

Enjoy these delicious and healthy treats!

xoxo,
janie from scratch

Hamburger Cupcakes

Happy Summer Yall!! This month has been such a whirl wind. I got home from Europe, and then it was Mother's Day. I made my favorite thing ever for my godmother, mom and friend for dinner that day -- Jerk Chicken with Jalapeno-Mint Glaze & Mango Salsa. THEN came birthday season... Within 1 week, I have the bf's, my friends Juan's & Brett's AND my birthday. And then was Memorial Day Weekend, so I am ready for some R&R this week by the pool! My mom is leaving on Monday for Maine until October, so hopefully we can have some QT this week too :)

I saw these ADORABLE cupcakes a few years ago on Bakerella's website (sidenote: she has the cutest ideas EVER) and made them for a 4th of July Party two years ago and they were a big hit. I got asked to make dessert for a Memorial Day Pool Party...which was SO EPIC, BTW:

Token Janie-face

So I whipped up these cute hamburger cupcakes again. They are adorable and so easy.

First, make a set of yellow boxed cupcake mix. I always use mixes for this recipe. For the cupcakes, I underfill the cupcakes a little - closer to half-full then 2/3 like the box says. Let cool, then take the papers off. I also sprinkle white sesame seeds to the top while they are cooling to make them look more like hamburger buns (if you forget, you can rub the tops with a little water to help them stick).

Then, mix up a brownie mix, and bake in a 13x9-ish sized pan. If you bake them in a smaller pan, they will turn out too fat to look like hamburger patties. While they are still warm, use a cookie cutter or empty can to cut out the patties. I've used an empty Campbell's soup can and also a small mason jar. Then let finish cooling.

Get a can of frosting, and dye half red (for ketchup) and half yellow (for mustard). For the lettuce, I shake sweetened coconut in a ziplock bag with a few drops of green food coloring.

To assemble, cut the cupcakes in half. I cut them close to the top little ledge. Put the cut-out brownie on the "bottom bun" with some "lettuce" and then squeeze some "ketchup & mustard" on the edges and top with the "top bun." This makes about 16 "burgers" so if you need more, make an extra batch!

 I had some leftover frosting and coconut so I put them in ramekins on the side if anyone wanted extra.

How cute are those?!?! And truly so easy and impressive for a summer BBQ or picnic. 

Hope everyone is having a great start to the summer! It's hot as blazes here in Florida, so summer has definitely arrived :)

xoxo,

Janie from Scratch

Doggy Cookies/I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!

IT'S THE HOLIDAYS!! It's my favorite time of year. I am literally obsessed with all things Christmas. I just got back from a week and a half in Hamburg and I went to every Christmas Market I could find. In Germany, in every city, town, neighborhood, they have Christmas Markets. The closest thing we have in America are fairs. There are big ones and small ones, fancy ones and regular ones. There's booths and booths of everything, food, drinks, toys, crafts, anything you could want. My favorite part is the food (wurst! fried dough! latkes!) and the gluhwein, which is a mulled red wine served warm. And also just being surrounded by Christmas lights and happy people and being outdoors in cold Christmas weather. SO good. I love it and miss it.

Here's a gluhwein stand:

And here's one of the fancier Christmas Markets with all white tents:

Sigh, I digress.

So now that I'm back, it's time to get ready for actual Christmas. I LOVE making Christmas gifts from scratch, but don't have a whole lot of friends down here yet to give them to. I found something SUPER CUTE on pinterest for the gals at the office, and I might whip up some bacon jam for the guys with my new crock-pot (one of my AWESOME coworkers bought it for me on Black Friday for $9!). One of my good friends here has an adorable and sweet black lab, so I wanted to make something special for Smokey too. On pinterest, I've been keeping a board of things I can make for Christmas gifts and awhile ago I pinned a big list of doggy treats. They looked super easy, so I whipped up a batch last night :) I highly recommend making homemade doggy treats if you have pups. It was seriously so easy, and of course, all-natural, no chemicals, etc.

Kiss Me Doggy Cookies (supposed to help with bad doggy breath!)

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/2 cup dried milk
• 1 cup peanut butter
• water as needed to combine

Mix everything together in a mixer. The recipe originally called for 2 tablespoons of water, but when it was all mixed, it was still very dry:

 So, little by little, I added more water:

And a little more, until it was balling up in my mixer. My mixer got a little angry at me!

All-in-all, I probably added close to 1/2 cup of water. A LOT more than the 2 tablespoons it called for. So, just add little by little until you get to a more doughy consistency. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take out! Also, I just thought of this today, but you could probably add in some chicken or beef bouillon and/or use chicken or beef broth instead of water to give these more flavor. As-is, they taste pretty peanut-buttery (yes, I taste-tested a small bite). 

To roll them out is pretty easy. I didn't even use any flour! I rolled them about 1/2 thick and used some cute holiday cookie cutters:

Bake at 300 on a non-stick cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes, depending how chewy you want the cookies to be.

I did about 25 minutes, and they were crunchy on the outside but a little soft on the inside. Let cool on a normal cookie rack:

Then package them up super cute and give them to your doggy-owner friends! This recipe made 36 cookies.

I think Tutu got a little jealous while I was making them... she was keeping pretty good watch. And she taste-tested one for me and liked it too! :)

(She's pretty adorable when she's not knocking all the bulbs off the Christmas tree!)

Hopefully I'll get around to sharing the goodies I'm gonna make for my work peeps, but in case I don't, have a wonderful & happy holidays my lovely blog readers!! :)

Banana Cupcakes!

Today, we had a baby shower/potluck at work for the girl I share my office with. I was supposed to make carrot cake cupcakes but they turned out a DISASTER. I dunno what I did wrong, but it was bad. Unsalvageable-bad. So, I had to make something else at the last minute and had 2 ripened bananas so I decided to make my old favorite Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter-Cream Cheese Frosting. They were a BIG hit! I also made sausage balls, which I'll blog about later this week.

Enjoy!

My AMAZING Fridge!

So when my roomie and I moved into our fabulous townhouse in Ft Lauderdale, it had fancy stainless steel appliances and we were SO excited. Turns out, the fridge kind of sucks at space. There's all these awkward shelves and drawers and it's pretty much a hot mess. The freezer is EVEN worse. BUT, this weekend I found out a special fact about my fridge that changed my opinion totally.... my fridge fits TWO half sheet pans on one shelf!

Yes, that's right, you're looking at two half sheet pans (with chocolate chip cookies) on ONE shelf. It's amazing. Just thought I'd share my excitement over this! If you bake, you know how exciting this is!!

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

If you're not on the Bon Appetit Take 5 email list, add yourself NOW. Every week they send out an e-newsletter which always has 5 great (and timely) tips and recipes. I'll promise you now that Bon Appetit will NEVER lead you wrong on a recipe. (See my blog on my Christmas dinner, made completely from a Bon Appetit menu!)  The other day I came across a recipe for banana cupcakes, and at first I thought, how strange, it should be banana bread. But then I am always wanting to bring in treats for my work buds, so the other Sunday night I made these little gems, and they were AMAZING. (Sorry for the link overload in that paragraph!)

Banana Cupcakes 
(This makes 12, and they'll go super fast, so maybe make a double batch!)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 very ripe large bananas, peeled 
1/2 cup sour cream 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
1 large egg 
1 large egg yolk

First, smush the bananas with a fork in a bowl.

Add in the sour cream and vanilla and mix. 

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt. With your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix well. 

(Action shot!)


Now in the recipe it says to mix in the banana mixture and the flour mixture alternately in three mix-ins each. I don't have time for that in my life, so I added all the banana mixture and then added the flour mixture and they turned out totally fine. If you are a real stickler, do it in parts, it's up to you. But don't worry if you don't, they'll still taste good!

Next, scoop them into cupcake liners. The recipe says use a "generous" 1/4 cup, but I (of course!) use my trusty ice cream scooper. Twice I've made these (I made them for Easter this weekend too) and both times I've had a little extra batter after scooping 12 cupcakes. So, I greased a ramekin and made a little cake just for me (okay, and for Ryan). But you could probably just make 14 cupcakes instead.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. 

You can definitely eat these without frosting if you want to make them as muffins rather than cupcakes. But if you wanna kick it up a notch -- it's time for the good stuff:


Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (Don't use the freshly ground or all natural kind. This is the time to go for the kind with all the preservatives and such!)
1 stick (1/2  cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 8-ounce package cream cheese at room temperate
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar


Mix the cream cheese, peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Of course, this makes a lot of frosting, so save the extra for next time. :) Frost away, and top with chopped salted peanuts or cashews. 

Dig in or pack a few up to take to YOUR work friends, if you like them enough to share!

(Aren't my friends at .decimal lucky??)

Andes Mint Brownies

So EVERYBODY loves a brownie, right? And who doesn't love those little Andes mints you get after dinner at a fancy restaurant?? This recipe combines the best of both worlds. I found the recipe on the My Baking Addiction blog, but it definitely needed some adjustments.

So if you want to cheat (a la Aunt Sandy's Semi-Homemade), don't make the brownies from scratch and just buy the boxed brownie mix. Make according to directions, bake in a 8" or 9" square pan, lined with foil, foil sprayed heavily with Pam, and let cool completely. Then start the recipe at the green mint section.

Andes Mint Brownies
Brownies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

First, line your square pan with aluminum foil (up the sides too) and Pam the foil like it's your day job. I made the mistake of not Pamming the foil, and it was a real bitch to get the foil off the brownies at the end of it all. It's easiest to use two longer sheets to get the the foil up the sides.

In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate and butter.

 
Take off the heat, and add in the sugar and vanilla.

Add in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each one.

Stir in the flour and salt.

Bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes. (Less if you want chewier brownies!)

Let cool completely in the pan.

Next, you want to make the minty topping:)

Mint Topping
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
green food coloring

Mix all ingredients in your mixer until well mixed. Spread over the cooled brownies. Place in fridge 30 minutes or until minty mixture is set.

Chocolate Glaze
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Melt both in double boiler. Spread over minty layer. Note: The original recipe calls for butter, not cream, but when I made these with butter, and the chocolate firmed up, it got super hard. Then when I went to cut them the chocolate cracked and it was a TOTAL mess. They looked terrible and it was just bad. So, instead of using butter, if you use cream, the chocolate mixture won't harden all the way to cracking stage. It's totally up to you if you want to use the butter (1 tablespoon), but DON'T!! Use the cream. DO IT. OR ELSE. :) Also, I had to make a little extra chocolate because the amount above wasn't enough. It only covered about 2/3 of the top. So, maybe you should up it to 5 ounces to be on the safe side. (If you want to fancy these up a little, you can garnish the top with chopped Andes mints while the chocolate is still wet.)

So let the chocolate set for a few hours, I did mine in the fridge, as I mentioned before. Once the chocolate is set, get a cutting board, and flip the whole pan over on the board. Peel the foil off (this should be easier since you Pammed your foil, unlike me). Get a really big sharp knife, and cut the brownies. These are super rich (especially if you didn't cheat and made the brownies from scratch), so I cut my 8" pan into 16 brownies. But if you cut them smaller, it would probably be okay too.

Take these to work or a party, and I guarantee they'll be a hit! I made them for St Patrick's Day (thus the green), but they'll definitely work for ANY occasion. Enjoy!

(See how ugly these turned out with the hard chocolate?? DO THE CREAM!)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I love oatmeal raisin cookies mostly because I feel like they are healthier than regular cookies. I mean oatmeal and raisins, that's totally healthy.

So since you've already read my chocolate chip cookie blog, you know the process to make cookies, right?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2  eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1  cup raisins

Cream the sugars and butter until fluffy.

Add in the eggs and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Mix in the flour mixture little by little. Then add in the oatmeal and raisins.

The dough will be super thick.

Scoop the cookies onto a cookie sheet. I always use an ice cream scoop which gives really evenly sized cookies, so they cook more evenly.

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, or until browned. Cool on a cookie rack.

Enjoy by yourself, or pack up into a cute box (I get mine from Joanne's) and give to your friends!

Focaccia Bread

So how many of your know how delicious the focaccia bread at Macaroni Grill is? Let me tell you how EASY it is to make. (There is one caveat to this recipe--you need a bread machine.)

Focaccia Bread
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg beaten
4 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons skim milk powder
1 packet yeast (2 teaspoons if you have a big jar like me)

For Toppings:
olive oil
salt
pepper
rosemary (fresh or dried)
oregano
onions
garlic/garlic powder
parmesan cheese

Put all the ingredients in your bread machine except the yeast, making sure to put the flour last. Make a shallow hole in the flour and put the yeast in the hole. Set your bread machine to the dough setting and let it ride! Mine takes an hour and 40 minutes for the dough cycle.

After the dough cycle ends, dump the dough onto a VERY well floured board. It's a sticky dough, so you want to be generous with the flour. At this time, put your pizza stone in the oven and set your oven to as high as it goes. We want the pizza stone to be super hot so the bottom of the bread sears and gets super crusty. If you don't have a pizza stone, don't worry. Just put a cookie sheet in the oven and let that get hot instead of the pizza stone.

Take a serrated bread knife and cut the dough in half. Again, be very generous with the flour so it doesn't stick. Put one half of the dough onto a pizza peel or cookie sheet covered by a piece of parchment paper. If you have a pizza peel use it, if not, just use another cookie sheet. Also, if you feel comfortable not using the parchment paper, feel free to, but using parchment always makes it easier for me to put the dough onto and get it off the pizza stone.

Once you have your set up ready with the pizza peel or cookie sheet and half your dough, stretch and flatten the dough into a circular shape. If you want a larger and thinner loaf, let the dough rest for a bit before forming it. If you're not super picky, just let the dough tell you how big it wants to go. Once you have your desired size, pock the dough--use your floured fingers to make little indentations into the dough, so it doesn't rise too much during baking. But if you want it to be super puffy, just skip this step!

To top the focaccia, first brush it with olive oil. You can be generous, because this will help the bread to be moist. Then add whatever toppings you want. You probably want to add salt no matter what toppings you use, unless you are using a lot of parmesan cheese. This past time I used salt, pepper, dried rosemary and garlic powder.

When you get ready to bake the loaf, turn the oven down to 450F, and slide the loaf onto the pizza stone. If you use parchment like me, just slide the parchment right onto the stone, if you use the peel without the parchment, just make sure it's well floured and the dough should slide right off. Bake the loaf for 8-10 minutes, until it's browned. If you used cheese, you can always turn the broiler on during the last minute or two to really get the cheese bubbly and yummy. After taking out of the oven, let the loaf cool on a cookie sheet and brush the loaf again with olive oil.

This bread is delicious by itself, but if you want to make things a little more special, pour up some olive oil with pepper, or olive oil with a little balsamic vinegar for dipping.

Enjoy this! And make extra because it is SO good.