O.C.D. Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Otherwise known as the Oatmeal Cookie Dough stuffed Spice Cupcake...

Jeesh that's a mouthful...literally!

Bake Me Happy...Chocolate Cupcakes withToasted Marshmellow Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

Lately all that I have been wanting in life is chocolate and peanut butter.

And I’m not just talking Reeses peanut butter cups.

That would be too easy.

I’m talking sandwiches…big, thick slathers of peanut butter and Nutella.  The kind that leaves the leftovers behind in the corners of your mouth for you to snack on later.

I’m talking about my ice cream…taking vanilla ice cream and mixing in swirls of Peter Pan Honey Roasted  peanut butter and chunks of chocolate pieces….sometimes I even throw some pretzels into the mix for a little salty goodness.

The other day I ate half a bag of pretzels dipping them into some peanut butter and then Nutella.

It’s a strange addiction I have lately.  I’m not sure how it all started.  I just know that one day I was eating a Reeses and the next thing I know I’m trying to conjure up different ways to get my peanut butter and chocolate fix WITHOUT having to go to the store to buy another bag of Reeses.

It’s not helping my waistline nor the size of my butt…I CAN say that for sure!

Today while I was working on finishing up my moms cabinet (you can read about that here) the craving struck again!

Actually, I’m starting to think this new craving has something to do with stress.  It seems that every time I crave it…something is not going right in my world.

Hmmm….

Any who, I remembered that I had frozen some of the cupcakes from when I made these.

And they were not frosted!

Oh the possibilities!

While I am not the first person to come up with this idea, it is the first time that I tried them for myself.

And I must say…OH. FREAKING. YUM!

So I give to you, my version of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake WITH Toasted Marshmellows.

Drum roll please...

And yes, it is okay to lick the screen ;)  I'll pretend I didn't see it!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmellow Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

by Angi McCarthy

Ingredients (24 cupcakes)

Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong black coffee (I used Starbucks Cafe Verona Roast)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup EV Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Toasted Marshmellow Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

• 3 sticks salted butter softened (but not melted!)
• 2 lbs confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 4 jumbo marshmellows toasted and pureed in food processor
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

Heat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder.

Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oils and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

Bake cupcakes in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

Toasted Marshmellow Buttercream Frosting

Cream butter, peanut butter and toasted marshmellow puree for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer.

Sift 2 lbs powdered sugar into the mixing bowl.

Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar is absorbed by the butter.

Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract cream and beat for about 3 minutes.

If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional cream 1 tablespoon at a time.

Pipe on your cupcakes and enjoy!

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You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh          

Friday:  Dwell on Joy- Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

Lucky Charm Cupcakes

Wow! It sure feels good to be back here again!  We've had viruses GALORE sweeping through our home.  It stared with the stomach virus, then the flu, and moved on to allergies/colds.  UGH!  After taking a look at the mountain of kleenex that we all blew through...ha ha, get it...we blew through.  Ok, it was bad humor, I know.  But I couldn't resist.  Anyway, we should own stock in Kleenex!

And just when we thought all was clear, my father-in-law landed himself in the hospital.  NOT COOL!  Can I just say that taking a trip to the ICU ward is NOT the proper way to spend time with your loved ones?  I can talk lightly about it now because he came home today; but I gotta say, we were really freaking out slightly scared. 

It's been a tough couple of weeks thats for sure. 

Sooo...to say the we are glad to be out of February and moving on to March is a bit of an understatement.

My dad has been after me for several weeks to make him a white cake with vanilla frosting.  

Nothing fancy mind you. 

Just a simple white cake...even the boxed kind would do.

But could I do that?  Just whip up a white cake out of a box and slap some canned frosting on it? 

Um...can I get a HELL NO!?

Since I have married into an Irish family (uh, hello, McCarthy...how much more Irish can one get?)   Well, perhaps O'Brian is more Irish, but really, who's checking right!? 

I decided that we needed a bit of the Luck of the Irish in our household.

So I topped these deliciously moist white cupcakes (that are not from box THANK you very much) with a sprinkle of Lucky Charms!

With their pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and
green clovers....

They are Magically Delicious!

 

Lucky Charm Cupcakes

by Angi McCarthy

Keywords: cupcake spring

 

Ingredients (24 cupcakes)

Moist White Cupcakes

• (recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)
• 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend
• 1 2/3 cups sugar; superfine sugar is best
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 large eggs whites plus 1 whole large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Vanilla Buttercream frosting

• 3 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 tsps. clear vanilla extract (if you want bright white frosting)
• 1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
• 4-6 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Instructions

Moist White Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8" x 2" or 9" x 2" round pans; a 9" x 13" pan; or 2 standard cupcake pans (20 to 24 cupcakes) by greasing and flouring; or lining with parchment, then greasing the parchment. Note: Make sure your 8" round pans are at least 2" deep; if they're not, use one of the other pan options.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients on slow speed to blend. Add the soft butter and mix until evenly crumbly, like fine damp sand. It may form a paste, depending on the temperature of the butter, how much it's mixed, and granulation of the sugar used.
3. Add the egg whites one at a time, then the whole egg, beating well after each addition to begin building the structure of the cake. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the milks with the vanilla and almond extracts. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes for 8" or 9" rounds; 36 to 42 minutes for a 9" x 13" x 2" sheet cake; or 18 to 20 minutes for cupcakes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean when done. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan, if desired (not advisable for a 9" x 13" sheet cake), cool on a rack, and frost.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1. In a large bowl, cream butter until fluffy.
2. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the powdered sugar and continue beating until well blended.
3. Add in vanilla and 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low unitl moistened.
4. Add an additional 1 to 3 Tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach desired consistensy. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

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You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh          

Friday:  Dwell on Joy- Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog). 

Chocolate Cupcakes w/Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Apparently, I have a bit of a memory problem..as in, I forget EVERYTHING!  At least this is what my kids and husband claim.  A pile of clothes is left on the floor and I ask my kids why they weren’t put in the laundry hamper and the answer is “you forgot to tell me to put them there”.  I forgot…not them.  The trash wasn’t taken out on my oldest son’s chore day to do so and it is because I forgot to remind him to do it.  Our dogs ran out of food and my husband did not know this and subsequently did not pick up any while he was at the store (though he feeds them everyday) and I forgot to mention to him that the dogs were out of food.   Seriously?  I’m really starting to worry about myself and “my” forgetfulness.

Friday, after working all week long, and nearing that “special” time of the month, I decided that I needed chocolate…LOTS of chocolate so I made a batch of rich, dark chocolate cupcakes and thought I’d surprise everyone with a cinnamon chocolate butter cream frosting.  Sound’s divine doesn’t it?  I worked on these decadent treats for over an hour.  I even took the time to pipe on the frosting instead of doing it old-school with a knife. 

Then the men of my family showed up.

And the conversation went something like this…

Oldest “what are those?”

Youngest “why did you make cupcakes?”

Me “It’s Friday and I wanted to give everyone a treat”…said with a smile

Oldest “you said you’d make cheesecake”

Youngest “I don’t like chocolate”

Me “since when?” said to the youngest

Oldest “you promised me cheesecake”

Youngest “she probably forget” said to the oldest

Husband “Is it that time of the month?”

Me – no words…just thoughts “are you freaking kidding me???”  I slave in here for an hour and all you can say is “no cheesecake?”  and did you seriously just ask me if it was that time of the month?... Though it was but I don’t need to admit to that!  I just made freaking cupcakes for crying out loud!!

Oldest “ugh…you forget EVE.Ree.THING!”

Then the conversation spiraled downward even further so I casually poured myself a glass of wine, while they all continued to bicker amongst themselves, took the cupcake with the most amount of frosting on it,  walked out of the kitchen, directly into my bathroom and LOCKED.THE.DOOR!

I then proceeded to enjoy them both in a hot, bubble filled tub while listening to Enya playing in my ears all the while forgetting the men in my life still arguing in the kitchen.  

And I have to tell you all, that THAT was the best. damn. cupcake. EVER! 

So here you have it…the NOT cheesecake Chocolate Cupcake with Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream frosting.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did! 

Chocolate Cupcakes frosted with Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream

by Angi McCarthy

Keywords: dessert chocolate cinnamon cupcake

Ingredients (serves 12)

Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong black coffee (I used Starbucks Cafe Verona Roast)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup EV Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened (but not melted!)
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

Chocolate Cake

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oils and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Frost with any icing you'd like. I topped mine with a Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

Cinnamon Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar, cinnamon and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa mixture are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Powered by Recipage

You may find this post partying in the following places:

Monday:  Debbie Doos - The Girl Creative - Skip to My Lou - Craft O Maniac - Lisa's Craft Blog - The DIY Show Off -Everything Under the Moon

Tuesday:  Not Just A Housewife - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Clean and Scentsible - Crazy For Crust - recipes - Uncommon Designs

Wednesday:  Savvy Southern Style - Blue Cricket Design - Seven Thirty-Three - Someday Crafts - Michele Raven Designs/

Thursday:  Delightful Order - Something Swanky - Recipes - The How To Mommy - A Little Nosh         

Friday:  Finding Fabulous - Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Fingerprints on the Fridge - Shabby Nest - Whipperberry – Miss Mustard Seed - French Country Cottage - Sweet Tooth Friday (Alli-n-son), I'm Lovin' it Fridays (TidyMom), Friday Favorites (Simply Sweet Home), Latest & Greatest Friday (Days of Chalk and Chocolate), Bacon Time, Fusion Friday (Jane Deere Blog).