Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you had a great pre-Halloween weekend. Ours was relaxing, we finished the nursery, carved pumpkins, watched horror movies and ate comfort food. What was even better than the fantastic weekend was that I had a bit of an energy burst yesterday. I spent the day cooking in the kitchen. It felt great. I made chili that I let simmer all day. And then I decided to make these cupcakes. These vanilla flavored, chocolate loaded, cute as a button cupcakes.

I’ve always been a bit shy about making any kind of super decorative cupcakes. I usually just stick to piping on the frosting. But this year, I decided to let my inner artist take over. And as you can see by the masterpiece like quality of my jack-o-lantern face, you don’t need to be particularly artistic to make these. It’s really just more about having fun because regardless of what the final product looks like, trust me, they taste amazing.

Makes 12 cupcakes

You will need

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk
• orange, yellow and green food coloring
• 1 (0.75 ounces) tube of black decorating gel

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat sugar and butter until well combined. Beat in eggs and egg white one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir in milk. Add remaining flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Fill each liner 2/3 of the way full.
5. Bake cupcakes for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs on it.
6. Remove cupcakes from the oven, allow to cool a couple of minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. While you are waiting for your cupcakes to cool, beat together powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in milk until the frosting reaches a stiff but spreadable consistency.
8. Divide frosting into bowls. Use the yellow and red food coloring to make the orange for the pumpkin. Use the green to make the color for the stem. Use enough of each color to get your desired color.
9. Frost the cupcakes with the orange frosting. Use the green frosting to make a stem. Use the black decorating frosting to make desired faces on the cupcakes.

Happy Halloween!

One of the things I see a lot of when October rolls around is recipes for pumpkin butter.  After a few years of seeing the recipes, but never actually trying it,  I decided to give it a shot.  You will find many of the traditional ingredients in this recipe that you find in many other pumpkin butter recipes but in the spirit of the belief that “chocolate makes everything better”, I add a bit of dark chocolate for a twist.  The result is a butter with all the tastes of fall that also happens to be perfect for breakfast or dessert.

I want to thank everyone for participating in the Le Creuset Giveaway last week. And thank you for all of your kind words about the anniversary. While I wish I had an “in” with Le Creuset so I could give each of you one of the French ovens unfortunately I could only choose one winner. I’ve contacted the winner via email and once I have confirmed that the email address is valid and I am able to ship to them, I’ll post the winner on the giveaway post.

I really do appreciate each and every one of you and while you might not win the giveaway, this dark chocolate pumpkin butter might help you feel a bit better.

Makes about 2 cups

You will need:

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine all ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a slight boil. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes or until butter thickens.
2. Allow to cool to room temperature, spread on toast, crackers or use as a dip for fruit. Store any leftovers in a covered container for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Aside from the leaves, the cool weather, the comfort food, the pumpkin patch, my birthday and Halloween, one of my favorite parts of October is that it is finally time for me to start enjoying all things pumpkin. From pumpkin soup to pumpkin cheesecake, to pumpkin martinis, I love it all. And now that I can add these easy, super moist cookies to the list I am pretty sure I have enough recipes to use the bajillion cans of pumpkin puree I stocked up on last time I was at Costco.

In addition to prepping the nursery, I came down with a cold last week and was unable to spend much time in the kitchen. Instead I rested, slept, watched Lifetime movies and thought up all of the wonderful things I could make with pumpkin. These cookies were the first thing I thought of and thus the first thing I made when I felt well enough to get back in the kitchen. They are sweet, moist and topped with cream cheese frosting. It might just be my favorite cookie recipe this far. And no, that is not the pregnancy talking.

Makes about 18 cookies

You will need:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Cream cheese frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Using a stand or hand held mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in sifted flour mixture until well combined. Fold in pumpkin puree.
4. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet a couple of inches apart. Baking for 12 – 15 minutes or until cookies start to brown slightly on the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
5. While cookies are cooling, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Beat in vanilla. Add in 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar and beat until it is a stiff spreadable mixture. Add more powdered sugar if necessary. Frost cookies. Serve.

If you have any leftovers, keep the frosted cookies in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

If you’re not quite ready to give up summer yet, here is one recipe that you have got to make while blueberries are still plentiful at the farmers market and grocery stores. It really couldn’t be any easier. With just 2 ingredients and a little time you can have a condiment that is perfect for a variety of dishes like waffles, pancakes and ice cream. It is also the perfect way to curb a pregnancy craving for blueberries. And surprisingly I’m not talking about myself.

I have come to think that pregnant women aren’t the only people that are susceptible to pregnancy cravings. You see, the way that Ryan has been downing blueberries lately I wondered if he too was experiencing them. I am not kidding we bought 2 pounds of blueberries and before I had a chance to develop any recipes with them he ate them all. I haven’t even eaten that much of anything, and I am the pregnant one. I suppose there are worse things to be eating though so I can’t complain too much.

After he ate the first container I decided to buy another one but this time I was quick on the draw so that I could make sure I got a recipe or two out of them. The first one, an ice cream pie, didn’t turn out like I wanted so I’m still tweaking that one. This recipe however turned out splendid. I only used two ingredients: blueberries and sugar. I hear a little orange juice and zest also add a lovely flavor. Maybe I’ll try that next time, provided Ryan doesn’t eat all the blueberries.

Makes about 1 cup of sauce

You will need:

• 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed, dried and picked over
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1. Combine the blueberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until blueberries break down, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
2. Serve chilled or warm.

Enjoy!

I took a nap last Saturday. I woke up from that nap, went outside to where Ryan was working in the yard and said “I need to make an ice cream pie with chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers and nuts.” Less than 5 minutes later I was in the car on the way to the grocery store to get everything I need. It was probably the first time that I had a pregnancy craving that would not let me think of anything else until I satisfied it. And satisfy it I did…with 2 or 3 pieces.

I could’ve made my own ice cream for this recipe but raw eggs are a no no when pregnant, unless they are pasteurized but those can be hard to find.  I also could have used a container of rocky road ice cream. However, I am not a huge fan of the almonds that are traditionally in them and I also like a lot more marshmallows in mine. So I decided to do a little improvisation. I made a graham cracker crust then softened a decadent chocolate ice cream, stirred in loads of mini marshmallows and then after it was frozen I topped it with chocolate syrup and chopped peanuts and pecans. Be. Still. My. Heart.

Serves 6 – 8

You will need:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1.5 quarts chocolate ice cream, softened
• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• Chocolate syrup
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup mix of chopped peanuts and pecans  (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Mix well. Press into a 9 inch tart pan ( a pie dish would also work). Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. In another bowl fold marshmallows into softened ice cream.
4. Spoon and spread ice cream mixture onto the graham cracker crust. Place in the freezer for at least 1 hour or until frozen.
5. Remove from freezer. Slice and top with chocolate syrup and chopped nuts. Serve.

Enjoy!

The weather here in Seattle has been pretty craptasitc for the last few days. You’d think that it was fall outside. Not that I don’t like fall, but I am anxious for my summer to start since July is already winding down. The one good thing about the fall like weather though is that it makes me want to be in the kitchen and ever since I watched last week’s episode of Masterchef, I’ve had a hankering for a layered cake. A cake with raspberry cream cheese filling to be more exact. So I made one. And by golly it actually turned out good.

I say actually because I usually have a really hard time baking cakes. They usually either fall, are rock hard and paper thin or stick to the pan. This time however, after some advice from friends, I decided to measure the flour by weight and use the foaming method rather than the creaming method.

The foaming method, if you are not sure, is when you beat the eggs and sugar together rather than creaming the sugar and butter. The result is a lighter airier cake.  And after my success with using this method, I think that it will be my go to method from now on.

Makes 1 (2 layer) cake

For the cake you will need:

• 8 large eggs at room temperature
• 16 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 16 ounces all purpose flour (about 4 cups), sifted
• 16 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the cream cheese filling you will need:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves

For the butter cream frosting you will need:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 – 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (9- inch round) cake pans with parchment paper.
2. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice until the eggs triple in volume, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the sifted flour, mix just until blended.
4. Fold in the butter.
5. Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans. Place in the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool several minutes before removing from the cake pans. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. While you are waiting for the cakes to cool, using a handheld mixer or stand mixer to whip the softened cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar and raspberry preserves together until smooth and creamy.
8. In another bowl, cream together ½ cup softened unsalted butter and 3 cups of powdered sugar. Once combined, beat in vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk. Mixture should be thick but spreadable. If the mixture is too thick add some more milk, if it is too thin add more powdered sugar.
9. After the cake has cooled completely, place one layer of the cake on a serving platter. Spread the raspberry cream cheese filling on the top of cake. Place the other cake on top. Frost with the butter cream frosting. Serve

Enjoy!

I had a very pregnant friend over last week and while talking we got the idea to try our hand at a batch of cookies using various kinds of candy. We perused the candy aisle in the grocery store not knowing exactly what we were going to pick. We figured fruity candy was out. It just wouldn’t cook right. We figured chocolate candy would be the best. We picked up some Twix, Milk Duds and Health bars. To tell you the truth I had the highest hope for the Milk Duds but after an afternoon of baking, and snacking, we came to the consensus that the Twix cookies were by far the best cookies of the day. Perhaps the best cookies I have had in a long time.

The Twix candy worked so unbelievably well in this cookie recipe. I was a little unsure when my friend suggested that we buy the Twix candy but I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. The chocolate melted slightly. The caramel softened. The sweet biscuit part of the cookie added just a slight crunch to the chewy softness of the cookie dough. The only problem that I ran into was that when I simply dropped the cookie dough onto the baking sheet the caramel seemed to ooze out a bit. The way I found to combat this problem is to simply roll the cookies ensuring that all of the Twix pieces were covered. The result was cookies that not only taste great but looked pretty too.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

You will need:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon iodized salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted, cooled
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups chopped Twix candy bars (about 2 – 3 packages)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
4. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well combined.
5. Fold in chopped Twix.
6. Scoop a tablespoonful of dough into your hands and roll taking care to make sure Twix pieces are mostly covered with the cookie dough. Cook 8-10 minutes or until edges start to brown and cookies are set.
7. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Alright let me tell you something, these cupcakes are decadent.They are sweet. They are sinful. They are downright heavenly. How could they not be? Not only are they chocolate cupcakes, but they get a dose of bittersweet chocolate chips thrown in. And then to top it all off (literally) they are frosted with a silky, creamy, chocolate frosting. So when you sit down to eat the whole batch like I imagine you might, just make sure that you have a glass of milk or two. I haven’t had many desserts around the house lately but yesterday when I was sitting on my couch catching up on some Lifetime movies, I decided it was time to make one. I began looking in the pantry to see what I could throw together and noticed one thing: chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Since Ryan is always asking me to make cupcakes and I had a rather disastrous experience attempting to make cookies a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at cupcakes. Judging by Ryan’s reaction after trying these, I am confident I made the right choice.

Makes 12 cupcakes

You will need:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• chocolate sprinkles

Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2  1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl combine cocoa powder, flour, and baking powder.
3. In another bowl beat together sugar,  eggs, vanilla and canola oil. Once combined, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the egg mixture. Mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool completely.
5. Meanwhile, to make the frosting, beat together butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add in cocoa powder, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of milk. Frosting should be stiff but spreadable. If needed add remaining 2 tablespoons of milk.
6. Frost cooled cupcakes, sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles if desired and serve.

Enjoy!

It’s probably not nice to share this recipe right after the start of Lent, but frankly these were too good for me to possibly wait any longer to share. These chewy, chocolaty brownies are full of butter, chocolate, chocolate pieces and everyone’s favorite hazelnut spread, Nutella. So here’s to hoping you didn’t give up sweets for Lent.

I’m just going to throw this out there: I think I’ve spoiled my husband.

Like really.

I could blame the blog and the popularity of dessert recipes for the reason that “what’s for dessert?” has become one of the most common questions in our house both before and after dinner. But the truth is, I like to make desserts because he likes to eat desserts. Brownies are a particular favorite so I make them the most often. Usually it’s just a basic brownie but I bought a 30702833 ounce container of Nutella at Costco recently and decided to toss them into these brownies. Good thing I have 30702817 ounces left because I see plenty of these brownies in my future.

Makes 20 – 25 brownies

You will need:

• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 baking dish.
2. Melt butter and 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips in a pan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and let cool, about 10-15 minutes. (If you don’t let it cool, your brownies will be cakey instead of chewy.)
3. In a bowl beat sugar, eggs and vanilla together. In another bowl mix flour and salt.
4. Once the chocolate has cooled, mix it into the egg mixture. Then slowly add flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in remaining chocolate chips and nutella. Batter will be thick.
5. Spread brownie mix into baking dish. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve.

Enjoy!

I should probably apologize. I’ve been hanging on to this one for a little while.  I know, I know not the nicest thing to do but I was just waiting for just the right time to share them. And since it’s been awhile since I have shared a desert and Valentine’s Day is just a few days away, I figured now would be the perfect time. They’re red and white. Their chocolaty and just when you think that cream cheese frosting can’t get any better, I decided to throw in some browned butter. Hold me.

I actually got the idea to try these cupcakes with browned butter cream cheese after I ordered Ryan a red velvet cake with that frosting for his birthday. It was a huge hit. Something about the nuttiness of the browned butter lends itself nicely to the cream cheese frosting.

Makes 12 cupcakes

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 3 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. In another bowl whisk together sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, food coloring and white vinegar. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Mix well.
3. Full cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, make your frosting. In a stainless steel pan or pot, heat butter over medium heat. As butter melts, it will foam slightly. Continue to cook until you notice little brown bits forming at the bottom of the pan. Stir the butter or shake the pan and continue cooking until the butter is a tan color and has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and set it on a cool surface because it will continue to cook in the pan. Allow butter to cool completely.
5. Use a hand mixer to beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Beat in browned butter. Frosting should be stiff but spreadable. Add more powdered sugar if needed.
6. Frost cooled cupcakes and serve.

Enjoy!