Pecan Mocha Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Icing

Did you read the whole title of this post? Go read it. Doesn't it sound AMAZING? That's because it is! And I'm going to tell you how I made them. :3

Don't these look brilliant? :3

Pecan Mocha Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 box chocolate cake mix of your choice
2 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup pecan bits

Directions

1) Prepare cake mix using the instructions on the box, but add 2 tbsp of instant coffee also!

You just add it straight in and mix it up!

2) After mixing, stir in pecan bits using a spoon.

Yum! 8D

3) Bake cupcakes like normal!

The suspense! :D

While the cupcakes bake, you can make your icing! I originally tried 2 recipes. The first one I made flopped because it had too much caramel topping in it. :( The second one was awesome though so I'm going to share that one!

Caramel Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup caramel topping
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1) Beat shortening and butter in mixer until creamy.

Crea-may! :D

2) Add caramel topping and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.

Yum!

3) Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Beat until light and fluffy!

I initially sifted my powdered sugar, but after the

first cup, I got impatient and didn't sift

the rest. LOL!

Action-y! :D

 I forgot to take a picture of the finished icing. :( But it's ok. :) NOW! Take your beautiful cupcakes and start icing them! After you ice them, drizzle some caramel topping on top and sprinkle some pecans for the fancy look. ;)

Look at that. :3 YUM!

Now since this is my first return post since my absence last year, I feel like I need to share some cute pictures of my sweet boy! He will be 11 months on July 8th! :D Enjoy!

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

I love baking. Baking is one of my absolute FAVORITE things to do. Ever. I love learning new recipes and using my family and friends as guinea pigs for perfecting them. One of the recipes I have recently tried and perfected (in my own and in my guinea pigs' opinions) is my Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie recipe. Since they are such a hit (and since everyone is asking for it), I figured I would share! :D

Strawberry (or Whatever) Cheesecake Cookies
Warning: These cookies make your house smell like magic. This is your only warning. :)

Ingredients

- 2 packages of Martha White muffin mix (you can honestly use any flavor. They all work. I just chose Strawberry for these cookies. :) I have also used Blueberry and plan on using Mixed berry and Apple cinnamon in the future!)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4oz cream cheese
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (Or more. I usually just chunk a whole small bag of chips in my cookies. ;) )

Directions

1) Cream together butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. :)

2) Add each egg, one at a time, until well blended.

 I love watching the yolk get obliterated by the mixer. >:3

3) Add in muffin mix and flour. Mix well. :)

4) Fold in white chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula, and place in fridge for at least an hour or freezer for 30 mins. (This dough bakes best when cold. :) )

 Haha. My preggo belly is too big to keep out of pictures. xD

5) Place on greased baking sheet and bake on 325. Bake for about 13-15 mins or until they start to brown. FUN TIP: I like my cookies to be round. I think they are prettier that way. In order to do this, I lightly coat my hands with flour, roll the dough into a ball, and smoosh it on the pan some. :) It makes me happy.

6) Let them cool. and EAT ALL OF THEM!! 8D

Doesn't that look amazing? :3

Italian Quesadillas

Y'all. I promise I'm trying to remember to post stuff on the correct days. I will explain my tardiness better on Sunday when I post about the previous week. ;)

ANYWHO!

Today (Yesterday) is Tutorial Tuesday! Today I am going to share one of my family's favorite dinners: Italian Quesadillas! This recipe was actually taken from the side of a Classico Alfredo Sauce jar a few years ago and modified by me! :D Below you will find the instructions to make it!

Italian Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts or the equivalent in another form of meat (ANY meat works GREAT in this recipe. :3), chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
My Alfredo Recipe
Shredded Cheese of any kind (my favorite is the Colby Jack mix. :3)
Tortillas (I usually use flour ones, but corn ones might work well too. :) )
Optional Ingredients:
- Peppers
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Just about anything you want.

Directions:

1) Chop up your meat, and season it. :3

I gave the scraps to Chrissy and Andrew. :3 

2) Chop up your bell pepper, onion, and garlic! (I didn't have any garlic when I made this... It's OK. I only cried about it a little bit. :( )

 I got cool colorful bell peppers this time! :D 

I decided yellow would be a nice contrast to the beef. ;)

3) Cook your meat! When it's nice and brown, add your chopped veggies. :3 Then cook it until it's dead. :)

4) Make some of my awesome Alfredo Sauce!!! :D

5) Shred your cheese (or buy already shredded cheese....) and gather your ingredients! It's time to throw these bad boys together! (If you have peppers or lettuce or whatever, this is when you grab those. :) )

6) In the tortilla, put your meat and cheese (and whatever else you want) on one half. Then cover it with the Alfredo Sauce! :D Then fold it in half, and make another one until you have made as many as you can (or want)! :D

 7) When all of your quesadillas are folded and ready for the pan, heat a skillet to medium heat. You can grease the pan however you want, but I don't usually do that because no grease/butter makes the tortillas crispy and the quesadillas cook faster. :) Cook them for about 2 mins on each side or until they are toasty and brownish! :D

8) EAT THEM. :) They are SO GOOD. I promise. :)

Don't they look amazing?! :D I can never eat just one. :3

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Ok.. ok... Today is totally NOT Tuesday. :/ But I have a reason for my tardiness! :D Mostly I forgot to take tutorial pictures when I made these the first time... BUT! I remade them JUST FOR YOU (and also my husband who was very upset that he couldn't eat any of the first batch because they were special)! :D

Here's the scoop: July 2nd is/was one of my bestest friend's birthday! Since Aimee ADORES her doggie daugther, Kiki the Corgi, (and because she requested) I decided to make her some special Corgi Cupcakes! :D One of her favorite noms is anything with peanut butter, so when I found this recipe over at The Pioneer Woman's Blog, I knew she had to have THOSE cupcakes. I also knew she needed to have my chocolate buttercream icing (slightly modified from Lauren's Latest) to go on top because who doesn't like to imagine eating Reeses cake for their birthday, right? So for Tutorial Tuesday (Wednesday?), I will share BOTH recipes with you guys and the modifications I made! :D

BUT FIRST! Corgi Cupcake Pictures!! :D

 Aren't they freaking adorable?!?! 

The corgi candies are made from white candy melts and milk chocolate chips! 

A friend drew an outline of a corgi for me,

and I just filled it in! :D

The Pioneer Woman's Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Side Note: On The Pioneer Woman's Blog, she also explains how to use this recipe to make chocolate cake. O.O' I am so excited! :D

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 whole eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 sticks butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. ;)

2) Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

3) Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda in small bowl.

4) In medium saucepan (a.k.a. a pot), melt the butter on medium heat. Then stir in the peanut butter until it's smooth. While peanut butter mixture is still on heat, add the boiling water, and let it bubble for like 10 seconds. Then remove the pot from the heat. :)

I like to boil my water in my kettle because it makes me feel fancy. :) 

The bubbles!! 8D 

5) First pour the peanut butter mixture onto the dry mixture. Combine until about half mixed. Then add the buttermilk mixture. Combine until it's smooth. THEN I learned to let the batter cool a bit before baking the cupcakes/cake. You can either let it cool in the bowl or in the pan the batter will be baked. Either way, letting it cool allows the batter to rise better while baking and makes for prettier cupcakes/cake. :)

6) Bake the cupcakes/cake for about 20 minutes or until they look like the most beautiful peanut butter cookies you have ever seen. :3 The toothpick test can also determine if the cupcakes are done. :D

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Side Note: If you ever want to make plain Buttercream Icing, simply don't add the cocoa! 8D Isn't that neat!? Also if you want pure white icing, use clear vanilla or almond extract instead of the brown vanilla! :D You are welcome. ;)

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
5 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 tbsp milk (I don't even measure this. I just pour until it looks right. xD)

Directions:

1) Cream together butter and cocoa until smooth. :)

2) Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar. I usually let it do one cup at a time. As you mix in the powder, you can also mix in the milk. I usually just estimate the milk and pour until the icing looks right.

3) Put in gallon ziplock or icing bag, and pipe it onto your cupcakes! Or put the icing on however you want. :) I just like to find excuses to use my icing tips. ;)

Once I got finished making these, I realized I had some candy molds I had never used before! Since I had plenty of candy melts and chocolate chips from Aimee's batch of cupcakes, I decided to use those neglected molds! :D Check it out!

Used a mixture of candy melts and milk chocolate chips to fill in the hearts and mouths of the bears... :) 

...aaaand the centers of the daisies! :) 

Then I filled them all in with candy melt! :D 

 Once they were filled, I put them in the fridge for a few minutes to make sure the candy stuff hardened. :)

 My Rose candy. :)

 My Bear candy. :)

My Daisy candy! :D

 The finished products! :D