No-Flour Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine comes faithfully to my mailbox every month despite the fact that I'm pretty sure my 2-year subscription ended at least a year ago {shhhh!}. So I am enjoying my fair *free* share of Rachael's recipes.

One that stood out to me was a no-flour cookie recipe from the October 2011 issue. I get super gung-ho for recipes that call for only a handful of ingredients, and I dish out super duper kudo points if they're ingredients I normally have on hand in my kitchen. This recipe had a mere 5 ingredients, all of which I already had {sa-weet!}. I had to try it.

Today is a special day for hubbs and me because my best friend is doing my ultrasound to see if our second baby is a boy or girl! KB is an ultrasound tech in an OB-Gyn office and she loves peanut butter and chocolate together. I thought these cookies would be a great way to tell her thank you.

I made these with semisweet chocolate chips instead of chunks.

{How to be a good friend: return your friend's Tupperware after washing and filling with something tasty}

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Beat first 4 ingredients together. Stir in chocolate. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheets. Makes 16 cookies.

Ok, it seriously does not get any easier! Five ingredients and 10 minute bake time?! What more could you ask for? This would be great to make with the kiddos or for those that are baking beginners.

These turned out pretty yummy! I would like to see what a teaspoon of vanilla would do next time I make these...

And by the way, we're having another boy!

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

"C" is for "Cookie", that's good enough for me....

My sister Summer found these adorable Cookie Monster cupcakes from With Our Best, complete with crumbly cookies in the mouths! These definitely take me back to my childhood days of watching Sesame Street and watching Cookie Monster get his ferocious nom nom on.

S'mores Cupcakes

S'mores Cupcakes (1 dozen)
~3/4 cup brown sugar
~1/2 cup canola oil
~2 tablespoons maple syrup
~1/4 cup plain yogurt
~1 1/4 cup milk
~1 tsp vanilla extract
~1 cup all-purpose flour
~1 tsp baking powder
~1/2 tsp baking soda
~1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
~1/4 tsp salt
~1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs plus more for topping

1) Mix brown sugar, canola oil, maply syrup, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extrac in a large bowl

2) Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt into a second bowl

3) Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients of first bowl in three batches, then stir in graham cracker crumbs

4) Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry

5) Top with Marshmallow Creme, chocolate ganache, chocolate chips, and more graham cracker crumbs



Chocolate Ganache
~3 tablespoons milk
~1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1) Add milk to a saucepan and heat on stove just until simmering
2) Stir in chocolate chips until completely melted
3) Let cool for 10 minutes
4) Spatula ganache into a Ziploc bag, snip small corner off the bag, then pipe ganache onto top of cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Logan's First Birthday

It was an absolute joy celebrating my son, Logan's, first birthday! The year went by so fast and was full of many learning experiences {for example, I learned the true meaning of "exhaustion"!}. My husband really wanted me to make red velvet cupcakes for Logan's birthday party and I was more than happy to oblige! Logan's cupcake didn't have frosting on it because I thought it would be too much sugar for him at this age, so instead I topped his with his favorite organic peach yogurt {YoBaby brand from Stoneyfield}.

The majority of red velvet cupcakes had cream cheese frosting but I did make two with buttercream for my sister who doesn't like cream cheese {and all the cheesecakes in the world breath a sigh of relief!}.

Tissue pom poms I made hanging above our island. The hubbs brought how a whole bunch of balloons and the ribbons tied to each one were way too long. So he trimmed the balloons' ribbons, handed me them to me, and said, "Here, maybe you can make something with these." Those are seriously the best words you could ever tell me! So I taped them to the bottom of each pom to give it a "comet" kind of look.

Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe (makes 24 cupcakes)

{350 degrees, 15-18 minutes}

~2 cups milk {I used whole cow's milk, but you can even use soy milk in vanilla or chocolate for a truly vegan recipe}

~2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

~2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

~2 cups granulated sugar

~4 tablespoons cocoa powder

~1 teaspoon baking powder

~1 teaspoon baking soda

~1 teaspoon salt

~2/3 cup canola oil

~3 1/2 tablespoons red food coloring {you're certainly welcome to use more, it just so happened that a brand new bottle of McCormick's had this amount in it, about 1 ounce}

Extracts:

~5 teaspoons vanilla extract

~1 teaspoon almond extract

~OR~

~4 teaspoons vanilla extract

~1/2 teaspoon almond extract

~2 teaspoons chocolate extract {Chocolate extract can be a little tricky to find, I've only seen it at Sur la Table but never in a grocery store}

1) Whisk milk with apple cider vinegar in one bowl, set aside

2) Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, & salt in a second bowl

3) Whisk in oil, food coloring, extracts to the milk and vinegar in the first bowl

4) Gently fold wet ingredients into dry {first bowl into second bowl} and mix until large lumps disappear

5) Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full, bake 15-18 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

~1 stick {1/2 cup} unsalted butter at room temp

~1 package {8 oz} cream cheese at room temp

~3-4 cups of powdered sugar

~1/4 cup milk

~1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1) With a hand mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and slowly add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk and vanilla after 2 cups of powdered sugar have been added.

My own strawberry cupcakes recipe

I was really excited to make these last night for Justin! It's my 2nd attempt at my own strawberry cupcakes recipe even though Justin and our friend David absolutely LOVED the first batch (I thought they were terrible because they came out so soggy). I've never made up my own recipe for anything before (besides something like, Tuna Sandwich!) and I was all proud of myself for knowing how to make them better.

Just as a testimony of how good these little tasties are, Justin ate four of them...one right after the other...in about five minutes...that's FOUR whole cupcakes! Complete with strawberry buttercream frosting and everything! Now I know exactly what you're thinking: "oh well that's because he's married to you and it's his duty as a husband to not hurt your feelings so OF COURSE he's going to eat half the batch!" Well, let me tell you something, my friend. My husband is the most honest person I know and I always try to encourage that, even if it means he tells me he doesn't like something I cook or bake. I would much rather he tell me that he's "not a big fan" of a new recipe I tried instead of me continually making it and him fake smiling through nauseous chewing (okay I don't think my cooking has ever been THAT bad). I always appreciate his feedback, good or constructive.

So last night, I have to say that I had overwhelmingly good feedback from Justin on how good these strawberry cupcakes were. Let me know if I can ever make them for you!