Superbowl Cupcakes

The football shapes

The cupcakes

Finished product!

The "Grass"

Box of Yummies

My Em hard at work. 

My Em made the cutest Superbowl cupcakes! She used gum-paste and colored it brown for the footballs. Then cut white gum-paste to make the laces. She also baked the chocolate cupcakes, made the green butter cream to look like grass. She did a great job! Proud of my Boo!

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

I did not forget to bake - I did not have to post. So here is the post for Thursday January 6th.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes
from Annie Eats 12/9/2011

I did make one change - I did not use the peppermint frosting that she used. I use a basic buttercream frosting but used peppermint extract as opposed to vanilla extract. Here is the recipe.

1/2 cup - 1 stick of butter, softened
3 - 4 cups of powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1 Tbs milk
1 tsp of peppermint extract

Cream the butter until fluffy, add the powder sugar. Add the milk and extract until mixed and fluffy.

cupcake batter

Peppermint Cupcakes without frosting

my helper crushing the candy canes

Finished! They got the approval of little man. So these are a hit too!

Enjoy!

January 2, 2012 Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Today is the first day for baking! I spent yesterday organizing recipes and listing ingredients, etc. Now I am ready for a new adventure.

I am also making bread today. I am going to make buns for sliders tonight. If I get a chance I will get that recipe posted too.

This is my first time using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.


Mexican Chocolate Cookies
from the December 2009 Cooking Light

Ingredients:
5 oz bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate, coarsely chopped
3.4 oz all-purpose flour (3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
dash of ground red pepper
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to350 degrees
2. Place chocolate in a small glass bowl; microwave on High 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through ground red pepper); stir well with a whisk.
4. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat well. Add cooled chocolate and vanilla; beat until just blended. Drop dough by level tablespoons (or use a cookie scoop) 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven. Cool on plans 2 minutes or until set. Remove from pans; cool completely on a wire rack.
Yield 32 cookies
serving size - 1 cookie; 80 calories

dough in the mixer

rounded teaspoons on the pan

finished product ready to eat!

Enjoy!

Christmas Baking Extravaganza Introduction

Every year for the past 9 years my family and I have been baking and creating our Christmas gifts. This process began as a way to give gifts to my husband's 13 managers and 150ish employees. Dollar wise this made sense. Time wise, well you can't put a dollar value on that part of the gift. The first year we (I) only made cheesecakes and pies for the managers. The next year, I (we) started with small cakes and a small variety of cookies/candies.
This year we have 30 or so different cookies, candies, and treats plus 4 different cakes.

This blog is to chronicle our adventure and post the recipes. People always ask for the recipes. I seldom give them out. Not sure why I hold onto the recipe. I suppose it is like a child. I work hard at finding the right recipe, perfecting it and hate to just let it go. I know. Selfish. So I have started typing them up. Yes, I will start sharing them. Please promise if you use the recipe to treat it with love and respect. Feeding someone is a true form of showing love.

Happy Baking!!!!