Saturday, August 27

Cookies & cream cupcakes


I have been wanting to make cupcakes in a while now. And what is better than some great Cookies & Cream cupcakes? The icing is super sweet but it combines very well with the oreo pieces in it. Also the oreo placed on the bottom of the cupcakes stays very crunchy, which I love in a cupcake.


Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups (142gram) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. (115gram) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup (375gram) sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (235ml)milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F (150C).  
Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.  
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. 
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  
Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.
Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from Annies Eats

Cookies & Cream frosting
Yield: 12 cupcakes (!!)
Ingredients
2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature 
2 1/3 cups (300 grams) powdered sugar, sifted 
2 tbsp whipping cream 
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
1 heaping tbsp Oreo cookie crumbs
 (I used more)

Method
In bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. 
Beat butter until very soft and fluffy - approx. 4 minutes on high speed.
Add sifted powdered sugar. 
Beat on slow speed until mixture starts to combine then increase to medium speed for 1 minute
.
Then increase speed to to and beat for another 5 minutes .
Scrape down sides of bowl. Add heavy crean, vanilla extract and cookie crumbs. 
Beat 2 minutes on medium speed.
Pipe into the cupcakes, top with an oreo cookie if wanted. 
Adapted from Lemon Drop

VoilĂ ! The result! Delicous and so so very sweet!

Wednesday, August 17

Sticky cinnamon pecan bites



This is a very easy recipe if you like cinnamon rolls. I love them, but I don't like working with yeast. I just find it very troublesome, and this recipe doesn't use any so I thought I would give it a try. They turned out delicious. Also, I love pecans so this recipe is perfect right?
I baked mine a little longer, which is not recommended if you wish to eat them the next day (the dough gets dry). But I like mine with a crispy layer of baked sugar, which you can clearly see on the pictures. If you don't want that, just bake them as the recipe says!
I did screw up in some part, mine didn't turn out to be small 'bites'. I didn't roll out the dough in a rectangular size, and I cut the dough into 12 pieces instead of 24. They became bigger like that, which is not a problem and they where delicious anyway, and just bigger.
But if you really want small bites, then use a mini cupcake pan and follow the recipe correctly. Enjoy!




Sticky Cinnamon pecan bites
Ingredients

  • 24 pecan halves
  • 1 cup (125gr) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
  • 1 teaspoon (5gr) baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus additional for sprinkling
  • 3/4 cup (200gr) heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup (119gr) packed brown or muscovado sugar
  • 1/2 (3gr) teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons (30gr) unsalted butter, very soft, plus more for the muffin cups

  • Method
    1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Lightly butter the muffin cups unless they are nonstick.


    2. Place a pecan half in each muffin cup, top side down. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork. Make a well in the center. Pour the cream into the well. Use a rubber spatula to fold and stir the flour mixture and cream together just until the dry ingredients are completely moistened and a soft dough is formed. The dough should not look perfectly smooth. Let the dough rest for 2 to 3 minutes to firm.

    3. Meanwhile, mix the sugar with the cinnamon.

    4. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a rectangle about 12 by 7 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Use a small offset spatula or your fingertips to spread the dough with the soft butter, then sprinkle with a pinch of salt and the brown sugar, leaving a 1/8 to 1/4 inch border. Press the seam to seal. Starting at one short end, roll the dough tightly. Gently stretch the dough to lengthen the roll slightly to about 12 inches in length. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

    5. Cut the dough roll crosswise into 24 equal pieces. (It’s easiest to do this by cutting the dough in half, then cutting each half in half, then cutting each portion into 6 pieces. This is easier to do than it sounds.) Place each piece of dough in a muffin cup, cut side up.

    6. Bake the sticky buns for 12 to 15 minutes, until browned. Rotate the pan(s) from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking(I really advise this). (The longer you leave them in the oven, the crisper the edges but the drier the dough.) Immediately turn the buns out onto a sheet of parchment on a heatproof surface. (And we do mean immediately, otherwise the buns may stick to the pan.) Serve warm out of the oven.

    Enjoy these babies!