Easter Cupcakes

Last week, after meeting the neighborhood girls, I decided to invite them up to bake Easter cupcakes! They had spring break all last week so they were of school. They found the cutest recipes online, so we decided to try them out!


We made lambs and chicks, but our lambs look a little bit like bunnies. We decided to call them "lunnies." :)


Find the recipes here: http://www.bhg.com/holidays/easter/recipes/fun-to-make-easter-treats/

Delish Apple Pie :)

Yummm!!! Karah (my awesome sister-in-law whom I love dearly) was here visiting us last week. We cooked up a storm! More posts to come about some of our yummy dinners, but life's too short, so I'll post about dessert first ;)

I found this idea on Pinterst <3 and we decided to test in out. It was super super easy and fun, not to mention, DELISH!

Pie crust with softened butter and cinnamon on top

Crust rolled up and cut into approx. 1/2 inch pieces

Cinnamon rolls pressed into the bottom of my pie pan. Didn't turn out quite as pretty as the one on Pinterest, but it sure tasted good :) I put the rest of the cinnamon rolls on the sides to finish the crust.

Pie all ready to go in the oven. Cut up apples and topped with approx. 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup sugar, mixed with 1 stick of butter and crumbled on top. Apple Crisp was the same recipe but with 1 cup of oatmeal mixed in. They both were YUMMY with nonfat vanilla yogurt (had to be skinny somewhere ;)

Gender Reveal Cupcakes I made for a friend!

A friend I met here in Minnesota just found out she will be having a little boy! She wanted to tell our bible study group the sex of the baby by having everyone bite into a cupcake filled with blue icing! I volunteered to make these cupcakes for her since she works and is really busy (and I am currently not working and have plenty of time to do fun things like bake!)


I found a few really cute cupcake ideas on Pinterest and decided to put my own spin on what I found. I went to a really cool store in our local mall called "Kitchens," and found a cupcake corer and purple sugar sprinkles. I then went to the grocery store and bought vanilla and chocolate cake batter. I decided to make my own vanilla buttercream frosting and cheated on the blue icing by buying good old blue icing in a can. I also bought reduced-fat vanilla wafers and black icing gel.


To make the cupcakes I followed the instructions on the box.


To make the buttercream I combined:
-1 cup butter at room temperature
-6 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 cup whipping cream
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
-Use a stand mixer and combine all ingredients to the desired consistency. Add more powdered sugar if needed!
**Also make sure you have a frosting bag or you will have to apply the buttercream to the cupcake with a knife, and they never turn out as pretty that way!


After the cupcakes cool, use the corer to remove the center of the cupcake (but only push corer half way in as you don't want the cupcake cored the whole way through!)

(The corer)

When you pull the corer out and push the plunger so the center of the cupcake comes out, save it because you need to put the top back on the cupcake! Fill the hole in the center with blue icing...

Then put the tops back on the cupcakes...

I put my buttercream frosting in a frosting bag with a regular tip on the end and applied my icing in a circular motion. I then sprinkled my purple sugar crystals on top (or any NEUTRAL baby color would work like green or yellow). I then used my black gel icing to put "?" on the vanilla wafers, and placed them on top of the cupcake!

and....WALLAH! you have delicious gender reveal cupcakes!! These are a great way to tell your friends and family the sex of your baby! Make sure everyone bites into their cupcake at the same time so everyone sees the blue icing at the same time! ENJOY!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving cupcakes)!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Unfortunately, I am posting this blog later than I had hoped to! I have been so busy these past few days and haven't gotten to my blog. Oh well, better late than never, right!?

I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I think it is such a great time of the year. It is a time to reflect on all of the blessings we have and also a chance to pig out (which I love to do and am always looking for reasons to stuff my face i.e. Thanksgiving)

Unfortunately Mickey and I couldn't make it to PA this year for Thanksgiving (where we are both from and where our families are). Luckily, however, Mickey's parents were in town so we at least got to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our family!

I decided to make some Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes for fun. They turned out really cute and were super easy!

As you can see in the picture, I just placed a cookie in the center of the cupcake and used the blue icing to make an eye. Then I cut the white tip of the candy corn off to make a beak and placed it next to the cupcake. The red icing fills the gap between the beak and the cookie and makes a gobbler, and the candy corn are the feathers!

Hope everyone had a blessed holiday. We sure did, God has been so good to us! Have an amazing week!

Baking Extravaganza Part 2: Halloween Cookies

This post is a bit delayed but I figured I would write “part two” to my baking extravaganza I had a few posts ago…click here.

Anyway, long story short, I decided to take the leftover ingredients I had from decorating my cupcakes and make cookies. I followed a pretty basic sugar cookie recipe and then tried to add some fun twists for Halloween (but more just to use my left over candy because I CANNOT leave it in the house or I will eat it all=ZERO SELF CONTROL!)

First, I decided to make “thin mint sugar cookies,” but called them ghost poop cookies when I sent them to my brother (he’s 7 and I had to make it somewhat Halloween-ish/scary). Next, I made M&M cookies…they were pretty difficult to make because I had to put the M&Ms in the cookies mid way through baking, and for those who are challenged bakers like me finding the right time can be difficult. Anywho, I decided to call them “monster cookies” because of the big M stamped on the M&Ms. Pretty creative, huh!?

Then, I got fancy. I decided to whip out my food coloring. Since orange is not supplied in the food coloring kit, I had to use advanced chemistry. I mixed some drops of red with some drops of yellow and got a beautiful orange color.

For the first batch of orange cookies I placed two marshmallows in the dough right before I put the cookies in the oven. I thought the marshmallows would melt and make a nice gooey center, however, they shriveled up and actually ended up looking kind of like…boobs. Weird, I know. It was definitely not my intention, but I went with it and called them “goblin boobs.”

For the second batch of orange cookies, I added chocolate sprinkles to the dough and baked them. They turned out like I had hoped. I thought ahead for this baking experience and had addressed boxes sitting on my kitchen table. I bagged the cookies, put them in the boxes, and drove them to the post office. I hope my mail recipients enjoyed their Halloween treats :)

Super easy and fun Halloween Treats!

As I mentioned in one of my last blog entries, I love fall...and I especially love Halloween!! To get in the Halloween spirit, I decided to bake some yummy Halloween treats. Originially I planned to bake the cupcakes, decorate them, and send them home to my family. However, I was obviously was not using my brain because there is no way I could send the cupcakes without them being ruined in the mail. Therefore, I baked all 48 cupcakes and have been giving them to the neighbors (while keeping quite a few for ourselves...oink oink).

These guys are super easy to make and are really fun. Little kids would easily be able to help make these edible critters.

To make the bat cupcake you will need:
-Chocolate cake mix
-Chocolate frosting
-Mini marshmallows
-Chocolate creme oreos
-Andes Mints
-M&Ms

Bake the chocolate cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them with chocolate icing. Cut a chocolate oreo in half and place them in the cupcake as wings. I cut an Andes Mint in half and then into triangles as the bats eyebrows but that isn't necessary. Place two M&Ms for the eyes and pull little pieces of mini marshmallow off to form into fangs.

 To make the spider cupcakes you will need:
-Chocolate cake mix
-Chocolate icing
-Chocolate sprinkles
-M&Ms
-Gummy worms

Bake the chocolate cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them with chocolate icing. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles all over the top of the cupcake to make the spider's little hairs. Place two M&Ms as eyes and push 4 gummy worms on each side to make the spider's legs.

To make the blue monsters you will need:
-Any flavor cupcake batter
-Blue icing (I bought Betty Crocker's Blue Decorating Cake Icing in the can)
-Twizzlers
-Circus peanuts
-Mini Marshmallows
-M&Ms

Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. I baked "mini cupcakes" by using a mini muffin tin. If you do not have a mini tin, use your large one and only fill half of the cupcake foil. Once the cupcakes are cooled take them out of the wrapper and place them upside down on two circus peanuts. Use the blue icing and the "flat tipped icing nozzle" to make "long hair" all over the blue man. Place two marshmallows for the whites of the eyes and two M&Ms as the eye color. Cut a twizzler in half and then slice in long ways to make the monsters antennas!

To make the candy topped cupcakes you will need:
-White or vanilla cake mix
-White frosting
-Food coloring
-Candy to place on top

Bake the cupcakes following the recipe on the box. While the cupcakes are cooling, put the white frosting in a bowl and add food coloring to make the desired color. I tried to make a grayish color by mixing a few drops of each food coloring. Place a piece of halloween candy on top to make them look spookier.

 If you decide to make these spooky critters, I hope they turn out boo-tiful!