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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Flourless peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies

If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you will like these!! Yes... these cookies have NO flour and NO butter. They only call for six ingredients. And they were quite good. No, make that "Oh my these were very good!" My kids devoured a plate of them in no time.

Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky) I used Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter.
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix first five ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands, form generous one tablespoon of dough for each cookie into a ball. Arrange on a baking sheet, spacing cookies two inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, golden brown on bottom & still soft to the touch in the center -- about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for about five minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.






Monday, June 27, 2011

Cupcakes... from scratch!

Today I decided to forego the usual mix and make cupcakes from scratch. This is by far the easiest scratch cake to make. It's not too sweet and it doesn't make a gazillion cupcakes, so it's perfect for a quick treat. It made exactly 12 cupcakes. I pulled a small container of vanilla icing out the freezer, added some cocoa, and topped them with homemade chocolate icing.

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup milk

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.








Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father's Day Cake

This did not turn out the way I had in mind! For one, the blue icing bled into the white. I'll just blame that on the humidity and not the baker!! I attempted a frozen buttercream transfer for the tie. It didn't come out quite right either. It tasted good, so I guess that is what matters most!!

Duncan Hines Mix because it was on sale


My fav slider cake pans

Homemade lemon filling ~ always yummy!




Now we wait for the icing to dry or crust over....


Then smooth it out with a handy dandy... wallpaper roller.

Add a blue border

And write (very messily) Happy Father's Day!


This was my attempt at a frozen buttercream transfer ~ It's supposed to be a tie. Didn't come out quite right either!! And see how the blue ran into the white? Darn humidity!!