Go-to Chocolate Cupcake Recipe!

Thanks for checking in to learn about my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I found this recipe about two years ago through stumble upon and I thought it was strange, but I figured I would give it a try. What I love about this recipe is that its not too far of a stretch  in that, its not completely from scratch. You start with a boxed mix and with a little love and a few extra ingredients you can have the best cupcakes you've ever made!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 boxed Devil's Food cake mix
1 package of instant chocolate pudding
1 cup of sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

AND THAT'S IT! Please note that you only use the MIX from the box, do not prepare the cake according to the box and then add the extra ingredients.

For this particular occasion I wanted to spruce these babies up for Easter! So before baking, I stuck a mini frozen peanut butter egg (Reese's) in the raw batter and baked for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees. I topped them with a very simple peanut butter buttercream frosting and another peanut butter egg!

For the frosting I whipped 1 and 1/2 sticks of softened salted butter with 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter. I added two cups of powdered cugar, slowly, and then finished it with a tablespoon of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of milk. I whipped all of those ingredients together until the frosting was light and fluffy and used a large star tip to pipe the frosting on.

You can fill the cupcakes with any candy - just freeze them first! I hope you try this one out and let me know how it goes for you! The sour cream and pudding mix may sound a little odd but, trust me, its worth it! Let me know how it goes and thanks again for reading!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pies

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking back in. This post is going to be relatively short because I am exhausted and need to get some sleep! In my hopes of ending winter and moving into spring I made one last winter hearty meal for my family. Chicken pot pies you buy at the store are loaded with calories and sodium. They are so simple to make at home and it's so much better to know exactly what you are putting in them.

Ingredients you will need:
1 cup of milk
2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
2 cups of chicken, cooked and cut into little chunks
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 onions finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups of frozen peas
2 cups of frozen corn
2 TBS of butter
1/4 cup of flour (plus a tablespoon extra if need be)
seamless pastry dough (I used Pillsbury crescent seamless dough)
1 egg

Tools you will need:
4 small tin pans
cutting board
chef knives
1 medium pot
1 large saucepan

Start by putting your milk and chicken broth in a medium pot, cover and keep warm on low heat.

Proceed to cut your chicken into bite sized chunks and cook in a large saucepan with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper. 

If using the chicken tenderloins, make sure you cut off the tough ends. You dont want your guests fishing out tough pieces of chicken from their pot pies. 

Next, prepare all of your veggies. I used a food processor to speed up chopping the onions and the garlic. Melt your butter in a sauce pan and add in your celery and carrots until they are soft. Add your onion and garlic and cook for another minute. Add your corn and peas and cook for another two minutes. 

Proceed to stir in your chicken and add your flour. Stir all of these ingredients until well combined.

Next, pour your milk and broth mixture over your chicken and veggies. Continuously stir until the mixture becomes thicker. Add more flour if need be. 

Now, you can prepare your dough for the crust. Lay your dough sheets out flat on a cutting board and use your small tin pans as a guide to help you measure the size of the dough you will need. Make sure you cut a large enough piece, but dont go over board because the dough expands. 

Now, fill your tin pans with the pot pie filling. I like to leave a small amount of room at the top so nothing over flows. Place your dough over top and crimp on the edges to seal. 

You can spend time trying to make them look pretty but they taste so good, I really wasn't worried about how they looked. Home cooked hearty food like this is more about taste than anything. Plus the over hanging dough makes for a great crust! Brush the tops with an egg wash before cooking.

Cook in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Careful!! These will be extremely hot! 

It's a meal in itself and is much healthier than the frozen versions at the store! If you have any questions or comments please post below! Thanks for reading and enjoy! 

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Hey there everyone! It has been two weeks since my last post - so I apologize for being inconsistent but life gets in the way sometimes! Thank you for checking back in to read!

This post is quick and easy and fun. Almost every time I am at a party or gathering, theres these pink frosted sugar cookies that everyone loves and goes crazy over. Im usually perplexed since these cookies are always store bought from the grocery store down the street.  People tend prefer home made over store bought, but not in the case of the pink frosted sugar cookies. I must admit those things are good. So when I saw a recipe to make a similar treat I had to see if I could make these store bought wonders in the comfort of my own home. This blog will show you how to make Pink Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars!

Ingredients: 

Sugar cookie bars-
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg and 1 egg white
1 1/2 Tbsp sour cream 
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Vanilla Frosting-
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp half and half
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
Several drop food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Tools:
Mixing bowls (small and large)
Measuring cups and spoons
Hand mixer
13x9 baking tray


To begin, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix together your flour, baking soda and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside. 

Next, using your hand mixer or a stand mixer, cream together your first 1/2 cup of softened butter and your cup of granulated sugar in a large bowl until well blended.

Once you have that blended together, add in one whole egg and one egg white. Mine wasn't perfect and some of the yolk from the second egg got in the mix, but the world didn't end so I am assuming it was fine. Blend the eggs in until well combined.

Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until well blended.

Now you can begin adding in your dry ingredients. Only add a few spoonfulls at a time to make sure it gets incorporated well and to avoid an explosion of flour in your face from the mixer.  Add small amounts and mix well until all of the dry ingredients are combined. The dough becomes rather thick - so bonus point for the arm work out!

Now, take your 13x9 pan and spray it with cooking spray. Spread your dough evenly in the pan. The dough was very thick so be patient until you can get it to spread out evenly.

Now, bake the dough in your oven for approximately 15-18 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure the top does not burn.

Allow the cooked dough to cool completely. While they are cooling, you can mix up your frosting. Cream together a 1/2 cup of softened butter and 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Be careful not to mix too fast because powdered sugar will fly everywhere!

Slowly add 1 tablespoon of half and half at a time until your frosting becomes light and fluffy. Once fluffy, mix in the vanilla and salt.

You can choose to leave your frosting white if you like, but I was really going for the store bought look, so I made mine pink. Add several drops of which ever color food coloring you wish and mix the frosting well so there are no streaks of color.

Once your cookie bars are done cooling, frost them and add sprinkles! Cut into bars (aka brownie size pieces) and enjoy!

Thank you for reading my post! I hope you enjoy these frosted sugar cookie bars. Leave comments below and check back next Sunday for another post! 

The recipe for this post comes from http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2013/02/06/frosted-sugar-cookie-bars/