Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

1 cup Greek yogurt
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend sugar, applesauce, and eggs on medium speed until smooth.
4. Add Greek yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice
5. Gradually add flour mixture by hand and mix until flour is incorporated. Do not overmix or the cake will become dense
6. Fold in the blueberries gently.
7. Grease the bundt pan and fill with the batter
8. Bake for 35  minutes, this may take longer depending on your oven. Test by using a toothpick, which will come out clean when cake is done.
9. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

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Atkins-Phase 1

I’ve recently started doing the Atkins plan which unfortunately for me means no sugar. I plan to continue baking, but hopefully when I am further into the program and it won’t be so tempting. So for a while I will be posting some recipes that I have been using that are Atkins friendly. All of them taste tested and approved of course!

Homemade Cheese Its

This is one of the easiest recipes I have made and they taste amazing!
I adapted a recipe from http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/homemade-cheez-its-recipe/.

Ingredients:

5 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
3 ounces buffalo wing cheese (If you don’t like spice, add 3 more ounces of sharp cheddar)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 375 F. In the bowl add the cheese and butter, mix together with your hands. This can be done with a mixer as well. After this is combined, add the flour and salt. Slowly add the water and mix as the dough forms a ball.

2. Separate the dough in half, refrigerate half and work with the other half. Roll the dough out so it is about 1/8 inch thick. If it is thicker just keep an eye on it in the oven because it will take longer to bake.

3.  Use any cookie cutter available to cut your cheese its into the desired shape. Make a small hole in the middle of each cheese it so that they do not puff up too much. I’ve found that it is best to use a cutter that will make the cheese its about 1inch in diameter. Any bigger and the middle is hard to cook.

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until puffed and browning at the edges. Flip the cheese its half way though so that both sides become golden. These need to be watched carefully because they will burn quickly.

5. Let them cool and enjoy!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These are by far my favorite cupcake creation! I have adapted my recipe from (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/vanilla-cupcakes.html ) for vanilla cupcakes and (http://willowbirdbaking.com/2011/03/20/three-safe-to-eat-cookie-doughs-chocolate-chip-sugar-and-cake-batter/) for cookie dough bites.

Cupcake Recipe (Makes 24 Cupcakes)
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 12 tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 whole egg plus 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup milkDirections
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  2. In a bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. Using a handheld or electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter together on medium-high speed until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the eggs and egg whites one at a time. Be sure to mix well between each addition. Then add vanilla.
  4. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternate with the milk in 2 additions. Increase the speed after it is just combined for about 30 seconds until all the flour is mixed. Be careful not to over mix. I will often to this step by hand to make sure that I do not over work the batter.
  5. Fill the cupcake tin about 1/2 full will batter, then push in your frozen cookie dough balls just until the side are covered with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
  6. Let completely cool and then use a small knife to cut out a cone shape inside the cupcake to stuff with cookie dough.

Cookie Dough Recipe
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:
With an handheld beater or electric beater, cream together the butter and sugar. One creamed, stir in the flour, salt and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time (stirring between each) until the dough reaches cookie dough consistency.  Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

• 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
• 1 stick of unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until fulled combined
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, after two cups add the vanilla to thin the frosting a bit. If you like the frosting thinner you can add water. Only add a teaspoon at a time, once the frosting is too thin it is very hard to thicken up!
3. Separate the frosting into two batches. In one batch add the two tablespoons of cocoa powder. This will make the chocolate frosting.
4. Line the pastry bag on one side with chocolate frosting and the other side with the vanilla frosting.
5. Pipe your assembled cupcakes!

Happy Baking! :]

Creaming Butter and Sugar

In my first attempt to make cupcakes they came out more like muffins. This in part was due to my lack of creaming the butter and sugar.  This is one of the most important steps in making cupcakes. This step allows air bubbles to be created which results in a light and fluffy cake.

These two links I’ve found extremely helpful. The first is just text on how to correctly cream the butter and sugar. The second is a video in which you can see what correctly creamed butter and sugar should look like.

http://www.pauladeen.com/article_view/creaming_101/

and

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/1057/creaming-butter-and-sugar

happy baking!

Protein Peanut Butter Power Balls

I came across this recipe (http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-bake-energy-bites-recipe.html) while surfing pinterest.  I left out the honey and flaxseed. My version also includes adding protein powder to make it a more filling snack.  Here is my version!

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup granola (I use Bear Naked Fit Granola, less carbs and sugar than regular granola)

1 cup peanut butter (my favorite is peanut butter & co.)

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1 scoop protein powder

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla1. Combine the peanut butter with the protein powder. The protein powder will turn the peanut butter into a more grainy consistency, but make it easier to mix in the other ingredients.
2. Add the vanilla to smooth out the peanut butter mixture
3. Add the oatmeal, granola, chocolate chips and coconut to the peanut butter mixture. When everything is combined, form into 1 inch balls. I store them in a Tupperware container and the last for a couple weeks if no one eats them by then!I’ve also made slight variations by adding chopped nuts, dried fruit and leaving out the coconut. This recipe is great to make for a quick pick me up and can be easily edited!

First post!

Here goes nothing!

I’ve recently started baking cupcakes and assorted treats, but have had a problem with the recipes that I’ve found on the internet. I have found that they do not work the way they claim or are missing essential elements. I hope to make this a collection of the recipes that I have updated and made my own.

Enjoy!