Chocolate PB Cup Cupcakes

Hi everyone! Craving something with peanut butter and chocolate? Make these! They are so simple and so yummy. Pick up a Devil's Food Cake mix and a bag of mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups next time you're at the store and you'll be ready to whip these up! The recipe said to frost these with Peanut Butter frosting, which I did... at first. After I took one my bite my taste buds were telling me that the frosting needed to have some chocolate in it, so I added some cocoa. :) To be honest, I'm not sure how much cocoa I even added. I just kept shaking some in, mixing it up, and then tasting it until I was pleased with the flavor. Anyways, it's totally up to you! You can do what I did and frost one cupcake with the peanut butter frosting, try it, and then add cocoa if you want to! Either way you will NOT be disappointed. There's a peanut butter cup in the middle for heaven's sake! You can't go wrong with that, right?! I made these for an ambassador party and they were a hit! Enjoy!!



Chocolate PB Cup Cupcakes with Peanut Butter or Peanut Butter/Chocolate Frosting :)

(Makes 24 cupcakes or 12 jumbo cupcakes)
Ingredients:
-1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
-1-1/4 cup water
-1/2 cup applesauce (or oil)
-3 eggs (*I used 1 egg + 1/2 cup egg substitute)
-1 small bag Reese’s peanut butter cups, unwrapped
-Peanut Butter Frosting (see recipe below)
Directions:
Mix cake mix, water, applesauce (or oil) and eggs according to directions on box (2 minutes on medium speed with electric mixer).
Fill muffin pan with liners, and fill liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake according to directions on package (350 degrees for 18-20 minutes). Allow cupcakes to cool for about 10 minutes, then gently press one peanut butter cup into each cupcake. Don’t worry about what they look like, since you’ll be frosting them anyways.
It’s important to put the PB cups in while the cupcakes are still somewhat warm; that way, they’ll get slightly soft and melted.
Once cupcakes are cooled completely, it’s time to frost them!

Peanut Butter Frosting
(Enough to frost 24 cupcakes or 12 jumbo cupcakes)

-1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter (I used regular)
-3 cups powdered sugar
-1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/4 cup milk (plus more to achieve desired consistency)

Directions:
Blend peanut butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar until combined. Add milk and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Continue to add milk until you get the desired consistency.
After frosting the cupcakes, top each cupcake with some extra peanut butter cups chunks & a dusting of cocoa powder, if desired.

Recipe from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life

SuperBowl Weekend Treats....SO late.

Better late than never right? I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post new recipes. Life as a college student can get pretty darn crazy. Seriously, there isn't much time for anything else during the week other than homework and studying. Sometimes it feels like there isn't even time to eat or sleep! Anyways, school is great, life is fantastic, and here are some yummy treats!

As you all know, a few weekends ago was the Superbowl!! The Superbowl is always such a fun time at the Kite house. The boys get super excited about the game and all of the "Man Food" that they are allowed to consume that day. The girls get excited for the commercials, half time show, and all of the yummy treats :) We made some super yummy treats for the Superbowl this year, and I'm positive that my excessive consumption sent me into a sugar coma that night. Anyways, here's the round-up of the "sweet" treats that we enjoyed for the big game.

Fudge Puddle Pizza



Remember the fudge puddles I made for New Year's? This creation is basically a fudge puddle in pizza form! I whipped up a batch of Josh's favorite chocolate chip cookies, spread the dough onto a greased pizza pan, topped it with the fudge filling and marshmallows, and plopped it in the oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. YUM. Seriously this fun treat was soooo good! It's kind of difficult to make clean cuts because of the sticky marshmallows, so just make sure that you allow your pizza to cool completely before attempting to cut it into slices. It might also help to run your pizza cutter under really hot water before cutting. This is such a fun treat that you could get really creative with! Try topping it with m&m's, butterscotch, white chocolate, or peanut butter chips! Go crazy, but please give it a try!

Fudge Puddle Pizza

Batch of your favorite cookie dough
Batch of Fudge Puddle Filling (find the recipe here)
Mini marshmallows, m&ms, chocolate chips, crushed oreos, etc.

Prepare your cookie dough and spread it onto a greased pizza pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown (be careful to not let your edges burn).
Spread fudge puddle filling on top of the pizza cookie, leaving a small outer crust. Top with marshmallows, m&ms, chocolate chips, etc.
Bake for another 5 minutes or so until the marshmallows are lightly brown.
Cool completely!
Cut into thin pizza slices and serve!


Frozen Chocolate Dessert



This dessert was famous around our house growing up! It was always such a treat because my mom didn't make it very much since we rarely had angel food cake lying around the house. We had some angel food cake left over from the chocolate fountain from my cousin Kami's baby shower the day before so we decided to put it to good use! Man alive folks, this cool, creamy, rich, chocolatey dessert is as close to heaven as you can get. Seriously. This recipe comes from my Grandma Kathleen Peterson, so you KNOW it's gotta be good. The woman is a genius when it comes to all things chocolate. My picture doesn't do it justice, so please just give it a chance and make it one day. I promise it won't disappoint.

Recipe:

Frozen Chocolate Dessert

12 oz. package chocolate chips
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
4 Tbsp. water
4 egg yokes, lightly beaten
4 egg whites
1 pint whipped cream
1 loaf angel food cake
Chopped nuts for sprinkling (optional)

Combine chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sugar, 4 Tbsp. water, and egg yokes in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick (microwaving it works too). Put pan in cold water to cool.

Beat egg whites and 2 Tbsp. sugar til stiff. Add to chocolate mixture. Then fold in whipped cream.

Pour 1/3 of the mix into a 9x13 pan, then break pieces of angel food cake up the size of marshmallows and place them side by side on top of the mixture. Pour the rest of the mix on top of the cake, and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Freeze until firm and allow to thaw slightly before serving. Dig in!


The last sweet treat that we made for the Super Bowl was Muddy Buddies. I didn't take a picture of these, but I'm sure everyone knows what they look like. If you are unsure what Muddy Buddies are you must make them right away!! Seriously. They are so addicting and delicious!

Muddy Buddies

9 cups Chex or Crispix cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Into large bowl with a lid, measure cereal. Set aside.
In microwave bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on high 1 minute. Stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.
Add powdered sugar. Seal the lid and shake until well coated.
Spread on waxed paper to cool.
Store in airtight container in the fridge.

Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to post these recipes. Give them a try and let me know what you think! Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

101 Gourmet Cupcakes Calendar: (January) Cookies and Cream Dream

So Amy gave me this really great calendar a couple of months ago which goes along with the cookbook 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 minutes. Each month of the calendar has a new cupcake to make, so I decided that each month I was going to make the cupcake for the month. I know it is no longer January, but I accidentally left my camera at home last week when I headed back up to Logan, so I didn't have any pictures of these yummy cupcakes to post. So ignore the fact that it is February and that I am posting a January cupcake. :)

January's cupcake is Cookies and Cream Dream, and boy is it a dream. Made with a chocolate cake, an Oreo baked in the middle, and frosted with yummy, but oh-so-sweet buttercream frosting. I actually think that I'll try frosting them with a cream cheese frosting next time just because they were so sweet. I mean, sweet things don't bother me one bit, but I think that a nice cream cheese frosting would compliment these very nicely. Anyways, make them! They are so easy and so yummy!



Cookies and Cream Dream Cupcakes
(101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes)

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
18-24 whole chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbles
1 recipe vanilla buttercream frosting

Mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Place a spoonful of batter on the bottom of each paper liner. Place a whole cookie on the bottom lying flat. Cove with remaining batter until 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

Whip up a batch of buttercream(recipe below) or cream cheese frosting. Add crumbled cookies to frosting. Be generous and frost cupcakes nice and high.

Buttercream Frosting:
8 Tbsp. (1 Stick) butter, room temperature
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3-4 Tbsp. milk or cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place butter in large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop beating before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.

Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow, increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 more tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

Drum Roll Please....

He's in.



He's an Aggie.



And I'm SO excited. :)