Last month, I gave my friend Danae a subscription to her very own “Treat of the Month Club” for her 18th birthday. I promised that every month, I would bake one of her favorite homemade treats and deliver them for her enjoyment (I know right? You really want to be my friend now ;)). Because no one in her family bakes, she. loved. this. gift. I just delivered installment 2 out of 18: the first month was oatmeal raisin cookies, and this month was carrot cupcakes with cream cheese.

These cupcakes were delicious! And Danae loved them- when her family members asked for a cupcake, they were granted one with a grudging heart.

Being the slacker I am, I didn’t take any demo pictures, but here’s the recipe anyway (the recipe says that it will make 24 cupcakes, however it actually made closer to 30 for me):

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 lb. (6-7 medium) carrots, peeled

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups canola oil

Frosting Ingredients:

12 oz. cream cheese (not softened)

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350*. Line cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; whisk together and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups). Add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside. Rinse out the bowl of the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process the sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners, so that each is about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Jordan

Recipe from: gimmesomeoven.com

tags: cupcakes, cake, carrot cake, carrots, frosting, cream cheese, desserts, sweets, treat of the month

These babies are crazy good!

I had a hankering for brownies the other day and I remembered that I had picked up a bag of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Pieces just a few days before from the grocery store. Who knew these delicious little treats existed? I didn’t – and now I’m sort of sorry that I discovered them.

So back to the brownies, I took a basic brownie recipe and just modified it a bit. The result was a gooey, mint chocolate brownie that was delicious! You’re welcome!

Here are the ingredients…

Start by melting the chocolate chips, the Andes mint chips and the butter in a saucepan.

Dump in the rest of the ingredients…

and stir well.

Pour into an 8×8 pan.

Bake at 325* for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove pan from oven, then sprinkle 1/8 of a cup of chocolate chips and 1/8 of a cup of Andes mint chips over the cooked brownies.

Allow the brownies to cool (slightly) and then dig in! We enjoyed ours with a scoop of yummy vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmm!

Andes Mint Brownies

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
1 stick butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan over low heat, melt together the 1 stick of butter, the chocolate and the mint baking chips. Once melted, remove from heat.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Spread into a 8×8″ pan.

Bake at 350* for 45 to 50 minutes. As soon as you pull out of the oven sprinkle 1/8 cup of mini chocolate chips and 1/8 cup of Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips over the top of the cooked brownies. Allow the brownies to cool and then dig in! We enjoyed ours with a scoop of yummy vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmmm!

tags- dessert, chocolate, brownies, sweets, mint

We came across this S’mores Pie recipe while doing research on French macarons, which were to die for, but that’s another post.

Who doesn’t love s’mores made over a campfire?? This is the same idea, only in a rich, creamy pie version.

By the way, the recipe makes one pie, however we doubled it (cause we’re piggy that way!), so don’t be confused when you see two pies in some of the pictures!

Okay, so let’s get started~

Preheat your oven to 350*.

To make the crust, mix crushed graham crackers and melted butter together in your pie dish. Mix until combined and press firmly into the pie plate while working the crumbs up the side of the dish.

Like this…

Now let’s get started on the good stuff-

Place both types of chocolate chips and butter in a heat-safe bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it simmers, pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and butter, and whisk until melted and combined.

Add whole eggs and egg yolk along with the vanilla. And mix until well combined.

Pour chocolate mixture into pie crust and bake 20-25 minutes until filling is set and toothpick comes out clean. I used a metal crust protector to keep the edge of the crust from getting too dark.

Place pie in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1-2 hours before starting the marshmallow topping.

To prepare the marshmallow topping place egg whites, corn syrup, salt, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a bowl, and whip on high until stiff peaks form.

Slowly add sugar and mix well.

Now you’re ready to add the topping to the pie, creating decorative peaks with a spatula as you go.

If you’re not serving the pie right away, it can be refrigerated until ready to serve.

The last step is toasting the marshmallow topping (“toasting” is the key word- not burning- be careful!). It took 1 minute in my oven to achieve the desired toasted effect, so watch it carefully. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Yum!! Dig in!

While I felt this s’mores pie was perfect as is, there are a few variations that you could make, such as: using a chocolate cookie crumb crust, or no gooey, gaggy marshmallow topping (as my friend Laura calls it), she’s wrong by the way, it was delicious! The chocolate filling had a good texture and the combination of the two types of chocolate made it really rich and a great go-to chocolate pie filling recipe.

S’mores Pie

Makes one 9 1/2 inch pie.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 2 cups of finely ground graham crackers (about 15-16)
• 6 Tbsp melted butter

For the filling:

• 3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Grind graham crackers in food processor until they are crushed into a fine crumb. Place graham cracker crumbs into pie plate, add the melted butter. Mix well until combined. Press crumbs to bottom and side of pan with the palm of your hand until evenly distributed.

Place chocolate chips and butter into a heat-safe bowl. Heat heavy cream in a sauce pan until it simmers, pour hot cream over the chocolate chips and butter, and whisk until melted and combined. Add whole eggs and egg yolk and mix until combined add vanilla, mix well.

Pour chocolate mixture into pie crust and bake 20-25 minutes until pie filling is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

Place pie in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1-2 hours before starting the marshmallow topping.

To prepare the marshmallow topping place egg whites, corn syrup, salt, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a bowl, and whip on high until stiff peaks form. Slowly add sugar and mix well.

Add the topping to the pie, creating decorative peaks with a spatula as you go.

Place pie under broiler for 1-2 minutes until marshmallow topping is toasted and golden brown. Watch carefully- the marshmallow burns quickly.

Serve immediately, store leftovers in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Original S’mores Pie recipe is credited to Entertaining with Beth, I just made a few modifications. 

tags- dessert, pie, sweets, marshmallow, chocolate, graham crackers