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Banana Cupcakes & Nutella Cream Icing

Jan

2013

Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Icing

Nutella is a very dangerous food. It is ridiculously good. Like eat the entire jar good. When I saw the coupon and the sale… I immediately thought cupcakes.

Instead of eating it right out of the jar, I thought I would try a recipe. This recipe is not for the faint of heart… or those on a diet …or those who don’t like to eat alot of sugar… or those who don’t like to consume alot of fat in one sitting. Seriously. Just scroll down to the next post, right now …. if any of those things bother you. This recipe is decadent. Rich. Delicious. Addictive.

I found a recipe for Banana Cupcakes and Nutella here. As per usual, I cannot just make a recipe like it is called for. I wanted to try these cupcakes with more of a banana bread consistency – with bigger chunks of bananas and a little more on the dense side – but really moist.

So here is the plan:

Recipe for Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Icing

Banana Cupcake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar (adjust if you like it a little less sweet 3/4 cups would work)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 small very ripe bananas, mashed (note: the original recipe called for banana puree, I like the banana pieces in my cake)

Nutella Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup – 1 1/2 cup nutella (start with 1 cup, if you want a richer taste, you can always add more)
1 cup of powdered confectioner sugar

Cupcakes Direction

Preheat oven to 350.
Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
Cream/Mix together softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and the eggs – one at time, mixing while adding.
Stir in the flour mixture slowly. Mix until just blended.
Mix in banana. Mix until a smooth texture. (note you will want to be sure to mix all the bananas in until creamy)
Use large spoon or ice cream scoop to portion batter into cups.
Recipe makes about 14-16 cupcakes.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or til a toothpick comes out clean.

Be sure to cool your cupcakes completely before adding icing.

While your cupcakes are baking, you can make the ever delicious Nutella Frosting.

Nutella Icing Recipe

Cream together softened cream cheese and Nutella until blended.
Add the powdered sugar gradually until ingredients are combined.
Mix on a high speed until icing is smooth and creamy.(this make take a bit) (be sure to use a spatula to scrape the sides to keep the nutella in the mix)
Try not to eat the entire bowl of icing before the cupcakes are finished baking.

Filed Under: Cooking, Featured-H, Featured-R, Recipes Tagged With: recipe

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Recipe

Sep

2012

Do you have an abundance of zucchini in your garden, check out this recipe!

“The Last Zucchini Cookie” is taken from Dennis Weaver’s latest e-book, You can download a free copy of Dennis Weavers Ebook here.

The Last Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

Basic Cookie Recipe

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar flavor or Madagascar vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Inclusions:

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Zucchini:
1 cup grated zucchini

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease very well.

1. For the basic cookie: Cream together the butter, sugars, and salt. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat again.
2. Add the flour and baking soda to the creamed ingredients and beat until well dispersed, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl once. The dough will be thick like clay.
3. For the inclusions: Add the chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts and beat until just mixed.
4. For the zucchini: Add the zucchini and bake until just combined. The water in the zucchini will transform the dough to a medium batter. Stop once it is combined or you will continue to force water from the zucchini and your batter will be too runny.
5. To Bake: Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto the prepared sheet. Bake for 10 to 12
minutes or until done. The tops of the cookies should look wet and the edges should be starting to brown.
Immediately remove the cookies from the sheet to racks to cool. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Baker’s notes:
These are large cookies–which is some of their appeal. If you make smaller cookies, reduce baking times

Filed Under: Cookies, Cooking, Recipes Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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Homemade Larabars

Jul

2012

A friend suggested that I try Homemade Larabars. I was thrilled to find so many options for Homemade Larabars. They is a recipe for every larabar you can think of!

You see, I am in love with these little things called Larabars. I don’t like the price. They are expensive. I figured since I love Larabars so much, you probably do too. You probably don’t want to pay $1.00+ per bar, hopefully, you will find these Homemade Larabar Recipes helpful.

Photo Credit

Oh my goodness, this site has the best Larabar Recipes! Check out a full listing of her recipes here.

Some of the favorites include:

Photo Credit

These larabars look more appetizing then the real deal. Check out Living Crunchy’s yummy larabar recipes.

Photo Credit

Raw Larabar Recipes – This site has recipes for many types of Larabars, including:

Key Lime Pie
Lemon Bar
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Peanut Butter Cookie
Pecan Pie

You can also check out the Homemade Larabar recipes at DMYhealth.

If you are interested in more than just Larabars, check out Kitchen Stewardship’s book for many awesome snack ideas.

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Homemade Larabar Recipes

Jul

2012

Homemade Larabar Recipes

I am in love with these little things called Larabars. I love them.

I don’t like the price. They are expensive.

A friend suggested that I try Homemade Larabars. I figured since I love Larabars so much, you probably do too. You probably don’t want to pay $1.00+ per bar, hopefully, you will find these Homemade Larabar Recipes helpful.

Photo Credit

Oh my goodness, this site has the best Larabar Recipes! Check out a full listing of her recipes here.

Some of the favorites include:

Photo Credit

These larabars look more appetizing then the real deal. Check out Living Crunchy’s yummy larabar recipes.

Photo Credit

Raw Larabar Recipes – This site has recipes for many types of Larabars, including:

Key Lime Pie
Lemon Bar
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Peanut Butter Cookie
Pecan Pie

You can also check out the Homemade Larabar recipes at DMYhealth.

If you are interested in more than just Larabars, check out Kitchen Stewardship’s book for many awesome snack ideas.

Filed Under: Featured-H, Featured-R Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Homemade Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

May

2012

Homemade Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream

A few weeks ago, I was reading a “well known” brand of ice cream’s ingredients. For years, this brand touted that it was just milk, cream
and sugar. I was highly disappointed when I learned that the product was no longer called ice cream, was now called Frozen Dairy Dessert.
I struggled to figure out what Frozen Dairy Dessert was. I later learned that Frozen Dairy Dessert is what they call something that doesn’t have enough milk or cream to be called ice cream.

I decided that if I couldn’t buy my husband’s favorite – Cherry Vanilla, I would have to make it. Turns out – it’s actually pretty easy. I bought a cusinart ice cream maker and adapted the recipe in their book to fit our needs.

You can add almost anything you want to the basic vanilla recipe.

Click here to see the entire Homemade Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe.

Filed Under: Cooking, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella-Kahlua Ganache

May

2012

Photo Credit

So this week’s feature from Manic Monday Recipe roundup cheated. She used Nutella. Hello, how could I NOT pick the recipe with Nutella. (For those of you who don’t know, I have a problem with Nutella. The problem – I buy it, I eat the entire jar.) Nutella is like kyrptonite.

These look positively devine. Check out this fantastic Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella-Kahlua Ganache & Ferrero Rocher Garnish Recipe from Cooking Creation.

Filed Under: Cooking, Cupcakes, Desserts, Featured-R, Recipes Tagged With: recipe

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English Toffee Cookie Recipe

Apr

2012

Photo Credit

This English Toffee Cookie Recipe from Morsels of Life looks fabulous! I love simple cookies – and this recipe looks so easy to make. Check it out here.

Hopefully you are checking in each week for the Manic Monday recipe round ups. We have had some great submissions!

Be sure to check out all the recipes each Monday and if you are a blogger, be sure to link up!

Filed Under: Cookies, Cooking, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: cookies, recipe, tdeals

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Kicked Up Philly Cheesesteak + Weeknight Wow Sweeps!

Mar

2012

Leftovers can be a pain. They tend to grow in my fridge until I run out of room. I am frequently throwing away food because I don’t use it. I should use them during the week for quick dinners, but you know how that goes.

After doing a few recipes using VELVEETA® and RO*TEL®, I found I had a leftovers, but not enough to create a full dish.

I was trying to think of a way to use up the leftovers, without reverting to the old stand by - RO*TEL® dip. So my sister, Natalie, had a genius idea. After she saw my Kicked Up Grilled Cheese post, she said that we should try it on a cheesesteak. Of course – a cheesesteak. What Philly girl doesn’t love a cheesesteak!

So I gave it a go — and of course, it turned out fantastic. Now, I know some of you like your cheesesteaks a particular way — but give this a shot, you won’t regret it.

Since this is really using up your leftovers, you don’t need specific measurements – just use what you have on hand!

All you need:

Minute Steaks
VELVEETA®
RO*TEL® Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (drained VERY WELL)
Steak Rolls

Make your minute steaks according to package. Melt your VELVEETA® into cooked steak. You can either add in RO*TEL® and warm – or put steak in rolls and top with tomatoes.

Don’t forget to enter the Weeknight Wow Sweepstakes($1000 given away each week, and one grand prize winner of $15000!)

VELVEETA® and RO*TEL® are hosting an amazing sweepstakes to encourage simple, easy weeknight family meals and entertainment ideas. Winners will be picked each week, and the more points you collect the more chances you have of winning! Grand prize winner will receive $15,000!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of VELVEETA/RO*TEL. The opinions and text are all mine.

Filed Under: Cooking, Main Dish, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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Mint Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

Mar

2012

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

St. Patty’s day is right around the corner. When I think of St. Patty’s Day – I immediately think green. I love how pretty the green is, but I hate how the food color stains your hands and face! These Mint Chocolate Cupcakes are a fun treat for St. Patty’s Day, without the green icing. You can use green mint chocolate chips in place of the mint chocolate if you would like to give the cupcakes some color.

Click here for the entire recipe.

Filed Under: Cooking, Cupcakes, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: recipe, tdeals

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