Category Archives: yum

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

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You guys.

I’m currently on day four of my five-day sugar cleanse and all I want to do is stuff my face with these little homemade peanut butter cups.  I know that they are hidden (by me) in the back of the freezer and I can almost hear them taunting, “Eaaaaat me. Eeeeeaaaattt meee.”  And eat them I will.  Probably for breakfast on Tuesday morning to mark the end of Sugar Cleanse 2012.

You might be wondering why a sugaraholic such as myself would EVER give up sugar.  I KNOW.  It’s the worst.  But last Sunday, I ate cupcakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  That’s it.  Just cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes.  No fruits.  No veggies.  Not even a bite of whole grains.

And do you know what?

I felt totally fine.

So then my hypochondriac WebMD-loving crazed alter ego hopped on the internet and fully convinced me that I was dying of some sugar-fueled disease.

And, now, here we are.  Sugar cleanse day four and I feel exactly the same.  Which leads me to believe (WebMD has not yet confirmed) that instead of some sugar monster eating my body from the inside out, I have a rare sugar immunity and I can therefore eat as much chocolate, cupcakes, and ice cream as I could ever want. (Kidding, of course.  Only as much chocolate and cupcakes as I could ever want.)

In true Melanie fashion, I made up my own sugar cleanse rules, which were:

1. No foods with added sugars (baked goods, chocolate, candy, ice cream, sweetened cereals, granola, etc) for five days.

2. No fruits for two days.

3. Lots of vegetables, chicken, and whole grains.

4. Plenty of water with lemon.

…and that’s pretty much it.  It’s all very scientific.

On cleanse day two, I had to take a bite of one of the peanut butter cups to get this picture.  And do you know what I did with the bite I took?

I SPIT IT IN THE GARBAGE.  Take that, sugar cleanse!  Do I have willpower, or what???

So, anywho, I’m glad I (mostly) cleansed myself of sugar, I’m glad it’s almost over, and I’m REALLY glad I have these homemade peanut butter cups waiting for me in the freezer.

They are so easy to make and taste like Reese’s PB cups, but better.  Hubbaaaa hubba.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (slightly adapted from Miss Make)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used creamy but I bet chunky would be good too!)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • dash of vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 12-oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl or the bowl of stand mixer, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix on medium low until combined.
  2. Roll out on a piece of waxed or parchment paper to about 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut using a small cookie cutter, or you could just cut into squares using a knife.  Place the cut pieces in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  3. In a small bowl, melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth.  Dip each peanut butter piece into the chocolate, then place on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper to harden.

**My apologies for the yuck photos.  Best Buy says my camera will be fixed in 5-7 days!

Rainbow Sprinkle Cake

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On Friday night I made the mistake of uttering this doom-filled sentence:

I haven’t had a good cry in awhile. 

(If that’s not straight out of Sh*t Girls Say, I don’t know what is.)

I may as well have shouted to the universe, MAKE SOMETHING BAD HAPPEN TO ME!  BE MEAN!  MAKE ME CRY!

Seriously, as soon as I said those words aloud, I knew I was in for it.

As a aside: I do have a theory; I believe that if I don’t have a good cry every couple of months or so, my tear ducts get filled and I accidentally start sobbing over every day events and YouTube videos like this one.*

Fast forward to Super Bowl Sunday, when I’m frosting The Rainbow Sprinkle Cake and prancing around the kitchen proclaiming “This is the best day ever!”

Doo-dee-doo-dee-doo! Sprinkles, happiness, rainbows, butterflies!  Nothin’s gonna get me down!

And then…smashBANGboomCRAAAAASH.

Just as I was gearing up to take this picture, skipping around the apartment in a rainbow-sprinkle haze…

I smacked my super-fancy too-expensive camera off of the counter and straight onto the wood floor.

Yeah…I bet you can guess what happened next.  Roughly four seconds of holding it together, hoping against hope that my camera just MIGHT turn on and then…

Waterworks.

First I called my sister and was like “My…my…my..c-c-c-CAAAAAAMERA. I dropped it. WAaaaaaaaahhhhh.”

Then I called Mike, increasingly hysterical, “I DROPPPPPPED MY CAMERAAAAA. WAAAAHHH!” (similar to the “I’m going to lose my TOOOOOOOOES” incident of Halloween ’11)

Finally, I called my mom, who was kind enough to ask, “Do you think it will be fixed in time for Paris?” to which I responded: “WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!“

I sobbed it out for a couple more minutes until my roomie Sarah said, “Just think of what a great story this will be for your blog!”

Way to see the silver lining, Sar.

Luckily Little Miss Sunshine pulled me out of my tragic [totally non-dramatic] sobfest and I was taking thousands of [back-up camera] photos of this BEAUTIFUL rainbow sprinkle cake in no time.

Best day ever,  90% resumed.

Now my precious baby is in the capable hands of Best Buy’s oh-so-helpful Geek Squad and I’m crossing my fingers and toes that it will be fixed before Paris (which, btdubs, we leave for in ONE MONTH).

The moral of the story is that even if tragedy strikes, a rainbow sprinkle cake will 90% fix your problems and make 100% of everyone around you happy.  The end.

Rainbow Sprinkle Cake

serves: like, a lot of people

Ingredients

  • 2 boxes white cake mix
  • 6 eggs**
  • 2/3 cup oil**
  • 2 cups water**
  • Food coloring
  • 3 cans vanilla frosting
  • 1 cup rainbow sprinkles
**This the amount of eggs, oil, and water that Pillsbury’s boxed cake mix called for.  If you use a different brand of cake mix, follow the amount of eggs, oil, and water printed on the box.
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 8-inch round cake pan (if you have multiple 8-inch cake pans, grease as many as you have).
  2. Prepare cake batter according to the box’s instructions.  Separate batter evenly into 6 bowls (I measured that I had 9 cups of cake batter, which meant 1 1/2 cups of batter per bowl).  Use food coloring to dye each bowl a different color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
  3. Pour one color into prepared cake pan; bake for 11 minutes or until the top is slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes; remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.  Repeat for each of the colors.
  4. When the cakes have cooled completely, start with purple on the bottom (or whichever color you’d like) and spread a thin layer of frosting over the top.  Repeat with each color, ending with the red layer on top.  Apply a thin layer of frosting to the entire cake (top and sides) as a “crumb coat”.  Stick it in the fridge or a cool place for 15-20 minutes, until frosting is no longer sticky to the touch.
  5. Spread remaining frosting onto top and sides.  Coat entire cake with sprinkles.  Cut, admire, and enjoy!

*Lie.  I just watched the video again and sobbed my eyes out again, despite the tear duct-emptying “good cry” of yesterday.

Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’m going to let this photo do most of the talking.

I think this picture is saying, “Hello. I am a chocolate cupcake stuffed with an Oreo AND a peanut butter cup.  I am topped with OREO PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM and I taste like a dream come true.  I taste like Christmas morning and smush-face kittens and all the best things in life.  I am the reason you are fat. Goodbye.”

Seriously though, don’t check the cals on these puppies.  Don’t do it.  Just stuff your face and call it a day.

These cupcakes are excessive in all the best ways.  Peanut butter cups and Oreo crumbs galore.  And if you thought the original peanut butter buttercream was dreamy, get ready for your mind to be blown.  Oreo peanut butter buttercream is where it’s AT.

I would suggest baking these cupcakes if you want to make new friends.  I brought them to a birthday party this weekend and suddenly I was the most popular gal in the room.  Funny how peanut butter + chocolate will do that to people.

This is real life.  Sorry I’m not sorry.  It just tastes so darn gooooood.

Chocolate Oreo Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes (adapted from The Sweet Little Book of Cupcakes)

yield: 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 ounce bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 20 chocolate sandwich cookies
  • 20 mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 20 muffin cups with paper liners.  Place an oreo in the bottom of each liner.
  2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.
  3. In a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the buttermilk and allow to incorporate for 30 seconds.
  4. Pour in the flour mixture and beat on medium until fully incorporated, about 1 minute.  Divide the batter evenly among the paper liners, filling each about 2/3 full.
  5. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from oven and press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cupcake.  Allow to bake for 10 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from the muffin tin to cool completely on a wire rack.  Frost with oreo peanut butter buttercream (recipe below).  Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

Oreo Peanut Butter Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 2-3 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons oreo cookie crumbs

Directions

  1. Separate ~8 oreo cookies and discard the cream filling.  In a food processor or plastic bag, crush the cookies into fine crumbs.
  2. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening on high until fully combined.  Beat in peanut butter.
  3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 2 cups of the confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and a pinch of salt.  Start the mixer on slow, then eventually crank it up to high and beat for 2 minutes.  Add more confectioner’s sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, until you reach your desired consistency (more sugar = thicker buttercream).
  4. Add the cookie crumbs and beat on high for 2 minutes.

Homemade Twix Bars

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My roommates and I have been trying to sell our TV on Craig’s list.  Long story short, the screen is broken, the TV is HUGE, and we have no idea how to get rid of it.  So we put it on Craig’s list hoping someone would take it for “parts”.

We figured no one would want to climb up three flights of stairs to take a gigantic broken TV, so imagine our surprise when five people offered to pay us money to take it off our hands.  We got in touch with the highest offer and happily told him/her (?) that they could come pick it up last night.

Then we spent all day Wednesday imagining the different ways the Craig’s list killer was going to kill us.

The Craig’s list killer turned out to be a perfectly nice woman and her two sons, who would have been more than happy to pick up the “flat screen TV” as advertised.  Except that our TV is roughly 4 feet deep.  The opposite of flat.  3D, perhaps.

I’ll let you guess which dumb-dumb was in charge of writing the Craig’s list ad.

As you may have guessed, non-Craigs-list-killer took one look at the enormously large not-flat TV and was all, What is the meaning of this?!  And I was all, Need a minute? Grab a Twix! shoveling homemade Twix bars in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to admit that I was the screw up who wrote “flat screen”.  In conclusion, we still have a giant TV and no idea how to rid ourselves of it.  Please send help.

I’ll give you a homemade Twix bar?

Homemade Twix Bars

yield: ~25 bars

Shortbread Cookie Layer (recipe from alli ‘n sons)

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar on high until fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir in flour and salt on low until just combined.  Grease a 8×8 pan and press the dough evenly into the bottom.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown.  Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes before topping with caramel layer.

Salted Caramel Layer (recipe from Ina Garten)

  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/8 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a deep saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/8 cup water.  Bring to a boil and cook the sugar, swirling the pan (don’t stir!) until the mixture has reached a deep amber color.  Watch it carefully, as it happens fast.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, bring the cream, butter, and salt to a simmer.  Remove from heat.

When the sugar is done, remove from heat and pour in the cream+butter.  Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon.  Cook over medium-low heat until it registers 248 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Immediately remove from heat and pour over the cooled shortbread.  Allow the shortbread and caramel to cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until firm.

Chocolate Layer

  • 7 ounces milk chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and shortening, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.

Remove the shortbread and caramel from the pan and cut into 1 inch by 3 inch rectangles.  Place the cut bars on a cooling rack over a pan covered in tin foil, to catch the chocolate drippings.  Drizzle or smooth melted chocolate over the bars.  Place bars in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to allow them to firm up.  Store and serve at room temperature.

S’mores Bites

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When I was 9, I decided I was going to make list of every single person I knew.  I sat at my desk in my bedroom and racked my brain, filling my Lisa Frank notepad with tens of people.  The total came to about 80, including names like “my best friend’s brother’s best friend”.

The following year, I started a list of every website.

Every website.  On the internet.

I was a waaaay cool kid.  I had at least 80 “friends”.

Now in my adult years, I’ve decided to make a list of every single s’mores baked good for the S’melanie.  Good to know that things haven’t changed much… I’m still way cool.

My latest creation stemmed from the idea that I needed to add something bite-sized to my s’mores repertoire.  A graham cookie cup holds a milk chocolate nugget and some toasted mini marshmallows – all the best s’mores flavors in a three-bite package!

S’mores Bites (adapted from Diana Rattray’s Graham Blondies)

yield: 24 bites

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 large bar milk chocolate
  • ~1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla; beat until fully combined.
  3. Stir in the flour and salt until there are no pockets of flour; gently swirl in the graham cracker crumbs until just combined.
  4. Divide the dough evenly into a (24-cup) mini muffin tin.  Bake for 9 minutes, or until the edges are barely golden and the center still looks a bit gooey.  While baking, cut the chocolate bar into 24 1/2-inch pieces.
  5. Remove from the oven and quickly press the chocolate in the center of each cookie.  Top with 2-3 mini marshmallows.
  6. Put your oven on broil and place the bites under the broiler for about a minute, or until the marshmallows have browned.  Cool completely and remove from the muffin tin.

Cookie Dough Truffles

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Last week someone googled “mustard no way not gonna let that ruin my day” and landed on my blog. Mustard. Like the condiment.

Does that person think those are the words to the song? (original lyrics: “No sir, no way, I’m not gonna let that ruin my day”) Is this like the little girl in my class who sings “Pumped Up Kicks” as “humpback kids”? Mustard ≠ no sir.

Now that song is stuck in my head, only I’ve replaced “no sir” with “mus-tard” and it really is ruining my day.

This is my life.

At least we have cookie dough truffles.

The only thing better than cookie dough is cookie dough dipped in chocolate. And the only thing better than cookie dough dipped in chocolate is eggless-cookie-dough-dipped-in-chocolate-that-won’t-give-you-salmonella-or-cause-your-boyfriend’s-fake-egg-allergy*-to-flare-up.

Something I’ve noticed?

I wash my hands IMMEDIATELY after cracking an egg, as if the salmonella is going to seep into my pores if I don’t wash it away fast enough… but somehow I have no problem eating 18 tablespoons of raw cookie dough. Riddle me that.

Head over to Recipe Girl to give these babies a whirl!

*Debatable.

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

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Remember last week when I mentioned that weird moment where I housed an entire head of cauliflower?

Well, the bad news is I’m about to share a recipe about…cauliflower. Out of the ordinary, to say the least.

The good news is said cauliflower just so happens to be purple.

Behold!

It really is that purple! Thank you Copley farmer’s market.

To be honest, the real reason I love this cauliflower recipe is it’s an excuse to eat entire cloves of roasted garlic. Don’t judge.

Roasted garlic is my new obsession of the moment. I want roasted garlic hunks on bread…pasta…crackers…pizza…a fork. It’s a good thing I have a boyfriend who loves me a whole lot (and happens not to be a vampire) because I’m willing to bet this new obsession isn’t doing me any favors in the romance department.

Roasted cauliflower tastes like reeeeallly good for you popcorn. This is coming from a girl who used to sit for 3 hours at the kitchen table refusing to eat one more bite of veggies, even if it meant I would get dessert afterwards. So you know it’s gotta be good.

I’m droooooling looking at the roasted garlic nuggets.

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower (adapted from Ina Garten, How Easy is That?)

serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/4 pine nuts
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a large sheet pan, toss cauliflower, garlic, oil, salt and pepper.
  2. Roast for 15 minutes, stir. Roast for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until tender and browned. Toss in the pine nuts for the last 3 minutes of roasting.
  3. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then stir and serve.

Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars

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A few weird things happened this week:

I ate an entire head of cauliflower. By myself. And by ate I mean shoveled into my face at top speed because it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. More on that later.

I made these better-than-crack Marie Biscuit Bars despite the fact that they have a raw egg in them. Which is weird because I always learned never to eat raw eggs but not weird because I have no problem eating 75 tablespoons of unbaked cookie dough.

And, the most beautiful newborn baby in the world was born. Usually newborns look like… aliens? Not so cute? Too small and wrinkly? In my belief system babies don’t get cute until they are one week old. But then I met baby Chloe on her one-day-old birthday and my belief system changed and now I’m worried that when I have a newborn baby (in ten years, relax Mom) it won’t be as cute as Chloe. This thought keeps me up at night.

LOOK:

This cutie patootie little doll belongs to one of my co-teachers, Michaela, and she was born this past Sunday. Tell me she isn’t the cutest baby you’ve ever seen. I dare you.

What. A. Bean.

So – Michaela is from South Africa and sometimes brings in these Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars. The first time I tried one I was all like “Huh? What is a Marie biscuit? And why does this taste like it was sent down from heaven? Can I move to South Africa?” They are like chocolate fudge with crispy chunks of biscuit mixed throughout. The bars are also 0% good for you, which is a pre-req to most things I make.

I immediately got the recipe and vowed to make Marie Biscuit Bars ASAP, but inevitably forgot until Michaela brought them in on her last day before maternity leave.  I then remembered that they are made of sugarplum fairy dust and I finally made them myself and despite the raw(ish) egg I ate the entire batch.*

Not only are these bars addicting and incredibly tasty, they are SO easy to make. Here is the recipe for your eating pleasure.

Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars (yield: ~20 bars)

Ingredients

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1 box confectioner’s sugar, or about 3 1/2 cups
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 large egg (I’m thinking you could probably substitute 1/4 cup milk for the egg if you wanted), slightly beaten
  • 1 package Marie biscuits (made by Goya, these can be found in the international foods section of your grocery store), roughly crushed
Directions
  1. Melt butter in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. While the butter is melting, sift confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
  2. Pour the melted butter into the sugar/cocoa mixture; stir until fully incorporated.
  3. Add the beaten egg (or milk) to the butter and sugar. Mix thoroughly. It should be somewhat runny – add milk if necessary to thin it out.
  4. Stir in the crushed biscuits until all pieces are coated with chocolate.
  5. Coat a 9×9 inch pan with cooking spray. Press the fudge into the pan and allow to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or until firm. Cut into squares and serve. Store in a cold place.

*Exaggeration. I ate half the batch. The other half is sitting in my freezer “for when I need a little treat”. Aka tomorrow.