Decadent Lemon Cupcakes

I have been and always will be a cupcake girl.  I love any flavor, frosted or plain, filled with ganache or just dusted with icing sugar.  It all works for me.  Is chocolate at the top of my list? Second. The top is lemon. Nothing quite beats the taste of a fresh, citrus dessert where I am concerned. I love pies, puddings, cookies and squares but most of all I love sweet cupcakes infused with the gorgeous flavors of lemon.

And this cupcake does it for me:  moist, cakey, sweet and gently scented with the zest of a lemon.  The frosting is smooth, creamy and , you guessed it,  lemony.  Pair this with a cup of tea and all your worries will melt away.  Perfection.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Citrus Glaze

Combine the delicious recipes from Hummingbird Bakery and Martha Stewart along with some fantastic gluten-free flour and what do you get?  An amazing cupcake !

These beauties bake up light and fluffy. They are perfectly sweet and speckled throughout with vanilla bean.  Topped off with a lovely lemon glaze these are sure to please.

Gluten-Free Nutella Muffins

Soft, cakey and swirled with Nutella.  Even better they are gluten-free, sweetened with coconut palm sugar and can be dairy free to with just a few changes.

These are best served warm from the oven topped with a dollop of your fave vanilla ice cream (rice and coconut varieties are wonderful).   A decadent dessert!

Double Chocolate Buns

Are these muffins?  Nope.  Cupcakes?  Nope.  These are in fact what the British refer to as a chocolate "buns".  They are a cross between a cupcake and a muffin. They have a somewhat cake-like consistency, though not nearly as sweet yet are definitely richer than a muffin.  They are also frosting-free.  These are wonderful eaten plain and without any fuss needed at all.

They are named Double Chocolate Buns because of 2 types of chocolate in the batter:  Dark Cocoa Powder and White Chocolate Chips (the latter not really being a chocolate at all).

You can make these all in one bowl and you don't even need your mixer as long as you have some decent upper body strength to blend the butter and sugar.  Everything else gets folded in and blended just until combined then baked up for 20 minutes.

These rise up beautifully and your house will be infused with the smell of chocolate. They are tender, moist and hard to resist.  My daughter inhaled 2 while they were still warm.

Devil Food Cupcakes

Wishing you all a wonderful day filled with pink hearts, red roses, dark chocolate and LOVE!  Valentine's Day would not be the same without a sweet treat and cupcakes are a great way to celebrate the day.  These cupcakes are rich devil's food topped with a creamy, buttery frosting tinted pink for the occasion.  I piped on a rose design but swirls would look great too.

The cupcake crumb is light, fluffy and  simply of divine - nothing dense or dry about these guys. The rich frosting is the perfect topper and super simple to make:  just butter, powdered sugar, some cream,  vanilla extract and voila - an amazing frosting!  Tint it with some red or pink gel until you have the color you want.  Initially I was thinking a deep red for these but when I saw the pink color I fell in love.

Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes

Nearly everyone I know, young and old, loves brownies. Dense, rich and fudgie are the words that come to mind when I think of sinking my teeth in a decadent chocolate brownie. Nothing beats a good brownie.

I have made plenty of brownies in my lifetime from milk chocolate to dark chocolate; ones filled with nuts, caramel, even swirled with cream cheese but I have never made peppermint ones or have I made them in the shape of a beloved cupcake.

Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

My step-daughter is having her sweet 16 party this weekend and I was in charge of the sweets.
I ended up deciding on orange creamsicle fudge, chocolate dipped pretzels and last but not least, Oreo cupcakes. They are fun, kid-friendly and easy to make.

What is even greater is the fact that the bottom crust of the cupcake is an Oreo cookie. All you need to do is put one whole Oreo cookie into the base of each muffin liner then fill with batter. This batter is heavy so the cookie stays at the bottom rather then floating up. And the cupcake has a brownie like consistency which truly makes these INCREDIBLE.

I finished them off with a simple buttercream that has the addition of 1 heaping tablespoon of crushed Oreo crumbs. Then I wrapped it all up with another Oreo cookie nested into the fluffy buttercream. Buttercream tends to have a yellow undertone thanks to, obviously, the butter as well as the added vanilla extract. I wanted to keep the frosting as white as possible so I added a few drops of Wilton's White-White Icing Color. It made a huge difference ! The icing was perfectly white and really showed off the added oreo crumbs extremely well.

This recipe makes a load of cupcakes - I made 24 but other readers have a lot more. I only needed 12 but rather than trying to halve the recipe I just omitted the cookie base in 12 of them and once baked and cooled, popped them into the freezer (unfrosted!) to be enjoyed at a later date. An option you too may want to consider if you can't use them up all at once.

Any chocolate sandwich cookie will do but if you get your hands on a package of Oreos then go for it. They are the best!

Let's Begin!

RECIPE:
*altered source recipe: Oreo Cupcakes, Annie's Eats
WHAT YOU NEED

CUPCAKES

24 Oreo cookies, regular size, for bases
24 Oreo cookies, regular size, used to top off the cupcakes once frosted
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

FROSTING
150 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
300 grams powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 heaping tablespoon Oreo cookie crumbs

MAKE IT

CUPCAKES

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 2 muffin pans (12 muffin cups each) with paper liners

PLACE an Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner
IN A LARGE BOWL, sift together first 5 cupcake ingredients
ADD SALT and stir until combined
IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter 2 minutes HIGH speed
GRADUALLY add in brown sugar and beat MED/HIGH speed for 5 minutes
ADD VANILLA and mix until blended
ADD EGGS, one at a time combined thoroughly after each addition
ADD 1/3 flour mixture, mix until just combined
ADD 1/2 cup of buttermilk again mixing until just combined.
REPEAT pattern ending with buttermilk
WITH a cookie scoop, dollop batter on top of cookies in paper liners. Do not fill liners to the top. Keep it around 1/2 full
BAKE 18-22 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
LET COOL in pan 5 minutes then transfer cupcakes to cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting

FROSTING

IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter until very soft and fluffy - approx. 4 minutes HIGH speed
ADD sifted powdered sugar.
BEAT slow speed until mixture starts to combine then increase to MED speed for 1 minute
INCREASE speed to HIGH and beat for 5 minutes
SCRAPE down sides of bowl
ADD CREAM, vanilla extract and cookie crumbs
BEAT 2 minutes MED speed

PIPE onto cupcakes.
TOP with another Oreo cookie

ENJOY !




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Everyday Sisters - Sharing Sundays

Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

I know, here we are again. Me and yet another cupcake recipe. I doubt you mind. I mean, who can get can enough of cupcakes? I can't. And I also cannot stop testing recipes from my recently purchased cookbook Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elana Amsterdam.

I had been planning to make Elana's Lime Cupcakes for a few days now. I had even picked up several limes for the occasion on my last grocery outing. Or so I thought. Seems that I must have become distracted at the lime bin because they are not here. I have been guilty of this type of thing alot lately. Is this what comes with middle-age? I guess so. At least for me.

Now that all said, I did find nestled in my crisper a TON of lemons. So I decided to stick with her recipe for lime cupcakes but alter things a bit to turn them into lemon cupcakes instead. They turned out beautifully and I will definitely be making these again.

These cupcakes are INCREDIBLY moist. In fact I have not tasted many this moist in a long while, especially gluten-free cupcakes. The moisture is a result of the addition of 3 eggs, honey and grapeseed oil. This recipe only makes 8 cupcakes so as you can see, 3 eggs is quite a lot for such a small amount of cupcakes. They do the trick ! The flour combo of 1:1 coconut and almond flours also adds moisture and an incredibly rich crumb. DIVINE.

Her recipe recommends finishing them with a coconut frosting. I opted for a lemon buttercream with a hint of cream cheese instead. If you like the style of piping I used then use an open, large round piping tip. Play with your piping on waxed paper for awhile until you get the desired look then simply scrape the frosting back into your piping bag and start decorating the cupcakes!

Let's get started, shall we?


RECIPE:
*altered source recipe: Lime Cupcakes, Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elana Amsterdam

WHAT YOU NEED

CUPCAKES
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup almond flour (remove any lumps by mashing together with your fingers)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup agave nectar (I used honey)
1/4 teaspoon pure lemon oil
zest from one large lemon

FROSTING
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon pure lemon oil

MAKE IT

CUPCAKES
PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 8 muffin cups with paper liners (double the liners because these do tend to discolor as they bake due to the oil)
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together first 4 cupcake ingredients
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together remaining cupcake ingredients
WITH SPATULA OR SPOON, fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients stirring until combined
SCOOP 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin liner
BAKE 18-22 minutes until cupcakes are golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
LET cool in pan 5 minutes
TRANSFER cupcakes to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting

FROSTING
IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER fitted with paddle attachment, whip butter and cream cheese on MED speed for 2 minutes
ADD sifted icing sugar combining first on slow speed then increasing to MED and mixing 4-5 minutes
ADD REMAINING ingredients and mix until fully incorporated and icing is smooth and creamy
PIPE FROSTING onto cupcakes

ENJOY !



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Gluten-Free Pecan Pie Cupcakes

No need to wait for Thanksgiving to enjoy pecan pie. This pecan pie is in the form of a delicious cupcake topped with a whipped cream cheese frosting. One bite and you will be hooked. They are moist, delicious and full of incredible rich, sweet flavor. Let's face it - these are perfect for winter, summer, spring or fall!

I recently purchased my first e-book and wouldn't you know it, it is a cupcake cookbook. But better still, it is a gluten-free cupcake cookbook and it is filled with incredible and easy to make heavenly sweet recipes.

This recipe is perfect for you if you love the taste of pecan pie but prefer something less gooey and not as tooth-achingly sweet. And if you are like me, a cupcake addict, that it is a perfect way to feed that addiction.

My new fave cookbook is Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Elena Amsterdam.

I have her original cookbook too, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and love it to bits but I think this one may top it! So many wonderful recipes to choose from. I decided to test out the pecan pie cupcake recipe even though it listed one ingredient I simply didn't have on hand: Yacon Syrup. So instead I substituted molasses and maple syrup. The combination worked!

Yesterday I made her Strawberry Cupcakes, or rather used it as a base recipe and then really changed things around resulting in Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting. That recipe used solely coconut as its GF flour. This one though uses mostly almond flour with a couple of tablespoons of coconut flour. Luckily I did have almond flour on hand. I always do.

A few other changes: I halved her cream cheese frosting recipe because her 11 cupcakes ended up being 8 for me. I figured less cupcakes = less frosting and I was right. I also added Whip It to the whipped cream part of the frosting to ensure it stabilized properly and didn't separate after piping. Sure enough, it stood up to the test of time.

LET'S GET STARTED!

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe: Pecan Pie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Gluten Free Cupcakes by Elena Amsterdam

WHAT YOU NEED

CUPCAKE

1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped

FROSTING

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon Whip It! whipping cream stabilizer
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
2 tablespoons honey (feel free to add an extra tablespoon if you like a sweeter frosting)

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 8 muffin cups with paper liners

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 4 cupcake dry ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together remaining ingredients except pecans
POUR WET ingredients into dry ingredients and mix on MED speed with handheld electric beater until thoroughly combined
FOLD in chopped pecans
WITH ICE CREAM SCOOP fill each liner 3/4 full with batter
BAKE 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs
REMOVE immediately from pan
LET COOL completely at room temperature
FROSTING

IN MEDIUM BOWL, combine cream and Whip It!
WITH HAND HELD ELECTRIC BEATER, whip until stiff peaks form
IN SEPARATE BOWL, beat cream cheese and honey until smooth and no lumps are remaining
ADD whipped cream into cream cheese mix and fold gently until combined
PIPE onto cupcakes

SPRINKLE frosted cupcakes with chopped pecans or cinnamon

Elana sprinkles the finished tops with chopped pecans.
I liked the look and flavor of sprinkled cinnamon instead.
So there you have it - Pecan Pie Cupcakes!

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