Next time......

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream. The recipe looked delicious unfortunately, I just didn't have anyone or anything to bake it for this month!! That is the downside of living on our own and I just thought it was too much for the office! I hope to make it in the future but make sure you check out the rest of the Daring Bakers . They do look delicious and now I am sorry I didn't make it!

Peanut Butter Heaven!

I LOVE to bake but I try not to make things that I crave; however, I have failed when it comes to these cookies!!! I LOVE and CRAVE these! I try to convince myself that its okay because they are made with reduced fat peanut butter (hey I need that protein!) and I try to forget that there are 2 sticks of butter in them! I know that they were a big hit today because I had random people come knocking on my cubicle because they heard I had cookies! Part of the reason I wanted to make these were because I was reading about Clumbsy Cookie's peanut butter cookies, that also look delicious!





PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

2 Sticks of butter, softened
3/4 jar of peanut butter
3/4 C. Sugar
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
12 oz chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix. Next add the flour and baking soda. Finally add the chips.


I use an ice cream scoop so they are moundy but you can use a big spoonfull of dough. Bake them for 8 minutes then check them, possibly need an extra 2 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy! Take them out when they are lightly brown and look somewhat firm, not gooey but not hard! enjoy!!

Not Cute but Devilishly Delicious Cupcakes!

For the most part my baked goods come out delicious but are not overly pretty....there are no complaints on the eater's end but it is something I definitely need to work on. I for some reason have a hard time with filling cupcakes and these Devils Food and Peanut Butter Frosted Cupcakes were no exception to the rule...they are delicious but just not super pretty! Thank god for frosting!!! These cupcakes are a HUGE hit at work and have been requested a few times, today they were for a work birthday! These have been listed in my friend's top 5 baked goods I make.





The cupcakes are the same devils food recipe I used in Chocolate and Cherries and my Delicious Ice Cream Cake, I am a big fan of recipes that are versatile. The Peanut Butter frosting recipe makes 4 cups but for a normal batch of cupcakes 2 cups is enough. I included the original recipe but at the end (in parenthesis)is the halved recipe - I added just a tad more peanut butter this time!


DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE RECIPE
(Source: allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

- In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from the heat.
- Stir in sugar and butter until butter is melted.
- Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

Pour into cupcake pan and bake for 13-15 minutes, it makes 15-20 cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Frosting
(Source: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 C. (2 1/2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened (.625C or 1 1/4 Sticks)
1/4 C. Smooth Peanut Butter (1/8 C. I actually used almost 1/4 C. see notes)
5 C. Confectioners' Sugar ( 2 1/2 C.)
1/2 tspn. Salt (1/4 tspn.)
1/4 C. plus 1 T. Milk (1/8 C.)

DIRECTIONS:

- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the butter and peanut butter together.
- Add the confectioners' sugar, salt, and then milk.
- Add additional tablespoons of milk or sugar to loosen or tighten the icing, respectively.
- For best results, use immediately.

NOTES:
- If the Devils Food batter looks thin - don't worry it is!!!
- The icing makes 4 cups, the halved recipes makes enough for one batch of cupcakes.
- I added extra peanut butter, especially when halved, it is not an overly peanut buttery flavored frosting but it is definitely creamy.

Meme Time!

I just finished my first Daring Bakers Challenge and I have to say thank you to all the wonderful DBers out there who left comments! It really is a great group of people. Amelia from Diary from the Last Frontier sent me and other new DBers a meme today. I decided that I was going to follow in her footsteps and do it and tag some other Daring Baker newbies! Also, if you get a chance make sure you check out their blogs because they are all wonderful, including Amelia's!

The rules:

#Link to the person who tagged you.
# Post the rules on the blog.
# Write six random things about yourself.
# Tag six people at the end of your post.
# Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
# Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Now six random things about me:
1. I love baking but hate cooking!!! I don't cook at all!
2. I started baking as a challenge because I used to consider baking as cutting up the cookie rolls!
3. I DESPERATELY want a pug, I can't have one right now but that doesn't stop me from looking at petfinder all the time!
4. I LOVE reality tv!!
5. I have a slight obessession with Starbucks
6. The joy I get from baking is making other people happy! That's why I bake!

My six victims were chosen because they are Daring Bakers (well except 1) and I love their blogs!

Pineapple Princessa - Jess

The Hungry Housewife - Leslie

52 Recipes - Paula

Do Better - Karen

The Clumbsy Cookie - Rita

Modern Beet - Jen