Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo Cookie Style

Happy Belated Cinco De Mayo!!! I actually attended a Quatro de Mayo party and wanted to make something festive so I made my Margarita Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese frosting; the party was on Friday nite but I brought them into work via the metro and kept them in our fridge during the day until my friend's husband came to pick them up during the day. My friend who was throwing the party was doing it to celebrate her husband's half Mexican heritage and her love for margaritas. I asked her if her husband felt Chocolate Mexican Wedding Cookies would be sacrarelig and thankuflly she said no because these came out so good and are so easy to make. The directions say to wrap the dough and let it harden for an hour but in true fashion I didn't buy enough pecans so made it in the night before and then came home for work took the dough out to let it soften for awhile and added the pecans mixed it and just went from there. They are sooooooo good and will be definitely be made again.

O if you buy one German Chocolate Bar then you will be fine! I used the blender to grate it but just remember that the blades can melt it so either do sections or just do it quickly (you can also freeze the bar if you want to).

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Now go pour yourself a Margarita!

Yet again I am a bad blogger and forgot to take a picture until I was at work so it was taken while they were in the box with my iPhone.

CHOCOLATE MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES
(Source: Allrecipes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup ground pecans (I just threw them into the blender)
1/2 cup German sweet chocolate, grated (I just threw it into the blender)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon1 pinch salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup German sweet chocolate, grated


DIRECTIONS:

- In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, ground pecans, 1/2 cup ground chocolate, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours, or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Cool 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack.
- For the coating, sift 1/2 cup of the confectioner's sugar and 1/4 cup of the ground cocoa into a shallow bowl. While cookies are still warm, roll them in the coating.

Giganticness Part II

Here is another Gigantic Red Velvet cupcake! This was for my other neighbor, I really do have the best neighbors. The only problem with this one was that I got stuck talking to these awesome neighbors in the hallway and forgot that the cake was in the oven! I could have kicked myself because I was trying to be a perfectionist watching it bake but I still think it came out great.

Also, I could not remember how much frosting I needed for this cake; I usually squirt some into the bottom part and then use it to seal the two halves together. I started making double the frosting recipe and ran out of ingredients so I got up early the next morning to run to the store only to learn that I really needed 1 - 1 1/2 of the cream cheese frosting recipe. For the amount I bake I definitely should know these things! Now I do for the future :)

Devilishly Filled Peanut Butter Cupcakes

For my co-worker's birthday my devils food cupcakes with peanut butter frosting was a no brainer because that is his favorite but I wanted to do something different this time. After my recent success with filled cupcakes I decided to insert some forsting into the bottom of the cupcake. I know that there are now those fancy cupcake core removers out there but I just took a tube of the frosting a #tip and just stuck it right into the cupcake and filled it until a little came out of the top; I then scraped off all the extra. These came out amazing. My coworkers have had this recipe many times before but the reviews I got on this particular cupcake was astonishing. I actually never eat the cupcakes (I am a batter and frosting girl) but I had to go get one after lunch just to see if they were better and WOW that is some peanut butter heaven.

I originally just made 1 1/2 of the frosting recipe but needed some more for the last few cupcakes so I would say double it (which actually Is what the original recipe called for). These also came out so much cuter than the first time I made them, I am finally trying to get the look to match the taste!


Though previously listed on this site, I figured I would list the recipe again with the correct amount of frosting for filled cupcakes.

PS Sorry for the iPhone cupcakes at my desk, I always forget to take pictures until the last minute!

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
(Modified from: The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 C. (2 1/2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
1/4 C. Smooth Peanut Butter (I use the same amount for half the recipe so you can use a little more)
5 C. Confectioners' Sugar
1/2 tspn. Salt
1/4 C. plus 1 T. Milk


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 but use a whole batch for filled cupcakes.
- I added extra peanut butter, especially when halved, it is not an overly peanut buttery flavored frosting but it is definitely creamy.