Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

I'm learning that it's often the cupcakes that I have the least expectations for that surprise me the most. I figured these would be pretty boring but I like trying new recipes and I had all the stuff so I gave it a shot. Boy were these a keeper! They were ridiculously moist and fluffy and the cinnamon cream cheese frosting was so good I had to stop myself from eating it straight out of the icing bag. Brian and I agree they reminded us of a carrot cake but honestly, I like these better. Oh and I used a 12 tip for the icing, I love how cute they turned out.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 whole milk
3/4 C veg. oil
3 large eggs
1 T ground cinnamon

Just follow the same mixing instructions I always write up, oven at 350, blend all ingredients, cook 18-22 min. Once you frost the cupcakes, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar mixed. You can do 1 T sugar with 1/4 t cinnamon to get a good ratio. Plus that'll be plenty for all the cupcakes.

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting
1 (8oz) package cream cheese (again reduced fat works)
4 T stick butter
3 cups confectioners sugar sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Mix cream cheese and butter on low for 30 seconds till combined. Slowly blend in sugar, little at a time. Blend on low for 1 minute
2) Add cinnamon then increase speed to medium until fluffy.

Notes-this is a great frosting to pipe on if you have tips and bags, it's thick and made PLENTY. As for the cupcakes, I would only fill them half full because they rise a lot and I only got 23 cupcakes out of it. Enjoy!

Best Birthday Cupcakes...really

I think the combo of a yellow cake with chocolate frosting is one of my favorites and this one was seriously the best I've ever had.

1 package plain butter recipe golden mix
1 8oz package cream cheese (reduced fat works)
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
1/2 C veg. oil
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
Chocolate syrup frosting and sprinkles to decorate

1)Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl on low for 30 seconds. Scrape sides, blend on medium for 2 minutes.
2) Spoon 1/4 C batter into 24 paper liners
3) Bake for 24-27 min (my oven is hot so it's always a little less, keep an eye on them so they don't get too brown.
4) Let cool before frosting

Chocolate Syrup Frosting (it's totally worth it to make it from scratch and not use any old tub of chocolate frosting)
8 T (1 stick) butter
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C chocolate syrup (I used hersheys)
3 C confectioner's sugar SIFTED (I just learned what that meant and it made such a difference)
1 T milk
1 t pure vanilla extract

1) Put butter, cocoa, chocolate syrup in large bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low until just combined (30 sec). Stop the machine and add sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend on low until sugar is incorporated. (1min)
2) Increase speed to medium and beat till light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes.

Notes- I used my kitchenaid for both the cake mix and the frosting. Since the frosting has syrup in it, it was too runny to pipe it on, so I just used a cupcake spatula to frost it on.

Leftover Dessert (aka chocolate peanut butter cake truffles)

I had some leftover peanut butter candy melts, white almond bark and two half used tubs of cream cheese frosting. So what did I make? Devils chocolate cake balls dipped in peanut butter candy melts. I followed the bakerella recipe dipping the cake balls in peanut butter candy melts. They always look naked to me so I always like to drizzle something on top. This time I did milk chocolate chips. I only had enough to dip half in the peanut butter and then did the other half in white almond bark. While they peanut butter ones were very tastey I think I prefer the white ones better. But it's fun to experiment! If you want bakerella's basic cake ball recipe here it is.

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html

Oreo truffles part deux!

Since I loved the mint oreo truffles so much, and I'm not even a mint person, I figured the peanut butter equivalent must be even more amazing. Well I was right. I used the double stuff peanut butter oreos and instead of using a full block of cream cheese I did 3/4 a block then added a couple spoons full of creamy peanut butter. It's SUPER rich which as a Thaden, I can handle, Brian however couldn't. It definetly will require a glass of milk to go with it but it's SO good. I think next time I would just do the cream cheese to decrease the sweetness. (Did I really just say that?) Oh, and I had leftover chocolate and white bark so I did both. Either one works. Then I melted some peanut butter candy melts (also from Michaels) and drizzled them over. So just follow the mint oreo recipe but with peanut butter oreos, and if you're really craving the peanut butter, add a spoonful to the mix.

*Heidi-these are egg free, do these!

The Ugly cupcake

Okay before you give up and skip over this post due to the unattractiveness of those cupcakes, let me explain. Last night I was in the mood for baking (okay I always am) so I asked Brian what he wanted. He said cupcakes but I wanted something quick, I found this recipe and since it didn't require frosting I chose it. It's called a Jelly Doughnut cupcake and even though I don't LOVE jelly doughnuts, I DO love these! So don't judge these too swiftly because you'll seriously miss out.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 box (3.5oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 C whole milk
1 C veg. oil
4 large eggs
1 jar (12 oz) strawberry preserves, or your favorite jelly
1/2 C confectioners sugar
24 whole strawberries or blueberries for garnish

1) Heat oven to 350, line 24 cupcake cups with liners
2) Put cake mix, pudding, milk, oil and eggs in large bowl. Mix on low for 3o seconds, scrape sides then mix on medium for 2 minutes.
3) Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each cup, bake for 20 minutes.
4) Fit a pastry bag with a metal tip with a large round hole and spoon preserves into bag. Insert the tip into the center of the cupcakes.
5) Squirt 2 teaspoons to one tablespoon preserves into each cupcake. Sift powdered sugar on top and garnish with fruit. (I didn't have any fruit to garnish it with and they still were amazing.)

Mint Oreo Truffles, AMAZING

I used Bakerellas recipe but I'll post it here just in case. I added the mint drizzle so that's my own twist. :)

1 package mint oreos (double stuff)
1 8oz cream cheese
white almond bark
dark cocoa mint candy melts (you can get them at michaels)


1) use 22 oreos with stuffing and 11 without. Put in food processor (I used a blender) and mix till a powder consistency. (No chunks!)
2) Put in bowl and mix in cream cheese with a spoon. Mix till cookie dough consistency.
3) Roll into small balls, put in freezer till firm
4) Melt almond bark in bowl, then dip oreo balls. Put them on a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet.
(I have a dipping tool set you can get at walmart or I used Max's baby spoons which also work well, it minimizes the amount of pooling)
5) Melt mint candy melts in ziploc bag, cut tip and drizzle over.
6) Give as many away as you can because you will eat all of these like it's your last meal.

Strawberry white chocolate cupcakes

1 Box plain white cake mix
1 package strawberry gelatin (3 oz)
1 C finely chopped strawberries with juice, from 1 1/2 cups whole berries
3/4 C milk
3/4 C veg. oil
4 large egs
white chocolate cream cheese frosting
strawberries for garnish

1) Heat oven to 350, line the cupcake pan with paper liners.
2) Place cake mix, gelatin, strawberries and juice, milk, oil and eggs in a mixing bowl. Blend on low for 30 seconds, then scrape down sides and blend on medium for 2 minutes.
3) Scoop 1/3 cup batter into each paper liner.
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes.

White chocolate cream cheese frosting

6 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I just used white chocolate chips)
4 oz cream cheese (reduced fat works fine)
4 T stick butter
2-2 1/2 C confectioners sugar, sifted

1)Place chocolate in glass bowl, microwave for 1 minute. Stir till smooth.
2) Place cream cheese and butter in bowl, beat with mixer till blended. Add white chocolate till smooth.
3) Add the confectioners sugar and blend on low for 30 seconds. Increase to medium speed and blend till fluffy. Beat one minute more adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar if needed to make frosting spreadable.



Side note-I used a 1M tip to pipe the frosting on. Also, I mixed the frosting in my kitchenaid with the wire beater.

Domestic purging

Finally I got around to making a real recipe blog. I figured it'd be easier for everyone if I just posted all my baking adventures in one place. I decided on "A Sweet Retreat" because really, isn't that why we bake? At least I bake because it makes my day seem less stressful if I've got a cupcake to look forward to. So enjoy and if you try baking some of these recipes, let me know and take pictures! I'm also transfering all the recipes I've already posted on my blog to this one. I just added "old" to the title so you know it's not a new recipe. Happy Baking!

Pretty-in-Pink Peppermint Cupcakes (old)

Pretty-in-Pink Peppermint Cupcakes (from a cupcake cookbook emily gave me)

1 box white cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
3 egg whites
2 T veg. oil (or melted butter)
1/2 t. peppermint extract
3-4 drops red food coloring
1 container vanilla frosting
1/2 C crushed peppermint candies

-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with baking cups
-Beat cake mix, water, egg whites, oil, peppermint extract and food coloring with mixer for 30 seconds on low. Then beat at medium for 2 min
-Spoon batter into muffin cups. Fill 3/4 full. Bake 20-22 min. Take out and let cool.
-Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with crushed candies.

Rich chocolate mini cakes (Old)

Rich Chocolate Mini-cakes

2/3 C flour
1/2 C sugar
3T baking cocoa
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t each baking soda and salt
1/2 C water
3 T vegetable oil (I used canola and it turned out fine)
1 t vanilla extract
Chocolate glaze and Vanilla Drizzle (recipe follows)

-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 24 small muffin cups (I ended up only getting 16 out of this recipe)
-Stir flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Add water, oil and vanilla. Stir till blended. Spoon into cups filling 2/3 full. Bake 12-14 min or until top springs back when touched. Cool completely.
-Prepare chocolate glaze. Dip rounded portion into glaze. Place on wax paper-covered tray. Refrigerate for 10 min to set glaze. Prepare vanilla drizzle, then drizzle onto mini cakes. (I put them back in the fridge after I did the vanilla part too)

Chocolate Glaze- Melt 2 T butter in small saucepan on LOW heat. Add 2 T cocoa and 2 T water. Cook until smooth and slightly thickened. DO Not let boil. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Blend 1 C powdered sugar and 1/2 t vanilla extract. Beat till smooth and slightly thickened.

Vanilla Drizzle-I didn't follow their directions which told you to melt way more white chocolate chips than you need and to add shortening which I don't like. I just put a handful of white chocolate chips in a ziploc bag, microwaved it for a minute till melted then cut off the tip and decorated the tops.