Posts tagged ‘Other Sweets’

Apr 2

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

I’ve always wanted to make my own chocolate and peanut butter cups. The recipes are so easy, I’m not sure why I’ve never gotten around to it until now.

They really took no time at all, in nearly 30 minutes I was already sinking my teeth into these oh-so-rich peanut butter cups.

I looked at a few recipes and skipped on most of them. Some of them used shortening, or called for ingredients I didn’t have. I used the recipe from Have Cake, Will Travel; they looked like the perfect ones.

My notes: I took the advice from Have Cake, Will Travel and added 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to the melted chocolate; I did not add extra salt; I melted the chocolate in a heavy-bottom saucepan rather than the microwave; I used regular sized cupcake liners, not minis, so mine are closer to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups size; I used the freezer instead of the refrigerator to set up the chocolate on the bottom.

They are so delicious. They are better and richer than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Keep these stored in the refrigerator; they melt quickly.

—

Due to the continued popularity of this post, I am going to finally post the recipe here instead of only linking to it! If you want to make these vegan, click through to the original recipe from Have Cake, Will Travel – link is below. If you want to make these mini, try adapting the recipe for a mini cupcake tin (I think I’ll do this the next time I make these).

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my “gourmet” salted chocolate peanut butter cups, using Lindt’s sea salt chocolate bar!

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Adapted from Have Cake, Will Travel
Makes 12

Ingredients:
*For the chocolate
1 1/2 cups (273g) chopped semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (32g) peanut butter
Pinch salt

*For the filling
12 tablespoons (or 3/4 cup) (192g) peanut butter
1/3 cup (64g) light brown sugar or powdered sugar
2 tablespoons (10g) graham cracker crumbs, optional
Pinch salt

Method
Prepare a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

Combine chocolate, peanut butter and salt in a heavy-based saucepan over very low heat, or use a double-boiler, to melt the chocolate. Stir frequently. Remove from heat.

Place 2 teaspoons melted chocolate in each cupcake liner and carefully spread it with the back of a spoon at the bottom and only 1/4 of the way up the liner. Repeat with all 12 liners.

Place the chocolate-covered liners onto a plate in the fridge to firm up, for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Stir together peanut butter, sugar, optional crumbs, and salt.

The chocolate should be hard by now, so divide peanut butter paste into all 12 liners, about 1 heaping tablespoon (20g) per liner, pressing down gently to make sure the paste goes everywhere. Place in fridge to firm up, for about 20 minutes.

Top with 2 teaspoons melted chocolate, spreading carefully so that none of the peanut butter can be seen.

Let cups firm up in fridge for at least one hour before enjoying. Store in fridge or freezer.

Apr 2

3 Comments

Strawberry-Blueberry-Banana Smoothie

We recently purchased a popsicle mold and have been drowning in frozen smoothie pops ever since. The following recipe has been my favorite so far, which is adapted from a bag of frozen strawberries.

Personally, I prefer unfrozen smoothies, but my daughter prefers them in frozen form, which is just as well. I’m glad she likes this healthy treat – she can barely even wait for them to freeze!

Strawberry-Blueberry-Banana Smoothies
Can be frozen or simply drank fresh from the blender!
Makes approximately 3-4 cups

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole, fresh or frozen strawberries, mostly thawed
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, mostly thawed
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
1 cup low fat yogurt, any flavor (I used vanilla)
3 teaspoons sugar

Method
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Immediately enjoy, or pour into popsicle molds to freeze for a cold treat.

With three different fruits, plus milk and yogurt, this frozen smoothie pop makes a great healthy treat for the kids.

If you prefer, you can strain the smoothie through a fine sieve to remove the strawberry seeds and tiny pieces of blueberry skin.

Sep 30

6 Comments

Mini Banana Whoopie Pies

I’ve been in a whoopie pie mood lately. I’ve never made them before though. I chose mini banana whoopie pies for my first time (recipe here).

Now, I didn’t have any sour cream so I substituted with organic vanilla yogurt. I don’t know if this was my problem, but all of my “pies” turned out flat.

I couldn’t figure out why, so I came up with the idea of putting the batter into my cupcake pan. I piped the batter in the bottom of each of the cups in the pan, just enough batter to completely cover the bottom but of course in a thin layer and baked them this way. I found that I needed to bake them for less time in the cupcake pans.

But, they came out exactly how I wanted them to look!

They’re very nice, they’re moist and banana-y. I’m not a huge cream cheese fan, so that put me off slightly, but I do think that these whoopie pies are a nice treat. I’m interested now in making the original whoopie pies, pumpkin whoopie pies, and my own idea of cherry whoopie pies (chocolate pies with cherry filling).

I didn’t use all of my flat pies, just the one pictured above to show you what I meant by “flat pies”. I have leftover filling so I think I might try to use that as a filling in chocolate cupcakes later this week.

Jun 11

Via Cakespy: Blondies vs. Brownies

This has not much to do with cupcakes, but at least it’s still in the baked sweet goods category. This topic is something I haven’t been able to clear up for myself – what is the difference between a blondie and a brownie. I personally had decided that a blondie was somewhere between a cookie and a brownie. Cakespy, however, really breaks it down.

Generally, a blondie is accepted as a type of brownie–but not so much a brownie flavor, more like an identical cousin. An identical, albino cousin. Generally, it uses vanilla or butterscotch base instead of chocolate, and thus has a lighter hue which gives it its name. In our opinion, the finest blondies will have a texture (though not taste) halfway between a cakey and a fudgy brownie: that is to say, delightfully chewy, rich, and dense.

Please read Cakespy’s full post on blondies vs. brownies.