Recipe #12: Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes

After a ridiculously long delay, I'm back. I was finishing up my last semester of University, and it was a doozy. But now I'm in job hunting, baking and crafting mode, so new stuff is coming.

I got this great cupcake book at Christmas, and in May I decided that I had to try a bunch of the recipes.

These cupcakes are one of the best recipes I have ever tried. They are amazing. Moist and almost creamy in their decadence. Beware, these are addictive!

Ingredients

Batter:

*4/5 cup butter, softened (or 185 grams)

*1 cup superfine sugar (I used regular)

*3 eggs

*2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*3/4 cup sour cream (I used half sour cream, half milk)

*2 tablespoons maple syrup

*3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Icing:

*2 3/4 oz light cream cheese, softened

*1/5 cup butter, softened (or 50 grams)

*1 1/2 tablespoons honey (I used corn syrup)

*2 cups icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin holes with paper cases.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl using electric beaters for 5-6 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift the flour and baking soda together. Add the sour cream and maple syrup to the mashed banana and mix well. Fold the flour mixture alternately with the banana mixture in the butter mixture until well combined.

4. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

5. To make icing, place the cream cheese and butter in a small bowl and beat until smooth. Add the honey/corn syrup and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined. Decorate each cake generously with icing.

Recipe #11: Orange Almond Biscotti

Biscotti!!! I love making Biscotti because it's so easy and yummy. It's also a fantastic gift, especially for the poor student, like myself. I really like this recipe. They taste great and are relatively less bad for you. So check it out!

My plan in the next week is to bake a whole pile of stuff and gift it as prettily as possible. I'm in full Christmas mode, making presents, tags, decorations, etc. I'll attempt to post them, but probably not until after so I don't spill the beans on any of my presents.

Ingredients

*2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

*1 1/4 cups white sugar

*1 pinch salt

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*1/2 cup sliced almonds

*1 tablespoon orange zest

*3 eggs, beaten

*1 tablespoon vegetable oil

*1 teaspoon almond extract (I quadrupled the amount in the original recipe)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, and orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, oil, and almond extract. Stir or mix by hand until the mixture forms a ball.

3.Separate dough into 2 pieces and roll each one into a log about 8 inches long. Place logs on prepared baking sheet and flatten so they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Cool slightly, and remove from baking sheets. Slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Set cookies on side back onto the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 more minutes, turning over after halfway. Finished cookies should be hard and crunchy.

Recipe #10: Vegan Chocolate Almond Cookies

Found these cookies on a favourite baking blog. I thought I would try some vegan baking for a change. However, I forgot how much I dislike molasses. UGH. However, the cookies came out really chewy, which I love in a cookie. I would suggest for those that don't love molasses like me to try out less molasses, more syrup and MORE chocolate. There is definitely not enough chocolate in this recipe for me, but it might be enough for others.

(Shout out to my CBC Calgary mug from the 80's! Heck yes!)

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose flour

*2 tsp baking powder

*1 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp sea salt

*1/2 cup granulated sugar

*1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I would up this big time)

*1 tsp ground cinnamon

*2/3 cup maple syrup

*1/2 cup molasses (I would halve this myself)

*1/2 cup vegetable oil

*1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Sift together all dry ingredients (minus almonds) into a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until oil no longer separates. Add to dry ingredients; stir in almonds. Mix by hand until completely combined. I recommend chilling the dough for a less sticky rolling experience, because this dough is STICK-EE!)

2. Form dough into 1-inch balls; place onto cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for NO MORE THAN ELEVEN MINUTES. (Any longer, and they’ll burn!) Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely (if you don't do this, they will stick to the sheet like the dickens). This recipe makes 20 good sized cookies.

Recipe #9: Tomato Chickpea Soup with Barley

I got this recipe from Mike last week out of his Alberta cookbook (which I of course can't remember the name of). It's pretty good, although I suggest using a lot less rosemary (I guess I'm not a big fan), and up the cayenne (or chili powder) quotient.

Also, I would also think that this recipe would be pretty easy to vegetarianize/veganize.

Ingredients

*1 cup finely chopped lean back bacon or ham
*1 medium onion, chopped
*1 large carrot, chopped
*2 stalks celery, chopped
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*¼ cup of olive oil (I used half olive oil, half canola)
*1 14-ounce can tomatoes, pureed
*1 19-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
*5 cups chicken broth
*½ cup pearl barley or small pasta like orzo
*2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (I used less than 1 teaspoon and thought it was too much)
*Salt and black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper (I used about a teaspoon of chili powder for the whole batch)
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (makes it!!)

Directions

1. Place ham, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in food processor and chop finely. Heat olive oil in a soup pot and sauté chopped vegetable mixture until tender and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes to pot with chickpeas and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

3. Add barley and rosemary, and cook until barley is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne/chili pepper. Sprinkle parmesan and enjoy!

Recipe #8: Cocoa Chews

This is a recipe that I always associate with my mom. The only copy of it I have is handwritten by my mom into the ancient, printed upside down Mary Moore cookbook she bought years ago. It has no directions, it just has the list of ingredients. However, I watched her and have made these chews, so many times, that instructions are pretty much unnecessary. However, for you guys, I shall type 'em out! They are the easiest thing to make, and are so tasty.

Ingredients:

*1/4 cup butter
*3/4 cup sugar
*1/4 cup milk
*1 1/4-1 1/2 cups oats
*1 cup coconut
*1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large pan on low heat. Add sugar and blend together.

2. Add cocoa, coconut, and oats gradually stir together. Slowly mix in the milk and soon you will get a slightly cohesive mound of chocolate goodness.

3. Spoon dollops of mix onto a cookie pan and put in the fridge until solid. After about 45 minutes, you can shimmy them off the cookie pan and eat away!

I recommend keeping them in the fridge. They just taste better. They stay fresher and together. The coconut is really light and you can barely taste it. I also find getting the unsweetened is great, and I actually use a little less sugar than what the original recipe calls for (1 cup). Makes about 18 chews.

Recipe #7: Peach Cobbler

So... I bought peaches in September with the plan of baking cobbler at a time it would be otherwise impossible. This, the middle of November, is that time. I had previously tried a similar recipe with the batter on the bottom and then bubbling up between the peaches, but it didn't work out very well. The peaches were amazing in themselves, but the batter was gooey and way too heavy. So I tried this one out with much greater success.

Generally for the batter, I used a little bit less of everything than what the recipe called for because I think that cobbler should be all about the peaches. So the amounts in the recipe aren't the same as the link. I also baked it longer and got a really great almost-crust.

I just scarfed a whole bowl in about 30-seconds. Mmmm...

Ingredients:

*3 ounces butter, melted
*2/3 cup sugar
*1 cup all-purpose flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*3/4 cup milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*3-4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
*1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
*3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°.

2. Pour melted butter into a 8x8 inch baking pan.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the 2/3 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt; stir to blend. Stir in the milk and vanilla until blended. Pour the batter over the melted butter.

4. Toss the peaches with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Arrange the peach slices over the batter.

5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The top will be browned and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Recipe #6: Ridiculous Brownies

These brownies are called "best brownies" on the website I found them, but really they're just ridiculous... ridiculously good! These are NOT healthy at all, but easy and sososososo good! I didn't make the icing because honestly, you don't need it. Annnnd I made a double recipe because I had one of those huge glass brownie dishes. They were moist and addictive. And now I am hungry and want to bake them again!

Ingredients

*1/2 cup butter
*1 cup white sugar
*2 eggs
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*1/2 cup all-purpose flour
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

See? Easy!!