If my seven-plus followers may have noticed, I have changed the layout of this blog to look more "professional." My boyfriend had a hand in it, too. Happy Birthday, I guess. I hope you enjoy the new scheme.
First and foremost, birthday activities:
So many cat pictures in the box, only one birthday.
And now, cupcakes:
PEANUT BUTTER NUTELLA CUPCAKES
What you'll need (for 12 cupcakes):
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (go for the natural)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/8 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup milk/rice milk/almond milk/whatever
pinch of salt
Jar of Nutella
For the frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 - 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
These are dangerous. If you have no self-control, please opt out of making them. They're that good and I'm that much of a genius.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
You can line your cupcake pan with papers or you can grease it really well with some butter and then flour the pan. I prefer to grease it up, because the more fat you can add the better it is and the more you guilt yourself into exercising and eating healthy. Which is good for both of us, trust me.
Ok, so you're going to mix your butter, peanut butter and brown sugar together into a nice creamy mixture. Now I said go for the natural peanut butter and I mean it. 1.) Other peanut butter is gross and awful awful awful for you. The reason margarine is awful for you is the same reason that nasty peanut butter is bad for you. 2) Natural peanut butter doesn't have a nasty pre-engineered flavor in it. Try to get peanut butter sans salt 3.) Actually, I changed my mind. Peanut butter always gets recalled because food safety is a joke and food manufacturers are an even bigger joke. They just can't manage to figure out how to keep dead birds and bird shit out of the irrigation system that feeds into the plants that grow our peanuts. You're better off growing your own peanut plant, like this:
Who knew?
Ok, after those are creamed together, beat in the egg. Add the vanilla.
Mix together all the dry ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients and the milk, alternating between the two. I said to use 3/4 cup, but I think that I used a little less so the batter wasn't so runny. If you're the runny type of person, go for it.
Ok, here's the fun part, which requires a little patience but is well worth it in the end. In your cupcake pan, put a small scoop of batter on the bottom and spread out a little. I use about a tablespoon of Nutella and drop it right smack dab in the middle. Like this:
Then, cover the Nutella with batter until the individual cups are about 3/4 the way filled.
Notice the dice in the background. Gambling is recommended during baking.
Pop those dream machines in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they start to get a little golden on the top and bounce back a little.
OH. HELLO.
The frosting is easy. Melt your chocolate in a stainless steel bowl over some boiling water while you mix your butter and peanut butter together. Add the chocolate to the mixture and start adding in the sugar slowly while you beat the frosting. Whip together until it's nice and smooth and light.
Now, let your cupcakes and frosting cool a little and then you can make sweet frosting and cupcake love, which--if done properly--will look like this:
It's not often that I can show you a picture of MID-EATING because I usually scarf down food like a starving sow, but I thought you might want an inside look:
Ok, so I have never attempted a filled cupcake before. In fact, I'm not much of a cupcake maker. The only reason I decided to make them is because my boyfriend and I are staving off obesity (note the pants fiasco) and I thought a cake may be, say, a bit indulgent. I actually had to take off the paper wrap and other crap off of these pans upon first use. Point being, I learned on my first try that I should have filled the bottom a bit more with batter and then put the Nutella drop in there. It ended up a little low to the ground...Next try was better. It's always good to experiment and test, i.e. bake and eat.
Now, despite my "staving off obesity," I'm really saving this "New Year's resolution" for next year and I ended up making twelve of these. Now, as noted by the amount of butter in this recipe--both cow and peanut--this is not for those of us--and by us I mean you--on a "diet." If I had to guess how many points this was on the Weight Watcher's scale, I'd have to say somewhere around 1000. Sounds about right.
And while I love pressuring people to be skinny and beautiful, feel free to indulge in ones of these babies.
Stay fat, friends.
And now, cupcakes:
PEANUT BUTTER NUTELLA CUPCAKES
What you'll need (for 12 cupcakes):
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (go for the natural)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/8 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup milk/rice milk/almond milk/whatever
pinch of salt
Jar of Nutella
For the frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 - 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
These are dangerous. If you have no self-control, please opt out of making them. They're that good and I'm that much of a genius.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
You can line your cupcake pan with papers or you can grease it really well with some butter and then flour the pan. I prefer to grease it up, because the more fat you can add the better it is and the more you guilt yourself into exercising and eating healthy. Which is good for both of us, trust me.
Ok, so you're going to mix your butter, peanut butter and brown sugar together into a nice creamy mixture. Now I said go for the natural peanut butter and I mean it. 1.) Other peanut butter is gross and awful awful awful for you. The reason margarine is awful for you is the same reason that nasty peanut butter is bad for you. 2) Natural peanut butter doesn't have a nasty pre-engineered flavor in it. Try to get peanut butter sans salt 3.) Actually, I changed my mind. Peanut butter always gets recalled because food safety is a joke and food manufacturers are an even bigger joke. They just can't manage to figure out how to keep dead birds and bird shit out of the irrigation system that feeds into the plants that grow our peanuts. You're better off growing your own peanut plant, like this:
Ok, after those are creamed together, beat in the egg. Add the vanilla.
Mix together all the dry ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients and the milk, alternating between the two. I said to use 3/4 cup, but I think that I used a little less so the batter wasn't so runny. If you're the runny type of person, go for it.
Ok, here's the fun part, which requires a little patience but is well worth it in the end. In your cupcake pan, put a small scoop of batter on the bottom and spread out a little. I use about a tablespoon of Nutella and drop it right smack dab in the middle. Like this:
Pop those dream machines in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they start to get a little golden on the top and bounce back a little.
The frosting is easy. Melt your chocolate in a stainless steel bowl over some boiling water while you mix your butter and peanut butter together. Add the chocolate to the mixture and start adding in the sugar slowly while you beat the frosting. Whip together until it's nice and smooth and light.
Now, let your cupcakes and frosting cool a little and then you can make sweet frosting and cupcake love, which--if done properly--will look like this:
Now, despite my "staving off obesity," I'm really saving this "New Year's resolution" for next year and I ended up making twelve of these. Now, as noted by the amount of butter in this recipe--both cow and peanut--this is not for those of us--and by us I mean you--on a "diet." If I had to guess how many points this was on the Weight Watcher's scale, I'd have to say somewhere around 1000. Sounds about right.
And while I love pressuring people to be skinny and beautiful, feel free to indulge in ones of these babies.
Stay fat, friends.
I made these. They fucking rule.
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