Nutella Cupcakes

I came across this great recipe from Tartelette in honor or Nutella Day (February 5th).  I thought these sounded heavenly, sweet hazlenut, chocolate, and coffee mixed together and topped with a cream-cheese nutty frosting.  Yum.  I had to try them out.  These cupcakes are not only tasty, but make a great gift.  I modified this recipe just a tad, adding hints of vanilla into my recipe.

This recipe yields about 12 cupcakes--feel free to double (or triple) it if you'd like to make a big enough batch to give some away and keep some at home!


Ingredients


Cupcakes:

• 2/3 Cup Butter, unsalted
• 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Ground Coffee
• 2 Tbsp. Milk
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/4 Cup Nutella
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Frosting:

• 8 oz. Neufchatel or Light Cream-Cheese 
• 2 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup Confectioner's (Powdered) Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Nutella

Directions:


Cupcakes:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt until well-combined.
3. With a mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce to low and add in coffee, milk, vanilla, and Nutella.  Once combined, add in the eggs, one at a time.
4.  Slowly add in the flour mixture until mixture is smooth. Note: The batter will be really fluffy and not the same consistency as most cake/cupcake batter (you didn't do anything wrong!). 
5.  Pour batter into muffin liners about 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
1.  With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar, and Nutella and mix on low until well-combined.

Decorating:
1.  Using a pastry bag with tips, frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or mini chocolate chips!

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red is the color of Valentine's Day, the color of love, and the color of cupcakes!  Red Velvet cupcakes are a hit with almost everyone and make a wonderful sweet treat for Valentine's Day, which is just around the corner.  For another Valentine's Day recipe, check out my Chocolate Sugar Cookies.

I've created a recipe using a combination of Vanilla Garlic's recipe on Simply Recipes and from Martha Stewart.  This recipe yields about 24 cupcakes, so feel free to half it for a small batch of 12.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/2 Cups White Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour (can substitute 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour + 1/3 Cup Cornstarch)
• 2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Buttermilk (Note: You can make your own buttermilk by combining 1 Cup Milk + 1 Tbsp. Vinegar and letting sit for 10 minutes)
• 1/2 tsp. Red Food Coloring (use gel) (or use beet juice if you want to avoid food coloring)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp. Distilled White Vinegar

Frosting:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
• 8 oz Neufchatel or Light Cream Cheese
• 2-3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place 24 muffin liners in 2 muffin pans.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3.  Using a mixer, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in the eggs, one at a time (scraping sides of bowl as needed).  On low, whisk in the food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar.
4.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating batches (just easier for consistency--so it's not too difficult to mix and so it doesn't splash everywhere).  Mix on medium until well-combined.
5.  Pour batter into muffin liners about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Frosting:
1. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

Decorating:

1. Using a pastry bag and your preferred tip, pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.  I used a pastry bag with a Wilton #1 tip.  You can also cut a hole in a plastic/ziploc bag or even spread it on with a spoon or butter knife.  Top with red sprinkles, chocolate shavings, a piece of Valentine's Day candy, or whatever other creative topping you can come up with!

Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Here's a quick, easy, and tasty appetizer dip.  This makes a great crowd-pleasing dish for game nights (sorry I'm posting it after the Superbowl) and it's a unique, healthier twist on eating regular buffalo wings.  It's really quick and easy to make also, always a bonus!

I adapted this recipe from The Bitten Word, written by two local D.C. guys (whom I've never met) who make recipes from different food magazines.

Ingredients:
8 oz Neufchatel Cheese (or Light Cream Cheese)
1/2 Cup Light (Organic) Ranch Dressing (or Bleu Cheese Dressing)
1/2 Cup Wing Sauce
1 lb. Chicken Breasts (Cooked and Shredded)
3/4 Cup Shredded Monterrey-Cheddar Cheese or Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (or Bleu Cheese Crumbles if using Bleu Cheese Dressing)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  In 8x8 Glass Baking Dish, or a 9-inch glass pie dish, use a fork to combine the Neufchatel (or Light Cream) cheese, ranch dressing, and wing sauce.
3.  Fold in shredded chicken and shredded cheese.  Stir the entire mixture until well combined.  Note: For the chicken breasts, I boiled them, then used two forks to shred the chicken.  
4.  Bake for 25-25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Serve with celery sticks, water crackers, wheat crackers, pita chips, other cut-up veggies, or French bread slices.

Enjoy!

Tortilla Roll-Ups

With Holiday parties and the Superbowl coming up, I thought I'd post a party snack!  I made these earlier this week for a Junior League Holiday Party I attended.  They are easy to make and are a yummy finger food.  I made two different types of tortilla roll-ups, the "healthy" versions: Dill and Ham Roll-Ups and Crab Roll-Ups.

Dill and Ham Roll-Ups


Ingredients:
1- 8oz Package Neufchatel Cheese (lower in fat and calories than regular Cream Cheese)
2 tsp. Dill
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 Cup Chopped Green Onions
2 - 10" Flour Tortillas (or Whole-Wheat)
12-14 slices of Deli Ham (6-8 oz package)

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, stir together the Neufchatel cheese, dill, garlic, and chopped green onions.
2.  Spread half of the cheese mixture on each of the tortillas.  Spread 6-7 ham slices on top of each tortilla.
3.  Roll up tightly.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4.  Remove from refrigerator.  Slice each tortilla roll-up into 1" slices.
Serve and Enjoy.

Crab Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

1 - 8oz Package Neufchatel Cheese (lower in fat and calories than regular Cream Cheese)

1/4 Cup Cocktail Sauce 

8 oz Package Crab Meat (I used imitation actually)

1/4 Cup Chopped Green Onions

2 - 10" Flour Tortillas (or Whole Wheat)

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, stir together the Neufchatel cheese, cocktail sauce, crab meat, and chopped green onions.  

2.  Spread half of the cheese/crab mixture on each of the tortillas.  

3.  Roll up tightly.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

4.  Remove from refrigerator.  Slice each tortilla roll-up into 1" slices.

Serve and Enjoy.  You can serve with side of cocktail sauce if you'd like.