Paleo Almond Butter Blondies

A lot of people ask me how I don’t eat everything I bake. And they seem surprised when I say I don’t want to weigh 400 pounds. It’s actually surprisingly easy to avoid tasting because I am constantly surrounded by it. However…paleo baking is much harder to resist. There’s a little voice that keeps saying, “It’s okay, it’s paleo!”. Which yes, it is better than the alternative…but eating a whole pan of something is never good no matter what it is!! It was definitely a test of self-control with these blondies because they didn’t even taste paleo. I promise. I’ve had some paleo treats that taste exactly that…paleo. These will make you feel guilty. I made them for my Grandmother for Mother’s Day. She’s diabetic and I’ve been trying to get her to try paleo for awhile…no dice. I wanted to bake her something so I decided to sneak in a paleo treat. I may have neglected to tell her they were paleo (Sorry GM!). But really…these are so good you could fool anyone.

Paleo Almond Butter Blondies

Paleo Almond Butter Blondies

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life chips. If you think this is pushing the paleo envelope…just leave it out!)

Preheat the oven to 350* and grease an 8X8 pan. Mix the coconut oil, honey, almond butter, eggs, and vanilla together. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 22 minutes.

They work as cupcakes too!

*I did test a few in a cupcake pan and they made cute little mini cupcakes. Bake for about 12-13 minutes if you want mini cupcakes.

I added chocolate ganache on top. I did use heavy cream to make this, so it’s not ENTIRELY paleo…but it’s still gluten free and sugar free (just cream and dark chocolate). You could make my paleo salted caramel frosting if you want a more paleo frosting option. Depends on how much of a cheat you want!

Paleo Almond Butter Cupcakes dipped in ganache

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommas out there! Ironically enough I spent the weekend with my parents and sister in Oklahoma despite living less than a mile from my parents here in Texas. Regardless, we got to celebrate both our mom and my sister’s graduation.

Momma B and her two girls (sorry brother)

I know Texas has a reputation for big hair, along with the 80′s, and airport security has led me to form a theory. Houston security never checks my hair, however on my flights back to the great Lone Star state I often get asked to step aside so they can check my hair. What could I possibly have in there that the body scanner doesn’t catch?? I’ve decided people outside of Texas question the big hair.

Anyways. One of my mom’s favorite cupcakes is mint chocolate. She’s always been a fan of the combination, which is probably where I got it from. I have many memories of her getting me York patties or Junior Mints as a treat. These cupcakes are based off of Andes mints. Andes mints were one of my favorite things about going to Olive Garden. These cupcakes are the perfect blend of chocolate and mint, the flavors balancing each other out without overpowering the other.

Chocolate Cupcakes

I made my devil’s food chocolate cupcakes. If you haven’t caught on, this is my go-to chocolate recipe and I use it a LOT as the base for flavor combinations. While these are baking, you can go ahead and make the mint chocolate ganache for the filling.

Mint Chocolate Ganache

• 8 oz. baking chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp. butter, room temp
• 2 tsp. peppermint extract

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and transfer it to a bowl. Heat the heavy cream and butter until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute and then slowly stir it to combine the chocolate and cream. Add the peppermint extract and stir until combined. Let it cool, stirring it every now and then. I let mine get thick enough so that I can pipe it into the cupcakes (easiest way to fill them).

Mint Buttercream Frosting

• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup shortening (can use a combo of shortening and butter)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. peppermint extract
• dash of salt

Cream the shortening until smooth. Add in the extracts, salt, and milk. Gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, letting each cup mix in before adding another. I added some green to make my frosting mint green.

Fill the cupcakes with the ganache and then frost them with the mint buttercream. I’ve garnished these two ways- one with a whole Andes mint on top, and one with Andes mint pieces sprinkled on top. The whole mint looks better in my opinion, but the pieces distribute better and mix in better with the cupcake. Your call. It’s a win/win situation though!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Andes Mint

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with Andes Mint pieces

Horchata Cupcakes

Cinco de Mayo is a fun little non-American holiday that Americans love to celebrate. But who doesn’t love an excuse for excessive margaritas and guacamole? Or watching someone try to knock down a pinata after a few too many drinks? Or a dog in a little sombrero? We had a good time with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally every holiday deserves a cupcake. I’ve made margarita cupcakes before, so I needed something different. My friend Janet suggested horchata cupcakes. I had never even heard of horchata so I was a little hesitant. But I did some research and it seemed like it would work. I think they sell horchata at the store, but I made my own for this since I didn’t need much. It’s incredibly easy. And delicious- like candy in drink form. Which obviously makes for an amazing cupcake. This is one of the main reasons I keep Janet around- she has pretty innovative baking ideas. We get a lot done at work. Horchata is easy to make but you do need to start the day before you plan to make cupcakes because it needs to soak overnight. Fortunately the prep work is less than 5 minutes!

Horchata Recipe (*This makes enough for the cupcakes and frosting)

• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher (or some type of container…I used a large water bottle I had). Let it soak overnight. Blend the mixture to break up the rice (it won’t blend all the way). Strain the mixture and throw away the rice. Your horchata is ready!

Yes that’s my redneck wineglass. I had limited options in glassware, okay?

Horchata Cupcakes (~12 cupcakes)

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups  flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup fresh Horchata
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg and egg white to the butter mixture.  Alternately add the flour mixture and horchata to butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until combined. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full and bake for 22 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test.

Horchata Frosting

• 1/2 cup horchata
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• dash of salt

Cream together the butter and shortening. Add in the salt. Slowly add the horchata. You can choose to add it gradually as you add the powdered sugar. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, allowing each cup to be mixed in before adding the next. After you frost the cupcakes, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Ole!

Horchata Cupcakes

7 Up Pound Cake

You know what’s AWESOME?! When you have about 10 dozen mini cupcakes to make and your mixer attachment breaks 3 minutes in. I hadn’t even finished creaming the butter and sugar together when I heard this clanging noise. It took me a second to locate the

problem. When I found it, I quickly realized there was nothing I could do and turned the mixer back on. I mean come on, there were still cupcakes to be made.

Houston, we have a problem.

Everyone has those recipes that are passed through generations. My mom and grandmother ALWAYS talked about this 7 Up cake that my great-grandmother made, but I think I went most of my childhood without ever having it. I finally managed to obtain the recipe from my mom or grandmother (can’t remember which), and decided to try it myself. Old fashioned cakes always seem to be the best. Super moist, simple, and yet SO good. This one has a slight lemon flavor due to the 7 Up and lemon juice should you add it, but not enough to qualify it as a lemon cake. And bonus- this cake is super easy to whip up.

7 Up Pound Cake

My parents were having a fish fry and so I was asked to make this cake. Of course I did, in exchange for fish and onion rings. I was also excited to try out the new Bundt pan I received for Christmas. It’s so neat looking, but it is a pain in the ass to grease and wash. I did get compliments on the shape of the cake though, so it was worth it.

So many ridges

7 Up Pound Cake

• 2 sticks butter (mmm butter)
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cup flour
• 6.5 ounces 7 Up (~3/4 cup)
• 1 tsp lemon juice (or vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 325*. Grease and flour your Bundt pan. Mix butter and crisco, cream until well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing until well combined. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 1 hour or until it passes the knife test.

I had a little too much batter for my pan- so I made a few cupcakes with the extra. This cake can easily be adapted to cupcakes if that’s what you need.

7 Up Pound Cake Cupcakes

Lemon Glaze

Most pound cakes just require a glaze instead of frosting, so I made a lemon glaze to top this one.

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix and pour over cake!

Mmm mmm good.

White Chocolate Reese’s Blondies

Will someone please tell me who keeps allowing Nelly to contribute vocals to country songs?? Because they need to be slapped. I suppose we should have seen it coming since his album back in the day was titled “Country Grammar”, but after his latest endeavor with Florida Georgia Line….ooph.

I realize I skipped posting last week. I won’t give you an excuse, I just ran out of time. A lot has happened in two weeks, including the bombing at the Boston Marathon. The whole event was tragic, however it concerns me that these incidents are occurring at such a frequency that kids today might consider it normal. I had a whole paragraph written, but I usually refrain from making political statements online. I will say that I am a runner. Good enough to qualify for Boston? No. But I am a runner, and I have ran several races. Crossing the finish line is something I never forget no matter how many times it happens- I can tell you what songs I was listening to, who I was with, how I was feeling. Running is a joy for me. And to have that marred by something as senseless and devastating as a bomb completely floors me. My prayers go out to those runners, their families, and all of the spectators.

This week I have some blondies for you. White Chocolate Reese’s Blondies. My brother and his roommate request blondies every time and since they are easy to mail, that’s usually what I send. This happened to be right after Easter, so I found some Reese’s pieces eggs on sale. Jackpot. These blondies were super moist and chewy, pretty much melt in your mouth delicious.

Mmmmm

White Chocolate Reese’s Blondies

• 1 cup butter melted
• 2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 2 cups Reese’s pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease an 9×13 pan.
3. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until smooth in a large bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl sift together the salt and flour. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.
5. Stir in white chocolate chips and Reese’s. Pour into pan and bake for 30-34 minutes.

Mine were still a bit gooey when I took them out of the oven, but they firmed up upon cooling.

 

 

Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31

Nutella Peanut Butter Bacon Cupcakes

You know how some weeks just drag by? And some are a crazy whirlwind of activities? This past week was definitely a whirlwind week for me. I saw Elton John in concert and got to cross that off my bucket list (seeing him and Celine Dion are both on my list). That man is so talented- not many people could walk in with no opener, sit down, and play for 3 hours. AMAZING.

My gift is my song, and this one’s for you.

The rest of the weekend was filled with birthday festivities. My birthday was Saturday and so obviously I had the entire weekend to celebrate. The funny thing about being a baker is that everyone wants you to make your own birthday cake. “Oh, I could make one. But it won’t be as good.” or “I could bake a cake from a box”. So instead of actually baking a cake I just decided to add a few extra cupcakes to another batch I was doing. A few weeks ago a friend posted a picture of a sandwich that had nutella, peanut butter, and bacon on it. Intrigued? I was. It was called the “Dead Elvis” sandwich, although I had always heard that an Elvis sandwich was banana, pb, and bacon. But I like love nutella so I was okay with the substitution. Anyways, my friend said “I think there’s a cupcake in there” and I agreed. Enter this week’s baking experiment.

This cupcake requires an open mind. I know some people are iffy when it comes to bacon and dessert, but they’re dumb. Bacon is awesome with dessert if you do it right. I made a nutella cupcake by just adding a few teaspoons of nutella to the batter of my chocolate cupcakes. I didn’t add the nutella until I had already poured the batter into the pans.

I was so tempted to eat these before I finished the frosting.

Then I made a peanut butter frosting. Disclaimer: I love peanut butter. Nutella cupcake, frosted with peanut butter icing, topped with….BACON. I dipped part of the bacon in chocolate just because it seemed like a good idea. So there’s a whole lot going on with this cupcake- but it is SO good. Sweet and salty. Happy birthday to me. If bacon cupcakes interest you, then you should check out my maple bacon cupcakes or my paleo bacon pecan brittle. Delicious.

Nutella Peanut Butter Bacon Cupcake

Aggie Basketball Cupcakes

FAIL is a four letter word I deal with almost on a daily basis. Being a teacher the word comes up more often than not. At the gym we usually lift until we fail- not necessarily a bad thing, but you don’t know how much you can lift until you can’t lift anymore right? But fail is not a word that follows me into the kitchen. I’m not saying this because I think I am invincible, but there is hardly an experiment or recipe that completely fails leaving me with nothing but tears in the kitchen. Okay, slight exaggeration. But even if it looks ugly or didn’t turn out how it was supposed to, it’s still usually edible on some level or I can salvage it to end up with some sort of final product. Well I met my match with poured fondant. I was doing a test run of petit fours and thought it would be a quick run through- WRONG!

Yeah. Not exactly pour-able. Attempt #1.

I had to do 3 batches before I even made a working batch. Needless to say, my esteem was knocked down a few notches. I’m still working on the final recipe for this so I will post that at another time. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we want them to…it just means you gotta roll your sleeves up and try again!

First successful batch- Attempt #3.

I did find success with these Aggie Basketball cupcakes for a 9 year old’s birthday. I went old school and starred the basketballs. I think my mom starred every one of my birthday cakes growing up (she’s pretty good at it). Simple in design, but sometimes that’s all you need. These were gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

Aggie Basketball Cupcakes

Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes and Cookies

This past week I had the opportunity to see Pitbull at the rodeo. If you’re thinking that’s an interesting combination, you are correct. However we had free tickets and we figured it would be fun so we went. And it was so much fun! It was probably the most energetic one I’ve been to (still love my country artists). People danced the entire time (including us), and we pretended like we knew what he was saying when he spoke in Spanish. I finally googled “Dale” because he says it in EVERY song. Apparently it’s slang for “let’s go” or “do it”. Spanish lesson for the day.

I started utilizing Instagram this week. Still figuring it out, but you can follow me at TheSassyApron. Don’t worry, it’s all pictures from baking experiences…none from my (awesome) life.

Thanks to spring break this week I had a little extra time on my hands (perks of being a teacher!). I had several baking projects this week, but I think my favorite was an order for an Alice in Wonderland themed party. The host already had a pretty good idea of what she wanted and had also already been working on decorations, so it was pretty easy to hammer out the details for the cupcakes and cookies.

Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes and Cookies

The host had already obtained lace wrappers and cupcake toppers (which were super cute), so really all I had to do was select a flavor, wrapper color, and frosting color. Easy. I matched the wrapper to the purple toppers and did red frosting to match the deco. I went with brown sugar pound cake cupcakes because it’s a little different than standard vanilla, but still a crowd favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

The cookies were a bit of an experiment for me. I’ve used royal frosting before, but not for decorating sugar cookies. The cookies were supposed to be like the ones in the movie- the ones Alice eats and causes her to grow out of the house. Pretty simple in design since those were solid colors with “Eat me” and “Try me” written on them. They turned out they were supposed to, though I definitely learned some lessons on royal frosting consistency!!

I used Alton Brown’s recipe for the royal frosting, although if you make it according to the recipe the frosting isn’t thin enough to “flood” the cookies. I had to spread out some of the first batch (Still worked, just a little more time consuming). The second batch I added 3 cups of sugar instead of 4 and it worked a lot better. These type of cookies had always intimidated me slightly, but I enjoyed working on these. Basically I’m a sucker for adorable themes.Until next week!

Paleo Salted Caramel Fudge Bars

I received a food processor for Christmas last year. By that I mean I had asked for a processor forever and my family finally realized I was serious. I’m not engaged so therefore I can’t just register for one like all my friends do. But I did finally get one and I absolutely love it. One of the first things I made with it is almond butter. I kept hearing it was cheaper to make your own, so I did some price checking and realized this was true. I bought the almonds in the bulk food section, which saved me a little bit more. I was a bit mesmerized watching the processor the first time I made it.

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

So after I made almond butter, I started thinking I should make a paleo dessert with it. Of course I google it, and come across several recipes for paleo almond butter fudge. I like fudge. This sounded like a good idea. I used this recipe, but didn’t add the mint. I like mint…however I had different plans with this batch. I doubled the batch because one batch didn’t make very much. Although that might not be a bad thing if you’ll be tempted to eat it all.

After I made the fudge, I made some of my paleo caramel. Another fantastic use of my processor. You can either spread the caramel on top or swirl it in with the fudge- your call. I kept mine in the freezer, or you could use the fridge. They definitely have to stay cool though because of the coconut oil. Easy no bake recipe, and you don’t have to feel quite as guilty while eating it!!

Are you sure these are paleo??

Minnie Mouse Cupcakes

This Harlem Shake video trend needs to stop. Have this generation really become so lazy that the most current “dance craze” doesn’t have any dancing or actual steps at all? I just don’t get it. I’m not a fan of the “Boot Scootin Boogie”, but at least there’s a series of steps you have to learn.

Some friends and I were hanging out at a brewery this past Saturday and we saw some individuals in weird outfits. Some of these individuals were kids. We were confused, but didn’t think too much of it because hey, people are weird. I was waiting in line for the restroom when the lady in front of me informed me that the brewery was making a Harlem Shake video. Is no place safe anymore?! Sure enough, a guy with a video camera was testing out the area, and the number of costumes had increased. I saw some fish, a spandex bodysuit made to look like muscles, sequin underwear, the Mad Hatter…all sorts of things. Not sure how the final video turned out, we relocated to another room to finish our beer.

Okay…let’s get to what this post is really about. Delicious cupcakes.

The easy way to be the favorite in a group is to be the one who brings cupcakes. I brought extra strawberry cupcakes to the brewery. It’s almost the equivalent of bringing a cute dog…but less responsibility. I had made strawberry Minnie Mouse cupcakes for a sweet girl’s 2 year birthday party. I decided to do gumpaste for the decoration, but kept it pretty simple. I made pink bows and then used chocolate candy melts as the ears. I also cut out circles and “2″s and “T”s to place on the circles.

All the pre-made decorations

The best part about doing gumpaste decorations is that you make them ahead of time, so when you’re actually baking the cupcakes decorating goes pretty fast. To make the bows I just cut the gumpaste into short strips, looped it into a circle, then pinched the center. Then I took a small piece of gumpaste and looped it around the center, and ta-da! You have a bow. I used cookie cutters for the rest. I loved how these turned out. Just looking at the picture makes me want to eat them.

Strawberry cupcakes, buttercream frosting