Zucchini Brownies!

Another allrecipes winner.  They are so delicious and moist.  The recipe includes a frosting which I skipped because the goal for me was to make a sweet dessert more healthy.  They are really SO.GOOD.  Original recipe here.  My version below.

1/2 cup organic canola oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini (gently drained)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. 

Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture.

Fold in the zucchini. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife comes out clean when inserted.

 

Mixed Berry - Pretzel Icebox Dessert

I made this recipe from Noble Pig for the 4th of July and it was SO good.  I didn't change a thing, except used all fresh berries instead of some frozen.  Amazing!

Crust
2 cups finely crushed pretzels
3 Tablespoons sugar
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
6 oz. plain Greek yogurt (do not substitute regular yogurt, it will be too thin)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 (3 oz) packages strawberry gelatin
16 oz fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh blackberries
Whipped cream

Preheat oven to 400 deg F; mist a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. 

Process pretzels in food processor until finely crushed. 

Add sugar and melted butter and pulse to combine. 

Press pretzel mixture into baking dish and bake for 8 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.

Make filling using an electric mixer on medium speed, beating cream cheese with sugar until well blended. Fold in yogurt and vanilla. Spread over cooled pretzel crust, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2-3 hours.

In a large bowl, dissolve both packages of gelatin in 2 cups boiling water. Let cool in the refrigerator until mixture begins to get more jello-like; about 1 hour. Stir in strawberries and blueberries and pour over cream cheese layer. Chill until firm, at least three hours or overnight.

Cut tart into squares and serve with whipped cream.

As you can see, there was not much left by the time I remembered to take a picture!

Bird Nest Cupcakes

I planned to make two kinds of cupcakes, both from scratch, for Easter.  Well, neither ended up being from scratch :p
I really wanted to make Annie's Baby Bluebird Cupcakes, but ended up going with nests as time was running out!  Still very cute and delicious :)

Make cake...I used the always fun Funfetti cake from Pillsbury:

Toast coconut over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Before:

After:

Make chocolate icing - I used this recipe.

Ice cupcakes and cover with toasted coconut-

Add M&Ms or any other candy that resembles an egg, and Voila!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Yum!  A classic favorite.  I fully intended on making these From Annie's Eats, but with company coming and time running out, I cheated and used this boxed mix:

  

It's a good one...there are shredded carrots & raisins in the box so it really seems homemade, and it really did come out very moist!

I did, however, make my own icing, following this recipe exactly.

The fun part is the decorating :)

 

Irish Carbomb Cupcakes

We have a friend whose birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day, and we celebrated with him on Saturday. I thought these would be a great addition to our party. They came out really great and were a big hit!
I followed SmittenKitchen’s recipe…thank you! For me this recipe made 28 cupcakes, and I added more Jameson and Bailey’s than was called for (adapted below). Otherwise, followed ingredients to a t -

Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 teaspoons Jameson Irish whiskey

Baileys Frosting:
4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 tablespoons Baileys

Special equipment:
- 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer and a piping bag (though a plastic bag with the corner snipped off will also work). I did not have either, and improvised with a mini turkey-shaped cookie cutter. Since the frosting covers the hole, it doesn’t really need to be neat.
- Piping bag, modified ziploc, or syringe cake decorating set.

Make the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake cups with liners.
Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes.
Cool cupcakes on a rack.

Make the filling:
Melt chocolate; I used the microwave as per package instructions.
Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth.
Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes:
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped/spooned (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes).
Meanwhile, using your cookie cutter, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way.
I used a fork to help get the center out. Those are your “tasters”.
The recipe indicated to put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top, but I just used a spoon to fill them and it was slightly messy but did the job!

Make the frosting:
Whip the butter in the bowl with an electric mixer for several minutes until it is very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Now the fun part - Ice and decorate the cupcakes:

I realized that my mother in law gave me a syringe decorating set similar to this one that I had never used, so I used this opportunity to test it out ... Hence the crazy cupcakes!

Oreo Truffle Footballs!

THANK YOU Bakerella for this awesome idea.  I saw these on her website and just had to make them!  Mine didn't come out nearly as neatly as hers, but all the guests at our superbowl party loved them!  Chris' coworkers did too; I made him take the leftovers to work on Monday so we didn't eat them all :)

Oreo Truffles

1 package oreo cookies
1 8oz. package lowfat cream cheese (softened)
chocolate bark

Finely crush all cookies in the food processor and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.  And/or your hands!
Roll the mixture into mini football shapes and place on wax paper or foil covered cookie sheet.
Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry.  I had a hard time making them look smooth...

Put them in the fridge or freezer to dry, then add the laces to the footballs w/icing!

You could make these into any shape - just make them.  They are sooooo good!