The BEST Cream Cheese Frosting ever!

The Inspiration...

        Cupcakes. They are my best friends :0) After all, I am Cupcake Carina! They have to taste their best at all times. Here is my rubric for Cupcakes, it is very hard to get an A+ in all areas:

Batter

• Flavor
• Moistness (And the ability to keep it over a period of days)
• Fluffy
• Clinging to the wrapper
• Coloring
• Ect.

Frosting

• Flavor (The perfect match to the Cupcake's flavor)
• Sweetness (Not like liquid sugar, but not too buttery)
• Fluffy
• Light
• Airy
• Texture
• Spreadable (not too stiff, not too liquidy)
• Ect.

       When it comes to a Red Velvet Cupcake, the perfect match for frosting is Cream Cheese frosting. Some put on Vanilla Buttercream, but in my opinion, a Red Velvet Cupcake isn't complete without a perfect Cream Cheese Frosting! This Cream Cheese Frosting recipe gets an A+ in all of the Frosting Rubric Criteria.

       It took a lot of hunting to find the perfect recipe, but this one is my favorite out of all that I have tried, and trust me, with all of the cupcakes I make, I have tried ALOT of cream cheese frosting recipes :0) I love this one because it is the perfect ratio of powdered sugar to cream cheese. This recipe is by far the greatest of all times!

    Hopefully you like it as much as I do!!

    As always, I have typed the recipe down at the bottom :0)

The Recipe...

      NOTE: The more you mix this frosting, the more warm it will get, leading to a looser, more liquidy frosting. Make sure that you mix so the ingredients are blended, but don't over mix this frosting :0)

Ingredients:

• 2~8 oz. packages of Cream Cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of room temperature Butter
• 1 Tbsp. of Vanilla Extract
• 2 1/2 cups of Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Step 1: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. (Unsalted butter works best, that way you can control the amount of salt to your frosting)

 

I took this picture before I added the 2nd package of Cream Cheese

 

Step 2: Beat in the Vanilla Extract

 

 

Step 3: Add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth

 

 

Step 4: Frost on top of a perfect dessert and ENJOY!!

 

 

The Best Cream Cheese Frosting!

 

Ingredients:

 

2~8 oz. packages of Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1/2 cup (1 stick) of room temperature Butter

1 Tbsp. of Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 cups of Powdered Sugar

 
Directions:

Step 1: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. (Unsalted butter works best, that way you can control the amount of salt to your frosting)
Step 2: Beat in the Vanilla Extract
Step 3: Add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth
Step 4: Frost on top of a perfect dessert and ENJOY!!

Recipe courtesy of Bon Appètit Magazine

Granola Balls

 

The Inspiration...

 
        I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some cooler weather... I'm counting down the days until the first day of fall... which is in 29 days :0) Fall doesn't start that early over here, but it is nice to know that it is on its way. Anyways, back to the cutest little dessert ever, Granola Balls!! This treat is what I think of when I think of fall, well, besides Pumpkin Pie :0) The colors that you will find in one bite are found the perfect Autumn Rainbow: Golden Honey, Cranberry Red, Chocolate Brown, Walnut tan, Peanut Butter Perfection... But since these are so easy and simple to make, you can make them any time of the year!!

        If you have been reading my blog, you would have seen that this is the second Granola-type recipe on here, so it is safe for you to say that I am a fan of oat filled treats :0) This isn't like that Granola Bar recipe though, this is more of a desserty-type treat, YUMMO! I will warn you though, it is impossible to just stop at one... or two... or three :0) These are a MUST try if I do say so myself :0)

       As always, if you are looking to print this recipe, I have put all of the directions and ingredients all together toward the bottom of the post, without all of the pictures so that it is easier to print :0)

The Recipe...

       For this recipe you will need to have some extra time set aside for rolling out the balls and chilling them in the fridge. I got this recipe from my grandma, thank you Nanny :0)

       NOTE: Some of my steps say not to stir yet, I have a method to my madness :0) If you stir everything over and over again, you could result in crushing or mushing ingredients, which could result in a different textured mixture.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of smooth Peanut Butter
• 1 cup of Honey
• 3 cups of Old-Fashioned Oats
• 1/2 cup of Ground Flaxseed
• 1 cup of Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 cup of Dried Cranberries (or any other small dried fruit)
• 1/2 cup of Chopped Walnuts (or any other kind of nut)

Directions:

Step 1: Mix Peanut Butter and Honey together until smooth

 

 

Step 2: Add Old Fashioned Oats to Mixture, don't stir yet

 

 

Step 3: Add in Ground Flaxseed (I buy unground Flaxseed and just grind it in a coffee grinder) and mix the ingredients together

 

Step 4: Add in Chocolate Chips to the mixture, don't mix yet

 

Step 5: Add in the dried cranberries and walnuts

 

 

Step 6: Mix everything together until it creates a nice, even batter

 

Step 7: Roll them into tablespoon size balls

 

Step 8: Chill for at least and hour and enjoy!!

 

 

Granola Balls

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of smooth Peanut Butter

1 cup of Honey

3 cups of Old-Fashioned Oats

1/2 cup of Ground Flaxseed

1 cup of Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup of Dried Cranberries (or any other small dried fruit)

1/2 cup of Chopped Walnuts (or any other kind of nut)

Directions



Step 1: Mix Peanut Butter and Honey together until smooth

Step 2: Add Old Fashioned Oats to Mixture, don't stir yet

Step 3: Add in Ground Flaxseed (I buy unground Flaxseed and just grind it in a coffee grinder) and mix the ingredients together

Step 4: Add in Chocolate Chips to the mixture, don't mix yet

Step 5: Add in the dried cranberries and walnuts 

Step 6: Mix everything together until it creates a nice, even batter

Step 7: Roll them into tablespoon size balls

Step 8: Chill for at least and hour and enjoy!!

Baking Quote...

 

"As long as you know how to bake, Life is sure to be sweet!"

When Life gives you Lemons, Make Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars!!

The Inspiration…

          Summer time… Sunny, bright skies; vacations to amazing places; cannon balls in the pool; lathering up the sunscreen; sunglasses everywhere… What is the one part of summer I forgot to mention?

          A tall glass of Lemonade!!! I LOVE lemonade, it is my all-time favorite drink! But, as we all know, lemonade isn’t a dessert, but a wonderful refreshing drink, right? Well, I have a fantastic dessert that will fulfill your lemony needs :0)

          Lemon  Sugar Cookie Bars! These cuties are the golden summer time treat, but I recommend eating them after they have chilled, because it really brings out the flavor of the lemon! Plus, anything tastes better cold in the crazy hot summer months! :0) Who could go wrong with a delicious lemon cookie topped with a refreshing lemon frosting? Can you say “YYYYYUUUUUMMMMM!!!!” :0)

          If you are looking to print this recipe, I have put all of the directions and ingredients all together toward the way bottom of the blog, without all of the pictures so it is more easy to print :0) Hope it helps!

The Recipe…

After hunting around Pinterest, I found a recipe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More and gave it a twist, hope you LOVE it!!

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough-

·        1/2 cup butter, room temperature

·        1 cups granulated sugar

·        2 large eggs

·        The juice of ½ a lemon

·        2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·        1/2 teaspoon salt

·        1/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting-

·        1/4 cup butter

·        1/4 cup shortening

·        Juice of the other half a lemon

·        Pinch of salt

·        2 cups powdered sugar

·        1-3 tablespoons of milk

·        yellow food coloring

Directions:

For the Cookie...

Step 1: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 

Step 2: Add in eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest and juice

 

Step 3: In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

 

 

Step 4:  Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, (I did mine in 3 batches) just until combined.

 

Step 5: Spread dough into a greased 9x13 pan, using your hands to completely cover pan evenly with dough.

 

Step 6: Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 375* oven, until just starting to turn golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting...

Step 7: Combine butter and shortening, beating until smooth.

 

Step 8: Add in lemon juice and salt, beat again

  Step 9: Slowly add in powdered sugar until smooth.

 

Step 10: Add in a few drops of yellow food coloring to give it a "Lemony Look"

 

Step 11: Once the cookie has baked and COOLED, frost the cookie with your lemon-frosting. Then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to let it set. ENJOY!!!

 

Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough-

·        1/2 cup butter, room temperature

·        1 cups granulated sugar

·        2 large eggs

·        The juice of ½ a lemon

·        2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·        1/2 teaspoon salt

·        1/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting-

·        1/4 cup butter

·        1/4 cup shortening

·        Juice of the other half a lemon

·        Pinch of salt

·        2 cups powdered sugar

·        1-3 tablespoons of milk

·        yellow food coloring

Directions:

For the Cookie...

Step 1: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Step 2: Add in eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest and juice

Step 3: In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

Step 4:  Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, (I did mine in 3 batches) just until combined.

Step 5: Spread dough into a greased 9x13 pan, using your hands to completely cover pan evenly with dough.

Step 6: Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 375* oven, until just starting to turn golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting...

Step 7: Combine butter and shortening, beating until smooth.

Step 8: Add in lemon juice and salt, beat again

Step 9: Slowly add in powdered sugar until smooth.

Step 10: Add in a few drops of yellow food coloring to give it a "Lemony Look"

Step 11: Once the cookie has baked and COOLED, frost the cookie with your lemon-frosting. Then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to let it set. ENJOY!!

Granola Bars! Yay :0)

 The Inspiration...

           Big, little, sweet, salty, there are many versions of granola bars! I have been a fan of the cute, little snack for a while, and they come in handy when you need a quick bite. I found that if I made my own granola bars, I could put EXACTLY what I wanted inside them, and leave out anything that I don’t want in my granola bar too! 

           This is perfect timing, since I need a snack after my hour and a half workout in the pool, starting at 6:20 a.m. (I am a swimmer on a swim team. GO SHARKS!!) After I did my homework: researching different recipes on these little guys, I found the recipe I loved the most...Alton Brown’s recipe from Food Network, but I changed up a few things to his recipe to make it mine. (A good chef turns a simple recipe into their own with a few little touches :0) 

           If you are looking to print this recipe, I have put all of the directions and ingredients all together toward the way bottom of the blog, without all of the pictures so it is more easy to print :0) Hope it helps! 

 The Recipe… 

           For these granola bars, you can switch around many different ingredients if you don’t like some. Add more of one ingredient, or less of another, whatever is going to taste great for you! Also, as I‘m eating up theses granola bars, I found that there are many other ways that you can eat them up. I tried crumbling them up on top of yogurt (YUUUUUMM!) And my Mom thought of crumbling them up onto her oatmeal! There are endless possibilities… Let’s get to it! You’re going to want to eat these as soon as you can! 

Ingredients you will need: 

• 2 cups Rolled Oats 
• 1 1/2 cups of Chopped Nuts ( I used Almonds and Brazil nuts) 
• 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ 
• 1/2 cup of Honey 
• 1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter 
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1/2 tsp. Salt 
• 6 oz. Dried Fruit ( I used dried cranberries, semi chopped) 
• 1 cup of Mini Chocolate Chips 

 Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350*, evenly spread rolled oats, chopped nuts, and wheat germ on a cookie sheet. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I stirred them every 5 minutes) 

Step 2: In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt into a medium sauce pan or pot. (Make sure it is big enough to hold all of your toasted oat mixture) Heat the pot on medium heat, and stir the mixture until the brown sugar is completely dissolved (The sugar will melt quickly) 

Step 3: Gather your dried fruit and chocolate chips to add into the bar. I semi chopped the fruit to make the pieces smaller and more bite sized. 

Step 4: Once the oat mixture is toasted completely, take it out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300* 

Step 5: Immediately add your oat mixture into your pot/pan, and stir until your oats are completely covered in the honey mixture. Then, add in your dried fruit and chocolate chips and stir until combined. 

Step 6: Take your granola bar mixture and dump it into a prepared, greased 9x9” pan. Press the granola mixture until there is an even layer of granola bar in the pan. 

Step 7: Bake the bars in a 300* oven for 25 minutes.  Let them cool completely and ENJOY!! 

Granola Bars:

Ingredients you will need: 

• 2 cups Rolled Oats 
• 1 1/2 cups of Chopped Nuts ( I used Almonds and Brazil nuts) 
• 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ 
• 1/2 cup of Honey 
• 1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar 
• 2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter 
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1/2 tsp. Salt 
• 6 oz. Dried Fruit ( I used dried cranberries, semi chopped) 
• 1 cup of Mini Chocolate Chips 

Directions:

 Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350*, evenly spread rolled oats, chopped nuts, and wheat germ on a cookie sheet. Toast them in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I stirred them every 5 minutes) 

Step 2: In the meantime, combine honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt into a medium sauce pan or pot. (Make sure it is big enough to hold all of your toasted oat mixture) Heat the pot on medium heat, and stir the mixture until the brown sugar is completely dissolved (The sugar will melt quickly) 

Step 3: Gather your dried fruit and chocolate chips to add into the bar. I semi chopped the fruit to make the pieces smaller and more bite sized. 

Step 4: Once the oat mixture is toasted completely, take it out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300* 

Step 5: Immediately add your oat mixture into your pot/pan, and stir until your oats are completely covered in the honey mixture. Then, add in your dried fruit and chocolate chips and stir until combined. 

Step 6: Take your granola bar mixture and dump it into a prepared, greased 9x9” pan. Press the granola mixture until there is an even layer of granola bar in the pan. 

Step 7: Bake the bars in a 300* oven for 25 minutes.  Let them cool completely and ENJOY!!