Guinness Brownies

St Patrick's Day is tomorrow and I need to share with you guys the awesomeness that is these brownies. A thick, dense brownie full of rich chocolate goodness, heightened with that beautiful Irish stout Guinness. And then I did something awful. And by awful I mean amazing. I took the Bailey's buttercream frosting from my Irish Triple Threat cupcakes and slathered it on top of these brownies. Irish dessert squared. I took these to a party over the weekend were they got rave reviews. I've never made a brownie quite like this. It's fudgy but not gooey and thick but not cakey. Seriously, these are so good I can hardly describe them. Just trust that you need to make these. Now.

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Dave's birthday is this weekend, but since our little guy is on his way any day now, I threw him a party a couple of weeks ago just to be sure we'd get a chance to celebrate. And to make sure I got an opportunity to make his birthday cupcakes. I think choosing his cupcakes from my insanely huge board on Pinterest is one of his favorite things about his birthday. He didn't have to scroll far to find these fluffernutter cupcakes--a peanut butter cupcake with a surprise inside, topped with a marshmallow buttercream (yup, marshmallow and butter!). What's the surprise? A full sized Reese's cup nestled into the bottom of each cupcake. These taste amazing and if you've ever sat with a jar of peanut butter, a jar of fluff and a spoon, these are your cupcakes. I'm told that when Dave was a toddler, he couldn't wait for someone to make him a fluffernutter sandwich, so he just sat on the floor with the jars and a spoon and helped himself. Although apparently he was kind enough to share with the dog as well. But going back to these cupcakes--they are tender on the inside, perfectly flavored with peanut butter and the frosting is spot on. A lot of fun and full of flavor, I'm guessing Dave will be asking for these again.

Peanut Butter Mini Donuts with Chocolate Frosting

Holy peanut butter, Batman! These donuts are awesome! Seriously, Dave has it so good to wake up and get these little babies on a Saturday morning. Soft, cakey peanut butter flavored donuts are topped with a creamy chocolate glaze and dusted with chopped peanuts for a perfectly yummy breakfast treat. We may have devoured several of these before I put a stop to it and packaged the rest up for friends. And then didn't take them to our friends. (Sorry--I promise you'll get treats soon!) Super simple recipe, big flavor to win over any peanut butter and chocolate fan, and mini donuts alone are enough to make anyone smile. Seriously, I could make these every week (assuming I would be giving up on pants altogether).

Marshmallow Fudge Cocoa Cookies

Happy Birthday Abi! My niece just turned 8. You may remember that last year I made her Blueberry Muffin Cookies. Abi is a girl who knows what she wants and asks for it, so this year she asked for a marshmallow cookie. She's loves her some marshmallows and some chocolate, so I dug out this recipe that I haven't made in probably 5 years. It's awesome. You know how carrot sticks are a delivery vehicle for ranch dressing and tortilla chips exist strictly for shoveling copious amounts of salsa into your face? Well these cookies are really just a means of transporting the gooey marshmallow and thick fudgy frosting from your plate to your tongue. Sometimes the cookie is just a means to an end.

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Rarely do the stars align so I can share a recipe for birthday baking on someone's actual birthday. Happy Birthday, Rachel! We had Rachel and some other friends over this weekend and I made these lemon cupcakes when the birthday girl asked for something lemony. And boy are they. Lemon juice and zest give these cupcakes a tart, citrus tang and lemon extract in the buttercream frosting is quite literally the icing on the cake. This frosting is slightly different than I typically make thanks to a little cream in the frosting, whipped up to creamy and smooth. Yum! These cupcakes will definitely make you think spring (even if you do still have chipmunk igloos in your yard like we do).

Irish Triple Threat Cupcakes

Oh boy, are these the real deal. Amazing cupcakes. Really. They are all that is good for St. Patrick's Day and you have all weekend to make them. I made them when friends came over and several people tried to "just have half" only to immediately shove the other half in their (and my) face). Just don't even try. You'd be better off saying, "I'll have half...the recipe." Let me break it down for you: Guinness helps make a dark chocolate cupcake that is then stuffed with a Jameson whiskey ganache only to finally be topped with a Bailey's buttercream frosting. Yes, that'll do just fine. It covers all your Irish bases--three of the food groups (Guinness, Jameson and Bailey's) plus it's a cupcake plus it's awesome. You need these cupcakes in your life if you are Irish, like alcohol-infused treats, like cupcakes and/or are not completely insane (the last qualification is excluded for anyone with the first qualification see we Irish are a wee bit nuts at times). Seriously? Make these. Eat them all. Make them again.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Dave gets cupcakes for his birthday. Because I love him and he loves cake. So for his birthday this year, I made him these amazing cupcakes with a peanut butter cake speckled with chocolate chips and topped with a fluffy peanut butter buttercream frosting. I don't know how or why, but when these cupcakes baked up, the tops became firm and cookie-like in texture and the bottom half of the cupcakes were soft, fluffy and perfectly cakey. Maybe it was my stone muffin pan or maybe this recipe is magic, but either way, it's fine. The frosting is delicious on it's one, but I had a bit of chocolate buttercream frosting left over from a previous dessert, so for a few of these, I put both the chocolate and the peanut butter frosting in the piping bag for a yummy buttercream swirl of peanut butter and chocolate. Topped with some fun chocolate sprinkles and ta-da! Awesome peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes for my honey's birthday.

Gingerbread Men Sandwich Cookies

Gingerbread cookies are a must for Christmas and I make some version of them every year. So this year when I saw the idea of making them into sandwich cookies, I couldn't resist. I made sandwiches out of gingerbread men, stars and trees, because I like to party. The cookies are soft and flavorful, made with molasses, cinnamon and of course, ginger. The filling is perfect for sandwich cookies, creamy and sweet, and has the perfect texture to combine cookies without oozing out the sides like messy frosting. I really need to make more sandwich cookies--they are fun and you can get away with eating two cookies and frosting but look like your only having one.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Is it ice cream?  Is it cake?  Better still, is that fluffy buttercream frosting?  I had a flashback to a time when my mom made these amazing cupcakes in ice cream cones. I can't remember if it was for a birthday party, a school treat, or just because, but I remember thinking they were so awesome. My mom was pretty creative with cake and had a talent for decorating cakes that I just failed to get the hang of (my sister inherited that gene).  But as I remembered these cupcake cones, I knew they were something that even my lack of skill could pull off.  Tasty vanilla cupcake batter is poured into ice cream cones (the flat bottomed cake cones) and baked up to golden and fluffy.  Topped high with chocolate buttercream made to look like soft serve ice cream and dusted with confetti style sprinkles, these cupcakes not only brought back memories, but also brought smiles to my friends faces when I shared these at a party.

Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting

It's almost Valentine's Day so that can only mean one thing: a week's worth of red velvet treats coming your way.  Of course that means a week's worth of sweets, but some are for breakfast, some for dessert and some just for any time snacking.  Starting with these soft, cakey, chocolatey and lovely red brownies topped with a creamy and sweet cream cheese frosting pairing beautifully with these red bars.  The pop of bright white against red velvet is always stunning and super appropriate for this chocolate laden, heart adorned holiday.  Plus, these just taste so darn good!

Snickers Cupcakes

Hungry? Hungry for chocolate?  Maybe some peanuts and caramel?  Well grab a huge glass of milk and let's get to town.  Dave looked at these and said they looked intense.  I responded, "Eh, we've got milk," because these cupcakes are rich, delicious and might just be my favorite new cupcake.  The rich, chocolate cupcake is stuffed with chunks of Snickers candy bars and caramel, topped with a creamy caramel buttercream and more chunks of Snickers.  Heaven.  You need these.  They might just change your life.  Or just put you in a nice sugar coma for an afternoon.  Either would be good.

Mini Shirley Temple Cupcakes

Growing up, I used to think it was so fancy to order a Shirley Temple when my parents took us out to eat.  We could only get them at "fancy" restaurants and it was so special.  And for holiday dinners, my Dad would even make them for us at home.  I always got mine with extra cherries (probably why I will still order my Manhattan's with extra cherries today).  I remember ordering a Shirley Temple from the open bar at my Godfather's wedding and specifically asking the bartender to make it without alcohol (I was 7, I didn't understand how cocktails worked).  So I thought these clever little cupcakes would be a lovely nod to nostalgia and happiness for New Year's Eve.  I think they are cuter in miniature and the cherry flavor is light in the cupcake and a little more potent in the frosting, and comes together with a light almond accent.  Perfect bite-size treats, with a cherry on top to boot!

Brownie Covered Oreos

These are so sinful that I don't even care that they combine a store bought cookie and a prepackaged mix.  It's a busy time of year and every once and a while we just need to accept the shortcuts as they come, say thank and indulge in this chocolatey, fudgey goodness.  My only regret with these was that I didn't use Double Stuf Oreos.  I like that the Oreos still have a firmness to them and gently yield to the fudgy brownie, with a pop of the sweet filling inside.  Is there really anything else to say?  Let me sum up: an Oreo, dipped in brownie batter and baked up to yummy, fudgy goodness.

Butterfinger Blondies

Apparently my sister's house is the "good" house in her neighborhood.  The one that gives out full-sized bars for Halloween.  I know this because at Thanksgiving, there was a still a bucket of full-sized candy bars sitting in her dining room, waiting to be put out of their misery.  Amongst the orphaned candy bars were some Butterfingers.  "Don't worry," I said, "I'll take care of these little guys."  And it was a good thing because despite the three pies, blondies, various cookies, breads, fudge and pumpkin roll, these bars were the only dessert my sister, Amy, wanted that whole week.  And I can't say I blame her.  The sweet and salty combo in these blondies is perfect and the thick layer of frosting makes them stand apart from the typical bar.  The peanut butter and chocolate flavors are apparent and divine but not overwhelming or dominant.  Dave and my brother in law, Nate, also loved them, stating they were actually better than eating a Butterfinger in candy bar form.  Dave even went so far as to request them for his birthday baking next month (I totally smuggled three more Butterfingers out of Amy's house to do so).

Zucchini-Carrot Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Well, I actually didn't make these bars for the Airstream event, but since I've already posted the recipe for the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars that I did make for Madaline and Ernie's rally, I thought I'd substitute a yummy zucchini recipe as part of zucchini week and in keeping with the bar theme for Wednesdays this month.  See how well that works out?  And these bars are delicious.  They are soft and full of flavor, sweet with a little crunch from the walnuts and the cream cheese frosting, with a light hint of lemon, is a perfect match.  Almost like a carrot cake, these bars have a nice flavor, cakey texture, and are perfect for a snack, dessert or breakfast.  In fact, I took half the pan to my aunt and uncle's house when we visited and we definitely had them with breakfast.  These were a lovely sweet alternative to other breakfast pastries on a hot summer day. 

These bars were one of my first pins and I was so happy to have an overabundance of zucchini to have an excuse to make them.  Laura over at Real Mom Kitchen posted this recipe and I really like how she included the carrot, but didn't make these into a carrot cake bar with zucchini thrown in.  The walnuts are a nice touch, too.  I was a little skeptical since a bit of ginger was the only seasoning, but it really worked with the creamy frosting, which piled super high on these bars.  I adjusted the recipe to include more zucchini than carrots because I was running low on the orange veggies and high on the green ones (I just eked out a full cup of carrot).  I also forgot to pick up a lemon to add zest to the frosting, so I used a bit of lemon juice instead, which I liked for a more prominent lemon flavor.  These would be great for a morning meeting, church social, book club, or just for a new way to enjoy a zucchini enhanced dessert.  If my zucchini plant continues on it's current path, I might be making these a few more times this summer.

Banana Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Again with the bananas.  But bananas are super versatile and clearly want to be turned into delicious desserts and lovely baked goods or else they wouldn't turn overripe so quickly.  So I'm actually doing the bananas a favor.   And these bars are yet another example of how to make a delicious treat with what you have on hand.  Perfect.  Moist with a pleasant banana flavor and a hint of cinnamon, the cakey bars are a nice treat.   Topped with a bit of cinnamon cream cheese frosting and this is the perfect match for a cup of coffee at a morning meeting--or at least that's what I understand from my coworkers.  I brought a few leftovers home and then Cindy came over.  She finished the last two and didn't even realize she'd polished off the second one since they are so light and yummy. 

Another recipe from Jaclyn at Cookin' Classy, I really like how she incorporated the lower fat alternatives of sour cream and applesauce instead of just butter or oil.  These small changes still allowed for a light and fluffy cake without sacrificing any flavor.  While I didn't use Jaclyn's cream cheese frosting recipe (I had some leftover frosting in the fridge from another recipe and just added some cinnamon to it), I've included it below for your benefit.  Alternatively, you could probably skip the frosting and do a cinnamon sugar streusel with the nuts mixed it.  Either way, you're in for a lovely alternatively to banana bread.  Instead of pecans, I used walnuts, which were classically delicious with the banana flavored bars.  Also, I added a bit of cinnamon to the batter because it's such a great pairing and I don't think it overwhelmed the bars when topped with the frosting.  I did cut my bars into 24, because I thought 12 would make bars that were just too big. I like to offer small tastes that you can go back for seconds rather than just one big serving, but do what comes naturally to you, because it will still be tasty.

Cake Batter Sandwich Cookies

Time for more birthday baking.  My niece Abi turned 6 (6!) on Monday.  Of course being the wonderful aunt I am, I had to send her something sweet and tasty with her gift.  And what better treat for a birthday girl than something that tastes like birthday cake.  I opted to use pretty pastel pink, purple and orange colored frosting to sandwich these sweet sugar cookies flavored with yellow cake. This is a pretty quick recipe aided by a prepackaged cookie mix with a little cake mix added to the party.  Cute, perfect for birthday celebrations and yes, very tasty.  Plus there is something about a sandwich cookie that's just plain fun.

This is a Betty Crocker recipe and is very easy to make.  The original recipe suggests using neon colored food coloring, but being spring and almost Easter, I went with the softer classic colors to end up with more pastel shades.  Also in the original recipe is a butter cream frosting recipe.  I went with a premade canned frosting instead because I knew I'd be shipping the cookies and didn't want the frosting to go bad.  Either way, these cookies are a great treat for a birthday party or any other time needing a little colorful, cake flavored fun.

Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies with Bailey's Buttercream Filling

If a holiday ever screamed, "Make a delicious dessert filled with booze!" it would be St. Patrick's Day.  So when the Irish in me saw this recipe, I knew I needed to make it immediately if not sooner.  The stout in the chocolate cake batter provides a subtle distinction in the flavor.  You don't taste beer, but the deep richness of the chocolate makes you think, "this is a little bit different."  The stout compliments the dark chocolate in a very good way without being intense.  Paired with a fluffy Bailey's flavored buttercream frosting and it's a match made in St. Patrick's treats heaven.  Since I'm not a huge Bailey's fan, I was hesitant about the filling.  But paired together, there is a balance that really makes you happy (or you're drunk, but probably not).  I took these in to work as a little treat for my coworkers and they raved.  At 10 am, most of them devoured them as soon as I came up to their desk.

Strawberry and Vanilla Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze and Lime Buttercream Frosting

After being challenged by Cindy in the cupcake department, I certainly couldn't let the shower go by without serving a few cupcakes for good measure.  And I made simple fruit flavors to satisfy Cindy's more simplified dessert preferences.  Making the cupcakes mini made them that much more fun and allowed everyone to sample different desserts rather than commit to a full sized cupcake (or feel like a little piggy by having a couple of big desserts).  Plus, this way I got to mix and match the flavors and provide a wider assortment, which is always fun.  The strawberry mini cupcakes had a strong strawberry flavor already, so to pair them with the strawberry glaze made the flavor intense, which is great if you love strawberries!  The lime buttercream was a perfect compliment to the strawberry mini cupcakes.  Likewise, the vanilla mini cupcakes were the perfect palette for both the glaze and the frosting.  Even though Dave and Cindy were both sitting in the kitchen watching me pipe the lime frosting, I kept the beater for myself--this frosting was delicious!  Tasty and cute, mini cupcakes are definitely the way to go.  Plus, I loved the little polka dot mini cupcake liners I found to match the shower's polka dot theme.

Cake Batter Rice Krispies Treats

Why, yes, these Rice Krispies treats do taste like birthday cake.  They are seriously good.  I love having a new way to flavor the traditional treat and these are perfect birthday treats since they taste like cake.  I love the traditional yellow cake flavor with a hint of chocolate frosting smeared on top, but the idea of using different cake mixes and frosting leaves endless possibilities.  These were on hand for a party to celebrate our friend Nick's birthday and were a huge hit.  In fact, they were eaten so fast, I never got a chance to take a good picture of them cut into squares, so I had to make them again (tragic, really).  I actually made them again for my own birthday (today!) since I'm not sure Dave will be venturing into the kitchen to whip anything up.

This recipe is courtesy of Andi from The Wednesday Baker who you might remember from my first posting for the Secret Recipe Club.  When I saw these I knew I needed to make them since I kept going back to the post.  Dave couldn't wait to try him since they combined his favorite thing (cake) with his new excitement (flavored Rice Krispies Treats).  Since I was afraid of the sprinkles melting, I opted to add them to the bowl of cereal rather than add them to melted marshmallow mixture.  A nice alternative to cake, these would be good for a children's party where cake would be difficult to serve, like a pool party or something like that.  And they'd make awesome bake sale treats tied up in individual bags.