blueberry oat "cuppins"

Is anyone sick of hearing me talk about my obsession with fresh fruit? I'd like to say I'm sorry and I promise I'll stop soon, but that probably won't happen until roughly....September. At least in terms of stopping the talk. If you're looking for an apology, you'll be waiting a very, very long time. Probably forever. For-e-ver (a la James Earl Jones).

Strawberry season is over (sad face), but blueberry season is in full swing. When we picked blueberries the first weekend they were available, we ended up with about seven pounds of berries. And that was after we had given some to my parents, some to the Boyfriend's family, and some to Katherine, who couldn't join us for the fun. After a full week, I'm proud to report that we ate every.single.last.berry. Not a one went bad. If I turn blue in the next week or so, you'll know why. Is it possible to overdose on blueberries?

In addition to the blueberries, we also managed to find a home for about six pounds of blackberries. More on that later.

Now, see what I did there in the title? Definitely made up a word there. Not quite cupcakes but also not quite muffins, I find these treats to be a nice mix of both - all the light fluffy goodness of a cupcake, but not so sweet that you can't eat one for breakfast or snack (although who are we kidding, I'd totally eat a cupcake for breakfast. Or lunch. Or...you get the point).

Blueberry oat "cuppins" (Makes 12 regular size or about 48 mini)

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

1 small ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup dry old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda, and set aside. In a larger mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), whisk up your egg until it's light and fluffy. Mix in brown sugar until fully incorporated, and then add vanilla, sour cream, and finally the butter. The batter will be really runny at this point. Slowly add in the dry ingredients (I did about 1/2 cup at a time), and mix until just incorporated. Add in the banana. You don't want to mix the flour too much or your batter won't rise well when it bakes. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the oats and blueberries. Dole out batter evenly into a lined cupcake tin. Bake 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

vacation

When you spend a week doing this:

And this:

Celebrating the marriage of two fabulous people:

And you barely checked your phone other than to just text someone your location at the beach:

It's a safe bet you didn't have time to blog.

Even though you had time to bake these:

(Anything for people you love, right?)

Cupcakes made with this recipe

Frosting for 36 cupcakes (plus extra since I went light):

1 32oz bag confectioner's sugar

2 sticks butter, cold but softened, sliced

4oz cream cheese

~1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Whip together butter, cream cheese and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Carefully add milk and vanilla, watching the consistency as you go. If it thins before you've added all the milk, stop! If it's too thick still, add a little more (1 tablespoon at a time). I refrigerated the frosting (after coloring it) for a little before frosting the cupcakes (which must be cooled completely before icing) to help the frosting stay put a bit better. 

caramel macchiato cupcakes

Growing up, I had a nanny who was originally from Peru. One of my favorite activities was making Alfajores, which are a Lain American cookie, basically dulce de leche shortbread cookie sandwiches (dusted with powdered sugar {are you drooling yet?}). Simple shortbread cookies are my favorite, but that spread in the middle is just pure heaven. I can't tell you how many cookies were lost in the process because I purposely broke them while making the sandwiches the cookies are really delicate and a 7 year old doesn't have the gentlest touch. The best part was (quite like a beignet) inhaling the cookie too fast and breathing in powdered sugar, inducing a combination coughing/laughing fit for the next few minutes.

I'll have to make them for you some time.

These cupcakes are kinda-sorta inspired by those cookies (in that I ate the dulce de leche out of the can with a spoon while cooking used the same dulce de leche for the caramel part). One of my favorite spring/summer drinks is an iced caramel macchiato, and since it's not quite warm enough for iced coffee I thought a nice compromise would be a cupcake. The espresso and caramel go together so well, and instead of full-on frosting I chose a simple whipped cream to mimic the milk in the drink. Since the caramel is pretty rich, the cream cuts through it nicely. If I were you, I would make these sooner rather than later!

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes (makes 24 mini and 6 full-sized, or 18 full-sized)


1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons butter, softened but still cold
2 shots espresso (about 1/3 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Place the condensed milk can in a pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes to give it a head start. Preheat your oven to 350*, line a muffin tin with cupcake papers and spray each with cooking spray. Meanwhile, measure dry ingredients into your mixer bowl. Mix in butter until the mixture has the consistency of crumbs. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, gently whisk together egg whites, vanilla, milk and espresso (I'm sure you could use coffee if you don't have espresso available, or even a small amount of coffee liqueur). Pour about 3/4 of the liquid into the dry ingredients and whisk together, then add the rest until the batter comes together. Evenly distribute the batter among the cups, filling about half way (leave room for the caramel!). Open up the can of condensed milk, which should be a bit more condensed and darker in color at this point. Drop a small amount of caramel into each cupcake and swirl around with a toothpick. Some of it will settle to the bottom, but it will bubble up while baking so it'll still be throughout the cupcake. Bake mini cupcakes for 16-18 minutes and regular cupcakes 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before frosting.

For the Whipped Cream


Measure 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup granulated sugar (I chose granulated over powdered sugar because I think it's a little less sweet - don't worry, it doesn't affect the texture) into your mixing bowl. Whisk on high until you start seeing ripples in the cream that stick (ie the cream isn't just splashing back and forth). Turn off the mixer; when you raise the whisk out you should get soft peaks in the cream. This process will take a few minutes, and I wouldn't walk away otherwise you may end up with sweet butter! Top each cupcake with a dollop of whipped cream.

Check out the other fabulous bloggers participating in recipe madness!
The Cheesefries Stand Alone
Food Feminism Life
Kelly's Stellar Kitchen   


If you'd like to join in, just leave a comment!

valentine's day mini cupcakes

I've come to realize that desserts in miniature are a really, really good thing. I mean, it's like illegal or something (or should be) to not taste what you're baking, right? 

That's what I thought.

This cupcake recipe was borrowed from the lovely Andie, one of my most favoritest bloggers. I'll have to admit I had never tried a white cake recipe until tonight, and I'm definitely a fan! The main difference, if you'll notice, is that the batter is devoid of egg yolks. The result is a lighter cake, both in color and consistency. The reason I went with the white cake (aside from the fact that they're her favorite) was because I planned to dye the batter pink for Valentine's day! I figured white would lend itself better to color than yellow. The result is a super fun batch of cupcakes (which I made mini - easier to share that way!) that make perfect little valentines. I'm not usually a huge fan of this holiday, but the fact that it gives me an excuse to bake definitely ups the awesome factor by about a million percent.

The frosting is a vanilla buttercream because vanilla is the best ever, duh it keeps the cupcake nice and light. I may have given myself a sugar rush from finishing off the icing in the pastry bag once I was done frosting the cupcakes. Don't judge.

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

1 cup cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 egg whites

1/2 cup whole milk

5 tablespoons butter, softened but still cold

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350* and line a muffin tin with paper liners (it may help to spray with non-stick cooking spray, as well). Whisk together egg whites, milk and vanilla in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Mix dry ingredients in a larger bowl (or stand mixer bowl). Mix in butter until you have a crumb consistency. Pour 3/4 of the liquid mix into the bowl and beat together on medium speed for about a minute and a half. Add the rest and mix for another minute or so on low, scraping down the sides halfway through. If making plain cupcakes, portion batter into the tin so each cup is about 3/4 filled. If making multi-colored cupcakes, divide batter evenly into several bowls (however many colors you want) and color with a few drops of food coloring or gel. Layer colored batters into cups. Swirl the different colors with a toothpick (use a new toothpick for each cupcake), if desired. Bake 20-22 minutes (15-17 minutes for mini-cupcakes), or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. When the cupcakes are done, move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 stick butter, softened

2.5 tablespoons (2T + 1-2t) flour

1/2 cup milk (I used whole)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens to a cake batter-like consistency. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool completely. Meanwhile, cream sugar and butter with your mixer until butter is completely incorporated. Once the flour/milk mixture is cool, add to the butter/sugar and beat on high for about a minute, until the frosting is smooth. To color the frosting, I added dye to the milk/flour while it was cooling. I'm sure you could add it later, too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

banana cupcakes with avocado buttercream

How Sweet It Is wasn't kidding when she said you really had to trust her on this one.

Avocado in frosting? Are you crazy?

Yeah, probably. But seriously guys, these were some of the best cupcakes I've ever made. The banana cupcake was perfectly light and fluffy, and not too sweet. Don't fret, the buttercream made up for it! And I promise, you could barely taste the avocado. It made for a really creamy frosting, though. I know I made these barely 12 hours ago, but I'm seriously considering making them again before the weekend is over. 

 Since I can't be trusted around cupcakes wanted to do a nice thing, I brought half of the cupcakes down to the front desk in my building. They're always super nice and helpful!

 Now if you'll excuse me, I have leftover frosting I need to go eat straight out of the bowl with a spoon.

Brown Sugar Banana Cupcakes with Avocado Buttercream (from How Sweet It Is)

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large ripe bananas, mashed*

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside. In a bowl (I had my stand mixer on medium), whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and mix until batter comes together. Don't worry, it really should be that thick! Using an ice cream scoop (or ya know, a large spoon), scoop batter into liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes. I set the timer for 15 and toothpick-checked then, but they needed the full 18 minutes. **Let them cool completely before even thinking about adding the frosting! Otherwise you may get a slightly runny finish (see above).

Avocado Buttercream

2 ripe avocados

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Cream avocado and butter together until smooth. Stir in salt and vanilla. Whisk in one cup of powdered sugar at a time (if using a mixer, make sure it's on low). If you still want the icing thicker after all of the sugar is added, just add more until it reaches the desired thickness.

*For the bananas, I had a few over-ripe ones hanging out in the freezer that I thawed before starting. They were perfectly mushy and mixed in really well with very little effort.