Luscious Buttermilk Brownies

Luscious Buttermilk Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup margarine
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
shot of Bailey's Irish Cream (optional, but so good if added)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In large bowl, melt margarine. Add the cocoa and mix until blended.
3. Add the remaining ingredients in order given.
4. Bake in 13x9 inch pan for 20-25 minutes.

Yes, there is no photo once again. That's because I didn't decorate any of them, and they were eaten very quickly. So, I'm sorry if you need a photo. But trust me, these work every time :)

Nutella Hot Chocolate

I did not come up with this recipe, my good friend Carrie gave it to me, and I am forever grateful! Because of it's wonderfulness I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:
-1 cup of milk
-2 spoonfuls of Nutella
-whipped cream
-mini marshmallows

Directions:
1. In small saucepan heat 1/4 cup of milk on low heat, whisking continuously.
2. Gradually add the Nutella until completely dissolved.
3. Add remaining milk and whisk until hot. Pour into favourite mug and add whipped cream, marshmallows and cinnamon if desired.

I didn't take this photo either, I found it on google. Yes, today I am just full of cheating, no recipe, no photo. What can I say? Sometimes we just need other people.

Chocolate Delight Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place liners in muffin tins.
2. In large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, milk, canola oil, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. In small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Batter should be smooth and thick.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes have slight cracks in them. Serve with frosting or without.

Mocha Marbled Nutella Cheesecake

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups oreo cookie crumbs
3 tbsp. butter
2 blocks (8 ounce each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream*
1 tsp. instant coffee powder
4 tbsp. nutella, melted

Directions:
1. Line 9inch springform pan with foil. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In small bowl, melt butter and add cookie crumbs. Mix well and press firmly into the bottom of springform pan, set aside.
3. In large bowl whisk together the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in the sour cream and coffee powder. Pour batter over prepared crust.
4. Place 3/4 cup of cheesecake batter into another small bowl. Add the nutella and mix well.
5. Using teaspoon, scoop small amounts of nutella batter into the prepared cheesecake batter. With a knife or toothpick, drag it through the nutella batter to get the marbled effect.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and centre is almost solid. Cool on countertop completely and then place in the fridge to set over night. Garnish as desired.

*If you don't have sour cream in the house (I didn't) you can use either yogurt or sour milk. If using the milk it'll turn out a little runnier, but if you bake it a little longer you'll never notice the difference.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
4 tsps. baking powder
1 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs + 1 egg white
1 cup pureed or finely diced strawberries
1 cup milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins and set aside.
2. In medium sized bowl, combine flour and baking powder and mix well.
3. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, and vanilla. With electric mixer, use the whisk attachments and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and then finally the egg white. Beat again until fluffy.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture along with the milk alternating, beating between each addition until all is blended. Fold in the strawberries so the batter doesn't lose the air that's been worked in.
5. Fill the muffin liners and bake for 15-20 minutes (mini cupcakes) or 20-25 minutes (regular cupcakes). Frost with desired strawberry frosting.

*I first saw this recipe on Annie's Eats and changed up some things to make this recipe work for me. I also tried to make the Swiss Meringue Strawberry Buttercream. I made it two times and both were a complete fail. So I myself wouldn't advise using that recipe, but again that's just my experience. So if it works for you, comment and leave a tip for success!

Dad's 50th birthday :)

So on the weekend my and my parents went camping for my father's 50th birthday, and because I hate buying cakes and I love making them, so I made one! The recipe is the same as the recipe for Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes except there was no caramel sauce or Nutella, but I'm sure that'd taste amazing too! So yeah, just instead of cupcake pans, use a 9 inch springform and bake for 20-30 minutes and voilà! A nice and even rich chocolate cake. I made mini cupcakes as well with extra batter and decorated them with Reese's Pieces Candy and mini Reese's Pieces cups. And using my brand new piping tips, I had fun.

Please note, I do realize this doesn't look professional. I wasn't intending it to because my dad isn't as picky as I am and it was his birthday after all.

Here he is!




Also, on the weekend I received my new Nikkor 18-105 lens and these photos are taken with that. It works FANTASTIC and I can't wait until my friends wedding in October that I'm doing :)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins

I know a lot of people who make these different, and all still taste fantastic. But for some reason, I suck at getting the cream cheese mixture the bubble in the middle of the muffin. I've tried it so many ways and it always ends up like this. Oh well, just makes it look like there's more cheesy goodness!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
1 block (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
as much chocolate chips as your heart desires

3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup cocoa (more or less depending on how rich you like it)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup warm water
1 cup margarine, melted
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. In small bowl mix together the first four ingredients until blended well, set aside.
2. In large bowl whisk together the margarine, water, vanilla, and sugar. Add in flour, baking soda, and cocoa gradually.
3. Using either mini lined muffin tins or regular lined muffin tins, scoop batter evenly into each muffin tin leaving some room at the top for the cream cheese mixture.
4. Once all liners are filled, scoop the cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the batter.
5. In preheated 350 degree F oven, (if using mini muffin tins) bake for about 15 minutes (if using regular sized muffin tins) bake for 20-25 minutes.