Elvis Cupcakes

I know it's not Elvis's birthday, but I've been meaning to make this for awhile now and February seems to be a significant month in his life. February was when he was discovered, Lisa Marie is born on Feb. 1st, and February is the month that Elvis and Priscilla separated. Aren't you impressed with my Elvis trivia? I used to be a HUGE fan. Yup, used to be. So in celebration of Elvis's life I've made Elvis Cupcakes. Elvis Cupcakes are a combination of banana, peanut butter, and bacon, but I also added Nutella, because it's freakin' awesome. I've seen many recipes that have a combination of these components so I don't think there's only one way to do this. I went with a peanut butter filled banana cupcake with Nutella frosting and bacon sprinkles. Oh yah.

Elvis Cupcakes (AKA Peanut Butter Filled Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting and Bacon Sprinkles)
Servings: 16-18 cupcakes (I made 12 regulars and 12 mini cupcakes)
Prep & Cook Time:
Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Notes and Your Cup of Cake


Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Filling:
6 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp milk

Cupcake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
dash of cinnamon (optional)
3 large bananas mashed

Nutella Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup Nutella
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1. For the PB filling, cream all ingredients together and set aside.
2. Fry the bacon until golden, drain on a paper towel, and chop into tiny pieces when cooled. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.
4. Sift flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Set aside.
5. Cream together the sugars and butter. About 30 seconds.
6. Add vanilla and beat in eggs one at a time.
7. Mix in the flour mixture in batches until combined. Stir in bananas.
8. Divide among the tins, filling each about 2/3rds.
9. Place  1-2 tsps of the peanut butter mixture on top of the batter in the middle of each tin.
10. With your fingers push down the peanut butter making sure the batter spreads over the peanut butter mixture.
11. Bake 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center, comes out clean. Let cool
12. While it's cooling start the frosting by creaming together Nutella and cream cheese.
13. Add the powdered sugar in batches. Mix on high until smooth and creamy.
14. You can pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes, or just spread them on top.
15. Sprinkle bacon bits on top of each cupcake and then you're done! MMMMM Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Biscotti

Biscotti.  Delicious, Crunchy, Chocolaty goodness biscotti. Dipping biscotti in chocolate is a modern variation of the original recipe. Invented in Italy, this twice-baked cookie originally started out as twice-baked bread used during long trips because of it's long shelf life. Today, I make the ultimate biscotti: chocolate biscotti dipped and drizzled with milk chocolate. I finished these in 2 days. And yes I ate them for dinner last night.

Double Chocolate Biscotti
Serving: 30-36 slices
Prep & Cook Time: About 40 min. + cooling

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 & 3/4 cups flour
1 cup mini chocolate chips (optional- if you want to skip it then you can make Double Choc. Biscotti)

7-8 ounces chocolate (your choice, I used left over Hersey's bars from Christmas)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium for about 30 seconds.
3. Mix in sugars, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
4. Beat eggs in one at a time until combined.
5. Beat in flour slowly on low speed until combined (you may have to use your hands). Stir in choc. chips (optional)
6. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a 9 inch long loaf.
7. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with your fingers until about 2 inches wide.
8. Bake for 20-25 min. Cool completely.
9. While biscotti is cooling, start the chocolate on a double broiler.
10. Reduce over to 325 degrees.
11. On a cutting board, cut the biscotti diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Place them cut side down on a non greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until dry and crispy. I did mine for about 15 min to get it extra crispy. (Butter generally makes the biscotti softer, but in some recipes where oil is used, the cookies turn out crispier.) Cool completely.
12. Mix the melted chocolate on the double broiler to smooth. Dip the flat biscotti bottoms one by one into the chocolate and set it on it's side on parchment paper to dry. If you have leftover chocolate, drizzle over the sides of the biscotti.
13. Once dry, transfer to fridge for 30 minutes to firm.
14. Enjoy! I kept these in tupper ware in the fridge for 3 days.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been on a major bacon binge lately. I never used to eat it the stuff, but thanks to the bf I started to get it at restaurants, which led to me buying it and fried it up at home for breakfast, and of course I've reached that climactic stage in bacon evolution, a week of bacon in everything! From sandwiches, to breakfast foods, to bacon wrapped hot dogs, I have been hard at work clogging up my arteries. But there was one recipe that was amazingly delicious: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Baking with bacon seems to be a new trend. Chocolate dipped bacon, maple bacon cupcakes, and bacon cookies have been popping up in restaurants, bakeries, and blogs. How could I not try a recipe that combines that greasy, salty taste with the chocolaty goodness of a chocolate chip cookie?! And get ready for this... instead of butter, this recipe uses bacon drippings. Oh ya, I said it. Enjoy it.

Now for some exercise...

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Butterscotch Chips)

Recipe adapted from A Cozy Kitchen

Makes about 24 cookies

Prep and cooking time: 1 hour  

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup bacon drippings at room temperature

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

6 pieces of bacon, fried and chopped (the original called for 4, but come on, it's bacon)

6 oz. of chocolate chips

3 oz. of butterscotch chips (optional- but the flavor goes really well with bacon)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the white sugar, brown sugar, egg and bacon drippings.

3. Add the oats, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, flour and mix well.

4. Gently fold in the bacon and chocolate chips (and butterscotch chips).

5. Using your hands shape the dough into 1 1/2″ to 2″ cookies. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for ten minutes or until done.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

This may be my favorite cupcake. It combines my love of cupcakes, chocolate, and cheesecake. The all important 3 C’s! My recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com, with just a few minor changes. Mostly that I add plain yogurt to the recipe, and omit the vinegar. I don’t know why, but it just made sense to me when I did it. It tasted great, so I’m sticking to it. You can also make this into a cream cheese filled cupcake by layering: cake mixture, cream cheese mixture, cake mixture. This way allows for frosting, whereas with the method below, the middle of the cupcake sinks a bit making an uneven frosting surface. Try baking these in a mini cupcake pan for extra cute cupcakes.

Factoid: Cupcakes have also been referred to as “fairy cakes” and “patty cakes”.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Servings: Makes 24

Prep & Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 egg1/3 cup white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoon plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

This is a batch I made for my friend's bridal shower. The cream cheese mixture is in the middle, and I made this frosting recipe and then topped each one with an M&M.