Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Or is it Carrot cupcakes? Carrotcupcakes? Carrot cake cup cakes? Carrotcake Cupcakes? No? I'll stick with Carrot Cake Cupcakes then until I am corrected.


This recipe is from skinnytaste.com, and they are the most moist and delicious carrot cake inspired dessert I have ever encountered! And the bonus? They are actually quite good for you!

The key to making these so wonderfully moist is the use of crushed pineapple in recipe.  It doesn't make the cupcakes taste like pineapple at all, and it removes the need for using large amounts of oil.  I left out the walnuts because I knew most people who would be eating them would prefer it that way, but the original recipe did call for them and that recipe can be found here.


I strongly suggest that you make these! And soon! The recipe makes about 20 - 24 cupcakes.


Carrot Cake Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 20 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (drained)

1. Line your muffin tin with paper cupcake liners, and preheat your oven to 350.
2. Whisk together the first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl
3. In a second bowl, mix together the canola oil, eggs and vanilla. When combined, add the carrot and pineapple.
4. Fold the wet ingredient mixture in with the dry ingredients
5. Fill each muffin cup until 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full
6. Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  

If you wish to top them with cream cheese icing (which I strongly suggest you do), here is a lighter version of the classic Cream Cheese frosting that you can use to stay with the 'healthy dessert' theme! This is also from skinnytaste.com.

Light Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz (1 package) light Philadelphia Cream Cheese (do not use fat free)
• 1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat together the three ingredients until completely smooth
2. Spread over cooled Carrot Cake Cupcakes, and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Smartie Cookies

I had a serious craving for peanut butter cookies the other day, and I was also convinced that I had to use some smarties that I had picked up on my last shopping trip.  I found this peanut butter cookie recipe on marthastewart.com (direct link is here) and substituted the smarties for the chocolate chunks! 


I know, genius.


I wasn't sure what would make a good peanut butter cookie recipe, but as soon as I saw the creamy batter taking shape, I knew I was on the right track to a tasty cookie!

After I started dropping the cookies onto a baking sheet, I could almost taste them! Or it could have been all the batter I had already consumed, whichever.

This recipe makes about one and a half dozen cookies.  The original recipe makes 36.


Peanut Butter Smartie Cookies

• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 tbsps unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 ounces of smarties (or chocolate chip/chunks)

1. Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.  Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Sift together the flour and the baking soda in a small bowl
3. Mix together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a stand mixer (or by hand, go muscles!), continue mixing until nice and smooth
4. Add the egg and vanilla,and mix well
5. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix until the batter is just coming together 
6. Add in the smarties and fold in until evenly distributed in the batter
7. Using a tablespoon, drop batter onto the prepared cookie sheet
8. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes
9. Let cool, and then melt in pure joy with your first bite!

BBQ'd Nachos

Since it is finally hot out, the last thing everyone wants to do is heat up their house when they want a snack.  Nachos made on the BBQ are not only really easy, but they keep the cooking outside! This recipe was inspired by the Nacho Recipe in Company's Coming Sizzling Grills and Spectacular Salads cookbook.


The corn chips instead of standard nacho chips lend a ton of flavor to this dish. And they hold up really well to the weight of the toppings too.  We lined a pan that we have for the grill with tin foil, but if you don't have anything like that for your BBQ, you can just layer the tin foil until it is nice and sturdy (about 6 sheets should do the trick!). 


BBQ'd Nachos

• 1 medium sized bag of corn chips
• shredded cheddar or marble cheese
• 4.5 ounce can diced green chilies, drained
• 1 or 2 jalapenos (if you like spicy nachos) sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1 small tomato, diced

1. Cover the pan with tin foil, or lay multiple sheets of tin foil on top of one another
2. Spread out the corn chips to make a well covered base for the nachos
3. Sprinkle on the cheese until the corn chips are mostly covered
4. Add the green chilies, jalapeno, pepper, bacon, and green onions
5. Place on the grill, and cook until cheese is completely melted.
6. Remove, and sprinkle on the diced tomato
7. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. Enjoy!

Devil's Food Cupcakes

This recipe for Devil' Food Cupcakes is from the Martha Stewarts Cupcakes book. They are so tasty and fluffy, the perfect chocolate cupcakes!  When I need to make cupcakes for a large group, these are guaranteed to please all in attendance.  They are also really versatile when it comes to the types of icing that work with them, whether it is chocolate ganache, cream cheese icing, buttercream, classic vanilla icing, and more! You can also find this recipe on the Martha Stewart website here.


So far I have made these with: 

a chocolate ganache glaze 

cream cheese icing

and swiss meringue buttercream icing.

All of the different options look pretty tasty eh? My personal favourite is no icing at all, just naked cupcakes.

This past weekend I went to a party for my friend's birthday, and the theme was 'Rough and Dirty'. So I decided to use these cupcakes as the start to my cupcakes for the party.  It is always a ton of fun making cupcakes when there is a theme in mind, you never know how they might end up! This was the very same party that I had also made my pig cupcakes for. 


Here is what the outcome was for my rough and dirty cupcakes. Fun eh?

That is the beauty of cupcakes, you can decorate them in so many different ways! 


Devil's Food Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsps salt
• 1 1/2 cups butter (unsalted)
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Line your muffin tins with cupcake liners, and preheat your oven to 350F
2. Mix together the cocoa and hot water in a heat-safe bowl until completely mixed
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl
4. Place the butter and the sugar in a pot on the stove, and melt them together while constantly stirring
5. Place the butter/sugar mixture into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer
6. Beat it until the mixture is fluffy and cooled to room temperature
7. Add the eggs and mix until completely incorporated, then add vanilla and the cocoa mixture
8. When completely combined, add the flour in small batches, alternating with the cup of sour cream until everything is mixed together
9. Fill the cupcake cups, and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (about 18 - 20 minutes)
10. Allow them to cool completely before frosting

Notes: This recipe makes approximately 30 cupcakes.  They hold up really well to being frozen, so they are great to make ahead of time and then you can freeze them until they are needed!

Fruit Salad

Since it is now (finally) feeling like summer out, what better salad to have on hand for a BBQ than fruit salad? I made a huge batch of this when we had some friends and their little boys over for a weekend, and it turned out to be an awesome snack for the kids when we needed something fast!


The best part about fruit salad is that you can easily customize it with whatever is in season, or by using your favorite fruits and leaving out those you are less than fond of.


If you are using a large variety of fruit, keep in mind that you do not need a lot of each one. It will add up quickly once you start cutting it up! 


Fruit Salad

• 1 pineapple
• 4 kiwis
• 2 bananas
• half dozen strawberries
• 2 oranges
• 2 apples
• 2 peaches
• half of a small watermelon

1. Wash all of the fruit well and dry with a towel
2. Slice up the fruit into bite-size pieces
3. As you add each fruit to your salad bowl, keep mixing in order to let the different juices mix together
4. Place in the fridge until read to serve
5. If you want to serve your fruit salad as a treat or dessert, top with whipped cream or serve alongside ice cream!