Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Whipped Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

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I absolutely love peanut butter so I've been looking for a reason to make these cupcakes ever since I saw them on Proceed with caution. Our friend Alex's birthday seem like a good occasion but since it would only be four of us eating I figured 24 cupcakes would be too much. Luckily this recipe was easy to halve.

I couldn't find any Cool Whip for the frosting but after I learned what it contains (mostly water and high-fructose corn syrup and other fun stuff) I haven't really been a fan of it any way. Since Cool Whip is pretty much fake whipped cream I figured the real thing would work just as well. I did have to add alot of extra confectioners' sugar to get the frosting to the right consistency (or at least somewhere close to the right consistency) and maybe that was because of the whipped cream..? Next time (yes there will be a next time, J has already begged me to make them soon again) I will either whip the cream stiffer, add less whipped cream or possibly no whipped cream at all. Or maybe I will just try the peanut butter frosting from Ina...


Yield: 12 cupcakes

For the filling:
80 ml confectioners' sugar
60 ml creamy peanut butter
1 Tbs (14 g) butter, softened
½ ml vanilla extract

For the cupcakes:
4 Tbs (56 g) butter, softened
2.5 ml vanilla extract
200 ml all-purpose flour
90 ml unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
½ cup (120 ml) sour cream
1 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup (180 ml) granulated sugar
1 large egg

For the frosting:
112 g cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbs (28 g) butter, softened
1/4 cup (60 ml) peanut butter
385 ml powdered sugar
½ cup (120 ml) cool whip (I used the same amount of whipped cream, not sure if that was a good idea - might skip this completely next time)

1. Prepare Filling: In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 1 tablespoons butter, and ½ ml vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 12 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Watch out, they are sticky!!) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175'C). Line 12 standard muffin-pan cups with fluted paper liners.

3. Prepare Cupcakes: In a bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix sour cream, milk, and remaining vanilla; set aside. In a large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat granulated sugar and remaining butter just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add egg, beat well. Beat 1 to 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until ingredients are combined, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

4. Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in centre of each cup and top with another heaping tablespoon batter. Bake cupcakes 23 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean. Immediately remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

5. When cupcakes are cool, prepare frosting: In large bowl, with mixer on medium-low speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter until smooth and blended. Add powdered sugar slowly, incorporating fully after each addition. (Add cool whip/whipped cream and beat until smooth and creamy). Frosts cupcakes.

Coconut Lime Pancakes

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I found this recipe on pannkakor.se It was supposed to be a saffron coconut pancake but I din't have any saffron so I figured lime would be a good substitution.

This was kind of a fail. I could not get them to stick together in the griddle - they ended up looking more like scrambled eggs. But I guess that would be ok if they tasted great but they just didn't. I expected more flavour and all in all this was not a hit. I don't think I will make these again.

Ingredients:
2 dl coconut flakes
2 dl heavy cream
4 eggs
a pinch of salt
zest and juice from one lime

Mix the coconut flakes in a food processor to make a flour like mixture. Add the other ingredients and mix, let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Pour batter into griddle and cook for a few minutes. Serve with raspberry or cherry jam and whipped cream.

Roasted beetroot with feta

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Beetroot are in season - cheap and yummy! I love to just boil them (pick the small ones) and serve warm with butter and salt. However, this time I decided to try something else.

1 lb beetroots
olive oil
Feta cheese
salt, pepper
honey

Boil the beets until almost done (soft when tested with a needle). Immidiately rinse in cold water and peel (I strongly recommend to use an apron since the beet juice is bright pink and it tends to be messy). Cut the beets in smaller pieces and put in a dish, pour a little bit of olive oil and honey over. Tear the feta in pieces and crumble over the beets. Salt and pepper to taste. Roast in 400'F until the cheese is staring to melt and go brown. Serve as a side dish.

I served it along with a grilled chicken together with mashed cauliflower, hummus and a green salad.

Mashed cauliflower

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A great healthy substitute for mashed potatoes or any other carb.

1 head of cauliflower
heavy cream
salt, pepper
(garlic, cheese, chili powder)

Cut the cauliflower in smaller pieces and put in a pot. Add cream and boil until the cauloflower is soft, apr. 10-20 minutes. Mash with an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. The variations are endless - you can for instance let a clove or two of garlic simmer with the cream and cauliflower. Or for a more luxurious (not your every day) mash add a big piece of goat cheese.

*I've tried different versions of this several times now but this seems to be the best one. The first recipes I found called for steaming the cauliflower or boiling it in water/broth, but I find the cauliflower tends to hold on to the liquid and make the mash too wet/runny. I have no exact measurements for the cream - it depends on the size of the cauliflower. Add enough to cover the bottom of the pot but not enough to cover all of the cauliflower. Too much cream and the mash becomes soup!

White Chicken Chili

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The recipe was inspired from several different suggestions online but I tweaked it to my likening. I also added some extra veggies I found in my fridge.


2 chicken breasts, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chili pepper, chopped
7.5 dl chicken broth
2 cans of beans
lime juice
cummin
cayenne
(cinnamon)
grated cheese
hot sauce
fresh coriander
(mushrooms)
(carrot)

Sauté the chicken in a pan and transfer it to a pot. Fry onions (I also added a few mushrooms and a small carrot leftover from yesterday) and transfer to the pot. Add garlic, chili pepper, chicken broth, lime juice and spices. Simmer for 30-45 minutes or longer if you have time. Add beans and keep simmering for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and if needed add more spices. I also added a small dash of cinnamon for fun and some hot sauce for a wee bit of heat. Just before serving stir in grated cheese (enough to thicken it a bit) and some fresh coriander. Serve as is or with some sour cream or creme fraiche.

Hummus

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So easy and so good! And healthy!!

1 garlic clove
1 16 oz can of chickpeas
½ chili pepper (I didn't have any chili so I used ground cayenne pepper instead)
½ tsp cummin
1 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs tahini
salt

Rinse the chickpeas. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor. Done!