Due to a very exciting suprise this week my life has taken a major change and the thought of even entering the kitchen makes my stomach much too queasy.
I’m sure most of you can catch my drift.
So, until I can regain an appetite or even the ability to see or smell food on a regular basis again I’m putting The Cupcake Cure on pause.
Thanks for understanding, and please check back soon!
Photo Credit: The Knot
As soon as my husband and I got into the limo to leave our reception I already wanted to re-do the entire day from beginning to end. Of course, one of the best parts of our wedding was the cake. I’m thinking one day in the future when we do a big anniversary celebration a cupcake tier centerpiece will somehow be involved.
It’s S’mores Week here in The Cupcake Cure house and I’m pretty excited. I’ve been on a cookie kick this weekend and decided why not start the week with S’more cookies.
This was such a good choice. These cookies satisfy not only a cookie craving but any s’more lovers’ craving.
Next time, I’ll either add a few more graham cracker crumbs or leave them a little less crushed to get a stronger flavor from the graham cracker. Also, the husband requested more marshamallows on his.
Yes, this household is going to love S’mores Week.
Ratings:
Chef E: 9.0
The Husband: 9.5
The Friend:9.0
S’more Cookies Adapted from Baked Perfection
Ingredients: (Makes 2 dozen)
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 dash of cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup and 2 tbls sugar
- 1/4 cup and 2 tbls brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 Hershey bars, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In medium bowl mix together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon.
In a standing mixer, beat together butter and white and brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Then slowly add the flour mixture. Once well combined, stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon tablespoonsfuls of dough onto baking sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of hershey bar into each cookies. Continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes until cookies are fully cooked. Let them cool on wire rack before serving.
M&M has created yet another “melt in your mouth, not in your hand” treat.
This time with a mini pretzel in the middle.
If you made me choose a favorite type of M&M I’d have to say peanut butter, but I figured I should give these new sweets a fair chance. After seeing some of my favorite foodies talking about their wonderful experiences with the new M&M a new recipe had to be done.
The pretzels certainly melted in your mouth when you ate these cookies, absolutely delicious. If the pretzel M&M sticks around, so will this recipe.
Pretzel M&M Cookies adapted by Two Peas and Their Pod
Ingredients: (Makes 2 dozen)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups pretzel M&M’s
- dash of cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.
Beat butter and sugars together in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Then on low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and pretzel M&M’s.
Then cover the dough and let it cool in the fridge. I like to do this with my cookies because it makes them easier to handle when getting them on the baking sheets.
Place heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies are slightly golden around the edges. Move cookies to wire racks to cool. Voila.
Last week, I found some crave-worthy S’mores Cupcakes. In following this craving I came to find that this Tuesday is National S’mores Day.
I’m not kidding. There is truly a National S’mores Day here in America. We can thank The Hershey Company and Kraft Foods for giving us one more holiday celebrating sweet sweet treats.
For those of you who don’t know what a S’more is, let me explain.
Photo Credit: Ken Rash
S’mores traditionally consist of graham crackers with a square of Hershey’s chocolate topped with a freshly roasted marshmallow sandwiched with one more graham cracker. They’re a classic campfire treat that has been shared by families for years. In fact, when I think of S’mores I can remember being a little girl fighting with my brothers over the good spot in the fire to roast our marshmallows.
In honor of this nostalgic treat, I’ll be doing a S’mores treat every day this week. So sit back and get ready for some ooey gooey chocolate marshmallow goodness!
Need some tips on getting your S’more week started? Well, here ya go:
Photo Credit: Lovin’ From the Oven
Brownies are something we haven’t addressed yet on this blog, and I thought these would be the perfect beginning to our brownie relationship.
The photo of these Andes Mint Brownies literally makes my mouth water. The chocolate looks so rich and perfectly thick along with a top layer of chocolate and chopped mints throughout.
Well, I’m lost for words at the thought of the taste and texture of these treats melting in my mouth.
All I know is I will be needing a very very large glass of milk.
One of my favorite summer meals is a chicken salad sandwich with a tall glass of classic lemonade. And with this being one of the hottest summers ever, I’ll take every refreshing meal I can get.
Growing up, my mom always made a very basic chicken salad. None of that celery or grape stuff, just good ol’ chicken. I’ve added a few spices here and there over the years. It’s an easy treat to whip together whether you eat it with crackers or as a sandwich.
Happy cooking!
Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. chicken
- 1 cup mayonaise
- 2 tbl Durkee’s Sauce
- Rosemary, garlic pepper, garlic salt, italian seasoning
Directions:
Rub the chicken with rosemary, italian seasoning, garlic pepper and garlic salt. For a nice deep flavor let the spices marinate over night. Grill the chicken the next day, I use my George Forman (one of my favorite kitchen appliances). Let the chicken set to cool, this also helps to keep the chicken juicy with all those spices.
Once cooled, put the chicken in a food processor until all chicken is shredded into small bits.
In a bowl mix chicken with mayonnaise and Durkee’s sauce. Add more garlic pepper and garlic salt to taste.
Photo Credit: On My Menu
Photo Credit: TwoPeas and Their Pod
It’s as if Christmas is always around the corner, or at least that’s the way I like to think about it. My family celebrates the holidays as if there won’t be another one and I will definitely continue with this tradition.
Having been married for two years now, I’m always looking for recipes my husband and his family will also enjoy.
Peppermint Bark and Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies- there’s no doubt these two treats will hit the spot with the in-laws! I’ve never been much of a peppermint bark fan, but my husband and his mom love the stuff. These have been bookmarked and will be attempted for the holidays.
Photo Credit: Bakerella
S’more Cupcakes.
Chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate ganache. I die!
This isn’t the first S’more recipe I looked over, but it is most certainly one of the most mouthwatering ones I’ve seen lately. How perfect are these for a chocolate craving?
Did you know there are food categories other than dessert? My overwhelming sweet tooth prefers to ignore these categories, but last week I stumbled upon a blog that has me excited about getting in the kitchen to cook some dinner.
This is a big deal. I’m never excited about cooking dinner. So, the fact that I’ve picked out more than a few meals from Cassie Craves is a proud moment.
It all started when some of my Twitter world was chatting about chicken enchiladas. What can I say, those little tweets can be a dangerous world of cravings. Cassie’s Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas won me over. Her photos coupled with the ingredients were a complete win.
This meal was a creamy mexican delight. I followed her recipe word for word this time around, but next time I’ll make a few changes.
Having the perfect salsa is very important for this meal. The salsa I used was a little too chunky for my liking, so searching for a different sauce is going to be necessary. And seeing as I love spicy food, I’m going to use 1 tsp chili powder and 1/2 tsp cumin. Also, the addition of rice either as a side dish or in the actual chicken cream cheese mix will definitely be incorporated.
This is one recipe you’ll wake up craving in a couple of days, trust me.
Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 cups prepared salsa
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese, divided
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 8 8-inch flour tortillas
Preheat oven 325 degrees.
In a medium bowl cream together cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa. Stir in 1/2 cup of each type of cheese.
In a second bowl toss together the chicken, corn, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and half of the scallions. Add the chicken mixture to the cheese mixture and stir to combine.
Spread about 1/2 cup salsa in the bottom of a baking dish. Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup filling on a tortilla, roll up and put in dish seam side down. Repeat process for remaining tortillas.
Pour remaining salsa over enchiladas, spreading to coat all of them. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Transfer to preheated oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with the remaining scallions and serve warm.
Ratings: (1 out of 10, with 10 as the best)
Chef E: 8.5
The Husband: 8.0
The Friend: 8.5
The Cupcake Cure 