Carrot Cake Cupcake

Can you believe I have made carrot cake only one time? Well it's true.. I made carrot cake once about 7 years ago and it was pretty darn good. Even one of my uncles asked me for the recipe hehe. I honestly don't remember where I got the recipe from and how I made it but recently I stumbled upon this recipe at Brandy's Baking blog and thought I'd give it a try. Well it's Saturday and usually on saturday nights the hubby, kids and I go to my in laws house to have dinner and spend quality time together. The majority of the time I make some type of sweet and take with me. So considering that today is Saturday, these are what I'm taking with me today. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Source:  Brandy's Baking

makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3 carrots)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 

In a food processor pulse carrots until very fine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the grated carrots, sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to combine.  

Gently fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until completely combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean--20 to 25 minutes.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Frost the cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting:
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until light and fluffy.  Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat until well blended and spreadable.

Pizza

Who doesn't love fresh homemade pizza? Yumm, Pizza is one of my favorites. There are so many different ways you can make a pizza. I usually make a plain cheese for the girls and make one with all sorts of different toppings for me and the hubby. I made today's pizza with my Dough Recipe

Once the dough is prepared and has risen separate into 4 different pieces and let them rest another 15 minutes

Press the dough down in a greased pizza pan and create a edge for the crust at the ends

Place sauce in center and spread evenly 

Spread cheese evenly on sauce and add any type of toppings you'd like. I usually use the Mexican shredded cheese blend. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until edges of pizza are golden brown.

 This one was made with turkey pepperoni and seasoned with oregano and parsley. I like placing the pepperoni under the cheese

Basic Bread Dough

This recipe was passed down to me from my older sister Maha. It's one of the easiest bread dough recipes I have come across and use it all the time. I decided to make it today for some pizza!

First mix 2 cups warm water wiith 2 tbsp sugar. Then add in packet of dry yeast

Once the yeast is activated add the oil, egg and salt

Mix it gently

Add in flour gradually until it is all incorporated. Depending on the brand of flour, use your judgement to decide if more or possibly less flour is required.

Knead till all flour leaves the edges of the bowl and dough is smooth

Grease a clean bowl with a bit of oil. Place dough in center of bowl and knead it a few times more to incorporate some of the oil in the dough to prevent crusting. 

Cover the dough with a plastic bag and place in a warm place for about an hour. I usually run my microwave for 30 seconds on high and then place the bowl in there. I usually cook the dough in a preheated oven at 400 degrees till its a nice golden brown color. 

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 pkt active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 5 cups of flour
• 
  

Directions

1. Place water and sugar in large bowl. Add in yeast, stirring gently.
2. Allow to rest for 5 min. Add in oil, salt and egg. Mix in flour gradually. Depending on the brand of flour, use your judgement to decide if more or possibly less flour is required. Knead till all flour leaves the edges of the bowl and dough is smooth. Pat a little butter or possibly oil over dough to prevent crusting. Cover with plastic sheet, then towel.
3. Let rest in a warm place for an hour

Cinnamon Roll Crescents

Last night I tried a new recipe from The Hungry Housewife called cinnamon roll crescents. They were so simple and so easy and so fast to make, made with ingredients you always have in stock so it could be made for occasions like when you have an unexpected guest.

These are how mine turned out..

Crescent Cinnamon Rolls

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Serves: 4

A semi homemade cinnamon roll made easy with a tube of Crescent Rolls

Ingredients
1 tube (8 count) Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, unrolled and separated
Filling
6 tablespoons butter,softened
1/4 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Glaze
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered Sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375
Place the unrolled and separate crescent rolls on an un greased cookie sheet(one with sides).

Filling
In a small bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and cinnamon
Assemble
Evenly spread the cinnamon butter over the crescent rolls and roll up.
Place tip side down on the cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Glaze
In a small bowl, mix together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Place in a zip lock bag and snip a tiny corner off.
Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls.

Notes
Some cinnamon butter will leak from the crescent rolls while cooking. This will not affect the taste.

My First Blog

Hey Dolls. My name is Mervat and this is my first blog. I am 26 years old, married and have the two most beautiful little girls in the world. Nadeen who is 5, and Zaina who is 2. I'm a stay at home mommy, and I love it. I was born and raised in Chicago, but I am a Palestinian Muslim. I spent my teenage years in San Antonio, Texas but moved back to my city of Chicago when I got married at the age of 20. I love baking and have been baking since living in San Antonio. I am not a professional baker in any way, I just enjoy doing it. It is my way of "escaping". After getting married is when I started getting into cooking, never really cooked before that. I'm always looking for new recipes when it comes to baking and cooking. My girls are very picky eaters, so when I discover a new recipe for something they enjoy I get excited to make it for them.

I make a wide variety of foods, since I am Palestinian I cook a lot of middle eastern foods but I love making Italian and Chinese foods. 

Lately Ive been getting into the "blog world" and have been finding these amazing recipes and ideas. I thought to myself that I should create my own blog with my feedback and reviews of the recipes that I made from those blogs. I also have recipes of my own that I wanted to share as well. So here it is, my first blog.

I love baking and making a variety of different types of desserts. So far I'm getting a lot of my recipes from Baked Perfection and Brandy's Baking. Those blogs have a lot of amazing great recipes that I cant wait to try and share the results with all of you.