S'mores Cupcakes

I have been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while and oh boy they were worth the wait. I made them last night and took them to my family's house and everyone loved them. The process of making them is a bit long especially if you have only one muffin pan, but the end result is just fabulous.

My daughters are huge cupcake fans and my little one just could not wait till I frosted them and insisted she had one immediately.

She finished her first cupcake than I made a mistake of asking her if she wants another one.. And this was the aftermath.

I found the recipe for these s'more cupcakes from Annie's Eats. I tried getting them to look almost identical to her's yet they were not quite as pretty, but they still were delicious. The recipe states that the cupcakes make 24 cupcakes but I actually got 33 cupcakes out of it. The last 9 I left plain with no crust just the marshmallow topping. 

Directions

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/4 Cup Sugar

5 1/3 tbs Unsalted Butter

8oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, Finely Chopped

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.) Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.


Chocolate Cake
2 Cups plus 2 Tbs. Sugar
1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup plus 1 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 ts. Baking Powder
1 1/2 ts. Baking Soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 ts. Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Boiling Water

To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

Marshmallow Frosting
8 Large Egg Whites (At Room Temperature)
2 Cups of Sugar
1/2 ts Cream of Tartar
2 ts. Vanilla Extract

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. (Note: I just set my clean, dry mixer bowl over simmering water, to avoid dirtying two bowls.) Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with chocolate and graham cracker segments (optional).

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

My husband and I love taquitos and always buy the frozen kind. I stumbled upon a recipe on pinterest for taquitos and got so excited because if we like frozen taquitos than we would LOVE homemade taquitos, and I sure was right. Recipe called for either corn or flour, I made both and honestly loved the corn a bit more although they were both good. The corn just tasted more authentic. So after making these I honestly can say I will never buy frozen taquitos anymore, we are going to stick with this recipe, hope you all enjoy them as well.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup green salsa (salsa verde)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp sliced green onions

1-2 cups grated cheese
2 cups shredded cooked chicken

12-14 small corn and/or flour tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge. 

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it.  If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer.  Place 2-3 Tbsp of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown

Virgin Mojito

Summer is right around the corner and that means it's time to bust out the refreshing and cooling drinks out. This is one of those drinks. I love anything with mint and I could just drink these all day.

A few weeks ago I planted some mint roots in a large pot in my backyard so I could get ready to start making tea's and virgin mojito's. They are already starting to grow and expand which got me excited to make one of these drinks. The fact that this drink has only 5 ingredients makes me love it even more.

Ingredients:

3 fresh limes (2 juiced and 1 thinly sliced with ends cut off)
Water as needed
1 Cup of Ice
Sugar to taste
Handful of mints. I used about 10 large mint leafs


In a blender, combine juice of 2 limes, thinly sliced lime with ends cut off and tossed, about 1/2 cup of water (adjust liquid amount to desired consistency), ice,sugar, add mint leafs. Blend on high until slushy or mixture reaches desired consistency. 


Pour into glasses and garnish with mint leaves and lime wedges.

Rice in Milk pudding or Ruz bi Haleeb

One of my favorite middle eastern desserts is Ruz bi Haleeb which simply translates into Rice in milk. Its so yummy and delicious, my mom used to always make this when I was younger and now I make it for my own daughters.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of egyptian rice or round rice. I use pearl rice
1 cup of water
2 cups milk
1/8 - 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbs corn starch melted in water
1 ts rose water

Wash the rice and soak for 30 minutes. Put the rice and water in small saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer until rice absorbs water and is tender.

Once rice is cooked and milk and keep stirring constantly for about 10-15 minutes

Add sugar and cornstarch and keep stirring for another 10 minutes until the mixture starts thickening.

Once its ready add the rose water and remove from flame.

While still hot, pour in small cups immediately so the pudding can settle.

I usually add a dash of cinnamon on top of the pudding, some people also add ground pistachio. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the second time that I have made these cookies. They are now my FAVORITE chocolate chip cookies. They come out so thick and so soft all thanks to one  ingredient, cornstarch. I decided to make them tonight since it's Saturday. I decided to make something simple and something that everyone would enjoy. Hope you all enjoy them as much as we did.

I didn't have any unsalted butter, I just used salted sweet cream butter so I reduced the salt to a 1/4 ts rather than a 1/2 ts. They still came out delicious.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3. Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4. Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. (The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes.)

5. Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely. Makes approximately 3 dozen.