Easy Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Muffins

The other day before the UCLA Cal game I made these easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for our tailgating party.  They are super easy if you want to make something festive for an upcoming party or get together.

All you'll need are:

• 2 boxes spiced cake mix
• 1 Large can pumpkin puree
• 1 Large bag chocolate chips

All you have to do is simply mix your three ingredients together, scoop into cupcake tins, and cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. It's that easy!

I had seen this recipe all over the internet and I was skeptical as to how they would turn out with no eggs or oil or anything but the puree keeps them moist and they are perfect.

Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Dip

Happy October!  Where did September go though, seriously?  I guess since October is finally here that means fall is finally in full swing! If you're anything like me you love to spend you fall mornings in bed with a cup of coffee and maybe some fruit while watching Netflix.  Today I have the whole day off, no work, no school so that's exactly what I am doing.  However, I decided to try and make a little something new with my morning apples and crackers.  I had seen a few different recipes for different fruit dips made with Greek yogurt and decided to make one of my own.  Here is what you'll need...

• Greek yogurt of your choosing
• Peanut butter of your choosing
• Cinnamon 
• Honey

There is really no set plan for this dip.  Add you desired amount of peanut butter to taste.  This is about the amount I used...

Mix in peanut butter well before adding a bit of honey and a dash of cinnamon to taste.  Enjoy with your favorite fruit and some crackers!

Hope everyone has a happy Saturday!

Churro Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

So, I haven't posted a recipe in a while which is a shame because I have a ton! Especially cupcake recipes, I actually went through a phase where I made a different cupcake every week just to try new recipes.  My family and friends hated/loved how many cupcakes I was feeding them.  Anyhow, I've made this recipe a few times for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cinnamon and spice flavors make it perfect for the holidays and come on, who doesn't love churros?

*this recipe makes about 18-20 Cupcakes

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 (1 stick) cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2.  In a medium mixing bowl stir together your flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Set this mixture aside.

3.  In a large mixing bowl stir together butter and sugar until it is fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla and oil.  No alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk starting and finishing with the flour mixture and stirring in between.

4.  Fill your cupcake liners with the mixture until they are about half way full.  Bake your cupcakes for 14 to 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
2 cups confection's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
carmel sauce-as much as desired
cinnamon sugar mixture-as much as desired

Directions:

1.  Mix together the butter and cream cheese in large mixing bowl.  Add confections' sugar one cup at a time mixing in between addition.  Add in cinnamon and mix together before adding the vanilla.  Beat mixture until fluffy.

2.  Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar mixture and squeeze on desired amount of carmel sauce.

3. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Nutella Smoothie

Today my class was canceled and I decided that I would spend the entire day in front of my television watching SVUesday (Law and Order: SVU marathon on USA every Tuesday).  While in front of the TV I thought of ways I can use my strawberries which were going bad when I came across a few smoothie ideas on pinterest. I decided to improvise with what I had around the house.

What you'll need:

• Strawberries
• Almond milk
• Nutella
• Ice

I used four large strawberries, (sorry the fifth strawberry in the photo is misleading. Also misleading is the Stella Rosa in the back, that is not needed.  Unless you find you need it, no judgment.) a cup of ice, two generous spoons full of Nutella, and about a cup of almond milk.  Just put it all in the blender and blend!

And enjoy with your lovely roommate!

Homemade Granola Bars

A couple of weekends I had some free time on my hands and I figured what better way to use it than baking.  I have been wanting to make this homemade granola bar recipe that I found on pinterest for a while now.  The recipe can be found here.  It's pretty easy, not much more too it than mixing all your ingredients together, pressing into a pan, and baking.

You can put whatever add-ins your heart desires into your granola bars. I decided on these:

• chocolate chips
• coconut
• peanuts

You will also need:

• oats
• peanut butter
• honey

I added a little extra honey and peanut butter because I had heard these tend to crumble if you do not add enough.  While they fell apart a little on the bottom they stayed together pretty well.

What would you add in your granola bars?

Independence Day Cupcakes

Yesterday I made 4th of July cupcakes for our family BBQ.  Although the 4th has pasted here's a festive recipe you could save for the holiday next year.  Or you could use the recipe and just add different colors for any occasion!

I got the recipe here but I changed the frosting a little bit.  I added almond extract to it so instead of plain vanilla it was vanilla cake with almond frosting, my absolute favorite.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to let the frosting sit in the fridge and it was a bit running so I was not able to pipe it and make it look pretty.  I guess that's what I get for baking right before I'm supposed to leave.  Nevertheless, they turned our delicious and were a huge hit at the BBQ.

Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Let me start off this post by saying it did take me a few tries to get these cinnamon rolls right.  I had been wanting to learn how to make homemade cinnamon rolls for a while now.  During the holiday season I was at a family party and a friend of mine had made these amazing cinnamon rolls, I had to try and make them.  I asked her for the recipe but both of us got distracted with school and she just gave me her recipe about a month ago.  The recipe she gave me instructed you to make your own dough but she told me she usually just used pizza dough to make things easier.

A few days later I tried making the recipe with Pillsbury pizza dough and it was a major fail.  The dough did not rise at all and barely cooked even though I kept them in the oven for almost double the time suggested.  I then tried the same recipe using Bridgford Bread Ready-Dough.  This worked a little bit better but they still did not rise as much as I wanted and the filling just didn't taste as good as I remembered.

After some research I decided to try again. Third time's the charm right?  Sure enough, it was!
So here's what you'll need for this easier homemade cinnamon roll recipe:

• Bridgford Bread Ready-Dough, Frozen White 
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon (the recipe recommends 2 tablespoons but I just had as much as I want.)

For the frosting I usually just eye-ball it.  But you would need about:

• 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 3 Table Spoons Milk
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

The first thing I did was spray and flour a cookie sheet then I placed the frozen block of bread on the cookie sheet.  I covered it with a towel and left it on the kitchen table to defrost.  Be sure and place your dough in a warm place with on draft.  I live in Southern California and it was about 90 degrees in my house today so defrosting was not a problem.  Just try and pick the warmest place in your house.  I let the dough defrost for about 2-3 hours, just until it is soft enough to roll out.

After the dough was defrosted I rolled it out into as much of a rectangle I could.  Put more flour on the cookie sheet and the dough if necessary so it does not stick.  Rolling the dough may take a while, mine kept wanting to go back to its original shape but I just kept working it.  It may not turn out as a perfect rectangle but that's okay, you're just going to cut it up anyway.  Just make sure the dough is not spread too thin, you do not want it to rip.

Once the dough is rolled out spread the 1/4 cup butter over the entire dough.  The first two times I melted the butter and brushed it over with a pastry brush, however, this time I found it better to just slightly soften the butter and spread it over the dough.  Then, you will need to put the sugar and brown sugar on.  The first two times I just sprinkled the toppings on the dough but I found it better the third time to mix together the sugar and brown sugar in a mixing bowl first.  I also added a bit of the cinnamon to the mixture then sprinkled evenly over the dough.  I then added as much cinnamon as I desired evenly over the top.

After you have added your cinnamon, roll the dough up from the sides so it becomes a log.  If you would like you roll to be a bit longer, gently pull on the ends to lengthen it.  Be sure not to tear it.

Then cut the roll into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch sections with a knife and put into a sprayed pan.

Then, again set you rolls aside in a warm, draft-free place so they can rise.  Be sure and cover them just like before.  I left my rolls to rise for about 2-3 hours again.  See, they get slightly fluffy already...

I then preheated the oven to 350 and cooked for about 18-20 minutes or until fluffy and slightly brown on top like so...

For the frosting, like I said I usually eye-ball it.  Alternate adding powdered sugar and milk and mix together with a mixer until the desired consistency is reached.  Lastly, mix in your vanilla extract.

Finally, ice your cinnamon rolls...

Enjoy with a big glass of milk!