Tag: blogging

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (AKA the best cupcakes you will ever eat)

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Guys. I made the most delicious cupcakes in the entire world and want everyone to make them and eat them and love them as much as I did.

Last winter, Sprinkles in Washington, DC offered different cereal-based cupcakes and I tried the Cinnamon Toast Crunch one and fell head over heels in love with it. Sadly, these were only weekly specials and were discontinued. So I looked up recipes online for an attempt to recreate the magic of these cupcakes and came upon a recipe that tasted even better. I made these for my boyfriend’s birthday in August and even though he always claims he “isn’t a dessert person” – a phrase that I will simply never understand – he ended up loving them too!

The recipe I used was adapted from here and I followed the recipe very closely. I don’t even mind that they aren’t entirely made from scratch (it requires boxed cake mix), but I’m sure you could improvise if you know a recipe for a standard cake you like to make!

One thing I was surprised about and had never considered was dipping the top of the cupcake (before frosted) into butter then cinnamon sugar. This was seriously a game changer and gives these cupcakes a churro-like taste as well. It can’t be beat!

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Ingredients for 24 Cupcakes

  • 1 box, French Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 1 small box (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Sugar Coating:

  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
  • 8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, softened
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, for garnish

Baking Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 24 muffin tins.
  2. In the bowl of your mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase mixer speed to high. Beat for 2 minutes.
  3. Stir a few times with a big wooden spoon, then fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 of the way full.
  4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly touched in the center. Remove from oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
  5. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and ground cinnamon. In another bowl, add the 4 tablespoons of melted butter.
  6. Dip the top of a baked cupcake in the melted butter, then dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Set aside remaining cinnamon sugar for topping.
  7. For the icing, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and heavy cream, beating on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully add powdered sugar until just barely combined. Increase mixer speed to high and beat for two minutes.
  8. Generously frost cupcakes. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and stick cereal into frosting as you wish.
  9. Keep these cupcakes refrigerated if they are not served immediately.
  10. Enjoy these amazing cereal cupcake creations!

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Tuscan Frittata with Mozzarella & Squash

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I am more than eager for fall and cannot wait to go to a pumpkin patch. So while I wait, I figured I would make an “end of the summer, can’t wait for fall” frittata that feels both summer-y and fall-ready. I used three different recipes for inspiration while also trying to use up ingredients that I already had in my kitchen.

This recipe incorporates some of my favorite things and while I made a smaller serving that feeds two to three people, it could easily be adapted to accommodate more servings if you had a group of friends over for brunch or made it for your family.

Ingredients:

  1. 6 eggs
  2. 1/2 Cup of Mozzarella Cheese
  3. 1/4 Cup of Parmesan cheese or Italian cheese blend
  4. 1 medium-sized yellow squash or zucchini diced
  5. 2 cloves of chopped garlic
  6. 1/2 Cup of Coconut Milk (or half & half)
  7. 1 Tablespoon of Pesto or more if you like! (I used 365 Basil Pesto)
  8. 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  9. 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning (including but not limited to: basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano)
  10. Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 and butter a 10×10 Casserole Dish.
  2. On a skillet over medium heat, sauté the squash and garlic tossed in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sauté until tender and sizzling – about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Whisk together all six eggs and coconut milk until fully mixed. Add in the cheeses, pesto, and seasoning with a dash of salt and pepper.
  4. Next, combine the squash and garlic into the egg mixture. Then pour everything into the casserole dish.
  5. Cover with lid and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
  6. Remove, let sit for a few minutes, then enjoy!
  7. Pro-Tip- I broiled slices of baguette with olive oil and pesto as an accompaniment.

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Berry Breakfast Muffins

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I’m never too hungry right when I wake up in the morning, but when I know I have homemade muffins waiting for me, that’s a different story. These muffins are perfect because you can add whatever fruits or nuts or oats you desire and they will be always be tasty. I took this recipe from Clean Eating Recipes and jazzed it up a bit with the fruit around my kitchen.

Ingredients:

Baking Steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking wrappers or grease the tins well with coconut oil.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the coconut milk and lemon juice. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Place the honey, eggs, and coconut oil in a mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add in half of the coconut milk mixture and whisk until just combined. Whisk in the remaining dry ingredients and finish by adding in the remaining coconut milk mixture, mixing just until combined – do not over-mix.
  5. Fold the blueberries, raspberries, and banana into the batter.
  6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins (tins will be completely full of batter).
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until tops are set.
  8. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Store in an airtight container.

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I hope you enjoy and let me know what you ended up adding to them! 🙂

Avocado and Buffalo Chicken Salad

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I’ve recently been craving Buffalo Chicken and summertime means salads right? So i found the best of both worlds and it was as delicious as I’d hoped. The recipe was adapted from this recipe I found on Pinterest. I decided not to add quinoa (though it would have been good with it too!) and I didn’t use quite as much hot sauce, probably 1/2 cup instead of 3/4. And to top it all off I used Organic Ranch from Trader Joe’s!

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  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
  • 1/2 cup franks red hot sauce
  • 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 4 cups of chopped green leaf lettuce
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 avocados, sliced
  • 1/3 cup sliced red onion
  • 1/2 cup cooked corn
  • Drizzle ranch dressing
  • 1/4 cup diced fresh cilantro (optional)

Holiday Caramel Apple Trifle

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Without one tiny, minuscule doubt, if you make this dish for dessert you will be the hit of the party. It’s so easy and so tasty, and will make you want dessert even after you’ve filled yourself up on an overwhelming amount of turkey, ham, rolls, potatoes, etc, etc. I would certainly recommend making this for any holiday occasion, because its fun to make, pretty, and can serve a lot of people.

I found a recipe on Pinterest (here) and improvised by making a yellow cake mix from Fresh Market and also bought the most delectable caramel sauce from Fresh Market as well, which I recommend everyone buy and eat it on pretty much anything and everything. It’s seriously life changing.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups chopped peeled granny smith apples (about 5 medium)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (I also added chopped hazelnuts)
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon apple pie spice, divided
  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) caramel ice cream topping, divided
  • 1 carton (12 ounces) cool whip, thawed, divided
  • 1 box of yellow cake mix baked according to the recipe (or pound cake or angel food cake)
  • Additional apple pie spice to sprinkle on top!

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the apples, walnuts and hazelnuts, brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice. Cook and stir for 8-10 minutes or until apples are tender.
  2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup caramel topping and 1/2 teaspoon of apple pie spice. Fold in 2 cups of the whipped topping.
  3. In a trifle bowl or glass serving bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, cream cheese mixture and apple mixture. Repeat layers twice. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and drizzle with remaining caramel topping. Sprinkle with additional apple pie spice if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
  4. Yield: 14 servings.

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