#80) Apple Carrot Cake

Fall has come and gone here in Labrador, believe it or not! We are actually in the early stages of Winter already. You know what that means? Rich, spicy desserts that fill you up and make you feel warm and fuzzy inside :)

That's exactly what this extremely moist carrot cake does. The addition of grated apple and apple sauce really gives the cake its moisture, and the spices warm it up so you can stay safe from those bitter winter winds. It's all topped off with a thick maple cream cheese frosting that will make anyone go back for seconds!

In my after-school baking group we work very hard to make sure our sweet treats offer maximum flavour and enjoyment with limited amounts of fat and calories. Although this cake has a bit more sugar than we normally would use, it definitely has some of the qualities we look for in a healthier version of an old favorite:

- only 2 tbsp butter in the cake

- no oil

- replacing some of the sugar with maple syrup provides some manganese and zinc

- fat-free cream cheese for the frosting

So give the recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Apple Carrot Cake
Ingredients

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 maple syrup (get the real stuff, table syrup doesn't have the same flavour)
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used soy milk soured with about 1 tbsp vinegar)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 cup flour (if you want to boost the fibre, use some whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated apple, no peel
1/2 cup grated carrot, no peel

Steps

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray and 8" pan with non-stick spray.

In a small bowl, combine sugars, butter and maple syrup until well-blended.

Add buttermilk, egg, and applesauce. Mix well.

In a large bowl, combine flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients until just combined.

Fold in apple and carrot.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove from pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.


Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients

1 block fat-free cream cheese
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
500 g icing sugar

Steps

-Combine cream cheese and butter.

-Add rest of ingredients and mix until smooth.

*This recipe makes more icing than you need for the cake. I am saving mine in the freezer for a cupcake recipe I have in the works for this weekend :)

PS - please excuse the pic... souRIRE photography was not around :(

#76) Cinnamon Cupcakes

Have you missed me? Well, that's not important - what is important is that I have missed you! But I am here with cupcakes in hand hoping you will forgive my long absence, yet again...

Here's the deal, fiance and I are getting married in just 65 days!!! (Yes I am nervous, but everything is falling into place nicely) So to get in shape and shed a few pounds I have hired a trainer and joined a Booty Boot Camp. Let me tell you, this trainer knows her stuff and she makes sure I work hard. But you know what that means, less time to be in the kitchen and super bad guilty conscious for eating all the sweet treats I love so much!

Buuuuuuuuuuuuutttttttt - last weekend was the May Long Weekend and I decided it was about time I got back in the kitchen and started playing with some ideas and ingredients.... the guilty conscious went on vacation :)

I started out wanting cinnamon buns, but I have a strange fear of yeast and am quite nervous about using it... I know, this makes no sense and cinnamon buns would be worth it, right? Yeah, I couldn't do it... So I done the next best thing - cupcakes!!! But sticking with the cinnamon bun craving I slapped some cinnamon sugar in the middle and topped them all with a highly addictive lemon cream cheese frosting. You have to try them!!!!!!!!!

Cinnamon Filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Steps

- Mix together in small bowl.

Cupcake Batter

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups cake flour (for those of you with AP flour - measure out all your flour, remove 7 tbsp, replace with 7 tbsp cornstarch - def worth the extra effort!)
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup (soy) milk
4 eggs
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla

Steps

- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large, deep bowl.

- Add the butter and 1/2 cup of the milk. Mix on medium speed until smooth.

- In a separate bowl, blend the eggs, egg whites, the remaining 1/2 cup milk and the vanilla. Add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing for 2 minutes on medium speed after each addition. Scrape down the bowl between additions.

Assembly

- Place 1 1/2 tsp cake batter into the muffin liners.

- Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of filling into the muffin cups.

- Cover with more batter, filling cups about 2/3 full. Use a toothpick to swirl the cinnamon centre.

- Bake at 350°F for 18-20.

- Cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 8-oz block (light) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
Grated rind of one lemon
1/2 cups icing sugar (this will change depending on moisture content of cream cheese, amount of juice in lemon, etc. - you want a smooth, fluffy consistency, but not pipeable frosting)

Steps

- Beat together all ingredients except icing sugar until combined.

- Add icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until proper consistency is achieved.

#67) Indulgent PB Cookies

OMG!!! I have missed you guys soooooo much this summer!!!!!!!

My summer was super crazy this year and I only made it into the kitchen 2 or 3 times :( On the bright, though, I have my Bachelor of Education all done and am officially a certified teacher :D I am all settled into my new apartment and am getting comfortable in my new job.

So you know what that means - I am back and ready to bake :)

You may notice a peanut butter and chocolate theme on my blog that arrives in spurts. Well, let me tell you that those spurts always coincide with a visit with my brother. He has come to help me settle in here and as a small reward I offered to make a new sweet treat, and of course, he demanded a chocolaty and peanut buttery version. And trust me, I am not one to disappoint :p

We had a really hard time naming these, by the way, because there is so much going on: not only do we have my favourite peanut butter cookie so far, but we have the best chocolate icing I have ever made, AND mini caramel Rolos on top!!! (Thank you for the applause! LOL)

So please, stay tuned for more frequent posts now that I have a kitchen again, and try out these cookies because you will never want another plain PB cookie again :)

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Steps:

-Preheat oven to 375°F. (I found this a little high and reduced to 350°F)
-Beat together shortening and peanut butter. Add sugars and beat until fluffy.
-Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine.
-Sift together dry ingredients. Add to peanut butter mixture.
-Roll into balls and place on ungreased baking sheet.
-Bake for 8-10 minutes.
-Let cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Steps

-Stir cocoa into melted butter.
-Alternately add milk and icing sugar, beating between additions.
-Add more milk if necessary.
-Stir in vanilla.

Assembly

Spread icing on tops of cooled cookies. Add mini rolos. Hide the cookies, because if not they will disappear HaHa!

#60) Cinnamon Bun-fins (& Joy)

So have you all heard that Adopt-a-Blogger is back for round three?!?!?! And this time around I'm having a go at it - as a newbie, of course :)

As part of Adopt-a-Blogger I have to introduce you all to my mentor, although she needs no introduction at all - Ms. Joy the Baker!!! I am sure most, if not all, of you are already familiar with this kitchen crusader - I have been following her since the day I started my blog :) Her recipes are fantastic, but what I enjoy most about Joy's posts are her whimsical ramblings that never fail to make me laugh out loud! Check her out if haven't already.

To best introduce, no, to best praise Joy I had a go at one of her recipes I have been eying for quite some time - Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins. They are fabulous! And not to mention, easy as could be! The only big thing I changed was regular milk to soy milk, and it worked fine, so make your own and enjoy licking your fingers :)

Bread Base
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp yeast
2/3 cup warm (soy) milk
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Steps
-Stir together dry ingredients.
-Stir yeast into warm milk.
-Add the milk mixture, oil, vanilla, and egg to dry mixture. Stir until smooth.
-Place in greased bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.
-Make cinnamon topping (below).
-Divide bread base between 12 greased muffin cups. Add topping. Place into cold oven and set temperature to 350°F. Bake for 20 minutes.
*If any of the cinnamon topping has spread onto the pan use a butter knife to sweep it back onto the buns before they cool.

Cinnamon Topping
Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (I only had white on hand so I added about 1 tsp molasses)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch allspice
*I had loads left over so if you want to half this part go ahead.

Steps

-Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated.

Frosting
Ingredients

1 cup icing sugar
1-2 tbsp (soy) milk

Steps

-Add milk by half teaspoon measure until desired consistency is reached.
-Pipe onto warm buns with plastic bag.

*Make sure you lick you fingers clean :)

#52) Carrot Muffins & CC Frosting

This recipe was actually one of the first I posted here on Sweet Treats. Since the first time I used this recipe I have never used another... I have played with this one to get it right where I want it and doubt I will ever stray from it. It is rich, heavy enough, and packed with carrot, raisins, and pineapple. This time I decided to add some cream cheese frosting (well, I was more coerced to add cream cheese frosting bc fiance had a craving LOL). But I have to say I am more than happy with the outcome. Not a drop of oil or ounce of butter in the muffins means you can indulge in the creamy frosting, right?

Carrot Muffin
Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup raisins
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp applesauce
2 large eggs
3 cups grated carrot
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained (reserve juice and add by tsp if batter is too dry) *I added 2 this time, but it varies

Steps

-Sift together dry ingredients. Set aside.
-Add the pineapple, carrot, eggs, and applesauce to another bowl. Mix until combined.
-Add dry ingredients in thirds, mixing until incorporated after each addition.
-Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

**I made 1 dozen regular muffins and 3 jumbos :)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 pk light cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar

Steps

-Beat together cream cheese and butter.
-Add icing sugar gradually.
-Beat to a thick consistency.
-Spread on cupcakes and lick the bowl :)

#46) Banana Bites & Cinnamoney

I made these mini cupcakes a few days ago in a bit of a rush. I was attending a get-together and had procrastinated on making something to bring along. Then I found a bag of frozen ripe banana in the freezer and these wonderfully coloured mini liners in the cupboard - it was like fate! Okay, maybe not fate, but a very strong suggestion.

They were quite a hit and I would definitely use this recipe again, but next time I might dress it up with some chocolate chips or raisins!

Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Steps

-Preheat oven to 350°F.
-Sift together dry ingredients. Make a well in middle.
-Add wet ingredients and hand mix just until blended.
-Divide amongst liners and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cinnamoney Frosting

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp cinnamon

Steps

-Add all ingredients to one bowl and mix until smooth and of spreading/piping consistency.
-Dress up cooled cupcakes :)