A Few Of My Favorites!

Happy June 9^th! I turn 24 today and can’t help but be thankful for the  wonderfully blessed past year I have had. What better way to celebrate than to share this occasion with my amazing blog readers, facebook fans, twitter followers, and cupcake enthusiasts!

So, what helped make this past year so special? Well it’s simple….. YOU did! In the past year my blog and cupcake shop has grown exponentially. I could not have done it without the support of friends and family like you guys. While I have never personally met some of you, the encouragement you have given me along the way has been immeasurable . There are days when my “blogger” friends cheer me up more than the actual people around me. You guys inspire me and motivate me. And for that I say “Thank you!” Never stop being creative, the world needs more people like you 🙂

Enjoy this collection of great recipes that I have found through my blog friends over the past year. Each is a sweet treat that I know will be a hit if you decide to make it.

My favorite recipes from a few of my favorite blogs:

Peach Crumb Bars by Brown Eyed Baker

Lime Zest Cookies by Sweet and Crumby

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins by Sweet Peas Kitchen

Cheesecake Picnic Jars by My Bakign Addiction

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies by Recipe Girl

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies by Sweet and Crumby

Have a super sweet day my friends. xoxo

-Jill

Gourmet Marshmallows

Sweetly Softly Marshmallows!

Thank God it is Friday!!! I need the weekend like you wouldn’t believe.

Today I want to introduce you to one of my new Sponsors, Softly Sweetly: Gourmet Marshmallows. I was so excited that Rachael from Sweetly Softly wanted to sponsor my blog that I headed right over to her adorable Etsy shop and purchased some marshmallows to try. I chose the Peanut Butter Swirl marshmallows. Here’s what I thought:

So excited to see these in my mailbox!!

• Unbelievably fast delivery

 

• Adorable packaging – My 6 marshmallows were packages neatly together with a ribbon tied around them. Perfect for gift giving, except I didn’t plan on giving them away 🙂

 

• Huge portions! I got 6 Marshmallows and each square was at least an inch thick and an in wide. It was massive – perfect size for a quick little sweet treat!

 

• Delicious! I had never tried homemade flavored marshmallows before. Let me tell you – it was a bite of heaven on earth! So fluffy, and the swirls of peanut butter made it so much more than a regular marshmallow. These are not Jet-Puffs, I’ll tell you that.

My boyfriend had one, or two, and absolutely loved them too. I have a couple left in my fridge because I plan on dicing them up and using them as toppers on my chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. Don’t you think that will be so cute and yummy!!

Who wouldn't love caramel filled w/ Marshmallow?

I am so happy to announce that Softly Sweetly is offering you guys an awesome coupon code! Use code CUPPYCAKE10 for 10% off her already incredible prices!

Here’s just a few of her incredibly delicious sounding treats:

Toasted Coconut

Triple Chocolate

Bacon Chipotle

Rocky Road

Orange

Caramel Covered!!

Stop over at Softly Sweetly and get your sweet fix for the weekend. Stay Sweet!

xoxo,

Jill

Creamy Dreamy Peanut Butter Frosting

Smooth and Creamy

Peanut Butter Perfection!

Martha Stewart’s peanut butter frosting is good, but with some of my own additions, it is irresistable!! Sorry Martha 😉 Peanut Butter is a great fall flavor that is easy to incorporate into any chocolate dessert.

I used this frosting on a devils food cake cupcake (say that 3 times fast!). In all honesty though, this frosting would compliment a huge variety of cupcakes including, dark chocolate, vanilla, chocolate fudge, white cake, french vanilla, and banna nut.

Peanut Butter Frosting (Adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe)

Makes about 3 cups

•  1 1/2 cups of cream cheese
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of  Cool Whip
• 1 tsp of honey

Beat cream cheese, honey, and confectioners’ sugar with a mixer on medium speed. Add salt,  peanut butter, then vanilla. Mix well

Add the Cool Whip and lightly incorprate.

In a seperate bowl, Whisk cream until soft peaks form.

On low speed, whisk the cream into the peanut mixture until well combined. 

For the original recipe, go to Marthastewart.com: Peanut Butter Frosting – Martha Stewart Recipes

Til next time, stay sweet!

Peanut-Butter Banana Muffins

Peanut-Butter Banana Goodness!

Very rarely do I bake something and the end product looks like the picture on the recipe. This recipe however was so easy, that my muffins look just as good as the ones in the recipe picture. Better yet, they taste fabulous!!

Once again, I found myself with over-ripe bananas and some free time – so what better thing to do than bake! The muffin is so moist and has the perfect balance of peanut-butter to banana. I might even add some chocolate chips to the batter next time.

Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I’m enjoying this muffin right now!!

Peanut-Butter Banana Muffins

Recipe from http://lululuathome.com/2009/07/peanut-butter-banana-muffins.html

Ingredients (12 regular-sized muffins):

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, soften
1/4 cup peanut butter, soften (I used chunky one as I love the texture)

2 eggs

3 large bananas, mashed

1 banana, sliced for garnish

Directions:

Preheat over to 350F. Grease muffin tin or line with muffin liners.In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in peanut butter. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Then mix in mashed banana.

With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture until just combined.

Evenly distribute batter into the muffin cups. Top with sliced banana. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

 Cool completely on a wire rack.