Fluffernutter cupcakes, chocolate cake pops and oatmeal scotchies

If you read this on a regular basis or know me, you know my family history is pretty darn important to me. That, and I love spending time with my 91-year-old grandmother, from whom a lot of of that history comes. So a couple weekends ago, I went back to Salina to spend some quality time with her. That Saturday, I took her on a little drive south of Salina to a pretty awesome place: Coronado Heights.

This is out an opening of the structure on top of the hill, which is close to Lindsborg. Legends has it, Coronado himself stopped on this hill and surveyed the land around him. Now there's this castle-like thing on top and lots of picnic tables and hiking. But what's especially cool is that my grandpa proposed to my grandma here, about 70 years ago. Sometimes I forget how much life my grandma has seen until I stop and do the math and realize that seven decades have passed since then. Wow.

One of my good friends from college recently got a new job that required him to move to the West Coast. As sad as it makes me that he's leaving, I'm excited he got the opportunity (and that it's a new place to visit!) So two of this week's desserts were made for various times I got to see him before leaving. First, naturally, are cake pops. He's a lover of these treats, as are all his roommates. So he requested chocolate cake pops.

And then the next weekend, I got to hang out with him and a bunch of other friends to watch the KU-Mizzou game. (Side note: for those who aren't familiar, it's one of the oldest rivalries in college sports that saw its last regular-season game a couple weeks ago. As a lifelong Jayhawk, I was raised to hate the Tigers, and this game was one of the most intense I've ever watched, right up there with our 2008 National Championship win. But we won! And it was glorious.) For that, I made one of my favorite childhood cookies, the oatmeal scotchie. My mom and I would make them all the time when I was a kid; they're basically an oatmeal butterscotch cookie. They can easily get too thin and crispy, but I think I've worked out that problem.

And last but not least, my latest cupcake. I've been slacking a bit on the cupcakes lately, but these looked too good to pass up: fluffernutter cupcakes. They're peanut butter cupcakes with a Nutella filling and a marshmallow frosting. Can't forget the Nutter Butter cookie on top! That frosting is one of my new favorite things. It pipes wonderfully and it sure tastes good. (Posting these on Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Cookie dough cupcakes, peanut butter chocolate cookies and cake pops

It seems like the farther I get away from college (and the more free time I have...there's a connection), the more I get into movies. Which is why Oscar season is exciting. I saw The Artist a couple days after the Best Picture nominees were announced, and I have to say, it's totally great. For a silent film, it uses sound masterfully. Another favorite so far is Midnight in Paris. To be honest, I've never seen a Woody Allen film before this, but I love historical fiction, and this was throwing a lot of great characters (both Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dali are fantastic) into one story. I've gotta admit, though, there are a couple I have no desire to see. The Tree of Life? No thanks.

I've been really into basic cookies lately. Maybe because they're simple, quick and always a hit...I've been crazy busy lately but still want to bake, so they're a good solution. And these are my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen. A few hours in the office and they were all gone.

A few friends who will remain nameless (but who LOVE cake pops) requested these a couple weekends ago, and for the first time I enlisted my dad and stepmom's help making them. Thank goodness, too, because we made three different flavors, which means about 150 pops. So my dad helped roll them out and manned the sprinkle station. The red ones were red velvet, the orange were chocolate and the yellow were yellow cake. It was great making them with Dad and Cathie, because it was so hilarious watching them. They loved testing the mixtures and tasting the frosting.

And with another classic, I made these chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes from Annie's Eats. These were always a hit at the Journal-World but I'd never taken them into the Biz Journal. They take a few more steps than normal cupcakes, but it's worth it. They're chocolate chip cupcakes that are stuffed with an eggless cookie dough. What I think makes them, though, is the cookie dough-flavored icing. SO tasty.

Happy 2012: NYE & birthday margarita cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and baguettes

A professor from my journalism school posted a link on Twitter the other day that was really thought-provoking. It was a blog post about questions to ask for yourself about the last year. Yes, perhaps it is something that's written in some form or another every year, but honestly, it made me realize what a wonderful year I've had. The most amazing thing I did in 2011? Get a new job and move to a new city. Am I happy about where I am in life? Completely. I have some amazing friends, many of whom I got to see during the holidays even though they live far, far away. I got to make plans to visit them in 2012. I got to see both of my stepsiblings for Christmas, even though they live in Canada. And as a whole, I'm really happy where I am emotionally and mentally. So 2012, bring it on. Let's make it even better. /end typical year-beginning/year-end post.

I'm not the type of person to really go for the whole big New Year's Eve out sort of thing. But one of my best friends, Tara, has her birthday on NYE, so I celebrated at her house with her family. That included bringing my customary bday gift of cupcakes, which this time was a margarita cupcake. And despite not being kid-friendly for all the little ones running around, I'd say these were definitely a hit. They're basically a lime cake brushed with tequila and then topped with a lime-tequila icing. Pretty good alcoholic treat for NYE!

I've been a little low on energy since the holidays ending. I was busy with family and friends for basically two weeks straight, so my baking was relatively basic, including these brown sugar chocolate chip cookies. Simple, yet always a hit. They always seem to disappear rather quickly at work.

Among the kitchen items I asked for for Christmas (how great is an immersion blender, seriously? Or is that just me being a dork?), I found something awesome on a sort of scavenger hunt Cathie sponsored. She loves to thrift, so on Christmas Eve, she gave each of us kids a $5 and told us to thrift and find something awesome. One of my finds? A baguette pan for $2.75. Not too shabby, especially for something I assume was given to the thrift store because whoever donated had no idea what it was. So on a recent trip to Aunt Betty's, we made a couple baguettes from one of her old bread cookbooks that came out perfectly, even with those little dots on the bottom, which are from the perforations on the pan. What a great find!

Christmas Nutcracker cupcakes

It's less than a week till Christmas, but it still feels forever away; probably because it was in the 50s today. But this weekend, I got to do my perennial Christmas tradition: go to the Kansas City Ballet's production of the Nutcracker.

I've been going to this ballet since I was a kid and go every year. I've seen it so many times, when I hear the music, I can see the ballet's choreography in my head. Yup, that many times.

This year was the first time the production was at the new Kauffman Center downtown, and my friends Brianne and Lauren came to town to go to the ballet with me.

So to celebrate this tradition, I made Nutcracker cupcakes! Because honestly, when I saw these wrappers and toppers, who could pass them up? Well, I couldn't. I took these into work for our holiday dessert bar.

By the way, I have the BEST coworkers. My cupcake carrier has been broken for a long time, and my newsroom came together to buy me a new one because I bring them sweets all the time. Yeah, I love my job.

These are chai tea cupcakes with honey cinnamon buttercream. I have to admit, I didn't quite follow the frosting recipe. I made my favorite swiss meringue buttercream recipe and then just put honey and cinnamon in till it tasted good, which ended up being one of my favorite icings ever. And combined with the cupcakes, they really did taste like a chai latte. Definitely recommend them!

(Posting to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)

Cherry cola cupcakes, coconut macaroons and ginger snaps

I know everyone talks about the weather, but seriously, it was 18 degrees when I woke up yesterday. Sometimes I forget how bipolar Kansas/Missouri can be. A few days ago it was in the 40s and a light jacket was enough. Yesterday I was forced to tear apart my apartment to find my winter hat(s) that had been stashed away in some dark corner after I moved in summer...in temperatures in the 90s. Sigh. I guess having no seasons would be boring, right? And cold temperatures mean holiday activities, too! I saw the Messiah for the first time ever this weekend and it was fantastic. Next up? The Nutcracker ballet. I LOVE it. You know what else is good about the cold?

Husky puppies. They like the cold, right? Meet Lois, my friends Joe and Brianne's new puppy. Isn't she SO DAMN CUTE?! Yeah, I got to look at that cute little face last weekend. I felt lucky.

I think we've probably established how much I HATE coconut. Can't really explain it, just don't like the stuff. So the only time it appears on this blog is when it's for someone besides me who will be eating it (see Kelly's birthday or special requests). These basic coconut macaroons were neither. You see, my computer at work almost crashed last week. As in, left for a few more days, I think it would have been totally gone rather than freezing every couple of hours. And my friend, Brad, happens to be the guy who sets up the computers at work. And my new computer happened to take a really, really long time to set up. And he happens to like coconut. And I happened to have a lot of coconut in my cabinet. So I made coconut macaroons. I did not sample them, so I cannot tell you if they were good or bad. They look pretty though!

Currently playing on my TV is a DVRed episode of "Good Eats." I can honestly say I'd never really watched it before seeing Alton Brown in person recently, but I'm pretty fascinated by what he's already taught me (i.e. don't put avocados you're wanting to ripen in the fridge because it will stop the process). Part of seeing him live was getting his latest cookbook, "Good Eats 3: The Later Years."Aunt Betty loves ginger, so we decided to make his candied ginger recipe (which will definitely clear out your sinuses) and then put some in these ginger snaps. The candied ginger came out perfectly. These cookies, not so much. Lesson learned: when weights are given, use an accurate kitchen scale to get the right amount. I'm putting one on my Christmas list. This picture is the edited recipe. Our first batch was....rather flat and thin. But the edited versions were incredibly good and packed a triple ginger punch: ground, candied and fresh.

And really, these cupcakes have no holiday theme whatsoever. I just had an itch to make cherry cola cupcakes again after making them in May. It's a recipe from Cupcake Project and is kind of baffling because it's super runny. It also takes cola extract, which isn't around at regular grocery stores (I got mine at Sweet! Baking and Candy-Making Supply). They're cola-flavored cakes with maraschino cherries in them, a cola-flavored cream cheese icing and the nice little cherry on top. They were a hit at work. I just love recipes that go well! (Posting these to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)

Sweet potato cupcakes, cinnamon roll cupcakes and double chocolate cookies

Yes, it is still November. And yes, we haven't (quite) hit Thanksgiving yet. And yes, I put up my Christmas tree the other night. I know it seems too early, but I couldn't resist. After all, it was my last free time before getting busy with work and the Thanksgiving holiday, and I didn't know if I'd have time to put it up before work next week. That, and I just wanted to! I have a tradition with putting up the tree: unpack all the decorations, put the movie "White Christmas" on and watch my cat get into whatever mischief he can. This year, it was just getting into the box the Christmas tree was in and supervising my progress. Now my tree is up with all my childhood ornaments, and some new ones, with multicolored lights, multicolored garlands and sparkly snowflakes. Yes, my Christmas tree definitely fits my personality. 

Last weekend I had dinner with some girlfriends, and two of them requested cupcake flavors. First was Brianne, who is a big fan of cinnamon rolls, so I made her these cinnamon roll cupcakes. They're a weird combination of what you think of as a cinnamon roll, and a much cakier, lighter crumb. It's a cake batter mixed with a cinnamon syrup. I topped it with Martha's cream cheese frosting. 

The second request was from my friend Lauren, who wanted sweet potato cupcakes. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potato, to be honest, which was a good reason to give them all to her! She said they turned out sort of like a spice cake, and I used Martha's recipe. What really intrigued me was the frosting, which was marshmallow-flavored. I used a recipe from Annie's Eats and then toasted it with my kitchen torch. It turned out very pretty, I think (and I'm posting them to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday).

And finally, I made some cookies just for the heck of it Sunday. I saw this recipe on Bakerella's site: double chocolate cookies. The trick, though, is they have a little bit of peanut butter in them, which elevates them to another level. They're super tasty and very easy. I will make them again soon!

Halloween 7: Pumpkin spice cupcakes and a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I didn't celebrate with a costume or anything this year, but I have been watching Halloween-y movies this year. Friday night I was introduced me to John Carpenter's "The Thing," which is truly gross. Reminded me of high school, when one of me and my friends' favorite movies to watch was John Carpenter's "Vampires." Then Saturday night was "Young Frankenstein." 

"Werewolf." "There." "What?" "There, wolf. There, castle." Gosh I love that movie. My dad introduced it to me as a kid. Last night I watched "Space Jam." I think it counts as a Halloween movie because it's got aliens, right? I'm going with that. I don't know what I'll watch tonight, but these cupcakes would go perfectly with it, especially with their black cat sprinkles!

For my final Halloween dessert, I went to Martha, and she came through. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with a pumpkin spice icing. The cupcakes were nice and moist, and although this isn't the exact recipe I used from her cupcake cookbook, it will probably do. I know the one I used didn't use melted butter. The frosting is her swiss meringue buttercream recipe with some pumpkin pie spices mixed in, and it was awesome. I believe the term that was used was "cloud in my mouth." And naturally, I had to make black cat-themed cupcakes just like last year, when I made some with black cat toppers. This year, I went with sprinkles.

Now, for my favorite costume picture. This was when my whole family went as the Wizard of Oz, obviously. I was originally going to be the Scarecrow, but once I saw the Dorothy costume, I had to be her. Our dog, Nellie, was the Cowardly Lion, as evidenced by her fur collar. And my dad's costume? Yes, he made that out of ductwork. It was way cool. And it's a very special picture for me for another reason: It was the last Halloween my parents were still together, so the last time we went out as a family. So that's kind of cool.

Now here's a quick roundup of the other Halloween treats I made for the holiday.

1. Halloween Oreo cheesecakes

2. Fall Brenna brownies

3. Pumpkin chocolate tart

4. Candy corn cupcakes

5. Spooky Rice Krispies

6. Pumpkin spice cookies

(Posting cupcakes in Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Halloween 4: Candy corn cupcakes

First off, I missed an anniversary a few weeks ago. Two years ago on October 8, I wrote an entry about snickerdoodles (which, incidentally, are not even in my top five favorite cookies). Thus started Ingredients of a 20something, which has now been going for two years and has (including this one) 121 posts. So happy belated birthday to this blog, which sometimes saves me from going insane with boredom in the absence of school, challenges me to new things and lets me keep up my writing in a non-journalistic style.

I knew I wanted to make candy corn cupcakes as soon as I saw Halloween cupcakes popping up around the internet. They're simple: my favorite yellow cake with some Halloween sprinkles mixed into the batter (which made them kind of orange) and then Swiss meringue buttercream piped in three different colors on top. Simple, but so, so good.

And for today's costume, I cheat a little bit. This wasn't technically for Halloween, but rather for a dance routine. We danced to "Walk Like an Egyptian" for my jazz routine that year. Nice and sparkly! 

(Posting these to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday!)

Halloween 1: Halloween Oreo cheesecakes, plus funk cupcakes and beignets

Sometimes, I just start itching for travel. Okay, not sometimes, often. I admit it, I'm a travel addict. I love going places to visit friends, sample food, just do whatever. In the last year, because I've transitioned jobs, I haven't traveled as much as I did during college. But I have been to Chicago and New York City in 2011 so far. But this week, I add another city, one I haven't been to since my sophomore year of high school: Salt Lake City. Apparently, there's a chance of snow in the area this week. It was like 87 here yesterday. But one of my best friends, Keane, lives there, so we're going to hang out for a few days. I can't wait! Plus, I know the area is beautiful, I bet especially right now when we're still in autumn.

My first journalism internship was at the Lawrence Journal-World, where I would end up working. I worked up on the features desk, writing stories like this one about all the animals in downtown Lawrence businesses and about the kids who grew up with Harry Potter. Later I would be hired full-time down in the news section, but I've always loved my features desk I started with. One of my editors from back then, Christy, left the JW a couple weeks ago, and Trevan, another editor who works with her, asked me to make her cupcakes. It seemed only natural to make funk cupcakes, which Christy had suggested once before. These are a little more wild and brightly colored than the last ones, but still the same concept: red velvet cupcakes (crushed velvet), rainbow frosting and some interesting wrappers. (Posting these funk cupcakes on Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)

Something I wanted to try when I made my 2011 baking goals (which I've fallen miserably behind on) was beignets. I've never been to New Orleans, but that's supposedly the place to have the best beignets. They're basically doughnuts, only smothered in powdered sugar. What could be wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. I'm glad I made them with Aunt Betty, because they definitely take two people. You put them in the oil and flip them continuously (and they puff up!) for just a couple minutes before you take them out and douse them in sugar. They were amazing. Now I just need to go taste the real thing in NOLA.

I'm hoping to do a bunch of Halloween treats during the month of October. Here's my first: Halloween Oreo cheesecakes. I've made the cheesecakes before, and these are just made with Halloween Oreos. Definitely worth a try. Also, with each Halloween baked good, I've got a photo to post of a childhood costume that I found while visiting Mom last time. So here goes: 

Pirate girl. I remember a lot of those pieces making appearances later on in dress-up games. So happy Halloween month!

First Fall flavors: Ginger molasses cupcakes, salted caramel brownies and monster cookies

Last weekend, what was going to be a lazy Friday night turned into something way, way cooler. I'd spent my week writing coverage of the opening of Kansas City's new fancy schmancy Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Seriously, it's way cool. As the kid of a professional musician, I grew up listening to classical music, going to the ballet and learning composers' styles. For work, I'd gotten to do a tour of the place as well as talk to the companies that will be using it regularly. But 20 minutes before work ended Friday, my boss gave me the chance of a lifetime: a ticket to the grand opening. Lemme tell you, I was WAY out of my element at my first black tie affair, but it was very fun to people watch and see all those fabulous gowns. Inside the theater was just as fabulous, though. Broadway, opera, ballet...you name it, they did it. I'm so happy I went, and I've already got tickets to a few things at the center. I'm so excited it's open!

A number of my friends right now are transitioning from old jobs to new, and this brownie was for my friend Joe, who was my counterpart on the beloved overnight shift. It was his "real boy" party, as in he now has hours of a normal person and we can all see him outside of vampire hours. So exciting! These were salted caramel brownies, surprisingly enough from Cooking Light Magazine. That makes them healthy, right?

I've made a lot more cookies lately than I normally do. I guess I think they're boring sometimes, but other times they're just perfect and hit the spot. My love for monster cookies came from a high school job in a coffee shop/bakery. This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen, full of peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips and M&Ms but absent of raisins (yuck!). They spread out a lot, and I was really disappointed with them when they came out of the oven. But I left them out overnight, and they were perfect the next day. Good things come to those who wait, I suppose.

On my trip to the Louisburg Cider Mill last weekend, I found some awesome Halloween stuff the mill was selling, including these awesome fall leaf sprinkles. Yes, I sometimes choose what cupcakes I bake on the sprinkles I buy. So I decided I definitely needed a fall-flavored cupcake, and went with a recipe from Martha I'd never tried before: ginger molasses cupcakes. Forget that Kansas/Missouri decided to ratchet the temperature back up to the 80s after some nice days in the 50s and 60s. But the cupcakes brought back fall for sure and had a great bite to them. Instead of topping them with whipped cream like the recipe calls for, I went with basic vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, which I thought would nicely offset the spicy, and it did. I almost thought I ruined the icing because it was super runny, but I just beat the crap out of it, and then it was fine. I like desserts that work out that way!!

(Posting to Hoosier Homemade's Cupcake Tuesday.)