Scrumpdillyicious Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

It's been a very lovely Valentine's Day.  How has  your day been?  Hope it's been full of love and laughter.  Dan and I made really adorable play tents for all the grandsons for Valentine's Day this year.  (You'll hear more about those later.) We delivered those yesterday because they had to be set up and we didn't know if there would be a new grandson today.   No baby has arrived yet today, but there is still time and we all have our fingers crossed doing the "come on baby" dance.  We did have fun spending the afternoon with our daughters and grandsons though while they all enjoyed cupcakes and they LOVED their tents.  I received a dozen beautiful pink roses from the grandsons.  : )

Today was started by baking some scumpdillyicious chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Oh my, they are good!  I tinted the frosting a lovely shade of pink to make the cupcakes look a little more "Valentine-ish."  Now, they needed that final touch, you know  - a special decoration.  So, I made some chocolate covered strawberries.  Why you ask?  Because they are delicious of course (and pretty too).  I used them on some of the cupcakes and on the gift trays.  I also made gluten free red velvet cupcakes for our son in love who cannot eat gluten.  I will post that recipe later.  They were really pretty.

This recipe made 24 cupcakes which gave me enough to make trays for both families here in town, a cute little tray for our grandson's nanny and her boyfriend, and of course - one for us.  Kristen is so loving and sweet to G, and I wanted her to know how much we appreciate her.

Now, I am going to say this is another "must make" recipe for you, because these cupcakes are outstanding!

Here is what you will need.

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
4 eggs
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup milk
4 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

2 8 oz blocks cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP milk (if needed, I didn't need the milk)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with papers for 24 cupcakes

Cream the butter and both sugars until light in color and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Sift the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.  Add dry ingredients and wet ingredients alternately to the butter/sugar mixture.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Fill the muffin papers 3/4 full.  (I use a 1/4 cup measure)  Bake for 17-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool.

To make the icing:

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese.  Add the vanilla.   Add powdered sugar a little at a time until the frosting is the consistency you want.  If needed, add tiny bits of milk until you get a spreadable consistency.  (I added 3 drops of red food coloring to make my icing pink)

Here is an easy way to pipe frosting onto your cupcakes for a more decorative look.  Cut the corner off a gallon sized storage bag and insert an icing tip (which you can buy at the grocery) for the look that you want.  I used a star tip and made swirls instead of stars.

Next, fold the top of the bag back on itself and place it in a container to hold it while you fill it with icing.

Zip the top closed while squeezing all the air from the bag.  Now, you are ready to pipe.  Simply choose the design/look you want and go to it.  I don't like tons of icing, so I made swirls in the middle of the cupcakes like this.

I decorated a dozen cupcakes with chocolate covered strawberries, a dozen with Hershey's kisses and a dozen with sprinkles because the grandsons love sprinkles.  Then, I covered trays I already had with Valentine tissues paper and placed cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries and kisses on the trays.  Each one was a little different.  Now, it was time to make deliveries.

Anytime there is a special occasion, it's always thoughtful to bake something.  This is a great recipe that is absolutely delicious.  Give it a try because I know you will love it.  I found this recipe on a site called Your Cup of Cake and it is a keeper!  Dan declared it amazing and he is the world class chocolate expert around here.  I believe they are referred to as "chocoholics."  So now you know, you must give these a try.  I'll keep you updated on the newest grandson.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.
Mariska Hargitay

Adorable Edible Acorns

Do you Pinterest?  Do you know what Pinterest is?  Pinterest is one of those things you can lose yourself in for hours and hours, looking at all the fabulous things people post to their Pinterest boards -  recipes, DIY projects, fashion, decorating, books, quotes - it goes on and on.  It allows you direct access to the blog or web site that it came from simply by clicking on the picture.  You can "re-pin" other people's pins to your boards.  You can follow people whose boards interest you or follow people that you know.   As an example, say you find a recipe you want to remember.  All you have to do is pin it to one of your boards and it's there the next time you want to use the recipe.   No more trying to remember what blog or website you saw it on.  When you join Pinterest, you get a "pin it button" that you put in your tool bar so that every time you see something you want to look at again, like a recipe or DIY project, you "pin it." to one of your boards.  It is one of the most clever things anyone ever thought of.  Just be warned, you can spend hours, days, weeks of your life on Pinterest.  But, it's worth it and yes, I am a Pinterest addict.  There will be support groups forming I am sure.

Those cute little edible acorns in the picture above are one of my "pins."  I knew as soon as I saw them on a blog named Six In The Suburbs,  that I would be making some and soon.  I mean, why would you not make them?  They are adorable and edible!  They are peanut butter and chocolate, one of the worlds best combinations ever.  Remember the ad that said "you got your peanut butter in my chocolate!  no, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!"  Can't tell you what product it was for, but I remember the ad because it's a great combination.  Peanut butter AND chocolate.

Think how cute these little acorns would be on a pretty plate for Thanksgiving, or to take as a hostess gift to whomever is preparing your Thanksgiving dinner.  They could be put in little boxes and given as favors to take home after a day of overeating and spending time with friends and family.   How delicious would they be to eat while watching football on Thanksgiving weekend?   I can see these on plates of Christmas cookies.  What adorable little edible accents.   There are endless possibilities here.  Even if you don't bake or cook, these are easy.   Here is what you need.

A bag of regular Hershey's kisses
A bag of bite-sized Nutter Butter cookies
A bag of mini-chocolate chips

Unwrap however many kisses you want.  I made 36 on my first try (with plenty left to make more).  Melt a handful of mini-chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl.  Dip the flat side of a Hershey's kiss in the melted chocolate and stick it to a bite-sized Nutter Butter.  Set it on a flat surface (like a baking sheet) Nutter Butter side down to let the chocolate harden.  Let sit for a minute or two.  Now, dip the flat side of an unmelted mini-chocolate chip in the melted chocolate and stick it to the other side of the Nutter butter.  That's it!  That's all you have to do.  Let them lay on their sides until the chocolate hardens.  Now you can eat them, share them, or box them up for favors -  whatever you want to do.  It's your choice.  I'm sure you will think of lots of things.

I spent the most time unwrapping the kisses.  Otherwise, this is a really easy project that looks like you spent hours and hours making.  Hope you enjoy making, eating and sharing!  This is what is so fun about the holidays, all these wonderful projects.  Enjoy!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.” ~ James Allen