Chocolate Cherry Cola Cupcakes

Don't these cupcakes look fun?! I made these for a get together with some great friends. I knew it would be a lively time, so I needed suitable cupcakes for the occasion. There are 3 different parts to these, and they are all pretty easy. The coke flavor is very slight, but makes for an interesting ingredient.

Chocolate Cherry Cola Cupcakes

adapted from confessionsofacookbookqueen.com 
Cupcakes
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup Coke, Pepsi, or other cola product

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, add cake mix, butter, buttermilk, eggs, and Coke. Beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase speed to medium. Beat for 2 minutes.
3. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Place cupcakes on cooling racks until cooled.

Cherry Frosting
2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 cup shortening
16 maraschino cherries, chopped small enough to fit through piping tip
4 TBSPs of juice from a jar of maraschino cherries
8 cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and shortening together, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add maraschino cherries and juice; beat until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beat on med/high speed until light and fluffy. Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes and place in the refrigerator until well chilled (about an hour) then make your glaze.

Chocolate Cola Glaze
4 TBSPs melted butter
2 TBSPs cocoa powder
1/4 cup Coke, Pepsi, or other cola product
2 cups powdered sugar
 Maraschino cherries/gummi Cola bottles for garnish

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the cocoa powder and Coke and whisk in well. Once the mixture just begins to boil, remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar. Spoon the frosting over the cupcakes and top with a cherry and gummi Cola bottle before set.

Tips:
*Slowly spoon the glaze onto the top of each cupcake. If you put on too much it will drip all the way down the sides.
*Take out the cherries that you are going to use for garnish and set them on a paper towel to soak up some of the extra juice before placing on top of the cupcakes.
*Keep the cupcakes in the fridge until about an hour before serving.
*If you are spreading on the frosting and not piping it on high, you can half the cherry frosting recipe.

Witch Broomsticks

This is the easiest Halloween treat ever! Reese's peanut butter cups and pretzel sticks are all you need. Your kids can make them for you!

This post is dedicated to my sister Jennifer. :)

Mini Banana Muffins

This is a great way to use up your mushy bananas! And because they are mini muffins, they only bake for 15 minutes instead of an hour like banana bread. These would also be good with chocolate chips. This recipe makes about 48 mini muffins, but you can half it.

Mini Banana Muffins
adapted from foodnetwork.com
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 TBSP milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray, or use liners.
2. Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.
5. Fill muffin cups using a small scoop (1 TBSP). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack.

Makes about 48 muffins

Chicken Quesadillas

When I make this slow cooker chicken taco meat here, we always have lots of leftovers, so sometimes instead of having tacos again, I change it up a bit and make quesadillas. It's practically the same thing, but it seems like a different meal. :) This isn't a real recipe with measurements. It's more like an idea.

Chicken Quesadillas

Tortillas
Chicken taco meat from this recipe here
Chopped tomato
Sliced green onion
Shredded cheese
Spray butter or cooking spray
Sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole for dipping

Heat griddle or skillet. Mix some chopped tomato and green onion with your leftover chicken taco meat. If your taco meat is cold, you might want to heat it a little in the microwave first. Spray one side of a tortilla and place it sprayed side down on griddle. Sprinkle some taco meat on the tortilla. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the meat. Place another tortilla on top. Spray top tortilla. When bottom tortilla is lightly browned and crispy, carefully flip the quesadilla over. Cook other side until done. Remove from griddle and cut into triangles with a pizza cutter.

Serve with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole for dipping.

Easy Quiche

I like to make quiche for dinner on occasion. I usually just see what I have in my fridge, and figure out what to throw in there. I've used Swiss, Jarlsberg, Gruyere, Monterey jack, Colby jack, queso fresco, and cheddar. They all are good, though I prefer Monterey jack with a little cheddar. For the meat, I use bacon, turkey bacon, or ham, and then onions add for flavor. If you want a vegetarian quiche, you can substitute frozen spinach that has been thawed and drained. I've also added cooked broccoli, and mushrooms would work well too (we don't like them). Quiches are very versatile! I basically used the Williams-Sonoma recipe that I previously posted, and just simplified it.

Easy Quiche
1 9in. deep dish prepared crust (like Pillsbury crust, or make this Quick Pie Crust)
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1/2 cup cooked, crumbled, bacon or ham pieces
1/4 cup sautéed onion or sliced green onion

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick bottom and sides of crust with fork. Cover crust with foil, poke a few holes in it, then press it into the pastry-lined pan. Bake the pastry for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the pastry looks dry but not brown, about 4 minutes more. Remove from the oven; reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.
2. While crust is baking, in a medium bowl combine eggs, half and half, salt, pepper, cheese, bacon, and onion. Stir to combine. When the crust has finished baking, pour egg mixture into the crust.
3. Bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. If the edges are browning too quickly, cover them with strips of aluminum foil. Cool 15 minutes then serve.

Note: If the crust falls it's OK. It happens sometimes. Just pour your filling in and if some spills over the side of the crust and goes underneath it will still be fine. It won't be as pretty, but it will work. Sometimes I move my oven rack to one spot below the middle, especially if I'm having crust issues, just to make sure the bottom isn't soggy.

Pepperoncini Beef

This is a recipe from ourbestbites.com that I use to make sandwiches for one dinner and taquitos on another night. Two for one! You cook the beef in the crock pot with a jar of pepperoncinis which gives it a very different and slightly spicy flavor.

Pepperoncini Beef
adapted from ourbestbites.com
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSPs of olive or cooking oil
3 lb. beef roast, trimmed of excess fat
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 16-oz. jar sliced pepperoncinis, undrained

1. Heat oil in a pot or high-sided skillet over high heat. While the oil is heating, combine the salt and pepper and rub it into the meat. Add more if necessary.
2. When the oil is hot, sear the roast on all sides so the outsides of it is browned and a little crispy.
3. Transfer the roast to a slow cooker and add the minced garlic and the entire jar of pepperoncinis.
4. If possible, cook on high until the liquid comes to a boil and then turn it to low and cook until the roast shreds easily with a fork, for a total cooking time of about 6-8 hours. If not possible, cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the beef is fork tender.
5. Drain and shred. Keep the peppers!

Sandwiches
Crusty sandwich rolls
Sliced provolone cheese

Slice the rolls and spread lightly with mayonnaise and then top with the shredded beef. Add a slice of provolone cheese and then place under the broiler for 1-3 minutes or until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Taquitos
Tortillas (corn or flour)
Crumbled Queso Fresco (or shredded pepper jack or monterey jack)
Cooking spray
Salt

Sprinkle 1-2 TBSPs shredded beef on each tortilla and about 1 TBSP of cheese. Roll up and place seam side down on greased baking sheet. Spray tops of tortillas with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until tortilla is crispy and edges are lightly browned. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole

2 Ingredient Fudge

This is an embarrassingly easy recipe. I wanted to make some pink fudge for the baby shower that I helped out with last month, and when I did a Google search for pink fudge, I kept seeing this recipe. After trying and failing at a white chocolate cherry fudge, I made this. I don't necessarily love the fake strawberry flavor of the frosting, but you can make it so many different ways. I also made some with vanilla frosting and added a little food coloring and peppermint extract, and that one was really good! I will make this again, which is why I decided to add it to my blog. I even found a chart with lots of different combinations here. Next time I'm going to try chocolate. :)

2 Ingredient Fudge
cookiesandcups.com
1 (16 oz) can of strawberry frosting (or any flavor)
1 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips (or any flavor)

1. Prepare a 9x9 pan by spray lightly with cooking spray or line pan with foil.
2. Over a double boiler, or in the microwave, melt your white chocolate chips.
3. When chips are melted, remove from heat and stir in your strawberry frosting, evenly.
4. Spread in your prepared pan and place in fridge to set for 30 minutes.

Cut into squares to serve. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.