Sisterly Advice

You may remember the Christmas Cookie Exchange with my family, where we made what seemed like a million cookies(post). My sister, Kimberly, made some very popular Oreo cookie truffles. Inspired by her recipe, I decided to create a healthier sugar free version. I went to the store with the intention of swapping the regular Oreos with sugar-free Oreos. However, I guess I invented those....I found reduced fat, but those still had a good amount of sugar. My sister-in-law Kelley suggested using the sugar-free chocolate wafers that come in the 80 calorie packs. So this recipe is a creation with lots of sisterly advice!

Sugar-Free Oreo Cookie Truffles

6 packs Murray Sugar Free Chocolate Bites
1 pkg 8 oz. Neufchâtel Cream Cheese
about 2-4 oz Sugar Free Chocolate










In a food processor, crush cookies into fine cookie crumbs.












In a separate bowl, blend together cookie crumbs and cream cheese. Allow to chill in refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

















Scoop mixture and roll into balls (makes about 14, but you could make more by making them smalled). At this point you can add the lollipop sticks or leave as is. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Drizzle chocolate over truffles to coat fully. Place back in the refrigerator to set.

Sweet Enough

I was asked to create a sugar free cupcake for my husband's work party. I will say that this is not an easy or inexpensive thing to do. It's no wonder so many people eat too much sugar! I used a basic chocolate cupcake recipe from splenda.com and I adapted a recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough frosting from a cookie dough dip recipe on pinterest. I will always love the full sugar cupcakes, but these are a nice alternative.

 

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 16
Oven 350

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

1 cup SPLENDA^® Sugar Blend

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Combine cocoa and boiling water, whisking until blended. Set aside.

Combine flour, SPLENDA^® Sugar Blend, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a fork or a pastry blender until crumbly. (This procedure may be done with a mixer at the lowest speed.)

Combine eggs, milk, cocoa mixture and vanilla in a small mixing bowl; add 1/3 of the egg mixture to flour mixture. Beat at low speed of an electric mixer until blended. Beat at medium speed for 30 seconds or until batter is smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of the bowl. Repeat procedure 2 times.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin tins.

Bake 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar or frost.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting

 

2 cups almond flour/almond meal (Trader Joes)
1/2 cup shortening or butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

 

Blend together flour, shortening, honey, vanilla, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips, saving a few for decoration on top of cupcakes.

Discounted Doughnuts

We've started to finally think more about decorating the house. Thankfully, we painted before we moved in, because I doubt that even that would get done now. We used this weekend to really look at mirrors, artwork, bath mats, new pillows, and many other random but necessary accessories. We're getting there, I just wish decorating your house was as easy as finding what you like on Pinterest!

In my quest for house accessories, I stopped into Stonewall Kitchen and purchased a Christmas discounted doughnut pan and mix. The mix was for their Chocolate Doughnuts with a Chocolate Glaze. Overall I would give them a 7 out of 10. They were healthier than most doughnuts, since they were baked and I could add as much or as little glaze as I wanted. I will definitely be using the pan in the future, but I'm interested in creating my own recipes.

Sweet Substitute

Since my father-in-law was in the hospital and had so many surgery complications, I have been thinking more and more about being healthy. My husband and I have tried to live a healthy life but sometimes life seems to get in the way. Since I'm in charge of cooking dinner, for the most part, I've been making healthier choices and watching portions/measurements more. That one little thing has seemed to make me a bit more conscious of the things I eat throughout the day.

The hardest part is that we both have a sweet tooth. So, for today's baked good, I was inspired by a cookbook from Diabetic Living. My father-in-law happens to be diabetic and I wanted to create a baked good that we could all have. The good thing about these brownies is that no one would ever know how low in fat and calories they are!

Peanut Butter Swirl Chocolate Brownies
from diabeticlivingonline.com
Oven 350

Nonstick cooking spray

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar or sugar substitute blend

1/3 cup cold water

3/4 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed, or 3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

 

Line a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil up over the edges of the pan. Lightly coat foil with nonstick spray. Set aside.                  

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat; remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and the water. Whisk in egg, oil, and vanilla until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the flour and the baking powder until combined. (Batter will be thin at this point.)






Place peanut butter in a small bowl; gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the batter until smooth. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1/4 cup flour and the cocoa powder. Stir into the plain batter; stir in chocolate pieces. Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan.

Drop peanut butter batter in small mounds over chocolate batter in pan.







Using a thin metal spatula, swirl batters together. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes* or until top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 20 bars. (151 calories per bar, 8 grams of fat per bar*)

* If using sugar substitute: decrease baking time to 15-18 minutes, 140 calories per bar, 2 grams of fat per bar.

Anyone Out There?

It's become more and more difficult to get my posts completed for Sunday. Although, I'm not entirely sure anyone besides me has noticed....anyone out there? I have been frantically working on the first half of my thesis. It's due in a couple of weeks...I think I can, I think I can.

I can not wait to be done with taking classes and writing papers. It's almost June, right? I'm all for being a lifelong learner, but does it have to involve papers every week?

This week I made a special birthday dessert for my dad. He requested Devil's food and cream. We had a large Italian dinner with family and then enjoyed the dessert for this week. I have to say these were beautiful cupcakes and probably the best ones I've made so far!
(If you are reading this, hello!)







Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
adapted from insanitytheory.net
Oven 355
Makes about 30 cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 cup good quality dark chocolate, melted
2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar


Cream Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla pod or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar

Chocolate Buttercream
2 sticks 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
1/3 cup dark chocolate, melted
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
6 cups confectioners sugar

For cupcakes:
Mix together melted chocolate, buttermilk, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

















Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to thoroughly mix between each one. Set aside.











Sift together the flour and the baking soda. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the chocolate mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until the texture of barely whipped cream.










Fill cupcake liners 1/3 of the way with batter (I used a large cookie scoop for each).












Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.












For the cream filling: Beat the cream with the vanilla and sugar until soft peaks form.












Fill a piping bag with the cream, push the tip right to the bottom of the cupcake and slowly fill the cupcake while pulling upward.











For the chocolate buttercream:
Mix the melted chocolate  together with the cocoa powder and milk till it forms a smooth paste.










Beat the butter till light and fluffy, then add the chocolate paste and 2 cups of icing sugar and beat at high speed till it is well mixed in and fluffy again.










Add the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, and make sure that you beat the icing at high speed for 5 minutes after each addition. Fill a piping bag with buttercream and frost cupcakes as desired.

Codes

I recently taught a class about Universal Product Codes (UPCs), also known as bar codes. The class learned about what the numbers of the bar code stand for and how to find out if a number was wrong. We even started talking about our own UPCs....our Social Security numbers, and what those numbers mean. The QR code (those squares that appear on everything now) were also a topic of conversation. I had learned about most of the codes in my Number Theory classes but I didn't know that the UPC was invented by IBM....or how they convinced supermarkets to use the bar code we use today.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Blondies
adapted from littlebitsof.com

Oven 350

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

 

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Melt butter in the microwave and stir into a large bowl with brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla to the sugar mixture.









Once mixed well, stir in half of the flour mixture at a time. Fold chocolate chips into batter.












Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

















Let cool on rack before cutting.

Blackout

It's been a long week without power. We lost power Monday afternoon and it finally returned late Friday night. Luckily, we had many friends and family members with power, hot water, and hot coffee! We finally broke down and borrowed my parents' generator Friday night, only to have power restored a few hours later! This week's baked good is a nod to our blackout week.



(our neighbor's tree that fell down)


Generators
Makes 12 mini bundt cakes
Oven 375

Cakes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup dark chocolate bark, chopped

Espresso Glaze
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup dark chocolate bark, chopped
2 tablespoons warm water

In a mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso.

















In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Slowly add liquid mixture to flour mixture. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes and add hot water. Mix for an additional minute.















Pour batter into mini-bundt pans (previously greased well). Sprinkle dark chocolate onto each. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pans.















While cakes are cooling, mix espresso and warm water in a small bowl until espresso is dissolved.

















Mix in powdered sugar.













Drizzle over cooled cakes and sprinkle with dark chocolate pieces.

Collaborative

 

I truly believe the only way for things to change is to be the change. That being said, I have not felt as though I have been capable of being that change lately. I have realized that I can not do it alone, I need the support and help of others who also want change. For most of my life I have been independent, even being voted "Class Individual." It's time for me to finally see what I try to enforce in my classroom on a daily basis, "Life is a group task, a collaborative effort...."











Cocoa Nutmeg Snickerdoodles

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1/3 cup fat-free dairy sour cream

1 slightly beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

 

Beat the 1 cup sugar and butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sour cream, egg , and vanilla. Beat till just combined.










Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and baking soda in a small bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to sour cream mixture, beating till just combined. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours or till easy to handle.









Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Combine the 2 tablespoons sugar and cocoa powder. Roll balls in sugar-cocoa mixture. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degrees oven for 10 to 11 minutes or till edges are golden. Cool cookies on a wire rack.(Makes 48 Cookies)

Good

Have you ever felt like you could never possibly do all that you need to? That you've clearly overextended yourself but you wouldn't dream of admitting it? Is it crazy to believe that you can do it all? Maybe not crazy, as long as you realize you don't have to.

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." - John Steinbeck

Eclair Cake

www.everydaytastes.com


1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter (1-stick)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
4 large eggs
2 pkgs. (3.4 oz) Vanilla Instant Pudding
2 1/2 cups cold milk
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (room temperature)
1 container (12 oz) Cool Whip
Chocolate syrup for drizzling



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring the water, butter and salt to boil until butter is melted. Add the flour all at once and mix rapidly with a wooden spoon.















Remove from heat and stir until the mixture leaves the sides of pan and forms a ball. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition until completely smooth.










Spread in an ungreased 10- by 15-inch baking pan. Bake until golden brown, about 25-35 minutes.












Crust will puff up the sides of the pan while in the oven. When removed from the oven, prick bubbles with a fork. Let cool.











For filling, use an electric mixer to beat the pudding mix, milk and softened cream cheese together until thoroughly blended. Spread pudding mixture over the baked and cooled eclair crust. Spread Cool Whip over pudding mixture. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Great Work

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs

Back to School Chocolate Pudding
from Bon Apetit January 2009

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in milk, then cream. Whisk over medium heat until mixture comes to boil.











Boil until thick, whisking constantly, about 30 seconds. Add chopped chocolate. Boil until chocolate melts and pudding is thick again, whisking often, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla.









Cool pudding 5 minutes. Chill pudding uncovered until cold, at least 2 hours. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.