Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing

i gave in to the cupcake trend. i know, i know. sorry it's a terrible picture (taken with my phone) but these cupcakes turned out so yummy. i made them for my boss' birthday and they were a hit with everyone. but then it doesn't take much to make guys happy :)

muffins
2 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 t. vanilla
3/4 cup milk

preheat oven to 350. sift flour, baking powder, and salt. (or don't - who sifts anything these days?! they turned out fine without sifting) with an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. scrape sides of bowl and mix a few more seconds. add eggs, one at time, mixing well after each addition. add vanilla and mix well. alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to the butter/egg/sugar mixture. mix well.

fill muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. bake 20-22 minutes, or until poufy, but not brown. cool before icing.

sticky icing
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 T. butter

mix ingredients in small saucepan. melt ingredients over low/medium heat, stirring gently. the icing is ready when everything is melted.

spoon warm icing over cupcakes, stopping to stir in icing about every 3rd cupcake.

optional: sprinkle with mini m & ms for even more chocolatey goodness.

recipe found here.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

I know, not the prettiest soup, but it's so good and super easy.  I like to cook a bunch of chicken in the crockpot and freeze it in 2 cup bags for things like this, it makes it a breeze!

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup:

By: Trina Asay

 2 cans diced tomatoes (optional to use tomatoes with green chilies, or add a can of green chilis, or both.  I really like the kick it gives it.)

1-2 cans chicken broth (maybe 1 1/2 cans or 3 cups)

2 can traditional refried beans 

1 can corn. You can use frozen corn

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

Garlic salt, cumin and onion salt to taste

Optional: chopped onion, 

Shredded Montery Jack cheese, or regular cheese

Fried corn tortilla strips or corn chips

Lime juice for splashing in while serving. 

Combine tomatoes and broth in medium saucepan.  Stir in beans and corn.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add chicken and heat through.  Top with chips, cheese, lime juice and optional sour cream (it's good but deffinately doesn't need it) when serving.

 

Baked Chicken Fried Steaks & Gravy

1/4 C. all-purpose flour
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
2/3 C. seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp cornstarch,
1 tsp. paprika
2-4 dashes of hot sauce
1 pound cube steak, cut into 4 portions
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth or chicken
1 Tbsp water
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Place all purpose flour on large plate. Place seasoned bread crumbs on separate large plate. Place egg whites in shallow dish.
Season flour with salt, pepper and paprika. Season eggs with salt, pepper and few dashes of hot sauce if desired. Season both sides of cube steaks with salt and pepper. Dredge cube steaks in the flour and shake off excess. Dip in the egg white and dredge in bread crumbs. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Reduce to med heat and brown both sides of steaks turning once, 3-5 min. total. Transfer steak to prepared baking sheet. Repreat process with other steaks. Bake until cooked through, 12-15 min.
Gravy:
Add broth to the same pan as you cooked the cube steaks in. Boil over med. heat, stirring occasionally until reduced to 1 C, 3-5 min. Whisk water and corn starch in small bowl until smooth. Remove the pan from heat and stir in corn starch mixture. Return to heat and cook, stirring until thickened. Stir in milk, salt and pepper. Serve the steaks topped with gravy.
Note: half and half can be used in place of milk but I didn't have it so the milk worked fine.
Beef stock is what recipe called for, but I didn't have any and chicken stock worked fine.
Makes 4 servings

--Bethie

Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

By: Trina Asay

1 (9 ounce) package brownie mix (I just used 2 cups of a regular sized one, and that      was ½ of it and about 9 oz.

1 egg

1 tablespoon cold water

1 can La Lechera, Dolce De Leche, by Nestle, it’s caramel sweetened condensed milk (you can use this in place of the caramels and sweetened condensed milk.)  It’s found in the Mexican food isle.

1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

13/4 cup white sugar            

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup chocolate fudge topping (I just used chocolate syrup because you don’t need that much)

Raspberries (optional to add to filling mixture before pouring into pan and baking)

 

DIRECTIONS

1.                   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

2.                   In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix, 1 egg and water. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for about 12 minutes.  Brownies will not be done, but done enough.

3.                   Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.  If using the La Lechera, Dolce de Leche, just warm enough to pour and spread, still reserving 1/3 co for topping.

4.                   In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.

5.                   Bake cheesecake for 50 minutes. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled, loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate topping.  I just used chocolate syrup because you don’t need that much and it’s really easy and already in thef fridge.

Cadbury Egg Cookies

1/2 c. crisco
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
6 T. cocoa powder
1 10 oz. bag cadbury mini-eggs

preheat oven to 350. crush the cadbury eggs by placing them in a ziplock bag and rolling them with a marble rolling pin.

cream butter, crisco, and sugars. add in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. in a seperate bowl, whisk together flour, soda,baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. add to the butter mixture to combine, then mix in the candies.

drop onto a cookie sheet and cook 8-10 minutes.

Baked Penne with Chicken

no picture- we ate it too fast.

3 T. butter
1/2 lb. wheat penne pasta
1 t. olive oil
1 chicken breast, 8 oz.
1/4 c + 1 T. flour
2 minced garlic cloves
3 cups whole milk
5 oz. white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced (We hate mushrooms so I left them out. Next time, I will probably add artichoke hearts)
1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
3/4 c. shredded provolone cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese + 1/4 c. for topping

Preheat oven to 400. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish. In a pot of boiling and salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout. Thinly slice and put on top of drained pasta.

Sauce: using the same pan you used to cook the chicken (just whipe out what is left of the oil), melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, one minute. Gradually add milk. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook one minute. Remove from heat and shirt in provolone and parmesan cheese.

Pour sauce over pasta and chicken. Stir well and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan. Bake uncovered until top is golden and bubblig, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Kneader's Bread Pudding with Cream Sauce.

Pictured without cream sauce

Kneaders is in Provo and Orem but may also be in Salt Lake.  They have a fabulous Raspberry bread pudding.  This is supposedly the recipe and it's wonderful.  I have made it with the cream it calls for and I've made it with just whole milk.  The cream may have made it a little better, we also felt kind of sick after eating it when it was made with cream, because it was so rich!  This is in no way healthy, but it's awesome.  Give it a try!

Cream Mix:
1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread
1 qt. heavy cream
3 C. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Fruit Filling:
5 C. frozen raspberries
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. apple juice

Vanilla Sauce:
1 1/3 C. butter
5 Tbs. flour
3 C. heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 C. sugar

In a large bowl, combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 1/2" cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely. For fruit filling, combine raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Layer a 9x13 dark baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour fruit filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread. Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm. Top with vanilla sauce. For vanilla sauce, over medium heat, melt butter, and add flour. Stir 10 minutes until it has a nutty aroma; do not brown. Add salt, cream and sugar and boil till mixture is thick. Remove from heat, adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.