Cupcakes, Muffins & Oatmeal Bars

I baked so many treats this time because I had a bunch of extra fruit left over and I was leaving on vacation the same week. I didn't want to have them go to waste, so I worked with what I had. I made Key Lime cupcakes, Banana Nut muffins, Blackberry muffins, and Plum Raspberry oatmeal bars. They were all fun and pretty easy to make. The oatmeal bars are always a hit. Enjoy!

Key lime Cupcakes:

1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup fresh key lime juice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp of key lime zest

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Take out, let cool.

Key Lime Frosting:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 half key lime juice, half soy milk
1 tbsp of key lime zest

Banana Nut Muffins:

These are the BEST banana nut muffins I've ever had. Unfortunately I got the recipe from my good friend Gaby. She asked me to keep the recipe a secret. Sorry!

Blackberry Muffins:

2 cups of flour
3 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
egg replacer- one egg
(I used about 1 1/4 cups of blackberries
feel free to add less though)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Take out, let cool.

Raspberry Plum Oatmeal Bars:

This is a great recipe I got from a cook book that I have at home. I'll have to fill this in later.

Happy Baking!

Blackberry Vanilla Bean & Black Forest Cupcakes

These are Blackberry Vanilla Bean and Black Forest Cupcakes. I really liked the outcome of both of them. These are both a little more time consuming and expensive to make, but they are worth it. give yourself at least 30 minutes of prep time for both of them.

Blackberry Vanilla Bean Cupcake:

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of blackberries

Try smooshing the blackberries before you add them to the mix.. The batter should be purple.
After you have the mix all together, put 1 tbsp of the batter in the cupcake liner (in the pan). Set that aside for a few minutes. Put a handful of blackberries in a bowl and smoosh them together so all of the juice comes out. It may help putting them in the microwave for about 10 seconds first. Take the cupcake pan with the 1/2 filled cups, and with a spoon, drizzle about a teaspoon the blackberry juice over the batter. Once that is done, you can put the other tbsp of the batter over that.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Take out, let cool.

Vanilla Bean Frosting:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 of the extract from a vanilla bean pod

Once the cupcakes are frosted, you can garnish with a fresh blackberry!

Black Forest Cupcakes:

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of maraschino cherry grenadine

about 15 fresh black cherries (use later)

This is close to the same process you go through with the blackberry cupcakes. Once you have your cupcake mix well blended, put 1 tbsp of the batter in the cupcake liner (in the pan). Set that aside for a few minutes.
Then you take the black cherries you set aside, and you slice them. you can usually get 4 slices from each cherry. This part can be a pain because the cherries do have pits inside of them.
Once you have your cherry slices, lay them on top of the batter in the cupcake pan. 3 or 4 slices fit per cup. After this, put one more tbsp of the batter over the cherries.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Take out, let cool.
Keep in mind that the cherries can be very juicy depending on how ripe they are. You may want to leave them in for a few minutes longer than that.

Once cooled, frost with a simple vanilla frosting.

Simple Vanilla Frosting:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup soy milk

Garnish with a fresh black cherry and chopped pieces of chocolate

Happy Baking!

Chai Coconut Coffee & German Chocolate Cake Cupcakes

Both of these cupcakes came out delicious. I got the idea for the Chai Coconut Coffee cupcake from my friend Klint. As for the German Chocolate Cake cupcake, I have been meaning to make these for a while but i was hesitant because I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. I was actually surprised when they loved them. Anyway, I'll post the recipes for these later.


Chai Coconut Coffee Cupcakes:

1 cup chai soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tsp coconut extract

To make the chai soy milk, you can put the soy milk in a saucepan on low heat. Put 3-4 chai tea bags in the saucepan and let sit for 5 minutes. Take off the heat, and let cool. Squeeze all of the extra liquid from the teabags before you dispose of them.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Take out, set to cool.

Coffee Coconut Butter Cream Frosting:

1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup really strong coffee
2 tsp coconut extract

I use instant coffee for the frosting. I put about 3 tbsp of the instant coffee in a bowl and add 5-6 tbsp of really hot water so it dissolves. Just measure it out and add it to the frosting.

You could even put coconut on the cupcake itself instead of adding the extract to the frosting if you wanted to decorate them!

German Chocolate Cake Cupcakes:


1 cup soy
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Take out, Set to cool.

For the frosting, or topping I should say..it's basically coconut in caramel sauce with chopped pecans. Vegan caramel sauce isn't a very easy recipe. It's a lot thinner than your average caramel sauce and it can be hard to work with.

Caramel Sauce:

note: I got this recipe from the back of my confectioners sugar bag

3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup soy milk
dash of salt


Directions:

In a small heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, milk and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
Increase heat to medium and boil sauce for 3-6 minutes.
Set aside to cool. (it will thicken once it's cooled down)

Once it's cooled down, add about 2 cups of flaked coconut to the saucepan and fold the caramel sauce in with the coconut.

Chop about 1/2 cup of sugared pecans(or however much you want) and also add it to the coconut and caramel sauce. Fold together until they look well mixed in.

It's easier to put the topping on with a fork, So put about 1 fork fulls on each cupcake.

Happy Baking!!

Oreo, Confetti with Strawberry Frosting & PB&J

I baked my friend Brendan these cupcakes for his birthday. They all came out good. Blah Blah Blah. I'm slacking on updating this blog.