Guinness Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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St. Patty's Day is upon us (well.... almost!). If you've been observing Lent, your time is almost up. Were you giving up sweets? Alcohol? Guinness? Let's just say, hypothetically, that you were giving up all three things. What would you do on the day those treats were suddenly back on menu?

You'd make these cupcakes. Obviously.

I've been making cupcakes with sparkling water or diet soda for a while now... and have dabbled in the liquor infused cupcakes (like Frangelico and Kahlua)... but hadn't yet tried beer.

I have to say, the Guinness is amazing. Seriously. Even though the recipe for the cupcake batter omits eggs, oil, and butter, the cupcakes are still extremely moist. Perhaps we have the heavy, rich consistency of Guinness to thank for that, eh?

My sincere advice: Make these. Then eat them. Eat them with a pint of Guinness in front of you to wash it down. Glorious!

(From CalorieCount)

Recipe | Thin Mint Truffles (OMG)

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Last week, the Girl Scout Cookies came in at work. I swear to you,the afternoon was a solid 4 hours of the battle of self control. Somehow, I managed to make it home with a full box of Thin Mints. I knew they wouldn't last long if I left them out...

But then a tiny voice in my head whispered... truffles. Any sort of truffle or cake pop seems to be the way to go lately. Nothing pleases a crowd more than a truffle made using one of their favorite ingredients.

Don't believe me? Try Oreo Truffles, Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles, Carrot Cake Pops, or 60 calorie cake pops.

Easy Homemade Coffee Cake For The Win!

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I love my coffee. I love sitting there, with a cup of Jo in hand, nibbling on some good old toast. But, unfortunately, I had a mishap recently. I burned my toast. It seemed like a sign. This day, I told myself, I was meant to burn my toast! This day, breakfast was meant for something more... 

Drama aside, I've always wanted to take a shot at a healthier version of coffee cake. This homemade version, using sparkling water instead of eggs/oil/butter, is pretty much perfect. There's no coffee in the recipe - but the brown sugar and cinnamon compliment a good old cup of Jo quite well. 

And I must say... this was the first time I warmed up the sweet cream cheese frosting I've used (though slightly altered) in recipes like Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Cake In A Jar, and Chocolate Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies... and the result is a sweet, coffee-cake drizzle that is to-die-for.

Prep time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 35 Minutes
Total time: 40 Minutes
Yield: 10-12 Servings
Ingredients (Cake Batter):

• 1 box Vanilla Cake Mix
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 12 Ounces Sparkling Water, Club Soda, or Tonic Water
• 1/4 cup Nuts (Pralines used here)

Ingredients (Crumble Top):

• 1 Cup Wheat Flour
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Softened Butter
• 1 pinch Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Oats

Ingredients (Frosting Drizzle):

• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Softened Butter

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. [For Cake Batter]Combine cake mix and sparkling water and mix well. Spoon about 1/2 of this mixture into two greased cake pans in random places. A smooth layer is not necessary - just spoon that baby in!
3. Add cinnamon, brown sugar, and (optional) nuts to the remaining batter. Stir well. Then spoon the remaining batter to fill in the cake pans. You should end up with a spotted-looking batter pattern.
4. Using a spoon, knife, or fork, slowly glide back and forth from left to right, somewhat mixing the two cake batters.
5. [For Crumble Top] In a separate bowl, combine Wheat Flour, Brown Sugar, Oats, and Salt. Mix well.
6. Add softened butter and knead with your hands until the butter has broken apart and you have a crumbly mixture. Add nuts if desired.
7. Sprinkle all of the crumbly mixture on top of both dishes of breakfast cake.
8. Bake in oven for 28-34 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. [For Frosting] In a clean bowl, prepare frosting by combining Powdered Sugar, Cream Cheese, Vanilla Extract, and Softened Butter. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then high for 2-4 minutes, or until it begins to peak.
10. Microwave frosting for 20-30 seconds. Stir. Then serve on top of breakfast cake with a cup of Jo on the side!

Chocolate & Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies

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Wanna know what part of the cupcake is generally considered the "favorite" part of a cupcake? I mean, when it's just your regular cupcake... when it's not fabulously filled with Reese's Cups or Chocolate Mousse... Normally, the favorite part of a cupcake anatomy is the 'cupcake top' (I just couldn't bring myself to say muffin top. Oh, crap. Just did).

Why do you all love it so much? Is it because of the ratio of cakey goodness to creamy frosting goodness? Duh.

Whoopie Pies (another phrase I dislike. What's with all the gross sounding words in this post?!) are pretty much just two thin 'cupcake tops' with the frosting in the middle. Um. Hello? Yum.

Total time: 1 hour
Yield: ~30 Whoopie Pies
Ingredients:

• 1 box Devil's Foodcake Mix
• 1 can La Croix
• 8 ounces Cream Cheese
• 2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Cooking Directions:

1. Combine cake mix and La Croix in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place on lightly oiled (I used Pam) parchment paper on a baking sheet.
3. Place in the oven for 15-18 minutes (watch them! These babies cook a bit faster than cupcakes because they're itty bitty).
4. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
5. In a clean bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and butter. Beat on medium to high until frosting is well mixed. If you'd like it to be thicker, add that powdered sugar :)
6. Sandwich 2 spoons full of icing between each set of cake 'slices.'
7. Garnish with sprinkles, if they're available (I had none. Sad).
8. Refrigerate!

But seriously... WHY are these called Whoopie Pies? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. 

Red, White, and Blue-berry Overnight French Toast

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Like your typical 22 year old Millennial, I'm quite a fan of instant feedback and quick gratification.  So I generally stay away from recipes that take a long time to bake.  Not sure if this breaks that rule - it really only takes 5 minutes to prepare, but here's the catch: you have to do it the night before.  So, the night before Memorial Day, I decided to take a crack at it - and to find a way to make it red, white, and blue because I'm a sucker for themes.

I found this original recipe online through Pinterest.  Naturally, I didn't love the amount of bread, egg, and cream cheese that was used - so I changed the recipe a bit to fit to make it healthier less unhealthy. Don't worry - the taste did not suffer.

My dad was the ultimate test on this one.  Why?  Because he generally won't consume a meal that does not include a substantial amount of meat and calls a lot of my healthy recipes "rabbit food".  What was the verdict?  Let me say this: every single plate in my house was cleared.  People were stuffed to the brim.  There was groaning out of fullness.  And all was good.

Here's the recipe...