Who Needs Hostess? Part II

Remember last week when I showed you how I made copy-cat Twinkies?  Well, this week, I’ll show you how to make copy-cat Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes…but with more taste, less preservatives, and more awesomeness.  Ready?!

My oldest asked me to replicate the Hostess Cupcakes for his 12th birthday a few weeks ago.  I started off my making Devil’s Food Cupcakes. 

Follow the recipe exactly as shown on the website, except divide your batter between 2 lined muffin pans.  This gave me 24 cupcakes.  Don’t make the frosting in the recipe. 

…unless you want to, then knock yourself out!  I used Chocolate Ganache Frosting to frost my cupcakes.  Mix up your Ganache and let it cool to room temperature.  Don’t frost the cupcakes yet.  You need to fill them first.

I used this delicious, heavenly Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling from my best friends at Our Best Bites to fill these cupcakes.  I doubled the recipe.  Reserve about one cup of frosting to pipe the little swirly pattern on top of the cupcake later on.

Now, you can fill these the same way I did the Twinkies:

…or you can use one of these:

…and just inject the filling into the top of the cupcake.  Whichever you prefer.

Once the cupcakes are filled, spoon the room temperature Ganache over the top of the cupcakes.  You’ll probably want to do this 2-3 times for a thicker layer of frosting.

Once the Ganache has set up, pipe your little swirly design on the cupcakes with your frosting tips.  A Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off works, too.

You don’t have to do the swirly pattern.  On my second pan, my boys and I piped baseballs, basketballs, footballs, smiley faces, etc…  It was a lot of fun.

Drool…I totally want some now.

Of course, if you don’t want to go to all this work (I promise, you’ll miss out on an incredible taste experience…) you could always pick up a box of these:

So, really?  Who needs Hostess?!  ;)

Not me!

Who Needs Hostess?!

Not me, that’s for sure!  I’m actually not a fan of all those preservatives, but my boys are.  Unfortunately, they don’t get the treats all too often.  When we found out Hostess was going under, we bought some Twinkies. 

This was the first and last time that my little Monkey had a Twinkie.  Oh, and that is Deege in the picture.

Jingus just turned twelve.  For his birthday cake, he wanted me to recreate Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes. 

I did, and I posted it on Facebook.  That recipe will come next.  Anyway, Ash and I have a cousin named Brady.  When I posted the chocolate cupcakes on Facebook, Brady asked if I could recreate a Twinkie.  I’m always up for a challenge, so I tried.

The results?!  Awesome!  Here’s what I did:

I started off with a sponge cake recipe and cooked it in some muffin pans.  You could use this pan to get the Twinkie shape…

…but I just used a muffin pan.  On to the recipe:

Classic Sponge Cake

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter (lightly salted)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with paddle attachment for 5 minutes.  Do not skip this step!
2. Add sugar, and continue beating for another 5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and stir on low until just combined.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.  Add to eggs and sugar on low speed until just combined.
4. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter on low heat just until butter is melted.  Add to batter, beat just until combined.
5. Pour into two greased and floured muffin pans
6. Bake at 325 until the middle springs back when touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean--about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand in pans for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto wire cooling racks and cool completely.
Hint: Cakes are close to being done when you start to smell them.

While the cakes were cooling, I whipped up this fabulous frosting/cupcake filling from my favorite ladies at Our Best Bites.

Now, there are two ways to fill cupcakes.  You can inject the filling with one of these…

…or icing bags and tips.  I would have done this, but my supplies were still needing to be washed from the chocolate cupcakes.  So, I did this instead:

Take a cupcake, and use a knife to cut a circle in the center.

Use a Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off to pipe some filling into the hole.

Replace the circle you cut out.

Flip it upside down…

…and you’ve got a Twinkie! 

***WARNING***

These are MUCH tastier than Twinkies!  :)

They are a lot of work, too.  If I wanted a super tasty dessert, I would definitely make these.  If I just wanted to snack on a Twinkie (ewww gross, but if I did…) I would just pick up a box of these:

But, if you want some homemade tastiness, try these out.  You’re sure to love them!  :)

Enjoy your recipe, Brady!  :)

The Easiest, Tastiest Pie Crust. Ever.

It’s true.  This pie crust is absolutely fantastic. 

I can’t take credit for this recipe, though.  I got it from the lovely ladies over at Our Best Bites.  They have the most wonderful cookbook.  They have made me a rock star in my kitchen!  I want their newest cookbook, too!So, if you need a Christmas gift idea for me, there’s a good one!  ;)

Anyway, onto the crust, you’ll have fabulous results if you follow their tutorial.  But if you’re afraid of pie crust like I am, I’ve got a cheater method for you.

Use your food processor.  The recipe says to mix your ingredients in a bowl with a pastry blender.  Instead, use the blade on the food processor and pulse it until you have pea-sized pieces.  Then, pulse it while you add your ice water.  Keep pulsing it until it looks like pie crust.  Continue on with your pie recipe just as you normally would.

Super easy, and super tasty!

Just in case you’re wondering, I used my mom’s apples in the fandibulous recipe from Our Best Bites.  Oh Heaven.  It was so, so tasty!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Thanksgiving Macaroni and Cheese

Ten years ago, I had an extremely picky two year old.  He really only ate peanut butter sandwiches, string cheese and macaroni and cheese.  I was worried about what he was going to eat for Thanksgiving dinner so I brought homemade macaroni and cheese as a side dish.  It was a huge hit and I’ve been asked to bring it to Thanksgiving dinner every year since.

I’d love to give credit for the recipe, but I don’t remember who I got it from.  I got it from a neighbor when The Hubsters and I were poor starving college students, and I can’t remember her name.  Sorry, but if it was you, thank you so much for the recipe.  It’s a Thanksgiving tradition now!

Ingredients
12 ounces dried elbow macaroni (2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces American cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
20 rich round crackers, crushed
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a large pot cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Return to pot.
2. Add milk, melted butter, pepper, and salt. Stir in cheeses. Transfer to a greased 2-quart casserole.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Carefully stir mixture. Sprinkle with crushed crackers. Bake 5 minutes more or until crackers are browned and mixture is just heated through (don't overheat or mixture will curdle). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 to 10 side-dish servings or 4 main dish servings.

I hope your family loves this as much as mine does!

The Easiest Dinner Rolls. Ever.

They really are.  In fact, this recipe is my all time favorite dough recipe.  I use it several times a week, and I love how fast it is. 

…and here’s the recipe, just in time for Thanksgiving!  I’ll give you the recipe, then share my tips at the end.

Dinner Rolls

1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups flour (unbleached, whole wheat, or a mix)
1 package instant yeast
1 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, room temperature

Directions:
Heat the milk, water, honey and butter until butter is melted. Check temperature. Depending on the temperature, let cool to 120F. Carefully beat in egg.  Mix 2 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix into the milk mixture. Stir in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat well after each addition.When the dough pulls together, (it will form a soft ball) turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This should take about 5 minutes.  Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. This will depend on the size you want for the finished roll. Shape into smooth balls, and place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover and let rise for 30 to 35 minutes. When rolls have almost doubled bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

You can brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse sea salt, or whatever you like. You can add dry onion soup mix for onion rolls. These are very versatile!  Makes 2 dozen.

Okay.  Now for my cheater method. 

Do you have a bread maker?  I do.  It’s this one, and I love it. 

What I do is measure all of the ingredients, wet ones first, into the bread pan.  I let it run on the dough cycle for about 20 minutes until my dough looks like this:

Usually, I just take the dough and form it into 24 balls, but since these rolls are for Thanksgiving, let’s make them a bit fancier.  We’ll shape them into crescents.

I use cooking spray on my counter top.  Cooking spray is so much easier to clean up than flour. 

Divide the dough in half and roll it out.  We’ll use the other half later.

Take a butter knife or a dull pizza cutter and cut the dough into twelve equal wedges.

Take one wedge, and starting with the big end, roll it up.

When you put it into the pan, turn the corners in.

Keep this up until you have 24 rolls. 

Follow the rest of the recipe for raising and baking.

Here’s another cheater trick for you.  When the rolls come out of the oven;

…rather than butter the tops, just spray them with butter flavored cooking spray.  Easier, faster, and less messy.

Well, there you have it.  The world’s easiest dinner rolls with a few tricks to make them easier!

Here’s a little bonus:

I have used this dough recipe for breadsticks, cheesy rolls, onion rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange bowknots, doughnuts, fry bread, pizza dough, homemade hot pockets, etc…  It’s so versatile that you can use it for any recipe that needs dough. 

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

Zucchini Bread

I know there are a million recipes for zucchini bread out there, but this one is our favorite.  I’ve adapted it from one my family really loves, and I made it low fat, and lower sugar so that it’s perfect for a healthy breakfast.

This a great recipe to use up all those zucchinis from the garden, since it makes five loaves.  I make this recipe several times a week, wrap the loaves in foil, and pop them in the freezer. 

They make a perfect breakfast for a busy school morning.  Just pull it out of the freezer the night before so it has time to thaw.  Serve it with eggs, applesauce, or whatever else you want.

You could also cook them in muffin tins; just shorten your baking time.  If you freeze the muffins, you can just pull whatever you need out of the freezer the night before.

Ready for the recipe?

Zucchini Bread  *makes 5 loaves

Prep Time: 15 minutes  Oven: 350 degrees  Bake: 55 minutes

Dry Ingredients:

• 7 1/2 cups flour
• 5 teaspoons cinnamon

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:

• 4 cups sugar
• 5 cups peeled, pureed zucchini
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 5 eggs

Additional Ingredient:

• 1 bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 5 bread pans.  Combine dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix well.  Pour wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Divide the batter evenly between the bread pans.  Bake for 55 minutes or until done.  If the edges cook too quickly, cover the pan(s) with foil.

Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the pans.

Wrap the loaves in foil while they’re still warm.  This makes them easier to cut.

Yes, I realize there are just four loaves.  I didn’t have enough zucchini for five, so I just tweaked the recipe a tad.

When the foil wrapped loaves are completely cooled, put them in the freezer.

These will last several months, so don’t feel rushed to eat them all.  I currently have about 36 loaves in my deep freezer. 

Homemade Salsa

Sounds yummy, right?

I love homemade salsa.  It’s home grown, too!  :)

I love the salsa, but did you know you can use it as a base for several different soups and chilies?  Well, now you do! 

Now I’ll show you how you can make your own.

Ready?

I have a confession before we start--The Hubsters ran off with the camera when The Queen and I were making the salsa.  I don’t have many pictures, but I will show you this one from the four-wheeler trip that The Hubsters and his dad took with Jingus and Crocky:

Sigh…I love rural Utah.  Too bad I was bottling salsa all day and missed the trip.  Oh well.  Next time!  :)

So, since I don’t have many pictures, I’ll share the recipe with you.

 

Homemade Salsa -Makes 7 Quarts

• 25 cups of peeled tomatoes (scald them like we did the peaches; it’s easier)
• 6 large (chopped) onions  (remember the sunglasses trick!  :)
• 6 large (chopped) green peppers  (I like to add a variety of peppers.  It just needs to be 6 cups)
• 1-2 cans of green chilies
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup vinegar
• 3 tablespoons chili powder (I always use more…)
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3 tablespoons cumin (Ash’s favorite…)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder (or minced garlic--you decide)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup instant Clear Jell (or other thickening agent)

Chop tomatoes, onions and peppers.  Combine vegetables, vinegar and spices in a large pot.  Bring to a boil. 

Meanwhile, combine the sugar and the Clear Jell into a separate bowl.  Boil the Salsa for 8-10 minutes, then slowly add the sugar mixture.  Cook until the salsa reaches your desired thickness.  We usually cook it for about 45 minutes.

Make sure all of your canning jars are clean and sterilized.  You need new lids, and enough rings for your bottles.

Follow all of the canning directions from the peaches post. 

Process the salsa for 40 minutes--again; that’s the recommended time for high altitude.  You may need to adjust your processing time.

As always, before you put the salsa away, admire your handiwork!  :)