Mini Doughnut Muffins

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! Sorry, I’m just a little excited about these donut muffins. Reasons to make this recipe ASAP:

1. They were super fun to frost
2. they look adorable
3. they’re fun to eat
4. and they taste delicious!
   

Do you like baked donuts?

I don’t.

Sorry, I just don’t.

I LOVE donuts. Fried donuts. Nothing can beat a freshly made fried yeast donut. Baked are so far from the real thing that I just don’t enjoy them. At all. So when I was preparing to make this recipe, I was skeptical. BUT they are more than a baked donut. They are part muffin. Topped with a sweet glaze and tasty toppings, and the result is quite scrumptious. Maybe it’s not so different from a baked donut. But the state of mind one is in when one eats is important. And making a donut muffin is different than a baked donut. Maybe you’re thinking I’m crazy right about now. Maybe you would be right.

The recipe calls for butter flavor extract. I didn’t have any, but I did have butter flavored shortening. So, I just used that for the shortening. I would still try it with the extract if I had it though.

I made chocolate and vanilla glazes. I topped with sprinkles, coconut, and walnuts (separately, not on the same muffin). Oh and I also made a few sugar coated muffins by rolling them in melted butter and then rolling in a sugar/cinnamon mixture. Next time I may try a strawberry or almond glaze. But really the possibilities are endless. Go crazy.

The Goods:

⅓ cup shortening (not butter or margarine)

½ cup sugar

1 egg

1 ½ cup flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg

¾ cup milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp butter flavor extract

Directions

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Blend in the egg until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add it to the sugar mixture along with the milk and extracts. Blend all until smooth.

(I also made a few chocolate muffins by adding some unsweetened cocoa powder to about half of the batter. I added a spoonful of cocoa at a time until I go the flavor I liked.)

Drop by spoonfuls into greased mini muffin pans. Fill about ¾ full. This recipe yielded 28 muffins for me. Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. My oven always bakes quick, so I baked for 12-13 minutes. Let cool completely on a cooling rack. Then dip muffins in glaze and top with toppings of choice!

Chocolate glaze:

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 oz chopped chocolate (I just used choc. chips) 1 tsp light corn syrup, ½ tsp vanilla in microwave. Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk and ½ cup powdered sugar. Mix all until smooth.

Vanilla Glaze:

Melt 1 Tablespoon butter. Add ¼ tsp vanilla, ½ Tablespoon milk and ½ cup powdered sugar. Mix all until smooth.

What the rodeo taught me about Jesus

TBT to something I wrote over a year ago.

Joe and I went to a rodeo last week. It was a fun date night, and neither of us had been to a rodeo before. So, you could say it WAS my first rodeo (haha, sorry). Our favorite part was

the barrel racing. The horses looked so powerful, so beautiful as they took off

at top speed after rounding the last barrel. We enjoyed that even more than the

bull riding!

            Something I had never heard of before was mutton bustin. Young kids rode on top of sheep as

the sheep took off running from the gate. It was amusing at first, and it was kind of cute watching the kids cling on for dear life as the sheep dashed out, looking scared and confused. Most of the kids fell off after a couple seconds (amazingly, barely phased. I kept wanting to run out there and pick up the kids), and the sheep would just run off to some other part of the arena. The cowboys just let them be until the end of the round because they were out of the way anyway.

            I found it funny that the sheep all ran to each other, to the herd that was growing after

each run. They instinctively ran straight to the safety and familiarity of the herd.  Once they reached the herd, they stopped and just stood there, occasionally pooping or baa-ing (is that a word?). They looked so lost and pathetic all huddled there together. It struck me that they needed a leader. They would never go anywhere on their own- just keep standing together as one, in safety. The only way to move them was to herd them all together back into their pen.

            As I reflected on this during a Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride with my ruggedly handsome

husband, I made the connection of the sheep needing a leader to our need for a leader and Savior. In the Bible, we find several references to sheep and their shepherds, and to Jesus as our shepherd. Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” John 10:3, 4 “the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own

sheep by name and leads them out…his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” Matthew 9:36 (I love this one): “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

            Like one of those sheep at the rodeo, I am helpless and harassed without my shepherd, my

Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Without a leader, I go nowhere and do nothing- but poop and make pointless, loud noises. I don’t know about you, but that does not sound like life to me. I want to follow a leader who loves me and has good things for me. A leader who will lead me out of the safety and familiarity that I get stuck in, too scared to leave by myself, into new places. A leader that I

can love and trust.

            Moving out here to Utah from Wisconsin/Michigan took courage and faith. Joe and I left all that was safe, familiar and stable to start a new life in a new place. Without God’s leading, I never could have done it. And it has not been easy. Making new friends is hard for me. Feeling at home at a new church is taking some time. It took me much longer than I expected to find a job. Learning the culture of a new place has been frustrating at times. But my shepherd has been with me through it all, giving me courage and the grace I need.

            I’ve been stretched and blessed by this experience, and I will continue to follow Christ

wherever He leads. Because without Him, I’m a little helpless and harassed sheep.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting

Wow. Just wow. These cupcakes are spectacular. I absolutely adore the flavor combination of peanut butter, pumpkin and white chocolate. May sound strange, but believe me. It’s crazy good!

I’m really excited about this recipe, because it is the most me recipe I’ve made so far for this blog. Most of my recipes are from other people, but I had to get creative for these cupcakes. I wanted the three flavors in a cake or cupcake, but my pinterest searching revealed nothing. OH sure, lots of pumpkin and peanut butter recipes. But no white chocolate. Or pumpkin and white chocolate, but no peanut butter. I’ve topped my pumpkin muffins with pb before, and also with white chocolate frosting. Recently I tried both together and fell in love. But the muffin texture was a little too dense. So I found a recipe for spiced pumpkin buttermilk cake and swapped out some of the butter for peanut butter. The batter is so creamy good. When they were out of the oven, I topped the cupcakes with some leftover white chocolate frosting that I had from the previous post’s chocolate coffee cupcakes. I was so excited that I frosted them a tad too soon. As you can see, the frosting got a little melty. I guess the cupcakes weren't completely cool! Oh well... I can’t wait for Joe to come home and try them. I’m tempted to eat the rest right now though :)

The Goods:

2 and ¼ cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

4 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice *

4 ½ tsp. salt

1 and ⅓ cups canned pumpkin

¾ cup buttermilk (I never buy buttermilk. I make my own with milk and lemon juice. For 1 cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and let sit for 5 min)

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

⅓ cup peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

3 eggs

*  An alternative to pumpkin pie spice:

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground allspice

¾ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cupcake trays or cake pan of choice. 

Combine flour, soda, powder, salt, spice (or spices)

In another bowl, combine pumpkin, vanilla and milk.

Beat the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs. Then add flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, alternating between the two while mixing in.

Spoon cupcake trays about ¾ full and bake for about 18 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Crumbs are ok, but not wet gooey stuff.

If you’re making a cake, it will need longer in the oven. Maybe 45 minutes. This should make about 22-24 cupcakes

After cupcakes are cooled completely. Frost with white chocolate frosting. You can find the recipe in my last post: http://heidibakesforjoe.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-job-and-celebratory-chocolate-coffee.html

A job and celebratory chocolate coffee cupcakes!

Hey, hey! I have a job :D I am happy to announce that in a couple weeks I will start working on an ortho/trauma unit. Sounds exciting, right? Lots of patients who are injured in accidents. Broken bones. Surgery required. Many patients who may have been intoxicated at the time of the accident. Also a lot of overflow patients from the other medical floors. Did I mention I will be working night shift? Yes. It will be very exciting. It will also be stressfulllllllllll. I’ll be learning a lot and gaining a lot of new skills. This is good, but so much new stuff can be overwhelming. Working 12 hour shifts at night is no piece of cake either. And every other weekend and every other holiday is one of the biggest bummers of nursing. In summary, I am excited and nervous and preparing myself mentally for some difficult shifts. It will also be interesting figuring out my new schedule in relation to marriage. I did night shift when I was single and had no one else I was responsible for. Throwing a husband in the mix will be a bit more challenging.

Yet I am determined. Not having done floor nursing on a medical unit before (I’ve done inpatient psych and outpatient surgery before this), I will be challenged. But I know that I am up for it. When I was first applying for jobs in Michigan, I gravitated to outpatient positions. Think Monday to Friday schedule, no holidays or weekends, less stressful work in general and focused nursing skills. I was a little scared/hesitant/resistant to going back to night shift, weekends and holidays and the stress of floor nursing. Yet I know that it will be an excellent experience. It will make me a more well rounded nurse. It will open up more doors for me in the future.

And there’s this battle that’s been going on inside my heart. My desire for that perfect schedule and easier job had me feeling kind of guilty and selfish. I think about why I became a nurse. I want to take care of people. I want to heal and help and restore. I want to be the hands to serve those who are the most in need. I want to love. I love that nursing can be an easy way to live out my faith. To me, it feels wrong demanding when and where and how I will do this. Yes, the hours stink. But, who else will do it? Who else will care for the man and woman and child who gets sick or hurt at 3 am on the weekend? I will. Because I’m a nurse and I care. I care... I CARE!! (Care Bears reference anyone? Thinking of you, Mom, Christine, Amy, Sarah)

So when are we going to get to the cupcakes, Heidi? OK, yes. So in celebration of the end of unemployment, I decided cupcakes were in order. Chocolate coffee cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. Can I get a ‘YUM!’ ? This cake recipe is so great. It’s not super sweet because of the coffee and cocoa. But it has a rich, dense texture that is super tasty by itself. Add some sweet frosting and BAM. So good. I used Seattle’s Best number 4 coffee. It’s bold and dark, but not as dark as their number 5 roast. 3 is too light. 4 is just right. I brewed a few cups when I started baking so that the coffee would be ready for when I got to that step, and also so that I could sip on some while taste testing :)

The white chocolate frosting is smooth and sweet. I used a bar of ghirardelli baking white chocolate because, hey.. this is a celebration recipe and worth the best ingredients; but pretty much any white chocolate bar or baking chips will work.

The goods:

For the cake (makes about 12 cupcakes)

¾ C plus ⅛ cup white sugar

½ C brown sugar

½ C unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs (only 3 if doubling the recipe. 1.5 eggs is tricky, so 2 is fine for 12 cupcakes)

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ C flour plus ⅛ cup more

⅜ C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup warm coffee

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease cupcake tray generously. Even if using liners, grease the liners. These are sticky sticky good.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the sugars and butter until well mixed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients being careful not to over mix. Slowly drizzle and stir in the coffee.

Fill prepared trays half way. I filled them ¾ and they grew over the tops. Bake for about 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean. After a few minutes cooling, move them to a cooling rack. While they are cooling, make the frosting

White chocolate buttercream frosting: From How Sweet Eats

½ C butter at room temperature (too melty and frosting will be thinner, too hard and it will be difficult to beat.)

2 ½ cup powdered sugar- maybe a little more

1 tsp vanilla

4 ounces white chocolate, melted

1-2 T of milk

Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated. (I just microwaved the chocolate to melt it. You must be careful not to over heat if microwaving chocolate. First break up the bar. Start with 30 sec. and then stir it up. Stirring will continue to melt it. Put it back in for another 15-20 sec. Stir again and at this point stirring melted it all for me.) To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed. If frosting becomes too liquidy, simply add additional sugar. Frost the cupcakes and enjoy!

More Fall Things (Savory Pancakes and the U.P.!)

My last post was a little bit of a downer, with the whole unemployment thing… so I wanted to post a few things I’m excited about. Savory pumpkin pancakes and a trip to the U.P.!

Do you like my dining room table centerpiece? I do :)

I’ve posted 2 pumpkin recipes recently, but they were sweet recipes. Time for a savory one. I’ve been dreaming about pumpkin pasta dishes and pumpkin soups. When I came across this recipe for savory pumpkin, cheddar and rosemary pancakes I was pumped because I had all the ingredients on hand. Minus the rosemary, sort of. I only had dried rosemary, but it was delicious. 

It was one of those recipes you are thinking about the night before and can’t wait for breakfast to come tomorrow. Does anyone else do that? I am planning out my meals and treats the day, sometimes 2 days before. Weird? Maybe a little, but hey. That’s me.

The goods:

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼- ⅓  cup diced onion- depends how much you like onion (I used a yellow onion)

1 garlic clove minced (I often used garlic powder in recipes when I don’t have the real thing, but I did this time!)

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or a couple dashes of dried rosemary)

½ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

⅛ tsp baking soda

⅛ tsp pepper

1 egg

¼ cup pureed pumpkin

1 Tbs honey

1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons milk (I use 1%)

⅓ cup shredded cheddar cheese (sharp would be best)

canola oil

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until it starts to brown and become tender. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for another minute and you can smell the garlic. Remove from heat. Set aside for now.

Whisk the flour, salt, powder, soda, and pepper together in a bowl. Add the egg, pumpkin, honey, vinegar, milk. Don’t overmix. Just until combined. Over mixed batter results in thin pancakes. We want fluffy :) Fold in the cheddar

Heat a skillet and coat with canola oil. Drop the batter into the heated skillet by ⅛ cup fulls. Spread the batter out just a little. Cook both sides until golden brown.

I topped with a little maple syrup, but to keep it more savory you could use sour cream or whatever suits your fancy :)

OK, so I am also excited about a trip Joe, his brother and his brother’s wife, and I just went on to northern Michigan. The Upper Peninsula. Joe’s brother planned out the weekend trip to Tahquamenon Falls. It is so beautiful, especially right now with all the fall colors. Check out some sweet pictures!

Jordan and Margeaux. Aren't they cute?

This white pine is 120 feet high and almost 200 years old!

Having a blast

Mackinaw Bridge :)

Can someone get me some chocolate please?!?! (Chocolate cupcakes and puppy chow)

When Joe and I moved from Utah to Michigan, I did not have a job lined up yet. I felt pretty confident that I would find a job quickly. I went to school in Michigan, right where we moved to. My school is well known and respected in the area. Plus, I have 4 years of nursing experience now. Yay! I had 3 interviews lined up within the first week we were back. The first one offered me a job, but I turned it down. I did that because it was for 2nd shift (3-11pm), and Joe had just been offered a job on 1st shift. We never would have seen each other with those schedules :’( And..well.. I really like Joe. I don’t like the idea of never seeing him. That sounds like a nightmare to be honest. Because I had more interviews coming up, I felt ok turning the offer down. It did feel really weird though. I’ve never turned a job down before. Plus, I did not feel like it would have been a good fit after the interview and job shadow. I was a little surprised to get the offer actually.

Unfortunately, I did not get the other 2 jobs I had interviews for. So now it’s been over a month since we’ve been back that I have been unemployed. 2 months since my last day working in Utah. I was very discouraged when I received the phone call from a recruiter saying I did not get the job I was really hoping for. It was similar to my last job in duties and schedule. I am feeling very ready to go back to work. And financially, it would be great if I got a job soon. I might have shed a tear or two. I thought I rocked the interview.

The recruiter is super nice. She immediately asked me what else I’d be interested in, and is in the process of getting me another interview. So there’s that :) I know that God is in control. He has always always provided for us, and I know He will continue to do so. Just one thing I LOVE about God. He remains the same. No matter what is going on. He’s constant.

Even so, I was feeling down and mopey. Baking is therapeutic for me and I decided that I really needed some chocolate. I don’t usually make a lot of really chocolaty things because Joe is not a chocolate fanatic like me. He loves sweets, but he prefers a frosted sugar cookie to a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. Weird. I know.

So I whipped up these chocolate cupcakes.

I was disappointed with the overall taste. The frosting was too thin. It was more like a Texas sheet cake frosting. I’m all about the buttercream frosting. Nice and thick and rich. I should have known when the recipe called for so little butter. So I am posting the whole recipe because the cake part was good, but next time I would make this frosting:

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/08/24/moist-yellow-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting/ I love Sally. I make a lot of her recipes.

The cupcake left me still craving some chocolatey goodness. So the next day, and since I had all the ingredients for puppy chow, I made a big batch of that too. I’m posting two recipes for puppy chow because one recipe has more butter in the butter to peanut butter ratio, and the other has more peanut butter. They’re both good. Let me tell you, I love PB. It’s a staple in my diet. Plus, I used some milk chocolate in the more pb recipe. I think the milk chocolate goes great with pb. So the recipes are both good, but definitely different.

Here’s the recipe for the cupcakes I made: http://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2012/03/chocolate-cupcakes/

But again, the frosting recipe that I like much better: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/08/24/moist-yellow-cupcakes-with-milk-chocolate-frosting/

And now for the puppy chow:

Version #1 (More butter)

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

½ cup peanut butter

7 cups chex mix

½ cup or 1 stick butter (I use unsalted)

about 2 cups of confectioners sugar

Melt the chocolate, butter, and PB together. Melting chocolate in the microwave can be dangerous, but because of the butter and PB, it works great for this recipe. I put it in for 30 sec at a time, stirring after each 30 sec until it’s melted completely. Pour over the chex mix. Dump in a zip lock bag that has the sugar. Shake shake shake! Enjoy :)

Version #2 (more PB)

1 cup chocolate chips (this is when I used milk chocolate chips)

½ cup PB

¼ cup butter

1-2 tsp vanilla (optional)

6 cups chex mix

about 2 cups confectioners sugar

Same directions as the first recipe, but if you want to try adding some vanilla, stir it into the chocolate, pb, and butter mixture after it’s melted.

I kind of eye balled the chex mix when I made this version, so you might need a little more or less. Sorry. I would start with 6, and if it seems like there is excess chocolate mixture, you can always add more chex. If you need more chocolate mixture because it’s not coating all the chex, simply melt more choc, pb and butter. I did that once by cutting all 3 amounts in half. And if you have extra melted chocolate mixture, that is certainly not a crime. Nothing you and a spoon can’t take care of ;)

Happy chocolate indulging!