Tag Archives: guest post

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Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread {Guest Post}

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Making Pumpkin Bread 1

Hi, friends!  I have so much to share with you from my Foodbuzz weekend but an apartment full of boxes is keeping me from the blog right now.  In fact, I still haven’t found my underwear (thank G-d for now having a washer and dryer in the apartment!).  On the upside, I don’t have to go to the gym yet since I can’t find my sneakers either. 

In the meantime, I have another guest post for you.  This one is from my amazing sister, Jessica.  She is the reason I started the blog so I owe all of my Keep It Sweet life to her.  The best part about this guest post? I get to eat this delicious pumpkin bread when she brings it for Thanksgiving.

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Full disclosure: I do not bake. My sister and my mom – they bake. Me – I cook. I clean the dishes when they bake. But any time I try to bake, I am reminded of why I don’t bake.

Despite this fact, I offered to do a guest post for my sister while she takes care of the 8 million other things going on in her life. Ya’ know, like moving and preparing to host Thanksgiving dinner for our family.

So I decided to make one of my mom’s classic and easy recipes – pumpkin bread. Classic because everyone knows it and loves it. Easy because I was able to make it through the whole recipe without asking any questions. And to add my own little touch, I took one of my mom’s favorite touches – chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar – and put it in the center. And here’s what I got: Cinnamon Sugar Swirl, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

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Of course, being the non-baker that I am, something still went wrong. When the top of the loaf started burning and spilling over the edges before the center was cooked, I realized that I filled the pan way too high. Note to self: When they say flour makes bread rise, they mean it. Take that into consideration before filling a pan to the top.

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Cinnamon Sugar Swirl, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Adapted from My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

Dry:

3 cups sugar

3 ½ cups flour

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp salt

Wet:

1 cup oil

2 cups pumpkin

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

Filling:

2 ounces semi-sweet mini chocolate chips plus additional for sprinkling on top

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (I used a pre-mixed version but you can make your own to taste)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

First mix the dry ingredients, then mix them in with the wet ingredients.

Spray two 2-pound loaf pans.

Fill pans about halfway and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips.

Pour batter on top, filling the pan about ¾ of the way (take it from me, you don’t want to fill it all the way).  Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips.

Cook at 350 for about an hour.

Enjoy Smile

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Blog, Recipes

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies {Guest Post}

21 Comments

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In the midst of my crazy life, I am so thankful for other food bloggers!  It never ceases to amaze me how many of you there are that are willing to lend a hand when things get crazy.  A couple of weeks ago, a few wonderful bloggers volunteered to guest post on Keep It Sweet and I can’t wait to share their delicious recipes with you.  The first post is from Samantha at The Little Ferraro Kitchen.  Her blog is pretty new, but she already has some delicious looking recipes like her recent Fresh Raspberry & Apple Crumble and Chicken Pot Pie!  These cookies are no different.

Hello everyone! I am Samantha from The Little Ferraro Kitchen and I am soo excited to guest post for the beautiful Lauren from Keep It Sweet!

When she asked for fellow guest-posters recently, I jumped at the chance! See…I am a pretty “new” blogger and have only been blogging for a few months now. Keep It Sweetwas one of the first blogs I started to enjoy and I just knew this was the perfect start!

So because this is officially my first guest post ever! (wow!)…I present to you…Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies!

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This is the best batter I have ever worked with. The combination of the creamy peanut-butter and butter creates the softest cookie. Mini peanut-butter-cups (need I say more?) snuggle their little cute sweet selves into their peanut butter pillows of perfection. If you have the patience to wait the few minutes until these cuties are done, take a messy bite and allow all that melting chocolate to ooze out of the center from it’s cozy home and just enjoy. I promise you, this will be your absolute favorite cookie.

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Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1/2 C creamy peanut-butter

4 TB unsalted butter, room temperature

1 C brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c granulated sugar (for rolling dough)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream peanut butter and butter until well combined.

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3. Add brown sugar and beat until well combined, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Add eggs (one at a time), vanilla and beat until well incorporated.

5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. I’ve gotten in the habit of using a sifter to get any “lumps” out.

6. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 2 batches.

* At this point I’ll use my spatula and do one last “mix” with the spatula and make sure everything is incorporated, but not to over mix.

7. Take the mixture out of bowl and wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30min.

* I do this for all my cookie dough.

8. When dough is ready, unwrap from plastic wrap and scoop dough by the tablespoon, rolling into balls. A melon-baller is perfect for this!

9. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place on non-stick baking sheet.

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10. Bake cookies until just about to puff up, about 5-7 minutes. (My oven is pretty fickle and is done at 5 min.)

11. When times up, take trays out of oven and work quickly! Place each peanut-butter cup in the center of each cookie and return to oven.

12. Bake for about 6 minutes more (again, my oven is no more than 5min), until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt.

13. When done, let cool on baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to wire wrack to cool.

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Thanks for having me, Lauren! I had so much fun making these fabulous cookies and I hope all of you do too!

Enjoy!

Blog

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes and a Special Guest Post

37 Comments

strawberry lemonade cupcakes 1

A few weeks ago, my mom made these delicious cupcakes for us to enjoy down the shore.  They are the perfect combination of tart and sweet, but even better than that, the perfect representation of summer in color and flavor.  It was a recipe I wanted to include on the blog, but what better way than to have my mom, the one who brought me up licking the cookie dough off the spatula, share the recipe with you.

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One of my new challenges I have encountered recently, is trying to keep up with my daughter’s baking creativity and energy. Well, let’s forget the energy. That’s LONG gone! But the creativity? There must be SOMETHING that’s left for me to come up with that she hasn’t mentioned! Lucky for me, it’s summer! My happiest time of year! With that, things connected with this season of warmth, are constantly coming to mind. For instance, lemonade. Who doesn’t savor the taste of cool refreshing lemonade during the warm sticky days of summer? I was recently discussing all of these things with a close friend of mine, Nina, when she offered the perfect solution! Lemonade cupcakes! And to top them off with the perfect match of strawberry frosting! I was so excited! And in our family, it’s the little things that get us excited:).

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Lauren has asked me to share this recipe with you.  Here it is:

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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Lemonade Cupcakes

Yield: Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 can frozen lemonade
  • 1 package white cake mix
  • 1- 8 oz container sour cream
  • 1- 3 oz block cream cheese
  • 3 eggs

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Combine all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended
  3. Pour batter into cupcake tins lined with cupcake liners or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick/knife comes out clean

Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pint strawberries, pureed
  • 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature.
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3-4 cups confectionary sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream

Cooking Directions

  1. Beat the butter until smooth and add the vanilla and pureed strawberries. Add two cups of sugar. Mix until combined. Add the milk or cream, followed by the rest of the sugar in small amounts, until frosting reaches desired consistency. It should be smooth and still hold it’s shape. When the cupcakes are cooled, frost and enjoy!

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Cupcake recipe from Southern Living

Frosting recipe from sophistimom

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What is your favorite summer food or flavor?