Tag Archives: mini

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Cups

April 13, 2016 Keep It Sweet 14 Comments

Raspberry-swirled lemon cheesecake cups filled with fresh whipped cream and raspberries are the perfect Spring treat!

Today we are channeling SPRING to celebrate my favorite blogger and good friend, Joanne!

Joanne is for sure one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She’s a also good friend, so thoughtful, super smart, extremely creative, funny and talented in multiple arenas (blogging, running, SCIENCE). We’ve been friends for several years now and I can say for sure that she is going to be an amazing mom. I’m so excited for her to welcome her baby girl (and to come give that baby lots of snuggles!!!).

Since Joanne is the queen of seasonal cooking, we are channeling her love of fresh produce with a SPRING-themed virtual baby shower (scroll down for the full menu!). I thought that these little lemon cheesecake cups would be perfect because they are fresh and bright and light for the occasion. The lemon cheesecake batter is simple to make (I had mine in the oven within twenty minutes of starting) and swirled with your favorite raspberry jam. They are then topped off with a lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries. The tartness from the lemon and berries is perfect for balancing the sweetness of the cheesecake. And for those of you who are timid with lemon desserts (as am I), these are lemony but definitely not lip-puckeringly so.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Cups

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Raspberry-swirled lemon cheesecake cups filled with fresh whipped cream and raspberries are the perfect Spring treat!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 14 cheesecakes

Ingredients

Cheesecake:

14 vanilla wafer cookies
454g (2 8-ounce packages) light cream cheese softened at room temperature
370g (1¾ cups) granulated sugar
165g (3 large) whole eggs at room temperature
16g (2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (1 lemon)
½g (1/8 teaspoon) salt
90g (1/3 cup) raspberry jam, stirred

For the whipped cream

158 milliliters( ⅔ cup) heavy whipping cream, cold
9g (2 teaspoons) granulated sugar
75g (1/2 pint) fresh raspberries, washed and dried

Instructions

For cheesecake:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
Line two regular-sized muffin tin with 14 paper cupcake liners; place a cookie on the bottom of each cup
To make your cheesecake filling, beat cream cheese in mixer until light, creamy and lumps are gone (about 5 minutes)
Add granulated sugar and lemon zest and combine on medium-high speed well until light and creamy
Beat in eggs, one at a time, on medium speed
Mix in flour on medium speed
Add vanilla extract, lemon juice and salt and beat until mixture is thick and creamy
Spoon cheesecake batter into cups; top each with about a teaspoon of raspberry jam
Use a toothpick to carefully swirl the jam into the batter
Bake 25-30 minutes or until edges of cheesecakes are firm and centers are just slightly jiggly
Refrigerate for at least one hour before removing from pan to fill with whipped cream and berries

For the whipped cream:

Beat cream in the large bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment on medium-high speed for several minutes or just until foamy; gradually add sugar and continue mixing until stiff peaks form
Spoon whipped cream into cheesecake cups and top with fresh berries

Notes

Cheesecake needs at least one hour of chill time before serving but can be made up to three days in advance if kept refrigerated; fill cheesecake cups with whipped cream and berries when ready to serve

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Be sure to check out the rest of the shower menu!

Orange Ginger Spritzer from The Lemon Bowl

Asparagus and Pea Puff Pastry Tarts from Belly Full

Blood Orange Doughnuts from Cook Like a Champion

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Cups from Keep It Sweet Dessert

Meyer Lemon Soufflé from Blahnik Baker

Strawberry Tartlets from The Cooking Actress

New York-Style Rhubarb Crumb Cake from Warm Vanilla Sugar

Berry Fool Tarts From Bake or Break

Lemon Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Baker Chick

Mini Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes from Baker by Nature

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Blog, Recipes

Valentine’s Day Brownie Pops

January 13, 2016 Keep It Sweet 8 Comments

Fudgy delicious brownie pops made from scratch! These heart-shaped treats are perfect for Valentine’s Day!

I was in the mood to make something pretty, fun and ultra delicious for Valentine’s Day this year. And while I love cake pops, the idea of brownie pops came to mind for a change. So instead of making a cake AND buttercream I made the ultimate fudgy brownies and turned them into pops. The texture of the brownies is actually perfect for molding (they are that fudgy) so no frosting needed! Plus, dipping the pops in chocolate really seals in the moisture. It makes them ideal for when you need to make a treat ahead of time. Class parties, Valentine’s Day soirees, or even bridal showers would be perfect excuses for these pretty heart-shaped pops.

When I started making them, I actually made balls at first. And then in a moment of déjà vu, I remembered that my mom and I had made hundreds of heart-shaped cake pops a few years ago for an Anthropologie event. And what do you know, making a ball shape into a heart is actually super easy. You just have to pinch the bottom, press a thumb into the top and voila. Something extra festive for a love-themed occasion.

And a little confession so you know just how much we loved these. The recipe makes about 50 heart-shaped brownie pops and I only shared a few of them. Maybe a dozen at most? I just couldn’t bring myself to give any more away. Oops.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Valentine's Day Brownie Pops

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Fudgy delicious brownie pops made from scratch! These heart-shaped treats are perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 4 dozen pops (easily doubles)

Ingredients

½ pan of The Ultimate Fudgy Brownies, cooled
4-dozen 6-inch lollipop sticks
600g semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped or in disks
½ - 1 cup colored sprinkles

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
Cut sharp edges and corners off of brownies; break remaining brownie into pieces and place in a large bowl; mush together into a fudgy consistency
Use a small cookie dough scoop or large spoon to scoop balls (about 1 tablespoon each) of dough onto wax paper
Use your hands to roll the scoops into balls
Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place in freezer for at least two hours
Prepare another baking sheet with wax paper for finished pops, alternatively, have a large piece of styrofoam available for drying brownie pops
Once balls are frozen, you can make the pops
Put chocolate in a heat-safe bowl and place in over a pot of simmering water; stir chocolate constantly until melted (you can also melt in the microwave)
Remove balls from freezer; dip the top of each lollipop stick about ¼ of an inch into the melted chocolate and immediately press into brownie ball two thirds of the way through
(Optional) To make hearts: Pinch the bottom of each ball together with your fingers to form a rounded upside down triangle. Then, press your thumb into the top of the pop to create a dip for the top of the heart. Smooth out any imperfections by carefully using your fingers to mold the shape. Chill pops in freezer for an additional 15- 30 minutes or until firm again
Once complete, dip each pop, one at a time, into melted chocolate; lightly tap off excess chocolate and place cake pop on wax paper or stick into styrofoam; decorate with sprinkles immediately before chocolate hardens
Repeat until all pops are dipped and decorated
Allow to cool and for chocolate to harden before serving

Notes

Brownie can be made one day before making pops; just make sure it is wrapped tightly with seran or tin foil (can also freeze well-wrapped up to one month)
Cake pops can be made up to one week in advance of serving

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5.0 from 1 reviews

Valentine's Day Brownie Pops

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The fudgiest brownies ever.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: One 9x13 pan of brownies

Ingredients

256g unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
340g (1½ cups / 3 sticks) unsalted butter
415g (~2 cups) granulated sugar
400g (~1¾ cups, packed) light brown sugar
275g (~5 large) whole eggs, at room temperature
89 milliliters (6 tablespoon) strong brewed espresso (4 grams (1½ tablespoons) espresso + 89 milliliters (6 tablespoons) water))
10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
290g (~2 cups + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
2g (1/2 teaspoon) salt

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees;
Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper; set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside
Melt butter and chocolate in large pot over low to medium heat; remove when melted
Stir in sugar until combined; stir in eggs, espresso and vanilla until smooth
Whisk in flour mixture just until combined; do not overmix
Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
Set brownies aside to cool completely before using

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Pink Champagne Cake Pops

Mini Chip Brownie Bites with Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Blog, Recipes

Mini Funfetti Cupcakes

October 30, 2015 Keep It Sweet 8 Comments

Everyone’s favorite funfetti cupcake in mini form! Homemade funfetti cupcakes from scratch.

I’ve been wanting to bake something from the Sweetapolita cookbook since I got it months ago, but really needed a special occasion to do any of her gorgeous creations justice. L’s birthday seemed the right time! And just a note, I bought Rosie’s cookbook with my own money. Her blog is one of my favorites and every single recipe I’ve ever made of hers has come out amazing. I had no doubt that the cookbook would be incredible (it is!).

So while I could have made one of the many layer cakes included in the cookbook, I wanted to continue with the theme of mini cupcakes instead. The mini desserts really lent themselves to a party where people were sampling several desserts and doing a lot of eating while standing and chatting. These mini funfetti cupcakes, with adorable little animal sprinkles I’d found at TJ Maxx a while ago, were the most popular dessert by far. We refilled the plate of cupcakes a couple of times because they just kept disappearing!

The cupcakes were light, fluffy and sweet. The buttercream? It was sweet but flavored with vanilla bean making it extra delicious. I’m going to risk being ostracized by the blog community by saying this, but I don’t usually like funfetti desserts. I’m just not a sprinkles person (insert GASP). But these cupcakes, yeah, they had me at fluffy frosting.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mini Funfetti Cupcakes

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Everyone’s favorite funfetti cupcake in mini form! Homemade funfetti cupcakes from scratch.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: ~4 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

200g (1¾ cup) cake flour, sifted
240g (1 cup + 3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
10g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
3g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
90g (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cut into tablespoons
180 milliliters (3/4 cup) milk, at room temperature (I’ve had success with any type of milk)
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
3 milliliters (1/2 teaspoon) lemon juice
160g (4 large) egg whites at room temperature
60g (~1/2 cup) confetti quins (use something like this for best results, regular sprinkles or jimmies will melt into the batter)

Frosting

280g (1¼ cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 gram (1/8 teaspoon) salt
410g (3¼ cup) powdered sugar, sifted
60 milliliters (1/4 cup) whole milk (use whole for best results; if using low fat or fat free milk, start with smaller amount)
10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla bean past or pure vanilla extract
Additional confetti quins or sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

Cupcakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line mini cupcake pans with cupcake liners or grease the cups with butter flour or non-stick cooking spray; set aside
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the large bowl of an electric mixer; use paddle attachment to mix on low speed while adding butter one piece at a time; mix until combined (butter pieces should be in pea-sized clumps with dry ingredients)
In a medium bowl or small cup, whisk together half of milk, vanilla and lemon juice and set aside
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, lightly whisk together egg whites and remaining milk; set aside
Turn mixer to medium-low speed and gradually add the vanilla mixture; beat on medium-low speed for five minutes (do not overmix)
Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl; add ⅓ of the egg white mixture and mix on low speed until combined; repeat with remaining egg white mixture (do not overmix!)
Use a spatula to fold in confetti quins
Distribute batter evenly among cupcake cups (filling each cup about ⅔ of the way full) with a small ladle or cookie dough scoop
Bake for 11-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of cupcakes
Allow cupcakes to cool for five minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely; set aside and make frosting

Frosting

In the large bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and salt on medium speed until pale and creamy (5-10 minutes)
Add ⅓ of sugar and mix on low speed until combined; repeat until all sugar is incorporated; add milk and vanilla and mix on low for one minute; increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about six minutes
Pipe immediately or store in refrigerator up to three days and bring to room temperature before using (may need to beat again before use)
Sprinkle additional confetti quins over frosting
Cupcakes best enjoyed within two days; keep lightly covered at room temperature

Notes

Recipes barely adapted from The Seetapolita Bakebook
Cupcakes can be baked in advanced and frozen in an airtight container for one month before frosting and serving; bring to room temperature before frosting

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Meyer Lemon Sprinkle Cookies

Mini Halloween Confetti Cookie Sandwiches

Mini Lemon Cupcakes

Blog, Recipes

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

October 28, 2015 Keep It Sweet 2 Comments

Rich chocolate cupcakes topped with a light and super creamy peanut butter frosting.

L’s birthday party might not have been the picture perfect event I had planned (have I learned nothing after a year of being a mom?), but the desserts, they were pretty on point if I do say so myself. We had the best mini cookies (these and these), brownies, and two kinds of mini cupcakes. I might have overheard parents bribing their kids to eat some salad with the promise of another cupcake. Sounds reasonable to me!

These cupcakes are a chocolate and peanut butter lover’s dream. The beauty of the mini cupcake is that it is so much easier to get adequate frosting in each bite without getting it all over your face. Plus, you can eat quite a few before you feel like it’s a crime. Or, if you dare to stray from the classic peanut butter and chocolate combo, you will have plenty of room for tasting other desserts as well.

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

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Rich chocolate cupcakes topped with a light and super creamy peanut butter frosting.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 5 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes:

260g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
65g (~3/4 cup) good quality dark unsweetened cocoa powder
10g (1¼ teaspoon) baking soda
3g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
170g (3/4 cup / 1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
375g (~1¾ cup) granulated sugar
100g (2 large whole) eggs at room temperature
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) vanilla
325 milliliters (1⅓ cups) brewed coffee

Peanut Butter Buttercream

75g (~1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) egg whites
32g (~3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
Additional 150g (~3/4 cup) granulated sugar
50 milliliters (~3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) water
227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch cubes
195g (~3/4 cup) creamy peanut butter (do not use natural)

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Line mini cupcake pans with cupcake liners or grease the cups with butter flour or non-stick cooking spray; set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add eggs and vanilla and beat one minute at medium speed
Reduce speed of mixer to low and add ⅓ of the dry ingredients; add ½ of coffee and repeat
Add remainder of dry ingredients and turn off mixer; make sure not to overbeat; if there are any lumps fold them in with a spatula
Distribute batter evenly among cupcake cups (just below rim of cupcake liner) with a small ladle or cookie dough scoop
Bake in center of oven for 11-13 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; do not overbake
Set cupcakes aside to cool and make frosting

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk attachment, whisk, spatula and candy thermometer with a paper towel and vinegar to clean (if any grease is on these items your meringue will not work)
Place egg whites in large bowl with whisk attachment and mix on medium speed; gradually add the 1⅛ ounces sugar; keep mixer on
In a medium heavy duty saucepan, combine water and remaining 5¼ ounces of sugar over medium-high heat and whisk together; whisk occasionally until temperature of syrup reaches 248 degrees Fahrenheit
Meanwhile, egg whites should begin to form loose peaks; if this happens before syrup is hot enough, reduce mixer speed to low
Once syrup is hot enough, reduce mixer speed to medium-low and slowly and slowly add syrup to the mixer
Increase speed to medium-high and keep mixer on for 10-15 minutes or until it holds stiff peaks AND bowl has cooled to room temperature
Reduce the speed to medium and add softened butter, a couple of tablespoons at a time, until fully combined; mixture should be smooth and creamy
If there are any lumps, increase speed to high until frosting becomes smooth
Add peanut butter and combine on medium speed until well incorporated and buttercream is light and creamy
Pipe onto cooled cupcakes

Notes

Keep in a cool dry place (best kept refrigerated during summer), covered
Best served within 3 days of baking
Cupcakes slightly adapted from Hershey
Buttercream adapted from the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook
Buttercream best used immediately or store in an airtight container in refrigerator and beat with the paddle attachment of an electric mixer before using

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

Double Chocolate Stout Mini Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Blog, Recipes

Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

September 18, 2015 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

These are the perfect pumpkin cookie. Crispy edges, chewy middle and lots of chocolate chips!

We are getting closer to L’s birthday, just under a month to go. In fact, I can see so many ways he is now transitioning from baby to toddler (insert many, many tears). There’s the way he arches his back and immediately turns around to stand in his car seat and play rather than sit so I can buckle him in. There are the moments when we are reading books and he is very, very opinionated about which ones we read. Farm books are almost a guaranteed win but my favorite Little Blue Truck is not so popular these days. Oh yeah, and last week he started diving towards his crib instead of letting me walk him around with his head rested on my shoulder before naps and bedtime. So amazing to watch him grow, yet so very bittersweet.

And as we are getting closer to his birthday, I’m realizing I really need to get my you-know-what together for a menu plan. I already told you about all the mini cookies I want to make but after that I’m still all over the place. I’m also thinking about doing cookie favors (it’s a mostly adult / family party) but I don’t even know what flavors to make. I think I’m in a little bit of denial that his birthday will be here before we know it.

The good news? These cookies. If the only thing to eat at the party is these perfect mini pumpkin cookies, I don’t think anyone will mind. Seriously. I knew they were going to be winners before they even went into the oven (hello, delicious cookie dough). The flavor and texture is insanely perfect. It’s hard to get that in a pumpkin cookie but here are a few reasons they are still the perfect balance of crispy and chewy:

1) Canned pumpkin is limited to just 1/3 of a cup (high amounts of canned pumpkin = cakey cookies). Don’t worry, we make up for it with seasonings!
2) The pumpkin is cooked with the butter to reduce some of the excess liquid and enhance flavor.
3) There are no eggs! Eggs sometimes make baked goods cakey so I took them out. Pumpkin cookie dough for everyone!

So if you make one new cookie recipe this month, please do me a favor and make it this recipe for mini pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These are the perfect pumpkin cookie. Crispy edges, chewy middle and lots of chocolate chips!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
81g (1/3 cup) canned pumpkin
262g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
3g (½ teaspoon) baking soda
5 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
3g (1 ½ teaspoons) ground cinnamon
½g (1/4 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
234g (~1 cup, packed) light brown sugar
106g (~1/2 cup) granulated sugar
15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
215g (~1¼ cups) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Melt butter and pumpkin in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; set aside to cool
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter mixture, sugars and vanilla for several minutes on medium speed or until well-combined
Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture (do not overmix)
Fold in chocolate chips
Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 24 hours (you can do less chilling, but texture will not be as good)
Once dough has chilled, pre-heat oven to 325 degrees; cover baking sheets with parchment paper
Scoop cookie dough with small cookie dough scoop (~1 tablespoon) onto prepared baking sheets so that cookies are spaced one inch apart
Bake cookies 8-10 minutes or until brown around good portion of edges
Set aside to cool
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to a week (texture best first day or two) or freeze up to two months

Notes

Dough requires 24-48 hours of chilling time for best results

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Pumpkin & Ginger Ice Cream Sandwich Cookie Cake

Cinnamon Chip Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones

Pumpkin Blondies with Caramelized White Chocolate

Blog, Recipes

Mini M&M Cookies

August 31, 2015 Keep It Sweet 9 Comments

Mini cookies loaded with M&Ms. These are the perfect party cookie!

Now that I’m thinking about a special someone’s first birthday, I’m fully focused on what his first sweet treat should be and what kinds of sweets we will have at his party. I change my mind constantly going back and forth on different ideas, but thought that having a variety of mini cookies at the celebration would be fun.

The first recipe I decided to try out was this Mini M&M Cookie recipe. They are made from a pretty fabulous brown-sugar based cookie dough that bakes up so nicely. Usually I find that a larger cookie is best for maximizing texture quality, but this dough really worked well this way. Crispy edges? Check. Chewy middle? Check. Sweet and delicious? You bet!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mini M&M Cookies

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Mini cookies loaded with M&Ms. These are the perfect party cookie!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: ~5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

262g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
5g (1 teaspoon) salt
3g (½ teaspoon) baking soda
170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
350g (~1½ cups, packed) light brown sugar
15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
75g (~1 large egg + 1 yolk) eggs at room temperature
170g (~1½ cups) mini M&Ms

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until well-combined
Beat in eggs and vanilla until a mixture is a light creamy color
Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture (do not overmix)
Fold in M&Ms
Chill dough in refrigerator for 24-48 hours for best texture and flavor results
Once dough has chilled, pre-heat oven to 325 degrees; cover baking sheets with parchment paper
Scoop cookie dough with small cookie dough scoop (~1 teaspoons) onto prepared baking sheets
Bake cookies ~10 minutes or until brown around good portion of edges
Set aside to cool
Texture of cookies best within 24 hours; cookies can be enjoyed up to one week at room temperature or one month frozen if stored in an air-tight container

Notes

Dough requires 24-48 hours of chilling time for best results

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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No Churn Monster Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Mega M&M Cookies

M&M Cookie Dough Cups

Blog, Recipes

Mini Lemon Layer Cake for Two

April 14, 2015 Keep It Sweet 34 Comments

Light and fluffy lemon layer cake slathered with delicious cream cheese frosting. This cake is sized perfectly for two people!

Today we are celebrating a virtual baby shower for one of my very favorite bloggers. Christina and I became friends a few years ago by commenting on each other’s blogs (you must read Dessert for Two) and exchanging a few emails. She was always so kind and generous with her blogging knowledge.

When I went to Foodbuzz in San Francisco, she met me in the city to be my “date” to one of the events. She’s just as wonderful in person as you’d imagine. The best combination of sweet and sass!

Now Christina is having a baby girl and I am so incredibly happy for her. Tina, from almost six months of experience, I can tell you that being a mom is pretty much the best thing ever.

Now, onto this cake! Given her love of lemon desserts and small batch treats, I thought this mini lemon cake would be the perfect recipe to share for the shower. It’s light and fluffy and topped with a generous helping of cream cheese icing. I made it the first time for Valentine’s Day and Matt loved it, but I made it a second time last week with a couple of tweaks and it was even better.

Scroll down to see what everyone else made!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mini Lemon Layer Cake for Two

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Light and fluffy lemon layer cake slathered with delicious cream cheese frosting. This cake is sized perfectly for two people!

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients

Lemon Cake:
73g (~1/2 cup + 5 teaspoons) all-purpose flour
1½g (3/4 teaspoon) baking powder
1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
28g (2 tablespoons) plain greek yogurt (I used fat free)
30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) milk (I used skim)
30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) fresh lemon juice (~1/2 of a lemon)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (~1/2 lemon)
2½ milliliters (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
57g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
80g (~6 tablespoons) granulated sugar
50g (~1 large) whole eggs, at room temperature
Cream Cheese Icing
85g light or regular cream cheese, cold
71g (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
160g (1 cup) powdered sugar
2½ milliliters (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
½g (1/8 teaspoon) salt

Instructions

Lemon Cake:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; grease and flour two four-inch cake pans (lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper will make for easier removal as well); set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla; set aside
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes or until light and fluffy; at this point you can’t really overbeat the batter, you want to get as much lightness at this stage as you can; scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula
Add egg and beat at medium speed for one minute; scrape the sides of the bowl with the spatula
Reduce speed to low and slowly add ½ of flour mixture and then all of the wet ingredients; finish with the remaining flour mixture and remove from mixer immediately (there should still be lumps in the batter)
Gently fold batter so that you can no longer see any dry ingredients but there are still some small lumps; do not overmix
Evenly distribute batter between cake pans
Bake 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center; do not overbake
Set aside to cool and prepare frosting
Cream Cheese Icing
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter and shortening on high speed for several minutes until light and creamy; make sure there are no clumps from the cream cheese
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add one cup of powdered sugar; beat on high speed until combined; repeat with additional cup of sugar
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add vanilla and salt; mix on medium speed for one minute and then on high speed for at least five minutes and until frosting is light and creamy
Once cake has cooled and icing is ready, use a flat metal spatula to frost the first layer of cake; top with second layer and frost outside of cake

Notes

Adapted from these lemon cupcakes
Store cake in refrigerator and store at room temperature (best enjoyed within 24 hours but can be eaten within 4 days)
For additional lemon flavor, add some lemon zest to the frosting; just add it at the beginning with the butter and cream cheese

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Other Shower Treats:

Fizzy Grapefruit Margaritas from Well Plated

Earl Grey Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream from Country Cleaver

Mini Bourbon and Bacon Tater Tot Casseroles from Climbing Grier Mountain

Maple-Chia Overnight Oatmeal from Feed Me Phoebe

Lemon Cake for Two from Keep It Sweet Desserts

Mini Raspberry Rhubarb Pavlovas from The Baker Chick

Almond Berry Cake Parfaits for Two from Edible Perspective

Peanut Butter Bourbon Blondies from The Frosted Vegan

Mixed Berry Mascarpone Scones from Bluebonnet Baker

Greek Yogurt Funfetti Cupcakes for Two from The Housewife in Training Files

Bourbon Barbeque Sliders with Bleu Cheese from Saucy Pear

Steak Fajita Tacos for Two from The Sweetphi Blog

Mango Madeleines from Stetted

Citrus Salad with Mint, Honey, and Lime from Rachel Cooks

Parfaits for Two from Order in the Kitchen

Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse with Coconut Whipped Cream from Joyful Healthy Eats

French Breakfast Puffs from Stephie Cooks

Blueberry Vanilla Cream Hand Pies from Eats Well With Others

Banana Pudding Cheesecake from The Domestic Rebel

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Blog, Recipes

Fluffernutter Mini Pies {Guest Post}

December 18, 2014 Keep It Sweet 7 Comments

Today’s guest post is from Madison, a blogger that I’ve been virtual friends with for years now. We even got to meet over dinner a few years ago! She has her own little one due at the end of this winter (a wonderful miracle that you should read about). Visit her blog and take a look at some of my favorite recipes she has posted (Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas, Classic Apple Pie with an Ultra Flaky Crust, and Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies).

Hi, Keep It Sweet readers! I’m so excited that Lauren asked me to share a recipe with you while she is enjoying some much-deserved time with her new little one! Lauren and I have been blog friends almost as long as our blogs have been around and I couldn’t be happier for Lauren and Matt as they journey into parenthood.

It’s a little intimidating to share a desert recipe on Lauren’s site. That girl can bake! I think her blondies are my husband’s all-time favorite dessert. But I’m going to give it a go anyway!

The recipe that I’m sharing with you today, Fluffernutter Mini Pies, is a scaled-down dessert that makes just four small pies and can be whipped together in no time. I find that having too many sweets in the house is a recipe for disaster since my willpower is just not that strong, so sometimes it’s nice to have something that makes just a few servings.

I didn’t grow up on the marshmallow crème and peanut butter combination known as fluffernutter, but I’ve come to love the combo as an adult. These pies combine cream cheese, peanut butter and marshmallow crème into an easy pie filling. Not into mini desserts? Just double the filling amount and use a regular pie shell and you’re good to go for larger groups. Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Fluffernutter Mini Pies {Guest Post}

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Author: Madison Mayberry

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 4 mini pies

Ingredients

⅓ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla
4 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup marshmallow crème
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
4 miniature graham cracker crust pie shells
Salted peanuts and miniature marshmallows for garnishing

Instructions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream and vanilla until firm peaks form. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and set aside.
With your electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, marshmallow crème and powdered sugar until smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream until evenly combined.
Spoon or pipe mixture into the prepared pie shells. Garnish mini pies with the peanuts and miniature marshmallows and refrigerate at least 1 hour or until mixture is firm and set.

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Madison Mayberry Hofmeyer is a wife to Joe and food editor (yes, that’s a real job!) for The Betty Crocker Kitchens living in Edina. They are expecting their first baby in March who will join their two fur babies, dogs Nutmeg and Pippa. Madison blogs about all things food and life over at Espresso and Cream.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Cinnamon Roll Blondie Bites

September 25, 2014 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

Mini cinnamon chip blondies are topped with the perfect cinnamon roll cream cheese frosting!

So I realize I’ve been posting a ton of cinnamon-seasoned desserts lately, but can you blame me? Cinnamon enhances all things pumpkin and apple, but it really shines on its own as well. As a result, I gave these blondies the full addicted-to-cinnamon treatment.

These perfect fudgy blondie bites are full of cinnamon chips and then topped with an incredible cinnamon roll cream cheese icing. Either one is delicious on its own, but together you have an incredibly indulgent bite-sized treat.

Cinnamon Roll Blondie Bites

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Mini cinnamon chip blondies are topped with the perfect cinnamon roll cream cheese frosting!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

350g (~1½ cups packed) light brown sugar
113g (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter
170g (~1¼ cups) all-purpose flour
5g (1 teaspoon) salt
1g (1/2 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
2 ½g (1/2 teaspoon) baking powder
100g (2 large) whole eggs at room temperature
5 milliliters / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160g (1 cup) cinnamon chips
Frosting recipe below

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350; a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper or foil cupcake liners and set aside
Melt butter and brown sugar in a heavy duty saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly; remove from heat and set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder
In a separate large bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla; add melted butter and brown sugar mixture and whisk until combined
Slowly whisk in dry ingredients just until combined
Fold in cinnamon chips
Use a small ladle or medium cookie dough scoop to distribute batter evenly between cups; bake in oven for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of blondies; do not overbake
Allow to cool and prepare frosting
Store blondies in an airtight container up to three days (if it is warm, keep them stored in the refrigerator)

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Cinnamon Roll Blondie Bites

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Cinnamon Roll Frosting

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

Cinnamon Mixture
78g (~1/3 cup packed) light brown sugar
21g (1½ tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1g (1/2 teaspoon) cinnamon
Buttercream Base
113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
113g regular or light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
320g (~2 cups) powdered sugar
2 ½ milliliters (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy; add the sugar and vanilla and mix on low speed until combined then increase to medium-high speed and beat until light and fluffy
Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the brown sugar mixture but do not mix completely
Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled blondie bites

Notes

Adapted from Oh Sweet Basil

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Blog, Recipes

Peanut Butter S’mores Parfaits

August 25, 2014 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

Mini dessert parfaits layered with graham cracker crumble, peanut butter marshmallow mousse, milk chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallows!

I haven’t posted any s’mores recipes for you this summer, I was waiting until I had something extra special. These little parfaits… they certainly are that! Peanut butter and milk chocolate play starring rolls, but the other classic s’mores components are here and prominent. There is marshmallow infused into the peanut butter mousse (gotta love marshmallow fluff!) and then toasted marshmallows top each adorable shot-glass dessert.

I couldn’t resist digging into one for… you know, the good of the photo shoot. Ha, who am I kidding? I just couldn’t resist.

Peanut Butter S’mores Parfaits

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 1 dozen mini parfaits

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crumble (recipe below)
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Mousse (recipe below)
Milk Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)
28g (~1/2 cup) mini marshmallows

Instructions

Put about one teaspoon of graham cracker crumble on the bottom of each shot glass
Pipe peanut butter mousse into each parfait glass so that they are ⅓ of the way full (you can also use a spoon but I find that this helps for a “cleaner” look)
Layer each parfait with about one teaspoon of chocolate ganache
Repeat layers and top each parfait with mini marshmallows; chill in refrigerator until ready to eat
When ready to serve, use a blow torch to gently char the marshmallows right before serving

Notes

You will need 12 tall shot glasses (alternatively, you can use four larger sized glasses of choice for full-sized desserts, just scale up the size of each layer when putting them together)
I recommend making the components below around the same time, the mousse can be made earlier in the day if needed
Parfaits are best enjoyed immediately but leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and enjoyed for up to five days
If making for someone who is gluten-intolerant, make sure all ingredients are labeled “gluten-free”
Inspired by these No-Bake S’mores Cheesecakes

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Graham Cracker Crumble

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

85g (3/4 cups) finely ground graham cracker crumbs (~5 full sheets)
42g (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Stir together graham cracker crumbs and butter; set aside until ready to use

Notes

Use gluten-free graham crackers if making gluten-free

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Peanut Butter Marshmallow Mousse

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Ingredients

155g (~1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter, do not use a natural version
70g (~1/3 cup) marshmallow fluff
175 milliliters (3/4 cup) heavy whipping cream, cold

Instructions

In the large bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, combine peanut butter and fluff on low to medium speed until well combined; set aside
In a separate large bowl for the electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat cream on medium-high speed just until stiff peaks form (will take a few minutes); mix in the peanut butter mixture on medium speed until smooth and creamy

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Milk Chocolate Ganache

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Ingredients

113g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
120 milliliters ( ½ cup) heavy cream

Instructions

Place chocolate in a medium heat-safe bowl and set aside
Pour cream into a medium heavy duty sauce-pan and place over medium heat; bring to boil and remove from heat immediately
Pour hot cream over chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes; whisk mixture until smooth; use before ganache is set and hard

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Blog, Recipes

Mini Chip Brownie Bites with Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

February 10, 2014 Keep It Sweet 16 Comments

Fudgy brownie bites full of mini chocolate chips and topped with a pretty in pink marshmallow buttercream, perfect for Valentine’s Day!

This weekend completely flew by! I’ve had a lot going on lately (work-wise and personally) so I feel like my weekend relaxing and me-time is extra precious. I know myself, and I really need to get a chance to refresh and recharge when possible to stay motivated and keep working hard.

This weekend was fun, though. We celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday (which is today, happy birthday Marcia AND Sara!) by seeing Motown on broadway. What a fun show! The music was fantastic and the entire thing was so entertaining. Yesterday we went to a housewarming party for friends and brought these brownies. It was so nice to see some of our friends and steal time with their baby. She is an adorable 9-month old that is happy ALL the time. It is amazing.

And these brownies? What brownie doesn’t do well with a little buttercream on top? You could of course leave out the food coloring and eat them any time of year, but the pink is perfect for Friday’s holiday. If you do nothing else for Valentine’s Day, I’m pretty sure that eating chocolate is required.

Mini Chip Brownie Bites with Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

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Fudgy brownie bites full of mini chocolate chips and topped with a pretty in pink marshmallow buttercream, perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 18 brownie bites

Ingredients

Brownie Bites

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 ounces (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter
9 ¾ ounces(~1⅓ cups) sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2⅞ ounces (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ounces (~1/2 cup) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

6 ounces (3/4 cup / 1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
7 ounces marshmallow fluff (1 small jar)
7 ounces (~1½) cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 drops red food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Make the brownies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease or line mini muffin pan
In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside
Melt butter and chocolate in large sauce pan over low to medium heat; stir in sugar; stir in eggs and vanilla until smooth
Whisk in flour mixture just until combined; do not overmix; fold in chocolate chips
Use a small ladle or medium cookie dough scoop to evenly distribute batter into muffin tin
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are puffed up slightly and knife comes out clean
Set brownies aside to cool

Make the buttercream

Beat butter with an electric mixer for several minutes or until light and creamy; add marshmallow fluff and beat on medium high speed until creamy
Add sugar, vanilla and food coloring; mix on low and then increase speed to high, mixing for several minutes until light and fluffy
Remove brownies from pan and pipe buttercream onto cooled brownie bites

Notes

Brownies can be stored in a covered container at room temperature up to two days or frozen up to one month
Brownie adapted from Baker’s

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Fudgy Mocha Chip Brownies

Espresso Salted Caramel Brownie Bites

Fudgy Double Creme de Menthe Brownies

Blog, Recipes

Pink Champagne Cake Pops–A New Years Eve Treat!

December 2, 2013 Keep It Sweet 35 Comments

These Pink Champagne Cake Pops are going to be your new go-to celebration treat! Make them to ring in the New Year or for your next birthday party. They are as delicious as they are pretty!

This is one of the most fun photo shoots I’ve ever put together and I’m excited to finally post all about these gorgeous cake pops!

The recipe was put together for this year’s holiday issue of Celebrity Cooking Magazine. I was so honored to be featured in the magazine amongst great chefs like Giada De Laurentiis and Fabio Viviani. If you skip to page 72 of the magazine, you will find a Keep It Sweet Desserts feature along with a couple of my holiday dessert recipes. Since they didn’t include the recipe for these Pink Champagne Cake Pops (just a photo), I figured I just had to share them here!

Cake pops are a fun treat and can take a little bit of time to put together, but when you use a good recipe, they will taste just as delicious as they look (you can’t say that for all store-bought cake pops and mixes). Also, since they are dipped in chocolate, the cake balls retain their moisture for a little longer than cupcakes or regular cake so they can be prepared up to one week in advance.

New Years Eve parties, bridal showers and 21st birthdays are just some of the occasions to celebrate with these cake pops.

And imagine your guests delight when they bite into the sweet champagne flavored cake pop and find a pretty pink center!

Sorry for the photo overload, I just couldn’t resist!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pink Champagne Cake Pops

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These Pink Champagne Cake Pops are going to be your new go-to celebration treat! Make them to ring in the New Year or for your next birthday party. They are as delicious as they are pretty!

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 60 cake pops

Ingredients

1 Pink Champagne Cake
1 batch Pink Champagne Buttercream
60 6-inch lollipop sticks
32 ounces white chocolate or white chocolate melts, roughly chopped
½ - 1 cup diamond sugar (optional but recommended)

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
Break cake into pieces and place in a large bowl; crumble cake into small crumbs with fingers
Add buttercream to cake and mix with a spoon until all cake crumbs are coated
Use a small cookie dough scoop or large spoon to scoop balls of dough onto wax paper
Use your hands to roll the cake scoops into balls
Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place in freezer for at least two hours
Prepare another baking sheet with wax paper for finished pops, alternatively, have a large piece of styrofoam available for drying cake pops
Once cake balls are frozen, you can make the cake pops
Put white chocolate in a heat-safe bowl and place in over a pot of simmering water; stir chocolate constantly until melted (you can also melt the white chocolate in the microwave)
Remove balls from freezer; dip the top of each lollipop stick about ¼ of an inch into the white chocolate and immediately press into cake ball two thirds of the way through
Once complete, dip each cake pop, one at a time, into white chocolate; lightly tap off excess chocolate and place cake pop on wax paper or stick into styrofoam; decorate with diamond sugar immediately before chocolate hardens
Repeat until all cake pops are dipped and decorated
Allow to cool and for chocolate to harden before serving

Notes

Cake pops inspired by Bakerella
Cake can be made one day before making cake pops; just make sure it is covered tightly with seran wrap overnight
Cake pops can be made up to one week in advance of serving

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5.0 from 1 reviews

Pink Champagne Cake and Buttercream

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

Pink Champagne Cake

13⅞ ounces (3 cups) all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
15 ounces (2 cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 x-large egg whites at room temperature
4 drops red food coloring
2 cups champagne (make sure to choose champagne that you like the taste of)

Pink Champagne Buttercream

2 ounces (1/4 cup / ½ stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1¼ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons champagne
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 drop red food coloring

Instructions

Make the cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; grease and flour 9x13-inch cake pan or baking dish; set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt); set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Reduce speed to medium and add egg whites, one at a time; add vanilla
Mix in food coloring
Stop mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula
With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients and champagne in three alternating additions, starting and ending with dry ingredients
Pour into prepared cake pan or baking dish and bake 25-35 minutes or until knife comes out clean from center

Make the buttercream:

Beat butter for several minutes until light and fluffy
Add sugar, champagne, vanilla and food coloring and beat for several minutes until light and creamy

Notes

Cake and buttercream slightly adapted from Booze Cakes

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

This post contains affiliate links.

You might also like:

Baby Blue Cake Pops

Blog, Recipes

Double Chocolate Stout Mini Cupcakes

November 4, 2013 Keep It Sweet 6 Comments

Moist chocolate stout cupcakes topped with a creamy chocolate stout buttercream are a fun dessert for any beer lover!

I don’t have a ton of photos of these cupcakes because I was too busy the day of Matt’s party with everything else. However, these cupcakes are too good not to share and were a fun dessert to play into the theme. The flavor of the stout actually comes through really well and the cupcakes themselves are very moist. Typically I’d frost the cupcake with a basic vanilla, but I had extra beer so into the frosting it went!

Double Chocolate Stout Mini Cupcakes

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Moist chocolate stout cupcakes topped with a creamy chocolate stout buttercream are a fun dessert for any beer lover!

Makes: Makes 5 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

8 fluid ounces (1 cups ) stout or dark beer (I used Sam Adams Chocolate Stout)
8 ounces (1 cups / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2⅔ ounces (~1/3 cup) dark unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
8⅛ ounces (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
13⅝ ounces (~2 cups) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons sour cream or greek yogurt, at room temperature (I’ve used fat free and light versions of each successfully)

Chocolate Stout Buttercream

8 ounces (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
4 ounces stout or dark beer (I used Sam Adams Chocolate Stout)

Instructions

Make the cupcakes:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line mini cupcake pans with cupcake liners or grease the cups with butter flour or non-stick cooking spray; set aside
In a large heavy duty saucepan, melt butter and stout over medium heat, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat and sift in cocoa powder until smooth; pour into a heatproof bowl and set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat eggs and sour cream or yogurt at medium speed until well combined (about three minutes)
Add the stout mixture and mix on low speed until combined; scrape sides of the bowl with a spatula
Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined; do not overmix
Distribute batter evenly among cupcake cups (just below rim of cupcake liner)with a small ladle or ice cream scoop
Bake in center of oven for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; do not overbake
Set cupcakes aside to cool and make frosting

Make the buttercream:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat butter on high speed until smooth and creamy
Add powdered sugar and mix on low speed for one minute; increase speed to medium high and beat for three minutes or until light and creamy
Add cocoa powder and half of stout and mix on low speed; add more stout if mixture appears dry; use a spatula to scrape sides of the mixing bowl
Increase speed to medium high and beat for several minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy
Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes as desired

Notes

Cake recipe from Sweetapolita who adapted it from King Arthur Flour
Frosted cupcakes are best served day of baking
To make ahead:
Bake cupcakes and make frosting up to one month in advance; cupcakes in a ziplock bag and frosting in a sealed tupperware container
Defrost cupcakes at room temperature and frosting in refrigerator for several hours; frost cupcakes as directed prior to serving

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Chocolate Stout Celebration Cake

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

Blog, Recipes

Cookie Butter Pumpkin Bites

October 31, 2013 Keep It Sweet 15 Comments

The chewy Cookie Butter shell is the perfect compliment to the creamy pumpkin flavored Kiss! This is a fun twist on the usual thumbprint cookie.

Raise your hand if you will be heading to Target / CVS / [insert favorite supermarket] tomorrow for the day-after Halloween candy sales? You and me both! I can never resist a candy sale. And assuming the Pumpkin Hershey Kisses are marked down 50% you should probably buy twice as many as you need. That way you can eat half and use half for these cookies!

This is one of those recipes that almost didn’t get published. When the cookies came out of the pan, I eyed them suspiciously and decided that they just weren’t pretty enough. But then as I was getting ready to shove them into the freezer to avoid eating them all, I tasted a bite.

And you know what, at that moment I didn’t care how pretty the cookies might look on the blog. They needed to be shared. If you are already familiar with Cookie Butter (or Biscoff or any other form of speculoos) then you probably don’t need much convincing to make this cookie. The flavor comes through really well in the cookie dough and it is buttery and chewy in a way that it just melts together with the soft pumpkin Kiss when you take a bite.

Cookie Butter Pumpkin Bites

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The chewy Cookie Butter shell is the perfect compliment to the creamy pumpkin flavored Kiss! This is a fun twist on the usual thumbprint cookie.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 24 cookies

Ingredients

5¾ ounces (~1¼ cup ) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup Cookie Butter
3¾ ounces (~1/2 cup) granulated sugar
4⅛ ounces (~1/2 cup) light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
24 pumpkin Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; take out a mini muffin pan and set aside (do NOT grease)
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter, Cookie Butter, and sugars until light and fluffy; scrape sides of the bowl
Add egg and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined
With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients; remove bowl from mixer and make sure all dry ingredients are incorporated
Use a medium cookie dough scoop or tablespoon (~2 tablespoons each), distribute cookie dough evenly in mini muffin pan for 24 cookies;
Bake 11-13 minutes in center of oven or until lightly browned around the edges and centers appear set
Immediately put one Kiss into each cookie, pressing down lightly into center
Allow to cool for about twenty minutes before gently removing cookies from pan; you can use a butter knife or small metal spatula to loosen each cookie around the edge before taking out
Store in an airtight container up to a week or freeze for up to one month

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And another note – Carrie is giving away some Keep It Sweet Desserts. Head over to her blog to enter!
This post contains affiliate links.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Looking for more Cookie Butter recipes? Try these:

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels (SO easy)

Cookie Butter Lava Whole Wheat Banana Muffins (Healthy!)

Cookie Butter & Salted Caramel Cookie Sandwiches (LOVE)

Blog, Recipes

Mini Halloween Confetti Cookie Sandwiches

October 3, 2012 Keep It Sweet 33 Comments

These cookies are so much fun for Halloween, not to mention, delicious! Cater them to your holiday of choice with different colors.

As much as I prepared before launching Keep It Sweet Desserts, there is so much learning that I’ve done on the job over the last few months. Countless lessons learned, mistakes made, products changed and instances of thinking on my feet. I’ve been mentally making a list but I thought I’d share a few of the more important highlights*.

1) When you do anything for the first time, you won’t get it 100% right. Learn from the challenges and mistakes to do it better next time.

2) There is no one right way. Talk to people and get advice but figure out what is best for you and your business, one strategy does not fit all.

3) But still, talk to people. Take what pieces of advice you can and implement them when and how you can. I talked to someone in marketing a few weeks ago and was overwhelmed by all of the ideas she had because there is no way that I can do everything. However, I picked a few elements that I could act on right away and did that.

4) And along with that, there is ALWAYS more work to do; prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

5) There is always more work to do, force yourself to take breaks (for me that is out of the kitchen and away from the computer). I spend a lot of my time working from home so whenever I am home I feel like I need to be productive. If I never take a break, I’ll burn myself out and that won’t get my business anywhere.

6) Be patient. Don’t hire people, build kitchens and buy equipment until you are over capacity. I actually learned this in my last job but constantly am reminded of how important it is to be conservative with my growth expectations.

7) Think long term and invest in the future, whether through time, money or people. Find a way to balance this with being patient.

8) Put yourself out there. Send emails, make phone calls, go to networking events. This is something I still need to work on. I’m always afraid of being too pushy, but no one made money waiting for business to show up at their door.

9) Give. The other day I was talking to the CIO of a major company. He is one of the most successful people I know, yet he is also one of the most generous. He is generous with his family, friends, community and colleagues in a way I constantly admire. He said to me, “the more you give, the more you get back.”

10) Stay months ahead of the holidays. Believe it or not, I’m already behind on Valentine’s Day. For someone who is a notorious procrastinator, It is almost a miracle that I’m getting you a Halloween recipe a few weeks in advance.

These cookies are easy and fun to make. I took a simple sugar cookie base and sandwiched it with one of my favorite buttercreams. Plus, I made them mini, which is always fun.

Mini Halloween Confetti Cookie Sandwiches

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These cookies are so much fun for Halloween, not to mention, delicious! Cater them to your holiday of choice with different colors.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: ~3 dozen cookie sandwiches

Ingredients

Cookies:

13⅞ ounces (3 cups) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
13⅛ ounces (1¾ cups) granulated sugar
2⅛ ounces (1/4 cup packed) light-brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 extra-large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cups Halloween colored sprinkles

Buttercream:

6 tablespoons (3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 ounces regular or light cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
26 drops yellow food coloring
13 drops red food coloring

Instructions

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugars on high speed for several minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy; scrape sides of the bowl with a spatula
Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed for a 2 minutes; scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula
With mixer on low, slowly and carefully add the flour mixture; add the sprinkles and mix just until combined; use a spatula to fold the sprinkles completely into the batter
Use a small cookie dough scoop (about 1 tablespoon) to scoop the cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets with each cookie about an inch apart
Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookies feel slightly firm to the touch
Set cookies aside to cool and prepare filling

Buttercream:

Beat butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer on high speed or until light and creamy
Add ½ cup of powdered sugar and mix on low speed for one minute; add remaining sugar, vanilla and food coloring
Mix on low speed for one minute and then scrape the sides of the bowl; beat on high speed for several minutes or until buttercream is light and fluffy

To Make Cookie Sandwiches:

Match cookies in pairs so that each side is about the same size
Spread about 1 teaspoon of frosting on the bottom of one cookie from each pair
Top other cookie and press down lightly
Store cookies in an airtight container up to three days; may be frozen for up to one month

Notes

Cookies adapted from Martha Stewart

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*In no specific order.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Baby Blue Cake Pops & A Virtual Baby Shower!

September 24, 2012 Keep It Sweet 20 Comments

Baby Blue vanilla cake pops made from scratch!

SURPRISE! Today’s post is a special part of Krissy’s surprise virtual baby shower! A special thanks to sweet and talented Audra for organizing the shower.

I met Krissy last year at the Foodbuzz Festival and she was absolutely as sweet as can be. We’ve been friends ever since and I’m hoping to see her and meet baby Ezekiel when I am in California next year!

I’ve actually been making a lot of cake pops lately. Some for baby shower favors and then some more for an Anthropologie event. The baby shower made a lot of sense because they went off of the line “Andrea is about to pop” so I figured, why wouldn’t that be perfect for Krissy’s shower, too?

Note the missing cake pops above, Matt could not stop eating them!

Since Krissy is expecting a baby boy, I wanted to make the pops a pretty baby blue, and a white cake seemed the best base for that. That cake combined with a basic buttercream and coated with white chocolate made the perfect combination. I actually think that while these are very baby shower friendly, they would also be a nice addition to a winter wonderland themed party!

Of course there are some other wonderful ladies participating in this shower with so many delicious recipes. I only wish we could all get together to celebrate Krissy in real life!

Audra of The Baker Chick | Mini Salted Caramel Brownie Pies
Averie of Averie Cooks | Cinnamon Oatmeal Date Bars with Chocolate Chunks
Cassie of Bake Your Day | Red Bell Pepper Ranch Cheese Dip
Erin of Big Fat Baker | Blueberry Punch
Jacqueline of The Dusty Baker | Kid-friendly Gluten-and-Dairy-Free Chicken Fingers
Lauren of Keep It Sweet | Baby Blue Cake Pops From Scratch
Nicole of Sweet Peony Blog | Roasted Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Baby Blue Cake Pops

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Homemade cake pops (no cake mix!) are perfect for a special occasion.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 50 cake pops

Ingredients

1 Baby Blue Cake
1 batch Baby Blue Buttercream
~50 6-inch lollipop sticks
32 ounces white chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup blue sprinkles

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
Break cake into pieces and place in a large bowl; crumble cake into small crumbs with fingers
Add buttercream to cake and mix with a spoon until all cake crumbs are coated
Use a medium cookie dough scoop or large spoon to scoop balls of dough onto wax paper
Use your hands to roll the cake scoops into balls
Cover with another sheet of wax paper and place in freezer for at least two hours
Prepare another baking sheet with wax paper for finished pops
Once cake balls are frozen, you can make them into pops
Put white chocolate in a heat-safe bowl and place in over a pot of simmering water; stir chocolate constantly
until melted (you can also melt the white chocolate in the microwave)
Remove balls from freezer; dip the top of each lollipop stick about ⅓ of an inch into the white chocolate and immediately press into cake ball two thirds of the way through
Once complete, dip each cake pop, one at a time, into white chocolate; lightly tap off excess chocolate and place cake pop on wax paper; decorate with sprinkles immediately before chocolate hardens
Repeat until all cake pops are dipped and decorated
Allow to cool and for chocolate to harden before serving

Notes

Inspired by Bakerella

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Baby Blue Sheet Cake

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup milk (I used skim) at room temperature
6 x-large egg whites at room temperature
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
3 drops blue food coloring
2¼ cups (8⅝ ounces) cake flour
1¾ cups (13⅛ ounces) granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg whites, vanilla and food coloring; set aside
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; add butter and beat on low speed until all of the ingredients are in wet lumps
Add half of milk mixture and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or just until combined; scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and then add remaining milk mixture; beat on medium speed just until combined without overmixing
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 25-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from center
Set aside to cool and prepare buttercream

Notes

Cake adapted from Baking Bites

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Baby Blue Buttercream

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Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
4 ounces regular or light cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 drops blue food coloring

Instructions

Beat butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer on high speed or until light and creamy
Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix on low speed for one minute; add remaining sugar, vanilla and food coloring
Mix on low speed for one minute and then scrape the sides of the bowl; beat on high speed for several minutes or until buttercream is light and fluffy

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Pink Champagne Cake Pops

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Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Silky Buttercream

September 12, 2012 Keep It Sweet 30 Comments

Mini lemon cupcakes with the silkiest lemon buttercream.

First off, for those of you who don’t already know, I’m a finalist for a Martha Stewart American Made Award! Not only is this an honor, but it is also an amazing opportunity. The winner will be selected based on VOTES and will be honored at the American Made event in New York City AND appear in Martha Stewart Living Magazine. On top of that, Keep It Sweet Desserts would get $10,000 to help grow the business. It couldn’t get much better than that.

Please help me by voting EVERY DAY from now through September 24th! I’ve been doing pretty well so far, but can use a little extra push in the contest. Your support means the world to me. For those of you who have been voting, tweeting, facebooking and emailing, thank you a million times over!

Now, onto cupcakes. These lovelies were just one of the desserts that we enjoyed to celebrate my husband’s 29th birthday. His birthday is today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!!!), but we had our families over to celebrate on Sunday night. Dinner was all about the meat: hot dog appetizers (full-size, not mini); burgers; and two different cuts of steak. There was also a side of mashed potatoes, tomatoes and mozzarella and a chopped salad. To my vegetarian friends, please know that we bought high quality meat that came from well-treated animals.

And yes, Matt did eat all of the different items we served. I, however, had my once-a-year cheeseburger and lots of salad on the side.

Lucky for me, my meat-loving husband also loves dessert. I like to take credit for his refined sweets palate and discretion over worth-it desserts but he should also get credit for the quality of all of the Keep It Sweet Dessert cookies and bars. He is an MVP taste-tester. But I digress.

As for the birthday desserts, it was a menu of all things Matt loves: Yellow layer cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, warm salted chocolate chip cookies AND warm chocolate chip cookie cheesecake (Thank, MOM!) just out of the oven, and finally these Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Silky Buttercream.

While I would never request a lemon dessert for my birthday, I’m glad that Matt did! These cupcakes were the perfect balance of lemon flavor without an intensely sweet or overly sour note to them. If anything, Matt thought there could have been a little more lemon in the frosting, but I really wanted it to just compliment the cake, not overtake it.

Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Silky Buttercream

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Mini lemon cupcakes with the silkiest lemon buttercream.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Lemon Cupcakes

1 cup + 3 tablespoons (5⅛ ounces) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup plain greek yogurt (I used fat free)
¼ cup milk (I used skim)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar (5⅝ ounces)
2 large eggs at room temperature

Lemon Kissed Swiss Meringue Buttercream

½ cup egg whites (I used 3 extra-large but pasteurized egg whites work fine)
1 cup granulated sugar
1⅛ cups (2¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
<1/8 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

Lemon Cupcakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; fill mini cupcake tins with 36 cupcake wrappers; set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla; set aside
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes or until light and fluffy; at this point you can’t really overbeat the batter, you want to get as much lightness at this stage as you can; scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula
Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for one minute after each; scrape the sides of the bowl with the spatula
Reduce speed to low and slowly add ⅓ of flour mixture and then ½ of wet ingredients; repeat with ⅓ of flour mixture and remaining wet ingredients; add remaining flour mixture and remove from mixer immediately (there should still be lumps in the batter)
Gently fold batter so that you can no longer see any dry ingredients but there are still some small lumps; do not overmix
Evenly distribute batter into cupcake wrappers; I find this easiest with a medium cookie dough scoop or small ladle
Bake cupcakes for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from a center cupcake; do not overbake
Set cupcakes aside to cool and prepare frosting

Buttercream:

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk attachment, whisk, spatula and candy thermometer with a paper towel and vinegar to clean (if any grease is on these items your meringue will not work)
Place egg whites and sugar in mixing bowl over pot of simmering water; water should not be high enough to touch mixing bowl
Whisk mixture slowly but constantly until temperature reaches 160 degrees F, about 5-10 minutes
Remove from stove and attach bowl to electric mixer with whisk attachment
Put mixer on low to medium speed and whisk until meringue is shiny and thick and bowl has cooled down to room temperature; if bowl does not cool and meringue has formed, you can put an ice bath under the mixing bowl while it is mixing
Once ready, replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment and add cubes of butter one at a time mixing on low speed until the mixture is light and creamy; if mixture gets lumpy, keep mixing for several minutes; if it gets runny, place bowl in fridge for 10 minutes before continuing to mix
Stop mixer to scrape sides of bowl and continue to beat on low speed for another minute
Add lemon zest, vanilla, and salt and mix on medium speed until the SMB is light and creamy
Frost cupcakes as desired (I prefer piping for swiss meringue buttercream)

Notes

Cupcakes adapted from Sweetapolita
Buttercream adapted from Sweetapolita
Cupcakes are best that day or refrigerated overnight; may be frozen up to one month and served at room temperature

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Don’t forget to VOTE!!!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Mini Lemon Layer Cake for Two

No Churn Lemon Ice Cream

Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies

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Margarita Frosting Shots

May 28, 2012 Keep It Sweet 34 Comments

Happy Hour never tasted so good.

What’s that? You don’t usually take shots of frosting to unwind after a hard day? Pretty sure that needs to change now. Cheers to to butter, sugar, cream cheese and… tequila!

You might remember these margarita cookie bars I made for Cinco de Mayo? The dessert that turned me lime-dessert-hating self around? Well, ever since, I’ve been thinking about my love of tequila frosting. And let’s face it. Sometimes the cookie/cupcake/brownie we bake is really just an excuse to eat copious amounts of frosting. So I decided it was time to do something about that.

These frosting shots are perfectly portioned so that you get enough for your frosting fix, but not so much that you’ve devoured an entire bowl of cream cheese icing… because face it, it can happen.

I hope my friends don’t mind if I never make cupcakes again.

Margarita Frosting Shots
Serves 12

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh lime zest (1 lime)
2 tablespoons good quality tequila
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar*
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup salted pretzel crumbs

Directions:
Use the whisk attachment of an electric mixer to beat butter and cream cheese on high speed until light and creamy
Mix in tequila, lime zest and salt; add in sugar ½ a cup at a time or until at desired consistency (*2 cups was the perfect amount for me but i;f you want a thicker texture you may want to add up to another ½ cup)
Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs and pretzel crumbs on the bottom of 12 tall shot glasses
Pipe frosting so that each shot glass is half full
Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs and pretzel crumbs over each frosting layer
Pipe remaining frosting to fill each glass
Serve with small spoons

The winner of the Nestle Drumstick giveaway is Kayle.

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Timestamp: 2012-05-29 00:22:50 UTC

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Revisiting: Pumpkin Pie Cookie Dough Truffle Pops

February 18, 2012 Keep It Sweet 7 Comments

I love pumpkin and could eat it year round so it should be no surprise that I’m currently craving this treat. If you missed it last time around, you can check out the recipe on Fox!

Blog, Recipes

Mini Banana Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

December 27, 2011 Keep It Sweet 10 Comments

Today I experienced something that I don’t remember experiencing before.

I was sugared out. After baking three batches of cookies, two batches of cupcakes and “tasting” leftover desserts that have been lingering in my kitchen I am ready to give up sweets for my New Years resolution.

Or not. I mean really, do you honestly think I have any desire to do that? I’m pretty sure that once I eat my next head of romaine lettuce I’ll be back on the baked good bandwagon. Diet-related resolutions are overrated. Besides, there are so many more important things to think about like how I can find a happy place in my family, career and friendships (hint: I already have 2 of the three). You know, and other important things like “how many jars of peanut butter can I store in the apartment before Matt starts to worry (hint: it is more than nine). And other stuff like how can I get the dishwasher to load, run and unload itself?

In the meantime, while I consider life’s biggest questions, go ahead and make these cupcakes. The moist banana cupcake topped with a mocha buttercream is a delicious twist on this cake I made over a year ago.
Mini Banana Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream
Makes ~6 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients:
Banana Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon instant coffee grinds
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (~5 medium bananas)

Mocha Buttercream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa, sifted
6 tablespoons strong brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Cupcakes
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Line cupcake tins with paper cups or grease to prevent cupcakes from sticking
Sift dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt)
Then whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside
Cream together the butter and sugar for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy
Then add the coffee grinds and vanilla and mix
Add in your eggs, one at a time
Then add in the half the dry ingredients, banana, and yogurt, mixing between each addition
Mix in the remaining dry ingredients at low speed, just until combined; don’t overbeat
Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tins and bake for ~12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; remove baked cupcakes from tin and refill for subsequent batches
Set cupcakes aside to cool

Mocha Buttercream
Using an electric mixer, beat butter on high speed until light and creamy
Add half of sugar and mix on low speed until combined
Add remaining sugar, cocoa, coffee and vanilla; mix until smooth and creamy
Spread onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy

Cupcakes adapted from La Mia Vita Dolce

Blog, Recipes

Pumpkin Pie Cookie Dough Truffle Pops

November 20, 2011 Keep It Sweet 40 Comments

We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving and although I’ve been putting pumpkin in my oatmeal since the end of August (I have no shame), I’m not even close to sick of it. It is actually a miracle that my skin isn’t orange given the fact that I go through the cans of Libby’s (no other brand can compete) like it is going out of style. I used to think the big cans were too much to open up, but now those puny 15-ounce cans are like a tease.

Hopefully you are also still on the pumpkin bandwagon, unlike my husband who seems to have missed the memo on winter squash (Which, lucky for me, means I get to eat an entire pan of roasted Costco butternut squash by myself. Seriously, how am I not orange?).

Although Matt doesn’t hate pumpkin like he does peanut butter (nope, eight years together and I’m still not over that), he just isn’t a huge fan. So when I gave him one of these Pumpkin Pie Cookie Dough Truffle Pops to taste and said, “just pretend it isn’t pumpkin,” he said, “these are amazing!” Don’t worry, I did enough cookie dough sampling yesterday to tell you these are seriously good shit delicious. The pumpkin flavor in the creamy cookie dough plus the hard chocolate shell and crunchy spicy gingersnap crumbs is an incredible combination.

Oh and worried that you can’t make these after Thanksgiving? I, for one, will be consuming pumpkin desserts for the next few months. But for the normal people out there, who don’t have to worry about their skin turning a strange color because they only eat pumpkin in the fall, these can completely pass for a special holiday dessert thanks to the gingersnaps.

So if you can make these and keep from eating them yourself, serve them at a party. No utensils necessary.

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Pumpkin Pie Cookie Dough Truffle Pops

Makes 30 pops

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
¼ cup milk (any type)
1 1/4 pound chocolate (I used white and dark chocolates)
3/4 cup gingersnap crumbs (about 12 cookies)

Directions:

Prepare cookie dough filling
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt; set aside
Beat butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy
Add pumpkin and milk and mix on medium speed until well combined
Stir in flour
Refrigerate dough for two hours or until cold enough to roll into balls
While chilling dough, line two jelly roll pans with wax paper
When ready, mold cookie dough balls by hand, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each (I used a cookie dough scoop to measure) and place one of the sheets of wax paper
Stick lollipop sticks into each ball so that the stick comes out of the top and goes almost all the way through the dough ball
Place prepared cookie dough in freezer and chill for two hours or until hardened
When dough is frozen, melt chocolate for dipping
Place chocolate of choice into a microwaveable bowl; melt by heating in 30-second increments and stirring in-between
Dip cookie dough pops one-at-a-time into chocolate and coat each entire dough ball; use a spoon to shape the chocolate around the cookie dough and form a thin layer
Place dough ball down onto unused sheet of wax paper and sprinkle pop with gingersnap crumbs; repeat for remaining dough balls
Once finished, chill pops in refrigerator until ready to serve
Store in refrigerator up to three days or freezer up to four weeks

Notes:

You will need to chill the dough between each step to make sure your pops keep a round form

When dipping pops in chocolate, I recommend keeping some dough balls in freezer and working with about 10 at a time; this will keep dough from getting too soft before dipping in chocolate

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Are you pumpkined out yet?

Blog, Recipes

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Brownie Bites

November 13, 2011 Keep It Sweet 59 Comments

Fudgy brownie bites stuffed with a layer of peanut butter cup cookie dough

The apartment is finally starting to feel like home. It isn’t because I unpacked 99% of my things (the other 1% includes books and underwear that is still MIA). It also is not because we finally have shelves in the closet so that my sweaters aren’t piled up in various places around our home. And it certainly isn’t that all of the furniture we ordered has arrived and our dreaded IKEA trip is in the past.

While all of those things make the stress of moving a little less acute, the real reason I feel like I am home is the kitchen. Of course I unpacked all of my dishes and appliances before anything else and have been to the grocery store 17 or so times. But Friday morning, while Matt was at work and I was waiting for our new night stands to arrive, I had the first opportunity to bake. Just the thought of that makes my shoulders relax and my breathing slow down. Working around our new kitchen where I actually had to walk more than one step from refrigerator to utensil drawer, I couldn’t stop smiling. And the fact that the first thing to come out of my oven was a chocolate and peanut butter dessert certainly didn’t hurt.

Oh, right, these little things. Fudgy brownie bites stuffed with a layer of peanut butter cup cookie dough, I haven’t felt more at home in a very long time.

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Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Brownie Bites

Makes 2 dozen brownie bites

Ingredients:

1 Box Brownie Mix (I used Trader Joe’s Chocolate Truffle) + ingredients the mix calls for
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup salted creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tablespoon milk (I used skim)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped peanut butter cups (~7 peanut butter cups)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan
Prepare brownie mix as directed and full cups with brownie batter (about 2 tablespoons each)
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a knife comes out clean; do not over bake
Set brownies aside to cool and prepare cookie dough
Whisk flour and salt in a small bowl; set aside
Beat together butter, peanut butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy
Mix in milk and vanilla on low speed
Stir in flour mixture just until combined
Stir in peanut butter cups
Once cookie dough is ready, take your brownies and slice each in half horizontally so that you have a top and a bottom
Place a rounded disk of cookie dough on each bottom half (about one tablespoon of cookie dough each)
Press tops of brownies lightly onto cookie dough layer so that you can still see the cookie dough from the sides
Serve immediately or freeze in an airtight container up to one month

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Cookie dough recipe adapted from here.

What is making you smile lately?

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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough Balls

July 28, 2011 Keep It Sweet 68 Comments

I had a couple options for tonight’s post, but it seems my Facebook fans and Twitter followers are huge peanut butter lovers like I am. For all the years before my blog, I thought I was alone in my peanut butter addiction. What a relief to know there is a support group! So, in honor of peanut butter lovers and addicts around the world, I’ll be holding a peanut butter party on the blog Sunday night. Email me (KeepItSweetLCL at gmail dot com) your links and I’ll include them in the post. And for those of you who don’t love peanut butter, who are you? I have a delicious frozen mocha dessert coming soon.

Now onto tonight’s recipe: A recipe that brings my love of peanut butter, cookie dough and chocolate all into one dessert. A recipe that is easy to make and relatively healthy enough to sub in for a mid-day snack (don’t you love sweets like that?). A recipe that I almost shouldn’t have because I’m officially addicted.

These may just become your favorite food. I’ve been eating dough balls individually straight out of the freezer but I can’t stop thinking about ways to incorporate them into other desserts. This could get dangerous.

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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough Balls

Makes 16 dough balls

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup salted natural creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper and set aside
Whisk together flour and oats in a medium bowl and set aside
Use an electric mixer to beat together all of the wet ingredients until well-combined
Stir in flour mixture until just combined
Stir in chocolate chips
Use a cookie dough scoop or spoon to scoop about two tablespoons of dough; roll dough into a ball with hands; repeat
Freeze or refrigerate until balls are firm

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Adapted from Never Home Maker

What kind of dessert should I make with these cookie dough balls?

Blog, Recipes

Healthy Muffins and a DSLR

May 12, 2011 Keep It Sweet 41 Comments

These cute little banana corn muffins are low fat, easy to make, and the perfect healthy breakfast treat.

Earlier this week I had an agenda:

1. Start experimenting with my NEW camera (!!!)

2. Bake something healthy enough to eat on a daily basis

3. Use up the extremely brown bananas on my counter

Based on the above list, I decided to make Banana Corn Muffin Bites.

1. New camera experimenting, check

2. Low fat whole grain baked good, check*

3. Brown bananas in muffin form, check

These mini muffins are moist and grainy with a wonderful sweetness from the ripe bananas. I snacked on them alone, topped with peanut butter (obviously) and mixed into ice cream. Matt cut his in half and topped them with jelly.

The best part? Muffins like these are easy to make and don’t require a mixer. Plus, mini muffins bake so quickly that it shouldn’t take you an hour from start to finish.

*Don’t worry, I’ll be back with something decadent and extra delicious shortly.

Start by combining the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside

In a large bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients except for sliced banana

Whisk the dry ingredients into wet until just combined

Spoon batter into prepared mini-muffin pan; top each muffin with a slice of banana

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean

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Banana Corn Muffin Bites

Yield: Makes 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

1 cup corn meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup mashed ripe banana (~2 large bananas)
3/4 cup skim milk (or any light milk of choice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 large banana, sliced

Cooking Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray or fill with cupcake liners
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside
Whisk all remaining ingredients, excluding sliced banana, in a large bowl
Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until combined
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin
Top each muffin with a slice of banana
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean

Adapted from All Recipes

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[Note: I recommend serving these soon after baking because the bananas on top brown by the next day. They are still edible but not all that pretty for company]

On another note, Mila at Lofty Appetite has some great tips for beginner DSLR users. What is the most useful photography tip you use?

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Peanut Butter Cheesecakes with Pretzel Crust

December 28, 2010 Keep It Sweet 31 Comments

You already know that my pants don’t fit. I don’t know about you, but I find it nearly impossible to diet around this time of year. It is so cold out that the last thing I want to eat is salad. What really appeals to me are dishes like chili, lasagna, fresh baked cookies… comfort food. Add on holiday celebrations, office treats, and Christmas candy sales; I am hopeless. Well, it is fair to say that I won’t lose any weight in the last week or so of December, but I will do anything I can not to gain more weight. As a result, I am making an effort to lighten up some of the desserts I am making over the next few hours weeks.

Honestly, I don’t do well “giving up” anything. I don’t do well with portion control either. The first step in trying to combat that is pre-portioning desserts. The other thing I like to do is take out some of the fat and calories where it won’t be missed. Previously I’ve made ice cream desserts that taste delicious but are made with lots of low-guilt ingredients. Well, I decided to make Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes using lower fat cream cheese with a few more decadent ingredients to balance them out.

These cheesecakes are made with a crunchy pretzel crust, a creamy peanut butter filling and chocolate chips snuck in as a layer above the crust and throughout batter. By the way, you’d be so proud of me. I only ate two of them! That may or may not be because I gave some to friends and left the rest in my parents fridge. Sorry, Mom:-)

This recipe is actually very easy and revolves mostly around a food processor. I figured if I needed to take out the appliance for making a crust, I might as well use it for the cheesecake batter too!

To begin, fill up your food processor with salted pretzels

Run them through until they are mostly fine crumbs

In a small bowl, pour melted butter over the pretzel crumbs

Add sugar

Stir until all of the crumbs are moist

Press a couple tablespoons of crust ingredients into two muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; bake for about 6 minutes

When crust comes out of oven, layer with several milk chocolate and caramel chips

Regular chocolate chips would also work, but I really like the combination of caramel, chocolate and peanut butter; set pan aside

Meanwhile, prepare cheesecake batter; you can shake out the crumbs from the food processor, no need to wash it

Cream 2 blocks of cream cheese in the food processor

Add sugar, flour, vanilla and salt

Combine well

Add your eggs

Measure 1 cup of peanut butter chips

Microwave about 45 seconds and stir; microwave in additional 20 second increments until chips are melted; note this will be very thick

Add peanut butter to cheesecake batter

Process until smooth and creamy

Pour cheesecake batter into a separate bowl and fold in chocolate chips

Use a small ladle or large spoon to put about 1/3 of a cup of batter in muffin tins

Bake cheesecakes for about 15 minutes or until mostly firm

Serve drizzled with chocolate and caramel or sprinkled with pretzel crumbs

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Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes, lightened up

Makes 24 mini-cheesecakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely ground pretzel crumbs

4 tablespoons melted butter

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, separated

1 8-ounce block fat free cream cheese, softened

1 8-ounce block reduced fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips*, melted

1/2 cup milk chocolate and caramel chips

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

To begin, fill up your food processor with salted pretzels and run them through until finely ground

In a small bowl, pour melted butter over the pretzel crumbs

Add 2 tablespoons sugar and stir until all of the crumbs are moist

Press mixture into two sets of muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; bake for 6 minutes

When crust comes out of oven, sprinkle a few milk chocolate and caramel chips into each cup; set aside

Shake crumbs out of food processor and use it to prepare cheesecake batter

Cream 2 blocks of cream cheese in the food processor

Add sugar, flour, vanilla and salt; cream until well combined

Add eggs and mix well

Add melted peanut butter chips to cheesecake batter and process until smooth and creamy

Pour cheesecake batter into a separate bowl; fold in chocolate chips

Use a small ladle or large spoon to put about 1/3 of a cup of batter into each cup

Bake cheesecakes for about 15 minutes or until tops are mostly firm

Notes:

*You can replace these with regular peanut butter (not natural)

The peanut butter flavor isn’t really strong; some people may prefer this but I may try increasing the amount of peanut butter chips next time (using regular peanut butter could also help)

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Are you worried about weight gain during the holidays?

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

You might also like:

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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