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Come back in about 2 days for a post about homemade croissants. Making these croissants occupied a lot of my weekend so I don’t really feel like talking about them anymore today. Maybe tomorrow?

In case you were wondering: Yes, all 5 sticks of butter in the picture were used for the croissants. Yes, this is an obscene amount of butter. Yes, this is an unhealthy amount of butter. Yes, butter is probably going to kill me (if bacon doesn’t get me first). And yes, they are delicious.

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One of my friends wanted to come over to our house for a visit. But she had ulterior motives and she was up front about them. She wanted cupcakes. Who am I not to indulge a request for cupcakes? Especially if the person requesting the cupcakes is more than willing to help make them and to chip in for ingredients? Especially if the friend’s kitchen isn’t very well-equipped for baking and mine might very well be over-equipped? I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to say no when a friend asks to come to my house to bake (or cook). I’m a regular good samaritan, eh? I’d like to think I’m doing my part for the desserts of the world.

After flipping through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for the zillionth time, we decided to make S’mores cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes with peanut buttercream frosting.

I’ve made the peanut buttercream frosted cupcakes at least a few times in the past and they’re always well-received. In all honesty, I could eat this frosting all by itself. With a spoon. By the vat. Not that I know exactly what the quantity of a “vat” is. The point is that this stuff is good. Really good. So good that I’m glad I have a wee little bit of self-control. Without it I’d be passed out on the kitchen floor with a spoon and an empty vat.

For these cupcakes, bake your favorite your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. You can add a little creamy peanut butter to the batter if you’d like to bump up the peanut butter flavor. I usually add about 2 tablespoons to my batter.

Peanut Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Makes enough frosting to generously frost 12 regular size cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspooons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 to 2 tablespoons soy milk

Directions

1. With electric handheld mixer, cream together margarine and shortening at medium speed till smooth.
2. Add peanut butter, molasses, and vanilla; beat until very smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Beat in sugar; mixture will be very stiff.
4. Dribble in soy milk a little at a time, beating continuously till frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.
5. If frosting is too thick or too thin, adjust the consistency by adding small amounts of soy milk or confectioner’s sugar if necessary.

For the record, I’ve never had to do step 5. This recipe has been perfect (and possibly divine) every single time I’ve made it.

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My boyfriend is of the opinion that cranberries taste very similar to what he would expect potpourri to taste like. Not that he (or I) have ever eaten potpourri.

So he doesn’t care for cranberries and I kind of like them. This causes just a hint of strife when I mention baking something with cranberries. I’ve made at least a couple of things with cranberries in them this year in an attempt to get him to like them. I haven’t really had much success.

I found the recipe for this cranberry tart at The Kitchn and decided to make it today. I quickly warned the boyfriend that I was baking a tart today that he might not like. He may have groaned in response but knew that I was going to bake it whether he’d like it or not.

After dinner tonight, we tried the tart. While he may not have been crazy about it, he did say that he would eat it. He also said that someone who actually really likes cranberries would probably love it. That’s probably the best response I’m going to get out of a cranberry hater.

The recipe can be found here at The Kitchn.

I made very few alterations to their recipe. Instead of orange zest, I used the zest and juice of one Meyer lemon. Instead of mixing the walnuts into the filling, I used about a cup of them and put them on top so that they would remain crunchy. Other than that, I followed the recipe.

Oh, I used the pie crust recipe found here. Truthfully it’s the only pie crust I use these days.

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I found the recipe for this Spicy Hot Chicken Soup in the latest issue of the Penzey’s Spices catalog.

I can honestly say that I don’t like plain chicken noodle soup. In fact, I’m not sure that I’ve voluntarily eaten plain chicken noodle soup in my adult life. It’s bland and boring and I don’t want to eat it. Not even if I’m sick.

That being said, I immediately wanted this soup when I saw it in the catalog. If it were plain chicken noodle soup, I would have turned the page…but the addition of ginger, cayenne pepper and green onions to chicken noodle soup made me stop and salivate.

If you’re in the mood for chicken soup with a kick, make this. Just keep the Kleenex on the table as your nose is probably going to start dripping.

I’m not going to add the recipe to this page as it can be found here on the Penzey’s website.

I did make a few changes to the recipe:

• Their recipe calls for just powdered ginger. I used a bit of powdered ginger and a good 1 1/2 or 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh ginger. I like ginger.
• The recipe calls for cayenne pepper. I didn’t have any so I substituted ground ancho pepper powder, a dash of chili powder and a dash of Spanish sweet smoked paprika. I decided that it wasn’t quite spicy enough so I threw in a good teaspoon or so of Sriracha.
• Penzey’s used egg noodles. I don’t particularly like them and they warned to keep them separate from the soup (as they get really soggy if kept in the soup) for leftovers. That’s kind of a pain so I used orzo instead. I’ve made lots of soup with orzo and it doesn’t get soggy like a lot of other pasta does. I used about 3/4 of a cup of it and cooked the soup for about 20 minutes after adding it.
• I used regular chicken broth instead of the “Chicken Soup Base” the recipe prescribes. I used 6 cups of broth and 2 cups of water.
• It’s not mentioned in the recipe, but you’ll want to add some salt and pepper.

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It’s freezing outside. Way colder than normal for the part of Virginia where I live. To combat the cold, I’m pretending it’s warm and sunny with a bright citrus margarita. A bright citrus margarita made with fruit you can’t find when it’s warm and sunny in Virginia.

A friend suggested I make Meyer lemon and agave nectar margaritas with the Meyer lemons I found at Trader Joe’s.

I’m a sucker for a good margarita so I did just that…and I threw in a clementine as well since we’ve got a bowl full of them on the counter. Margaritas seem to be a good fit for Meyer lemons. A regular lemon would make a super tart drink but the Meyer lemon is just about perfect. I usually add orange juice to my margaritas so the clementine was a natural choice as well.

These were pretty much a perfect balance of sweet and tart. You could sort of taste the agave nectar and the tequila taste was there but not overwhelming. I will definitely make these again. Too bad the fruit for them isn’t available year-round.

I made these as I make all of my margaritas. On the rocks with lots of kosher salt. The salt must be kosher. It’s not as good otherwise. Regular table salt doesn’t taste as good and it doesn’t stick to the glass very well.

Meyer Lemon and Clementine Margarita

Makes 1 drink.

Ingredients

• 1 shot (1.5 oz) tequila
• 1/2 shot (.75 oz) triple sec or other citrus liqueur
• 1 Meyer lemon
• 1 clementine
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• kosher salt (optional)
• ice

Directions

1. Slice lemon and clementine in half. Squeeze the juice out of them with a juicer or reamer (or your hands).
2. Add the following to a cocktail shaker filled with ice: tequila, triple sec, lemon juice, clementine juice, agave nectar and the fruit rinds you just squeezed.
3. Cover the cocktail shaker and shake it. A lot. Keep shaking it. Shake it some more. And then shake it again.
4. Pour into a tall glass. If you like salt on your margaritas, you should rim the glass with salt before pouring the margarita in the glass.

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I’ve blended summer blueberries with winter Meyer lemons to make these lemon cupcakes with blueberry buttercream frosting.

I missed Meyer lemon season last winter and was determined not to miss it this year. It seems that nearly everyone in the blogging world raves about them, so I figured I should give them a go. I noticed that they were in season when I saw them at Dean & Deluca on a recent visit to Georgetown but I didn’t feel like dragging a bunch of lemons around all day. Fortunately my local Trader Joe’s had them in stock when I got home.

These cupcakes are the first and only thing I’ve made with them so far so the jury is still out on whether I like/love them or not. Lots of people seem to love them because they’re not as tart as regular lemons. I’ve no issues with the tartness of regular lemons so that’s not going to make me love the Meyer lemons. I was advised to try them with agave nectar in a batch of margaritas. That might be when I decide whether I love them or not.

For these cupcakes, you can skip the Meyers altogether and use regular lemons. I would have done so if the Meyer lemons weren’t already in the house. For the blueberry buttercream frosting, I added blueberry jam to a batch of regular buttercream frosting. I made the jam last summer with blueberries I picked. You could use store bought blueberry jam.

If you already have a favorite golden cupcake recipe, use it. Just add lemon juice and lemon zest.

Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

Very slightly adapted from the “Golden Vanilla Cupcakes” recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Makes 12 regular or 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• juice of 2 Meyer lemons (or 2 medium regular lemons)
• 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest (or regular lemon zest)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside a few minutes to curdle.
3. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a separate large bowl, cream margarine and sugar for about 2 minutes at medium speed with a handheld mixer. Beat in the vanilla, lemon juice & lemon zest.
5. Alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry ingredients. Stop to scrape the side of the bowl a few times.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes until done. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

Adapted (and no longer vegan) from the “Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting” recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup blueberry jam

Directions

1. Beat shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
2. Add the sugar and beat for 3 more minutes.
3. Add the vanilla and milk, beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy.
4. Add blueberry jam and beat until well combined.
5. Pipe or spoon onto cupcakes.

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Chocolate is good by itself. So is peanut butter. But they’re both better together.

I hoard Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. For this recipe and this recipe alone. After Halloween, I bought at least 10 bags of them on sale. Hopefully they’ll last for most of the year.

These peanut butter cup brownies have been begging to be posted for about a year now and I’ve never gotten around to it…in large part because I never got around to writing down the exact recipe. One of the pictures here was posted on Slashfood’s Feast Your Eyes blog yesterday so I now feel the need to follow up that mention with a proper recipe.

I brought baked goodies to people at my old job pretty frequently and these were one of the most requested items. Even the guys that worked in the kitchen begged for them on occasion. As a last treat before I left that job, I baked a batch for them.

The base recipe for these is from Baking Illustrated’s Chewy, Fudgy Triple-Chocolate Brownie recipe. I’ve made a few alterations.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Ingredients

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use a mixture of Hershey’s regular & Penzey’s Dutch Process)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I only use unbleached)
• 8 or 9 regular size Reese’s peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8″ square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Microwave chocolate chips and butter in microwave for about 45 seconds. If not mostly melted, microwave for 20 more seconds. Stir until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder. Set aside.
3. Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, peanut butter and salt until combined.
4. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.
5. Stir in the flour until just combined.
6. Fold chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups into batter.
7. Pour mixture into prepared pan, spread evenly and level the surface with a rubber spatula.
8. Bake approximately 35-40 minutes. Brownies will be slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean.
9. Cool to room temperature for about 2 hours. Cut into 1″ squares. Store in a tightly sealed container, preferably in the refrigerator.

A couple of side notes that you don’t necessarily have to listen to:

• I freeze the Reese’s cups. Freezing them works well as they’re easy to chop when frozen..especially if it’s summer and your kitchen is blazing.
• You really shouldn’t cut these into squares larger than 1″. They’re really rich and decadent and one small square is more than ample.
• You could use fancy chocolate in these but I don’t. Nestle chocolate chips work just fine.
• Don’t overbake them…or any other brownies. Brownies should be moist and sort of chewy. Not dry and hard.

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