Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcake and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Rachel, who is expecting her first baby (a boy!) in January. 

Rachel and I met in dental school, first person I really interacted with since we were in the same small group together. We hit it off pretty easily, having common grounds on a lot of things (including our love for The Amazing Race!). We hung out a lot during dental school, with our many weekend nights playing Euchre against our husbands. Since we both graduated dental school, we've moved to different places (although still within the same state) so we don't see each other as often as before... makes me miss her a lot.

When we (and by we I mean our small group of dental school friends) found out that she was pregnant, we offered to throw her a baby shower. Her mom was gracious enough to host the shower at her house. I jumped at the opportunity to bake the cupcakes for the party. I thought and thought of a cupcake flavor for her, and since the shower and baby room have a monkey theme, I thought banana would go well. I just had to make sure that she didn't have an aversion to bananas (she didn't), and it was all set. This "concoction" was a combination of different recipes I found and meshed together. The final product seemed to please everyone who tried it! Hope you enjoy it!!!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Yield: 30+ cupcakes

Ingredients:

-2½ cups all-purpose flour
-1 Tbsp baking powder
-½ tsp salt
-12 Tbsp (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
-2½ cups sugar
-6 eggs
-1 cup plus 2 Tbsp buttermilk
-1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

-1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk together and set aside.  

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in mashed banana until well combined.  With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated.

3. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

-8oz cream cheese, room temperature

-1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

-3-4 cups confectioners' sugar

-Garnish - banana chips

Directions:

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.

2. Add in cocoa powder and mix very well. Then add the confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistency. 

3. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Garnish the top with a whole banana chip (and eat the small chips!)

Cupcake recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Frosting recipe adapted from Cupcake Project

Congratulations Rachel!

S'mores Cookies

A couple years ago for my parents' anniversary, we got them a fire pit. They have absolutely loved using it and it comes out many many times throughout the year. Also, because of this fire pit, my parents finally got to experience S'mores. You may be thinking: "What?!?!?!?!" Yes, sadly enough they had never had the pleasure of having a S'mores until then. Being foreign parents, they are getting to experience more American things through us children (and also now grandchildren). This is proof that you are never too old to have S'mores :)

Needless to say, they loved S'mores and always try to have the supplies handy at their house for when we visit.  So when I saw this recipe for S'mores cookies by Kevin and Amanda on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them and share them with my parents. And like these cookies they did!

You can taste the graham cracker in the cookie dough, and the combination of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows makes the cookie so irresistible! I modified the recipe slightly, mainly by adding more graham cracker crumbs and decreasing the flour, and using regular chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (because that's what I had on hand...). Hope you enjoy these cookies!!!

Look at that gooey-ness!

S'mores Cookies

~makes about 2 dozen cookies


Ingredients:
-1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup AP flour
-1 cup graham cracker crumbs
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup chocolate chips/chunks
-1 cup mini marshmallows


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a food processor or blender to crush the graham cracker sheets into 1 cup of the fine crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together. Add the chocolate and marshmallows and stir to combine.

Using a small ice cream scoop, place dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Kevin and Amanda

Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everyone! Oh my goodness, I'm going to get straight to the point: these cookies are AWESOME!!! There is just no other description... I had pinned this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything and have been dying to make it! And the wait was totally worth it; these cookies were soooooo chewy, with the right amount of chocolate (which is a whole bunch!). I've tried many different chocolate chip cookie recipes, but this one takes the crown! I just can't rave enough about them, you'll just have to make these and try for yourself. Enjoy! :)
Oh, and I am tempted to tweak the recipe a little bit next time and add some coconut flakes to it.
Update note: I DID make the cookies with coconut (by switching the 2 cups of chocolate chips to 1.5 cups of chocolate chips plus 1 cup coconut flakes), but I didn't really think it made it much better (it was already awesome to begin with...). So would I make these again with coconut? Probably not since I really liked these cookies just as they were. :) If you play around with the chocolate chip/coconut flake ratio and come up with a great combo, let me know by posting below!

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Makes ~2-3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. 
Using a small ice cream scoop, measure out the cookie dough onto the lined cookie sheets (one cookie = one scoop). Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tonight, I had a big craving for chocolate chip cookies. For a moment (just for an itsy bitsy moment), I thought about being good and just eating some fruit. BUT! I gave in… sigh… Oh well, right?

I made chocolate-coconut cookies yesterday for our Easter gathering and they were a big success! I got the recipe for the cookies from yesterday and the ones I just HAD to make tonight from Vittles and Bits. These cookies were just DIVINE! The smell of fresh-baked cookies all around my kitchen is absolutely wonderful. I already have had a few cookies…

I am sharing with you two recipes: regular chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-coconut cookies. I even made the chocolate-coconut cookies with 2 different kinds of “filling”.

Below is the adaptation I made. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

~makes about 3 dozen

2 C. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter, cooled slightly

1 C. brown sugar, packed

1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 yolk

2 t. vanilla extract

1.5 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 and melt butter in microwave. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk dry ingredients together; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter & sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in chips.
Use a small ice cream scoop (or 2 regular tablespoons) to dispense the cookie dough.
Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft & puffy (10-12 minutes in my oven).
Cool cookies on sheets, until able to lift in one piece. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate-Coconut Cookies

~makes about 2 dozen

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter

1/2 C. white sugar

1/4 C. light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 C. flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Optional fillings:

1 C. semisweet chocolate chips + 1 C. sweetened flaked coconut   OR

½ C. white chocolate chips + ½ C. dried cranberries (Craisins) + ½ C. Shredded Coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipes adapted from:

- Chocolate chip cookies

- Chocolate-coconut cookies