Chocolately Peanut Buttery Goodness

The two most perfect foods, together.  I do it a lot.  I can't resist.  Peanut butter and chocolate need to be together in any way, shape or form.  In this incarnation, it's chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting. 

Start out with any chocolate cupcake recipe you like.  I happen to have buttermilk in my fridge and wanted to use it up, so I used a standard buttermilk chocolate cupcake recipe.  Start with a stick of butter, softened and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in your mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.

Once it's fluffy, add 2 eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.   Then beat in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

You will also need to combine 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 1/2 cup of water.   Then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture.  In other words, add some dry then some wet, some dry and some wet, until all ingredients are incorporated.  Then fill your cupcake cups 2/3 the way full and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (make sure your toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean). 

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a rack.

While the cupcakes cool, it's time to make this kick ass icing!  You will need an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and a stick of butter, both softened, to start.

Beat until smooth and creamy.  When you have a nice smooth butter/cream cheese mixture, add 1/2 cup of peanut butter.   You can use creamy or chunky, but natural is probably not a good idea because of the oils.  Beat in the peanut butter then add 1 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar.   Beat until fully incorporated.

Ice cupcakes however the heck you want, but I suggest you load it on!   This frosting is all kinds of yum and you don't want to short change yourself.  Although, I suspect the leftovers might be pretty yummy on just about anything... toast, a bagel, a spoon, a hubcap, whatever.  And feel free to add a bit extra peanut butter if you want.  Personally, I think next time I make it I'm going to up it to 3/4 cup.

Money shot!

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Ingredient lists - Cupcakes:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter

Oh No She Didn't!!!

Oh yes she did.

I decided to use up a few things I had in my pantry that I bought for something I never ended up making or bought in the hopes of using it for something and never did, or what have you. Looking at these things I did the only logical conclusion I could come to was cookies.

So I turned to Martha. Martha has a pretty decent peanut butter cookie recipe and it seemed like peanut butter cookie would make the best base for what I had in mind. So start out with two sticks of softened butter and cream that with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar.




Beat until pale and fluffy. Add one egg and mix well. Then add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 cup of smooth peanut butter. I used smooth because I had it, but I see nothing wrong with using chunky.

For the dry ingredients, sift together 1 and 1/4 cups of flour with 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Add this to the peanut butter mixture and mix until just combined.




OK, now the good stuff. To the cookie base I added one 4 oz. bar of Nestle Chocolatier (bittersweet), cut into chunks.




One cup of peanut butter chips.




And three Butterfinger bars, cut into chunks.



Oh. My. God.

Mix everything together quickly so as not to break the chunks of chocolate or Butterfinger too small.


Then scoop out with a cookie scoop or if you don't have one of those, roll into about one inch size balls and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. There is no need to press them down with a fork like you would with regular peanut butter cookies. These spread out all on their own.



Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, then when you remove them from the oven, let them sit in the tray for about 5-8 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

They are crispy but still chewy and soft.




They are sweet, but not unbearably so. They are oh so very yummy!!!!



Peanut Butter Cookies (ingredient list)
courtesy of Martha Stewart's Cookies

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup salted peanuts

The Lost Blog (Part I)

I found a bunch of photos I had taken of things I've made and realized that there are a bunch of blogs I never wrote. They were taken right before Grandma got sick and I totally forgot about them. The first one is Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes. The recipe is from Martha, and the idea is that it's like a peanut butter cookie, only a cupcake. You probably got that idea from the title of the recipe.

You may recall that Nick is a big peanut butter fan, so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them for him. You start by sifting (or whisking) together 1 3/4 cups flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.




Then in a mixer fitted with the paddle, cream 3/4 cup softened unsalted butter with 1 1/3 cups sugar, until pale and fluffy.




Reduce speed to low, then mix in 2/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter. I use chunky. I always use chunky unless I'm making peanut butter cups. Then add 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla after that. Then add the flour mixture and mix until well combined.




When that is all mixed, add 1/2 cup sour cream and mix until blended. You will want about three Tablespoons of batter in each cupcake cup. It's about three quarters of the way full.


They bake at 375 for about 13 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack and cool.

The icing. These cupcakes are all about the icing! Back in your mixer with the paddle, mix 12 ounces of cream cheese (softened), 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons of softened unsalted butter. Make sure you start very slow or you'll be wearing that powdered sugar! When it's all mixed together nicely, take the bowl off and mix in 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter by hand. I used chunky again.

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, spread about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of frosting onto each cupcake. Martha says to refrigerate for 10 minutes so the frosting can firm up and then make the crosshatch pattern on the top with a fork like you would with a peanut butter cookie. I say, spread that frosting on and dig in!




Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Icing

12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 standard 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Mix in peanut butter. Mix in eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla. Add flour mixture, mix until combined. Mix in sour cream.

Spoon scant 3 Tablespoons batter into each muffin cup. Bake until pale golden and cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 13 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; let cool completely.

For the icing, put cream cheese, powdered sugar and butter into cleaned bowl from your mixer fitted with cleaned paddle attachment.; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy (remember what I said, start it on low or you'll be wearing that sugar!). Stir in peanut butter by hand with rubber spatula.

Spread 1 1/2 Tablespoons of icing onto each cupcake. Refrigerate until frosting is firm (about 10 minutes). Using tines of a fork dipped in powdered sugar, score each top in a crosshatch pattern. Cupcakes can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to two days.

Martha does me proud with peanut butter ice cream

Martha Stewart's recipes don't always turn out how she says they should. I don't know why that is, but it is. Not this time though. When I saw the recipe for Peanut Butter Ice Cream in the July issue of Living, I knew I would have to make this for Nick. The man is a peanut butter freak. But if you decide to make this recipe, be prepared because it's a bit of a process. And do not forget to freeze your ice cream maker insert!

You start out by heating the cream and the milk with a cup of cocktail peanuts. As you can see from the photo, I used Spanish peanuts because that was what I had on hand.



Once bubbles start to form, remove the pan from the heat, cover and let steep for 3 hours at room temperature. Or if you prefer, you can do this part the day before and let it sit overnight in the fridge.

After it has steeped (or the next day), reheat the mixture until it's hot, but not boiling. In the meantime, in a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together.




When the peanut mixture is hot, remove from the heat and slowly and steadily whisk it into the eggs and sugar in a steady stream. If you don't have someone available to help you either do the whisking or the pouring, you can do what I did and put a kitchen towel under the bowl so it doesn't move while you pour and whisk at the same time. Who knew I was so coordinated! I sure didn't. When the peanut mixture is all incorporated into the egg mixture, return it to the saucepan and put the heat back on.




Stir constantly over medium heat. You do not want to let this come to a simmer but you do want it to thicken up just enough to coat the back of a spoon.




Now that it's thickened, strain out all the solids with a very fine sieve and pour into a bowl. It seems like a sin to discard all those nuts, but that's what you have to do with them. And quite honestly, when you see how soggy and gross they look, you won't mind tossing them out anymore. Place the bowl in an ice water bath. All that means is to get a bowl bigger than the one your mixture is in and fill it half way with ice and water. Then set the whole bowl with the ice cream mixture into the bowl with the ice water. Stir in the vanilla and then stir occasionally until the mixture is cold. This should take about 20 minutes or so.




From here, follow the instructions on your ice cream maker. Mine is Cuisinart and it only took about 20 minutes to get to the consistency needed, which is of very soft ice cream. Once it gets to this stage, fold in a cup of your favorite peanut butter. It could be smoothy or chunky but the recipe recommends that you not use natural peanut butter because the texture doesn't work as well. I'm very glad it said that in the recipe because I love my natural peanut butter and probably would have used it. Then I'd be blaming Martha again for steering me wrong!

You can dig in right then if you like your ice cream kind of melty. But I transferred mine to one of those handy dandy plastic won ton soup containers I love so much and froze it for a little while. It makes about a quart and a half. The peanut flavor of the ice cream is wonderful and the peanut butter swirled inside the ice cream just makes it that much better. Enjoy!




Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 cup salted cocktail peanuts
6 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter

Heat cream, milk and peanuts in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges. Remove from heat, cover and let steep at room temperature for 3 hours (or refrigerate overnight).

Prepare and ice-water bath. Uncover cream mixture, and reheat until hot but not boiling. Whisk yolks, sguar and salt in a large bowl. Add cream mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until well combined. Return mixture to saucepan, and stir constantly over medium heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 8 minutes). Do not let the mixture come to a simmer.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Discard solids. Set the blow in the ice water bath. Stir in vanilla and let cool, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes.

Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in peanut butter until ice cream is swirled. Use immediately or freeze for up to 1 week.

The Queen of PB and Chocolate Strikes Again!!

Here I go again. It's a peanut butter and chocolate compulsion. It's an obsession. A fixation I tell you!!! I just can't help myself.

I think the best brownie recipe I have ever found (and believe me, I've tried many!) is Nick Malgeri's Supernatural Brownies. Why mess with them? Am I so arrogant to actually think I can improve upon this great recipe from one of the best chocolate chefs out there? Well no, of course not.... but I kind of did. I couldn't do it without Nick's fabulous recipe to begin with though!

You will need a 9 x 13 pan for this recipe, greased or greased and lined with parchment. Then preheat your oven to 350.

Take two sticks of unsalted butter and melt them with 8 oz. of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate cut into small pieces. You can do this in a double boiler, you can do this in a microwave. Then set it aside for a few. Mmmm melted chocolate.




In a mixing bowl, take four eggs and whisk for a moment.




Then add a cup of granulated sugar, a packed cup of brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons of vanilla and mix well. To this, add the chocolate mixture and mix with a spoon until incorporated.





Fold in 1 cup of flour.




We're talking brownie deliciousness right here. I would usually add nuts to these, but I just had to do it. I had to up the ante. I decided to add those fabulous mini buckeyes that I found not too long ago and have been using in my Buckeye Cookies.




I added about a cup and a half, maybe two cups of them. If you can't find them in your area (check Mr. Bulky's if you have one in your area. I have found them there as well the store mentioned in the cookie blog), fear not!! You can use Reese's Premier Baking Pieces.



Bake the brownie goodness at 350 for about 40-45 minutes. I prefer my brownies on the medium rare side and 45 minutes was just about perfect. They will get this nice shiny top to them.





Let cool for as long as you can stand it and then, devour!






Supernatural Brownies
(courtesy of Nick Malgeri)

16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

One 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, buttered and lined with buttered parchment or foil. Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and turn off heat. Combine butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over pan of water. Stir occasionally until melted.

Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in salt, sugars, and vanilla. Stir in chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in flour.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 45 minutes, until top has formed a shiny crust and batter is moderately firm. Cool in pan on a rack. Cut, enjoy!

Just call me the Queen of Peanut Butter and Chocolate

I'm always searching for new ways to make something with peanut butter and chocolate. I'm a total chocoholic. If ever there came a day when a doctor said to me, "Kathy everything is great, but you can never eat chocolate again." Shoot me. Kill me. Put me out of my misery, I don't want to live!!!

Nick on the other hand is a peanut butteraholic. So it's only natural that I'd like to make things that contain our two favorite ingredients. You've seen my Buckeye Cookies here. As well as Ritz Sandwich Cookies for Christmas and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Today I bring you Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Cups (the actual recipe is at the end, as always). This is a Nestle recipe and it starts out by putting 1/4 cup of butter (I always always use unsalted), 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and 1 Tablespoon water in a bowl and microwaving it until the butter is melted. Stir and then add 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate is melted.



From there, add an egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and stir until well mixed. This is all done in a bowl with a spoon. No mixer is needed. Add 1 cup of AP flour and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. Stir well.




When completely mixed, add 1 cup peanut butter/chocolate swirled chips. I used just peanut butter chips to enhance the peanut butter aspect of it and because that's what I had in the house at the time. Stir well and then place a heaping Tablespoon of dough into a each cup of a prepared muffin pan (prepared... buttered or sprayed with non stick spray). It should make twelve, so just add more to the cups if you have extra. There's no baking powder in these so they don't rise an awful lot.




Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. Mine needed a little longer, but not much. When your toothpick, placed in the middle comes out clean, they are done. Do NOT over bake! Brownies are best, in my opinion anyway, when they are slightly underdone or as I like to say, medium rare. When they are done, put them on a rack to cool and watch in awe as the centers start to collapse. If that doesn't happen, give them a little push with the back of a spoon. Then take 3/4 cup peanut butter and microwave on high for 1 minute. Put a dollop of peanut butter in the center of each brownie.




YUM!

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) milk chocolate and peanut butter swirled morsels, divided
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Combine sugar, butter and water in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Add semi-sweet morsels; stir until melted. Add egg and vanilla extract and stir well. Add flour and baking soda and stir until blended. Allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in 1 cup Swirled morsels. Spoon a heaping tablespoon batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top is set and wooden pick inserted center comes out still slightly wet. Place muffin pan on wire rack. Centers of brownies will fall upon cooling. If some do not, with back of teaspoon, tap center to make a hole.

Place peanut butter in small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; stir. While brownies are still hot, spoon a scant tablespoon peanut butter into center of each brownie. Top with remaining Swirled morsels. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Run a knife around edge and carefully remove from pan.

The Great Cupcake Debacle

It's a busy weekend for us. Nick and I had doctors appointments this morning, we had bulbs to plant and a party to go tonight. And tomorrow is Grandma's 99th birthday party. So when I got an order for 18 chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for Sunday, I wondered how I was going to do it all. But I knew I'd find a way.

Off we went to our appointments. And I got jabbed twice (not counting the PAP test) for a blood test that never was. Apparently I was a little dehydrated and my doc couldn't find a vein. So back I go on Friday, urgh. Anyway, after our appointments we went out to breakfast at the very wonderful Eddie Sands Blueline Cafe, home of the very delicious Granola French Toast (which Nick and I both enjoyed today). Then we stopped at Home Depot to find a hole digger. It makes sense to have a tool for this, when you are going to be making twenty holes! Finally it was homeward bound. Nick went out to plant the bulbs while I got to work on the cupcakes.

Ahh the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. I really thought the original recipe could use some work. The cupcakes themselves seem dry to me. Sure the peanut butter filling and the ganache icing make up for any shortcomings the cupcakes may have, but I'm a perfectionist and I want it all... moist cupcakes, creamy peanut butter filling and oh that ganache icing. I turned to my go to gal, Martha Stewart. Martha never lets me down. She had a recipe for chocolate cupcakes that sounded very good, so I thought I would make those, then use the same peanut butter filling and ganache icing. What could go wrong!? EVERYTHING! The Martha cupcakes never really rose up in the oven. They were tiny. A much better tasting cupcake mind you, but minute. Very moist, but itty bitty. I was actually willing to overlook this, the taste being so good, so I forged ahead. When it came time to pipe in the peanut butter, it would not squeeze into the cupcake. I ended up making several holes in each cupcake and still there was not a lot of peanut butter going in. Still.. I was willing to go on. Time to fix all mistakes with the wonder of ganache. Well, the ganache did not set up properly and when I went to beat it into icing, it wouldn't do what it was supposed to be doing. But I still I went on and put the ganache in the piping bag. When it came out in blobs that is when I lost my cool. Several hours of work have been all for nothing and there will be no party for us tonight because instead I have to redo the cupcakes for morning delivery.

Time to start over. This time, I abandoned my gal Martha and went back to the original recipe. Here is what they look like... Martha's is on the left, the original is on the right. I used the exact same size of cupcake liner (courtesy of Martha's Halloween collection at Michael's). Hmmm... something is seriously amiss.





The recipes were different, clearly. Martha's recipe called for 3/4 cup of flour, and the original calls for 1 3/4 cups. But the amount of batter seemed about the same. What I mean is, I got the same number of cupcakes from each batch and the cups were filled the same way. Weird. Martha's had baking powder, the original had baking soda. The powder should have risen the cupcakes some. It didn't. But let me reiterate, they were delicious cupcakes. Probably because Martha's recipe had sour cream in it. I think just about anything tastes better with some sour cream. Especially Yoder's Sour Cream. You can't get much better than Yoder's and it's an Ohio product!

Time for the peanut butter filling. Wouldn't you know, the originals filled beautifully. One hole, one squeeze and they were filled. And then came the ganache. Again, it came out perfectly. The first ganache was made with a bar of dark chocolate Nestle Chocolatier. I happen to love the Chocolatier product. But for some reason, this time it didn't work. I went back to Nestle's semi sweet chocolate chips. There is something about the consistency of them that makes the best ganache icing. Or maybe it's the semi-sweet product itself, whether it be chips or blocks, that I need to use? Something to ponder. When not using ganache as an icing though, I do prefer better chocolate. I'm sure I'll keep experimenting with that one. Mmmm ganache. So, I ended up with one bad batch of everything and then one good batch of everything. The original recipe, complete is on the left, Martha's is on the right.





I'm certainly not disparaging my gal Martha. Her cupcakes clearly were the taste winner. But the moral to this story is, don't mess with the recipe when you know what works and someone is going to be paying you for them, lest you throw a hissy fit and end up working past 1o:00 pm. on a job that should have been done by 6 pm.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Anyway, here are both recipes.

Chocolate Cupcakes (Martha)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.

Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Cool in pan 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Ice as desired.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes (also known around here as Buckeye Cupcakes)

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Peanut butter filling:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 Tablespoons milk


Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line the cups of a standard size muffin pan with paper liners.

Cupcakes: In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, with mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy, 1 minute. On low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fill each prepared muffin cup two-thirds full (about 3 Tablespoons). Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan to a wire rack and let cool.

Filling: In a medium size bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. On low speed, gradually beat in sugar (I used only 1 cup) and slowly add milk. You may not need it all, or you may need more. Beat on high until light and fluffy. When cupcakes are cooled, spoon filling into a large pastry bag fitting with 1/4 inch plain round tip. Insert tip into the top of each cupcake and squeeze as much filling into center of each as possible (without exploding the cupcake of course!)

Icing: Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat cream until it just starts to bubble then pour it over the chocolate chips. Let set for 3-5 minutes then whisk until smooth. Ladies and gentleman, this is the most wonderful ganache. Let cool in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. It should no longer be runny but net firm. Beat the ganache at medium speed. It should set up into a nice icing consistency. If it doesn't, put it back in the refrigerator for 5 minutes and try again. Once you get it to a nice creamy consistency, put it in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and give your cupcakes a nice swirl! Or you can just ice them with knife. Your choice.

Buckeye Cookies!!!

While shopping at this great store, Beiller's Market (a unique place that combines a farmer's market with an Amish bulk store) in Uniontown, Ohio recently, I came across a bag of mini Buckeye candies. They were SO cute and I knew I could come up with something to do with them. I actually forgot about them for a little while and then yesterday, remembered that I had them. I really only had one choice in the matter... cookies!!! This recipe can be adapted to include chopped Reese cups if you cannot find mini buckeyes. If you're not in Ohio, there's a good possibility that you won't.


Chocolately Buckeye Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups mini buckeyes (or chopped Reese cups)

Heat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add eggs and beat well. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until blended. Add buckeyes (or Reese cups) and blend. Do not overmix, candies can break in the mixer.

Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookies sheets. Bake for 7 minutes. Cool on tray for 1 minute then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. ENJOY.