Peanut Butter Dump Your Boyfriend Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are AMAZING!! If you have any sorrows to drown or any celebrations, these are your cupcakes.

My husband and I love going to Barnes & Nobles and browsing cookbooks and magazines. Sometimes we take pictures of the recipes with our cell phones....GASP...instead of buying the book. That is where this delectable little recipe came from! So, we did not get a picture of the book cover and I am unable to share the source at this time. That definitely does not take away from the party in your mouth when you take a bite!!

I was very excited that I got the chance to display these cupcakes on the cupcake stand I made!  The project was super easy and turned out very cute. 

Cake:

2 C all purpose flour
2 C sugar
½ C cocoa
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 C oil
1 C milk (please do not use skim; use at least 2%)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1 C hot water

Frosting:

½ C butter, softened
1 C creamy peanut butter
3 T hot water
2 C confectioners’ sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line your cupcake tins; makes around 22 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

Add oil, milk, vanilla, beaten eggs; blend well. Stir in hot water; mix well.
Fill lined cupcake tins using 1/3 cup measuring cup. Bake 22-25 minutes. Let cool.

For the frosting: blend the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and hot water (alternating) until desired texture is achieved.

Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

Heavenly Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is easily the best chocolate cake I have ever indulged in!  Thanks to Lisa over at The Cutting Edge of Ordinary for sharing this addictive bit of goodness.  I followed the recipe to a T and used applesauce like she recommended.  There was a tiny applesauce incident the second time I made this cake.  Not really sure how it happened, but the applesauce jar fell from the counter and busted all over the floor.  I cleaned up the mess and knelt down to wipe up the sticky applesauce residue - well, all the glass was not cleaned up.  My knee found it and I lost a lot of blood, but survived.  I'm sitting here debating on getting in the shower because we all know how bad that burn is - especially with a cut this bad.  I won't go into too much detail, but there is some "floppage."  With that being said, mmmmmmm - enjoy the best chocolate zucchini cake ever.  This is the kind of recipe that makes you toss out the old standbys because it is so wonderful!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Courtesy of The Cutting Edge of Ordinary courtesy of Bon Appetit, November 1995

2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup applesauce instead)
2 large eggs
1 teasoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 ½ medium)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional, I left them out)

Preheat oven to 325.

Butter and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan, or a bundt pan. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into a medium bowl. Beat the sugar, butter and oil in a large bowl until well blended. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Mix in grated zucchini. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in pan.

Neely's Cookies and Cream Cake

Mmmmm, this was so delicious! The recipe was adapted from the Neely's recipe. I changed the order in which the ingredients were mixed because the original directions were really odd. I love Oreos and they did wonders for an otherwise simple chocolate cake. I know I've expressed that I do not love chocolate in the past, but we sure make lots of chocolate desserts. I make it because Matt loves chocolate so much and it makes him happy. Plus, it's easy for me to resist it; unless the chocolate comes in the form of the flourless chocolate cookies. I hope ya'll enjoy this cake as much as we did! I used all my Oreo crumbs, but sprinkling some on top would make this cake even more beautiful!

On a serious note, please support Haiti and check out the cookbook that 27 foodie bloggers created as a fundraiser...how cool! You can go to the website by clicking here and can purchase a soft or hardbound cookbook!



Neely's Cookies and Cream Cake

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 1.5 t baking powder
• .5 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 3 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 C unsalted butter, melted
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1.5 C finely chopped Oreos

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat your cake pans w/shortening. Cut out a piece of wax or parchment paper large enough to cover the bottom of your cake pan, and press down; it will stick to the shortening. I usually trace the bottom of the cake pan onto my wax paper and then cut it out. No fear of your cake sticking anymore!!
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, and butter milk; mix until the eggs are blended. In a small bowl combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the melted butter to the egg and buttermilk mixture. Beat until smoth, about 3 minutes. Add the crumbled cookies and beat until incorporated.
Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans and bake approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool, on a rack, in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a rack and let cool completely. When cooled, frost with the cookies and cream cheese frosting!
Cookies and Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 (8 oz.) pacakges cream cheese, softened
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3 3/4 C confectioners' sugar
• 1.5 C finely crumbed Oreos

Directions
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and vanilla; blend. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 C at a time, until smooth. Beat in the crumbled cookies. Frost the cookie cake and enjoy!