Cookie Dough Muddy Buddies

Puppy chow

What do you call this? Puppy chow or Muddie buddies? I grew up calling it puppy chow but for lack of confusion; let’s just go with muddy buddies. What I remember from my teenage years is that muddy buddies were THEE sleepover snack. I mean what teenager doesn’t want melted chocolate covered in powdered sugar? What I love about the modern day muddy buddies is all the new variations of it.

Lately I have seen so many creative muddy buddy recipes that I decided I needed to revisit my childhood snack and put a modern day spin on it. So, I took my second favorite sleepover snack, cookie dough, and combined it with Chex mix cereal, melted chocolate, cookie butter and powdered sugar to make Cookie Dough Muddy Buddies. I proceeded to eat half of the bag, by myself and curl up with a chick flick, I wasn’t looking to share.

Puppy Chow

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Hot Fudge Poke Cake

Poke Cake

So yesterday my birthday, my golden birthday, 27. I cross over from my mid-twenties to my late twenties. Yes, it doesn’t make me a little sad, but when I reflect on where I am at in my life, I am so incredibly happy. You know what else makes me happy? Chocolate cake. I am so much more of a chocolate person than a vanilla person.

I recently posted a French Toast Poke Cake, which you all seemed to really enjoy, so I decided that I needed a poke cake inspired by the new phase in my life. You know what really made me happy on my birthday? A hot fudge sundae and a slice of cake. So today, for you, I combined the two to make a Hot Fudge Poke Cake.

Poke Cake

First of all, let’s revisit the whole concept of a poke cake. You bake a cake, you poke the holes, drizzle the goodness, then top it off with pudding and whipped cream. You proceed to indulge in the best pudding cake ever. This Hot Fudge Poke Cake is a chocolate cake, layered in hot fudge sauce, banana and vanilla pudding, whipped cream, strawberries and toppings of your choice. Continue reading

Boozy Cupcake Weekend Lineup

Hi there. If you are new to these parts, you might not realize that I love boozey desserts. I love how creative you can be with ingredients that make yummy drinks! So maybe you will get together with friends this weekend or maybe you are hanging at home with your loved ones. Either way, you might need some boozy desserts and I am here to help. This weekend I am laying low. I am SO excited because I am heading to the airport to pick up my boyfriend today; he has been traveling overseas for the past three weeks! I hope you all enjoy the nice long weekend!

Mocha Irish Cream Cupcake

Champagne cupcakes

Maple Bacon Stout Cupcake

Strawberry Margarita cupcakes

 

Pound Pound Cake with Champagne glaze

Rum Cake

If you are still reading this, I am going to be 27 this weekend. Yuck. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Strawberry Pound Cake Cupcake

It’s not a secret around here that I love cupcakes. So this week, I wanted to make my Grandmother’s classic pound cake in a cupcake form. A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me to make cupcakes for her son’s second birthday party. This was the perfect opportunity for Strawberry Pound Cake Cupcakes. California is also in the height of strawberry season, so I am trying to enjoy every last minute of it.

I started with my basic pound cake recipe. For this, I knew I had to fill my cupcake liners mostly full because these wouldn’t rise as much as normal cupcakes. I topped it off with a Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This is one of my favorite frostings because it has the fresh strawberries mixed right into the frosting and there isn’t an over powering sweetness from confectionary sugar- because there is none!

Strawberry pound cake

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Brownie Stuffed Funfetti Cupcakes with Chocolate Funfetti Frosting

Funfetti Cupcake

Sometimes when I make cupcakes, I feel the urge to try and combine as many flavors as possible just to see how things turn out. Last weekend, during my baking extravaganza, I had a batch of leftover brownies and no one to eat them. In an attempt to avoid eating them all myself, I decided I wanted to put them inside a cupcake. Yes, a brownie stuff cupcake.

For the cupcake, I used my favorite funfetti recipe from yourcupofcake.com. For the frosting, I wanted to see if I could make a chocolate funfetti frosting. I mean, who wouldn’t want to combine the best two cupcake flavors ever, right?!

Funfetti Cupcake

Brownie Stuffing

3 C Crumbled brownies

1/2 C Chocolate frosting

  • Bake a boxed mix of brownies according the package instructions. Cool completely.
  • When ready, use your hands to crumble brownies into pieces and measure out 3 cups into a separate bowl.
  • Combine with ½ cup of chocolate frosting. Use your hands to mix everything together into one large ball, ensuring the frosting is well mixed.
  • Roll 24 balls of the brownie mixture, about 1 tbsp in size.
  • Set 1 brownie ball in each cupcake liner.

Funfetti cupcake

Funfetti Cupcakes
Recipe from yourcupofcake.com Vanilla Cupcakes

Follow ingredients from Vanilla cupcake and add 1/4 C Sprinkles

  • Preheat oven to 350° F
  • Combine egg whites, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk gently.
  • Slowly mix in cake mix until well combined.
  • Add sprinkles and gently fold into batter.
  • Fill lined cupcake pan 2/3 full, tap the pan a couple times to evenly coat the brownie. Bake for 12 minutes, check with a toothpick and bake another 2-3 minutes until tops are golden or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
  • Let cupcakes cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Having a brownie stuffed inside the cupcake was pretty dang amazing, but what impressed me the most about these cupcakes was the frosting. I whipped the heck out of this frosting and used heavy cream instead of milk to make it super light and fluffy. There’s actually cake mix in the frosting and cocoa powder to create a chocolate funfetti frosting.

Funfetti Cupcake

Chocolate Funfetti Frosting

1 C Unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 oz Cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 C Cocoa powder

1 C Vanilla cake mix

4 tsp Pure vanilla extract

3 C Confectionary sugar

2 tbsp Heavy cream (no substitutions)

  • Allow butter and cream cheese to come to room temperature.
  • Use a fine sifter to sift the cocoa powder, eliminating any clumps.
  • Once softened, combine butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
  • Slowly add cocoa powder and continue to beat on medium speed until smooth. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract. I like to add the vanilla extract after the cocoa powder to help keep the mixture smooth.
  • Add 1 cup vanilla cake mix and continue to beat on medium speed; add the other 2 tsp vanilla extract.
  • Continue to slowly add confectionary sugar followed by the heavy cream. Beat for several minutes with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed. Switch to the whisk attachment and beat for another 3-5 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.

Funfetti cupcake

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the airiness of the frosting after beating it for so long! I feel as though the longer I whip the frosting, the better it becomes. I choose not to put sprinkles into the frosting because I liked the look of the sprinkles on top.

 

This post is linked up on the Back for Seconds blog.