Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I saw these Pumpkin Bars on Kitchen Runway's blog and knew they would be a perfect into to autumn foods. This recipe is super easy - it's like a Texas Sheet Cake (one of my favorite treats to make) but with Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Frosting.

Be sure to read Kitchen Runway's post...you'll see who got a little bite of the cake! :)

Baked in a half-sheet pan, it cooks quickly. You'll need to cool the cake before frosting (unlike the Texas Sheet Cake that has a warm frosting poured over a warm cake).

The resulting cake is soft and light. You can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And why wouldn't you do that? ;)

It's Fall. It's also Time for Dodger Baseball! I'm here shouting: GO DODGERS!

The Dodgers always hold a special place in my heart, since they've been my hometown team forever. It's an exciting time for the team, especially after the years of terrible Frank McCourt ownership. Go Dodgers!

I love my offset spatula. It's a must-have in the kitchen. I have a bunch of them (bought a few at the restaurant supply place for the kid's cake decorating party), and use them all the time.

Updated: I also made this in a 9 x 13 pan. You'll get a taller cake, and baking time is about 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Kitchen Runway who adapted Paula Deen's recipe.
I reduced the amount of sugar and used a pumpkin pie spice blend instead of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Cake:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 cup (200 grams by weight) canola oil
15 ounces pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I used Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice that has cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves and cardamon)
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour or spray with Pam with Flour a half-sheet tray (18" x 13")
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin pie puree, and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder & soda, spices and salt.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin. Stir to combine until completely blended.
5. Pour into tray and spread evenly in pan.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
7. Place on wire rack and let cool.

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups (6 ounces) sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Using a mixer with paddle attachment or an electric mixture, blend the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add the vanilla. Blend until complete mixed.
4. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting over cooled cake.

Oatmeal Jam Bars - Williams-Sonoma

Oatmeal Jam Bars

It's Chuck Williams of Williams-Sonoma's 98th Birthday today!! See this handsome photo from the W-S blog. Seems fitting to post a recipe I found on the Williams-Sonoma website. I find lots of good recipes on the site. Happy Birthday Mr. Williams - I love your stores!

Bonne Maman jams were on sale at Fresh & Easy recently for $2.99. What a great deal! I wonder what will become of Tesco's expensive failure in the United States marketplace. I hope the new owner will keep them open as they are convenient stores around town, but my dream is that Fresh & Easy gets married to Trader Joe's.

I like that F&E has name brands, unlike Trader Joe's - dude, sometimes you need to buy Diet Coke for that dinner party and Hansen's soda just ain't gonna cut it (also, as noted above, they have Bonne Maman jam). Unfortunately, F&E's store brands are inferior to Trader Joe's...TJs has excellent buyers who get such unique goods and/or convince name brands to sell under TJs store brands. Sometimes, I like the self-check out at F&E when you have less than 5 items, but it drives me crazy that no one helps when you buy $70 of stuff, and it made me really appreciate TJs efficient cashiers. I like that Fresh & Easy opened stores in more impoverished areas of Los Angeles (where there are not many grocery stores), but I didn't get their decision to stock all the stores with the same products - regardless of the neighborhood demographic. I shopped at the Compton store once and an employee asked me what the Crème fraîche and Brie were - how much of that were they selling in that store? But I did enjoy their in-store "heating up bakery" - they have ovens in the back where they bake frozen par-baked breads and then package for sale (what is that system called? it's very effective in making the place smell good and convincing you to get more carbs in your cart).

Oh, sorry. I digress.

Anyway, the Cherry Preserves is delicious. They are from France, purchased in a formerly English-owned shop in Los Angeles by a Japanese-American gal. Win.

This recipe is crazy easy. You only need a bowl and a food processor. Just measure out the dry ingredients, pop into the food processor with some butter and then you have both the TOP and BOTTOM. Love recipes like that! Open a jar of jam for the center deliciousness. It really couldn't be easier.

Of course, you can use most jams. The original recipe calls for Apricot or "other seedless jam"...but I don't see a reason to avoid seeded jams.

Baked in a 9-inch square pan, you can get from 20-36 bars, depending on how small you cut them.

As I said on my Instagram photo:  It's Fruit and Fiber....and butter and more butter.

Oatmeal Jam Bars

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma website of Oatmeal-Jam Squares, who adapted from Food Made Fast Series, Desserts, by Elinor Klivans (Oxmoor House, 2007)

12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup apricot or other seedless fruit jam (I used one whole jar of Bonne Mamam jam, Cherry Preserves.)

Directions:
1. Prep a 9-inch square baking pan by lining it with parchment paper or aluminum foil to create a sling for easy removal. Butter or spray the lining.

2. Preheat oven to 325°F.

3. In a food processor, combine the flour, oats, powdered sugar, brown sugar & cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture forms fine crumbs.

4. Remove 2 cups of the flour mixture and set aside. Place rest of mixture in the pan and press it down to form the bottom crust.

5. Spread the jam over the crust. An offset spatula works great for this task. Squeeze the reserved mixture in your hands to form small clumps and sprinkle evenly over the jam.

6. Bake until the edges are lightly browned and the jam filling is just beginning to bubble, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

7. Lift the bars from the pan by pulling the parchment or foil sling. Cut squares on a cutting board and enjoy.

Lemon Blossom Cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake Cookbook

Lemon Blossom Cupcakes from Georgetown Bakery Cookbook

Libraries are so rad. Ok, I'm a little biased...but I am like many and check out lots of cookbooks from the library (cookbooks are one of the most popular non-fiction circulated titles in public libraries). Recently, I picked up The Cupcake Diaries: Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake by Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne.

I've been to Georgetown Cupcake in 2009, and the cupcakes were very pretty. My friend Rosie came over and we made the Lemon Blossom Cupcakes.

Rosie, who recently graduated from Johnson and Wales with Bachelors of Science in Baking and Pastry Arts and Foodservice Management (Yay Rosie!!), made a few gum paste flowers. We put a little candy pearl inside the flower. Doesn't it look wonderful on my Whitney Smith pottery?


We had some issues with the measurements though. The recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes. Since I needed more for a work thing, we doubled the recipe - thinking we'll get 24 cupcakes. However, we got 36 cupcakes plus a 6-cup Bundt cake! So...we think the yield in the cookbook is slightly off or they are making huge cupcakes. I think the basic recipe can get you 20-24 cupcakes, not the 12 cupcakes listed.

Also, the recipe says to use 1/2 CUP lemon zest from 2-3 lemons. I used 4 organic lemons and got only 1/4 of a cup when using the microplane. Do they have really big lemons on the East Coast or am I missing something? Since the recipe called for 1/2 CUP zest in both the batter and the frosting, I zested all the lemons I had (about 6) and used all the zest I got out of them.

I made my first Instagram Video! It shows Rosie frosting the cupcake (with Macklemore playing in the background). Find it here. The frosting was tasty...it was a combo of butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon zest!

Thanks to my UCLA college roommate, Agnes for these adorable little cupcake stands. They are making their debut on the blog! :) Also, congrats to the UCLA Baseball team that recently won our first College World Series championship. Woooo hoooo! That gives UCLA 109 NCAA Championships...the most of any college. #GoBruins

Lemon Blossom Cupcakes
From: The Cupcake Diaries: Recipes and Memories from the Sisters of Georgetown Cupcake by Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne
Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 stick/8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly graded lemon zest (2-3 lemons) - this is what is listed in the recipe...I didn't get close to this amount from four lemons.
For the Lemon Cream-Cheese Frosting
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1/2 stick)
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup freshly graded lemon zest (2-3 lemons) - again, they must have crazy big lemons in Washington DC! :)

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcakes pan with 12 paper baking cups.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt on a sheet  of wax paper and set aside.
3a. Measure out the sugar in a small bowl. Add the zest and rub together with your fingers to release the lemon's oil.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and lemony sugar for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
4. Add the vanilla to the milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
5. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by 1/3 of the milk, and mix thoroughly. Repeat. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the last third of dry ingredients followed by the last third of milk. Mix slowly until just incorporated. Add lemon juice, and mix at low speed.
6. Scoop the batter into the cupcake pas using a slandered size ice cream scoop until the cups are 2/3 full, and bake for 16-18 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) , or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:
1. Combine the ingredients in a mixture and whip together at high speed until light and airy, approximately 3-5 minutes.
2. Frost cupcakes. We used a large tip. See my instagram video: http://instagram.com/p/a69_nbx-Ms/


Disclosure: I'm in the Amazon Affiliate program and get a small percent if you purchase something by following this link. (You don't have to buy this book, you can buy other stuff and I magically get a few cents...and don't worry, I never know who buys what so thank you if you do use the link!)

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Sometimes I make recipes into bundts.
This time, I made something from a bundt.


I took my favorite cinnamon chocolate bundt and make them into cupcakes... topped with ganache. Easy peasy and delicious.

For this batch (above and below photo), the ganache was allowed to set for about an hour before use.


This recipe is really simple to make. Boil the ingredients, pour it over a flour mixture, stir in some buttermilk, eggs and other things you already have available in your kitchen, and in a few minutes you have a cupcake.

I think the best compliments are the ones overheard. My co-worker said she heard two colleagues talking about how much they enjoyed the cupcakes I bought to a meeting that day...while they were in the ladies room!


You don't need to drag out KitchenAid mixer and just a couple bowls will do you fine. The resulting cupcake is very moist because it uses both butter and oil.


So, I made this recipe twice in two days (I had two meetings to attend). The first day, I made the ganache in the morning and let it sit for about an hour before using an offset spatula to apply it to the cupcake. As you can see in the photos labeled "one hour ganache", the ganache was still pretty soft. After I glazed those cupcakes, I put plastic wrap around the remaining ganache and placed it in the refrig. That night, I came home, pulled out the ganache to put it on the counter, walked the dog, and then made the cupcakes again and let them cool. The ganache was set up more than the previous day so these cupcakes had more of a "frosting" look. I placed the frosted cupcake in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, the ganache looked dull on the cupcake - see the left photo above. I remember a hint from a cookbook (was it Dorie Greenspan?) to lightly blow dry the ganache for a few seconds with a hair dryer and the gloss would come back! I did that...and it totally worked. Don't go crazy with it...you don't want to completely melt it...just a few seconds do the job. Imagine that - your cupcake gets a blow out.

Cupcakes
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 c plus 1 T (or 5 T) cocoa (I have used both Dutch processed and natural cocoa with fine results). I used 30 grams of Hershey's Cocoa.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 c buttermilk
1 t baking soda

2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, combine together with a whisk: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon

2. Bring to a boil in a pot: Water, oil, butter and cocoa. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat.

3. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and whisk by hand until combined.

4. Add the buttermilk and baking soda and mix.

5. In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add to the batter and combine.

6. Pour batter into 24 cupcakes cups lined with paper liners (or sprayed with Pam with Flour).

7. Bake at 365 degrees for 16-20 minutes (depending on your oven), until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. While it is baking, make the chocolate ganache and let it set up before use. Frost with chocolate ganache.

Ganache
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Ganache is a combination of heavy cream and chocolate. So easy and so delicious. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (or a mixture of both). The ratio is heavy cream (in fluid ounces) : chocolate (in weight)

Therefore, I used 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) of heavy cream to 8 ounces (weight) of semi-sweet chocolate.

Place the chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a light simmer. Turn off heat and slowly pour the cream over the chocolate.

Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Then slowly whisk the liquid and chocolate together. Mix slowly...you don't want to incorporate extra air into the mixture. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

You can use ganache in different stages of "set". When it is warm, you can pour it over a cake or cupcake. When it firms up a bit more, you can spoon it on the treats. A bit more settling and you can frost with it. You can also whip it up for a lighter frosting. Oh, the possibilities of ganache. It rocks. (It also freezes really well so you should always have some on hand for chocolate emergencies!)

Blueberry Oat Bar - Starbucks Inspired

Blueberry Oat Bars (Starbucks Inspired)

I met my friend Stacey for coffee at Starbucks recently and she got the Blueberry Oat Bar - she said it was her favorite treat. I thought...this needs to be made in my kitchen!

Shortly after our coffee, I stopped in Starbucks and picked up one (you know, research and all). I took a few photos (see below).

An actual Starbucks Blueberry Oat Bar

This is the ingredient list from Starbuck's website: blueberries, wheat flour, brown sugar, palm oil shortening, butter (cream [from milk]), rolled oats, organic tapioca syrup, sugar, oats, water, whole eggs, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, cornstarch), rice starch, organic natural flavor, stabilizer (sodium alginate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, calcium sulfate), sea salt, citric acid.

I like making it myself so I can avoid the palm oil shortening. The recipe is adapted from the recipe on Food.com by lilsweetie.

This is one of those easy bar recipes where the top and bottom are the same dough. It's like having a reversible jacket. Convenient.

You make a jam-like filling with blueberries, sugar and orange juice. Plan this one out - you'll need to cool the blueberry filling before using it.

The recipe calls for fresh blueberries but I used frozen blueberries with success. They aren't too sweet, a little soft (not like a crunchy granola bar or anything like that) and is filled with blueberry and oat goodness (well, and a little butter and sugar). Anyway, it's great with coffee or tea.

Recipe: Blueberry Oat Bar - Starbucks Inspired
Adapted from the recipe on Food.com by lilsweetie

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (the original recipe calls for all quick-cooking oats, but I like the texture of old fashioned oats in the mix)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour (140 grams)
1 cup brown sugar (200 grams)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
3 cups blueberries (original recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I used frozen blueberries with success)
1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)
1/3 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed)
4 teaspoons cornstarch (This is 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon)

Create the filling in advance as it needs to cool. In saucepan, bring blueberries, sugar and orange juice to boil; reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch and boil, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Pour into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until cooled, about 1 hour or up to 1 day before using. (I found that it is best when the final product should end up like a jam consistency).

Base/Topping: In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter to form a crumbly mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs, and pat the rest evenly into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Spread the blueberry mixture over the base. Crumble the reserved amount of the base/topping over the blueberry mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F until light golden, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely on rack before cutting. Store in the refrigerator. And try not to eat a whole tray.

Lydia's Austrian Strawberry Shortbread Bar Cookies

Lydia's Austrian Strawberry Shortbread Bar Cookies

These are lovely little bites of heaven. Light and delicate, these are perfect for a potluck, dessert bar, or with a cup of coffee or tea. You can exchange the jams for different flavor profiles. Or, you can add some chocolate to the dough too.

These photos write their own jokes.

Okay, so you make the dough and split it into two. The instructions say to form into balls and freeze. Then, you grate the balls. Yes, grate the balls.

After making this recipe a few times, I came up with, I believe, is a better plan. First, grating balls of dough by hand is a pain in the neck. Pull out your food processor for this one - it's worth the washing. Second, when I tried to grate the balls in the food processor, I had to cut frozen balls to make them fit into the processor - annoying. Finally, it dawned on me to form the dough into logs so they fit into the food processor! Now, I can easily grate the frozen dough with one easy push of the machine.

The recipe calls for Raspberry Jam. For this one, I substituted Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves.

You grate one frozen log and place the pieces in the bottom of the pan (for this one, I used a 9 x 9 pan...the full recipe is for a 9 x 13 pan).

The instructions say to use a spoon or flexible spatula to spread the jam. However, I ended up carrying shreds of dough all over and it was kinda messy. So, I now put the jam into a bag and kinda pipe it into the pan. Easy peasy! Top with the second log of shredded dough.

Adapted from Butter Sugar Flour Eggs by Gale Gand
Recipe on Epicurious too

Note: Above, I made 1/2 the recipe and used a 9 x 9 pan. 

Lydia's Austrian Raspberry Shortbread Bars

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
4 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter until soft and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time.

With the mixer on low, add the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until just incorporated. Don't overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into two logs that will fit in your food processor. (You can form into two balls if you want to grate them by hand). Wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or overnight (I let it freeze at least overnight - this is a good one you can make ahead).

When you are ready to assemble the bars, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grate one of the frozen balls or logs. Place the shreds of dough the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Spread out evenly and do not press down.

Spread jam over the surface, leaving a 1/2 inch border. You can use a spoon or spatula, but I put the jam in a plastic bag and pipe it onto the shreds. I found the the spoon/spatula method was difficult because you picked up a bunch of shreds along the way.

Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface.

Bake until lightly golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust liberally with confectioners' sugar.

Cool on a wire rack, then cut in the pan with a serrated knife. You may want to dust a bit more powdered sugar on top when serving.

St. Patrick's Day Food Ideas

This coming Sunday is pretty crazy. It's St. Patrick's Day. It's the day thousands of people run the LA Marathon (not me). It's Selection Sunday for the NCAA March Madness BB Tourney. Here are some ideas  if you want to make something green to eat on Sunday!

St. Patrick's Day Jello Cream Cake

St. Patrick's Day Ice Cream Jello

Green Tea Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Girl Scout Thin Mint Muffins

Thin Mint Muffins

Chocolate Muffins.
Girl Scouts Thin Mints.
Morning happiness.

These muffins are based on my favorite chocolate muffins - from King Arthur Flour. Instead of chocolate chips, I chopped up a sleeve of Thin Mints and added a few Andes Mint Chips too.

My UCLA college roommate, Agnes has two beautiful daughters, Lucia & Julia. They are in the Girl Scouts and each year I put out the cookie order form at work. To be honest, I don't know why anyone orders anything but Thin Mints... especially those Samoas covered with coconut (yuck!)

Over the years, I've tried to incorporate Thin Mints into favorite baked goods. You know, baking with seasonal ingredients and all. This year, I ordered six boxes of Thin Mints for myself. I'm not sure how long they'll last though. There have been incidents that require Thin Mint assistance: a bad week, nothing in the fridge to eat, and actors leaving Downton Abbey which translates into sad, sad endings (total thin mint worthy).

So, what have you been up to lately? Obviously, I haven't been blogging too much... I've been watching some TV. What's on your DVR? I have:

The Following with Kevin Bacon on Fox. Holy smokes. This show is fantastic but scares the beeejesuzzz out of me. I can't watch it on Monday night because then I can't sleep. I have to watch it on the weekend during the day. With the doors locked.

The Good Wife. CBS. Still a good show. Liked Julianna Margulies since her Nurse Carol Hathaway days on ER.

Elementary. CBS. Took some episodes to warm up to this one, but it's a good one to keep me in the Holmes world until the BBC releases more Sherlock.

Southland. TNT. Great cop show...and I like seeing Los Angeles landmarks throughout. :)

House of Cards. Netflix streaming. Damn, this is sooo good. Kevin Spacey is amazing.

Comedies:  The Mindy Project, New Girl, The New Normal

Waiting for more episodes from: White Collar (season just ended), Mad Men (coming back in April), Downton Abbey (if they don't kill off everyone...)

I don't have premium channels on cable so I have to wait and buy Amazon instant videos of Homeland (don't tell me what happens in Season 2 please! :)

Fun way to start the morning. Or to enjoy while catching up on your DVR. ;)

Here are some other Thin Mint creations:

Thin Mint Scones


Thin Mint Brownies


Thin Mint Pancakes


Thin Mint Cupcakes

Recipe:
Thin Mint Muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour's website's: Chocolate Breakfast Muffins with added Thin Mint cookies and Andes Mint Chips.

2/3 cup (2 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cups (9 3/8 ounces) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, chopped (in 2013, that was about 15-16 cookies and equaled about 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup Andes Mint Chips
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) milk (I used whole milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons vinegar
1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) butter, melted

Prep: Preheat oven to 400°F. Prep muffin tin (I sprayed mine with Pam with Flour spray).
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chopped Thin Mint cookies and Andes mint chips.
2. In a large measuring cup or medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar.
3. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend, just until combined. Do not mix.
4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin. King Arthur makes 12 muffins with big tops, but I made them smaller and made 16-18 muffins.
5. Bake the muffins for 18-25 minutes (depending on size), or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven, and after 5 minutes remove them from the pan, to cool on a rack.

Martha Stewart Texas Sheet Cake

Martha Stewart Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake is one of my favorite treats to make. It comes together SO FAST. You can get it done in a jiffy and it's always a winner with friends and family.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's book "Martha's American Food: A Celebration of Our Nation's Most Treasured Dishes, from Coast to Coast". The recipe is available online with Los Angeles Magazine.

I've made a few Texas Sheet Cakes in the past. Pioneer Woman has a great one. It is thinner because you use a half-sheet pan, but you can get it done start-to-finish in less than an hour. I make her recipe often. I've also made the Better Homes & Garden version.

Texas Sheet Cake comes together quickly because you boil the butter, water and cocoa together for the batter, and then boil the icing or frosting while the cake is baking in the oven. Instead of waiting for the cake to cool like most other frostings, with Texas Sheet Cake, you pour the frosting on a WARM cake. Easy peasy, no?

I found the cake really yummy. I like baking it in a 9 x 13 pan (compared to the larger half-sheet pan) so you can make it a bit taller - more like a sheet cake instead of brownies. The baking time was very different than the recipe (recipe: 12-14 minutes, me: 21 minutes). Also, I prefer the Pioneer Woman's icing. Martha's recipe has heavy cream in the frosting - while yummy, sometimes I don't have cream in the house.

Recipe from: Martha's American Food: A Celebration of Our Nation's Most Treasured Dishes, from Coast to Coast

Texas Sheet Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 cup water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Boiled Chocolate Icing (see below)
1 ¼ cups coarsely chopped toasted pecans (I omitted the nuts)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low; whisk in cocoa, then the water. Raise heat and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Pour over flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Stir in eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and tap firmly on counter to release air bubbles. Bake until sides pull away from edges of pan and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 12 to 14 minutes (Mine took 21 minutes to bake). Transfer pan to a wire rack and pour icing over cake while still warm. (Sprinkle nuts on top, if using). Let cool before slicing into squares and serving.

Boiled Chocolate Icing

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (I suggest sifting the powdered sugar)

Bring butter, cocoa, and cream to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Use while still warm. Pour over warm cake.