Red Velvet Cupcakes

Happy Valentines Day!


Although I am not a huge fan of this "Hallmark" holiday, I will say that these beautifully red desserts are a perfect way to celebrate.

I had never really understood what exactly a red velvet cake was prior to making this recipe. I was under the assumption that one simply added red food coloring to any basic cupcake recipe, and voila; red velvet cake (or cupcakes, in this case).

Wrong.

In an essence, red velvet cake is similar to a devils food cake, and must include cocoa, buttermilk, vinegar, cream cheese frosting, and...do I even need to say it?

LOTS of red food coloring. Much more than I initially thought necessary. Alas, that perfect hue doesn't lie!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (makes 12)
original recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbsp. red food coloring
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz butter (1 stick), at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese (half a package), at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

     1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with liners of your choice.
     2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well incorporated.
     3. In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla, and red food coloring to make a paste. Add the paste to the batter and mix well, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all of the batter is evenly colored.
     4.Slowly mix in half of the buttermilk, followed by half of the flour. Mix until well incorporated. Scraping down the bowl as needed, repeat with the remaining half of buttermilk and flour. Mix until smooth.
     5. Add in salt, baking soda, and vinegar.
     6. Beat for another few minutes until batter is smooth and consistent.
     7. Fill cupcake liners evenly (I recommend using an ice cream scoop).
     8. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

     9. Remove cupcakes from pan and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

     10. To make the frosting, whip together butter and cream cheese, scraping down the bowl as necessary until smooth and consistent. Slowly add in powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well until frosting is nice and smooth.


There are so many ways you can decorate these for Valentines Day, but this year I kept it very simple.

Enjoy!

Simple pearls and sanding sugar.

Then add a little red...

And finally some pink and cute little sugar toppers with messages!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Oh my.

Reese's.
Inside of.
A (mini, mind you) peanut butter cookie.
Does it really get much better than that?


These adorable snacks are fun to make and will be a huge hit if you're looking for a crowd pleasing dish to bring to any event. Chocolate and peanut butter make such a perfect combination for most any dessert, and these goodies are no exception.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (makes 40)
original recipe here 

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
40 mini Reese's peanut butter cups (1 bag)

     1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap every

     Single

 peanut butter cup.

I'm being slightly dramatic here, it doesn't take that long :)

     Place the cups on a plate and put them in the freezer while you make and cook the dough to prevent too much melting when you add them to the cookies.

     2.Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
     3. Cream together butter, both sugars, and peanut butter in another large bowl. Add in the egg, followed by vanilla and milk.
     4.Add in the flour mixture and mix well.
     5. Shape into 40 balls (about a tablespoon each) and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

     6. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately press a peanut butter cup into each cookie.

      7. Wait about 10 minutes until the cookies are cool enough to handle, and use a knife to carefully remove each cookie from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack

 Lastly, let me just say that these are my new favorite.  I  polished off about a quarter of the batch...in one day...