 I have come to the conclusion that I am the last person on the planet who drinks decaffeinated coffee. I wish you could see the looks on the waiter's faces when I ask for a cup of decaf coffee at the end of a meal. You would have thought I asked for a cup of Ice Cucumber Pepsi. (That's really a thing by the way.)  I stopped by Panera the other day to grab a quick cup of decaf on my way home from a hectic shopping trip and they told me that it's company policy to STOP serving decaf after 3:00 in the afternoon. (Does that make ANY sense to anyone?)  Since I don't drink coffee very often, it is really just easier to make my own decaffeinated coffee at home to satisfy my coffee craving. Want to know what else satisfies my coffee craving? Cappuccino cupcakes. You can make these in regular or decaf. They are super yummy and easy to make. (Much easier than finding a cup of decaf in a restaurant.)  Cappuccino Cupcakes
Add dry ingredients to batter in three separate batches, alternating with buttermilk.  Scoop batter into cupcake pan and bake 22 minutes at 350.    Frost with cream cheese frosting.
Now I have a great excuse to make a pot of decaf at home for myself. If I can't finish the whole pot - I can use it to make a batch of these yummy cupcakes too. Win-Win. Ciao! 
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 Two out of three people in my house LOVED this healthy version of Chicken Lo Mein. Do I even have to say who is was that was opposed to this popular Chinese dish loaded with vegetables?  Ben and I really enjoyed this dish. It's healthy and delicious and a nice alternative to traditional lo mein which can be overpowered with salty sauces. My version incorporates more vegetables, a simple grilled chicken breast and burst of soy and sesame to bring it all together.  Chicken Lo Mein 1/2 pound whole grain lo mein noodles 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 2 Tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons canola oil 2 cups broccoli florets 2 carrots, sliced 1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 chicken breast 1 garlic clove, mined 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Pour half of soy mixture into a ziploc bag with chicken and marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Grill or pan saute chicken.
 Stir in noodles.   Spoon into individual bowls.  Add sliced chicken and enjoy.   If loving this Lo Mein is wrong - I don't want to be right.
Ciao!  My family consumes massive amounts of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars every week. They are by far, our favorite go-to snack in between meals. I'm really not opposed to feeding my family these yummy granola bars because lets face it - there could be a lot WORSE snacks to grab. I never had any intention of outdoing our favorite Quaker granola bar or even improve upon it but I did want to try and spend a little less money on store bought granola bars AND try and make our favorite snack a little bit healthier.  My version of the chewy granola bar is SUPER easy to make and the texture is almost exactly the same as it's grocery store counterpart. The taste of honey is a little more prevalent in my homemade bar but that didn't stop my family from devouring them. We all LOVED these chewy granola bars.
Chewy Granola Bars
Combine oats, salt and rice crispies.  Pour syrup over oats and cereal and stir to combine.  Allow to cool slightly. Stir in chocolate chips.  Scrape into a greased 8 inch pan. Press gently with hands.  Put in refrigerator until firm enough to slice.  Slice into 12 bars.  Store these yummy snacks in the frig if you want firmer, crispier granola bars. Store them in a tupperware container at room temperature if you want softer, chewier granola bars.
I'm pretty sure that I will be making these chewy granola bars a LOT. And I'm perfectly OK with that.
Ciao!
 I've recreated my chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes over and over again and I really cant explain why. It's not that I'm ever unhappy with the current chocolate peanut butter cupcake version - it's just that I'm somehow compelled to try and improve something that doesn't need any improvement. Just as a little reminder - here are some of my favorite chocolate peanut butter cupcake and cake creations:
It's the evolution of the chocolate peanut butter cupcake - Amy style. Click on any of the above pictures for the link to the recipe. My very latest chocolate peanut butter cupcake creation is a chocolate peanut butter SWIRLED cupcake.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirled Cupcakes 1 batch chocolate cupcake batter 1 batch peanut butter cupcake batter 1 batch peanut butter buttercream 1 batch chocolate buttercream Mini or snack size Reese's peanut butter cups
Bake 22 minutes at 350. Cool on wire racks.
Fill piping bag with half chocolate buttercream and half peanut butter buttercream. Pipe onto cupcakes. Garnish with a peanut butter cup.
 All of my chocolate and peanut butter loving followers - you need to try these. The swirled peanut butter chocolate buttercream perfectly compliments the peanut butter chocolate cake.
Ciao!  Any Chubby Hubby fans out there? I pulled this little piece of Chubby Hubby information off of the Ben and Jerry's website. Chubby Hubby®Vanilla Malt Ice Cream with Peanutty Fudge-covered Pretzels with Fudge & Peanut Buttery Swirls It began with two office jokesters' pulling a prank on a colleague whose endless tales of his love for Ben & Jerry's made them nuts. They hatched an imaginary batch packed with pretzels, peanut butter, fudge in vanilla malt ice cream; spread a rumor of a brand new Ben & Jerry's hit called "Chubby Hubby®". After searching obsessively he was crushed when the hoax was revealed, so the jokesters home-made a pint. He proclaimed it too good to be a joke; after one taste, so did we. The rest is history. Chubby Hubby® -- it's no joke!  Turns out, malted vanilla - peanut butter - fudge ... the perfect ingredients for ice cream AND for a super delicious cupcake.  Chubby Hubby Cupcakes For the cupcakes: 3 cups cake flour 1 tbsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1½ cups sugar 1 cup malted milk powder 5 large eggs, at room temperature 1 tbsp. vanilla extract 1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature For the filling: 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 1 cup heavy cream 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature 1½ cups coarsely chopped pretzels For the frosting: Peanut Butter Buttercream To garnish: Mini pretzels drizzled with melted chocolate
Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
 To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Add the cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer (or warm in the microwave). Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms. Whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until completely incorporated. Let stand at room temperature, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened.
 To fill the cupcakes, cut a hole in the center of each cupcake.
 Fold pretzel crumbs into ganache.  Spoon into each cupcake.
 Prepare a batch of peanut butter frosting.  Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Garnish with a chocolate drizzled pretzel.
Move over Ben and Jerry - there's a new Chubby Hubby in town. 
 ONLY make this if you are prepared to eat the entire batch. (They really are that good.)
A love a cupcake with a surprise in the middle.
And for those hubby's out there - no please don't be offended by the name. Just enjoy.
Ciao! |
