Churro Cupcakes with Dulce De Leche Filing

A few weeks ago we threw a party for one of our students assistants. She is graduating from college and has been working in our office for four years. We are so proud of her and truly wish her all the best!

She is very proud of her Mexican heritage and has mentioned on a few occasions her love for churros. Churros are FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC so I couldn't resist an opportunity to make cupcakes inspired by this cinnamon/sugar covered treat.

Check out the recipe and deliciousness below:

Churro Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Filling and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Makes 24 regular size cupcakes Ingredients 2 cups all purpose flour ½ cups cake flour 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temp 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs, room temp 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 ¼ cup milk 1 can Dulce de Leche 1 . Preheat oven to 350f. 2. Line cupcake pans with 24 paper cupcake liners 3. In a large bowl, add both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to combine. Set aside.  4. In a large bowl using electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (approx. 2 min). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. 5.  Gradually mix in the flour mixture and milk, alternating between the two until combined. (Start and end with the flour mixture) 6.  Divide the batter evenly between the lined cupcake pans filling each cup approx. 3/4 full. 7. Bake at 350f for approx. 20 minutes until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 8. Remove from the pan and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 9. Once the cupcakes have cooled, take a wooden spoon and make a hole in the center of each cupcake. 10. Use a pastry bag with a round tip (or just cut the tip off of a plastic storage bag) and fill it with the Dulce de Leche filling. 11. Pipe the filling into each cupcake

Make the Frosting Ingredients: ½ cup of butter 8 oz cream cheese softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3 cups powdered sugar 24 mini churros for decorating 1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy 2. Mix in the vanilla extract and cinnamon 3. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency. If frosting is too thick, add the milk. 4. Frost and decorate the cupcakes as desired.

Making the Mini Churros Ingredients: 1 wheat tortilla ½ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying 1. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl 2. Heat oil over medium-high heat 3. Cut shapes out of the tortilla using a mini cookie cutter 4. Fry each tortilla until golden brown 5. Remove from the oil and toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture 6. Place the churros on a plate to cool before garnishing the cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Live... Bake... Love...

Mini churros

The frosting was perfect!

 

 

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the sweet things!
xo

 

Blueberry Croissant Puff

My love for breakfast runs far and deep! It is by far my favorite meal of the day and I love it even more when I get to enjoy it with a mimosa for brunch.

I have been doing lots of experimenting with perfecting my baked French toast recipe. Baked French toast is simply THE BEST! It can be prepared the night before and enjoyed the morning of any holiday ( I recently made it for Mother's Day and last Christmas). Also it can be made in bulk which frees up the chef from being stuck in front of the stove flipping bread, and allows them to spend more time with family.

Let me know if you try the recipe and what your favorite breakfast foods are in the comments.


Blueberry Croissant Puff

4 large croissants, cut up
1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
½ cup sugar
3 or 4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Brown Sugar Crumble
1 tbsp. butter, melted
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ cup flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon.
3. Pour mixture evenly over croissant pieces. (You may need to add more mixture if your croissant pieces are not fully covered). Let stand 20 minutes or refrigerate overnight.
4. In a small bowl, use a fork and mix together brown sugar, flour and butter until crumbly.
5. Sprinkle croissants with blueberries and brown sugar crumble.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or until set in center. If tops are getting too browned cover for last 10 minutes.

Adapted from Blueberry Croissant Puff, it originally appeared here.





I used frozen blueberries.







Three of us ate the whole thing!

Note: I usually buy the croissants a day or two ahead. They dry out a little and soak up the egg mixture better.

 

 

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the sweet things!
xo

 

National Chocolate Chip Day

Holidays are my absolute favorite! I love getting into the spirit of holidays, decorating and BAKING to celebrate. I am always making little gifts and treats to celebrate the holidays.


Google National Chocolate Chip Day!

So in honor of yesterday's glorious holiday National Chocolate Chip Day (totally not a made up thing, I promise) I give you the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE OF ALL TIME!!!**

Check out these other blogs for more rave reviews: Tidy Mom,  For Me, For You (Kate provides lots of baking tips!)

Original Cookie Recipe Can be Found here: NY Times



Delicious coarse sea salt



Giant tub of cookie dough = AWESOME



 I used an ice-cream scoop to make the dough balls large enough. Also, I only had the patience to wait for the dough to chill for 9 hours (I was sleeping for 8 of those hours).




I am allowing the rest of the dough to chill for the full 36 hours for even better results.



Check out these beauties!



Cookie tower!

**I know you may be thinking, "No way! My Gam Gam makes the best cookies, she uses a sercret family recipe!" or maybe you said, "Nuh uh, my kids simply love Toll House cookies. There's nothing better."

Sorry to break it to you but the Toll House Recipe has nothing on these cookies! And these are definitely better than your grandmother's... sorry Gam Gam! :)

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the sweet things!
xo