Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

With the holidays right around the corner, this is a great recipe to have in your back pocket.  Recently, I went to a little get-together and needed a quick and easy holiday treat.  I had a box of Whole Wheat Gingerbread mix from Hodgson Mill sitting in the pantry.  I'm generally kind of wary about any sort of baking mix, due to the chemicals and other weird things in the ingredients list.  Much to my surprise, when I looked at the ingredients list on the box of this Gingerbread mix, I saw only ingredients that I could easily pronounce… Whole grain whole wheat flour, molasses, brown sugar, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt and cloves.  Knowing everything in this mix was a normal baking ingredient I typically stock in my own pantry, I found this recipe for Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cupcakes on Hodgson Mill's website and set to work with no hesitation.   These have a wonderful texture, not something you'd expect from a whole wheat recipe.  And the little bit of cocoa added to the batter, along with the cinnamon brown sugar buttercream really make these something special. 

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

For the cupcakes (makes 15 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

1 15oz box Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Gingerbread Mix

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup water, room temperature

In a medium bowl, whisk together the gingerbread mix, baking powder, cocoa powder and brown sugar, and set aside.  

In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs.  

Using a large spoon, stir  the dry ingredients into the wet in three additions alternating with the water, beginning and ending with the dry mixture and stirring until it’s incorporated and the batter is smooth.  

Fill a paper lined muffin tin ½ to 2/3 full with batter.  

Bake cupcakes in a 350˚F oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Immediately remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack.  

For the frosting

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks) 

1/3 cup light brown sugar

pinch of fine sea salt

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups powdered sugar

1/8 - 1/4 cup milk

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy.  Add brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon beating until well incorporated.  Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time beating well after each addition.  One tablespoon at a time, add the milk and beat on high speed.  Add milk until the desired consistency is reached.  Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Hodgson Mill GIVEAWAY!

for the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Crumb Muffin with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling and Salted Caramel sauce recipe, click here.

Those Whole Wheat Pumpkin Crumb muffins with from my last post were the perfect fall or winter breakfast (or snack… at any time of the day).  That was one of those recipes when I was really sad when they were gone.  I think I'll be making them again soon.  I have so many other plans for the Hodgson Mill flours sitting in my pantry, too!

Want to try baking with Hodgson Mill's flours for yourself?  The nice people are Hodgson Mill are nice enough to offer a Prize-Pack giveaway for one lucky Ice Cream Before Dinner reader!  One lucky winner will receive a $25 value of assorted Hodgson Mill products, your choice of choice of gluten free or whole wheat products.

Also, don't forget!  Hodgson Will is also doing a  “25 Days of GRAIN Holiday” Sweepstakes - One winner will be selected to win every day for 25 days – winner's choice of $25 worth of gluten free products or an assortment of whole wheat baking mixes and flours!  Plus, they're offering a $1 off coupon, good for any 5LB bag flour or cornmeal (http://bit.ly/GrainSavings)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a GRAIN Holiday: Pumpkin Crumb Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling and Salted Caramel Sauce

How many times have your grand baking plans ended in disaster?  For me, it has been quite a few.  This Thanksgiving was no exception, except thankfully this time I was able to turn it around into a total baking win - and I found a new favorite muffin recipe in the process. 

I had very high hopes for Thanksgiving dessert.  I was going to make crepes for the first time.  We prepared all of the fixings (the filling, the sauce) ahead of time besides the crepe batter - we left that to the last minute so that the crepes would be fresh when it was time to eat… It turns out crepes are not as easy to make as all those Parisian crepe makers make it look.  After many attempts, we finally got some that weren't so bad-looking, but they were hardly the perfect looking pastry I had envisioned.  While it tasted pretty good, it just didn't live up to my expectations.  I think I'll leave the crepe making up to the experts.

The morning after, I found myself awake early... with a muffin craving... and lots of extra ingredients left over from the failed crepe making experiment.  Armed with a variety of premium flours from Hodgson Mill, I set to work.    The end result was an absolutely perfect Morning-After-a-Holiday muffin (or any other day muffin, for that matter).  These moist, Whole wheat Pumpkin Muffins have a brown sugar crumb on top, and a Cinnamon Cream Cheese filling.  The Salted Caramel drizzle is an absolute MUST and takes these muffins to the next level of awesome.  I enjoyed these so much, I think I'll be making them on the day after Christmas, too.  You would never guess there are whole wheat!  I really think the high quality flour used made a big difference here.  The awesome people of Hodgson Mill are giving out $1 off coupons good on any 5 lb bag of Hodgson Mill flour or cornmeal, click here.  Plus, they are doing a 25 Days of GRAIN holiday sweepstakes.  One winner will be selected to win every day for 25 days – winner's choice of $25 worth of gluten free products or an assortment of whole wheat baking mixes and flours.

Pumpkin Crumb Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling and Salted Caramel Sauce,

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients for the muffin: 

1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Hodgson Mill flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

14 oz pure pumpkin (aka pureed pumpkin, canned pumpkin)

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Crumb topping: 

1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Hodgson Mill flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Ingredients for the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a muffin tin with 12 liners and set aside.

Prepare the filling: Using a hand mixer, combine the softened cream cheese and the cinnamon and sugar.  When they are fully incorporated, add in the vanilla.  Mix to combine.  Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and refrigerate.

Prepare the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter with a fork or whisk.  It should form small crumbs.  

Prepare the muffin batter: In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Fold in the wet ingredients until combined.

Fill the wells of the cupcake tin with the batter, about 2/3 full.  Pipe a dollop of cinnamon cream cheese filling onto the top of the batter.  Then, sprinkle each muffin with crumb topping.

Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the batter (not the cream cheese) does out clean with only small crumbs.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt + additional for topping

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter together with the heavy cream.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  

Spread sugar into a thin, even layer at the bottom of a large pot.  Turn the heat to medium-low and allow the sugar heat up for 8 minutes, no stirring.  Let the sugar continue to heat up for the next 8 minutes.  Towards the end of this time, it should begin to liquify.  

When it begins to appear light brown and clear in spots, begin to fold the melted sugar on top of the unmelted sugar with a spatula.  Continue to fold until the entire thing has melted and it turns golden brown - This happens very quickly, so keep a close eye on it.  

When it turns golden brown, remove it from the heat and quickly stir in half of the cream-butter mixture - Stirring continuously the entire time.  Be careful to avoid bubbles and splashes from burning you.  Don't be scared if it begins to harden and clump.  If this happens, return the pot to medium-low heat and stir constantly until it has all melted.  Be patient!  If you want a thicker caramel, keep on the heat, stirring constantly for another 10 minutes.  Keep in mind, it will thicken as it cools.  As the last step, add in the sea salt and stir to incorporate.

Drizzle on top of the pumpkin muffins immediately before serving.  The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator, and heated in the microwave prior to drizzling.  Serving suggestion: Sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top of caramel drizzle before serving.

Third Annual “Have a GRAIN Holiday” recipe contest from Hodgson Mill

For three years running, Hodgson Mill has hosted a "Have a Grain Holiday" recipe contest.  50 bloggers create delicious seasonal baked goods using their high quality flours.  My entry into this contest two years ago was Gingerbread Cake Bites with Lemon Frosting.  The result was adorable, bite-sized, pretty delicious, and perfect for holiday parties.  Plus, knowing that their flours, "have nutritious whole grains still ground between millstones, just as they did, oh, 6000 years ago," I felt pretty good about serving it, too.  

I love the flavors of holiday baking, so I'm already starting to brainstorm ideas for this year's contest… more to come in the next few weeks!  

To celebrate this contest, Hodgson Mill has a coupon good for $1 off any 5LB bag of Hodgson Mill flour or cornmeal - get yours here: http://bit.ly/GrainSavings. It gets better… they're also going to host a special sweepstakes launching on 12/1 – with a chance to win a prize every day for 25 days!  I'll share this link with you in the next few weeks, too.  

Furthermore, one lucky reader of IceCreamBeforeDinner.com will receive a great selection of assorted Hodgson Mill – a $25 value - winner's choice of gluten free products or a selection of Whole Wheat items (US residents only).

Woo, holiday baking!  Have you starting testing out new holiday recipes yet?

Classic Lemon Bars

Summer is winding down here in Central Florida.  Even though it is only early August and we still have quite a few months of hot summer weather left, school is about to start back up so it seems that time spent sitting by the poolside is pretty much at an end.  ...But one more tart, citrusy summer recipe couldn't hurt, though, right?  We made these Classic Lemon Bars recently and they have a wonderfully tart, tangy taste that just screams of summer.  These were delicious as is, but were even more amazing when served with freshly prepared whipped cream.  For my favorite vanilla whipped cream recipe, scroll down to the end of this post. 

Classic Lemon Bars, adapted from Food Network
Ingredients for the crust:
Oil for greasing the pan
1 1/2 stucks unsalted butter, diced
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for garnishing
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Ingredients for the filling:
4 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 - 8 lemons)

To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan with oil and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on the 2 long sides.  Lightly grease the parchment with oil.  
In a food processor, pulse butter, flour, both sugars and salt until the dough comes together, about 1 minute.  Press evenly into the pan and up the sides about 1/2 inch making sure there are no cracks.  Bake until lightly golden, about 20 - 25 minutes.

To make the filling:
While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, and flour in a bowl until smooth.  Whisk in lemon zest and guide.  Remove the crust from the oven and reduce oven temperature to 300 F.  Pour filling over the warm crust and put back in the oven.  Bake until just set, about 30 - 35 minutes.  

Allow the bars to cool in the pan on a rack, then refrigerate until firm for at least 2 hours.  Using a knife or spatula, trace around the outside of the bars to release them from the sides of the pan.  Lift the bars out of the pan with parchment and slice.  If desired, dust with confectioner's sugar prior to serving.  

Vanilla Whipped Cream:
Ingredients:
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
2 tsp mexican vanilla
1/8 C granulated sugar + additional, if desired

Beat all ingredients together, on high, until mixture reaches light and fluffy consistency. Add more sugar if desired to reach desired sweetness.

Easy Fourth of July Cupcake Tower

Sometimes (ok, the majority of the time) you want to make a big statement with your dessert display, without spending hours and hours in the kitchen.  When you're having a party, you just don't have the time to painstakingly make teeny tiny fondant shapes to go on 60 cupcakes.  You've got other things to do like clean the house, put up decorations, make the food, set up chairs, etc.  This Easy Fourth of July cupcake tower looks impressive without taking a long time or putting in lots of careful effort to make it look that way.  

Things you will need: 
(I left out amounts of everything so you can adapt to your own party's size)

• Your favorite cupcake batter
• Your favorite frosting 
• Red & white striped liners
• Card stock that can go in the printer
• Blue star pattern circle printables
• Red, White, and Blue striped ribbon
• Glue dots (or other method for attaching ribbon to the cupcake tower) 
• fresh blackberries, blueberries and red raspberries, rinsed and dried (for about 65 - 70 cupcakes, I used 1 quart of each type of berry)
• small fourth of july themed pinwheels

1. First, we baked up simple vanilla cupcakes in red and white striped liners that we picked up at the craft store.  We made about 64 cupcakes.  
2. While those were baking, we printed out blue star pattern circles on card stock and punched them out into cute little doily shapes with a paper punch (similar to this one) though you could easily just cut them into squares or circles with regular scissors.  If you want to decorate your tower like we did, you'll need half as many doilies as you have cupcakes.  We alternated: 1 cupcake with a blue star doily, 1 cupcake with a pinwheel, etc. 

3. Use glue dots to attach the red, white and blue striped ribbon to the edge of each tier of the tower.  
• Steps 1 - 3 can all be done in advance! Doing these 1 - 2 days before your event is fine!

4. Frost the cooled cupcakes
5. Decorate the cupcakes with the berries.  I used 3 blueberries, 1 blackberry, 1 red raspberry on each cupcake.  Gently press into the frosting.
6. Place all cupcakes on your The Smart Baker Cupcake Tower.  
7. Alternate decoration types on the cupcakes: 1 cupcake gets a pinwheel, the next one gets a blue star doily, next one gets a pinwheel, the following gets a doily, etc.

Voila! You're done! That's it!  This was quick and easy to do.  If you use a box cake mix, or buy plain, frosted cupcakes from the grocery this would be even quicker.  Everyone will think you spent hours making your impressive Fourth of July dessert display!

Cracker Jack Snacks and a GIVEAWAY

Baseball was a big part of my family growing up.  Of course, we'd often go to Shea Stadium and watch the Mets play (though if I remember correctly, I was pretty much only interested in the soft serve ice cream served in a little plastic Met helmet).  However, Little League was a much bigger part of our lives than major league games.  I was the only child who never played (I've never really been much of a competitive athlete... unless bake-off's count) but my older sister played when she was little and my younger brother played from the time he was very young until he aged out.  My father was even (and still is!) the president of the local little league.  

My brother is much younger than my sister, Jenn, and I (10 years younger than me, and 12 years younger than Jenn) so by the time my brother was playing, we were old enough to help out during his games.  While dad was doing his presidential duties, my sister and I would often help out in the snack shack.  My favorite part of helping out was when our shifts were over, and my sister and I would grab a bag of Cracker Jack snacks and a soda, and we'd share it as we sat on the bleachers and watched the rest of Christopher's game.  When I think of Cracker Jack snacks, I remember those summer nights talking and laughing on the bleachers with my sister, cheering on my little brother as he pitched his heart out.  

The Cracker Jack brand has been around for 120 years (isn't that amazing?!).  In celebration of this big anniversary, they're putting out new flavors, improving on the original variety, and modernizing their prizes.  I was lucky enough to sample the new flavors, Butter Toffee and Kettle Corn.  Both of which were delicious... I can't tell which one I enjoyed more.  The Butter Toffee variety could satisfy any sweet tooth, while the Kettle Corn had a more subtle sweetness, and kept me coming back for another handful, time after time.  

Giveaway:  Cracker Jack snacks has offered to giveaway 6 bags of the 3 assorted flavors to one lucky reader of Ice Cream Before Dinner!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Details and rules:

• Open to residents of the U.S. only

• Giveaway will end Friday, June 28, 2013 at 12:00 AM EST.

• Giveaway will be conducted via rafflecopter (www.rafflecopter.com)

• Winner will be announced by Tuesday, July 2nd, 11:59 PM EST.

• Winner will be notified by email and will have until Friday, July 5th to claim their prize and provide their mailing address, after which, if the winner does not respond with their mailing address, another winner will be selected.

• Winner will receive 
6 bags of the 3 assorted flavors of Cracker Jack snacks provided directly from Cracker Jack brand.

• Disclosure:
  The Cracker Jack snack products were provided to me by Cracker Jack brand for my participation in this blogging/trial program.  Any and all opinions posted on this blog are based on my own experiences with the Cracker Jack brand products.  Cracker Jack brand provided the product for the giveaway for my review on this blog and for the giveaway.  I was not compensated for my participation.