Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

Do you ever get on a weird food kick that you can't get to the root of? It's a serious problem with me. This week I'm obsessed with carrot cake. I can't stop thinking of different ways that I want to make it, and I partially blame these cookies for getting me there. Once I saw them in an old Bon Appetit magazine I was in love, and even though I'm seriously restricting my diet before vacation I found a way to get around that and bake them! Its an addiction. I actually made the batter, dropped it onto cookie sheets, and froze it for the week of vacation when I can eat them! Yes, and I made the cream cheese icing, too, because I'm not sure if the house will have an electric mixer. The frozen cookies and icing are travelling in the trunk in a cooler awaiting the moment we step in the cottage door to be baked, frosted, and eaten. And eaten they will be!! I'm telling you, if Riley's judgment means anything then these are almost as good as a carrot cake (ok, they're definitely as good) except they're smaller and can be made without any fancy layering or frosting. And who's ever heard of a carrot cake cookie? Ok, maybe you had, but I hadn't until this!

The changes that I made to the recipe from the magazine: used salted butter (as I always do), got rid of the self-rising flour for regular flour with baking powder and baking soda, moved the dry ingredients to the beginning so they could be whisked together first, and added vanilla extract to both the cookies and icing.

I love love love these, because I prefer a carrot cake with pure cinnamon and carrots, and possibly raisins and nuts, but NEVER EVER pineapple or coconut. Whoever thought of that should have their right to vote taken away. Because that is just wrong, and it should be made a law that such cakes must be labeled "tropical". K, now that I'm done ranting about that...

Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing  
Yield: about 40 small or 15 large cookies

INGREDIENTS
For the cookies:
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (10-12 ounces) finely grated peeled carrots, packed
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

For the cream cheese icing: 
1 cup powdered sugar
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
4 tbl salted butter, at room temp
2 tbl heavy cream
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
I know I'm horrible, but I'm lazy and it's vacation and we all know how to make a cookie, right? Just soak the raisins and oats with 1/4 cup water, sift together the dry ingredients, cream the butter and sugar, add in an egg, the vanilla, and carrots. Then you can beat in the flour, but don't overmix the flour!! Use a wooden spoon to gently stir in the raisin-oat mixture and nuts, if you want them. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Then you can beat the frosting ingredients really well and spread them on the cookies. Enjoy!

SOURCE
recipe slightly adapted from Bon Appetit, May 2012.

Tres Leches Cake 2 Ways

I've always heard mixed reviews about tres leches cake, but when I saw it in this month's Fine Cooking magazine I decided to give it a try. I know that if any recipe is going to be good, it's going to be in that magazine, so I was pretty excited to finally taste what all the fuss was about. Since I was making the cakes for my graduation party I decided to make two different kinds. The first was a traditional vanilla tres leches cake with fresh berries on top, and the second was a tres leches cake using dulce de leche in place of the sweetened condensed milks. The three milks that the light sponge cake is soaked in are sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream. After soaking the cakes overnight they soak up all that sweet liquid and become dense and super moist, but not soggy at all! I totally loved both, but my favorite was the traditional cake since the thick dulce de leche mixture didn't soak into the cake as well as I would have liked. If you're looking to try tres leches cake, then you should try it now. It's the perfect time of year for a lighter kind of cake!

Tres Leches Cake

Yield: one 9x13" cake

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbl baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

5 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup whole milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the soaking liquid:

12 ounce can evaporated milk

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

For the whipped cream topping:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

First, make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13" baking dish and line with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper. Set aside. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 

Using two large bowls, separate the egg yolks from the whites. With an electric beater, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar until pale and light, about 3 minutes. Beat in the milk and vanilla until incorporated, another minute. Wash and dry the beater and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until firm peaks form. 

Gently whisk 1/3 of the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites. Continue alternating between the flour mixture and egg whites until everything is folded in and homogeneous. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the meddle comes out clean. 

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack, peeling off the parchment paper, and cooling completely. Once the cake has completely cooled return it to the pan. Poke the cake all over with a toothpick or fork. 

To prepare the soaking liquid: In a saucepan combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream until combined. Heat to a simmer and remove from the heat. Slowly pour the milk mixture over the cooled cake, making sure to let the mixture absorb before adding more. Cover and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

Just before serving, make the whipped cream topping: In a large bowl beat together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake. 

Berry variation: Top the cake with fresh berries before serving.

Dulce de leche variation: Replace the sweetened condensed milk with an equal amount of dulce de leche. 

SOURCE

adapted from Fine Cooking magazine.  

Avocado Arugula Pesto with Spaghetti Squash Pasta

Oh. My. Gosh. I've been eating healthy and staying on track in the gym for a while now, and despite all my best efforts I've still somehow managed to lose a mere 10 pounds in 50 days. This is fine with me. I'm a foodie at heart, and I can't survive on salad with low-fat italian dressing for the rest of my life. I need some variety and interest, which can sometimes be lacking in poached chicken and brown rice or steamed vegetables with salmon. This "pasta" is one of those ah-ha moments for me, I love eating healthy! This dish is so good that I want to feel guilty eating it, but I know I can't because it's all sorts of healthy.

I had avocados and a ton of baby arugula in my fridge, and so I googled both ingredients and google came up with this amazing healthy (and vegan) pesto served over wheat pasta. I decided to sub in spaghetti squash simply because one portion of pasta is not enough for me, and with spaghetti squash you get a lot more food for less calories. I'd also never made spaghetti squash pasta before, so I wanted to give it a try. Let me just say, this is freakin' amazing! It's peppery, creamy, salty, and totally fresh tasting on top of the spaghetti squash - you'd never feel deprived!  Happy summer and stay cool!

P.S. I'm not providing measurements for the spaghetti squash past because every squash is a different size!

Spaghetti Squash "Pasta"
Yield: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS
1 spaghetti squash
sliced garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and discard.

Place the squash halves, face up, on the baking sheet. Rub each half with the sliced garlic and brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before separating squash from skin. Squash is ready when is separates from the skin with little resistance.

Avocado Arugula Pesto 
Yield: about 6 servings

INGREDIENTS
2 oz arugula
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 avocado
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Put everything in a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve over spaghetti squash pasta.

SOURCE
pesto adapted from the Harmonious Kitchen.

Cherry Almond Sweet Rolls

   

These delicious sweet rolls are a serious treat. I thought of about a hundred different ways to use the bag of cherries I bought last week, but decided to go with homemade cherry pie filling. Then came the decision of what to use it in...cheesecake? muffins? cake? Cherry sweet rolls seemed like an unexpected combination and using almond flavoring in the topping sounded like the perfect pairing.

The recipe for the yeast dough uses milk powder and instant mashed potato flakes. Both of them make the dough super soft like a baby's bottom. This dough is definitely a keeper on it's own, and you could easily spread it with butter and cinnamon sugar to make traditional cinnamon rolls as well. Yum!

Cherry Almond Sweet Rolls 
Yield: 16 rolls

INGREDIENTS
For the yeat dough:
1 packet (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast or instant yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbl salted butter, at room temp
3 tbl sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

For the filling:
2 cups cherry pie filling

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temp

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

DIRECTIONS
Make the dough: If using active dry yeast, dissolve the yeast with 2 tablespoons warm water and a pinch of sugar. Let sit 15 minutes, until it's bubbly and swelled in size. If using instant yeast, skip this step.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the water, active dry yeast mixture or instant yeast, flour, butter, sugar, salt, milk powder, and mashed potato flakes. Mix on low speed until combined; the dough should begin coming together and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Switch to the dough hook attachment. Knead on low speed for 7 minutes. The dough should completely pull away from the sides of the bowl and be smooth. Drop the dough ball into a deep oiled bowl and let rise, covered in plastic wrap, until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.

Fill the rolls: Lightly flour a large work surface and spread/roll the dough into a 12"x16" rectangle. Spread evenly with the cherry pie filling, concentrating the cherries onto the lower half of the dough. Beginning with the end closest to you, begin rolling the dough towards the center, tucking in any cherries that squeeze out, until you have a log. Slice off the ends and discard. Slice the remaining dough log into 16 portions and arrange in two 9" round cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2-2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing. With an electric hand mixer cream together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract until smooth. Transfer into a squeeze bottle and put in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the rolls, uncovered until they're slightly browned around the edges,  10-20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly before topping with the icing.

SOURCE
yeast dough recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour. 

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

You can easily double or triple this recipe to make a bigger batch. It can be used on all kinds of things from cheesecake to ice cream to cherry blintzes. Or, if you're like me, you might just want to eat it with a spoon in passing. But I have to admit, I do have a recipe planned for this filling which I'll share with you later in the week.

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling  
Yield: about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
2-2 1/2 cups pitted red cherries, sliced in half
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbl cornstarch
pinch cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tbl lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan heat the cherries over medium heat until they release their juices and soften, about 10 to 15 minutes. You may want to add a few tablespoons of water depending on how juicy your cherries are.

In a separate bowl whisk the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together to break up any lumps. Add this to the pot with the cherries and thoroughly combine. Heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

SOURCE
adapted from AllRecipes.com.

Spicy Gazpacho with Shrimp

Gazpacho is something I've only recently tried, and been so-so about. Normally when I think of gazpacho, I think of pureed tomatoes and bread. Basically a pureed version of what my family calls dunkin' salad, and not made better by pureeing, in my opinion. I tried a version at a restaurant called Mama Iguana's that was supposed to be a Mexican version of gazpacho, but once again I thought of pureed dunkin' salad with a hint of cilantro and lime. I wasn't sold at all. Then I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart that didn't include any bread at all...could this one be a winner? Well, the fact that it was topped with shrimp and mussels had me sold enough to try it. I changed up the recipe so that it was easier for me, but I posted the link to the original, too. This is much more up my ally, much healthier, and really fresh tasting, too. It's almost verging on pure salsa, but I think the addition of shrimp and the soupier consistency saves it. I love it, and I'm going to be eating it for the rest of the week!

Spicy Gazpacho with Shrimp 
Yield: 4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS
5 lbs. vine ripened tomatoes
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
juice of 4 limes
1 tsp salt plus more to taste
1/2 pound raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 lemon or lime
1 small cucumber, diced (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Cut a small X into the top of each tomato for easy peeling of the skin. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and prepare a large ice bath. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 30-60 seconds and immediately use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the ice bath to stop them from cooking. Peel of the skin, slice in half, and transfer to a large food processor or blender with the jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, and salt. Puree until smooth and adjust seasoning/acidity to taste. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile heat a large cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Season the shrimp to taste and transfer to the preheated skillet. Cook until bright pink, about 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly. Meanwhile ladle the gazpacho into bowls. Top with the cooled shrimp, torn cilantro leaves, and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Serve immediately, garnished with cucumber if desired.

SOURCE
Sarah Cupcake original, inspired from this recipe from Martha Stewart.

Watermelon Frosty

Looking for an icy cool summer treat to kill the heat?? Well look no further than this watermelon frosty. This smoothie was a serious revelation to me, and I hope it is to you, too. No where would I ever have thought to combine watermelon into a smoothie than once I saw it on a popular vegan blog. Now this blog has a ton of interesting smoothies, but this watermelon frosty was #1. As you may know by now, I love smoothies with a passion. I'd drink a smoothie for just about every meal if it was tasty and satisfying enough. This smoothie is not only satisfying, but completely healthy, too. I suggest you give it a try.

To make the watermelon cubes, just cut up a watermelon and freeze it. You should turn out a lot of watermelon cubes depending on the size of your watermelon. I've still got a gallon freezer bag of them even after making this smoothie every day this week! Combine with your banana, lemon juice, and maple syrup and you've got a delicious watermelon smoothie, and probably the most refreshing smoothie you'll ever drink. Oh, and you'll need a good amount of water, too. Impatient me learned that you can somewhat avoid leaving the watermelon out on the counter to thaw by just dumping hot water into the blender. Genius. Although if it's hot enough, you could leave it outside.

Watermelon Frosty  

Yield: 1 serving

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cubed and frozen watermelon

1/2 cup water

1/2 banana

juice from 1/2 lemon

1-2 tbl maple syrup

DIRECTIONS

Blend all ingredients together until icy!

SOURCE

adapted from Healthy Happy Life.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken

I'm so happy I ended up making this chicken. While there were a few things I'll do differently next time, it was definitely a delicious meal, and it was also the easiest meal I've ever made in the slow cooker. The ingredients are really interchangeable, you don't have to use exactly what I did. For instance, you can use whatever flavor cream cheese you want (or plain w/sauteed onions and garlic?), use white wine instead of chicken broth, change out the flavor of soup if you don't like cream of mushroom (I'll be doing this next time since I thought it gave the entire meal a canned flavor). You could also use different kinds of mushrooms or a different cut of chicken. I actually had to go in before serving this and pull out the skins and bones from the thighs. Next time I might just use boneless skinless thighs or breasts to see if it makes any difference.

Slow Cooker Mushroom Chicken  

Yield: 4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tbl salted butter

1 package garlic and herb salad dressing mix

1 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup

4 ounces reduced fat chive cream cheese

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 8-ounce packages baby bella mushrooms, sliced

6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, about 2.25 lbs.

DIRECTIONS
In a medium pot over medium heat stir together the butter, salad dressing mix, condensed soup, cream cheese, and chicken stock; whisk to remove any lumps.

Lay out the mushrooms on the bottom of a crockpot.

Place the chicken thighs on top.

Pour the creamy mixture over top.

Cook on low for 5 hours. Serve over brown rice and baby arugula.

SOURCE
recipe adapted from Cleverly Inspired.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

This is my all time favorite smoothie recipe, ever! I love love love smoothies. I'd be willing to try out just about anything in smoothie form, something about them just makes me happy. This one, though, hands down has me. I make it almost every morning, and sometimes as a snack, for lunch, or before bed. It's super healthy, creamy, and delicious. And as long as your banana is good and ripe there's absolutely no reason to add honey or any other sweetener. If you think adding oats sounds strange, then you should google oats in smoothies because it's actually a time honored process! It gives the smoothie more body and actually tastes great. Happy smoothie making!

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie 
Yield: 1 large or 2 small servings

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sweetened almond milk
1 large ripe banana, sliced
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbl peanut butter
1/2 cup ice
1 tbl flax seed meal (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Reserve a few slices of banana. Blend all ingredients together until smooth and and frosty. Garnish with banana slices and a pinch of cinnamon.

SOURCE
Sarah Cupcake original

Creamy Fruit Oatmeal

Here's a great copycat recipe for that new oatmeal everyone seems to be getting from McDonalds these days. I seriously can't go anywhere early in the morning without spotting at least one person (usually a woman, just sayin) eating it, and I've been known to buy it on a busy morning, too. It's just so damn tasty that you can't really blame us for loving it, even if it is from McDonalds.

Lately I've been finding that my normal breakfast smoothie hasn't been giving me enough energy to get through my morning gym visit. I've been having zero energy even though I've been doing less than usual, so I decided to start changing my breakfast to this oatmeal. It definitely provides a lot more calories, but it fills me up for much longer and gives me more energy. It does take a bit longer than making a smoothie, but the results are so worth it, and it beats spending $2+ a day on the fast food version. If you chop up all the fruit in advance and bag it, this could be even quicker. Kid love it too, as evidenced by Riley!

Creamy Fruit Oatmeal  
Yield: 2 large or 4 small servings

INGREDIENTS
1 cup water
1 cup low-fat milk
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbl salted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbl maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbl half and half or cream (optional)
1 granny smith apple, diced
handful grapes, sliced in half
2 tbl raisins
1 banana, sliced
2 tbl chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium pot heat together the water, milk, oats, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until creamy, another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the half and half if using.

Divide the oatmeal between 2 or 4 bowls, and top with the apple, grapes, raisins, banana, and walnuts if using. Garnish with a pinch of cinnamon or sugar. Serve and enjoy!

SOURCE
Sarah Cupcake original