Six Sisters PB Cookies are the Best

So that I can always find it, I'm posting for the first time in almost a year. I was reading through some of my old posts and found that I kind of miss my blog.
I recently found an amazing peanut butter cookie posted by Six Sisters Stuff. I've made these twice. The first time I made them I had some leftover dough so instead of baking up all the cookies and letting them go stale because we can't eat that many treats all at once, I froze the leftover dough. I never baked that dough, but it quickly disappeared anyway because the dough was so good I'd snitch a ball of dough or two or three for dessert over the next few days.
Click this link for the recipe. https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/disneylands-peanut-butter-cookies/

Lemon Strawberry Coconut Cupcake

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for over a year. That's ridiculous. The other thing that is ridiculous is that I haven't blogged for over a year. What's the problem? I guess now that I'm retired, life has become either so busy or so boring that I don't have time to blog or I have nothing to blog about. Either way, there's a total lack of blogging going on. Here's the post that's been in the draft folder forever. 

Agnes wanted to make cupcakes a couple weeks ago. I wasn't too excited about it since I had made cupcakes for two separate events in the last 48 hours prior to that, but I didn't want to tell her no so we made more cupcakes. We had some leftover frosting from the other events' cupcakes and we used that as a jumping off point to decide what kind of cupcakes to make. After a couple of failed suggestions because I didn't have specific ingredients (limes or coconut milk) Agnes came up with lemon strawberry coconut cupcakes. We gave a plate of them away and got rave reviews, which was comforting because I was concerned with the amount of different flavors we were using. I should have taken a better picture, but again, I didn't know if they were going to work, so I only took the one picture.

Lemon Strawberry Coconut Cupcakes

I adapted Lizzy Early's lemon blackberry cupcake recipe found here.

Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix

1/3 C. oil or melted butter

3 eggs

zest of 2 lemons

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup freeze dried strawberries

Glaze
zest of half a lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Frosting
1/2 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1 cup heavy cream
Toasted coconut, sliced strawberries and sanding sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F. For the cupcakes, put all the ingredients except the strawberries in a mixing bowl and blend together for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes. Stir in the strawberries. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into baked cupcake comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool. Meanwhile, stir glaze ingredients together. When cupcakes are cool to the touch, spread about 1 teaspoon of glaze over the top of the cupcake.

Frosting
Beat butter and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl for 3 minutes. Mix in coconut extract. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and whip until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whip cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese frosting until blended well. Frost cupcakes and top with toasted coconut. Dip strawberry slice in the lemon glaze and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Add another dollop of frosting and top with glazed strawberry.

Piña Colada Cupcake

I had a missionary reunion a couple weeks ago. It was so great to see some of the people I worked with from April 2012 to 2014. I was assigned to bring salad, but that was boring so I brought cupcakes, of course (I'm a rebel). It was a good thing I did because so many people asked when they saw me if I brought cupcakes! The next morning I needed more cupcakes for a Relief Society event I was teaching, and after Laura tasted a cupcake I took to the reunion, she made suggestions on how I could make the cupcake taste better. I followed her suggestions and this was the result.

I realized that particular pineapple slice looked a little weary, so we bought a whole new one. 

Cute, but then my friend scouted out some umbrellas for me which made them super cute! 

Here are my cupcakes at the reunion. I didn't get a picture of the new and improved version after Laura made her suggestions, but they would have looked the same anyway. They just tasted better.

Piña Colada Cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup crushed pineapple with juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, add the melted butter and pineapple with juice. Stir to cool the butter before adding the eggs. When butter is cooled enough, add the eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream and stir to combine. Add the cake mix and mix until incorporated. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick tests clean.
Frosting
1/2 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
Toasted coconut, maraschino cherries and pineapple slices for garnishing
Beat butter and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl for 3 minutes. Mix in coconut extract. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time and whip until light and fluffy.
Frost cupcakes, sprinkle with toasted coconut and top with a maraschino cherry. Insert a toothpick into the pineapple slice and stick it into the edge of the cupcake. Top with a festive umbrella, if you have some on hand!

June's Cupcakes, Light Versus Dark

I made cupcakes for Relief Society's June meeting. No surprise there. The hardest part is always deciding what flavor to make. I know some people don't like chocolate, so I when I know I'm making something chocolate, I try to offer a second choice. I was told they were both really good, and I have one person who has been waiting for me to post the recipes, so here they are. 

It gave me another reason to use my new ladder display that we (Bud, Laura and I) made last month. I'm loving that thing!

Forgive the off-balance display of the cupcakes. One container of chocolate cupcakes tipped over and were no longer presentable, so we were a little lopsided on how the remainder were arranged on the stand. None of the cupcake recipes are original, so I will just link you to where I found them. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes, by Lizzy Mae Early (Your Cup of Cake), found here. The only thing I did differently was to drizzle some leftover peanut butter ganache over the top of the cupcake and used a regular chocolate frosting instead of the peanut butter frosting. 

Chocolate Frosting (this may or may not have been the frosting I used. Sorry if it is not!)

1 lb. powdered sugar (that's about 4 cups or so)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Beat the butter and cocoa powder in a standing mixer until mixed well. Add powdered sugar a cup at a time until you've added it all. Slowly add in the cream and beat for about five minutes until it is smooth. 

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, again by Lizzy Mae Early, found here. 

After I made the cupcakes (I only put in the zest of one lemon instead of two, but I did use 1/4 cup lemon juice as directed), I cored out the center of the cupcakes and added a dollop of lemon curd from Leigh Anne Wilkes (Your Homebased Mom), found here. I replaced the top of the cored-out cupcake and frosted it with OBB's strawberry cream, found here, then added half of a strawberry to the top. 

That's pretty much it! If you tried one, I hope you liked it. If you didn't try one, you should have come to the Relief Society extra meeting! 

A Double Birthday Celebration

On Friday, June 3, my mom turned 85. We were supposed to have a party for my step father in May when he turned 95, but it was postponed because my mom had a 24 hour bug. Laura and I made a few desserts for the party. I baked everything and she did almost all the decorating. Her skills far and away outshine mine. 

Walt and Mom were given leis by my mom's sister, and my niece, Amy, had the very same idea, so my mom is wearing two leis! 

Here's the dessert table-

Mom was happy with how everything turned out. Here are a few close-up pictures of what we made. 

The cupcakes were supposed to be stuck into a styrofoam ball which had been glued to a clay flowerpot, but it was so warm that the cupcakes wouldn't hold onto the toothpicks, so because I didn't have enough time (traffic was miserable and it took twice as much time to drive there as it normally does) to go to plan B, which was to add frosting to the ball as a glue, I gave up on that idea and just set the cupcakes on the little table stands. 

The flowerpots are holding Rice Krispies treats. The flowers were supposed to be on a stick and standing up in the silicone pot, but I didn't put enough treats inside the pots for a base, so they wouldn't stand up. After the party, I had to fish through the trash can to find two of my little pots that had been thrown away. Yikes!

Here's the premier for the ladder stand that I made with some assistance from Bud and Laura. It had been so long since I used my scroll saw that I forgot a few key elements, but eventually we got it all to work. I'm happy with how it turned out. I bought the little stands as separate pieces from The Wood Connection, then stained and glued them together. I forgot to bring the doilies I bought to put under the large cookies. I always forget something! 

The sunflower ganache balls were a little too delicate and I had trouble keeping the petals in tact when I tried to peel away the liner. 

The sugar cookies were the hit of the party. Laura's diligence in making the flowers which went on top of the cookies had everyone in awe.

These puff pastry shells were filled with whipped cream and topped with a raspberry-chocolate chip flower. We had a different plan for these guys too, but went with a time saving option instead.

Laura made and arranged the flowers for the six layer orange-flavored cake. At the base of the cake are mini lemon tarts with homemade lemon curd. We never cut the cake. Cheryl took it home. 

The cupcakes are filled with strawberry cream. I didn't try one on the night of the party, but the couple bites of scraps I tasted earlier in the day were yummy. 

So there you have it. My mom provided the appetizers on a separate table. I think the guests who came all had an enjoyable time. I know these kids had a good time! 

Cupcake Recipe found here at McGreevycakes.com. This is a great recipe to use when you need to doctor a mix. We used half of the recipe, using one cake mix. 

Strawberry Cream Filling for the cupcakes found here. Bonus on this one is you get the recipe for cream puffs as well as ganache. Thanks OBB girls!

Swig Sugar Cookies copycat recipe found here at the Idea Room. Please try to overlook her misspelling of tartar (as in cream of). The cookies are fabulous. 

Lemon Curd found here at Your Homebased Mom.

Ultimate Bakery-style Rice Krispies Treats found here on Brown Eyed Baker who adapted it from Cookies and Cups, but this is a double recipe which makes a ton. I've done the math for you in case you want to make a single batch. 

Ultimate Bakery-style Rice Krispies Treats- slightly adapted (half recipe)

5 T. unsalted butter (71 grams)

16 oz. bag of miniature marshmallows (453 grams), divided

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

6 cups (158 grams) Rice Krispies cereal

Line a 9x9-inch pan with parchment paper; set aside. In a large pan, melt the butter, then add 8 cups (340 grams) of marshmallows. Over low heat, stir until the marshmallows are melted, then remove from heat. Add the salt and vanilla extract. Stir in the Rice Krispies cereal and stir until they are well coated. Add the remaining marshmallows and stir briefly. Don't over-mix though. Pour mixture into prepared pan and press down lightly (don't compact it). When treats are cool, cut into bars. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 to 3 days. 

Happy birthday to Mom and Walt. I hope you had a fun party! 

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Burgers and Pasta Salad

It's got to be pretty spectacular to pull me out of non-blogging status to actually posting something anymore. I wish that wasn't the case. There have been times when I thought about something I've made and when I try to find it, I realize I never posted it, and then I have no clue where to look. Yesterday I made some hamburgers that were good, and today I made some pasta salad to go with the leftover hamburgers. Would you believe I got the inspiration for the burgers from the back of the Lipton box? True. As for the salad, I have a photo album category on my phone where I put recipes that I gather on the go. What I mean is that if I'm away from my house (and computer) and I see a recipe that looks good, I'll take a picture of it and it usually stays right in my phone and I never try it. Today was an exception, and I'm glad it was!

Lipton Onion Soup Burgers, adapted

2 lbs ground beef, 85% lean

1/2 cup greek yogurt

2 T mayonnaise (I used light)

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Gently mix everything together. Form into 8 patties. Grill or pan fry (I grilled!) until desired doneness. Top with cheese if you want. 

Pasta Salad  (adapted from centercutcook.com)

1 lb pasta of your choice (I used spiral pasta)

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 ribs celery, thinly sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped onion (optional; I opted out because I didn't have an onion)

4 to 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)

1/4 cup sugar

2 T apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried parsley

optional- chopped broccoli

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse under cool water until no longer hot. Drain well. While waiting for the pasta to cook, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, pepper and parsley. Stir in the red bell pepper, celery, onion and broccoli (if using). When the pasta is no longer warm, stir it into the dressing mixture. Gently stir in the cheese. Chill salad for about 30-60 minutes before serving. 

And now I'll be able to find these recipes again because they're posted! Good thing there was a little bit of leftover salad so I had something to use for my photo!