Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Hey everyone!

For The BF's birthday, I had him pick out a cake recipe for me to make for him for the celebration with his friends. He picked a recipe very similar to this, and I just took the idea and changed the method a bit to make it more user-friendly and simpler to follow. These cupcakes got rave reviews- they're delish. Below are the results!

Cream your fats, then add in the sugars. 

Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add your dry ingredients and the milk, alternating halves (see recipe).

Fold in your bacon (I used at least 1/3 cup or more, not 1/4 cup- however you want it!).

Your beautiful finished batter.

Spoon into about 9 greased cupcake liners.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

-4 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

-1/2-1 tablespoon solidified bacon drippings/fat

-5 tablespoons brown sugar

-1/4 cup maple syrup

-1 egg

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 1/4 cups flour

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 cup milk

-1/4 cup crispy fried minced bacon + more for topping (I used 8-10 strips total)

Cream the butter and bacon fat, then cream in the sugar and syrup. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and the milk, alternating (add 1/2 the dry ingredients, then mix, then 1/2 the milk, then mix, then the other 1/2 etc.).

Fold in the minced bacon.

Spoon into greased cupcake liners/muffin tin, about 2/3 full. Makes about 9 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Rotate the pan after 10 minutes.

Maple Icing

-1 tablespoon butter, softened

-approximately 1 cup powdered/confectioner's sugar

-1 tablespoon+ maple syrup

Cream together ingredients, adding more syrup or sugar until it is a spreadable consistency.

Ice the cupcakes fairly thinly- it's sweet icing. Then sprinkle or press more minced crispy bacon into the icing while still wet so that it sets in place when it dries.

Your baked cupcakes, finished icing (usual icing making process, I did not feel it needed pictures- just see another one of my posts with icing- all confectioner's sugar icings are pretty similar), and minced bacon.

Your finished cupcakes- YUM! Everyone loved these- go make them soon!

Savor it!
love, rue

Cookie Butter Cheesecake Bars

Hey everyone, this is an amazing recipe.

Have you ever had cookie butter? I hadn't until just a few months ago, and I just recently purchased my first jar, and it is amazing. Basically it's a spread made out of cookies, yumm. Biscoff makes a really good one, and that's the one I have. This recipe looks a little long and maybe even complicated but I promise that it's really actually very simple, a breeze to prepare, and the hardest part is waiting for them to cool and refrigerate so you can eat them! Let's get started.

Mix up your crust and press into the bottom of the pan, then bake it real quick.

Dump all cheesecake layer ingredients into a big bowl or your mixer bowl.

Once it's all creamed well, gently spoon and spread the cheesecake over the crust.

Cream the cream cheese and cookie butter, then mix in the sugar and egg for the swirl.

Here's the finished cookie-butter-swirl, and the cookie butter I used.

Dollop the swirl mixture onto the cheesecake layer, this is what we tried.

Then run a sharp knife up and down through the cookie butter mixture to make (hopefully) a pretty pattern- or take your own approach- it'll always taste good.

Cookie Butter Cheesecake Bars
Crust
-1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (or other cookie crumbs)
-3 tablespoons white sugar
-5 tablespoons melted butter
Cheesecake
-14 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1 egg + 1 egg yolk
-1 tablespoon flour
Swirl
-3 oz. cookie butter (Biscoff makes a great one)
-2 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
-2 tablespoons sugar
-1 egg, less 1-2 tablespoons
Mix Crust ingredients together, press into a greased and parchment-lined 7x11'' pan. Bake at 325 F for 8 minutes, let cool.
Cream all Cheesecake ingredients well. Gently spoon/spread evenly over the graham cracker crust.
Cream together all of the ingredients for the cookie butter Swirl, then spoon over the cheesecake, then drag a knife through the swirl to make it pretty- see my pics, or try your own method.
Bake at 325 F for 45-55 minutes, until a tester comes out pretty clean.
Let cool, then refrigerate for a few hours (2-3 at least).
Lift out by the parchment paper, and you can cut the bars cleanly on a cutting board, wiping the knife clean between cuts.

Here are the bars just out of the oven- just starting to brown at the edges.

And here is your final product, post cooling and waiting- delicious and beautiful cheesecake bars with an awesome twist- cookie butter. Yum!

Savor it!
love, rue

Basic Baked Brie

Hi there!

This is a super easy recipe, and it doesn't have too many pictures as a result of that- pretty much one-step assembly, then bake and eat. Delish. I've been eating this pretty much my whole life but hadn't made it in a while as brie is on the expensive side. But I was able to get some super on sale, so Jordan and I made baked brie- let's go!

Put your brie in a dish, and put your toppings, well, on top!

Basic Baked Brie
-brie
-brown sugar
-chopped pecans or other nut of your choosing
-optional: dried fruit of your choosing, chopped if it is larger than raisins
Put the brie in an oven safe dish, cover with toppings (as much or as little as you like) and bake at 325-350 for 8-10 minutes.
To be a little more advanced, you can cut the brie in half so that you can layer toppings in like filling between the layers of a cake.
This is perfect for eating on apple slices, but equally as good on a crusty bread.

Bake your brie and it will come out warm and gooey and cheesy and sweet and nutty and is PERFECT on apples or some nice crusty bread.

Savor it!
love, rue

Peanut Butter Microwave Cake

 Hi everyone,

This is another desperate-moment-uplifter of a recipe. Another super-simple cake to pop in your microwave and have in a matter of minutes- just when you need it. This is delish and tender (don't overcook!), and you can make it any way you like- add chocolate chips, reese's pieces, etc.- whatever you like. Then savor your moment of bliss!

Your arsenal- you probably have all the ingredients right now!

Put everything in a bowl except your add-ins and mix well.

Mix in your add-ins- I used chocolate chips and Reese's pieces.

I made a double batch and split it into three ramekins, as these microwave cakes can tend towards the larger side, and I didn't want the ramekins to overflow.

How the cakes look right after microwaving- a little spongy and moist, but done enough for me (I have heard warnings to be careful that the egg might not be completely cooked at this point so if you are super scared of raw eggs, I guess be forewarned).

And while you microwave your cakes, mix up the glaze- just a little milk and confectioner's sugar.

Peanut Butter Microwave Cake
-1 egg
-1 tablespoon brown sugar
-2 tablespoons peanut butter
-1 heaping tablespoon flour
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla
optional: 2 tablespoons chocolate chips, candy bits, etc.
-------
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon milk
Mix first 6 ingredients well. Add in chips or candy pieces etc. if using and stir well.
Pour mixture into a greased large (definitely large) ramekin, or split into two smaller ones.
Microwave for approximately 30 seconds, less for smaller ones and more powerful microwaves, and more for larger cakes and less powerful microwaves. Remember you can always cook it more, but not less.
Mix together confectioner's sugar and milk in a small dish or cup, and drizzle over the top of your "baked" cake, then enjoy!

Microwave your cake, make the icing, then pour int over the top- yumm!

And Jordan used Reese's pieces to make smiley faces on our cakes- why not?! They're so cute!

Savor it!
love, rue

Doughnut French Toast

Hi everyone,

I can't take credit for this idea, though I've had it, I didn't execute it. Jordan made this one happen. Last week, he went out and bought a bucket of doughnuts from Voodoo (which is a great deal if you ever want a huge bucket of doughnuts!! Yum), and it had a Giant Tex-Ass Challenge doughnut (the size of 6 of their regular doughnuts) in the bottom. Usually, these aren't too great if you get them a few days old, but it's perfect for turning into french toast. Jordan whipped up the egg mixture and fried it up and I'm just bringing it to you. Try it! Use any doughnut you want and top it how you like- make this your own, but try out this great idea!

Mix up your egg mixture: egg, milk, vanilla, cinnamon- simple simple.

Poke holes in the doughnut, then press around in the egg mixture.

Then start frying your doughnut!

Flip and fry the other side.

Doughnut French Toast
-1 Giant Doughnut (or several smaller ones) that has gone a little stale- cut in half if the thickness is over 1/2 inch
-1 egg
-1/3 cup approximately milk
-splash of vanilla
-sprinkle of cinnamon
Whisk together egg, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, adjusting to your liking.
Poke holes in the doughnut(s) with a fork, so that the egg mixture can seep in.
Soak the doughnut(s) in the egg mixture, then fry up to your liking in a pan in a bit of butter or a spray of oil.
Eat with whatever topping you like, though I find this does not need a lot in the sweetness department, starting out as a doughnut and all. Enjoy!

Take your doughnut out of the frying pan when it gets crisp on both sides.

This is delicious with a drizzle of maple syrup, but top it however you want!

Savor it!
love, rue