Happy Fall!

Happy 1st day of Fall! Although it's a bit warmer than normal, I thought I would post a cupcake recipe that reflected the flavor of fall, Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple frosting. They smell and taste just like fall. I love these cupcakes because they are super moist and have a flavor combination that just tastes perfect together. Enjoy :o)

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin (not the flavored pie filling)

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ vegetable oil

1.) Preheat oven to 350°. Line 12 muffin cups with paper baking cups.

2.) In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, sugars, and oil. Add flour mixture and stir until combined.

3.) Divide batter evenly among liners and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

Meanwhile, make:

Maple Frosting

6 oz. cream cheese

3 Tbsp. butter, softened

¼ tsp. maple flavoring

½ tsp. vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

chopped Heath candy bars

1.) In a bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together. Add maple and vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar.

2.) Spread over cupcakes and top with chopped heath candy bars.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Tonight's dinner was Baked Chicken Parmesan...a much healthier version compared to what you would get out at a restaurant. Instead of pan frying the chicken, I baked it. It turned out very crispy thanks to the Panko breadcrumbs. If you've never cooked with panko breadcrumbs you should try them. They really do make everything much crispier! This is super easy and I will definitely be making this again soon :o) Here is the recipe:

Baked Chicken Parmesan

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp garlic salt

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. cayenne pepper, optional (if you like an extra kick!)

salt and pepper to taste

4 chicken breasts

1 cup milk

1 box spaghetti

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1.) Preheat oven to 400°.

2.) In a shallow glass dish combine bread crumbs, parmesan, and spices.

3.) Dip chicken into milk and then coat with bread crumb mixtures.

4.) Bake for 20-25 minutes.

-While chicken is baking, cook spaghetti according to package directions and heat up spaghetti sauce.

-When chicken is done, serve over top of spaghetti and top with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Enjoy :o)

Mocha Truffle Cupcakes

So today I was in the mood for something chocolate (surprise, surprise!) And you can't have chocolate without coffee, so I thought.."Hmmm..I wonder if I could create a coffee and chocolate cupcake" and here's what I came up with! I highly recommend them if you are a coffee lover like me. They taste a little like tiramisu..and there is a sweet surprise in the middle :o) Enjoy!

Mocha Truffle Cupcakes

For the chocolate cupcakes:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup cocoa

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

½ cup oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1.) Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add boiling water and beat until combined. Note: Mixture will be runny!

2.) Evenly pour batter into 24 cupcake liners

3.) Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

For Ganache:

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp butter

1 ½ cup chocolate chips

1.) In small sauce pan, heat heavy cream and butter on medium heat. Stir constantly. When small bubbles appear turn off heat and add chocolate chips. Let sit for about 30 seconds, then whisk until smooth. Let cool.

For Icing:

1 large container cool whip, thawed

1 tsp vanilla

4 tsp. instant coffee

1.) Dissolve coffee into vanilla. This will make a paste.

2.) Gently fold in vanilla coffee paste.

To assemble- Pour ganache into an old fashioned ketchup container and squeeze an even amount into each cupcake. Top with icing. If you want to decorate them, dust with cocoa and top with a coffee bean.

Jalapeno and Cheddar Crusted Chicken

Ok, so here is my first recipe! We have a lot of chicken at our house and I wanted to try something new and different. I really like jalapenos, and was in the mood for something cheesy, so this was born. Let me know what you think!

Jalapeno & Cheddar Crusted Chicken

4 chicken breasts, cut into tenders

1 ½ cups milk

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1 cup crushed yellow corn tortilla chips

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 jalapenos, finely chopped, remove seeds if you want less heat

1 Tablespoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon chili lime powder

1 Tablespoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1.) Preheat oven to 350°.

2.) In medium bowl, combine chicken and milk and let marinate for 15-20 minutes.

3.) While letting chicken marinate, in a medium pan, combine breadcrumbs, tortilla chips, seasonings, jalapenos, and 1 cup cheddar cheese.

4.) Remove chicken tenders from milk and coat each chicken tender with breadcrumb mixture.

5.) Place tenders onto greased 9x13 pan. Drizzle chicken tenders with melted butter.

6.) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

7.) When chicken is done, sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese on top and let melt.

*This dish is wonderful served with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots and broccoli.

Created by popular demand...

Hello everyone! I have officially decided to start a blog about sweets, treats, and other yummy creations. I have had this idea for a while, and after a lot of recipe requests and encouragement, I have realized it's now time run with it! I hope you enjoy all of the recipes. Please leave comments and give me some new and fun ideas to try. I would love to have your feedback! Thanks for reading :o)