Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on by Miky Jo

Hey guys, welcome back! Another week has flown by and this week is a bonus week (I didn’t plan for it to be a bonus, but here we are). I’m making a two in one recipe, but I’ll explain that later. We are going to make Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. I’m super excited. So lets get started!

#PioneerWoman

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring (if your using liquid food coloring you will need more)
  • 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
  • 3 1/2 cups powder sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  2. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, and red food coloring.
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together for about 4 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add the oil and then cream it for 2 more minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat for two minutes, then add vanilla.
  4. Add half of the dry mixture and half of the butter milk mixture, mixing after each addition, until it is all added.
  5. Drop the batter in to cupcake liners in the pan and bake for about 16 to 19 minutes, don’t over bake.
  6. Let cool.
  7. To make frosting: In a bowl whip together butter, cream cheese, powder sugar and vanilla until smooth.
  8. Once the cupcakes are cooled put on the frosting. If you’re piping it on and don’t have a piping bag just use a plastic baggy. Cut a hole that’s not to big at the tip of it and pipe. I used a tip but if you don’t have a piping tip its ok, the hole at the end will work fine.
  • Make sure to add even amounts to each liner so they bake evenly.
  • Instant piping bag

Now, since I said this is a bonus week, let me explain why. I’m not sure why, but my cupcakes came out and were sunk in the middle! So frustrating! Possible reasons for this happening are, over mixing the batter, or opening the oven door too soon. But either way, I’m sitting here looking at a pan of ugly, caved in cupcakes!

Thankfully my advice from my last post about smothering mistakes in chocolate also works great with frosting! So really you could call it a blessing in disguise because now I can put extra frosting to hide my mistake. Yummy! They say “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, when life gives you dented cupcakes, fill in that dent with lots of frosting!” LOL

The finished product!

Some of the cupcakes were also getting stuck to the liners and the pan and I kinda broke them. What was I going to do with broken, mangled cupcakes?! I know! I’ll turn them into CakePops!! I saw a video on YouTube where someone did that with a messed up cake, so I thought I would try it.

BONUS Cake Pop Instructions

Take your extra frosting and crumble up the cupcakes in to it and stir in until it’s all mixed. I just added the crumbs to the icing bowl. No need to make extra dishes!

Then, using a tablespoon, scoop out some into your hand and roll into balls. Set them on a piece of parchment paper, on a cookie sheet.

Put them in the fridge for a while until they are cold so they don’t fall apart when you dip them. Once they are cold you can put in your sticks. We didn’t have any because I didn’t plan on making cake pops today. Thankfully my mom had some leftover tiny plastic forks from a bridal shower she threw for my Auntie. I used them and they worked great!

Then melt semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. Add some coconut oil because it will make the chocolate more silky and easier to dip without clumping up.

  • See how shiny the coconut oil makes it.

Pour the chocolate in a cup so that you can completely submerge the cake pops in the chocolate. Dip straight down into the chocolate and put them on a sheet of parchment paper. If you don’t want a pile of chocolate underneath them, make sure to wipe them on the edge of the cup before setting them down. You can also add sprinkles for a bit of fashion and flair.

  • I used a plastic cup so I didn’t have to wash out the chocolate.

And just like that we have a BONUS! I almost hope all my cupcakes have dents so I can make cake pops and use extra frosting again! LOL. Well that’s all for now. Thank you for reading! I hope you like this recipe and make sure you stay tuned for more favorite foods of a hummingbird.

Two for one BONUS!

Coconut Macaroons

Posted on by Miky Jo

Today we are going to make the best Coconut Macaroons and we have a very special guest, my Nana Lisa! I’m so excited because she loves these! I was trying to decide what to make and then I found out she was coming to visit for the week, so my choice was clear. I had to make one of her favorites. They are super easy and gluten free! So let’s get baking!

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 extra large egg whites (room temperature)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (iodized salt will work as well)
Don’t forget to use cute and fashionable measuring tools! #PioneerWoman

Instructions

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Add egg whites and salt to a medium bowl and beat on high until you have stiff peaks.
My beautiful Nana helping me today.
Stiff Peaks
  • Add coconut, condensed milk and vanilla to a large bowl and stir until completely mixed.
  • Add egg mixture and fold (be very careful and fold in gently, if you don’t or if you over fold it will take the air out of the egg whites you just whipped)
  • Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop coconut batter on the baking sheet.
  • Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more until cookies are fairly solid.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes , until golden brown.
Whoops!

Make sure you refrigerate them long enough before you bake them or they will spread out like this. You could even put them in the freezer for a bit if you’re short on time. They still taste great but aren’t as pretty when they do that. If it happens you could always use a biscuit cutter or knife and cut away the ugly parts (and then smother it in chocolate!!) There’s no better way to hide imperfections than smothering something in chocolate!

  • Let cool before serving.

Just when you think they couldn’t be any more delicious you can dip them in chocolate! To do that, melt semi sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. You can also use a microwave, but my mom taught me this way because it can burn easily in the microwave. I just used a stainless steel bowl over boiling water in our Pioneer Woman pan. Make sure you use a hot pad to hold the bowl because it will get hot and sometimes steam escapes and could burn you.

When the chocolate is melted and shiny, turn the heat off and dip the macaroons in it. You can dip as much or as little as you want. I decided to just dip the bottoms.

After you dip them, lay them on parchment paper and put them back in the fridge for about 15 minutes until the chocolate hardens. And just like that you have Chocolate Dipped Macaroons! YUM!

Now serve them up on a pretty plate. #PioneerWoman

Shout out and thanks to my Nana for helping me with this yummy dessert. I hope you love these and can’t wait to read your comment’s and see what you think about them. Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me to get post updates.

See you next week with a new delicious favorite food of a “Hummingbird”.

Delicious Black Bean Brownies

Posted on by Miky Jo

You are probably thinking “Black beans in brownies? That does not sound good! Why don’t you just get a delicious fudge brownie? But prepare to have your mind blown! These brownies are fudgy and rich and not too sweet or too bitter. They are perfect! Plus, they are healthier than normal brownies and naturally gluten free. If you use a dairy free chocolate chip they would also be vegan. So let’s start baking and change your mind about black beans forever!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup black beans (1 15 oz can drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
  • 2 TBS cocoa powder (10g)
  • 1/2 cup quick oats (40g)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey or agave (75g) (I used maple syrup)
  • pinch of uncut. stevia OR 2 TBS sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
  • 1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips
  • optional more chocolate chips for decor on top of brownies

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender will work if you absolutely have to but the texture and even the taste will be different so I highly recommend a food processor.)
  • Stir in chocolate chips and pour in a greased 8×8 pan. Mixture will be almost like a cookie dough and won’t ribbon in to the pan like regular brownie mix, so don’t think you did something wrong because you didn’t. Spread out the batter evenly in the bottom of the pan so it cooks evenly. If you have a serious chocolate addiction you can now sprinkle more chocolate chips on top. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you if you do. LOL
Ready to put in the oven
  • Cook the black bean brownies 15 to 18 minutes then wait 10 minutes before cutting.

Now all you have to do is enjoy. I hope you love these delicious black bean brownies!! Try serving one to a friend or family member without telling them what is in them and see their reaction after they’ve eaten them. They won’t believe you, but they will definitely want another brownie! Try these out and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading my blog and make sure to check back next week for another recipe of a favorite food of a “Hummingbird.” Don’t forget to follow me so that you get notifications when I post a new recipe.

Oatmeal Cookies With A Twist

Posted on by Miky Jo

This is my first blog, I’m super exited! Today I’m going to show you how to make new recipe I’ve never made before, “NESTLE Buncha Crunch Oatmeal Cookies.” Big shout out to my Nana for giving me the buncha crunch baking bits! My Nana is the Queen of deals! She found these baking bits on markdown for only $ .29! What a deal!

Cookies are one of my favorite things to make and one of the first things my parents taught me to cook. My favorite part of making cookies is enjoying a little bit of cookie dough (or a lot, depending on the day haha). I can’t wait to taste these cookies, so let’s start baking!

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 4 1/2 cups quick or old fashioned oats
  • 1 3/4 cups (8 oz pkg.) NESTLE BUNCHA CRUNCH Baking Bits

Directions:

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Next you need to measure out and combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Aren’t my Mom’s measuring cups cute?! They are part of her Pioneer Woman set (my Mom loves Pioneer Woman stuff, so you’ll probably see a lot of it throughout my posts), my Auntie and Uncle bought them for an anniversary present. I also used the matching measuring spoons but forgot to take a picture with them. Even when you’re cooking you should always have at least something fashionable & cute, right?!

Next, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl of a standing mixer until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Notice the knives in the background? LOL Another anniversary gift. #PioneerWoman

Next you need to gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and BUNCHA CRUNCH baking bits.

My favorite part has arrived!! Time to taste the cookie dough… YUM! It’s rich, creamy and delicious! Now, RESIST THE URGE TO EAT ALL THE DOUGH! Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Please excuse my ugly cookie sheet. Its been used A LOT!

Bake

Bake at 375 degrees F for 9 to 11 minutes or until very lightly browned. Don’t over bake them, if you do, they will lose their soft chewy texture. After baking, cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Depending on how much cookie dough you ate, this recipe should make about 5 1/2 dozen small cookies. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and can’t wait to hear what you think about it. I had so much fun making it. Stay tuned to my blog for more delicious recipes and favorite foods of a “Hummingbird”.

My First Blog Post

Posted on by Miky Jo

Welcome to my new “Hummingbird” Food Blog

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

I dedicate this blog to my Ada Mike. I love him and miss him very much!