Baked | Carrot Cupcakes w/ Browned Butter + Cream Cheese Frosting

Easter without carrot cake would be like Christmas with no egg nog. It's just not right! Everyone in my family loves Carrot Cake, so this year I decided to make these Carrot Cupcakes for my family's feast as they're easy to transport and look so pretty! I'm pretty picky when it comes to my favorite spring dessert - a lot of nuts, no pineapple and definitely no raisins! I tried my very best to frost the cupcakes like they do a Sprinkles...the key is to start with waayy too much frosting on top then wet an offset spatula with warm water to get a smooth dome shape.  I know it may be too late to make this recipe for Easter but I can guarantee these cupcakes will be a hit at any Spring celebration! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
Cake
1 pound carrots, finely grated
3 large eggs (room temperature)
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. canola oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1-2 c. chopped walnuts

Frosting
2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature)
16 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
dash of sea salt
3-4 c. powdered sugar

Garnish
chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cake. Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with parchment paper. Whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. (To grate carrots, use grater or food processor.)
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.

Distribute batter evenly between the cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely before icing.

Frosting. Place one stick of butter in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until butter is browned, about 5 minutes. Pour into small bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes to cool.

Once cooled, cream together browned butter, regular butter, and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla extract and salt. Mix. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix well between each addition. After 3 cups, taste to see if additional sugar is necessary.

Assembly. Make sure cakes are completely cooled before frosting. For the perfect Sprinkles 'dome' place a large scoop of frosting on the center of the cupcake, run an offset spatula under warm water to heat it up then twist the cupcake in your hand using a little pressure to push the frosting to the sides. Continue to rewet the spatula until you get a nice, smooth layer. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts if desired.

Refrigerate. Serve cake at room temperature.

photography and styling by kristin kerr luber for simply smitten / recipe modified from faux martha

Baked | Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ask any one of my friends what my go-to hostess gift is and they will tell you, homemade chocolate chip cookies.  It sounds boring but my friends and their boyfriends love them.  I've been using the same recipe for about eight years now (yikes) but last weekend I had some friends over and decided to switch things up a bit by making these nutella stuffed brown butter and sea salt chocolate chip cookies.  Holy motherload. These might as well be called The World's Best Cookies. Warm, gooey, chocolatey, sweet and salty....what more could you want in a dessert?   My life has been changed and yours will be too!  Enjoy!

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
2¼ cup all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup dark chocolate chips
½ milk chocolate chips
1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. To brown the butter, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Let cool for a few minutes before using.

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined.  Fold in all of the chocolate chips. Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld together.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll 1½ tablespoons of dough and flatten the dough to make a flat circle. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled Nutella in the middle then place another flat circle of cookie dough on top. Crimp edges to seal.

Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

recipe found on ambitious kitchen / photography by kristin kerr luber

Baked | Banana Walnut Cake

Why hello there!  Long time no see.  If feels good to be back after my week-long stint with the stomach flu.  Seven days of jello, applesauce and ginger ale left me craving something sweet....banana cake with chocolate frosting to be exact.  I actually hate bananas and most other fruits (more on that another time) but add a little sugar, butter and chocolate and I'm a happy camper! I have the post flu I can eat anything I want mentality right now so I'm pretty sure I'll be considering this my daily dose of fruit for the next few days. Yummy.

CAKE
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
11/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso or coffee powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature
2 cups banana puree (3 to 4 very ripe bananas)
11/4 cups walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
FROSTING
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso
10 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.

To make the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 11/2 teaspoons cinnamon, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the 1 cup butter and 11/2 cups  sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and instant espresso or coffee powder, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk and banana puree. Stir in the remaining flour mixture, then stir in the pecans or walnuts just until combined. Don't overmix. Divide the batter evenly among the 2 prepared pans. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the chocolate and coffee in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the 10 tablespoons butter until combined.

To assemble the cake, invert one cake onto a serving plate and peel off the parchment. Spread about 3/4 cup of the mocha frosting over the surface of the cake. Invert the second cake layer out of its pan, peel off the parchment, and place it over the frosted cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

recipe from bon appetite / photography by kristin kerr luber

Baked | Soft Pretzels

I made a batch of these delicious soft pretzels last week and let me tell you, living alone when you make a recipe this tasty is seriously dangerous!  Luckily my sister and I live in the same building (cute, right?) so I made her come down and take a bunch for her and her fiancé...the rest were devoured by me in less than 3 day!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cup warm water (temp between 110-115 degrees)
1 pkg Dry Yeast (check expiration)
2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
1 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
10 cups Water
2/3 cup Baking Soda
Toppings:
1/2 stick Butter, melted
Cinnamon + Sugar or Sea Salt for garnish


DIRECTIONS:
Sprinkle yeast and brown sugar over warm water in a mixing bowl, combine and wait about 5 minutes to make sure yeast activates. You want to make sure the yeast starts to bubble and foam before proceeding. Add flour, salt, melted butter and knead with an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Start on low to combine ingredients and then move up to medium speed. Knead until dough pulls away and is smooth in consistency (about 3-5 minutes). Once smooth, remove dough from the bowl, clean out the bowl and oil it with vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Once dough has risen, turn it out onto a slightly oiled work surface and using a pizza cutter divide into 10 equal pieces. One at a time roll into a skinny rope, make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. You can also make pretzel sticks and twists. Place onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pot. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds, then return to the baking sheet. Once you've done this for each pretzel, place them in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes or until dark golden brown in color. Remove them from oven, dip in melted butter and top with salt or dip into a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

The recipe sounds complicated but I promise you these pretzels are worth the effort!  Enjoy!

 photography by kristin kerr luber for simply smitten

Baked | Chocolate Peanut Butter Glob Cookies

Can you believe there's only a week until Christmas? Me, neither. This year I'm trying to simplify the holidays and focus a little less on gift buying and a little more on all the other traditions that make this such a magical time of year. One tradition that I look forward to every year is baking with my mom. When it's gray and chilly outside there is something so comforting about spending time in the kitchen, by a warm oven with the house smelling of chocolate, peppermint and cinnamon. There is also something so comforting about giving homemade treats to the ones you love. This year I've been busy baking my tried and true favorites along with a few new recipes - all which I plan to share with you in this week leading up to Christmas! Here is a glimpse of what I was up to in my kitchen this past weekend... 

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Peanut Butter Glob Cookies

6 TBS unsalted butter

12 oz semisweet chocolate chips

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

2 eggs 

1 TBS instant espresso powder {you can omit this and they are still TO DIE FOR} 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

3/4 c sugar 

1/3 c plus 1 TBS all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp kosher salt 

1 c whole walnut halves, not chopped 

1 c whole pecan halves, not chopped 

2/3 cup peanut butter chips, such as Reese's 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two backing sheets with parchment.

In a bowl set over simmering water, melt butter and 6 oz of the semisweet and all the unsweetened chocolate, until just melted. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat eggs, espresso powder, and vanilla until combined. Add the sugar, raise speed to med. high, and beat for 2 minutes (or longer), until the batter is thick and falls back on itself in a ribbon.   

With mixer on low, slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Combine 1/3 c flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and fold it into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. In another bowl, combine the walnuts, pecans, peanut butter and remaining chocolate chips, and 1 TBS flour and fold it into the chocolate mixture. With two soup spoon, drop rounded mounds of batter 1 inch apart onto prepared sheets. Bake 15 minutes exactly. Cool on baking sheets

(Photographs by Kristin Kerr for Simply Smitten)