Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

In all honesty, I made these because I made some more pumpkin cupcakes for dinner with my family and that left me with some leftover pumpkin puree. And also because I love chocolate chip everything.


And I'm going to keep this post super short because I've got to run back and finish baking, but if you have any pumpkin puree leftover from your Thanksgiving dinner, make these cookies. Seriously, I'm not a very big fan of pumpkin things, but these are probably my second favorite cookie that I make, right after my cranberry and dark chocolate oatmeal cookies.


The Ingredients (makes 1 dozen):
-1 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1/4 cup butter, softened
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 egg
-1/4 cup pumpkin puree
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup chocolate chips


The Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Then mix in the egg, puree and vanilla one at a time, mixing after each addition.
3. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be very sticky.
4. Drop the dough by the tbsp onto a lined baking sheet and flatten (like you would with oatmeal cookies) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Consume and enjoy!

Vegan Brownies

Another recipe for National Vegan Month! And another recipe proving that just because no animal products were used, it doesn't mean it's going to taste bad! I'm not vegan myself (obviously), but I don't like that people jump to the conclusion that just because something's vegan, it's going to taste terrible.


Anyway... these brownies are more cake-like than fudge-y, but they still have that rich chocolate-y goodness brownies are known for. Perfect with a cup of milk or soymilk!


The Ingredients:
-2 cups flour
-2 cups unbleached cane sugar
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-1 cup water
-1 cup vegetable oil
-1 tsp vanilla extract


The Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease (make sure to keep it vegan!) and flour your baking pan.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt together.
3. Pour in the water, oil and vanilla and mix will until well combined.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is no longer shiny. Rotate the pan halfway through to ensure even baking.
5. Allow to cool completely, then run a knife along the sides and flip out onto a cutting board. Cut into squares.
6. Consume and enjoy!

November's Cupcake Of The Month: Super Chocolate-y Vegan Cupcakes

Oi, almost another month gone already. All this time flying by has made me realize just how much I procrastinate. Seriously. My original plans for November were to get my hair cut, dye my hair again, bake two goods for National Vegan Month, catch up on reading, and respond to an invitation to meet up with a friend. So far, I've baked these cupcakes and kind of responded to the invitation. And by kind of, I mean, I told him the days I would be available in hopes that he would set a date because I'm indecisive as hell, but instead he said "whenever" is fine with him... Well, guess what, you can't spell "whenever" without "never" so I guess we can't be friends. Just kidding, I'll see him in a couple of weeks. 


But anyway, with Thanksgiving less than a week away, the holiday season is upon us! And for all of you Game of Thrones fans out there, winter is coming! So make sure to come back soon to check for more holiday-inspired goodies. And if you love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, be sure to visit before Thanksgiving!


Now, finally, on to the cupcakes. You would never be able to guess that they're vegan just by tasting them. They're super moist and the super easy frosting makes them the perfect little animal product-free treat. Since I don't have a vegan recipe of my own, I borrowed this one from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World," written by two wonderful vegan bakers. And if cupcakes aren't your thing, they have other vegan cookbooks as well, including "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar" and "Vegan Pie In The Sky". Hope you enjoy these as much as I did! 


The Ingredients (makes 1 dozen):
For the cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World):
-1 cup plain soy milk
-1 tsp apple cider vinegar
-1/2 cup unbleached cane sugar
-1/3 cup canola oil
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup all purpose flour
-1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-a pinch of salt
For the frosting:
-1/4 cup unbleached cane sugar
-1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-about 1/3 cup warm water


The Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your cupcake pan.
2. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside to allow it to curdle.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla to the soy milk and beat until foamy. Then add the dry ingredients in increments, mixing until smooth and combined and scraping the bowl between each addition.
5. Fill cupcake cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
6. Combine the sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and whisk in a tablespoon of water at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Stir until smooth. If you're having trouble getting the sugar to dissolve completely, you can stir the mixture over a pot of simmering water.
7. Frost your cupcakes.
8. Consume and enjoy!

Jordan, my assistant for the day, picking out his reward

October's Cupcake Of The Month: Pumpkin Cupcakes

It's finally starting to feel like autumn now! Well, at least where I live. Last week, we had our first rain of the season, and after so many months of 90+ temperatures, it was really nice to be able to put on a jacket and a scarf. I didn't really appreciate that it rained two days after I washed my car though... but that always happens to me, so I don't really know why I'm surprised anymore.

In other news, I start my volunteer work with Reading Partners tomorrow! It's a program in California, New York, and Washington, D.C. that offers free tutoring to elementary school children who are behind in reading or are reading below grade level. I'm going to be tutoring twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, and I'm so excited! I have two students and I'm going to meet both of them this week. I'll only be spending an hour a day though so that means I'll only see each student once a week. But hopefully, my time spent with them will make a small difference. 

Anyway...

These cupcakes came out way better than I expected. They were moist and soft, even after spending a night in the fridge! And they smelled heavenly while they were baking. The cream cheese frosting that I made to go with it paired perfectly too. Sweet cinnamon with a slight tang from the cream cheese, and then this rich spicy goodness from the cake. Mmm... autumn at its finest.

The Ingredients (makes about 2 dozen):

For the cupcakes:

-2 cups flour
-3 tsp baking powder
-2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-2 cups sugar

-1 1/4 cups plus 1 tbsp vegetable oil

-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 cups pumpkin puree

-4 eggs

For the frosting:

-16 oz cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-2 cups powdered sugar, or to taste, sifted
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp ground cinnamon

The Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your muffin pan.

2. Sift together the flour, powder, soda, salt, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon and set aside.

3. Combine the oil and sugar in your mixing bowl. Blend in the vanilla and pumpkin. Then the eggs one at a time.

4. Add in the dry ingredients in increments, thoroughly mixing and scraping the bowl between each addition. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Rotate the pans halfway through to ensure even baking. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

5. Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth and combined. Mix in the vanilla and then slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, add in the sugar. Then add the cinnamon.

6. Frost cupcakes and garnish.

7. Consume and enjoy!

September's Cupcake Of The Month: cà phê đá (Vietnamese Coffee)

I can't believe it's the end of September already! It's crazy how fast time is flying by. Since my last recipe post in August, I've been busier than ever with school, babysitting and trying to keep up a social life so it was nice to finally be able to take some time out this weekend and not think about anything else but the recipe at hand. 


Now, it's been quite a while since I've attended school full time, so this fall was definitely a big change for me. At first, it was a little difficult keeping my dates for appointments and such in order, especially since I have the worst habit of never writing anything down or forgetting to write things down by the time I have a chance. I started mixing up dates or forgetting certain details, which at the end of August, completely threw me for a loop.


Someone had ordered a dozen and a half cupcakes from me for the first weekend of September but somehow when I went back to write it in my calendar, I wrote them down for the last weekend of August! And I didn't realize my mistake until I was standing there in my kitchen, with all the cupcakes ready to be frosted. Needless to say, I was pretty mad at myself. Mad that I had written down the wrong date, mad that I had gone so far into the cupcake-making process before realizing my mistake, and mad that I now had two dozen cupcakes to find homes for (which is actually harder than you'd think). Luckily, I know some of the most awesome people in the world who graciously ate multiple cupcakes just for me. 


Now to find people to eat these...


Overall, these cupcakes weren't bad, but they could have been better. As you could probably tell from the title of this recipe, these cupcakes were inspired by Vietnamese coffee. Unfortunately, they lacked that strong, distinct coffee flavor. That was mostly my fault, though, because I was lazy and used normal coffee instead of espresso or Cafe du Monde coffee. But if you don't have either of those on hand, I'd strongly recommend making some of the coffee syrup from my tiramisu cupcakes and doing the same thing I did in that recipe. The cupcakes also came out really fluffy, which I like, but they were also dry, so I added a tbsp of oil to the recipe below.


And again, I have no process pictures. I have this other bad habit of getting bored very easily. After about the hundredth time of taking pictures of the same thing (i.e. the batter making process), it starts to become repetitive, and not to mention, very time consuming. So I've decided that the only process pictures I will be taking now will be of techniques or steps I've never mentioned before, unless I have extra time and the steps aren't time sensitive.


Anyway, I hope you enjoy this recipe and of course, if there are any questions about this or any other recipe, past, present, or future, feel free to email me! I will be more than happy to answer them!


But seriously, the next time you're making Vietnamese coffee (or even just normal coffee) at home, try Cafe du Monde. You won't be disappointed.

The Ingredients (makes about one dozen):

For the cupcakes:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-3/4 cup sugar

-1 1/2 cup flour

-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/8 tsp salt
-3 eggs
-1 tbsp vegetable oil
-3/4 tsp vanilla
-3/4 cup espresso or very, very, very strong coffee

For the frosting:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

-1/2 cup vegetable shortening

-1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, or to taste
-2 tsp vanilla
-pinch of salt

The Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your muffin pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl and set aside.

4. Add eggs, vanilla and oil one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.

5. Add 1/3 of the dry to the wet, then 1/2 the espresso and alternate until you run out of both. Make sure to mix thoroughly and scrape the bowl, especially after adding the dry ingredients.

6. Once batter is smooth, bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

7. Cream the butter and shortening until well combined.

8. Slowly add in the condensed milk, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make sure nothing settles at the bottom.

9. Once the buttercream is sweet enough to your tastes, stir in the vanilla and salt.

10. Consume and enjoy!