Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting! {and AN AWARD!!!!}

First of all, I am soooooo sorry about my lack of posting!
It gets that way after having such a busy-bee life!
Anyways...

 I was given my first every blogging award by Rebecca from Just Me....
YAY!

Thanks so much Rebecca!

Along with the award, I get to choose some of my OWN followers

 for the award and say seven random things about me... 

{if you receive this award, you'll have to do the same!}

So here goes it...(;

1} I love hello-kitty.

2} I'm totally craving muffins right now.

3} I'm on the worship team at my youth group.

4} I hate{x5000} the color black.

5} This is my first award.

6} My favorite fruit is a banana.

7} I am Type 1 Diabetic

The followers of my choice:

Sierra from Keep Growing Beautiful...

Emily from The Nerve of Verve

Pie from Pie-News

Book Blogger from Baker's Corner

Now for the recipe...

This was my first time EVER making a cake IN MY LIFE! 

I made it for my mom for her birthday, so I received no help...

And I was actually pretty surprised at how well it turned out!

The cake was so yummy and moist, you wouldn't believe it was homemade!

In the middle, along with the frosting, I chopped up some of that extra halloween candy 
I had laying around

{Reese's and Butterfinger}... 

Hopefully I'll have another opportunity to make a cake again soon(:

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. 2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. 3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 
4.  10 to 12 servings. 
5. VARIATIONS: 
6. ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. 
7. THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. 
8. BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. 
9. Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

10. Ingredients

11. • 1/2 cup butter, softened
12. • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
13. • 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
14. • 2 cups confectioners' sugar

15. • Directions

      1. Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Enjoy!!!!!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

I made these on Wednesday... {as in LAST Wednesday...}

But didn't get around to uploading the photos and posting until now...
Mostly because of my super busyness and also because I had that
ISSUE where I couldn't find my pictures again!!!
I have TONS of blogging to catch up on that I will HOPEFULLY be able to get
around to posting soon...
:P
Anyways...

I just LOVE the combination of white chocolate and cranberries! 

Sweet and tart! Enjoy(:

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
3 tbsp. butter, melted
2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. sour cream
1 c. frozen or fresh cranberries {or 1/2 c. dried}
1/2 c. white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray 16 muffin cups with baking spray containing flour; set aside.
In small bowl, combine walnuts, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. flour, and 3 tbsp. of butter and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour, 1/4 c. brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and mix with wire whisk. In medium bowl, combine eggs, oil, and sour cream and beat with a whisk until smooth and blended. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and mix until combined.
Add cranberries and white chocolate chips. Stir until blended.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; sprinkle each with some of the brown sugar mixture.
Bake for 20-25 until muffins are brown and firm when touched with finger.
Let cool in muffin tins for 3-4 minutes, then carefully remove to wire racks to cool.
Serve warm. Makes 16 muffins.

Yummly, crumbly muffins-

Halloween {Pictures}

Hey everyone!

Well,  I'm sorry I didn't get around to posting the pictures yesterday... I guess I never got around to it. I'm sure some of you know how that goes!(; Anyways, here they are!

This is our pumpkin display... Can you guess which one is mine?!

... Way easier {and less dangerous} than cutting it!

I was irritated... I can't exactly remember why... Possibly because

my dad was taking pictures of me while I was trying to get my shoes on. 

My BESTEST FRIEND ABBY!, me, my brother Davis, and my other brother Henry!

NERD ALERT! 

The other little kiddos are Camilla {the tootsie roll} and Gabriel {the puppy dog!} 

I hope you all had a happy halloween! 

Happy Halloween!!!!

Every Halloween, our family dresses up, goes trick-or-treating,carves, pumpkins, and most

importantly- eats lots of candy!(;

We still haven't done our pumpkins yet, but don't worry... They'll be 

done this afternoon! And as far as trick-or-treating and dressing up 

goes, me and my friend are dressing up as nerds! 

{and no not the candy like I was asked at the dentist this morning... More of the hiked-up pants, braces, and big glasses kind!}

The pictures, I will for sure post tomorrow! 

I know a lot of people don't like Halloween because of the icky origins and stuff...

But no, I don't go dressing up with blood dripping down my face and looking dead. 

I try to stick with the cute "puppy and princess" sort of costumes... lol(:

So what are your plans for tonight?

I would love to hear!(:

We have a guest!

Hey everyone! I'm super excited- we have another guest!!!!!! This time, it's Book Blogger from Life... The Way I See It! Thanks so much for doing this!! And the timing was just fine(;

Hello everyone! When Sophie asked me to guest post on her blog, I was really excited! Just to let you know, I'm not too good at this whole guest post thing, but I'll do my best. :)

This is me.

The horse's name is Pride, but he isn't mine. He's my friend's friend's horse. :)

I'm a cook, a musician, a writer, a read, and a lover of life and God.

I am attempting to write a novel (my second one!!!)....

...when I grow up I'm going to be a musician...

...I am majorly picky about spelling and grammar...

 

...I love, love, love my camera...

...and I love to bake.

Here is one of my favourite recipes, for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes! 

Sorry about the pictures. I'm not much of a photographer. 

Here. I'll just get all the pictures over with first, and then you can scroll to the bottom for the recipe.

So, basically what you do, is make chocolate chip cookie dough into balls and freeze it overnight.
Here are mine.

Then you make cupcake batter, and stick the frozen balls into the batter.
Like so...

 Now bake them. Mmm....

Iced and sprinkled with chocolate chips....

The finished product. Doesn't that cookie dough in the middle look scrumptious?

For the cookie dough:
2 sticks softened butter (one stick is 1/4 of a cup)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
3 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
3 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the cookie dough, combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Beat in the flour and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a 1.5 tbsp scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes. Freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight.

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla.

Using a 3 tbsp scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.

To make the frosting, combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips!

Makes 24 cupcakes.

*   *   * 

Thanks again, Sophie! :-) 

AWESOME! Those cuppy-cakes look super yummy! I might just have to try them... 

And Book Blogger- Great job! Thanks SOOOO MUCH for doing this... I'm glad you did!

Well guys... I guess that's it! Thanks so much for reading!

Apple Spice Cookies!

I made these guys last night... Super yummy!!! 

They weren't ooey-gooey like some cookies are, 

but they were more soft and cakey, making them sort of different. 

I loved them and I think everyone else did as well(:

1 c. AP flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. unsalted butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce 

{I used some delicious homemade stuff my mom made!}

1/2 c. raisins 

{I used craisins as well as some walnuts.}

1. Heat oven to 375ºF

2. Sift flour, salt, and spices together.

3. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla extract.

4. Stir baking soda into applesauce and combine with creamed mixture.

5. Gradually mix in sifted dry ingredients, stir in nuts and raisins.

6. Drop by tablespoons full 2 or 3 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until done. 

Beauty Tips {Audrey Hepburn Style!}

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,  reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.


The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the  figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

. 

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139:14

I found this on a blog a couple days ago and thought it was super cute...(:

Hope you found it encouraging!

♥