Irish Cream Brownies

For the final boozy cookie of July, I made Irish Cream Brownies. Now Irish Cream smells so irresistible that it seems a shame to do anything but drink it straight, but I promise you that these are worth it. These start with an Irish Cream-infused saucepan brownie and end with a creamy Irish Cream frosting. What could be better? Not much I think.

This brownie recipe is from a cookbook of recipes from food manufacturers. Given the number of recipes in this book that contain Kahlua, Irish Cream, and vodka, I imagine that the distillers submitted them to be included. This book also contains Black Russian Brownies, which I didn’t have time to make this month, but I’ve made them before and they are quite unique as they contain a sizable amount of ground black pepper. There are a handful of cookie recipes that contain pepper, but it’s still an unusual baking ingredient.

The recipe here is the original recipe doubled. These are rich so you don’t want to cut them too big. If you don’t have somewhere to take them, you may want to cut this recipe in half and bake them in an 8” square pan. I’ve really enjoyed baking with a theme this month, and I’m thinking about doing it again. What do you think? Did you like the theme? What other themes of cookies would you like me to try? Let me know in your comments!

Irish Cream Brownies

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
½ cup Irish Cream liqueur
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup Irish Cream liqueur
3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and grease the foil.

In a large saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly. Stir in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. Whisk in the Irish Cream. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and then add this to the chocolate mixture, whisking until completely combined. Spread in the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the center is set. Cool before frosting.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Stir in the Irish Cream. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Beat until smooth. If required, add more powdered sugar to get frosting to the desired consistency. Spread the frosting on the cooled bars. Refrigerate for one hour before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Favorite Brand Name Cookie Collection

Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Steph of A Whisk and A Spoon. She chose Creamy Dark Chocolate Sorbet. Now, I’m not that big of fan of making ice cream, mainly because I don’t have an ice cream maker. Plus, I knew I was going to be out of town for the weekend and I wasn’t sure that I’d really have the time to make this. But I looked at the recipe and it looked so simple and I did have the ingredients on hand, so I decided to give it a shot. You can get the complete recipe for this sorbet on Steph’s blog.

The dictionary defines sorbet as a “usually a fruit-flavored ice.” This isn’t fruit-flavor, but flavored instead with bittersweet chocolate. Instead of making an egg custard, you just combine water, sugar, milk and chocolate. I wanted to spice it up a bit so I also added hazelnut extract to the mixture. Other flavors would be good, too, but I am partial to the chocolate hazelnut combination (so much so that it has its own tag in my blog!)

This was super simple to make, but as I have to use David Lebovitz’s freeze and stir method, this takes hours to get to ice cream-like consistency. After 4 hours of freezing and stirring, I decided to call it “good enough” and let it freeze before serving it the next day. It still was somewhat soft and very scoop-able after freezing overnight. The flavor of this is unexpectedly good. My husband said “fudgesicle” which is fairly close. The texture is really nice and the chocolate shines through. You can just pick up the faintest hint of hazelnut. For something that I wasn’t going to make, this recipe turned out to be a delightful surprise.

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 431

Ginger Blackberry Buckle

Growing up, the house I lived in had lots of blueberry bushes in the backyard. We had lots of blueberries around and I can recall having all sorts of crisps, slumps, buckles, etc. growing up. I was sure that I had had blueberry buckle before, but I don’t recall that it was quite like this recipe. I saw this recipe on The Novice Chef and it looked so good that I wanted to try it as soon as possible.

After making the Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Jam Buttercream, I had blackberries left over. I figured that this buckle would work with any sort of berries, so I thought I would give this a shot. My berries were so enormous that I had to cut them in half. In the spirit of trying to use up what I had on hand, I thought about what I could substitute for ginger. I had ground ginger and candied ginger around so I thought that it would work. The sweetness of the berries paired with the spiciness of ginger sounded really good to me.

This is a fairly simple cake and a crumb topping, which allow the berries to shine through. The blackberries in this were great, but I think that the ginger was the star here. It was especially good when you got a bite with the candied ginger. This cake also kept fairly well, which is a nice change from most fruit desserts that you have to serve right away. This cake would be perfect for breakfast, or serve it with ice cream for a fancier dessert. Any way you slice it, this is a great way to use up summer berries.

Ginger Blackberry Buckle

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup finely chopped candied ginger
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups blackberries, divided

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and ginger. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the mixture. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until it is reduced to the size of peas. Loosely cover the bowl, and place it in the freezer while you mix the cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and ground ginger. In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir the flour mixture into the bowl, a third at a time, alternating with the oil, until both the flour mixture and oil are evenly incorporated into the batter. Stir in the candied ginger. Gently fold 1 cup of the blackberries into the batter.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and distribute the remaining blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Remove the crumb topping from the freezer and sprinkle it over the berries.

Bake the cake until it is lightly golden and firm on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Recipe adapted from The Novice Chef

Chocolate Frangelico Crinkle Cookies

Look, it's another chocolate/hazelnut creation! I knew that in making boozy cookies this month, I was sure that I wanted to find a recipe using hazelnut liqueur: Frangelico. I came across this recipe which combined lots of chocolate and a good dose of Frangelico, and I knew it would be a winner.

This is an unusual dough, with very little sugar. Melted chocolate is the main component and before you chill it, you may have your doubts that it will come together as a cookie. It chilled up just fine and the cookies were easily formed, so I was worried for no good reason. I made the recipe as specified, with just one change: I used chopped hazelnuts instead of walnuts. I just couldn't figure out what on earth you'd add walnuts to a hazelnut cookie!

These cookies look a lot like other chocolate snowballs that you may be familiar with, but trust me, they stand alone. They are super chocolaty and not very sweet. I usually think that they powdered sugar that you roll the cookies in is just decorative, but in this case, that sugar adds a lot of the sweetness so don't skimp on the powdered sugar. These look about the same coming out of the oven as they do when they go in, so it's a bit hard to tell when they are done. I opted for cookies on the side of gooey and that was the right choice. If you're looking for a chocolate fix, these are the cookies for you.

Chocolate Frangelico Crinkle Cookies

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Frangelico liqueur
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup powdered sugar

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a double boiler, melt the chocolates with the butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, hazelnuts, Frangelico, and sugar. Stir in the flour mixture and chocolate mixture, dough will be loose. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into small balls and roll in the powdered sugar, coating generously. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are puffed and cracked but centers are still a bit soft. Transfer to racks and cool completely.

Recipe from Daydreamer Desserts

Coconut Scones

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was picked by Andrea of Andrea in the Kitchen. She chose Chestnut Scones, which are a twist on a traditional cream scone by adding chestnut flour to the mix. You can get the complete recipe on Andrea’s blog. You’ll notice that I made a variation of these scones and I’m sure that others did too, so make sure you check out the links from other bakers on the Tuesdays with Dorie site.

As soon as this recipe was announced, I was on the hunt for chestnut flour. Dorie notes that you’ll be able to find it at an Italian market. Well, I looked at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, the local organic co-op, and every grocery store imaginable and no luck. My husband and I were headed to Seattle and figured we’d check out the Italian market at Pike’s Place Market. I figured they would carry chestnut flour and they did, but at $14 a pound, it was just too expensive. I had already found coconut flour and figured I would use that if chestnut flour wasn’t available. It wasn’t quite as expensive and I figure that I can use coconut flour in many different baked goods!

These scones are basically a repeat of the cream scones recipe from last week, with slightly different ingredients. I wanted to change it up a bit and I had read that many of the bakers last week grated the butter into the flour mixture. I tried that and it worked ok, but I think my butter need to be colder (maybe even frozen). The dough seemed really dry and didn’t come together very easily. Not wanting to over mix, I made fairly rough looking scones. They taste pretty good and I like the coconut flavor that that coconut flour adds. They are a touch dry, but pretty perfect when served with pineapple preserves!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 34

Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Jam Buttercream

My friend at work just retired after over 25 years working in the library. While she’d already had her retirement party, I wanted to bring a cake for her last day of work. When I saw this cake, I knew that this was the one to make. It looked so decadent and yet so refined at the same time. I don’t see very many recipes with blackberries and since they grow so abundantly here, I was excited to give this cake a try. It seems very fancy and looks like it has many steps, but it is quite easy to put together.

The recipe I saw online used Bonne Maman blackberry jam, which happened to be on sale at the grocery store. I’m not sure that there are too many other varieties out there, but you could substitute any type of jam or preserves in the buttercream filling. The cake is the simplest one I think I have every made, easy as a cake mix: mix the dry ingredients and then add the liquids and stir. The cake came out of the oven and it just looked beautiful. It rose so high and it was perfectly rounded. I don’t think I have ever seen such a beautiful cake!

Both the filling and the frosting are simple, again just stirring together the ingredients. I filled the cake right away but let the frosting chill quite a bit before the final frosting of the cake. The frosting is quite soft and if you try to rush it, it will simply be too soft to work with. I added some rosettes on the top with some enormous fresh blackberries. It was picture perfect as a whole cake and when you cut in to the cake, you reveal the purple-pink blackberry filling. The folks at work were delighted. It turned out so well and I was happy to be able to share this with my friend on her last day at work. Happy Retirement!

Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Jam Buttercream

2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup hot water

I cup butter, softened
¾ cup blackberry jam
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups marshmallow cream
¾ teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment. Butter the parchment.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir on low to combine. Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, vegetable oil, vinegar and hot water and mix on medium until smooth. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes; remove the cakes from the pan and cool completely before frosting.

Make the blackberry buttercream filling: In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and the blackberry jam. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add the powdered sugar and stir until incorporated. Add additional powdered sugar if required to get to desired consistency.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and melted chocolate; stirring until smooth. Add the marshmallow cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar and stir until incorporated. Chill 20 minutes before assembling the cake.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cake plate. Top with the blackberry jam buttercream and then top with the second cake layer. Frost the top and sides with the chocolate cream frosting. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Always with Butter

Rum Raisin Shortbread

Week 3 of boozy cookies brings us rum raisin shortbread. They contain currants and not raisins, which I don’t think are the same but this reference librarian didn’t feel like doing the research. The notes in the cookbook say that currants are a variety of raisin, but I think they are a different fruit altogether. No matter, anything soaked overnight in rum is going to be good!

For some reason, these cookies make me think of buttered rum that you typically get around the holidays. The weekend after Thanksgiving my husband and I always stay in a hotel in downtown Seattle. Last year when we went the crowds were just a bit too much and we were both fairly grumpy. After trying several places for dinner and not wanting to wait forever, we ended up at the Nordstrom Grill and just had the most pleasant experience. They had buttered rum cocktails and boy, they were just what we needed that night. I now have quite a fondness for buttered rum (and the Nordstrom Grill).

At any rate, these cookies are flavored by the rum, the currants, and finely shredded coconut. You don’t really notice the coconut; in fact I could see the coconut most in the pictures I took than in the cookies themselves. I made these in advance and they were there waiting for me to slice and bake when I was ready; perfect for a busy schedule. I really liked the combination of flavors and was pleasantly surprised at how easy these were to make. A successful cookie all around!

Rum Raisin Shortbread

½ cup dark rum
1 cup currants
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
¾ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon salt

Combine rum and currants in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Allow to sit at room temperature overnight. Drain; reserving 2 tablespoons rum.

In a large mixer bowl, add butter, powdered sugar and lemon zest. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and the reserved rum, beat well. Reduce speed to low and add the flour, coconut, and salt. Stir in the currants by hand. Divide the dough into 2 halves; shape each half into a log about 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in parchment or waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Slice the cookies into ¼” slices and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes. (If baking more than one sheet at a time, rotate sheets half way through the baking time.) Cool completely on wire racks.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

One of the easiest ways to use up fresh strawberries is to make strawberry shortcake. I knew I wanted to make that with the strawberries that I bought at the farmer’s market, but I wanted to make it more special. I had seen this recipe on Katie’s blog So Tasty, So Yummy. I’ve followed her blog for a while now and I participate in a cooking forum that she’s a part of too. I was really excited to make something from her blog and I figured that this bread would be a perfect base for strawberry shortcake.

I’d made a strawberry quick bread many, many years ago, but I don’t recall too much about it. What I was interested in with this loaf is the cream cheese in the batter. Strawberries and cream are such a great pairing and I was hopeful that this would shine through in this bread. I think that it did with this bread. You could smell and taste the creaminess of this bread. It is fairly soft, so you have to be careful and let this cool completely before trying to slice it. It’s hard to be patient with this one!

This was absolutely the best base for strawberry shortcake that I’d ever had. You got the strawberries in two different ways, and it wasn’t dry like shortcake can be sometimes. Because of the strawberries in the bread, you do have to be careful because the do eventually spoil. Not that that is usually a problem in our house! Just plan to use this one up within 2-3 days. It tastes so good, that I’m sure that won’t be too much of a hardship!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups strawberries, rinsed, dried and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix. Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, cool before slicing.

Recipe from So Tasty, So Yummy

Cream Scones

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu. She chose cream scones, which are simply classic. You can get the complete recipe on Lynne’s blog, and while you’re there, make sure you check out her beautiful photographs. She’s a great photographer. Make sure you also visit the Tuesdays with Dorie site, and see the links for everyone’s interpretation of this week’s recipe.

I did change this recipe a bit, but only slightly. I wanted to make sure that I had the best ingredients for this one, since the recipe is so pure and simple. I splurged for the local heavy cream, the one that you have to pay a deposit on the glass bottle when you get it at the store. For the butter, I used some local butter purchased at the local farmer’s market. The butter was a compound butter, with orange zest and cranberries. I thought those would be perfect additions to the scones. Because of the cranberries in the butter, I omitted the currants.

I generally have good luck making scones, but I was worried that I might have handled these too much. The dough seemed a bit scraggly and didn’t come together. I made these in the evening and then refrigerated them overnight and baked them in the morning. They baked up just fine so I guess I was ok. These are simple but the flavors in the butter shine through. These have a wonderful texture and are crumbly and melt in your mouth. The cranberry orange butter was certainly the right choice and I’ll need to check out what other butters they sell at the farmer’s market!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 27

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

After buying a half flat of strawberries at the farmer’s market, I’ve been challenged to use them up before they spoil. Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries all freeze really well, but I prefer to use strawberries when they are fresh. I came across this recipe and thought it would be a perfect way to mix two flavors that I really love: strawberry and lemon.

These are just fancied-up lemon bars, but I love lemon bars and I don’t mind an excuse to make them again. This recipe has you mix the strawberry lemon filling in a food processor and I think that I usually do this by hand with a whisk. The topping got quite frothy and then the frothy part baked it wasn’t smooth on top. Just cover with a dusting of powdered sugar and they look great.

I love the pink topping set off by the sandy-colored crust. These bars cooled quickly, which always seems to take forever with regular lemon bars. The cut without too much problem and the crust was delicate but held the filling well. My husband said that “it’s like lemon curd, with the added zing of the strawberry.” Yum, these are really great and just perfect for summer.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup fresh lemon juice

2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

In a large mixer bowl, cream together the sugar and butter, beating until smooth and fluffy. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for about 17 minutes, until set at the edges.


While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. In a large food processor, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, strawberry puree, sugar and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder and salt, and then pulse until smooth.


Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set .
Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from The Baker Chick

Kahlua Mudslide Brownies

So for this second Friday of boozy cookies in July I decided to make Kahlua Mudslide brownies which have Kahlua, Irish Cream, and vodka. I’ve never had an actual Kahlua mudslide drink, but the brownies sure are good! This recipe comes from a cookbook that I’ve had for years and years, and it includes lots of recipes from different food manufacturers. I’ve made a lot of recipes from this book and the book shows it: it’s all splattered and dirty. Those are signs of a good cookbook!

The base of these is a fairly standard brownie recipe. They aren’t too gooey, so if you’re looking for a gooey brownie, these aren’t them. They have a very cakey texture, which I think is nice with the thin Kahlua glaze. One problem is that they dry out really fast, but with these, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about them lasting too long. I sent them to work with my husband and I think they were gone the next day.

Most of the alcohol bakes out of these, but not all of it so these are a bit boozy. I personally like that but if you’re avoiding alcohol, this wouldn’t be the right choice to make. I’ve actually made these many times, and they’re a great recipe that I keep coming back to. The cookbook also has a recipe for Black Russian brownies and Irish Cream brownies, which I might have a chance to make before the month is over.

Kahlua Mudslide Brownies

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons Kahlua
2 tablespoons Irish Cream
1 tablespoon vodka
¾ cup chopped pecans

1-1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons Kahlua
Milk, if required

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the microwave or in the top of a double boiler, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light. Beat in flour mixture, chocolate mixture, 4 tablespoons Kahlua, the Irish Cream, and the vodka. Fold in the nuts. Pour into the greased pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clear. Cool before glazing.

Make the glaze: combine the powdered sugar and the 3 tablespoons Kahlua. Stir until smooth. If required, add milk to thin. Spread over the cooled brownies. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Favorite Brand Name Cookie Collection

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was picked by Bridget of The Way the Cookie Crumbles. She chose chocolate chunk muffins. I love Bridget’s blog and I’ve been following her baking and cooking adventures for a really long time. I knew she would pick something great and she didn’t disappoint. You can get the entire recipe for the muffins on her blog. Don’t forget to check out the links from the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers; they always come up with some interesting variations.

With trying to use up product purchased at the farmer’s market this past weekend, I’ve been baking up a frenzy so I decided to make half a batch of the muffins. I doubled the amount of chocolate chunks, since some of the other bakers said there were far too few of those. With half the recipe, I still made 8 muffins, but I did feel they had a good amount of chunks in them. I think the chunks really made all the difference.

I paired these with some blackberry jelly that I had left over from making a cake, and it was very nice together. Cherry would be good, too, but I always end up with quarter jars of all these different preserves, jams, etc., so it was nice to use something I already had. I think the bites of the muffins without chunks were a little bland, but when you got a nice chocolate chunk it added sweetness. These muffins were quick and easy and made for a good excuse to have chocolate for breakfast!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 18

Lemon Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Happy 4th of July! I saw this recipe for strawberry buttercream on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and knew that I wanted to give it a try as soon as possible. I make so many cookies for work that I don’t want to go overboard and bring too many things, so I had to wait for the right occasion to use this buttercream. Plus, our weather in the Seattle area has been so bad that all produce is running late this year. I hadn’t really seen that many strawberries in the store any way.

At the end of each academic year, my library throws a potluck to thank all our student workers. Since I always bake, I usually make something savory for the potluck, but this time I knew I wanted to make something with this buttercream. I decided that the buttercream would pair well with lemon cupcakes, so I found a nice, simple lemon cupcake recipe and went to town. These cupcakes would also work well for a family barbeque.

I made mini cupcakes, so if you decide to make minis, I would cut the cupcake recipe in half. I think this made over 5 dozen mini cupcakes, which is way too many to deal with! They are great, with a buttery, crispy top and a tender interior. The buttercream is just incredible. It really does taste just like strawberries. I think the amount of powdered sugar you use will depend on how ripe the berries are and many other factors. I used 5 cups of powdered sugar and the buttercream was still quite soft. It firmed up after refrigeration, so that’s always an option to change the consistency. These were well received at the potluck and I think I need to make this buttercream again!

Lemon Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

3 large eggs
1 cup milk, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla
10 ounces flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Grated zest of 2 lemons (about 1 tablespoon)

1 cup butter, room temperature
4+ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line regular or mini muffin cups with cupcake liners. This makes 2 dozen regular cupcakes or 4+ dozen mini cupcakes.

In small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, a quarter of the milk, and the 2 teaspoons vanilla. In large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute to combine. Add the softened butter and remaining milk. Mix on low speed until combined. With mixer on medium-high speed, beat for a minute and a half. Beat in the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Stir in lemon zest by hand.

Using a cookie scoop, fill the baking cups ¾ full. Bake for about 20 to 24 minutes or until they are golden and test done with a toothpick. (Bake minis about 15-17 minutes.) Immediately remove from pans and cool on wire rack before frosting.

Make the buttercream: In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup powdered sugar on medium speed for 1 minute. Add vanilla and strawberries and beat for 1 minute. Adding 1 cup at a time, add the remaining powdered sugar. You may need more or less than 4 cups of powdered sugar depending on the consistency of the frosting you are going for. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream.

Cupcake recipe from Delightful Repast
Frosting recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Piña Colada Cookies

This July, I decided that I would pick a theme for all the Cookies on Friday. This month, I'll be making boozy cookies. I've been scouring the web and my cookbooks at home to find recipes that use different alcohols. Summer is a relaxing time and nothing says relaxation like a nice drink. Some cookies will be cookie variations of coctails, others will just include different alcohols. First up: Pina Colada Cookies.

I think I've only had one pina colada drink in my life, but I love the combination of coconut, pineapple, and rum. This recipe originally called for rum extract, and even that was optional! It can't be a pina colada without rum. I used dark rum from Rogue Distillery out of Oregon. You use pineapple in both the cookie and the glaze. These are a cakey cookie, topped with a light glaze and they are oh so good.

I think I glazed each batch of cookies a little differently. I started with a fairly thick glaze and thinned it down as I went. The cookies in the picture were from a batch in the middle, and I think I like that consistency the most. I took these cookies to two different places at work and to my ballet teacher, and they were almost instantly gone. They have this addicting quality that makes you go back for one, and then another, then another... I'd say these are a big success!


Piña Colada Cookies

¾ cup butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon rum
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoons salt
1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon rum
2-3 tablespoons pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Stir in the rum and the pineapple, mixing well.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly stir the four mixture into the butter mixture. Stir in the coconut.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges.

Prepare the glaze, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Add more pineapple juice as needed to get the glaze to the right consistency. The glaze should be fairly thin. Glaze the cookies while warm.

Recipe from Karma in the Kitchen