Strawberry Lime Cupcakes

W.O.W. super yummy, my fave new cupcake recipe! I have realized, I am not sure how good of a cook I would be if I didn't have the internet.  Other people are so much more creative than I am...I'll just continue to copy their creativity ;) So, this recipe originated from the How Sweet It Is blog, but I found it on the Eating Bird Food blog.

I was really excited to try it out, and thought that if it was a success I would make them for my sisters baby shower...well, SUCCESS! I have also succeeded at adding yet another thing to my plate for the shower haha. Typical. 


Strawberry Lime Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon lime zest

12 fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Stir in lime zest.

Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 mins at 350. Let cool.

Using a sharp knife, cut a cone-shaped hole in the cupcake, leaving about an inch of cake on the bottom. Stuff the strawberry down it, and cover with remaining cake if you can. Frost!

You are probably wondering what to do with all of the centers that were cut out, I am not one to waste so it definitely went to good use!

 

Lime Buttercream

1 stick butter, softened

1 lb powdered sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

lime zest for garnish

Cream butter. Add sugar 1 cup at a time. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle in lime juice, add more if needed.

Frost cupcakes and garnish with lime zest or sprinkles :)

Gluten Free Brown Sugar Cookies

One blog that I follow that I have used quite a bit of her recipes is Joy the Baker that is where I adapted this recipe the only difference is that I used gluten free oat flour instead of all purpose flour. I don't think it will make too much of a difference. 

Gluten Free Brown Sugar Cookies

2 cups gluten free Oat FLour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Set aside.

Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed for one minute more.

Add the dry ingredients, all at once, to the butter and sugar mixture.  Beat on low speed until the dough begins to come together  and the flour disappears.  Stop the mixer and finish incorporating the ingredients with a spatula.  Once all the flour is thoroughly mixed in, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Oh my goodness, it is so tempting! People always say you shouldn't eat raw cookie dough, cake batter, or brownie batter because of the raw egg.

 But I say, if Rocky Balboa can eat raw eggs, so can I...LOL...I didn't eat alot of it :)

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the over and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Dollop tablespoons size balls of dough onto the baking sheet.  Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.  Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Cookies will last, in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 5 days. 

Watermelon Granita

So, what is granita? According to wikipedia it originated in Sicily and is in the sorbet and Italian ice family.  There are so many variations and flavor combinations you could make with this simple recipe, I am excited to try more.

Especially with these triple digit summers creeping in, its always nice to have a cool, refreshing, and healthy snack!

Unfortunately, I didnt take any pictures during the process of making this, just the final product. 

Watermelon Granita
6 cups of cubed and deseeded watermelon
handful of fresh blueberries
juice of one lime
1/4 cup of sugar


Put the watermelon into a blender or food processor for about one minute until completely blended.
Pour the juice into a strainer to remove the pulp.
Put the remaining juice back into the blender or food processor and add the blueberries, lime juice, and sugar.
Pulse until all is blended. 

Pour the mixture into a container that is ok to go in the freezer. I kept mine in the freezer overnight.  I scooped it with a metal ice cream scooper which kind of gave it a snow cone consistency. But you can also just keep it in the freezer for 4 to 5 hours and it would be more like a slushee because it won't be completely frozen.


 

Spice Rub For Chicken and Roasted Asparagus

We have chicken breasts in this house a lot, so it's nice when you can change things up a bit and spice it up. 

This rub is super yummy and would work really well if you barbecued the chicken. I pan seared mine along with some quinoa and roasted asparagus. I could seriously eat a whole bundle of asparagus myself, love the stuff!

Spice Rub:
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. cumin

Mix all the ingredients together and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken and cook however you would like.


This rub would be enough to cover about 3 normal size chicken breasts, maybe 4, but I like to really cover the chicken.

Now for the roasted asparagus, this could not be any more simple! I think keeping veggies as natural tasting as possible and not overcooking is my favorite!

Roasted Asparagus

1 bundle of asparagus
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lemon 

Set oven to 425 degrees. Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus, you can usually tell where the asparagus is a little discolored, almost has a purplish hue. Or if you grab both ends and bend, the asparagus should naturally break at the right spot.
Spread the asparagus on a foil lined cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil lightly over the asparagus and roll them around a bit to get them all coated. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how think the spears are, you DON'T want to overcook them, I really don't like when they are mushy. You still want their bright green color. 
When they are finished cooking squeeze the lemon over them. You don't want to do it before the lemon will taste a little bitter if you cook it.

 

After the chicken rested for about 5 minutes I sliced it, put it on top of some quinoa I cooked with an avocado and greek yogurt sauce.