Peanut Butter with Cinnamon Pancakes!

It is close to the end of the month again, and today I was craving something sweet for a late breakfast that would also be filling at the same time. I was already on my computer browsing around Pinterest where I saw many awesome recipes for variations of pancakes! A few that caught my attention were the pancake recipes with chocolate chips mixed in and the ones that required only banana, egg, and cinnamon. I decided I wanted to make a stack of pancakes that had peanut butter and some kind of seasoning mixed in since I did not have chocolate chips or bananas. I have always liked grounded cinnamon whether in warm drinks, or when making desserts such as apple pie and other kinds of baked fruit crumbles.

The semi-made up recipe for the pancakes is:

2 cups all purpose baking mix,

1 egg

Grounded Cinnamon up to taste

Vegetable Oil

2 heaping tablespoons warmed creamy or chunky peanut butter

1 and a half cup milk

Pancake syrup (any kind)

Have a pan with some oil preheated to medium high temperature. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix with a spoon until thickened but not of a too watery consistency. When pan with oil is heated enough, take one scoopful of the pancake mixture and place into the pan. After 2-3 minutes flip pancake with spatula to cook on other side for another 2-3 minutes. Plate, add pancake syrup and enjoy!

Mixing all of the ingredients

Using a ladle to pour some of the mixture into pan

Finished pancake without syrup

Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes!

At the grocery store earlier last week my roommate suggested I buy the Reese’s Peanut Butter cupcake mix. I am a huge fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and Reese’s Pieces so I thought why not give it a try. To be honest I had not baked much of anything in a while so I was not sure how the cupcakes would turn out. Following the instructions closely this mix made 12 cupcakes as stated on the box. The process of making the cupcakes was fast and the instructions were easy to understand. Instead of using paper cups to bake the cupcakes in I used silicone baking cups evenly spaced apart in a pie pan which actually made the baking time go by a lot faster and each batch was done in less than 15 minutes. Not too many out of the box ingredients were needed: Oil, eggs, softened butter or margarine, water, and milk for the included peanut butter frosting (I substituted the milk with non-dairy creamer). I will include a full recipe and pictures of the cupcake baking process below. 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups in 12 regular-size muffin cups.

2. Stir Cupcake Mix, water, oil and eggs in medium bowl 2 minutes, using whisk or fork, until smooth. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cup (about 2/3 full).

3. Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Let Cool 5 minutes; carefully remove from pan. Cool completely before filling, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make Peanut Butter Filling.

 

4. Beat Peanut Butter Mix, softened butter and milk in small bowl on low speed 30 seconds then on medium speed for 1 minute scraping bowl occasionally.

5. Spoon filling into pastry bag (place bag in tall glass so filling bag will be easier). Cut 1/2 inch from tip of pastry bag.

6. Insert tip of pastry bag into top of each cupcake and squeeze small amount of filling (about 1 tablespoon) into center. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Fresh out of the oven cupcakes!

For those looking for an easy to make peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes I would highly recommend the Reese's peanut butter cupcake mix for its ease of already having most of the ingredients, mix and peanut butter filling included. I shared these cupcakes with my roommates and they loved it saying my baking skills has improved. I hope to better my baking skills with my future recipes and I would buy this mix from the store again.

Cadbury Chocolates Variety Pack Review

I saw on Amazon a few months ago a posting for a variety pack of 18 British candy bars that I found very interesting and wanted to try. Costing $11.58 in total with free shipping from England I was amazed at how fast it arrived (less than a week and a half) and at how neatly packaged the bars were and none of it was melted. There were six each of the three kinds I ordered: Crunchie, Flake, and Curlywurly. To be honest I was most interested in trying the Crunchie bar, because I have not found Violet Crumble in the nearby local stores anymore and I heard from others that Crunchie was very similar to it.

The first candy bar I tried was Crunchie. Taking one bite reminded me of eating Twix without the caramel. There was a honeyed toffee taste that was actually kind of refreshing and it did remind me a lot of Violet Crumble, my favorite childhood candy. I would say the only difference was in the texture. Violet Crumble if I remember correctly was harder to chew on whereas Crunchie was more quickly melting in the mouth, lighter flavored with a honeycomb textured appearance.

 

Trying Curlywurly was also another tasty surprise, it can be again compared to a Twix but without the cookie part. It is chocolate enlaced with milk caramel. I thought Curlywurly had a nice chewy yet smoothly blended texture though my roommate who also tried it said most of the caramel got stuck in her teeth. The Curlywurly bar was the biggest bar lengthwise out of the three chocolates, and it was something I was not expecting to have liked.

The Flake bar had a nice taste of cocoa that wasn’t overpowering. The consistency of the compacted pieces of chocolate was almost a bit too crumbly so I had to be very careful with how I consumed it by breaking small chunks the chocolate off so it would not crumble everywhere. I have mostly Flake bars left in my box. I liked Flake’s overall taste and I am thinking about repurposing some of them for my baking soon as ganache or in frosting.

If I could choose the chocolate bar I enjoyed the most from this Cadbury pack I would say that it is a tie between Crunchie and Curlywurly. I really liked the light honeycomb toffee tastiness of Crunchie, and how much it brought back some good childhood memories of when my parent used to buy Violet Crumble from the corner store. At the same time, I also enjoyed taking my time in consuming the Curlywurly bar as the caramel was not too chewy to me but smooth in its consistency, and meshed well with the signature chocolate that Cadbury makes.

I would love to try more kinds of British candy, and this Cadbury variety pack I bought from Amazon was definitely worth the price for the amount that you get. I also thought it was a good introduction to chocolates that I would not normally find here. It is a must try if you love chocolate and want to try something new, or if you are looking for a nice alternative to Violet Crumble. 

Recipes for mini poppy seed and carrot mini muffins!

Here are recipes for the mini poppy seed muffins and mini carrot muffins. These muffins were very liked among the guests at my niece's party. Credits to my mom for sending me the recipes!

Poppy Seed Muffins  

makes 24, 350 degrees @ 20mins

3 c flour

2 1/2 c sugar

2 T poppy seeds

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

3 eggs

1/2 c milk      

1 c oil

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 1/2 t almond extract

Mix flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients together.  Add beaten eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, almond extract.  

Mix well and pour into muffin cup pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins.

Carrot Muffins

Makes 8 to 10 muffins

1 1/2 c shredded carrot  

3/4 c sugar

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 t  salt 

2t  baking powder

3/4 t cinnamon

1 egg

mix dry ingredients with beaten egg and oil mix well 

Pour into muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins.