Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Frosting (from Allrecipes, Servings: 24, Total Time: 3-3 ½ hours)

Cupcake

Ingredients

·         1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·         ¼  tsp. baking soda

·         ¼ tsp. sea salt

·         ½ cup butter, softened

·         ¼ cup white sugar

·         ½ cup brown sugar

·         1 egg

·         2 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

·         1 (18.25 oz.) box yellow cake mix (I used vanilla)

·         1 1/3 cups water

·         1/3 cup canola oil

·         3 eggs

Directions

1.      Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.

2.      Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

3.      Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

4.      Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients

·         2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

·         6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

·         6 Tbsp. butter

·         5 Tbsp. evaporated milk

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1.      In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.

2.      In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

3.      When the cupcakes are cool, top with frosting.

I made these for my stepfather’s birthday party and everybody loved them!  They are dangerously addictive!  Although the recipe takes a while to make (because of the refrigeration of the cookie batter), I think it’s worth it.  Each bite was full of chocolate and vanilla flavor – absolutely delicious.  The frosting is not overly sweet, so it did not overpower the cupcake, it worked perfectly.  It did not add too much moisture to the cake, either.  It was so hard to eat only one at a time! 

While the cupcakes are baking, the cookie dough gets nice and soft, ending in a perfect bite after the cakes cool.  The dough just seemed to spread out and permeate each crevice of the vanilla cupcake.  As I’m sure you can tell, my mouth is watering as I relive the experience.  Oh, if only I hadn’t given up chocolate for Lent.  Come Easter, these will be tops on my list!

Bean and Veggie Burger Enchilada Casserole

Bean and Veggie Burger Enchilada Casserole (adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 6-8, Total Time: 1 hour)

Ingredients

·         4 Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger Patties, chopped

·         ½ cup chopped onion

·         1 tsp. chili powder

·         ½ tsp. ground cumin

·         1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

·         1 4 oz. can diced green chile peppers

·         1 8 oz. carton light dairy sour cream

·         2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         ¼ tsp. garlic powder

·         1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce

·         1 cup shredded taco cheese

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.      In a large skillet cook the chopped burger patties, onion, chili powder, and cumin until onion is tender. Stir pinto beans and undrained chili peppers into burger mixture; set aside.

3.      In a small mixing bowl stir together sour cream, flour, and garlic powder until combined; set aside.

4.      Spoon burger mixture into casserole dish (or use an oven-safe skillet in the first step),  top with the sour cream mixture, and enchilada sauce. Cover dish with foil.

5.      Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes more.

I decided to omit the corn tortillas in the original recipe because we had wheat tortillas that needed to be consumed.  We spooned the mixture into the tortillas – worked just as well (if not better, I know that in these casseroles the tortillas can get a bit soggy).

I really like this dish, but my husband found a tad too spicy.  I’ll admit, there was a little kick to it (I used green chile enchilada sauce, which is spicier than red), but that was fine by me.  I used the Burger Patties instead of Burger Crumbles because I had a large pack that needed to be used.  I think that it worked out quite well.  I liked the firm texture of the patties (and the beans) with the creamy sour cream, enchilada sauce, and cheese.  Just a total winner in my book and I cannot wait to make it again!

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna

Eggplant Parmesan Lasagna (slightly adapted from Woman’s Day, Servings: 8, Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 large egg

·         4 egg whites

·         1 ½ cups panko bread crumbs

·         ½ cup all-purpose flour

·         2 medium (about 2 ¼ pounds total) eggplants

·         1 container (16-oz.) lowfat small-curd cottage cheese

·         1 container (15-oz.) part-skim ricotta

·         1 ½  cups part-skim mozzarella, grated

·         ½ cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

·         2 Tbsp. grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

·         Black pepper

·         1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil

·         ½ cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

·         1 jar marinara sauce

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Cover two large rimmed baking sheets with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Beat the egg and egg whites together in a shallow bowl. Place the bread crumbs and flour in separate shallow bowls. Add 2 Tbsp. oil to the bread crumbs and mix to combine.
2. Slice the eggplants into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Dip the eggplant rounds in the flour, then the eggs (letting any excess drip off), and finally in the bread crumb mixture, pressing gently to help them adhere; transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Roast until the eggplant is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cottage cheese, ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, ½ cup Romano or Parmesan, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Fold in the basil and parsley.
4. Spread ½ cup marinara on the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Top with a layer of eggplant (8 to 12 slices) and ½ cup marinara, and dollop with a third of the ricotta mixture (about 1 ½ cups). Repeat eggplant, marinara, and ricotta layers twice. Top with the remaining ½ cup marinara. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup mozzarella and 2 Tbsp. Romano.
5. Cover the dish tightly with a piece of foil (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I’ll start off by saying that I did not have enough eggplant to have three layers, so I ended with the cheese mixture and topped with more cheese!  I also used dried basil and parsley instead of fresh (1/3 of original amount) and a garden vegetable marinara sauce.  I used more panko and egg white than originally called for; the above accounts for those additional ingredients.  I used slightly less flour, but I kept the above at ½ cup.

This dish is very Italian – and very cheesy.  Now, I love cheese, but I would not use so much next time.  I think that I would cut it back, maybe using 2/3 of the amount called for in the original recipe. Of course, my husband didn’t think there was too much cheese.  He loved this and enjoyed helping to make it.  The cheese and sauce make the dish very creamy.  The eggplant remained tender and was fairly easy to cut through, I didn’t even need to use a knife.

This dish reheats well, so great for leftovers.  I look forward to making this again.

Orecchiette with Creamy Chipotle and Corn

Orecchiette with Creamy Chipotle and Corn (slightly adapted from Woman’s Day, Servings: 6, Total Time: 25 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 pound orecchiette pasta

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 medium onion, finely chopped

·         Kosher salt and pepper

·         1 clove garlic, finely chopped

·         ¾ cup skim milk

·         4 ounces lowfat cream cheese, cut into pieces

·         ¼ cup grated Parmesan

·         1  tsp. chopped chipotles in adobo, plus 1 tsp. adobo sauce

·         Pinch ground nutmeg

·         1 ½ cups frozen corn, thawed

Directions

1.)    Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve ¼ - ½ cup of the cooking liquid, drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

2.)    Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, until very tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

3.)    Whisk in the milk and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the cream cheese, Parmesan, chipotles and adobo sauce, and nutmeg. Stir in the corn and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the corn is heated through and the mixture has slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

4.)    Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding some of the reserved cooking liquid if the pasta seems dry.

My husband and I both really enjoyed this dish.  It was not too spicy, so I added some additional adobo sauce to my servings (I didn’t want to add too much heat).  It wasn’t very creamy, so when I make it again I will likely add 6 oz. cream cheese or some additional milk.  I ended up adding about ½ cup water to help the creaminess, I didn’t want to add any more than that as it would affect the taste.  The corn adds a slightly crispy texture to the otherwise soft and chewy dish (even though I cooked the pasta al dente, when I tossed it with the sauce, it lost its crispness). 

Overall, an easy dish to whip up when you are short on time. I do plan on making this again!