Pina Colada Cupcakes

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These pina colada cupcakes are nice and fluffy with the tastes of sweet coconut and tangy pineapple. Definitely a treat suited for summer time! They are super easy (and cheap!) to make, so enjoy!

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 Box White Cake Mix
• 3 Egg Whites
• 2 Tbsp. Applesauce (or vegetable oil, but applesauce is healthier!)
• 1 Tbsp. Lime Juice
  
• 1 10 oz. Thawed can of pina colada drink mix (you can find it in the frozen foods section by the juice concentrates)

Vanilla Buttercream:

• 2 Sticks of butter at room temperature
  
• About 4-5 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 Cup Shredded Coconut

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pans with liners.
2. Mix all of the cake ingredients together with an electric mixer on medium for about two minutes. Pour batter into the pans about 3/4 of the way full. I find using either a 1/4 or 1/3 measuring cup works good!
   
3. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. If yours are like mine they might not look like they're done, but they are. They are a very fluffy and airy cake. Be careful though, some of mine fell in the middle, but since I pile on frosting it didn't bother me!
4. While the cupcakes are cooling place your butter in a bowl with the vanilla. Beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time until you get a consistency that you like.
   
5. Sprinkle your coconut onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven to toast.
   
6. When cupcakes and coconut are fully cooled frost with the buttercream frosting and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Coconut Cookies

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Sounds like a lot of stuff for one cookie! But trust me, the flavor is amazing and you'll want to bake these cookies all the time! I got the recipe from the blog ForTheLoveofCooking, and I have to agree with her that these are the best cookies I have ever eaten. They are crispy on the outside but super soft on the inside.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 3/4 Cup Melted Butter
  
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 6oz. Package of Macadamia Nuts (The salted kind)
• 1 & 1/2 cups White Chocolate Chips
• 1 Small good quality bar of white chocolate chopped into chunks
• 1/4 Cup Coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray or use a cookie liner.
2. In a small bowl combine the flour and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream together melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients little at a time. Chop up the macadamia nuts (or throw them in a food processor like I did) and add them to the batter along with the white chocolate chips, white chocolate chunk and coconut.
4. Place about a tablespoon of batter onto your prepared pans and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool on a baking rack.
5. If you have any left over white chocolate place it in a bowl with a little bit of cream and heat in microwave. Stir it around and you have a white chocolate drizzle for the top of your cookies! You could also toast some coconut to sprinkle on top.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

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I was bored the other day and decided to make cookies! I didn't have many ingredients but a TasteSpotting search revealed a recipe that was simple and looked delicious. So here we have chocolate cookies with a yummy peanut butter center!

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 1 & 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp. Milk
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Stick Soft Butter
  
• 1 Egg

Filling:

• 3/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 - 3/4 Cups Peanut Butter

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray, or use a cookie mat.
   
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream together the butter, white sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter. Add egg, milk and vanilla to the creamed ingredients and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time. The dough should be thick enough to form into balls. About 30 should be made.
4. To make the peanut butter filling mix together the powdered sugar and peanut butter. I found that 1/2 cup of peanut butter wasn't enough so I added another 1/4 cup of peanut butter. This dough should also be thick enough to form into balls. Make an equal amount of peanut butter balls as you did cookie balls, but make them smaller.
5. Get two pieces of waxed paper. Place a ball of cookie dough between the two and flatten with your hand, remove the top piece of paper and place a ball of peanut butter in the center and fold the chocolate dough around it, making sure there is no peanut butter coming out.
6. Place the cookies on your prepared pan about 2 inches apart. Use a fork to make crisscrosses on top of the cookies and slightly flatten them out. Bake for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Wonton Soup With Teriyaki Beef And Chicken

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This recipe is pretty much what inspired me to really create a food blog. It is adapted from Seasaltwithfood's recipe for wonton soup. It's very simple to make and so full of flavor. Good enough to give your favorite chinese restaurant a run for it's money!

Wonton Soup

Broth & Vegetables:
1 Package Wonton Wrappers (I found the round ones work better)
10 Cups Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
3 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 Bunch Bok Choy, chopped
2 Stalks of Scallions, diced
1 Cup Carrots, chopped
1 Package Snow Peas
Salt & Pepper to taste

Wonton Filling:
1/2 lb. Ground Pork
1/3 lb. Shrimp, minced
1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Sesame Oil
2 Stalks of Scallions, diced
1 & 1/2 Tbsp Corn Flour
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix together all of the ingredients for the wonton filling. Fill each wonton with about 1 - 2 Tsp of the filling. To seal edges brush the sides with a beaten egg. Seasaltwithfood has an amazing explanation on how to fold these here. Or just fold over into a half circle and crimp the sides with a fork.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the carrots. After about a minute or two add the bok choy and pea pods. Cook for another 30 seconds, then take out the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.


Next, cook the wontons. It's useful if you use the same boiling water from the vegetables to cook the wontons. Cook them for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.


In separate pot bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper.


Distribute vegetables and wontons amongst the serving bowls. Ladle on the broth, top with chopped scallions.

Teriyaki Chicken & Beef

Ingredients:
1 Package Chicken Tenders
1 Package Thin Sliced Beef
1 Jar Teriyaki marinade

Directions:

Place beef and chicken into two separate bowls. Add enough of the teriyaki marinade to cover the meat. Cover bowls with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 3-4 hours.

To cook the meat use a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle with olive oil and place the meat in the pan, being careful not to overcrowd it. Chicken will take roughly 4 minutes on each side. Beef will take roughly 3 minutes on each side, less if you don't like yours well done.

Arrange on plate and serve with soy sauce for dipping.