Pancake Muffins

I was timing myself today to see how much baking I can do within a two hour time frame. I started out with my current favorite recipe which is the brownie made from scratch with chocolate frosting baked in mini muffin pan. This was relatively easy to make and also my second trial. I did cut the frosting recipe in 1/2 because last time, I had leftovers. I don't like to waste if I can help it. As it turned out, 1/2 the recipe was just enough to frost 24 mini brownies. I topped it off with colorful sprinkles. They turned out a slightly bit better than last time as the frosting is pastier/thicker.
While I was waiting for these brownies to cool, I decided to try making the pancake mini muffins with chocolate chips. Again, this was a very easy recipe to follow and it doesn't call for a whole lot of sugar. Because these aren't overly sweet, I was able to eat a lot more that I should. I had two right out of the oven and then had two more after lunch. Yummmmmmy!!
Recipe for pancake muffin is from this website: http://www.bakerella.com/mini-maple-pancake-muffins/

24 Creative Birthday Cakes and Cupcake Ideas for Kids - BHG.com

24 Creative Birthday Cakes and Cupcake Ideas for Kids - BHG.com

Happy Birthday Chance and Ty!

In preparation for this afternoon's birthday party in Chance's class, I baked 36 blueberry muffins and this time I didn't leave out the sugar. I know those little ones; they won't eat it if it's not sweet enough. To make the muffins more visually appealing, I added blueberry frosting (homemade) and the color turns out light purple. Thanks to the internet, I found my recipe there. I sort of modified the ingredients a little for the right consistency and sweetness. Since the frosting requires some heavy duty mixing, I used the KitchenAid stand mixer for it (thank goodness!).

I wanted to have some sort of a train theme to this, so I went online for some ideas and found this. A train made out of cookies (Graham crackers and sandwich cookies)glued together with frosting and the muffins go on the train. I used James as the engine. All of this is assembled on a green (to resemble grass on sodor island) project board with railroad tracks made out of black construction paper. Then I placed the muffins on the train. I'll try to upload a picture on here to show you.
This is where I got the idea from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/centerstagestudios/3872300203/

It was so nice to see how the kids in Chance's class loved it. They couldn't wait to get their hands on the train! So cute. I am glad everything turned out and everyone enjoyed their muffin. This is my motivation to bake more!

Baking Baking Baking! All morning Long.

Today, I was ambitious and got to bake lots of goodies for this weekend's big day. First off, I made 12 relatively healthy sugarless blueberry muffins with lemon yogurt icing. I omitted the oil in the recipe and substituted it with applesauce. This turned out great except for the fact that some muffin was stuck to the liner. Maybe next time, I will use a little bit of oil.

Next, I made coconut macaroons (about 2 dozens) of these. This was my first time and it was not that difficult. While these macaroons were in the oven baking, I started the chocolate chip cookies (make about 5 dozens) with the instructions on the nestle tollhouse packaging.

I took a short break only to have lunch. Lunch was leftover noodle soup... still very delicious. I was debating if I should make something else. Of course I was, I always try to maximize my time by squeezing as much in as possible. I managed to make brownies again, this time from scratch using the mini muffin bakeware. It worked out perfectly and tasted really really moist. It didn't look like it would keep til sunday, so I brought it in to work to share with everyone and people loved it. Because I was in such a hurry to get everything done, I didn't stop for a second to take any pictures of my creations. Too bad :( Here's where I got the recipe from....http://www.whiskblog.com/2008/06/brownie-pops.html

In the end, I was late to work but it was all worth it for me.

Whisk: a food blog: Classes Completed

Whisk: a food blog: Classes Completed

Brownie Bites Failed

I tried making brownie bites using peanut butter cup candy mold today and it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. So I turned it into brownie balls by dipping it in mint flavored chocolate melts. For the topping, I used rainbow sprinkles and sweetened coconut flakes. I finished just in time before work so I brought in to share with my coworkers and everyone enjoyed it. Personally, the brownie part was on the dry side. For a first try, it's not too bad. Next time, I will try brownie pops using Welton's silicone mold. We'll see....

Insomnia

Two nights in a row, I havn't been able to fall asleep. Last night was probably because I drank coffee late in the afternoon. Tonight? I am not really sure what's keeping me up. Went out to dinner at Anqi and had some delicious food and drinks. I had a viet-no-jito (virgin) and really like it. This is a very refreshing drink and I would definitely have it again. I also tried pink lotus. I can't remember what's in it but the liquor is poured over cotton candy and the color is pink. I really liked this drink also but can't digest the ETOH. Therefore, my face and neck was flushing red. This is the very reason why I rarely have alcoholic drinks. For dinner, we had their special garlic noodle and lobster, sea bass, and filet mignon. The food was excellent and I would come back again. I better force myself sleep now for tomorrow we have a full day of activities to attend. Don't want to yawn the entire day.