1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

 ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger, optional

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, optional

½ cup canola or other vegetable oil

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 ½ cups grated peeled carrots, 2 to 3 medium carrots

 ¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans, optional

¼ cup raisins, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch fine sea salt

1 ½ cups powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed

Pinch ground cinnamon or ground cardamom, optional

¼ cup coarsely chopped pecans, optional

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and the nutmeg until well blended.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the oils, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time until well  combined.

4. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Pour the dry ingredients in slowly stirring as added to combine until batter is smooth. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.

5. Fill each muffin cup ¾ full and bake 20 to 25 minutes. The tops of the cupcakes should be springy to the touch.

Make the frosting

1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy. Approx. 2 minutes.
2. Beat in the powdered sugar until fluffy. If you desire thicker frosting add an additional ¼ cup powdered sugar.

   Remove cupcakes from oven and allow to fully cool prior to frosting.

3. Optional – if you want spiced frosting add in ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or cardamon.

The post Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. vinegar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 ounce red food coloring

1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

For Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 350ºF. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. Mix together the oil and sugar. Whisk in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, food coloring and eggs.
3. Sift the the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the wet ingredients. Mix until batter forms and is a uniform color.
4. Divide batter between the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat together the butter and cream cheese.
2. Whisk in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the vanilla.
3. Transfer frosting to a piping bag to pipe on the cupcakes.

The post Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

The post Carmel Apples appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

10 cups apples (peeled, cored, and sliced) *

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup water**

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup butter (melted)

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9×13-inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together. Sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over mixture.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Spread evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

 *Your best option is Granny Smiths because they stand up well to baking and have a nice tart flavor. Other great choices include Gala, Golden Delicious, and Honeycrisp.

** If you want a thicker mixture cut the water in half.

The post Apple Crisp appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

1 graham cracker

1/2 chocolate candy bar

1 marshmallow

1. Once you have created and lit your fire allow the fire to simmer down so the logs are red hot embers rather than a roaring fire of flames. See Kitchen Ink’s blog on making a campfire. You need to be safe and patient prior to roasting your marshmallow. Please also make sure you are not wearing loose sleeves or clothing that could dangle into the fire and catch flames.
2. Break one long graham cracker in half horizontally to make two squares. Break the chocolate bar to fit one graham cracker square, leaving the other graham cracker square open to use as the top. Set aside.
3. Place a marshmallow on a stick and hold it over the heat, rotating often, until the marshmallow is golden brown, and the inside is gooey.
4. When the marshmallow begins to brown and softens on the stick remove from the fire and place it on top of the chocolate. Top the marshmallow with the second graham cracker square. Squish down for the marshmallow to melt the chocolate. Eat it sandwich style and enjoy!

The post Campfire S’mores appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

3 bananas

1 cup chocolate chips

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS

Nuts

Pumpkin seeds

Shredded coconut

Almond butter or peanut butter Dried cranberries

Sprinkles

1. Peel bananas, slice in half, and insert a food-safe ice pop stick into each cut end.
2. Lay bananas on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper and freeze for at least 2 hours.
3. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, or in microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Check to make sure chocolate is melted; do not overcook.
4. Dip each frozen banana into melted chocolate and then twirl to remove excess chocolate.
5. Sprinkle toppings on banana while chocolate is still wet. Place on parchment paper to allow chocolate to fully harden.

The post Chocolate-Covered Bananas appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

3 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

1/3 cups cornstarch

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. baking soda

FOR THE ICING:

1 1/2 lb. cream cheese (3 8-ounce packages, not low-fat), at room temperature

1 lb. unsalted butter (4 sticks), at room temperature

1 lb. confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 half-pints blueberries

3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350˚. Grease and flour a 17-by-12 1/2-inch sheet cake pan.
2. In a medium bowl with a mixer, mix the butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy, about a minute or so. Add the eggs, two at a time. Mix after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, kosher salt and baking soda. Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, one scoop at a time. Mix after every addition. Keep adding the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix! This batter will be a thicker cake batter.
4. Pour the thick cake batter into the prepared pan. With a spatula, spread the cake batter evenly over the pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
6. For the cream cheese icing: In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese and butter and with a mixer whip to combine. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined, scraping the sides once during mixing.
7. It’s helpful to refer to a picture of the American flag to decorate this cake and the cake should be decorated in landscape position. The stars/blueberries will be at top left corner of cake.
8. Put about ½ the frosting on the cake. Mark off the area of the stars with a toothpick. Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill up to 2/3 with icing. Gently twist the bag to keep icing from splurging out the top.
9. Grip the folded-down end tightly under your fingertips and start squeezing two lines of frosting at the bottom of the cake. Make two rows of raspberries on the cake, then add another two lines of frosting to create flag stripes.
10. Keep repeating: two lines of frosting, two lines of raspberries, two lines of frosting, etc.
11. Fill the square in the corner with a nice layer of blueberries. With the star tip, squeeze little dollops of frosting all over the blueberries to look like stars.

Celebrate July 4^th with this festive and delicious cake.

The post American Flag Cake appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

Cinnamon Sugar Ingredients
1/4 Cup White Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Directions
1. In a medium bowl combine the flour and yogurt.
2. When dough is formed sprinkle flour on a flat surface and knead dough for about a minute until if still sticky add more flour.
3. Spoon 1 Tbsp sized pieces of the donut dough and roll between your hands to form a ball.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have used up all the dough, yields about 15 donut balls.
5. Pour oil into a pan and make sure your oil is hot, if you are using a thermometer, it should be about 350F. Carefully place half of the donuts into the hot oil and fry for about 2-3 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.
6. Remove the donuts from the oil and drain on paper towels or a wire rack. Continue with the next batch of donuts.
7. If you are serving the donuts with cinnamon sugar coat them while they are still warm.

The post Celebrate Donut Day with two ingredient donuts with cinnamon sugar topping appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

Hot Chocolate Cookies

• December 17, 2021

Makes 2 dozen (24) cookies

½ cup hot cocoa mix

1 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

15 regular marshmallows, halved

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine hot cocoa mix, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat together butter and brown sugar until mixture is creamy and well blended. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat until well mixed and no traces of flour mixture remain.
5. Scoop 2 teaspoons of dough at a time and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until all batter is used.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, or until cookies are stiff around edges.
7. Remove from oven and place marshmallow half, cut side down, on top of each cookie, pushing it down to flatten cookie slightly. Return to oven and bake 3 to 4 minutes more, until marshmallow melts, but remove before marshmallow browns.
8. Cool on cookie sheets for 15 minutes before serving.

 

The post Hot Chocolate Cookies appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.

A quick and easy recipe to gift or enjoy. Lots of fun for the kids to break bark into pieces.

Peppermint Bark

Makes 20 servings

12 ounces dark chocolate

12 ounces white chocolate

8 peppermint candy canes, unwrapped and crushed into small pieces

1. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Melt dark chocolate in a saucepan. Pour melted chocolate onto prepared cookie sheet, using a spatula to spread it evenly to one-eighth-inch thickness. Chocolate does not need to fill entire sheet.
3. Place cookie sheet in refrigerator to let dark chocolate harden while preparing white chocolate.
4. Melt white chocolate in a saucepan. When melted, stir in three-fourths of peppermint pieces.
5. Remove dark chocolate from refrigerator and spread white chocolate in an even layer over dark chocolate.
6. Sprinkle remaining peppermint pieces over top of candy bark. Press down to ensure they stick.
7. Return cookie sheet to refrigerator to set for 30 minutes, until firm.
8. Once peppermint bark is completely set, break by hand into small, uneven pieces.

The post Peppermint Bark for the Holidays appeared first on kitchen Ink Publishing.