Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake Lovers!!

This recipe is one of three adaptations of the Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes from New Years Eve, made on New Years Day for a dinner party with some of our close family friends, Jana, Andy, Alexander, and Larissa! 

If you have any fun cupcake-related experiences, please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page, or send me an email or google+ comment! 

The Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes (Total Recipe makes 12 cupcakes and 6 mini cupcakes, but only 6 became this flavor and the others had additions to their filling and frosting). 

The Cake: 

• 1 cup flour
• 7/8 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2.5 tbsp shortening (aka Crisco)
• 1.5 mashed bananas
• 1.5 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 dark chocolate chip (for shavings)

The Filling/Icing: 

• 3 stick butter, softened
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp hazelnut powdered creamer
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
4. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
5. Add one egg to the bowl with the banana. 
6. Break other egg into a small cup or bowl and whisk so that it becomes relatively homogeneous. Pour half of this into the bowl with the banana.
7. Mix oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
8. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
9. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
10. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) can poke the center and come out with some moist crumbs. You will be able to see the cupcakes rise and smell when they are done. Use the pictures as a guide as each oven is different. 
12. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
13. Blend ingredients for filling/icing.      
14. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center.
15. Fill an icing press with remaining icing.          
16. Press into desired pattern. 
17. Shave dark chocolate on top. 
18. Enjoy! :) 

The Calories:

Flour:  455 calories

Sugar: 665 calories

Cocoa: 70 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Shortening: 260 calories

Banana: 150 calories

Egg: 115 calories

Oil: 482 calories

Milk: 30 calories

Vanilla: 12 calories

Hazelnut creamer: 35 calories

____________________________________

TOTAL: 2274 calories 

Granted, this recipe was for about 12.5 cupcakes. So each cupcake really only had about 182 calories :) 

What went right: 

          They were very delicious and looked prettier than the first batch. 

What went wrong:

          This batch was less moist than the last batch. Not sure why, but might have been a minute or two over cooked, comparatively.

What I would do next time:

         Technically, this batch was basically the same as the M&M batch, and the changes were made in the other cupcakes you see below (coming soon! ;) ) 

Would I do this in college: 

          Totally! In fact, I'm working on reducing this recipe for single serving cupcakes without waste so that I can easily make a quick cupcake for a friend's birthday without having to make an entire batch. One of my least favorite things about baking is that the amounts can be so arbitrary because they depend on your specific baking equipment. One of my goals for this page is to be able to have a mix for every common number of cupcakes desired. Recipes can always be doubled, but the hard part is reducing and keeping the consistency of the original. Keep watching for single serving cupcakes :)

Overall, a wonderful party treat and a great time in the kitchen. It took much longer than I planned to make all three different types of cupcakes, but they turned out fantastic so I don't even care. Everyone enjoyed and I had a blast baking them and honing my icing skills. 

Having a cupcake for 182 calories is actually quite good! A plain bagel has 260-280 calories, and a scone or muffin can have 350-430 calories. However, it's not particularly healthy, so if you'd like to ensure you wake up with your toned body in tact, be sure you've done any of the below before you indulge...

1. Run 1.5 miles
2. Walk 2 miles
3. Dance for 40 minutes
4. Rearrange furniture for 30 minutes
5. Play darts for 70 minutes
6. Play badminton for 40 minutes

Any of the above will burn about 200 calories, making your cupcake guilt-free ;)

                                                            

Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake Lovers!!

Sorry I'm a little late on this one! This recipe was my version of New Years Eve this year. As a non-drinker, I've found that chocolate and sugar and delicious baked goods tends to produce the same happy effect my friends seem to exhibit while drunk. Even if it doesn't work as well as I think it does, it's never too early in the day for chocolate ;) So after dinner and before midnight, I decided it had been a while since I had a good cupcake and anything goes on New Years Eve, so it was the perfect time to fulfill my cupcake needs :) 

I don't know about you, but cupcakes are definitely a weakness of mine. A few wonderful quotes regarding cupcakes in my life...

1. While discussing with a friend how to best manage one's weight, he confidently suggested (like most men, who can eat whatever they want and still end up losing weight by some ridiculous and terribly unfair force of nature) that I, "run and don't eat that cupcake", referring specifically to the birthday cake batter cupcake I bought for myself from Crumbs a few days prior. Just so we're all on the same page in terms of the irresistability of this cupcake, here's a link. 

2. While enjoying the cupcake you're about to watch being made with my family, my mom asks, "So what kind of cake is this?" and my dad, with flawless as always comedic timing and tone, replies, "Cup!". (Honestly, I'm still laughing while typing this and it's been about a month.)

If you have any fun cupcake-related experiences, please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page, or send me an email or google+ comment! 

The Recipe: Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes (makes 8 cupcakes)

The Cake: 

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/3 +1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2+1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/2+1/8 tsp baking soda
• heaping (not leveled) 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 2/3 tbsp shortening (aka Crisco)
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 1/6 cup canola oil
• 1/6 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Filling/Icing: 

• 1 stick butter, softened
• about equal parts powdered sugar (so in this case, about 1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp hazelnut powdered creamer
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Dark Chocolate M&Ms

The Process:

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
4. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
5. Mix egg, oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
7. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
8. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) can poke the center and come out with some moist crumbs. You will be able to see the cupcakes rise and smell when they are done. Use the pictures as a guide as each oven is different. 
10. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
11. Blend ingredients for filling/icing. 
12. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center. Ice its top and coat with dark chocolate M&Ms to taste :) 
13. Try not to eat them all before midnight!!

The Calories:

Flour: 300 calories

Sugar: 390 calories

Cocoa: 49 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Shortening: 203 calories

Banana: 109 calories

Egg: 75 calories

Oil: 318 calories

Milk: 20 calories

Vanilla: 12 calories

Hazelnut creamer: 35 calories

____________________________________

TOTAL: 1511 calories 

Not counting the M&Ms (70 calories per cupcake), this makes a single cupcake only 189 calories! This is actually pretty fantastic for cupcakes. Plus, there's banana in it :) 

What went right: 

          These cupcakes were SUPER moist. My family inhaled them in minutes and I was super proud :) They're very chocolatey and having the filling is a wonderful addition to the classics. Even my brother loved them with the banana and hazelnut. (Shhh ;) )

                               

What went wrong: 

          I didn't have enough butter to make a good amount of the filling/icing and at the time I didn't know that we had an icing press with pretty design tips. I had fun with design tips later though (hint hint!) It was still plenty, but it would have been better with more. 

What I would do next time: 

          Well there were more than enough next times with this very malleable base batter. These cupcakes went so well, I ended up baking a whole other set of three entirely different cupcakes all originating from this batter for a dinner party the next day. It took SIX HOURS. I gained a new respect for cupcake makers everywhere. Keep watching for these three recipes! 

Would I do this in college?: 

           Yes and no. The cupcake spree, probably not. Mostly because I don't have a cupcake pan and don't feel like buying/storing one for the maybe one time per semester that I would make cupcakes. It doesn't take that long to make the basics, but it takes long enough. It would be easier at that point to just use my springform pan and make a whole cake. 

Overall, an AMAZING first cupcake experience and a delicious start to 2014! 

And now for the workout...naturally, I went back into my fitness routine after the new year began. It wasn't really a new years resolution, because I had been working on it for over a year prior. However, I decided it was time to revise my morning workout for the sake of variety: 

• 150 regular crunches
• 100 ankle tap oblique crunches
• 100 reverse crunches
• 200 crunches with legs extended and feet flexed
• 20 leg lifts
• 20 bridges
• 20 leg lifts with the other leg
• 20 bridges
• 20 leg lifts with the other leg
• 20 bridges
• 30 clams in side plank
• 10 push ups
• 30 clams in side plank on the other side
• 30 tri push ups
• 20 second plank
• 20 second plank with leg lifts
• 20 second plank with alternating hip touches 
• Stretch as needed

This should be more than adequate toning to justify cupcake enjoyment :) 

Happy baking!!