Chocolate Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

Hello friends!! 

                                                  

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 Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes (Total Recipe makes 12 cupcakes and 6 mini cupcakes, but only 3 full and the 6 minis 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 strip bacon, crisp and roasted

The Filling/Icing: 

• 3 stick butter, softened
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Process:

1. Broil a strip of bacon on high until it is crispy. 
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
3. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
4. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
5. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
6. Add one egg to the bowl with the banana. 
7. 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.
8. Mix oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
9. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
10. Mix in crumbled strip of bacon.
11. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
12. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
13. 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. 
14. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
15. Blend ingredients for filling/icing.       
16. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center.
17. Fill an icing press with remaining icing.          
18. Press into desired pattern. 
19. 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

1 strip of Bacon: 50 calories

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TOTAL: 2324 calories 

Granted, this recipe was for about 12.5 cupcakes. So each cupcake really only had about 186 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 ;)

Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Hello and welcome! 

This recipe is a simple classic cooked by look, feel, smell, and consistency. It's a different sort of cooking than I usually post, but it is relatively easy to do and very effective. It was inspired by my love for my little brother and made as breakfast for him when I returned home from school. This recipe is an easy way to make pancakes that much more special for the holidays, or simply an expression of care at any other time of year. 

Thanks Dad for teaching me to cook pancakes and meats with true knowledge of food, rather than merely by following a recipe. 

Thanks Kirby for being in the mood for bacon chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast so that I could cook this for you ;)

The Recipe: 

**Amounts depend on how much you want to make. The most important thing is to have an equal ratio of dry to wet ingredients, which you will know by the consistency.**

• Favorite pancake mix (yes, I know, not from scratch, but my brother prefers buttermilk pancakes and cannot stand watching me put lemon in pancake batter). 
• Milk
• Egg (usually just 1, but if you're making a large batch you may need 2-3)
• Canola Oil
• 2 cups of equal sizes (we usually use the free plastic cups from restaurants/7 eleven)
• Bacon (I used 1 strip for the whole recipe. You really only need a few small pieces per pancake)
• Mini chocolate chips (I used less than a tsp per pancake)
• Syrup (as desired)

The Process: 

1. Set the broiler to high. 
2. Broil bacon. It should sit on the outside of the pan, further from the flame so you can control how cooked it is. (My brother prefers his meat relatively rare, so this was very important! If you like your meat more well done and crispy, put it slightly closer to the flame.)
3. Watch it closely after about 5 minutes. It should be time to flip it over. 
4. Once the bacon is brown on the edges and at least slightly browning in the middle, remove broiler pan and allow to cool. You may want to wrap the bacon in a paper towel as it cools, to absorb excess fat and avoid having to turn the fan on. 
5. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan on the stove (about 2 tbsp in my case). 
6. In one of the two cups, fill about halfway with pancake mix (about 2/3 cup in my case).
7. In the other cup, crack the egg. 
8. In the cup with the egg, add a splash of oil (about 1.5 tbsp in my case).
9. In the cup with the egg and oil, add milk until the wet ingredients look about equal to the dry ingredients (about 1/2 cup in my case). 
10. Using a fork, whisk the wet ingredients. 
11. Add dry cup to wet cup. 
12. Whisk vigorously with a fork over the sink, making sure to reach all the way to the bottom (the consistency should be fluid, but thick enough to pour slowly. Think pudding. It is better to be thicker than thinner in this case. It's very easy to help a thick batter spread out, and you will end up with very decadent pancakes, but a very thin batter will be difficult to handle and will potentially splatter when poured.
13. If your batter is too thick: add milk. 
14. If your batter is too thin: add pancake mix.
15. When the oil in the pan spreads to cover the whole of the pan, pour a small amount of batter onto the pan. 
16. Cook the batter on low-medium heat so that it is easy to control. 
17. When the pancake starts to bubble on the edges and potentially in the middle as well (see photo) it is ready to be flipped.                                      
18. Before flipping, top with bacon bits and chocolate chips. Allow a few extra seconds on lower heat for the bacon and chocolate to set. 
19. Flip the pancake and allow to cook to desired completion. (My brother prefers small amounts of batter in the middle of his pancake, so we usually accomplish this by making thick pancakes and cooking one side completely and the other side short.)
20. Serve hot and repeat with remaining batter. 
21. Enjoy! 

The Calories:

**Approximations based on my batter amounts**

Bacon: 50 calories

Chocolate: 99 calories

Pancake Mix: 64 calories

Milk: 61 calories

Egg: 78 calories

Canola Oil: 350 calories

_________________________

TOTAL: 702 calories

Not bad! Not great, sure, but not bad at all. This batter made 6 pancakes, making each pancake 117 calories. 

What went right: 

          The bacon was cooked perfectly, the pancakes came out wonderfully, and most importantly, my brother was happy :) 

What went wrong: 

           The batter consistency was a bit thicker than I prefer, but it made the pancakes perfect for my brother and easier for me to cook because there was a lot of wiggle room on timing. 

What I would do next time: 

           It would be fun to make bacon chocolate chips to use next time so I don't need to make bacon while trying to make pancake mix, but overall I think the recipe is great the way it is. Don't mess with what works!

           That said, this recipe would also make a great breakfast cupcake if poured into cupcake molds and baked, which would eliminate the extra frying oil.

Would I make this in college: 

           Potentially. It would involve keeping a large amount of bacon in the fridge for just one person. If I were cooking breakfast with friends or had the intention of making bacon-based meals for a couple days, I would be more likely to make this as well. It is certainly simple enough to do so. 

Overall, a delicious breakfast and enjoyable experiment! 

Banana Apple Bacon Grilled Cheese on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

If you've chosen this post, you're more than likely intrigued as to how such a strange combination tasted so addicting, I made and ate TWO that night. And even though I've already had dinner, writing about it makes me want another one right now. It's that good.

The Recipe: Banana Apple Bacon Grilled Cheese on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

• 2 slices of Cinnamon  Raisin Bread
• 1/2 banana, sliced long ways, thinly and then each slice should be cut in half
• 1/2 apple, sliced thinly, no core
• 1 strip of bacon, cooked, broken into pieces
• 1 tbsp shredded, low fat Mozzarella
• 1/4 tsp butter

The Process: 

• Heat your panini pan and press on a large burner using high heat
• Set the press aside on the stovetop
• Spread butter on both sides of both slices of the bread
• When the pan is hot enough, place both slices of bread on the pan...remember to turn the heat down!!
• Sprinkle mozzarella on both sides of the bread
• When mozzarella is securely melted on each slice, lay the banana slices on one slice of bread
• Next, lay the apple slices on top of the banana slices
• Finally,  lay the bacon pieces on top of the apple slices
• Close your sandwich, and press until grill marks brown to desired color
• Enjoy with cinnamon sugar pita chips or other all natural snack

The Calories:

Bread: 170 calories

Banana: 45 calories

Apple: 40 calories

Bacon: 42 calories

Mozzarella: 20 calories

Butter: 25 calories

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TOTAL: 342 calories

As a sandwich goes, this is a pretty healthy option! Your typical panini has more than that in the bread alone. If you're looking at that and thinking, "Wait...but you ate two!", think for another second about what I really ate: a banana, an apple, two strips of bacon, and a relatively small amount of cheese and butter, on homemade cinnamon bread. And still ate only 684 calories for a main course for dinner.

What went right: 
           It's a strange but perfect combination! Healthy, natural, well-rounded...I love this sandwich.

What went wrong:
           The first time I almost burnt the bread because I didn't turn the heat down. Came out great though once I noticed.

Will I do this in college:
           Definitely. I might not eat two at once but I will for sure be making it.

Overall, I think this is a wonderful sandwich not only for dinner but for lunch, or even for appetizers if they were cut in diagonal fourths. It's quick, easy, and healthy...Just what every college student needs!