Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Copycat Recipe

If you've ever tried a Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake then I have the feeling you are really going to love this post. My family is obsessed with Sprinkles Cupcakes. Their Red Velvet Cupcake is simply irresistible. It is one cupcake that is truly hard to compete with, but I was definitely up for the challenge. On my recent vacation to Southern California I was sure to stop by Sprinkles in Newport Beach so I could refresh my memory on just exactly what that rich, sweet and even velvety cupcake tasted like so I could come home and create my own Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake Copycat recipe. I LOVE making copycat recipes at home. It gives me such a fun challenge in the kitchen. Everyone who tried these cupcakes said they tasted just like Sprinkles! If you don't believe them, try for yourself. These are without a doubt melt in your mouth amazing! Not low fat by any means but worth it, I loaded the butter in these babies (just like I assume Sprinkles does). Enjoy and share (if you wish =)!

Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes 
Yields 15 insanely delicious cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold*
1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp red food coloring
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, with an electric hand mixer on medium speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time stirring after each addition. (Now stand back and change out of any nice shirt you have on and) Add red food coloring and vanilla extract and mix until combine. In a small mixing bowl (or in the measuring cup you used to measure milk), combine milk and 1 tsp vinegar. Add milk mixture and flour mixture to cupcake mixture, alternating in two separate batches, mixing until combine after each addition. Divide batter evenly among 15 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven 18-21 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 2 minutes in muffin tin, then transfer to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container to cool completely (this just helps them retain more moisture). Once cooled completely, spread generously with Cream Cheese Frosting (just as sprinkles does, lots of frosting!).

*I warmed the butter in the microwave for about 9-10 seconds on HIGH power in a small microwave safe bowl, basically you don't want it softened but not cold either. Just in between the two. Also, alternately you could use unsalted butter and add 1/4 tsp salt to the recipe. I just always keep salted butter on hand so I wanted the recipe to use salted. So if you use salted you don't need to add any salt to the recipe.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salted butter, firm but not cold (if using unsalted add 1/8 tsp salt)
6 oz cream cheese, cold (I recommend using Philadelphia brand in this recipe)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Red and blue food coloring, for decor (optional)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, using and electric mixer, whip together butter and cream cheese until pale and fluffy (about 1 minute on high speed, then 3-4 minutes on medium high speed). Mix in vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. If doing optional infamous Sprinkles Cupcakes dot on top then scoop out a few tablespoons frosting into two separate bowls and tint with food coloring (lots of red in the one and barely any blue in the other). Spread a small circle of red on top followed by a small light blue, use a toothpick to spread if needed (it helped me get a more circular shape around the edges with its finer point).

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Coconut French Toast with Coconut Syrup

Hello Breakfast! Ordinary French toast gets a major upgrade with a few exciting coconut additions. This fluffy french toast is made with creamy coconut milk and then it gets more real coconut flavor from pure coconut extract. Then it's cooked until perfectly golden and drenched with an irresistible, deliciously sweet coconut syrup (which again is full of real coconut flavor from coconut milk and extract) and to finish it's sprinkled with what more but the real thing, shredded sweetened coconut. 
I listed below additional ideas for this french toast which I cannot wait to make in the future. This recipe is definitely going into my breakfast (and dinner) rotation! Enjoy and share!

Coconut French Toast
Yields 10 slices (about 5 servings)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup canned coconut milk, well shaken
1/2 cup milk
5 large eggs
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
10 1" slices day or two old French Bread
Coconut Syrup, for serving, recipe follows
Sweetened shredded coconut, for serving, optional


Directions:
Preheat a non-stick electric griddle to 350 degrees. In a blender, combine coconut milk, milk, eggs, coconut extract, vanilla extract, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend on low speed about 10 seconds until well blended. Pour mixture into a shallow bowl. Butter preheated griddle and dip bread slices into egg mixture and allow bread several seconds to absorb the mixture (I like to gently squeeze it like a sponge to make sure it gets soaked all the way through) then allow some of the excess to drip off. Cook on buttered griddle until golden on bottom, then lift bread with a spatula and butter griddle again. Then flip french toast to opposite side and cook opposite side until golden brown. Serve warm with coconut syrup and sprinkle with optional sweetened shredded coconut.


So I haven't tried this yet but I need to very soon, this french toast would be excellent if each slice were coated in a combination crushed cornflakes and ground sweetened shredded coconut (after you dip it in the egg mixture) and then cooked on a buttered griddle as directed. And to go one step further you could slice each piece of bread down the center stuff it with bananas with a little bit of brown sugar or crushed pineapple, diced mangoes or diced strawberries with sugar.


Coconut Syrup


Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup canned coconut milk, well shaken
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp coconut extract


Directions:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in sugar, coconut milk and salt. Bring mixture just to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and coconut extract, whisk mixture for about 10 seconds until frothy. Serve warm. Store in refrigerator up to one week in an airtight container.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy (adapted slightly from my Buttermilk French Toast and Vanilla Cream Syrup)

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Strawberry Coffee Cake

I tell you no lie when I say this Strawberry Coffee Cake is the best coffee cake I've ever eaten! I love it! It makes sense that I like it so much because I adapted the recipe slightly from my favorite ever blueberry muffins recipe. I had some fresh strawberries in the fridge I needed to use up and I've been wanting to make a coffee cake recipe for some time so I decided why not strawberry? The combination of flavors in this cake is irresistible! You get a melt in your mouth, deliciously flavorful, buttery cake that sandwiches a layer of fresh, sweetened, juicy strawberries then to finish it off it's crowned with a generous amount of an incredible crumb topping (I've said it before, please don't substitute the Turbinado sugar, I think it's a must). Everyone was coming back for more of this heavenly cake. Make it for dessert or a breakfast treat (I mean really what better way to start the day =), either way I have the feeling you're going to love this recipe. Enjoy and share!

Strawberry Coffee Cake
Yields about 12 servings


Ingredients:
Strawberry Filling
8 oz. fresh strawberries, diced (about 1 1/3 cups)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cold water
1 tsp lemon juice


Crumb topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp butter, chilled and diced into cubes
1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Turbinado Sugar


Cake:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
7 Tbsp butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


To prepare strawberry filling: in a medium saucepan whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cornstarch. Stir in cold water and lemon juice. Add in strawberries. Bring mixture just to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.


To prepare crumb topping: add 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar and 2 1/2 Tbsp butter to a small food processor. Pulse mixture just a few seconds until combine (it should still be fluffy, if you pulse to long it will become too dense). Pour crumb mixture into a small bowl and whisk in Turbinado Sugar, set aside.


To prepare cake: in a mixing bowl: whisk together 1 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip together 7 Tbsp softened butter and 1 cup granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in egg and vanilla. Mix in sour cream. Add dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk in two separate batches and mix just until combine.


To assemble cake: pour and evenly spread 1/2 of the cake batter into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Spread strawberry mixture evenly over batter layer. Dollop remaining batter by the spoonfuls over strawberry mixture and gently spread batter into an even layer. Sprinkle top evenly with crumb topping. Bake in preheated oven 50-55 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly before cutting (if you can =).




Recipe Source: Cooking Classy (adapted slightly from my Blueberry Muffins)

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Two Ingredient Fruit Dip (A 60 Second Recipe)

How can such an incredibly simple recipe be so fantastically good? I absolutely love this fruit dip! I got the recipe from my sister whom got it from her mother in law whom got if from I don't know where. Basically what I'm saying is this recipe is not my creation, so if you know who came up with it please let me know because I would love to credit them. They seriously came up with something genius. This recipe literally can be made, ready for dipping in 60 seconds. It doesn't get much easier than that. It's creamy, fluffy, sweet and oh so delicious. It will have you doing the finger swipe to any remaining streaks straggling behind in the bowl. If there's any left the next day (which is very very rare) I always want to eat it for breakfast, well it is served with fruit after all so that's healthy right =)? Enjoy! Oh and if anyone tries this with honey or blueberry cream cheese please let me know if you like it, I've always wanted to try a different flavor but am too comfortable with the yummy strawberry version to try something new.

Two Ingredient Fruit Dip (A 60 Second Recipe)


Ingredients:
8 oz strawberry cream cheese, at room temperature
7 oz marshmallow creme


Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, using a fork, whisk together strawberry cream cheese and marshmallow cream until well combine. Serve with fruit for dipping (my favorites are strawberries, apple slices, blueberries or diced pineapple. This is also delicious with mini pretzels). Store in refrigerator up to three days, stir again before serving.

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Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce

Are you looking for a wowing and simple grilling recipe for the upcoming 4th of July celebrations? Well, I'm quite certain you've found just what you are looking for. This grilled chicken smothered in a homemade Balsamic Barbecue Sauce simply said, is incredible! It is definitely up there with my favorite grilled chicken recipes. You get a tender chicken breast grilled to perfection that's basted with a flavorful, tangy, not overly sweet sauce that will have you coming back for more. I'd say this recipe is one you most definitely are going to want to try. Don't be scared by the long list of ingredients in the sauce, most of them are pantry staples that you likely already have on hand. I hope you enjoy and have a great 4th of July! 


Grilled Chicken with Balsamic BBQ Sauce
Yields about 6 servings


Ingredients:
6 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (thighs would work great too)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive Oil for brushing grill
1 Recipe Balsamic Barbecue Sauce, recipe follows


Directions:
Preheat grill to medium high heat. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and somewhat gently pound chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet to an even thickness (you just don't want to destroy the chicken, that's why I say somewhat gently).  Season each side of chicken breast with salt and pepper. Brush grill lightly with olive oil. Place chicken on grill and cook (with lid closed) 5 - 8 minutes per side, until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Baste chicken generously with Balsamic Barbecue Sauce during the last few minutes of grilling (if you want sauce for dipping reserve some of the sauce in a separate container so you aren't contaminating sauce while basting chicken, or alternately you could heat remaining barbecue sauce over stove top to kill bacteria). Serve warm.


Balsamic Barbecue Sauce
Yields about 1 1/2 cups


Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
1 tsp liquid smoke, hickory flavor
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in remaining ingredients then heat mixture just to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Once mixture reaches a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened and slightly reduced. Remove from heat, allow to cool and store in a non-reactive, airtight container in the refrigerator up to one week.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Rolo Stuffed Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites

It's good to be home and back in the kitchen! Vacation to Cali was fun but oh how I missed my kitchen and the cooking and the baking =). Call my crazy but the kitchen is one of my favorite places to be. The possibilities of what you can create are endless. It was fun to try new restaurants while vacationing but there's nothing quite like a delicious home cooked meal prepared exactly as you wish. 

Anyway onto what's important here - these, melt in your mouth, sweetly spiced, Rolo Stuffed Snickerdoodle Cookie dough bites. Quite the name eh? I mentioned a while back how I've become obsessed with cookie dough, well it was no lie. That love led me to create these. I've seen Rolo Stuffed Snickerdoodle Cookies in the past but why not just make them as cookie dough bites without baking? With these you get less mess, less waiting yet still one indulgent, chewy (thanks to that yummo rolo) cookie dough bite. Simply said, they're Fantastic!

Note, if you don't want to indulge as much these bites are also delicious without Rolos stuffed in them. So if you are wanting to make them right away but don't have Rolos on hand I'd say just try them next time with the Rolos. Enjoy!

Rolo Stuffed Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bites
Yields about 28


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 


28 Rolo candies
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip together butter, brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cream of tartar until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and mix until combine. In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp granulated sugar and 3/4 tsp cinnamon. Scoop dough out 1 (even) TBSP at a time, then press one Rolo candie into the center of scooped dough and roll into a ball. Roll each dough ball into cinnamon sugar mixture. Chill or serve immediately. Store Cookie Dough Bites in refrigerator. 


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy (adapted slightly from my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites)

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Blueberry Crumb Bars

Smitten Kitchen in my opinion should be known as one of the greatest food blogs ever. Not only are Deb's (the Genius behind Smitten Kitchen) recipes amazing but her photos are equally amazing. To say they are drool worthy would be speaking lightly. I love how you can always tell each photo is hers, she has her own unique style. Also, she has a way with instantly selling me. I always wish I was holding in my hand, ready to blissfully dive into whatever it is she posts. The Blueberry Crumb Bars she posted looked simple yet ever so stunning. I've had them on my to do list for about a year now. Why I waited this long I can never tell you. These things are unbelievable! A dessert so good you will nearly be at a loss for words when describing it's goodness. Yet, I will attempt. 

You get a melt in your mouth, buttery and tender shortbread, layered with fresh, sweet, juicy blueberries and then it's sprinkled with more of that delicious, buttery cookie goodness (then here is where my addition came in to play), and finally it's sprinkled with one of my very favorite things, Raw sugar. So, with that said, how could these not be simply fantastic? 

I did add some vanilla extract into the recipe to amp up the flavor of the dough just a bit, I think it compliments the blueberry perfectly. The original recipe, from allrecipes.com listed you could optionally add a pinch of cinnamon, so feel free to add that as well.

I am so in love with these bars because my favorite part of a blueberry muffin is the crumb topping (as well as the blueberries) and basically that is what these are. The crumb topping of a muffin with blueberries sandwiched in the middle. So, yes indeed, these are one of the best things I've ever eaten. These should definitely hold a spot on the Food Networks "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and I should definitely be doing the spot lighting haha just joking but that would be awesome =). Enjoy these ever so dreamy Blueberry Crumb Bars! I know I did.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Yields 9-12 bars (this recipe is half the original recipe)


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cups fresh blueberries, at room temperature
1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Turbinado sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking dish, set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolk and vanilla until combine. Add egg mixture and cold butter cubes to flour mixture and using a fork or a pastry cutter (or even your fingertips), cut mixture together until it resembles coarse crumbs. Gently press 2/3 of the mixture evenly into prepared 8x8 dish. 
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice then add blueberries. Toss mixture to evenly coat then pour and spread coated blueberries evenly over crust in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over berry layer (I pressed some of the mixture together in my hands while sprinkling to make larger crumbs). Sprinkle 1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Turbinado sugar evenly over top. Bake in preheated oven for about 38 - 42 minutes until top is golden brown. Allow to cool for about 20 - 30 minutes before cutting into squares (or serve warm with vanilla ice cream, yum). Store bars in an airtight container in refrigerator (Note: I tried these cold, straight out of the refrigerator and I preferred them warm vs cold. Just a personal preference. I would say if you like cold berry pie then you would like cold bars but I like my berry pies warm so I loved these bars warm. So, with that said, when I would eat one I would heat in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to rewarm it first).


Recipe Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen and allrecipes.com

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Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt

Ice Cream so healthy it can be called a nutritious (and so delicious) breakfast! Yes indeed. Officially this is Frozen Yogurt but I'd say it's good enough to be called and compared to Ice Cream. I was amazed with how well this turned out considering I didn't add any cane sugar (other than that of the sugars in the Greek yogurt) and also considering how incredibly simple it was to make. I've mentioned before I like to have dessert every day, so I've decided maybe I should start making some of them a bit healthier (just once in a while =) and more figure friendly. In my opinion this does make an amazing breakfast, I honestly felt great about serving it to my kids for breakfast. After one bite my three year old said "Mom, I need two Ice Creams." One just wasn't going to cut it. This is definitely kid approved. I wish I always had these ingredients on hand so I could have this for breakfast or dessert everyday. Enjoy!

 I made the swirls using a chop stick (in case you were wondering), I wanted it to be like the soft serve frozen yogurt you get at the ice cream shop but I don't have the soft serve machine to do the swirling so I had to improvise.

Banana Berry Frozen Yogurt
Yields about 4 servings


Ingredients:
3 (5.3 oz) containers Strawberry Greek Yogurt
3 large overripe bananas, chilled
1 cup fresh blueberries, chilled 
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2-3 drops red food coloring, if desired


Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend mixture until smooth, about 1 - 2 minutes. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufactures directions about 25 - 30 minutes. Serve immediately for soft serve frozen yogurt or freeze for about 3 hours for firm frozen yogurt (also, if you like it soft but don't want to eat it immediately you can freeze it until ready to use, then thaw for about 10 - 20 minutes on the counter top and stir).


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Hawaiian Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I'm loving the Hawaiian flavors lately. I made Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches a few days ago (which were amazing if I do say so myself =) and I had some left over fresh pineapple so I thought, why not make another Hawaiian inspired dish. These sandwiches are packed with the flavors of the Islands. I tried to think of all foods that remind me of Hawaii when making this recipe (even though sadly I've never been there, what is up with that??). Of course I thought of Hawaiian Pizza, one of my favorites with it's ham and pineapple combo. Then I'd say the first type of nut I think of when I think of Hawaii is Macadamia, and can you have a chicken salad sandwich without some kind of nut? Also, I wanted to add a bit of sweetness to the dressing (but don't worry it's not overly sweet) so I added in the honey and pineapple juice. I don't like a really thick dressing over my chicken salad but if you do you could omit the pineapple juice and add a few more tablespoons of the mayo or some Greek yogurt. I hope you love these delicious Island inspired sandwiches! May they make you feel as though you are vacationing in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Yields about 5-6 servings


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs cooked chicken breast, chilled and shredded
8 oz cooked ham, chilled and diced
1 1/2 cups diced fresh pineapple (canned would work too, but drain well)
1 cup diced celery (about 3 stalks)
2/3 cup chopped Macadamia nuts or Cashews
2 Tbsp chopped green onions


Dressing:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pineapple juice
3 Tbsp honey
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, toss together shredded chicken, diced ham, pineapple, celery, nuts and green onions. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, pineapple juice, honey, apple cider vinegar, onion powder and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over chicken mixture. Toss to evenly coat. Serve on Crusty Rustic Bread, Hawaiian Sweet Bread or whatever bread, roll or croissant you'd like.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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