Baked Donut Monday: Frosted Birthday Cake Donuts!

Happy Monday you guys!!!
I'm back again for another Baked Donut Monday post

and today I'm going to tell you about some super tasty

BIRTHDAY CAKE FROSTED DONUTS!!!

Oh and January is my birthday month,

so of course these were going to be birthday themed!

And what's a birthday without rainbow sprinkles???

Even a birthday in your 30's needs them, I promise!

I love birthdays. I love donuts. And I love rainbow sprinkles.

So I searched for a birthday themed donut (with sprinkles) and found these.

While they looked great, they weren't baked,

but I decided to give it a whirl anyway...

The Goods:
All Purpose Flour

Rainbow Sprinkles

Baking Powder

Kosher Salt

Sugar

Butter

Eggs

Vanilla Extract

Milk

Cocoa Powder

Powdered Sugar

 

In a medium bowl whisk together 

the flour, rainbow sprinkles, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

 

Add butter and sugar to the bowl and beat until well combined.

 

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fully mixed in.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix well.

Now add your milk and mix again.

*Note, here's where I would increase the milk!

Add the rest of the flour and mix one last time!

Transfer donut batter to a large zipper bag.

Cut off the end of the zipper bag 

and fill your donut pan until 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes,

until golden brown and 

toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

 

While donuts are cooling, make the frosting!!!

 

Add cocoa powder, butter, vanilla and salt and combine.

 Mix in the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. 

 

Dip cooled donut into frosting...

 

Then COVER in rainbow sprinkles!!!

 

Then take a bite to review your work...

Let me start by saying this is the second time I've attempted funfetti donuts.
The first time, the sprinkles bleed into the dough making it look tie-dyed.
Cool, but really not the look I was going for so I considered that time a fail.

Sadly, I'm considering this, my second attempt a fail too.
While they look great, they are just a little too dry in my opinion.
I used a fried donut recipe and attempted to bake them.

I think the dough itself just needs to be a little more moist.
Maybe more milk would make it better?
If you try it, please do let me know!!!

Birthday Cake Donuts
Adapted From foodnetwork.com

For the donuts:
2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

3 Tablespoons Rainbow Sprinkles

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

Kosher Salt to taste

3/4 Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons Butter

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Milk 

*Note, here's where I would increase the milk!

For the frosting:
 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Pinch Kosher Salt
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
1 Tablespoon Rainbow Sprinkles for Garnish

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, rainbow sprinkles, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
2. Add butter and sugar to the bowl and beat until well combined.
3. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fully mixed in.
4. Add half of the flour mixture and mix well.
5. Add your milk and mix again. *Note, here's where I would increase the milk!
6. Add the rest of the flour and mix one last time!
7. Transfer donut batter to a large zipper bag.
8. Cut off the end of the zipper bag and fill your donut pan until 1/2 to 3/4 full.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes,until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
10. In a new bowl, add cocoa powder, butter, vanilla and salt and combine.
11. Mix in the powdered sugar and milk until smooth.  
12.  Dip cooled donut into frosting and then cover in rainbow sprinkles.
13. Let frosting set and then enjoy!

Chocolate Italian Cream Cupcakes

Last Christmas, I received a card from a friend with a cake on the front.
The cake looked ABSOLUTELY amazing and I knew I wanted to try it.
Lucky for me - inside the card was the recipe for the cake!

My birthday is about a month after Christmas
and I had plans to celebrate with some friends and family.
When my aunt asked me what kind of cake I wanted, I knew immediately!

Not only did the cake look amazing,
but it tasted even better than I'd imagined!
I made a mental note to make the recipe myself soon.

"Soon" was actually quite a few months later,
but I finally did make the recipe recently!
And instead of a whole cake... made cupcakes!!!

Wow, wow, wow!!!
They were just as amazing as I remembered,
so now let me show you how they're made!

The Goods:

Butter

Canola Oil

Sugar

Eggs

Flour

Cocoa Powder

Baking Soad

Milk

Vinegar

Vanilla Extract

Coconut Extract

Pecans

Flaked Coconut

Cream Cheese

Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and oil.

Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add 2 egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in another bowl.

Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix.

Next add the homemade buttermilk and mix.

Then add the remaining flour mixture and mix.

Now add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix.

Lastly, add the flaked coconut and chopped pecans and mix again. 

Set the batter aside.

In another mixing bowl, add six egg whites.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

This site is very helpful if you're unsure exactly what stiff peaks are!

Add the egg whites to the batter bowl and fold in carefully.

Scoop the batter (I used an ice cream scoop) into lined muffin pans.

You can use whatever size pan you'd like,

just make sure to keep an eye on your baking time!

I chose to make mine BIG and used jumbo muffin pans!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Pop those babies in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.

You'll know they're done with you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean!

Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes.

Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

While they're cooling, it's time to make the frosting.

And if I'm being honest - this is where I ran into a snag...

Keep reading and you'll see what happened!

Bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature...

And then beat together until smooth.

Mix together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon.

Add half of the mixture to the beaten butter and cream cheese.

Mix well and then gradually add remaining half.

Finally blend in the vanilla.

Where was the snag that I ran into you ask???

I've made different types of homemade frosting many times.

But this frosting turned out NOTHING like any frosting I'd made before.

I was confused and didn't really know where I'd messed up.

Then a light bulb went off - I should have been using my whisk beater!!!!

The chocolate cream cheese frosting tasted amazing,

but the consistency just wasn't right.

When I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes, it wasn't holding it's "shape".

So what'd I do?

I did what any logical person with zero extra time would do!

I bought some pre-made cream cheese frosting, that's what!

After piping both kinds of frosting,

 I added a little toasted coconut to the top of each one.

Chocolate Italian Cream Cupcakes Recipe

For the Cupcakes:

1/2 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Canola Oil

2 Cups Sugar

2 Large Eggs, Separated

2 Cups Flour

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Cup Homemade Buttermilk*

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Coconut Extract

1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

4 Egg Whites

For the Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) Package Cream Cheese

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 (16 ounce) Box Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and oil.
3. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Add 2 egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in another bowl.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix.
7. Add the homemade buttermilk and mix.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix.
9. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and mix.
10. Add the flaked coconut and chopped pecans and mix again. Set batter mixture aside.
11. In another mixing bowl, add six egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form.
12. Add the egg whites to the batter bowl and fold in carefully.
13. Scoop the batter into lined muffin pans and bake for about 20 minutes.
14. Insert a toothpick to make sure they're done. A clean toothpick means they're ready!
15. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on wire rack.
16. In another mixing bowl, bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature, then beat until smooth.
17. In a smaller bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon.
18. Add half of the above mixture to the beaten butter and cream cheese and mix well.gradually 
19. Add the remaining half and beat until light.
20. Lastly, blend in the vanilla.
21. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with toasted coconut for garnish.

*Homemade Buttermilk is a mixture of Milk and Vinegar. Find more info here!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Birthday Cookies!

Today is the birthday of one of my BEST FRIENDS!

She is spending the weekend away hiking in Joshua Tree

and I'm home baking her some yummy cookies!

Last weekend I got the idea to make her cookies

and then blog about it as a way to celebrate her!

So today, this post is about cookies for an amazing gal!!!

For these cookies, I modified my chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Which is the original Tollhouse recipe on the back of the bag.

The only thing I do differently is bake them a few less minutes.

The Goods:

Whole Wheat Flour

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Unsalted Butter

White Chocolate Chips

Macadamia Nuts

Vanilla

Eggs

Let butter soften, then beat with mixer.

Add sugar, brown sugar and vanilla then mix.

Add eggs and mix to incorporate completely.

Add the dry ingredients and mix again.

Add your white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

And mix one last time - on the slowest speed.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a small scooper, scoop cookies onto cookie sheets.

Making sure to leave enough room for them to expand.

Bake for 5 minutes, flip the pan around

and then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes.

Cool on the pan a minute or two,

then finish cooling on a wire rack.

And if you have already made enough but still have more dough,
freeze a tray full of scooped out dough to bake sometime soon!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Recipe

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 brown sugar

1teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 bag white chocolate chips

1 cup macadamia nuts - chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Let butter soften, then beat it with mixer.
3. Add sugar, brown sugar and vanilla then mix.
4. Add eggs and mix to incorporate completely.
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix again.
6. Add your white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and mix one last time - on the slowest speed.
7. Using a small scooper, scoop cookies onto cookie sheets. Make sure to leave enough room for them to expand.
8. Bake for 5 minutes, flip the pan around and then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes.
9. Cool on the pan a minute or two, then finish cooling on a wire rack.

Friday Link Ups: My Birthday Weekend Plans!

Happy Friday Everyone!!

I'm back today for another Friday Link Up!

And again, I'm linking up with THREE different groups.

Make sure to check them all out at the bottom of this post!

My birthday is tomorrow and I'm spending the weekend away.
It's not a big birthday or anything, but I still have some fun things in store.

So I thought today would be a great day to share 

FIVE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND PLANS!!!

Keep reading to find out what I have going on.

1. Wine Tasting!

Photos via here
With Napa, the Central Coast and Temecula all relatively close,
it's pretty crazy that I've never been wine tasting!
I'm changing that today and hitting up a few wineries with family and friends.

2. Hanging out with Family and Friends!

Hanging out with family and friends doesn't stop with wine tasting.

Nope, I plan to spend a few days with some pretty awesome people.

And if I'm being honest, I can't wait to celebrate my birthday with them!

3. Eating some yummy food!

And because I'm ME, I already have the menus planned out.

I won't be doing all the cooking, but I will be eating well!

I'm super excited for some fluffy pancakes and bbq'd salmon.

4. Horseback riding!

And of course we'll be doing some horseback riding!

Not only is it something that I love to do

but I can't wait to wear my new cowboy boots!!!

5. Relaxing in the hot tub...and maybe even the pool!!

Yup, you read that right folks.
I'll be hot tubing for sure, but I'll still be in Southern California,
so if the weather's nice enough I may take a dip in the pool too.

Now for more Friday Link Up Fun, check out the blogs below!

Andrea and Erika's blogs from Friday Favorites.

 April and Christina's blogs from 5 on Friday.

Karli and Amy's blogs from oh hey friday!