Easy Upscale Hazelnut Cream Cheese Frosting

 This recipe is actually of my own creation. It is based off the cream cheese frosting recipe in my new favorite cookbook, The Sweet Little Book Of Cupcakes, but even though that recipe is good, I decided to kick it up a notch and the easy yet upscale hazelnut cream cheese frosting was born! After being tested by first the family, then extended family, and finally friends, over and over, this recipe was given my special stamp of approval to go down in my cookbook-of-favorites, and this little blog. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did! Here is what you'll need:


1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons Hazelnut Liqueur

1. In an electric mixer, or large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until creamy.

2. In a separate bowl, sift the confectioners sugar.

3. Add the confectioners sugar to the butter mixture on low speed until it begins to incorporate.

4.Add the Hazelnut Liqueur, and beat at medium to high speed until fully incorporated.

5. Enjoy! Put this on top of your favorite cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and pastries. I love putting this on a delicious cinnamon cupcake but, plain ol' chocolate and vanilla are great too! :)

Amazing Chocolate Chip Scones

My family loves scones. But they are often disappointed when they buy them from a store that claims they have great scones to find that they weren't very good at all. Nobody in my family had thought to make their own, though. So, one afternoon, the family requested scones and I figured I would give it a try. It was that day that this simple, satisfying, and delicious recipe was born. Here are the ingredients you will need:
  
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/3 cup white sugar 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed 
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips 
3 tablespoons La Belle Orange  
  
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.  

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender or a large fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. Mix in the La Belle Orange to form dough. 

*At this time you may need to add water and/or butter as needed. I usually add 3 or 4 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of melted butter* 

Form the dough into balls (like you would when making drop cookies.) There should be about 9 large balls or 14-18 small balls. Place onto greased baking sheet. Flatten each ball a tiny bit for even baking. 

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Move to wire racks to cool. Serve cooled with a hard center. Enjoy! :)    

Instant Amazing Candied Nuts

Okay. I know candied pecans are usually just for the winter-time, but the taste buds want what the taste buds want, right? In this case, the taste buds really wanted some candied nuts, so I whipped up a nice 'n easy but oh-so-yummy version. And guess what? These nuts are just as delicious when accompanied by iced tea as they are by hot coco. So get crackin' and eat up, because these tasty treats will only take you 20 minutes, max. Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 cup pecans, raw and unsalted 
1 1/2 teaspoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

Pour the nuts into a bowl and add the water. Use your hands or a spoon to move the nuts around in the water until every nut is evenly coated. Place the brown sugar on the nuts and stir until the pecans are as best coated as you can get them. Put the cinnamon in and coat the nuts, then toss in the white sugar and do the same. put the butter on top and place the bowl into the microwave. Turn the microwave on for 1 minute, stopping to stir the mixture about every 15 seconds. After 1 minute, stir and take the bowl out of the microwave. Set out bowl to let the nuts harden, stirring occasionally (this should take about 10-15 minutes). Then just enjoy! And have fun with it! After the nuts have hardened, you can mix in chocolate chips, M&Ms, raisins, craisins, or anything else that you like!

Delicious 'Sweet Vanilla Cupcakes'

Let me just say that this recipe book is amazing. Period. When a friend from out of town came to visit for 4th of July weekend, we were all excited. And...she brought presents! I got...(you guessed it!) a cookbook. But not just any cookbook, The Sweet Little Book Of Cupcakes is full of all these cupcake recipes I never would have thought of and it's because the recipes are straight from the Boston-based cupcakery, Sweet Cupcakes. Best of all, these recipes are nice 'en easy, so, armed with a little patience, anyone can make them. Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 vanilla bean, seeds only
2/3 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 300 F

Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In an electric mixer, or large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy and then gradually add in the sugar and mix well.

Beat in the egg until well blended, and then beat in the vanilla extract.

Slice the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise and scrape out the seeds using a paring knife. Discard the husk.

Measure the milk into a small container and add the vanilla seeds.

Add the flour mixture and milk alternately in three steps to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Blend gently until smooth.

Pour the batter into the lined cupcake pan, distributing the batter equally.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotate, and bake for 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

There was a point in time where my family and I were searching and searching for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. We found lots and lots of good recipes and okay recipes, even a few that were really good. But only one recipe stood out of the crowd as The Best. Would you believe that after all that searching, we found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe was the one that was right in front of us the whole time. We found it on the back of a Nestle chocolate chip bag. After being tested and given the seal of approval over and over from family and friends alike, the recipe from the chocolate chip bag has gone down in family history as the best so, now it's time to further share it with the world. Here are the ingredients you will need:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Beat in the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop onto a greased baking sheet (each drop should be about 1 rounded tablespoon.) Bake cookies for about 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy! :)

Family Favorite Raspberry Ice Cream

After making my first few simple ice cream recipes for my family (vanilla, chocolate) they asked for something a little different. Not wanting to stray too far from the recipe booklet that came with the Cuisinart ice cream maker, I created this simple, easy, but ever so delicious recipe that spins off from the one found in the standard Cuisinart recipe booklet. Here are the ingredients you will need:

1 cup whole milk
¾ cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 bag (6 oz) frozen raspberries

1. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed or
whisk to combine the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar
is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Cover
and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.

2. Turn on ice cream maker (I used a Cuisinart but any brand will do) pour mixture into frozen bowl and let mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes. While the cream mixture is thickening, drop in desired amount of raspberries (I used about 6 oz.) After 15-20 minutes, you will have a very soft raspberry ice cream. If a harder texture is desired, put the ice cream into the freezer for about 2 hours.

*Note* If you would like to make a patriotic red-white-and-blue ice cream great for 4th of July weekend, simply toss in some blueberries while you are putting the raspberries in.
Enjoy! :)

Our Mission

Our mission is to create an online cookbook full of tried-and-true recipes that any family would love. These beginner recipes are a great thing to do alone, with a friend, or while helping a child. And, of course, the end result is delicious. We hope you enjoy these recipes and the treats you make. We also hope that these recipes inspire you to explore other recipes and methods of cooking. Enjoy!