snow day #1 continues with de-stress sweets

Ok here are my stress baking results...

Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 egg
3/4 t. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/8 t. baking powder
1/8 t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk* (or substitution)
2 medium bananas (mashed)


Directions:
To make buttermilk substitute combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 T. white vinegar. Let stand 15 min. Stir before adding to batter. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Combine all dry ingredients and add a little at a time alternating with buttermilk. Mix on low speed for 2 min. Fold in mashed bananas (I had a little over 1/2 cup. I wouldn't recommend any more or the batter might be too wet.). Spoon into lined muffin tin. Bake for 25 min. Let cool completely before icing. You can ice these with anything you want or not at all. I used Chocolate Buttercream and made little strawberry hearts. Here it is...


Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T. hot water

Directions:
Blend butter, cocoa, hot water and half the sugar. Add remaining sugar and beat on high speed 2-3 min until light. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.


And last but not least, these should be called quadruple chocolate cookies. They are super chocolatey and are good for that time of the month or when you're feeling stressed... or really just anytime. Here they are...


Double Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1/3 cup chocolate chips


Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. Add to butter mixture. This is extremely hard if you don't have a stand mixer. It's seriously like the thickest cookie dough I've ever seen in my life. I did it with my hand mixer many times before I had my beloved stand mixer, but it wasn't easy. Chill the dough for 30 min. Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into balls and place on a greased cookies sheet. Bake 10 min. Remove from oven and smash cookies down with the back of a spoon. Return to oven 3-5 min. 

glorious!

And hubby just walked in the door! YAY!!!