Thanksgiving Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cinnamon Butter Cream

Thanksgiving this year was a busy one for us. Kyle is big on creating our own little family traditions, so this year he wanted to do a Thanksgiving dinner just the two of us. I loved this idea, but we still wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with our families, so this meant three dinners over three days. That's a LOT of food. 

For our dinner, Kyle and I came up with the menu together and spent the day in the kitchen whipping up our dishes. We even put our turkey in brine the night before, which I will definitely do it again. The whole meal ended up being really awesome, although we cooked way too much food. 

Turkey brine

Who needs serving dishes? 

A casual Thankgiving for sure

After dinner snooze

For our family dinners, we went to each of our parents houses and both families requested that we bring cupcakes. For Kyle's family, I made squash cupcakes with maple cream cheese butter cream. You can find the recipe here. 

For my family dinner, I made Gingerbread cupcakes with cinnamon butter cream icing and a little 'acorn' decoration on top. I LOVED the cupcake flavor, but they were a tad dry. I altered this recipe a bit to improve the result. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cupcakes

1½ cups flour
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1½ cups butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
¼ cup milk (more or less for desired batter consistency)
4 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix  flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium bowl. In stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, vanilla and molasses. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between. Gradually add in dry ingredients until well combined. Add in milk until batter is desired consistency. Fill a lined muffin tin ¾ full. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature prior to frosting.

Cinnamon Butter Cream

½ cup butter (1 stick)
½ cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla
4-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted


Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth and well-combined. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, mixing well until your frosting is desired consistency. Use a pastry bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Acorn Decoration

Hershey kisses
Chocolate chips
Mini Nilla wafers

Pipe a small amount of icing onto the bottom of a Hershey kiss and attach to the flat side of the Nilla wafer. Pipe icing onto the flat part of the chocolate chip and attach to the other side (curved side) of the Nilla wafer. Viola! Acorn decoration complete. (Seriously the easiest 'recipe' I've every typed out...)


I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xo
Alison

Fact: Food you don't have to cook tastes better.

Kyle and I are currently looking for a house as we are currently renting. This means that if all goes according to plan we will eventually have to fork over large sums of money. For two people who thought first and lasts month rent was daunting, you could say we're a bit nervous about this prospect (or inevitability, I suppose).

In order to make us feel a bit better about the fees, taxes, down payment, arm and leg that this will cost us, we are attempting to save money. Let me tell you, this is not our strong suit. We love to eat out and enjoy fancy craft beer and wine. We rarely say no to a shopping trip or a fancy brand coffee. We love our lifestyle! But boy is it expensive...

The best way for us to save money (and stay paleo): cook at home. We know this. Our rational minds tell us that this make sense. Our irrational, stress-ridden, hungry minds tell us to order pizza or go to the new BYOB down the street. Those minds are so much louder and more convincing (why yes, I would much prefer to have someone else cook while I sample the latest Marlborough county Sauvignon Blanc, thank you irrational mind!). 

Don't get me wrong, I actually love to cook. But I love to cook when I can do something fun and I have the time to devote to it. Not after a long day of work when we're both starving and a bit cranky and just want to eat something! Considering how desperate I am to find our dream house and STOP RENTING, I'm willing to give anything a try. Even cooking during the week.

So to inspire myself, here are a few paleo recipes that I've either tried or would like to try. 

Paleo Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Link

Recipe Revisions: I used chicken rather then beef. My only issue with the paleo diet is the amount of red meat. Don't get me wrong, I love red meat, but I try to eat it sparingly. I also included more veggies then the recipe called for and used Almond flour instead of arrowroot (it's just what I had on hand).

Verdict: Not the fastest meal for during the week, but it was VERY tasty. Will definitely make this again.

Paleo Blueberry Muffins

Link

Recipe Revisions: I followed the recipe pretty closely. I think I may have added more blueberries then what was called for.

Verdict: Quick and easy paleo breakfast!

Carrot Chips with Guacamole

Link

Recipe Revisions: None. My guacamole was from whole foods though. 

Verdict: One of my favorite lunches for when I'm working from home.

Paleo Turkey Crockpot Chili

Link

Recipe Revisions: None.  

Verdict: Another household favorite! will be making this one again.

Paleo Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken

Link

Recipe Revisions: Haven't made this one yet, but I will probably use boneless skinless breasts as opposed to drumsticks. My husband is a baby about bones in his meat.
Verdict: TBD


Paleo Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken

Link

Recipe Revisions: I made a TON of revisions to this recipe. For us, sweet potatoes are not paleo, so I do not include them in any recipe. I also used ground turkey instead of beef and avocado oil instead of the recommended bacon grease (seriously, they recommended bacon grease... Just because something is paleo doesn't mean it is healthy).

Verdict: It was essentially a completely different dish, but it was delicious! 

Paleo Turkey Club Wraps

Link

Recipe Revisions: I can not master the lettuce wrap. They always fall apart or just do not look like the pictures. Oh well, I TRIED to follow this recipe to the letter.

Verdict: Perfect lunch. Skip the bacon if you're worried about fat or cholesterol. 

Paleasgna

Add caption

Recipe Revisions: Haven't made this one yet! I will definitely use ground turkey and will skip the Greek yogurt and cheese (not paleo).

Verdict: TBD

Wish us luck! If all goes according to plan, we should be out of our apartment and into a home of our own by Spring! Hopefully with slimmer waistlines and improved health as well. :-) If all else fails, there is always a back up dinner:

xo

Alison

Holiday Cupcake Recipes

I absolutely LOVE to bake, but cupcakes, cookies and cakes don't typically fit into my attempt at a  'clean eating' diet. Thank goodness for cheating during the holidays! :-)

For Thanksgiving this year, I made two different types of cupcakes; Squash with Maple Buttercream and Andes Mint Cupcakes (Chocolate Peppermint with Peppermint Buttercream). Oh man, they were fantastic! Unfortunately, I made too many and I currently have a few tempting me in our fridge. Here are the recipes for each, enjoy!

Squash Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream

Squash Cupcakes:

1 ½ cups acorn and butternut squash (roasted, peeled, mashed) – you can also use canned 100% pumpkin, just avoid pumpkin pie filling

2 eggs (you can substitute 1 cup mashed banana for vegan cupcakes)

½ cup pure vegetable oil canola

¼ cup applesauce (add a little bit more if the batter looks a little thick)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups gluten-free flour

½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ancho chili powder

dash of cayenne pepper

Maple Cream Cheese Buttercream:

1 block (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature

3 Tbsp. real maple syrup

1 lb. powdered sugar (or more/less to achieve desired consistency – added 1 cup at a time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix  flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, chili, and cayenne in stand mixer. In separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (squash, eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla). Mix well until there are no lumps. Pour squash mixture into the flour mixture and combine, but don't over mix. Fill a lined muffin tin ¾ full. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool to room temperature prior to frosting.

Using an electric mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup until smooth and well-combined. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, mixing well until it’s all incorporated. Use a pastry bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Andes Mint Cupcakes (Chocolate Peppermint with Peppermint Buttercream)

Recipe from http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2011/05/andes-mint-cupcakes.html

Chocolate Cake

1 cup sour cream

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

¼ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Chocolate Mint Filling:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

6 tablespoons butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a whisk, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well in between each addition. Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until and inserted knife come out clean.

Chocolate Mint Filling: Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar. When cupcake come out of the oven, use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcake with the filling, or use the filling as a ganache and dip the tops of the cakes into it.

Mint Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Chocolate Mint Filling and an Andes Mint.