Pupcakes! Cupcakes!

So. Have I mentioned I'm a bit obsessed with baking? Don't judge me because I have a love affair with my KitchenAid. I usually take time on the weekends and turn my kitchen into a disaster as I try new recipes. Last weekend was no exception. One the menu were pupcakes for my four legged kid and his friends (Again, don't judge. I was proud he was graduating another perfect puppy class) and two kinds of cupcakes for my humans at work...although they are more like vultures.

Seriously - how can you *not* make treats for this face?

Pupcake Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
2 cups water
1 egg
1/2 tsp double strength vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Spray cupcakes or mini cupcake pan with olive oil.

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add all ingredients but peanut butter and dog food and mix with a pastry blender until well combined. Add peanut butter and continue stirring until well blended.

If using mini cupcake pan, spoon 2 Tbsp (or 1/8 cup) batter into each well. If using regular cupcake pan, fill each well to the top. The batter will not rise or smooth out very much, so be sure to smooth it out and make it pretty. Top each cupcake with 1-4 pieces of dog food as “sprinkles,” pushing them down slightly into the dough.
Bake mini pupcakes for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Bake larger pupcakes for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes in pan before inverting onto cooling rack. Allow pupcakes to cool completely before feeding them to your dog.

The result? Winston loved them and would not stop staring between myself and the oven.

Now onto the human food, the two kinds of cupcakes up were Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting and Banana Cupcake with Peanut Butter Filling and Marshmellow Fluff Frosting.

Chocolate Velvets (Recipe from cupcakeblog.com - and I'd call them red, but the end product wasn't too red)

Makes 36 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3-3/4 cups cake flour

1/4 cups cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

3/8 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

3 teaspoons vinegar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 ounce red food coloring paste

2-1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups butter

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F .
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder (or cream of tarter), and salt into medium bowl.

Whisk buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring in small bowl to blend.
Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well fluffy, 3 minutes
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition, about 30 seconds.
Beat in dry ingredients in alternately with buttermilk mixture in

Scoop into cupcake tins. NOTE: Ice Cream scoopers work WONDERS for this - I want one in every size!
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes
Cool in pans 10 minutes
Cool completely on racks

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

12 ounces or 1-1/2 packages of Philly cream cheese

1/2 stick butter

4-5 cups sifted powdered sugar

Seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours
Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment
Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy
Add 4 cups of the sugar and beat until combined
Add vanilla and beat until combined
Add more sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling and Marshmellow Fluff Frosting

Recipe courtesy of bakespace.com

Cupcake Ingredients

Makes 22-24 cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 medium bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix banana and buttermilk until the banana is broken up.
Combine banana/buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until well incorporated.
Fold dry mixture into the wet mixture; make sure all the ingredients are mixed. These are not muffins so you want them fully mixed.
Scoop out into cupcake papers.
Bake at 350 degree oven for ~20-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (start checking after 20 minutes).

Peanut Butter Filling
4 ounces or 1/2 package of Philly cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 TBSP vanilla extract
4 TBSP milk
Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until combined.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the milk and beat until combined.
Both cupcake and filling recipe are from CupcakeBlog.com

Marshmallow Fluff Frosting
2 (7ounce) jars marshmallow fluff
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 ¾ cup powdered sugar
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and marshmallow until fully combined.
Add the vanilla, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Blend until combined. Add another cup, and then blend. Scrape down bowl. Add remaining ¾ cup of sugar.

To assemble:
You can either use the cone method or the lazy (the way I did it) where you just shove the metal tip into the cake and pipe the filling until the cupcake looks like it might explode.
Follow with frosting. These need to be refrigerated.