How To: S'mores Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Hi Nibblers!

      S'mores has become the new craze around town lately. S'mores dips, biscuits and cakes - you name it. So, I decided to join the band wagon except, with my own crazy take on it. I had a big craving for chocolate chip cookies at the time and peanut butter which inspired this concoction. I loved the end result. Crunchy bottom and gooey top. It was lovely warm and cooled. Read ahead if you want to know how to.

How To: S'mores Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Makes approximately 20 cookie cups                                              Takes about 1.5 hrs including cooling time

What you'll need:

Cookie cups:

- 250g unsalted butter (melted)

- 1 cup or 220g brown sugar

- 2 eggs

- 2 tsp. vanilla essence

- 2 cups or 360g self-raising flour

- 1 1/2 cup plain flour

- 2 tsp. baking powder

- 2 cups or 180g choc chips 

Peanut Butter filling:

- 5 Tbs. heaped peanut butter

- 3 Tbs. milk

Marshmallow tops:

- Approximately 100g Marshmallows - halved

How To:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celcius and 320 degrees Farenheit

2. Lightly spray two 12 piece muffin tins

3. Beat sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla essence until well combined

4. Sift together self raising flour, flour and baking powder into wet ingredients until incorporated

5. Stir in chocolate bits

6. Roll out approximately 2 heaped Tbs. of cookie dough into muffin hole and firmly press down in the centre and along the edges until it fills up evenly around the muffin (approximately 0.5mm around the edges)

7. Pop cookie cups into the oven for 12 minutes 

8. While waiting for cookie cups to half cook, get peanut sauce ready by popping peanut butter and milk into the microwave for approximately 1 minute and stir until well combined before setting aside

9. After the 12 minutes, take cookie cups out of the oven and lightly press along the edges to open up the cookie cup depths

10. Evenly spoon approximately 1 tsp. of the peanut butter mixture into each cookie cup then pop three marshmallows to fill the top of the cookie cups

11. Pop cookie cups back into the oven for another 20 minutes then switch setting to grill and let cookie cups grill for a further 10 minutes before taking them out of the oven

12. Leave it to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tray before leaving to cool on a rack before consuming!

        So happy with this crazy combination! If you Nibblers ever give this recipe a try, do leave a comment down below telling me how it goes. They can make days in advanced and last a week at room temperature and two weeks refrigerated so definitely a sweet treat for the week. I hope you're all having a lovely week!

Nibble Away,

               Jo

How To: Chocolate, Peanut Pretzel Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

Hi Nibblers!

           This cupcake is the ultimate cupcake when you're craving the decadence of chocolate but also want to chill with a bag of potato chips. The salt from the pretzel really breaks down the Nutella frosting and chocolate cake batter and enhances the flavours. You're not left feeling like you're on a sugar high after consuming these cupcakes. I also love how the base not only adds texture but it just gives the classic cupcake a great twist. I made these for my friends a few weeks ago and it garnered some awesome feedback. The only thing is, I couldn't pin down a shorter name for this recipe because there's so many different components I wanted to list! And with Mother's Day just around the corner, these could be your best bet with satisfying all of Mum's cravings. So, headaches over what to name these cupcakes aside, here's the recipe:

What you'll need:
Yields 12-14 medium sized cupcakes
For base:
- 150g roughly crushed pretzels
- 6 Tbs. peanut butter
- 2 Tbs. milk
- 1 tsp. sugar
For middle cake zone:
- 1 cup or 180g self-raising flour (plain flour will work just
remember to add a pinch of salt)
- 2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1/2 cup or 80g of cocoa powder
- 50g butter (softened to room temperature)
- 3/4 cup or 120g of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup or 250ml of milk
- 3/4 tsp. Vanilla Essence
For Nutella Frosting:
- 250g unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
- 100g icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 tsp. vanilla essence
- 350g or approx. 1 and 1/2 cup of Nutella

How To:
For base:

Pretzel base ready to go!

1. Line cupcake tin with patty pan liners the set aside
2. Add milk, sugar and peanut butter in microwave safe bowl and mix
3. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds or in a pot under low heat, stirring constantly until it turns into a smooth paste
4. Combine with crushed pretzels until well coated
5. Add 2 Tbs of pretzel crumb to each patty pan 
6. Firmly press pretzel crumb into the patty pan creating a straight base for your cupcake then set aside
For cake component:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius

2. Sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl then set aside

3. Beat together the softened butter, vanilla essence and white sugar in a large mixing bowl until well combined and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes)
4. Add eggs in one at a time and mix 

5. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the milk into the butter/sugar mixture and mix

6. Repeat step 5 until all ingredients are all combined

7. Add batter into pretzel base patty pan filling it up 3/4 of the pan

8. Pop into the oven for 15 - 18 minutes checking with a skewer at the end to see if it's cooked

        While waiting for cupcakes to cook, start making the Nutella frosting

9. Rest the cupcakes for approx. 30 minutes or until cool before decorating

For Nutella Frosting:

1. Beat butter until butter changes from its original yellow colour to an off white colour (beat on a high speed for at least 5 minutes)

2. Add vanilla essence and milk and beat until well combined

3. Add sifted icing sugar and mix

4. Add Nutella and beat for 5 minutes until well incorporated

           If you want a thicker consistency, add more icing sugar

           For a more softer, smoother frosting, add  Tbs of milk

           If you ever have leftover frosting, pop it into an airtight container and freeze until needed. Can hold up to at least 2 months in the freezer or up to two weeks in the fridge

Then it's assemble time! Frost cupcakes as desired and enjoy :)

       Hope you liked this recipe and give it a go! Be sure to leave a comment below if you do give it a try or have any other requests. Hope you all have a lovely week and give your Mumma some extra loving this week to celebrate!

OM NOM NOM

Nibble Away,

           Jo