Toasted Coconut Macadamia Muffins

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Coconut Macadamia Muffins

We had alot of snow days this year. So many in fact, that to make up the days (and ensure that our kids weren’t in school until the 4th of July!), they’ve extended the school day by 45 minutes until the end of the year. They’re going in 15 minutes early, and getting out 30 minutes later. So, our morning routine has been squeezed a little tighter lately.

Enter a good, homemade muffin. I ended up with a half a can of coconut milk the other day, so I thought a coconut muffin would be a good use for it. I also added plenty of toasted shredded coconut, and some macadamia nuts for a little decadence and crunch. They turned out so wonderful, and we enjoyed them for breakfast all week long! The tropical flavors really taste like spring.

Speaking of spring, have you guys seen the new spring prints from Hen House Linens? They’re absolutely gorgeous. I can never say enough wonderful things about their linens, they wash and wear wonderfully.  I use them everyday in my home, just not for the staged photos that I share here…but at my table – morning, noon, and night. The lovely ladies over in the hen house have graciously offered up a set of 4 dinner napkins for giveaway. To enter, just leave a comment telling us what is your favorite thing about spring! Contest will run today to April 9, at 11:59 PM. (Congrats to winning entry #22 – Lisa!)

henhouselinens

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend, fun-filled with egg hunts and lots of chocolate. We’re looking forward to dying our eggs and having a small egg hunt in our new backyard for the first time, and of course attending the Annual Easter Decoy & Art Festival here on the island. This is the weekend that everything really starts to open-up again here on our little island – spring is definitely in the air!

Coconut Macadamia Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted and divided
4 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1 cup coconut milk (NOT cream of coconut)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt into medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Mix in 1/2 cup of toasted coconut flakes and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until smooth.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and coconut extracts.

Add flour mixture, alternately with Coconut Milk, ending with flour. Beat until just incorporated. Do not over mix or muffins will be tough. Gently fold in macadamia nuts.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of coconut flakes.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to wire rack and cool completely.

Source: adapted from A Taste of Thai

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Spring is definitely in the air here on Chincoteague Island, and I couldn’t be happier about it. The marshes are starting to return back to their vibrant green color, we have a family of bunnies that live in a thicket right next to the house, and we’ve been treated to a handful of almost 70 degree days.

But, in places like sunny Florida – it’s springlike temperatures pretty much all year. I had the opportunity to work with a couple of different wonderful Florida based companies this week in my kitchen, and it was the perfect way to kick-start spring around here! First off, Natalie’s Juice Company. Their sales rep, Brandy, was at the Ocean City Food Show that we attended weekend before last. She is so sweet, and sent me home with a wonderful sampling of their juices to take home. They are wonderfully fresh and flavorful. The least pasteurization that’s allowed, so it really is like drinking juice directly from the fruit. They’re wonderful!

In additional to that wonderfulness, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association generously overnighted me a huge box of glorious, juicy, ripe, red strawberries. The possibilities are endless, right? Look for another great strawberry recipe next week. I can’t thank you enough, Sue!

So naturally, I couldn’t help doing something together with the two of them! These strawberry lemonade cupcakes immediately came to mind. I took my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, and added in a bit of lemon zest and good lemonade. Then I roasted the strawberries to release some of the moisture, and intensify the flavor (a trick I learned from my buddy, Annie). Added 3/4 of them to the cupcake batter, then pureed the remaining amount to add to the buttercream frosting, along with a little more lemon zest and lemonade.

All I can say is “wowza!”. They are absolutely perfect. Light, tender, and moist – bursting with the fresh flavor of strawberries and lemons. I garnished with a slice of strawberry and lemon, which I thought was so simple and pretty. So, if you’re feeling like a taste of spring…definitely make these soon!

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
16 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
zest from 1 lemon
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup good lemonade (Natalie’s is the best…IMHO)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
sliced strawberries and lemon wedges, for garnish

For the frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
zest from 1 lemon
4-5 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 cup remaining roasted strawberries, pureed
1/4 cup lemonade
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Toss strawberries with 1 Tbsp sugar and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until strawberries are soft and have released most of their juice. Remove from the oven, and scrap into a small bowl to cool. Set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Add in the sugar and lemon zest, and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk, lemonade, vanilla and lemon extracts in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer. Roughly chop 3/4 of the roasted strawberries and fold into the batter.

Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream the butter and lemon zest over medium speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to low, and carefully add in the confectioners sugar. Add the vanilla extract, lemonade, and roasted strawberry puree. Increase speed to medium, and beat until smooth and frosting is combined.

Frost cupcakes as desired (I used Wilton 2D) and garnish with a slice of strawberry and lemon right before serving (the acid in the lemon tends to break down the frosting after an hour or so, so watch yo’self!).

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by the good folks at Natalie’s and the Florida Strawberry Growers Association. I was provided with complimentary products to review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cranberry Margaritas

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Cranberry Margaritas

Happy Friday, guys! With less than two weeks to go until Christmas, I figured a festive cocktail was in order. I’ve made margaritas with almost every fruit under the sun now, but this cranberry version has always stood out as one of my favorites.

A cranberry syrup is made from fresh cranberries and sugar, then pushed through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds and pulp. Then the usual suspects are added for margarita mixing…tequila, triple sec, and margarita mix. Which, if you’re not doing so already – save yourself several bucks and make your own! It’s so much better than the store-bought stuff. You (and your cocktails!) will thank me.

I like to serve them with a sugar rim that’s had a bit of orange zest mixed into it, but a standard salt rim is also wonderful. Garnished with a few cranberries and a wedge or two of citrus, it doesn’t get any more festive than this!

Their gorgeous red hue lends perfectly to Christmas parties, especially since a large batch can be made up in advance and refrigerated until party time. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Cranberry Margaritas

For the glass rim:
1/4 cup coarse sparkling sugar
1 orange peel, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp orange zest)

For the cranberry syrup:
16 oz fresh cranberries (a few reserved for garnish)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 orange peel (or 1 tsp orange zest)

For the margaritas:
1/4 cup cranberry syrup
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup triple sec
3/4 cup margarita mix
ice
lime and orange wedges, for garnish
additional cranberries, for garnish

For the sugar rim, combine sugar and orange peel in a food processor. Pulse a few times to blend orange peel into sugar. Pour onto small plate and set aside.

To make the cranberry syrup, combine cranberries, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until cranberries have burst. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl, pushing on the pulp to remove as much liquid as possible. Let cool then place in an airtight container and refrigerate. Syrup can be kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

To make the margaritas, rim the edges of two glasses with a lime wedge and dip into the orange sugar. Fill glasses with ice. Combine cranberry syrup, tequila, triple sec, and margarita mixer in a carafe or large mixing glass and stir to combine. Pour into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with lime and oranges wedges, and additional cranberries if desired.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Have I mentioned enough times how much I love this little stretch of land that we call home? Sure we love the ocean, and the bay, and the abundance of fresh seafood that comes with both. But you know what I love more than anything? Our community. Good people and great events are always just right on the horizon here on the Eastern Shore!

One event we always look forward to is the suborbital rocket launches out of Wallops Flight Facility. For the past few years our little corner of NASA has been launching resupply missions to the International Space Station, one recent launch (LADEE) even went to the moon! They don’t go that often, a few times a year – but it’s always so exciting for us. We have many friends and family who work at the base, so to say that I’m proud that these folks are launching things into space is kind of an understatement.

Last night we had a catastrophic failure, the rocket exploded about 6 seconds after liftoff. I’ve never seen anything like it, and never hope to again. Thankfully, no one was injured…which, is just a testament to how wonderful our folks at Wallops are.  But, the facility is destroyed. All the work that went into the launch, and the scientific experiments on board – just gone. Wallops will rebuild though, and most certainly relaunch! But please keep our small community in your thoughts and prayers.

So, the cupcakes. I baked these to take to our PTA’s Annual Pumpkin Walk. Families and local buisnesses carve pumpkins to display on one of our nature trails here on the island to create a spooky and fun walk to raise some money for the PTA. They of course have a bake sale as well, so I baked these to donate to the cause. We got to the walk about 30 minutes after it started, and they were already gone – definitely a hit!

I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe, then added some chopped apples, caramel sauce, and fall spices to the batter. Then topped them with a caramel cream cheese frosting. Holy moly, were they good! The spices were not overbearing, allowing the fresh flavor of the apple to really shine through. And I loved having the tender chunks of apples in the cake as well. I’ll most certainly be making this one again and again. I think it would be great as a 9-inch layer cake too! Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
16 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup caramel sauce

For the Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. block cream cheese, room temperature
12 Tbsp butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup caramel sauce
pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Add in the sugar, and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated. 10 seconds, until evenly combined. Frost cupcakes as desired.

Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Add in the apples and caramel sauce and mix until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will likely have batter left over after filling 24 wells.) Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Replace paper liners and bake remaining batter if desired. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated. Then add the vanilla, caramel sauce, and a pinch of salt. Mix for 10 seconds, until evenly combined. Frost cupcakes as desired.

Drizzle with additional caramel sauce if desired before serving.