Cinnamon Dolce White Chocolate Cupcakes

This cupcake for Merry Mondays is an ode to my sister:)

Her favorite drink from Starbucks is the Cinnamon Dolce White Chocolate Mocha.

I can't believe this is the last Merry Monday-it's been so much fun!!

Thanks Taylor and Claire for teaming up to host!!

This is one sweet cupcake and I'm told it tastes exactly like the drink-Yay!! I've never actually tasted this drink but I might sneak a taste next time she gets it;)

I love the sweetness of the white chocolate paired with the spicy cinnamon and then there is the meringue filling-to die for good!!!

Our inspiration:)

We started with a basic white cake mix which we added the cinnamon dolce syrup to.

We wanted really light and airy cupcakes so we used egg whites and they were perfectly fluffy:)

Cut out the center...

then over flowed them with the meringue filling..

topped them off with a delectable white chocolate frosting/glaze.

A sprinkle of spicy Saigon cinnamon finished them off quite perfectly!

Enjoy these with a cup of strong coffee;)

Merry Monday to you all!!

Printable Recipe

White Chocolate Cranberry-Orange Fudge

Merry Mondays has inspired us!!!

When we saw the theme for this week was fudge we wanted to come up

something new and exciting!

Holly and I both love anything with cranberry-orange but this

fudge was Holly's idea!

Do a rough chop on the cranberries.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add sugar and milk.

Be sure to stir constantly!

Cook until reaches 236° exactly!

Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and marshmallow creme.

Add the orange extract,

cranberries,

and orange zest.

Save some zest for the top!

Pour into a foil lined 9x13-inch pan.

Zest the rest of the orange over the top.

Note: the oranges are slippery buggers, watch them!! LOL!

Ready to head to the fridge to cool!

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Merry Mondays ~ Starbucks™ Peppermint Brownies

One word..... numalicious!!

This copy-cat recipe for the famous Starbucks Peppermint Brownies we found many years ago and of course have tweaked to our liking!

Nothing like some minty chocolate for the holidays. :)

Start with a basic brownie mix. Add butter, water eggs and peppermint extract.

Mix by hand just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan.


Mmmm... looks good already!
Cool completely.

Next start the peppermint buttercream frosting by beating together powdered sugar and butter.

Add more powdered sugar :), milk, vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix until smooth and creamy.

Almost ready....

To get the real minty feel to your brownies you can add green food coloring.

Spread frosting over cooled brownies.

Make sure it is even... you don't want to cheat anyone out of any filling!!

Make chocolate frosting by bringing milk and butter almost to a boil over medium heat. Pour mixture over chocolate chips and let sit for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use an electric mixer and beat in powdered sugar until frosting is smooth.

Spread chocolate frosting over peppermint buttercream.

No sampling quite yet!! Place brownies in fridge for about 1 hour to firm up frosting.

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Merry Mondays-Cranberry

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

These look like Christmas right?

They turned out so pretty:)

We made 2 different versions of this recipe-the 2nd one is Cranberry Macadamia Biscotti.

The Macadamia was the more popular one which I think is because pistachio is kinda of a different-not-your-everyday kind of flavor.

***

So start by mixing oil and sugar until well blended.

Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts,

like so,

then beat in eggs.

Beat until eggs are incorporated.

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture.

Mix in the cranberries and nuts by hand.

Divide dough in half and form into 2 logs on a cookie sheet.

Dough may be sticky; wet hands to handle dough more easily.

Bake for 35 mins or until light brown. Remove from oven and cool for 10 mins.

Reduce heat to 275 degrees.

Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thickness.

Lay on biscotti on its side.

Bake for another 8 to 10 mins.

Cool.

We decided to kick it up a notch and dip the bottoms into white chocolate:)

Delicious!!

So pretty-it would make a very yummy gift for the teachers or your neighbors.

These are the Cranberry-Macadamia nut Biscotti with some coffee:)

For these you just add Macadamia instead of pistachio.

MmmmYum!

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe *recipe from Allrecipes