Lemon Cupcakes

My gosh, where does the time go? I've intended to bake for close to three weeks now and finally got my first chance today. With my parents visiting, sorority initiation, and my job, I barely had time to do my homework and I definitely haven't had time to do my laundry. Fortunately, things are settling back down. I got some new baking supplies from a dear friend so of course I had to put them to good use!

I made some delicious little lemon cupcakes with my new cupcake molds and cupcake stand, thanks to my friend and the wonderful blog Sally's Baking Addiction. Not only are these cupcakes pretty easy to make, but they don't require that you dirty every dish in your kitchen! Always a plus for me with my janky little kitchen.

I've got a few other new toys as well. Firstly was this bad boy. Just look at his cute little face! He came with the cupcake molds and stand, and I'm low-key obsessing. He watched over my baking... and is on top of our TV watching me type right now. I swear, it's not creepy at all.

This is my second toy--a Hamilton Beach hand mixer bought brand-new on Amazon for like $25. It has been life changing. Honestly how did I use a fork to cream together butter and sugar before this? I'm now worried I'll start losing bicep definition.

The cupcakes are straightforward, everyone! You will need:
 -1 stick unsalted butter, softened
 -1 cup granulated sugar
 -2 eggs
 -2 tsp vanilla extract
 -1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 -2 tsp baking powder
 -1/2 tsp salt
 -1/2 cup of milk (any sort!)
 -Approx. 6 tablespoons of lemon juice (juice of two lemons)

Oven temp: 350˚F

Start by creaming butter and sugar until light and fluffy. You know the drill. Your electric mixer will make your life a million times easier and better. You may tear up with how much greater your life has become. (Maybe that's just me.)

Now add your eggs and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until combined and smooth, about two minutes. It will be quite runny at this point.

Next, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in three parts, combining them by hand. Use those muscles! Make sure you're really getting everything evenly mixed. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl frequently to make sure no bits are being left out.

Finally, add the milk and lemon zest. Mix until they're combined--don't overmix! Texture-wise, they'll kind of be in the middle of pancake batter and cake batter. Does that make sense to anyone else but me? Pop those suckers into the oven for 18-20 minutes. They're done once a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean.

Only fill the cups about 2/3 of the way full. They will rise...

See? They rose pretty darn well, if I say so myself.

Once those are out of the oven and cooling down, you can get started on the frosting...

You will need:
 -2 sticks of butter, softened
 -Approximately 4 cups of powdered sugar
 -1/4 cup of heavy cream (I used milk. Something with a higher fat content would be better, je pense)
 -2 tsp vanilla extract
 -1/4 tsp salt

Start by beating the butter until it's light and fluffy. Just the butter! Nothing else!

Then, while the mixer is going, add the rest of the ingredients. Just dump the sugar, cream, vanilla, and salt all in there and beat to combine. I added a bit more salt than the recipe calls for, just because I generally find frostings very sweet. However, I may just be biased towards cream cheese frosting!

Slap some frosting onto each cooled cupcake and then top with whatever you'd like! More lemon zest could be delicious, and I always find it a cute and delicious addition to have a coconut sprinkle atop the cupcake.

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more coconut!

Just look at it. Now that winter is truly coming, this deliciously delicate lemony cupcake is a gentle reminder that spring is coming in just a few months! They're light and wonderful and, in typical "I live with a ton of people" fashion, there are none left.

These could definitely be topped with lemon zest, white chocolate, or even a simple glaze. They're a cute little treat that brightened many days! I'll definitely be making them again, but when I do, I may try an easy cream cheese frosting. This frosting is certainly much lighter than cream cheese frosting, but the latter is just so dang good!

At any rate, I'm so grateful for all my new kitchen toys, and for these delicious cupcakes. However, I've turned my eye to eggplant, and I'm figuring out what seasonally appropriate meals to make with it... stay tuned!

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Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, how's that for some alliteration?

School's back in full swing again! I flew back to California on the 14th to spend some time in NorCal with N. You remember her, right? I stayed with her in February for a week before we drove back down to Los Angeles.

We're living together this year, so moving back in was super easy. Our other roommates, J and D, were already there when we arrived. It was a simple move in, but class and sorority rush really were draining!

Thankfully, everything has settled into a nice routine. And with that, I have time to blog!

I made these cookies last April for a family Easter party. I took pictures of about half of the process... then promptly forgot about photographing in all the excitement. Without any further ado, coconut chocolate chip cookies! Here's my inspiration.

You will need:
 -3/4 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
 -1 cup of light brown sugar
 -1 egg, room temperature
 -1 tsp vanilla extract
 -pinch of salt
 -1 tsp baking powder
 -1 cup all-purpose flour
 -1 and 1/2 cups coconut flakes
 -1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Oven temperature: 350˚. Rack in the middle, please and thanks!

Get those cookies started by creaming together butter and sugar. Use a mixer if you have one, or get your arm workout by using a fork. Guess which one I did? (Side note, does anyone want to buy me a mixer for my birthday? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)

When creaming together butter and sugar, make sure that they are fully incorporated. The butter should be fluffy and there should be no clumps of either sugar or butter.

Then, add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix very, very well. You do not want any bits of un-mixed egg or vanilla. That will be extremely nasty both taste-wise and texturally. Trust me. The incorporated mix will look sort of gross at this point but it'll look better in a minute. Promise!

Now, add the baking powder and the salt. Combine well. Then, add the flour bit by bit and mix until all is incorporated. It should be nice and smooth. This is when it'll really look like cookie dough! Sample a tiny bit just to make sure it tastes delicious, as it should!

Add all that delicious coconut. Like delicious, sweet, textural snow... can you tell I'm a bit obsessed? It makes these cookies so gloriously chewy! Combine it so that the coconut flakes are evenly distributed through the dough.

Then, stir in the chocolate chips. The dough is going to be super chocolatey. Just chips on chips on chips! It may look like all the chips won't fit in the dough, but stir them in. You're gonna have a lot of chocolate, I guarantee it. I forgot to take a picture in my excitement but no worries! Plenty of pictures of steps to come.

Dollop your cookie dough onto a lightly (lightly!) greased baking sheet. I like me some big cookies, so they're probably about a tablespoon and a half/two tablespoons worth of dough. Pat them down lightly. It's sticky dough so it may be hard to shape, but feel free to chill it before baking if you'd like to be able to shape them.

Sprinkle with some sea salt and pop those suckers in the oven! I baked mine for nine minutes, since I like soft cookies, and then left them on the sheet to cool. If you want firm, crunchy cookies, leave them in the oven for closer to twelve minutes. Just check frequently so nothing burns!

Once they're cool(ish), dig in! They're chewy and delicious. My roommates (and the girls across the hall) came flocking with glasses of milk. Not to toot my own horn, but one of my friends took a bite, looked straight at me, and exclaimed, "Dude... On. Point." (toot toot)

Side note: these are not my fingers. Thanks I!

These took about half an hour from start to finish. These cookies are quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. They were all gone within six hours of completion!

Now I have friends to bake and cook for, I will hopefully be back to blogging more often! Stay tuned for more simple college recipes from my shiny new apartment. Next week, look forward to a Mexican-inspired dinner for one!

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