Halloween Cupcakes

This weekend I will be making TONS of cupcakes...when I say tons, I generally make 50-60. Not because I have any special event, or really anything to do with them, but I LOVE decorating them. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! As I have mentioned before, I LOVE SPRINKLES. Every shape, color, and size. Holidays give me an excuse to use them!! Also, my cupcake recipe, is pretty darn amazing, not to brag. One recipe my dad was great at was cakes. So I use his cake recipe and altered it to make the perfect batch of 16 cupcakes...now if you are not a person who likes to make cupcakes from scratch, get the Betty Crocker butter yellow mix. Its good (not as good, but good) and you can still decorate them!! Yay! 

Amazingly Yummy Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup  granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk

Note: You can NOT use low fat sour cream, or skim milk. These are cupcakes, they are not supposed to be "healthy" :)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean. If you are unsure how to get the seeds of a vanilla bean out, check out you tube, they have some great tutorials. 
3. Mix slowly, make sure to press the seeds into the sugar to get the vanilla flavor into the sugar. 
4. Get out your kitchen aide and mix together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
   
5. Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well combined.
6. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  The texture should be fine/crumbly. 
7. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract.
8. Add this mixture to the flour/butter mixture, and mix on medium until combined.
9. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  The batter will be liquid.  (Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong.  It's supposed to be that way.) **
10. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full. I bake then in batches of 8. (2 pans of 8). 
11. Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it.  The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They should not turn a golden brown.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes. Mine are generally done in 16 minutes. 
12. When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.

**For holidays I also add in 2 drops of food coloring to make them more festive. I do orange for Halloween :)

For the frosting, I always use the Wilton Buttercream Frosting Recipe found here when I am decorating. If I am just frosting to eat, I use a less sweet frosting, but it does not work as well for piping frosting. 

Decorating Ideas: 

Sprinkles!!

Food coloring (to color your frosting)

Candy corn

Red Hots

Licorice Rope (red and black)

Mini Chocolate Chips 

Milano Cookies

Writing Gel 

Candy Corn Pumpkins 

Here are some decorating ideas for Halloween Cupcakes I made last year. I will post pictures after this weekend of my new ideas too! 

Chili

Normally I don't make chili in the summer, BUT it has been SO hot here, that turning on my oven seems like an awful idea, and my husband is not up for grilling every night. So crock pot meals are a great back up. I had been craving some spice lately, and both my husband and I love chili, so I figured why not. It's not like its a fall/winter meal only. Although chili while watching a Patriot's game is one of my favorite things about fall :)

As a kid, I HATED beans. I would not touch anything with beans in it, and I am still that way today. My dad always made chili, and it always smelled SO good, but I refused to try it because of the beans. Then being the spoiled child I was, my dad decided to make beanless chili, just for me. So every time he made chili, it was regular chili in the big crock pot, and beanless for me in the small crock pot. So of course I make the beanless chili today :) But I am going to share both recipes for everyone, as I know many people like beans.

Beanless Chili 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1/2 of an onion, chopped 
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic 
• 1 can on tomato sauce (15.8 oz can, regular size) 
• 1 can of petite diced tomatoes 
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 box Elbow noodles
• • Sour Cream
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese 
   

Directions:

Brown the ground beef, drain, then place in the crock pot. Add the green pepper, onion, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and all the seasonings. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. I will warn you, this chili packs a good punch. If you aren't a huge spice lover, cut back on the cayenne, cumin and chili powder. You can always start with 1/2 the amount, and as more as it cooks. I usually recommend this to anyone using this recipe for the first time, unless you know you love spicy chili. Also, I often will add a little more than the amounts above, as I cook, but again, I like spicy chili, as does my husband. 

Since the chili doesn't have beans, I serve the chili over elbow noodles, and top with sour cream and cheddar cheese. 

Now...if you like beans, use the same recipe as above but you also need 1/2 cup of dried pinto beans, and 1/2 cup of dried kidney beans. Soak the beans in cold water overnight, the night before. Drain from the water and add into the crock pot with the meat, sauce and seasonings, and still cook the chili on low for 6-8 hours. Also, beans absorb water, so I recommend using an extra small can of tomato sauce (the 8 oz can), or 1/2 cup of water. 

Top with sour cream and cheese and enjoy!!