Maple Glazed Donut Hole Cookies

Hi again everyone it's me, the Boston Sweetie husband aka hubs aka B-Hubs.....I know what your thinking and don't worry, BostonSweetie is ok...she has just been busy and luckily I have been on a kick lately of having good cookie ideas.

Growing up I also enjoyed the smell of cinnamon, donuts and french toast. As Frank Sinatra once sang "These are a feeew of my faaaavorite things"...so that's what decided to make - donut hole cookies with maple glaze.

Donut hole cookies by the tree, I'll take that for a present!

After a brief browsing session, I came across Yummly.com . The pictures looked great and I decided to throw my own twist with an extra layer of maple glaze.

First things first -

I added the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and set aside. Next step - mix butter, sugar, vanilla extra and eggs in the mixing bowl - and then combine flour mixture+sugar butter vanilla eggs mix to create the delicious dense dough.

Last touch - roll the dough in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and it's time to bake. After 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven - voila- donut hole cookies! ....But wait, there's more - I decided that a glaze to finish would be a nice touch so I threw together some confectionary sugar, milk, slight dab of vanilla extract and some real maple syrup! Tasty enough to make me come up with my own Christmasmas song....
"Deck the halls with balls of donuts cookies...falalala la la la la"

Only 11 more days til Christmas!  Lots of cookies to make for Santa!

It looks even better with an extra dusting of Cinnasugar!

For full recipe details please follow this link.

Talk to you all soon!

Best,

B-Hubs

Sweet Easter Tweet

Happy Saturday, Sweets!  I just finished up some cupcakes that I'm bringing around to all of our family stops tomorrow, and wanted to share them with you.  I introduce my Easter Chick Cuppies!

I cannot take creative credit for these-- I saw the idea on Paris Pastry and had to try it for tomorrow.

They are super easy and come out so cute!

In case you're wondering, I used a box mix (gasp!!) for these - a Cinnabon swirl cake, and made my own cream cheese frosting to fill the centers and do the decorating.  Here's to hoping they taste as good as the buns in the mall smell!!

Happy Easter!

Everything Fall Cupcakes!

Fall is in full swing here in New England and what better way to celebrate crisp days, pretty leaves, and cozy nights than with cupcakes?!  This year I was in the mood for something a little different than my typical pumpkin spice cupcake, so I turned one of my favorite blogs, Cupcakes Take the Cake, for a little inspiration and found the holy grail of cupcake creativity; The Cupcake Project!

If you love cupcakes, you need to check out this site.  The writer posts so many creative flavors and combinations; it's awesome!

Today's cupcake is one straight from the Cupcake Project blog- I didn't change anything, though I did leave the cranberries off the top.  Since I didn't modify this recipe at all, feel free to check out the original here!

For now, here's the low-down...first you make a batch of mini apple cobbler cupcakes and top them with some brown sugar glazey icing that is just like the icing on a donut. Ho-ly-mo-ly good luck to you saving enough to complete this project.  The fact that they are mini and moist and addictive makes this a hard task, so I suggest hiding them until they're cool and ready to be frozen.  Seriously!

Next you make your big-cupcake batter; pumpkin with real maple syrup and rum.  This is one of those batters where you freak out because it looks curdled and nasty at first, but don't worry, it comes together beautifully and ends up looking and smelling like a delicate pumpkin mousse.

Bake the pumpkin batter with a frozen mini (wrapper removed) in the center and you have your cupcake.  The last step is whipping up an easy batch of cinnamon cream cheese icing and topping your cuppies with love, and voi-la.  You have the best fall dessert you've ever made.

These fall cupcakes SO good, and you can easily taste all of the flavors...except for the rum.  I used Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (my favorite dark rum) and I think it was just overpowered by the maple and pumpkin.

This project does take some serious prep time; you have to freeze the mini cupcakes overnight.  This was a 2-day baking project for me, but it was a lot of fun and the taste makes it worth every minute.  Check out the Cupcake Project's original recipe here, and enjoy!!

Spice 'N Easy Apple Crunch Pie

It is a GORGEOUS fall day in Boston today, perfect for apple picking!  Hubs and I have a big weekend ahead so we're taking advantage of a few free hours at home to clean and relax.  No apple picking for us today, but I thought I would share a great recipe that you apple pickers may enjoy making with your bounty.  Bounty?  I never thought I'd use that word in a sentence, but I just did.  Anyway.

This recipe comes from my husband's grandmother, Memere Rita.  She shared it with me a few weeks ago when I told her I was itching to make something appley.  Memere said this dessert is one that never, ever lasts on the counter more than a day because everyone loves it.

Memere Rita was 100% correct.  The glutton in the story I'm about to share may sound a little gross, but I'm going to share anyway.  When I made the pie, my husband and I ate 3/4 of it in one sitting. We started with one slice each, and then we both kept adding more "slivers" to our plate.  Before we knew it, there was only enough for about 2 normal size pieces left.  We stopped at that, and then ate it for breakfast the next morning.

Moral of the story?  Unless you have super self-control, this dessert may be dangerous for your health :)  Happy fall, sweets!

Spice 'N Easy Apple Crunch Pie
*Heat oven to 375 degrees
*This is a 3-part recipe - read all the way first to figure out how you want to time it or prep.  I just went along part by part, didn't do any prep up front and it turned out great.

Part 1- Crust
Need:
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. canola oil
2 tbsp. milk

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Pat into an ungreased 9" pie plate, and flute edges if desired.

Part 2- Filling
Need:
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 medium apples, sliced/chopped (I use Cortland for any apple baking projects, because thats what my Grammy, who has the best apple pie in the world, says to use!)
1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Spoon into unbaked crust.

Part 3 - Topping
Need:
1/2 c. Rice Crispy cereal
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ea cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well in a small bowl.  Sprinkle over apples.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 40- 45 min.

Enjoy!