These baked blueberry doughnuts have blueberries inside and out, coated with a blueberry glaze but also contain a surprise ingredient!

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Happy National Doughnut Day! I almost waited until Sunday to share this recipe in memory of the Science Sundays posts I used to share but when I found out today was doughnut day I couldn’t resist spilling the beans/blueberries a bit early.

Two months ago I was discussing how to make blueberry doughnuts taste more blueberry-ish with the owner of a local doughnut shop, Rose Dough Donuts, and discovered that the answer is ground coriander! Evidently coriander enhances blueberries and I will try to briefly explain how and why I used it in my baked blueberry doughnuts today.

Terpenes are naturally occurring aromatic compounds produced by many plants for their smell, taste, and color. Linalool is one type of terpene found in both (you guessed it) blueberries and coriander so if you add just a little coriander, preferably freshly ground, it tricks our mind into thinking there is more blueberry flavor in there.

I did also add a bit of lemon zest because citrus is also helpful in boosting those bloobs. I wasn’t taking any chances even though I used very fresh ripe blueberries that I picked up from a Farmers Market the very same day I made these baked blueberry doughnuts. Stumbling upon that market might be the real reason these blueberry doughnuts were born.

While baked doughnuts are never going to hold a candle to fried doughnuts they certainly win points in the cleanup category as I hate dealing with frying food and already have doughnut pans in my arsenal. It is a special day that I willingly deal with a vat of hot oil. Since I bet I am not alone in this sentiment, I present to you my baked blueberry doughnuts! Glazed with even more blueberry puree just incase the coriander and lemon wasn’t already doing enough work. I am not messing around when it comes to my blueberry doughnuts as they are one of my absolute favorites.

You should also try my baked strawberry-ginger glazed doughnuts that I dream about as well.

BAKED BLUEBERRY DOUGHNUTS

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Yield: 18 servings Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cooking Time: 8 Minutes 8 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

DOUGHNUTS

• 3/4 cup blueberries, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar, separated
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk, room temperature*
• 2 eggs, room temperature*
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

GLAZE

• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat 3 doughnut pans with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, toss the shopped blueberries with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and set aside to macerate for 10 minutes
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar, lemon zest, coriander, and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining wet ingredients until incorporated.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients stir until just combined. Fold in the macerated blueberries until distributed..
5. Spoon or pipe the batter into the prepared pans, filling each mold about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the doughnuts to cool in the pan for about 3 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.
7. While the doughnuts cool, prepare the icing. Puree the blueberries in a small food processor and passage through a fine-mesh sieve placed over a small bowl**. 
8. In a medium bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of the blueberry puree and powdered sugar together. Dip doughnuts into the glaze, and allow to set for about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes

*It is very important that the ingredients are room temperature. If they are cold the melted butter will harden when added. **Should yield approximately 1/4 cup. Use a rubber spatula if needed to help dislodge particles to let the puree run through.

Source: Adapted from my Baked Strawberry-Ginger Glazed Doughnuts.

The famous Michigan chocolate bumpy cake gets a buckeye twist with stripes of peanut butter buttercream piped over a rich chocolate cake topped with fudge frosting.

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Today Ohio State plays that cheating team from up North. A team that somehow is playing the victim of their own crimes, using it to band together. As such I am nervous about going into the big house for the game. Even if the game were at home I would still be on edge, just a smidge less. There are always fights but tension is running extra high this year.

In honor of these bumpy times I decided to take a famous Michigan cake, chocolate bumpy cake, and make a buckeye version. They stole our signs so I am stealing their cake!

Have you heard of chocolate bumpy cake before? It’s a chocolate sheet cake that was born out of an accident of Fred Sanders Schmidt having too little frosting and deciding to just pipe lines of buttercream before pouring chocolate fudge icing on top. Long story short, it became the famous Sanders Confectionery Chocolate Bumpy Cake.

But what if you changed the buttercream to peanut butter buttercream? After all, peanut butter buttercream is basically the same as the filling of Buckeye Candies just slightly different proportions. And I’m pretty sure peanut butter > regular buttercream any day. And just like that the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bumpy Cake was born in honor of The Game: Ohio State vs Michigan.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BUMPY CAKE

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Yield: 24 Servings Prep Time: 2 Hours Cooking Time: 40 Minutes 40 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

CAKE

• 1/2 cup (43g) Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 cup (113g) brewed coffee or water, hot
• 1/2 cup (99g) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (227g) buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1-3/4 cups (347g) granulated sugar
• 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour

PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM

• 8 Tbsp (1/2 cup/113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (125g) creamy peanut butter
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups (227g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 Tbsp (14-28g) milk, as needed

FUDGE FROSTING

• 1/2 cup (113g) buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp (39g) dark corn syrup
• 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup (43g) Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cups (454g) powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch pan; set aside.
2. For the cake: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa and hot coffee until smooth. Whisk in the oil and buttermilk until combined.
3. Using a hand mixer, add the baking soda and salt and beat for 30 seconds. Then add the vanilla and eggs, mixing just until smooth. Add the sugar and flour and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
4. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed and the edges just begin to pull away from the pan.
5. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
6. For the peanut butter buttercream: In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and salt together until lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until the frosting is fluffy, then add 1 tablespoon of milk if needed for a smooth consistency.
7. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a 1/2-inch round tip. If soft, chill in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
8. Pipe the buttercream across the cake's shorter side (9") in 1/2"-diameter strips, one inch apart. Return to the freezer while you prepare the frosting.
9. For the fudge frosting: In a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom, combine the buttermilk, dark corn syrup, 1/2 cup of butter, cocoa, and salt over medium heat.
10. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the bubbles make a snapping sound as they pop (or until the mixture reaches 235°F). Immediately stir in the remaining butter, one tablespoon at a time, until incorporated.
11. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the powdered sugar until it melts and the frosting is smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla.
12. Remove the cake from the freezer. Immediately drizzle the frosting over the surface of the cake, covering all the buttercream and tilting to fill in any gaps. If needed, gently rewarm the icing and pour again.
13. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve, slicing into 24 pieces. Store any leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Source: Adapted from King Arthur and The Kitchn.

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Have you heard about the Blue Poop Challenge Muffins? It’s a fun experiment designed to help you learn about your gut health while enjoying blue muffins.

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Nothing like a title with poop in it to draw in readers for a recipe, amiright? It’s only partly as gross as you think.

A couple weeks ago a friend asked if I had heard of the Blue Poop Challenge where you eat not just one blue muffin, but two and track when the dye comes out the other end in the form of, you guessed it, blue poop. It’s based on research examining gut health conducted by healthcare science company ZOE and researchers at King’s College London.

To be honest, I was immediately skeptical because ZOE asks you to sign up for their services upon completion of the muffin challenge. Anytime a healthcare company tries to sell you something is a huge red flag, especially when gut health research is still so very new.

What are the Blue Poop Challenge Muffins based on?

As mentioned above, the Blue Poop Challenge was derived from research done by a group of scientists who work with ZOE, published September 2021 in Gut. In this study, they used several different methods to track gut transit time of 863 healthy people. They concluded that not only is transit time a better measure of your gut microbiome that frequency and appearance, but that blue dye is a cheaper and easier option for measuring gut transit time that previously used methods.

By tracking their participants blue poo transit time and sequencing stool samples, they observed a correlation of the gut microbiome composition to transit time groups. Meaning, if you have a longer transit time, you tend to have a different gut microbiome composition than a shorter transit time.

Can Blue Poop Challenge Muffins really predict gut health?

It is important to point our that they are not making specific claims about health in this study, just correlations. After all, gut transit time it only one factor contributing to your over all “gut health”. However, a previous study by the same team published January 2021 in Nature Medicine did show a strong link between overall health, the foods you eat, transit time, and the presence of certain gut microbes. In other words, the faster the blue dye moves through your body, the more likely you are to have a healthy gut microbiome. But there isn’t enough scientific data yet to determine exactly what transit time is optimal for health.

Another short-fall of the Blue Poop Challenge? Eating two muffins one day only gives you a transit time for that particular day. Tomorrow may be different based on your diet, sleep, exercise, etc. So if you try the Blue Poop Challenge muffins, don’t stress about your results because there’s not enough data to say what it truly means – it’s more of a fun experiment.

The one intriguing thing about their program is that it effectively is crowdsourcing science which in beneficial in many ways, including getting a bigger picture of what is going on, which is what we need for their field to develop a bigger picture.

How long should the blue poop challenge take?

For the participants in their Nature Medicine study, gut transit time ranged from less than 12 hours to several days, but averaged around 29 hours.

Since I am completely enthralled by gut health and enjoy a fun little experiment, I set out to bake blue muffins for my coworkers, first ensuring that I had enough of the right blue food coloring.

Without divulging too much information, all 6 participants in my mini Blue Poop Muffin Challenge were around the average found in the published study.

What information does the Blue Poop Challenge provide?

After calculating our transit time on the ZOE website and answering some questions about our eating habits it paired us with one of the participants in their study whom had similar transit time and eating habits. By no way it is diagnostic but it goes on to tell you the good microbes that were common in your “gut twin”.

This is where the red flags come in because if you want to actually learn what microbes are in your microbiome you have to enroll in their program which will tell you what to eat based off the results. Since, as I mentioned above, there isn’t enough data I am not advocating for anyone to sign up. Maybe if you have bowel issues already and have not had success remedying it other ways, talk to your doctor about it.

BLUE POOP CHELLENGE MUFFINS

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Yield: 6 servings Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cooking Time: 25 Minutes 25 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour*
• 1 Tbsp (15g) baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (120g) buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp lime zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp Wilton Royal blue food coloring
• 1/2 cup (100g) vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• Coarse sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-count muffin pan with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix the buttermilk, lime zest, vanilla extract, and blue food coloring. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the oil and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until just incorporated. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, mixing just until combined. Gently fold in the fresh blueberries trying not to break them as you stir.
5. Fill your muffin pans about 3/4 of the way full and smooth the top as best as possible.
6. Top each muffin with coarse sugar.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the muffin a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Notes

*Can be made gluten-free by substituting with a 1-to-1 gluten-free all purpose flour.

Source: Adapted from my Blueberry-Lime Streusel Muffins and Zoe.

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Have you seen the new Pinkglow pink pineapple? Learn how it came to be and then enjoy it in all its glory in this sweet and pretty pink pineapple pie!

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Awhile back I won a Del Monte Pinkglow pink pineapple from The Baking Fairy and I am finally sharing what I made with it! I have to admit, after seeing that they normally cost $49 ($20 for the petit) I felt some serious pressure on the decision of what to make. But first let’s talk about this stunner of a pineapple and the bioengineering that made it possible.

You guessed it, today is #ScienceSundays and I’m going to touch upon GMOs! There is far more information than I can cover here so I am going to primarily stick to these pineapples.

The reason for the sticker shock? These pineapples take about 2 years to grow, which results in very limited quantities [1]. Heck before that, it took them 16 years to create it [2]! A lot of time went into these babies. They are actually shipped without the tops because the top is how they propagate more (although some speculate it’s so consumers can’t propagate them themselves).

But let’s get back to this color, which is due to carotenoids, specifically lycopene. This is a natural pigment that gives some produce its red color (ex: tomatoes, watermelon) – in this case it makes this product pink [1,3]. And these pineapples have been bioengineered to turn off the enzyme that usually converts lycopene into beta carotene, which is what gives a common pineapple its yellow color. By turning off the enzyme, lycopene remains intact and instead of yellow they are pink [3]!

Before you scoff at this bioengineers food product, you should know that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Pinkglow pineapple, explaining that there are no safety or regulatory concerns because the new pineapple has simply been genetically engineered to produce lower levels of the enzymes already in conventional pineapple that convert the pink pigment lycopene to the yellow pigment beta carotene and thus is something we commonly and safely already consume [2,4]. 

In fact, it is the most powerful antioxidant that has been measured in food. While more studies need to be conducted, it has been implicated in playing a role in preventing cancer, heart disease, and macular degeneration. Fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene include asparagus, cooked tomatoes, guavas, mangos, papayas, pink grapefruits, persimmons, red cabbages, sweet red peppers, and watermelons [5,6,7]. (The cubed up pink pineapple actually looks like watermelon, or raw tuna.)

As for other “GMO” or “bioengineered” foods products, did you know that this process began in the 1980s? Most GMO plants are used to make ingredients that are used in other food products, such as cornstarch from GMO corn and  sugar from GMO sugar beets. Unfortunately, despite the length of time this process has been utilized, there is still a lot of confusion about this techniques. For more information on the science behind it and how it is regulated for safety please check the FDA’s website [8]. I also really love the infographics they provided HERE which are also available in Spanish [9].

Returning to the pink pineapple, what makes them special goes beyond appearances. It also has a delicious and unique taste, with notes of candy pineapple aromatics and is less sour than a traditional pineapple [1], in fact it is down right sweet and juicy. So other than eating it, wake did I decide featured it best? A PIE!

This pink pineapple pie can most certainly be made with a traditional yellow pineapple, but man if it isn’t a stunner when made with a pink one! 

Three years ago: Ham, Egg & Cheese Pancake Sandwiches

Five years ago: Holiday Gift Ideas for Cooks & Foodies

Six years ago: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Saturday Roundup 2014

Eight years ago: Gingerbread Dip

Nine years ago: Apple Butter Chewy Cinnamon M&M Cookies

Ten years ago: Gnocchi with Goat Cheese and Spinach

PINK PINEAPPLE PIE

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Yield: 12 servings Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cooking Time: 45 Minutes 45 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

PIE CRUST

• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup cold shortening, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup buttermilk* (or 1/2 cup cold milk + 1 tsp white vinegar)
• 1 egg for brushing insides and on top

FILLING

• 5 cups fresh pineapple, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp butter

Directions

1. Make the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and shortening and cut into the flour mixture with a knife or pastry cutter (or pulse in a food processor).
2. Add buttermilk, stirring (or pulsing) until a shaggy dough forms. Form two smooth flattened discs of dough, wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes or overnight.
3. Make the pie: Preheat oven to 375°F.
4. In a large bowl stir together pineapple, sugars, salt, and lemon juice, and stir to combine. Add cornstarch and stir until combined.
5. Roll one dough out on a floured surface and fit to a 10-inch pie plate. To avoid a soggy crust, beat an egg and brush on crust before adding the filling. Cut butter into small pieces and put on top of the filling.
6. Roll out second dough disc and cut into 1-2 inch strips. Arrange strips in a lattice on top of your filling and lay over and under one another carefully, then trim and flute the edges. Brush a little of the beaten egg over the pie dough.
7. Cover edges with foil or a pie shield and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and cook another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
8. Let cool to room temperature before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

Notes

*Or 1/2 cup cold milk + 1 tsp white vinegar

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REFERENCES:

1. https://www.pinkglowpineapple.com/
2. https://blog.thenibble.com/2020/11/02/food-fun-new-pinkglow-pineapple-from-fresh-del-monte/
3. https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Pinkglow_Pineapple_17105.php
4. https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-concludes-consultation-pink-flesh-pineapple
5. https://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/reduce_risk/foods/lycopene
6. https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-lycopene-foods.php
7. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lycopene#food-sources
8. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-new-plant-varieties/understanding-new-plant-varieties
9. https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmo-crops-animal-food-and-beyond

This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! Giveaway is sponsored but I did not personally receive any complimentary products. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you ever seen a moldy muffin full of broken glass in the trash that you just had to have? I give you the matcha zucchini muffin disguised for Halloween!

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Nothing like a moss cake or moldy muffin full of glass chards, amiright?

No?

What if I told you they were actually matcha zucchini muffins dressed up and ready for Halloween trick-or-treating? I promise they don’t taste like mold. And that “glass” on top is actually sugar!

I got the idea for these muffins from an old YouTube video that has stuck with me after all these years. Remember the “Shoes” video (another friends and I were thoroughly entertained by in college)? Well he also did one about muffins and it starts out alright until he introduces all kinds of weird flavors, including one with glass in it.

But as usual I couldn’t just stop there, I wanted to make them look moldy too. While the muffins themselves look pretty grossly green thanks to matcha and zucchini (with some white chocolate spores), I wanted to really get that fuzzy mold look. Here comes more matcha and powdered sugar dusted on top with my sugar dusting wand.

These might be the grossest looking things I’ve ever made, but thankfully when it comes to Halloween that’s a win! I’ve never been so proud of something so disgusting looking. Helps that they are indeed tasty breakfast muffins.

While you continue to work on your gag reflex, scroll to the bottom of this post to enter the #HalloweenTreatsWeek giveaway!

Take a look more spooky Halloween recipes from our #HalloweenTreatsWeek Bloggers today: 

Halloween Cookies & Bars:

• Boo Meringues from 4 Sons R Us
• Hocus Pocus Sugar Cookies from For the Love of Food

Halloween Brownies:

• Frosted Frankenstein Brownies from Big Bear’s Wife

Halloween Pies & Tarts:

• Spider Web Chocolate Tart from The Flour Handprint

Halloween Breakfast: 

• Moldy Bits of Glass Muffins (Matcha Muffins) from The Spiffy Cookie

Halloween Drinks:

• Layered Halloween Smoothie from Tastes of Homemade
• Halloween Mimosa from Fresh Coast Eats

Sweet Halloween Treats:

• Halloween Pretzel Treat from Devour Dinner
• Graveyard Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats from JZ Eats
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cups from Sweet ReciPEAS
• Monster Marshmallow Pops from Sweet Beginnings
• Wicked Witch Fudge from Take Two Tapas

Two years ago: Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Butter Thumbprints

Four years ago: Peanut Butter Ricotta Pierogies with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Six years ago: No-Churn Pumpkin Cannoli Ice Cream

Seven years ago: Ghost Chili with Cornbread Topping and Chipotle Creama

MOLDY BITS OF GLASS MUFFINS (MATCHA ZUCCHINI)

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Yield: 1 dozen Cooking Time: 25 Minutes 25 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

MUFFINS

• 2 cups oats, old-fashioned or quick cooking
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tbsp matcha green tea powder, plus more for garnish
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar, for garnish

CANDY GLASS

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 + 2 Tbsp water
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• Candy thermometer

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 standard muffin-pan cups, or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, matcha, baking powder and soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, beat buttermilk, oil, and egg until well blended; stir in shredded zucchini. Add zucchini mixture to flour mixture and stir just until the flour mixture is moistened (the batter will be very thick). Stir in white chocolate chips, if using.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, line a baking pan with wax paper or a silicone baking mat.
6. in a medium saucepan add the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Insert the candy thermometer and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until the thermometer reaches 300 degrees.
7. Working quickly and carefully, immediately pour on the prepared baking pan, tilting to spread. Allow it to sit until hardened (about 30 minutes). Once hardened, break into pieces using a mallet.
8. To garnish the muffins, dust the tops with matcha powder, followed by powdered sugar. Then insert pieces of candy glass into the top*.

Notes

* Best served the same day as the candy glass and powdered topping will dissolve over time due to moisture from the muffin. Alternatively, you could assemble later.

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Happy Halloween!

Spooky Season is here and it is time for 2020’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek event! #HalloweenTreatsWeek is a yearly Halloween blogging event that is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & its a creepy and haunting week-long event is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats, recipes and some frightfully fun giveaways.

“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.”

For the 3rd annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek event we have 30 hauntingly talented bloggers that are sharing their favorite Halloween recipes throughout the week! Follow the hashtag #HalloweenTreatsWeek on social media.

Plus, don’t forget that we have some great giveaways for you this week thanks to our amazing sponsor and bloggers this year!

Prize #1 from Dixie Crystals

OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Stainless-Steel Mixing Bowl Set

Prize #2 from Angie at BigBearsWife 

Ninja OP301 Foodi 9-in-1 Pressure, Slow Cooker, Air Fryer and More, with 6.5 Quart Capacity and 45 Recipe Book, and a High Gloss Finish

Prize #3 from Nicole Taggart’s Origami Owl Jewelry Bar

Origami Owl Locket and Halloween Charms

Prize #4 from Kathy at Lemon Blossoms 

6 Quart Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

Prize #5 from Terri at Our Good Life

Young Living’s Thieves Mints ($50 Value)

Pop a Thieves Mint into your mouth for cinnamint-fresh breath after meals. Made with naturally derived ingredients and free of artificial sweeteners, dyes, and preservatives, Thieves Mints are a choice you can feel good about. Created with Young Living’s Thieves essential oil blend, these mints deliver minty coolness with a hint of warm, sugar-free sweetness. Thieves Mints come in a conveniently sized container that is great to take on the go!!

Prize #6 from Julie  at Back To My Southern Roots

1 Copy of  – The Peanuts Family Cookbook: Delicious Dishes for Kids to Make with Their Favorite Grown-Ups

Prize #7 from Peabody of Sweet ReciPEAS

1 Copy of her new cookbook “Holy Sweet! 60 Indulgent Recipes for Bigger, Better Desserts”

Prize #8 from Megan of Strawberry Blondie Kitchen

1 Copy of her cookbook, “Incredible One-Pot Cooking: Easy, Delicious Recipes for Exciting Meals Without the Mess”

Prize #9 from Nicole of For the Love of Food Blog

1 Copy of “Friends: The Official Cookbook”

Prize #10 from Michaela from An Affair from the Heart, Jennifer from Take Two Tapas and Michele from West Via Midwest

ONE (1) $75 Amazon gift card

Prize #11 from Shanaka from It’s Shanaka

ONE (1) $25 Amazon gift card

Prize #12 from Ashley from Cheese Curd In Paradise

1 Copy of her cookbook, ” The Serial Killer Cookbook: True Crime Trivia and Disturbingly Delicious Last Meals from Death Row’s Most Infamous Killers and Murderers”

Prize #13 from Amy from House of Nash Eats

ONE (1) $100 Amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsors to winners, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from October 5th – October 10th at 11:59PM EST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 14 prizes and therefore we will have a total of 14 winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing brand sponsors: Dixie Crystals that provided a prize pack for our giveaways and also sent some samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes. We would also love to give a huge thanks to our Halloween Treats Week bloggers because a lot of them also donated prizes for the giveaways, including:  Angie of BigBearsWife ,  Nicole of Nicole Taggart’s Origami Owl Jewelry Bar, Kathy of Lemon Blossoms,  Terri of Our Good Life,  Julie of Back To My Southern Roots,  Peabody of Sweet ReciPEAS, Megan of Strawberry Blondie Kitchen, Nicole of For the Love of Food Blog, Michaela of An Affair from the Heart, Jennifer of Take Two Tapas , Michele of West Via Midwest, Shanaka of It’s Shanaka, Ashley of Cheese Curd In Paradise, and Amy from House of Nash Eats!

Who says you can’t have cornbread for dessert? These unsuspectingly gluten-free muffins are flecked with poblano peppers for just a little heat, then topped with a creamy goat cheese frosting, crumbled bacon, and fresh green onion.

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This content contains affiliate links, from which I earn a small commission, and I received free product from RylieCakes, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today is #NationalCupcakeLoversDay so naturally I made savory muffins…? I had plans to make a sweet cupcake but I ran out of time. These muffins have a savory frosting on top so they are basically cupcakes, right? Go with it.

These “savory cupcakes” are actually made with a gluten-free baking mix I recently have been playing with called RylieCakes (a woman-owned business made in the USA and uses biodegradable packaging). At first I thought they were just mixes to bake what each bag was named, such as the Cake Mix pictured below, but turns out there’s an entire cookbook of gluten-free recipes using these mixes to make a variety of things.

The only caveat is that these mixes are not for the purpose of substituting one-to-one in your recipes to make them gluten-free (or at least I haven’t yet tried). That is unless your recipe calls for boxed cake/cookie/biscuit/pancake mix. But you don’t need the cookbook to be able to know how to use these mixes, there are also several recipes on their website.

However I was sent the cookbook along with three mixes to try out so I chose to make these gluten-free cornbread muffins which are from the cookbook. The original recipe was for mini muffins and used jalapeno peppers, but I wanted normal sized muffins to go with the BBQ pulled pork Bob smoked, and had poblano peppers on hand already.

I shared some of these muffins with my friend who has celiac and said she’s never had such a non-grainy cornbreaed before! And I would have to agree, if you weren’t told these were gluten-free you would never know it.

And that goat cheese frosting on top with crumbled bacon and fresh green onion? Oh my. Take one bite and try to tell me you wouldn’t eat this for dessert ;-). But if you are not convinced, I joined a group of other bloggers sharing cupcakes to celebrate today which are listed below!

Cupcakes for Cupcake Lovers Day!

Hosted by Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes by The Baking Fairy
Bailey’s Red Velvet Cupcakes by Our Crafty Mom
Buttermilk Cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream by One Sweet Appetite
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes by Daily Dish Recipes
Coffee Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes by The Urben Life
Fiori Di Sicilia + Elderflower Cupcakes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Gingerbread Cupcakes by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Maple Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Date Icing by UpBeet Kitchen
Mickey Mouse Sprinkles Cupcakes by For The Love of Food
Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes by Join Us, Pull Up A Chair
Poblano Cornbread Muffins with Goat Cheese Frosting by The Spiffy Cookie
Sourdough Strawberry Cupcakes by Our Good Life
Vanilla Bean Buttercream Cupcakes by Red Cottage Chronicles

One year ago: Strawberry Basil Cupcakes with Chocolate Balsamic Frosting

Two years ago: DIY Marbled Clay Ring Dish

Four years ago: Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Six years ago: Eggplant Parmesan with Parsley Orzo

Seven years ago: Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Granola Bars

GLUTEN-FREE POBLANO CORNBREAD MUFFINS WITH GOAT CHEESE FROSTING

Print

Yield: 1 dozen Cooking Time: 20 Minutes 20 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

MUFFINS

• 6.25 oz. Rylie Cakes Cake Mix
• 4.75 oz. corn flour*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 oz. butter, room temperature
• 1.75 oz. brown sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 8 oz. buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 small poblano pepper, seeded and finely diced

FROSTING

• 8 oz. goat cheese, room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 oz. whole milk
• 2 tsp black pepper

TOPPING

• 6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 fresh green onions, finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Coat a 12-cavity muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bow, whisk together Cake Mix, corn flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
4. Add egg and egg yolk one at a time, beating for 30 seconds on medium-low speed after adding each.
5. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Slowly pour in buttermilk and continue to beat on low until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture and chopped poblano and beat until thoroughly combined.
6. Divide batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
7. Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together goat cheese and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy.
8. Adjust mixer to low and slowly stream in milk. Add pepper and beat to combine.
9. Once mini muffins have completely cooled to room temperature, top with frosting using a piping bag or a scoop. Garnish with bacon bits and fresh green onions.

Notes

You can finely grind up cornmeal in a food processor to make cornflour if you cannot find any at your store. Just don't use masa harina! They may look similar but they are completely different products. Generally, cornflour is just finely ground corn. Masa harina, is ground corn treated with alkali.

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Source: Adapted from Lick The Bowl: RylieCakes Essential Guide to Gluten Free Baking by Tara Rylie.

Make the tastiest, fluffiest waffles using your sourdough starter then pile on your favorite toppings for the perfect start to the weekend.

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Self-imposed sourdough week continues with waffles! It’s almost the weekend which means it’s a great time to break out your sourdough starter to make these. Working from home somehow makes me look forward to the weekends more than usual.

I still try to maintain my regular schedule as if I were going into work to help me stay motivated to actually do work. I shouldn’t complain about having a job right now but it is difficult working from home.

As a scientist, working from home is not exactly as easy thing. On a regular non-quarantined day, I spent more time in the lab working at my bench than I do sitting in front of my computer. And with a strained tendon in my wrist, this extended computer time is not fun.

So what am I doing if I am not doing experiments? Planning virtual meetings with the lab, organizing notes, updating my lab notebook, read other research papers, analyzing previously collected data, but mostly I am working on my next research paper.

Thankfully I was looking for more down time to write it but didn’t realize I would get 8 hours a day to solely focus on it. Like I said above I can only sit here and type for so long, so I try to break it up with reading other papers or any other little task that pops up.

Then at night I get to work on the computer some more updating this blog of mine! With Bob out of work now I may try to train him to do some of the background stuff to help expedite the process. If he could master SEO for me that would be some serious silver lining.

Other than that, we continue to attempt to go about our normal lives as much as possible. Although lately we have been mindlessly watching whatever is on TV without paying much attention to it. I think a game night is in order or a night by the firepit when it warms up a bit more!

One year ago: No-Bake Peanut Butter & Jelly Pie

Two years ago: Rice Crispy Sushi & Sashimi

Five years ago: Monster Cookies

Six years ago: Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Seven years ago: Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls

Eight years ago: Dark Chocolate Nonpareil Peanut Butter Cookies

SOURDOUGH WAFFLES

Print

Yield: 6 waffles (depending on iron size)

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1-1/2 baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Directions

1. In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
2. In separate medium bowl, whisk sourdough starter, buttermilk, and eggs until completely blended. Stir in flour mixture and butter until combined. Depending on thickness of starter, you might need to adjust batter. Add flour or milk if needed to reach the consistency of pancake batter.
3. Cook in preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

Did you make this recipe? I want to see!

Tag @THESPIFFYCOOKIE on Instagram and hashtag it #THESPIFFYCOOKIE

Skip the plain dinner rolls or biscuits and step it up with the addition of sharp cheddar and fresh chives.

We’re in the home stretch people, Thanksgiving is officially one week from today! I apologize if that pushes some of you over the edge but in case you haven’t finalized every last item on your menu yet I have some biscuits that you should consider. Cheddar and chive buttermilk biscuits to be exact. But I cannot take credit for this one as it’s from Love and Olive Oil and their post has more in depth step-by-step photos for your viewing pleasure. P.S. Any leftovers would be killer with a sausage gravy <3. BTW this marks the last Thanksgiving dish I am sharing! It’s time to start publishing Christmas recipes after this one (no living in the present for food bloggers). This recipe was part of an entire menu including:

• Smoked Turkey
• Creamy Poblano Bacon Gravy
• Bacon & Collard Green Cornbread Stuffing
• Tart Cherry Cranberry Sauce
• Roasted Root Vegetables
• Mashed Potatoes
• Cheesy Okra Casserole
• Smoked Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese
• Cranberry Sweet Tea Sangria
• Pumpkin Pie
• Nutella Pecan Pie Bars
• No-Bake Banana Pudding Dessert Lasagna

Two years ago: Pear Rosemary Sparkler

Three years ago: Slow Cooker Bolognese with Meatballs

Four years ago: Chocolate Peanut Butter Gingerbread Tart

Five years ago: Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls with Speculoos Icing

Six years ago: DOVE® Christmas Chocolate Drops

Seven years ago: Penne with Trapanese Pesto

Eight years ago: Butter Pecan with Brandy Ice Cream

CHEDDAR & CHIVE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

4-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed

3 oz. (about 1 cup) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives (or 2 tsp dried)

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp melted butter, for brushing

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or two knives until it resembles pea-sized chunks. fold in cheddar and chives. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork until evenly distributed. Using your hands, form dough into a loose ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, form into a rectangle, fold in half lengthwise, and then again. For a rectangle again, then repeat the two folds.
4. Form into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Cut using a circular cookie or biscuit cutter. Repeat with any scraps.
5. Arrange biscuits on baking sheet, two inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

Source: Love and Olive Oil

This post and recipe was created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

Nothing says summer like a fresh juicy peach and this coffee cake made with peaches and basil is the perfect way to start a summer morning.

Every summer I patiently await for the arrival of what I determine to be the true meaning of summer – ripe juicy peaches. The Georgia Peach Truck made it’s way to Columbus recently and after inhaling quite a few as is, the very first thing I made was this coffee cake, which was also made with a handful of fresh basil from my garden. Speaking of, my poor basil plant was getting smothered by the prolific tomato plants that are now taller than I am, but thanks to Bob’s handiwork we now have polls and grids of wire providing support beyond what the 3-foot cages could provide. Prepare yourselves for plenty of tomato recipes to follow suit, but first let’s focus on the peaches and this coffee cake.

I could not remember the last time I made a proper coffee cake, so it seemed like the right time. But then I went down my usual rabbit hole of determining what the difference was, if any, between a coffee cake and a crumb cake/muffin? My first search rendered that a crumb cake is just coffee cake with a streusel/crumb topping, and coffee cake is pretty much anything eaten with coffee (which I don’t drink so maybe nothing is coffee cake for me), but doesn’t coffee cake have a crumb topping? Long story short there is a specific thing called a crumb cake in NY that is as much crumb as it is cake without any fruit or nuts involved, but coffee cakes come in many variations.  So I present to you a very delicious summer coffee cake filled with fresh peaches, basil, and a streusel topping! A friend told me it was so good I should be selling it. I’ll start taking orders whenever you are ready ;-).

Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!

Ice Cream Recipes:

• Circus Animal Cookie Ice Cream from Fake Ginger
• No Churn Banana Pudding Ice Cream from Nik Snacks
• Butterscotch Ice Cream from Pastry Chef Online
• Individual Mermaid Ice Cream Treats from Family Around the Table
• Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Bon Bons from Cooking With Carlee

Pies of Summer:

• Creamy Peach Pie Delight from Who Needs A Cape?
• Key Lime Coconut Pie from Doughmesstic
• Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Mini Fresh Strawberry Pies from Cheese Curds in Paradise
• Cherry Limeade Icebox Pie from Sweet Beginnings

Sweet Summertime Cakes and Cupcakes:

• Coconut Custard Almond Cake from The Food Hunter’s Guide to Cuisine
• Strawberry Ice Cream Cake from The Beard and The Baker
• Fiesta Lime Cupcakes from My Baking Heart
• Nana’s Strawberry Shortcake Cake from Daily Dish Recipes
• Ice Cream Cone Drip Cake from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Summer Berries Pavlova Cake from Home Sweet Homestead
• Buttermilk Chocolate Cake from Back To My Southern Roots
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Charlotte A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Mermaid Layer Cake from Love and Confections
• Vanilla Icebox Cake from Books n’ Cooks
• Peach-Basil Coffee Cake from The Spiffy Cookie
• Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes from Cookaholic Wife
• The Perfect Vanilla Cupcake from Our Good Life

No Bake Treats:

• No Bake Lemon Chiffon Dessert from Miss in the Kitchen
• No Bake Berry Cheesecake from Desserts Required
• Pineapple Pretzel Fluff Salad from 4 Sons R Us
• Easy Raspberry Cream Cheese Dessert from Blogghetti
• No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake from Everyday Eileen
• Strawberry Pretzel Salad Dessert from Creative Southern Home

Baked Desserts:

• Sea Shell Beach Cakesicles from Big Bear’s Wife
• Mermaid Splash Cookies from The Domestic Kitchen
• Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake from A Blender Mom
• Cruise Ship Strawberry Crepes from Southern From Scratch
• Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake from Eat Move Make
• Caramel Sticky Pudding Cake from Shockingly Delicious
• Blackberry Roly Poly from Nancie’s Table
• Strawberry Monkey Bread from The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Raspberry Custard Bars with Almond from My Sweet Zepol
• Caramel Corn Cheesecake from Sweet ReciPEAs
• Blackberry Cheesecake with Blackberry Compote from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Cookies:

• Easy Mini Fruit Pizzas from Jen Around the World
• Sunflower Cookies from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Orange Creamsicle Chip Cookies from Palatable Pastime
• Viennese Whirls from Kudos Kitchen by Renee

Puddings:

• Mason Jar Caramel Banana Pudding from For the Love of Food

And with every good week-long blogger recipe event comes an even better giveaway for our readers, so scroll to the bottom of this post for more information about the sponsors of #SummerDessertWeek and a chance to enter the giveaway! Sponsored items used in this recipe: Dixie Crystals sugar, light brown sugar, and powdered sugar, Adams Extract vanilla, and Anolon 9-inch spring form pan.

Three years ago: Boston Cream Pie Speculoos Cookie Cups

Five years ago: Homemade Strawberry Jam

Six years ago: Mexican Hot Dogs with Corn Salsa and Chipotle Cream

PEACH-BASIL COFFEE CAKE

Makes 1 cake

Ingredients:

STREUSEL

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup Dixie Crystals light brown sugar

1/4 cup Dixie Crystals pure cane sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

Pinch of salt

COFFEE CAKE

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp freshly minced basil (or 1 tsp dried)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 tsp Adams vanilla extract

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup Dixie Crystals light brown sugar

1/2 cup Dixie Crystals pure cane sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1-1/2 cup chopped fresh peeled peaches (about 3 medium)

GLAZE

1/2 cup Dixie Crystals powdered sugar

1 Tbsp milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch spring-form pan with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. In a small bowl add all the streusel ingredients and cut in sugar until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, basil, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl mix the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until just incorporated. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, mixing just until combined. Gently fold in the peaches until evenly distributed.
6. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Top with streusel, pressing lightly to make it stick.
7. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely on a wire rack.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together confectioner’s sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake. Allow glaze to harden and serve.

Source: Adapted from my Blueberry-Lime Streusel Muffins and A Kitchen Addiction.

PRIZE #1

Dixie Crystals is giving away one (1)Keurig® K-Select® Coffee Maker

PRIZE #2

Prize #2 — Adam’s Extract is giving away – 1 Gift Pack – including Adams Poundcake Kit, Adams Best, Adams Lemon Extract, Adams Natural Food Color, and Adams Cinnamon Sugar

PRIZE #3

Prize #3 —Wilton is giving away a Wilton Gift Pack – including – Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 13 x 9 -inch Oblong Pan, Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 8-inch Square Cake Pan, Bake and Bring Geometric Print Non-Stick 8-inch Round Cake Pan, Peach Cobbler Candy Melts Candy, Blueberry Lemonade Candy Melts Candy, Orange Crème Candy Melts Candy, Key Lime Pie Decorating Icing Pouch with Tips, Orange Crème Decorating Icing Pouch with Tips, Pop Art Triangle and Solid Cupcake Liners, Geometric Print and Solid Green Cupcake Liners, Balloon Dog Icing Decorations, Assorted Brights and Pastels Sprinkles, Blue Sprinkles Tackle Box, Coral Sprinkles Tackle Box, DIY-Lish Mermaid Kit, DIY-Lish Candy Lollipop Kit and Disposable Decorating Bags with 1M Tips

PRIZE #4

Prize #4 — Sweets & Treats Boutique is giving away 1 (one) baking supply box including an assortment of sprinkles and cupcake liners as well as one of Love From The Oven’s recent cookbooks!

PRIZE #5

Prize #5 — Anolon is giving one (1) winner an Anolon Advanced Graphite 9″ Round Springform Pan & an Anolon Advanced Graphite 9″ Square Springform Pan

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsors to winners, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from July 7th – July 14th at 12AMEST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 5 (five) prizes and therefore we will have a total of 5 (five) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #SummerDessertWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Adam’s Extract, Wilton, Sweets and Treats Shop and Anolon ! These wonderful sponsors provided the prize packs for our giveaways and also sent samples and products to the #SummerDessertWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.

Over labor day weekend we went to New Orleans for our honeymoon, and of course we went to Cafe du Monde for beignets (and coffee for Bob) more than once. Once time may have been late night because why not? They are open 24 hours after all. Since returning home I’ve found myself craving those fluffy fried pillows covered in a pile of powdered sugar. So with the game against Tulane today I figured it was the perfect time to try my hand at making them at home!

However, like most homemade fried things it’s not so much the health aspect that I dislike, it’s the general act of frying food and all that oil that goes to waste! (If somehow knows a use for used fryer oil let me know). So I found a baked version! I was actually quite pleased with how well these turned out. Just look at those adorable pillow of dough! This was also the first time I used the oven to help speed up the rising time. Total game changer! I don’t know if I will ever let dough rise any other way from now on.

Due to being baked, they don’t have that crispy exterior that encompasses traditional fried beignets but I actually didn’t miss it all the much. It could be due to the fact that I did add some powdered peanut butter to the dough as well as to the powdered sugar and then made a chocolate sauce to dip them into – it is #PBchocSat after all! The chocolate sauce actually has a little bit of coffee mixed into it to give you the whole coffee and beignets package.

Four years ago: Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce

Five years ago: Corn Salsa

Six years ago: Peanut Butter and Chocolate French Toast

Seven years ago: Pumpkin Granola

BAKED BEIGNETS WITH CHOCOLATE-COFFEE SAUCE

Makes approximately 3 dozen

Ingredients:

BEIGNETS

3/4 cup warm water (around 100°F)

1/4 cup sugar

1 pkg (0.25 oz. or 2-1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

3-3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered peanut butter

1/8 cup milk

COATING

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup powdered peanut butter

CHOCOLATE-COFFEE SAUCE

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until foamy.
3. To the yeast, whisk in the egg, buttermilk, butter, vanilla, and salt. Add powdered peanut butter and then 1 cup of flour at a time, stirring on medium-low, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn up to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly greased heatproof bowl. Turn off preheated oven, place bowl in the oven, leave the door ajar, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes. Remove bowl from the oven and preheat the oven to 200°F again.
5. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out into a square, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut out 2-inch squares. Transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Turn off preheated oven and place both baking sheets in the oven with the door ajar to rise for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffy like little pillows. Remove baking sheets from oven and preheat to 375°F.
6. Brush tops lightly with milk. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make the chocolate sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring heavy cream to a simmer, then whisk in the sugar. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until melted. Add coffee, vanilla, and salt and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
8. If serving immediately (the best option), brush the tops lightly with melted butter and generously dust with powdered sugar mixture. Serve warm with chocolate sauce.
9. If serving later, wait to add the topping and store in an airtight container. When ready, warm in microwave for 10 seconds, then brush with butter and dust with powdered sugar mixture.

Source: Adapted from Also The Crumbs Please and Serious Eats.