Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Empanadas

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On occasion I like to torture myself.  There are many things that I have tried to make and they never quite turn out right.  bite-size breakfasts, cut-out cookies, pasta with chickpeas and empanadas/calzones.

It is so frustrating because I love them.  The perfectly baked dough.  The delicious fillings perfectly heated.

Nope, never happens for me.

I’m not sure why I thought this would be any different, but when I saw this recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Empanadas from Pillsbury, I just HAD TO MAKE IT!  I know it is going to taste good, but I know it won’t be as pretty as the perfect little empanadas on Pillsbury’s website.

Or would they?

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Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Empanadas

Maple Carrot Cupcakes

Recipe made/modified June 6, 2012

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Original recipe from Taste of Home: Cupcake, Muffins and More and also found on their website.

It was time for me to make my second project from Wilton’s lesson manuals, this time from class number 2 - Flowers and Cake Design.  I could have made things a little easier by using a box cake mix, but I decided that I should be testing out cake recipes from scratch if I ever want to do this professionally.  I decided on one of my husband’s favorites, carrot cake, and went with this Maple Carrot Cupcake recipe.

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Maple Carrot Cupcakes

Don’t these look delicious?  I didn’t sprinkle on any of the nuts since by this time I was exhausted from making, frosting and decorating the cupcakes from my lesson manual.

My other “complaint” is that my frosting didn’t look like and wasn’t as firm as their frosting was.  I come across this a lot and haven’t yet figured out what I’m doing wrong, especially since I’m following the directions closely.

What I made: June 6, 2012

Today I was like a crazy cooking ninja.  And there was some alcohol involved.  

That may explain why my notes are a little difficult to read today.  Oh well, let's get to the food.

I had a crazy morning and afternoon so my breakfast and lunch dishes had to be rescheduled.  It was time to start dinner, but I was parched so I made myself a Pink Lemonade found in All You's July issue.

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Pink Lemonade

Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 25, 2011

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Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs recipe originally published by Pillsbury: Bake-off Winners – April 2012.

Since my husband has been home in the mornings, I’ve decided to try to make breakfast more often than just the weekends.  

Okay, total honesty here… my husband makes most of the breakfasts on weekends.  I assist!  

Okay, no I don’t... I watch TV while drinking coffee and reading magazines.

So yeah, I decided I need to start making more breakfasts.  I wanted to start easy and simple so I picked a pastry.  Looking for something different, I went with a mango and coconut puff.

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Mango-Lemon Drop Sunshine Puffs

They look very tasty, but not quite like the picture on Pillsbury’s web site or in the magazine.  I think what I consider “golden brown” and what they consider “golden brown” are two totally different things.  Also, my glaze looks a lot darker, but I’m not too worried about that.  I used a different jam than what was used in the recipe.

Frosted Banana Bars

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – April 24, 2011

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Frosted Banana Bars recipe originally published by Cooking.com via e-mail – April 16, 2012.

My husband LOVES sweets, but he would probably kill someone for anything with cream cheese frosting on it.  I LOVE banana bread and happen to enjoy a schmear of cream cheese of it with my coffee in the morning.  When I found this recipe I knew it was going to be a big hit.

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Frosted Banana Bars

This picture doesn’t really convey the soft cake with the fluffy frosting.  All I can do is try to explain it… the cake is firm enough to allow your fork to pass through it like butter without crumbling apart.  The frosting?  Well it is the perfect combination of creamy, tart and sweet.  I honestly could have eaten it alone.