unsalted butter

Parmesan Encrusted Shrimp

April 9, 2020 by Dana

Shrimp is one of my favorite ingredients for a quick under 30 minute meal. This Parmesan Encrusted Shrimp is SO GOOD and SO EASY. Not only is it delicious and simple, it also remind me of something you would order as an appetizer at a nice restaurant. It feels like meal that requires you to sit down with your family and enjoy a glass a wine and forget about the dishes!

Today Pennsylvania announced there will be no school for the rest of the year due to the Covid-19 virus. I can’t say that I was surprised, as it doesn’t seem there is an end in sight to this pandemic. My heart goes out to the teachers and students in Pennsylvania and all other states who left their classrooms for the last time in March. Most were unaware that this would be the last time they would all together for the rest of the school year. It makes me sad that there were no goodbyes. My heart hurts for the teachers who are at home thinking about what they missed and their students.

When they announced on March 13, 2020 that Pennsylvania schools would be closed for 2 weeks, I definitely did not see this coming. As weeks went on, I realized that it was only a matter of time until they announced the kids would not be returning from school.

You guys, this is why I love cooking and baking. It makes my heart happy. Cooking gives me an outlet to create and it has been getting me through not only the Covid-19 pandemic quarantine, but also a lot of other heartbreaking issues in my life. It helps me forget about everything I’m upset about. My hope is that everyone has something that they love to do during this time. Hugs to anyone having a bad day today or any other day. Just know that you are loved.

Parmesan Encrusted Shrimp Tips and Tricks

For Frozen Shrimp: Make sure you defrost your shrimp before adding it to the pan! If it is still frozen it will make your butter and garlic mixture watery.
For Pre-Cooked Frozen Shrimp: Again, make sure your shrimp are defrosted. After you melt your butter and cook your garlic, simply add your defrosted shrimp and give them a little heat until they are warm. Since your shrimp are already cooked, there is no need for additional cooking.
Your breadcrumb mixture will be wet. This will give you a nice and crispy coating on top of your shrimp.
I served my shrimp with rice and green beans. This combination was delicious! However, the shrimp would also go great with pasta.
Be sure to watch your shrimp under the broiler. It can go from perfect to disastrous in a matter of seconds.

Ultimate Red Velvet Cupcakes

April 8, 2020 by Dana

The Ultimate Red Velvet Cupcake recipe is right here, you guys! I’ve seen a ton of complicated Red Velvet cake recipes but here is the truth: When I am baking I like to keep things simple. This Red Velvet recipe is just that, SIMPLE. No random mixing techniques or weird ingredients. A straight to the point and easy recipe that yields a delicate, flavorful cake. This is what we are all after when we bake, right?

Before we just into the recipe, I’ve been sharing quarantine updates so here we go!

We are in our third week in quarantine. This is honestly the longest I’ve been in the same house with my husband for as long as I can remember. I’m always with the kids all day because I am a stay at home Mom, so this isn’t entirely different then my normal life with them except we aren’t doing school drop offs and pick ups. My husband normally works long hours and goes to bed early so our new schedule is so different than our normal lives.

Today was the first day we literally could not figure out what day it was. For some reason I was thinking it was Friday. He was thinking it was Tuesday. It is in fact, Wednesday. He wins for being closer but we definitely had a good 5 minute discussion about what day it actually was. HAHA If that doesn’t sum up the third week of quarantine I don’t know what does!

The kids are completing their first week of at home learning today. Apparently they are still getting an Easter vacation from Thursday to Monday. How nice of the school, right?!? At home learning has been pretty good this week. Nothing too scary to report. I will admit, I do miss packing lunches a little bit and keeping on top of homework when they get home from school. I do also wish on these beautiful days we are having that we would be taking them to baseball practice and getting some fresh air at the park! I guess it is the little things I am missing the most. There are so many positives of this whole experience though and I feel they out weigh the negatives for sure. We are keeping a positive outlook over here!

Ultimate Red Velvet Cupcake Tips and Tricks

I am again, using a cup of boiling water at the end of this recipe. This makes for a very moist and delicate cake. The boiling water will not cook your eggs, I promise. I also use this technique in my Vanilla Sheet Cake recipe.
You need a whole heck of a lot of red food coloring to get these cupcakes to the right color. Do not freak when you see that you will be using almost an entire bottle of red food coloring, this is not a typo! When you are mixing, you will see exactly why you need so much.
The buttermilk in this recipe not only develops extra flavor, but also makes the texture nice and light. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, regular milk will work just fine.
The cake flour (also known as pastry flour) can be found in the baking isle near all the other flour options. I use Wegman’s brand pastry flour. I also suggest King Arthur’s Brand Cake Flour (sold in a box).
I do not like a sickeningly sweet cream cheese icing. I used about 3 and a half cups of powdered sugar in my recipe, however you can add more depending on your own taste.

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese (room temperature)
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use Watkin’s brand)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add your butter and cream cheese. Make sure these ingredients are room temperature! Cold cream cheese will yield a lumpy icing. I do not suggest microwaving these ingredients to soften.
Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth, scraping down your bowl several times to avoid any lumps.
Add 3-4 cups powdered sugar (or more to taste). Add vanilla extract.
Place cream cheese icing in a piping bag and pipe icing on top of cupcakes. I used a Wilton #307 tip for piping.

Recipe adapted from Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Cake Recipe.

Heath Brownies

April 6, 2020 by Dana

Attention! They may not have chocolate chips at the grocery store right now, but they have Heath chips. If you love a decadent, fudge brownie base with little bits of toffee throughout and a big scoop of ice cream on top, then these Heath Brownies are just for you.

Speaking of grocery stores, I went to Wegman’s today. My home away from home. My happy place. They don’t beat Target, but man they are pretty close. There were many items I could not get (Covid-19 hoarding), and I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I REALLY wanted Jasmine Rice. I REALLY wanted yeast. The produce section wasn’t what it normally is. There was no sanitizing wipes or cleaners at all, and toilet paper was scarce.

What I can say, is that all the workers at Wegman’s were doing a fantastic job. They were smiling, and moving about their day as if nothing was going on in the world. They are braver then myself, and I have so much respect for the essential workers there who are putting their own lives in danger to serve the community.

Wegman’s was taking a couple extra precautions to try to keep customers as safe as possible. Hand sanitizer was located at the entrance. The cashiers had plexiglass barriers to prevent customers from getting too close or coughing/sneezing/breathing on them, and they had a security guard at the front of the store. It was definitely a different shopping experience but again, I am just Thankful I am still able to get what I need for my family.

Heath Brownie Tips and Tricks

I love a fudgy, decadent brownie. Some brownies are cake-like, and while they have their place in the world, these brownies are not cakey. They are moist, dense, and loaded with chocolate flavor. For this reason, I am using an 8×8 baking pan. You really only need one brownie (or even a half!) to satisfy your chocolate dreams.
I always line my baking pan with parchment paper. It is totally fine if it isn’t perfect. You will want some paper to go up the sides so you can grab the paper and lift your brownies out to cut. This is perfect for two reasons. You don’t cut up the bottom of your pan, and your brownies can be cut perfectly. If you have kids, this is even better so that your kids can’t go butcher the whole pan trying to get one brownie out. If you are serving them at a gathering or party this will also enable you to cut perfect brownies.
I lift my parchment paper and brownies right out of the pan and place them onto a cutting board. I use a large chef knife to cut them. Instead of dragging your knife through the brownies, I suggest placing your knife on top and cutting down. After each cut, use a cloth with hot water to wipe your chef knife off. This technique will get you perfect brownies!
The Heath baking bits can be found in the baking isle of most grocery stores. They are in the same section as the chocolate chips. Heath Brownies would obviously not be a thing without the Heath baking bits.

Vanilla Sheet Cake

April 3, 2020 by Dana

We are in unprecedented times people. What am I doing to take my mind off of all the scary things going on in the world, you ask?

I am cooking and baking! I have been lucky enough to keep a stock of flour, sugar, butter, and other baking items on hand. I know some grocery stores are not able to stock these items, so if you have them consider yourself lucky! Cooking and baking (and photographing food) is something that I have always loved, but these past couple of weeks it has kept me sane and moving. I’ve absolutely loved spending time in the kitchen.

My hope is to continue posting recipes I have made in quarantine and talk about what my family is experiencing and the things we have been doing to keep ourselves busy. 🙂

Let’s Talk Vanilla Sheet Cake!

Ok, I’ll admit that I am not a huge fan of icing round layer cakes. The Instagram videos make it look really easy, however in my experience, it can be frustrating. We have all seen the Pinterest and Instagram fails and I have been there.

It takes a level of skill and understanding to make a layer cake look perfect. For most home bakers, we haven’t spent the time perfecting those skills because we aren’t making dozens of cakes a day.

Here is where the sheet cake comes in! You can practically put icing on a sheet cake with your eyes closed and it looks wonderful. Add some sprinkles and perhaps a few rosettes, and you have a semi-professional looking cake without all the hassle and tools it takes to put together a layer cake.

This particular recipe is a home run! I adapted this recipe using my favorite chocolate cake recipe (coming soon) and I had no idea how it was going to turn out. The results were one of the best cakes I have ever made. This vanilla cake tastes VERY similar to something that comes out of a box, I would argue way better. It is moist and not lacking flavor. That is exactly what I am looking for with any cake recipe.

Vanilla Sheet Cake Tips and Tricks

Ingredients. I know I just explained that some grocery store shelves in the baking isle are empty but I would NOT use old ingredients. Have you ever tasted a baked good and thought you could taste “something else” in it too? It was probably because ingredients were sitting next to spices and were OLD. If you don’t remember when it was purchased, then toss it and get some fresh ingredients.
Using Pastry Flour (cake flour) will give you a delicate, moist cake. I used Wegman’s brand pastry flour because King Arthur was not stocked. My top pick is always King Arthur though.
Good quality Vanilla extract is also very important. I have a brand, Watkins, that I 100% recommend over any other brand for taste alone.
I always use butter over oil in baking recipes. Oil is lacking flavor and although it can make the texture of some baked goods better, it does not add flavor so I avoid it all together. The original recipe I adapted from suggested 1/2 cup oil so I replaced it with 1 stick of unsalted butter.
When you line your sheet cake pan with parchment paper, don’t worry if it isn’t perfect. When your cake is cooled and you remove it from the pan, you can always trim the edges. Simply place your cake on a large cutting board and use a large chef knife to trim any edges that are uneven.
POURING IN THE HOT WATER: What sets this cake apart from most all other vanilla cake recipes is the use of boiling water at the very end. This yields an extremely moist cake. The first time I made a cake like this I kept imagining the boiling water cooking the eggs in the batter, however that did not happen.
ICING THE CAKE: Do not try to ice a cake that is still warm. I have been tempted many times myself, but don’t do it! Your icing will melt all over the place creating a huge mess. I plopped all of my icing right in the middle of the cake and used an offset spatula to move the icing around. When getting close to the edges, don’t worry if you aren’t right at the edge with your icing. Nobody will notice and it can become a hassle trying to get it perfect.
CUTTING THE CAKE: One thing that will also make your sheet cake look beautiful is cutting it properly. Put away the butter knives! You will get a nice and precise cut from a large chef knife. I also avoid “running my knife though” the cake. You want to insert the knife and press down instead of running it sideways. When you run it sideways you will grab cake crumbs and tear up your cake, making it look ugly. We eat with our eyes first so cutting it nicely is important. After each cut wipe off your knife. This also ensures with your next cut you will not tear up your cake.
DECORATING THE CAKE: I used a mix of rainbow sprinkles and flat round Wilton Sprinkles. I could not find a link to the flat sprinkles I used. I also used a piping bag with a large star tip to make the rosettes.

Vanilla Icing Recipe

I will start by saying, I love using cream cheese in icing. It will set apart your cake from all others and create a deeper flavor. By mixing butter and cream cheese, you develop a beautiful American style buttercream with a hint of cream cheese to make it really pop. It doesn’t stand out as cream cheese icing, however it doesn’t taste like sickeningly sweet American style buttercream using powdered sugar to sweeten it. It is the perfect balance and will not disappoint.

Recipe:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
8 ounces cream cheese (I prefer Philadelphia brand)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (more to taste)

Directions: Soften cream cheese and butter ahead of time. Temperature of these items matters as you do not want lumps in your icing. Once the lumps are there, they are hard to get out.

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla extract, and powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. As I mentioned, I am not a fan of sickeningly sweet American style buttercream, so you may want to add an additional cup or two of powered sugar depending on your taste.

Easy Homemade Hamburger Buns

May 22, 2015 by Dana

Today I’m ditching the whole wheat flour for a soft and fluffy Homemade Hamburger Bun made with unbleached bread flour (King Arthur’s brand). Let’s be honest here… the two are just not the same!

I’ve been experimenting a lot with baking breads lately and I’ve come to realize that using all whole wheat flour will NOT yield the same result as using bread flour. I used to think I could just sub whole wheat flour in for anything. The more and more I experiment the more I’m coming to see that making that substitution has been causing me to think I’m just not good at baking breads. I’ve been longing for a perfect result…and have come up short time and time again.

I’ve known bread flour was a completely different animal for years, after all I did spend $25,000 on Baking and Pastry School. You see, bread flour has a higher protein content which makes it better for gluten development. This is going to give you a nicer rise and a fluffier product. I’ve seen people making substitutions between all purpose and bread flour, however I strongly recommend using bread flour for this recipe because I promise….it is just perfect!

I know yeast breads are scary… and believe me… I know why. With all of my experimentations lately I fully understand the complete letdown you feel when you’ve dedicated time, energy, and money into something that just doesn’t produce the results you were looking for. Today I’m taking the “scary” out of Homemade Hamburger Buns because if you follow this recipe I promise you will get the same results pictured. All of my Hamburger Buns were perfect, and far superior to those processed, shelf stable buns you buy at the supermarket that NEVER mold!

A few other notes about these Buns:

Do not skip the egg wash! Egg wash is simply an egg + a bit of water brushed onto your buns before you bake them to give them that nice golden brown color. I have tried to cut corners by skipping the egg wash on yeast breads over and over again and every time I end up thinking “Gee I wish I would have used that egg wash” when my product isn’t nice and golden brown like I hoped it would be.
Temperature matters. Temperature is a crucial part of baking yeast breads. You can actually kill the yeast if your water is too hot, so be careful. I never take the temperature of the water with a thermometer, but when my water feels ever so slightly warmer then lukewarm, that’s what I go with. Obviously, that’s not the “professional” method of figuring out water temperature but it has never failed me. How quickly your dough rises also depends upon the temperature of the room your dough is in. My kitchen is always a little warmer then the rest of the house, which is great for rising dough. In the winter I turn my oven on and sit the dough on top of the oven. Again, nothing “professional” about this, just my own experience.
This dough can be turned into a number of things: Hamburger Buns, breadsticks, garlic bread, hoagie rolls…. you name it. I adapted the recipe from this Almost Famous Breadsticks recipe from Food Network. It is definitely my new favorite dough!

Equipment I Used

Products from Amazon.com

Whole Wheat Funfetti Cupcakes

November 21, 2014 by Dana

Will the Real-est funfetti cupcakes please stand up???? 🙂

Confession: I love sprinkles, and cupcakes, and cute baked goods. They brighten my life when everything around me is blue, green, and super hero colored. You know, the 3 boys struggle… it is real folks! I love cupcakes so much I even have one tattooed on my foot, complete with sprinkles and a candy heart. I think that means I’m the official Knower-of-all-things-sprinkles, right? Right!

But then a while ago we kind of had a falling out, the sprinkles and I. I figured out their dirty little secret. It was a little too late, ya’ know with the tattoo and all? The proof was right there, the whole time. All I had to do was flip the little plastic bottle over and take a glance at the ingredients, and we were done-zo for good! Why Wilton, why? Trans fats and artificial colors? How are you going to do me like that Wilton?

I could keep going on about boxed cake mixes, sprinkles, sixlets, and the like but I’ll shorten it up real nice for you… break it off with these products now, it’ll save you in the long run!

Since the sprinkle break-up of my own life I’ve been on the lookout for a better product. Mainly one that is naturally colored and doesn’t contain any partially hydrogenated oil (trans fat). I’ve tried a few different products and while they were all better I liked one brand the best: India Tree Natural Sprinkles. The one big thing that makes these sprinkles different is that the colors don’t bleed once they are on the product. I experienced color bleeding with all of the other brands I tried, although I would still highly recommend them over standard sprinkles any day! One thing I should mention, India Tree’s products are NOT Non-GMO verified, and do contain soy lecithin, which is an ingredient we try to avoid. With that being said, a girl can’t have everything!

You can probably imagine my excitement when a huge rack of India Tree sprinkles appeared at the super-awesome grocery store I frequent. Of course, my husband was along for that trip so it didn’t seem like the right time to go on a naturally dyed sprinkle buying spree. Husbands just don’t understand!

A few days later I was there again and let’s just say I got a few bottles. It’s the Holiday Season! I needed those sprinkles! The internet needs a #betterbaking Funfetti Cupcake recipe! Best part was I got to choose my own mix of colors. Aren’t they puuurrrttty? 🙂

Now comes my whole wheat disclaimer, because I HAVE to say this. I’ve served whole wheat cupcakes to dozens of family members and friends and not one person even questioned them being whole wheat. You know what that means? They didn’t even know. You know what else that means? If you use the right whole wheat recipe your cupcakes will not come out dense and dry like the way people describe whole wheat products. What dense and dry cupcakes? I don’t know because I don’t make them. I promise, you will probably not be able to tell a difference your kids will definitely not know, and your husband will be too busy wondering where all the naturally dyed sprinkles came from to notice either.

This is a whole lot of ‘fetti in my face and I kind of like it! 🙂

Last but not least let’s talk icing. I don’t love a sickeningly-sweet powdered sugar icing. However, I think if you prefer a sweeter icing these would be the perfect compliment! I have quite a few really delicious icing recipes so here are the two that I think match these the best:

Simply Vanilla Buttercream (sweeter):

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 stick unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
1/4 cup sour cream
2-3 cups organic powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean pod or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Soften butter to room temperature while baking cupcakes. This step is very important!! Beat butter until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your bowl numerous times to make sure all lumps are out. Add sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add additional 1-2 tbsp. tapioca starch or non-gmo corn starch to thicken icing to desired consistency without adding more sugar.

Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package full fat cream cheese
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
3-4 Tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 vanilla bean pod or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Soften cream cheese and butter to room temperature. Beat cream cheese until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your bowl numerous times to make sure all lumps are out. Add butter, continue beating until very smooth. Add maple syrup, tapioca starch, and vanilla.

*Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction’s: Easy Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes. Have never tried a recipe from her blog that I haven’t loved. Thanks!

Here is the Amazon link to the sprinkles. They are a lot cheaper in stores if you can find them there!
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White Chocolate Orange Gingerbread Cupcakes

November 4, 2014 by Dana

Hello November! So glad you are here! I officially have the next 2 months to bake up a storm. Love, love, love!

Speaking of love… these Gingerbread cupcakes totally converted me to a Gingerbread fan. I’ve been on the molasses train pretty much all year and I have been patiently waiting for the holiday season to bust out some Gingerbread recipes because molasses is kind of awesome. By kind of awesome, I mean it might just be one of my top 5 fav ingredients. Why? Because it gives such a boost of flavor to all baking! These cupcakes highlight the goodness of molasses, with a hint of orange, and a bit of spice. Can you think of a better holiday combination?

PLUS…. remember when we started #betterbaking by calling out all of the nasty ingredients being thrown into dessert recipes all over the inter-world? *Ahem….Cool Whip, Trans fat laden sprinkles* Well, you can add ANOTHER cupcake recipe to the #betterbaking books because this one is simple and to the point. No weird stuff, no convenience products loaded with random crap. Just the simple, real deal… and THAT’S IT! 🙂

Is it just me or do these guys look like they just jumped off the Candy Land board game?

Now, as if you didn’t know this was coming….We need to talk about white chocolate. Yes, the dreaded trans fat talk is coming. I know, it is such a Debbie Downer in all of this cute cupcake fun. But, but, but…. we need to talk about these companies that put dangerous fats in their products knowing full well that they are dangerous! Upon some investigation at the grocery store I came to the conclusion that ALL of the white chocolate morsels/chip contained partially hydrogenated oils (non-organic brands). Hershey’s even called their white chips “Premium” yet they were made with dangerous trans fats. Come on now Hershey’s! We know you can do better then that for us!

Soooo….. I suggest taking a look at your white chocolate ingredients before purchasing a product. If it is organic, AWESOME! Then we know that eliminates most of the cray-cray ingredients we are trying to avoid. I used a Green & Black White Chocolate Bar and it worked great, tasted great, and didn’t contain any added crap. It cost me $2.99, which was only a few cents more then the Ghiradelli bars. If you can’t find an organic bar, look for a bar that doesn’t contain any partially hydrogenated oils, or artificial flavors. Companies like to throw in additional unknown flavorings but nobody likes that weird, fake taste that comes from those flavorings anyway!

And then there was that time when I thought I was getting red cupcake liners, but apparently they were pink. The grocery store must have been convinced they were red too, because they were sitting around all the baking stuff in the middle of the grocery store surrounded by huge Christmas Trees and the green liners. *face palm* But hey, they are super cute AND match my logo, so oh well! 🙂

#betterbaking Whole Wheat Caramel Blondies

October 30, 2014 by Dana

That’s a big blondie, isn’t it? A big, rich, caramel-y blondie that is all whole wheat!

Is it just me or are people totally scurred of committing to using all whole wheat flour in recipes? I can’t even count the amount of times I have been foodgawking and thought to myself “cool no refined grains!” only to click on the recipe and realize it isn’t a whole wheat recipe because it contains 1/2 refined flour. What gives people, what gives!?!?!

Not only that, why label a recipe whole wheat if in fact, it isn’t? Maybe I’m missing something there. 🙂

Fear not though, because here at 3Boys we don’t play those games. All of our recipes are 100% whole wheat, and #betterbaking is taking the internet by storm! Ok, maybe the second part of that was kind of a long shot but people really seem to be interested in baking recipes using better ingredients, so I am here to give you more options and better recipes.

Whole wheat recipes don’t have to be bland, boring, and standard. They don’t have to be limited to just one version of a classic, the possibilities are endless. You don’t have to worry about trying something in whole wheat form and it turning out horrible, and I get to take pictures of pretty desserts that make me happy. Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn’t it? Even my husband thinks it is genius because he gets to taste all of my creations! After all, I have to put that Pastry Arts degree to use somehow, don’t I?

Now that ^^^^ is a caramel blondie! With this recipe I’m really tackling those boxed mixes with the little pouch of gooey caramel intact to drizzle right over those trans fat laden boxed brownies. I know, I know, I’m sorry I just can’t help myself! I have to get all health-freak up in here and talk about the nastyt ingredients in boxed mixes so people understand those mixes are not frowned upon simply because they are supposedly quicker (which I highly debate). They are frowned upon because they contain trans fats, preservatives, and a bunch of other crap. But aren’t brownies just flour, cocoa powder, and leavening agents anyway? Please, someone, anyone…. tell me how this makes ANY sense!

I got to wondering what else Ghiradelli was throwing into those gooey caramel packets and it was just the icing on top of the nasty ingredient cake! It was ugly folks, really ugly. Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and preservatives. Just a few little extras, right?

Ok, I promise I’m off the trans fats are bad train and we are now going back to our regularly scheduled programming! 🙂

These blondies sound complicated but I promise they are not! Putting together the caramel from scratch could NOT be easier. A few simple ingredients, 5 minutes, and a stovetop is all you need. After you do it once you’ll be wondering why you ever thought caramel was complicated. Not to mention, the FLAVOR from real caramel is totally different and so much better then those plastic wrapped chunks of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Come to the real caramel dark side, I promise we have more fun here! 🙂

For more #betterbaking recipes check out these posts!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

PB and Apple Muffins

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Fudgy Trip Chocolate Cupcakes

*Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

October 19, 2014 by Dana

Dana Carvell (3BoysUnprocessed)

You didn’t think the week was going to end without a cute #betterbaking cupcake recipe, did you? Not only was it my Birthday week, I’m also going to a party tonight so I had a few pretty good reasons to start baking up a storm and turning my kitchen upside down! Would you like some cocoa powder on that? 🙂

Yes, you read that right. I AM GOING TO A PARTY. I know, this never happens. I can’t even think of the last time I went to a party but it is happening tonight and the theme is Oktoberfest. How about some German Chocolate Cupcakes? Seems like the perfect dessert addition to an Oktoberfest party, right? I thought so too, until I Googled German Chocolate only to find out it has NOTHING to do with Germany. *palm to my face*

Well then, I guess I won’t be asking the German guy there (yes there’s a guy from Germany coming) if these babes are authentic because he may just laugh in my face! Come to find out, through Google too of course, that German chocolate was named after the guy who created it, and the cake came after that. Doesn’t this remind you of the time we found out Betty Crocker wasn’t even a real person? Seriously, all these things I thought I knew just went down the drain. But have no fear because these cupcakes are:

delicious
cute
whole wheat
100% from scratch

Yes, I think that makes this whole German chocolate snafoo a little bit better, don’t you? Who cares where the term German chocolate came from because we have these awesome cupcakes to blame for that term, and boy these are a great Oktoberfest mistake! Did I mention we are making homemade caramel again? Yeah, that too! There is just no way to go wrong with chocolate cupcakes filled with a gooey, caramel/pecan/coconut filling, and topped with chocolate icing and more caramel and pecans. Is this a cupcake dream or what?

You know what else is really dreamy? Caramel that doesn’t come from a can or a wrapper!

Ok, ok, now that we got that pour shot out of the way let’s talk about assembling these babes because it is super easy. I made the filling using the caramel sauce, toasted pecans, and finely shredded coconut. It was like killing two birds with one stone (seriously who would kill a bird anyway?) because the caramel is the base of the filling, and the topping.

After I made the filling/topping, I whipped up the amazing cream cheese/chocolate/buttercream icing concoction and started assembling. I hollowed a hole in the middle of the cupcakes using the bottom of a piping tip (I’ve also used a melon baller to do that), then I filled the hole, piped the icing, dusted with finely shredded coconut, drizzled with caramel topping, and added some extra pecans. Then of course I had to eat one because I can’t take something to a party that I haven’t tasted yet, and wow… these are just pure amazing-ness. I mean, I just made up a word to describe these because they are that good. I promise, if you like chocolate and caramel, these cupcakes are just for you!

Homemade Caramel Filling/Topping

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic sugar
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp molasses
2 Tbsp water
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup toasted pecans (for filling)
1/4 cup finely shredded coconut (unsweetened, for filling)

Directions: In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except milk. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar is melted, bubbly, and begins to turn darker in color. Remove from heat, stir in milk, and allow to sit to thicken for a few minutes. Set aside 1/4 of the caramel for drizzle, then add pecans and coconut to remaining caramel (you can put it all in the same pan you used to make the caramel). Stir to combine. Filling may harden after caramel is cooled, but still makes an amazing cupcake center!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3-4 Tbsp Tapioca Starch (or Non-GMO verified corn starch)

Directions: Allow cream cheese and butter to soften on countertop for 30+ minutes before starting. Beat cream cheese and butter until very smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl numerous times to ensure all lumps are out of mixture. Slowly add sugar, beat for another 5 minutes to allow sugar to incorporate, continuing to scrape down bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Add cocoa powder (I always sift cocoa powder first), and Tapioca Starch to finish.

Cinna-Swirl Sticky Bun Cupcakes

October 10, 2014 by Dana

Dana Carvell (3BoysUnprocessed)

Yes, I’m still #Betterbaking! And yes, it just got 1,000 times yummier with these Cinn-Swirl Sticky Bun Cupcakes that take two wonderful baked goods and smear them together to create a pretty, decadent, and fall inspired treat like no other IN THE HISTORY of HISTORY!

Now, hold onto your britches because we aren’t stopping there! These cinnamon-y cupcake delights are topped with Cream Cheese Icing that is naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup. Is this real life? A completely pipe-able, smooth, and delicious icing that stays in tact without the use of 10x sugar? My baking life is now complete!

Two things: Yes, this really happened! And yes, I will be using this method to make icing from here on out during our #Betterbaking series. You know, that little thing I created to help people cut processed ingredients like Cool Whip, and Jell-O Pudding Packets out of their lives forever? Cool Whip and it’s trans fats be gone forevs!

So how is it that I can put maple syrup aka something liquid, into cream cheese and still be able to pipe it onto a cupcake in a smooth and delicious looking way? Tapioca Starch! I know, I know, this sounds like some crazy “health freak” ingredient, but remember that pudding? You know, the one nobody wanted to eat in Elementary School because it was orange and confusing? Yep, that pudding is thickened with the same ingredient so apparently it isn’t so weird and “heath freak” after all. You can find it at almost any grocery store in the organic section or baking section and it works just like cornstarch, minus the whole GMO corn ingredient thing.

Tapioca Starch will dissolve JUST LIKE 10x sugar, and tighten your icing up perfectly so it isn’t dripping down the sides of your cupcakes and making you scream “I hate Pinterest for giving me this horrible idea!” If you aren’t too keen on using a new ingredient, go ahead and look for an organic 10x sugar, or a Non-GMO certified cornstarch to use in place. In my Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes, I used an organic 10x sugar so those measurements are over there if you’d like to go that route.

But seriously, how perfect is that icing? 🙂

Now, let’s talk cake because I love me some cinnamon cupcakes to remind me that it is indeed fall and I do need more cinnamon in my life like right now! I took a basic vanilla cupcake recipe and divided the batter in half so I could add LOTS of cinnamon and a hint of molasses and vanilla to the batter to make the swirl. Got it? Don’t worry, everything you need to know is in the recipe. If you aren’t really feeling the extra time to make the swirl, just go ahead and add the extra stuff to the batter. My swirl wasn’t quite as swirly as I would have liked it to be, but I still ended up with a double colored cupcake that was pretty. A girl can’t have everything I suppose.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way I’m going to share some MORE cute-ness in the form of a really cute baby that just happens to be of my making. Usually I don’t share pictures of my kids, but this was just TOO cute not to share. Not only that, my 3 year old asked me if he could have the “pretty cupcake.” See, my boys are coming around! 🙂

And then there was this:

#BetterBaking Whole Wheat PB & Apple Muffins

October 3, 2014 by Dana

So this week has been kind of ground-breaking here at 3Boys because I rolled out my #betterbaking series and explained what I’m doing here, which is challenging people to think about the products and ingredients they are using when they bake. Ahhhemmm… dump cakes!

What inspired this? PINTEREST! There is nothing I hate more then clicking on a recipe that says “healthy” only to look at the ingredients and see Cool Whip, boxed cake mixes, and other food-like ingredients on the recipe. Can someone please explain what is ~~healthy~~ about that? What really irks me about this is there are actually people dieting, and trying to live healthy lifestyles who might not realize these ingredients are nothing more then a bunch of trans fats aka partially hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils do not equal healthy! You know, like the equal sign with a slash through it that we used in Algebra!?! Yeah… not equal to healthy!

And we aren’t stopping at Cool Whip and cake mixes folks! I’m also challenging people to consider using whole wheat flours and natural sugars/organic sugars instead of refined stuff. Yes, ANY baked item can easily be transformed into whole wheat with little to no effort. I promise, it’s not what you are thinking either. I’ve given dozens of people my whole wheat products and none of them even questioned it, which means they totally were diggin’ it and didn’t even know. My mom even told me she had no idea my cupcake was whole wheat, and would never have been able to tell the difference (she was eating my Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes).

And seriously, how cute are these?!?!?! Lovin’ these so much because guess what? They are:

whole wheat
sweetened naturally (maple syrup/bananas)
contain no eggs (bananas substituted for moisture and structure)
contain 1/2 cup of oats for a little extra iron

Say what? Muffins this cute can actually be this healthy? Come now… to the #betterbaking dark side. We have candy here… I mean… totally cute whole wheat muffins. You know, ugly cupcakes? Yes, muffins are ugly cupcakes. I know, I know, muffins need lovin’ too. That’s why I put an apple slice and peanut butter on top. 🙂

Now, since we are talking about #betterbaking, I’m also going to call out JIFF because they too like to throw some partially hydrogenated oils all up in yo’ peanut butter. Really JIFF? Do choosy moms really like you, or are you just trying to lie to people?

I’m going with you’re just liars. So what I’m really saying is don’t use JIFF or any other brand that chooses to put dangerous fats in their products. There are tons of brands out there that use just 1 or 2 ingredients, and I highly suggest choosing these brands instead of the latter. I know, I know, I just got all “healthy freak” on you, but it is so true and I always give a PSA with peanut butter posts because THE LAST thing I want to do is advise anyone to use hydrogenated oils. I’m only “healthy freak” because I care. 🙂

“Sprinkled with cinnamon and drizzled with maple syrup” has a nice ring to it, right? I totally thought so too. 🙂 So that line just became the official Moto of these lovely muffins.

If you want MORE #betterbaking recipes here are a few others to check out! I’ll be tackling more Cool Whip madness next week so tune in and we can hate on Kraft a little more. 🙂

Whole Wheat Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cupcakes PLUS #betterbaking

September 30, 2014 by Dana

I know, I know, ANOTHER cupcake post!??! A bit over-board? Maybe. But keep reading!

BUT wait just a hot second because this isn’t just another cupcake post. It is the start of something really awesome here at 3Boys Unprocessed because I’ve taken notice to TONS of crappy dessert recipes floating around the internet. You know, the dump cakes, the poke cakes, the boxed this and that, the cool whip, and the totally refined and semi-homemade desserts that aren’t just 3 ingredients like the title says. Boxed cake mix + box of jello = A LOT MORE than 3 ingredients! Not just that, it also = trans fats, artificial everything, unhealthy oils, and weird preservatives banned in other countries. Say whhhahattt!?!?!

Now, I try my hardest to ignore these dessert disasters because let’s face it, we live in a processed world and our food supply is nothing short of a complete disaster as it stands. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel because all of these recipes can be tweaked just a bit to be turned into something that isn’t so much of a processed mess. You know, like using whole wheat flour, and substituting real stuff for the boxed stuff. It is SO easy, yet people are so afraid of ruining a batch of cupcakes or running the risk that they don’t turn out tasting superb. Using trans fats instead of trying something new out of baking fear??? Doesn’t sound like such a good idea to me! Of course, these recipes are going to contain sugar. Sugar = desserts. I want to post relate-able content that doesn’t make the dump cake people say “Oh no, I’d never try using those weird ingredients,” therefore, I’m sticking to the simple stuff but making it a tad better by using organic versions that aren’t as processed, and don’t contain GMO’s. All of these things are important to me, and I’d much rather see people using organic sugar in their own home before going to the grocery store and buying a cake that contains 100 ingredients, including trans fats and everything else I’m going to talk about here. You get the drift? Good!

Now, I also know most of you aren’t trained Pastry Chefs like myself. That’s why I’m taking the guess-work out of all of this and bringing you #betterbaking (yes I just hashtagged in a post!) so that you can create desserts in your own home, without the processed crap, that taste nothing short of a product that comes from an upscale bakery and is totally amazing. Ready?? Let’s go! Each week I’m going to be posting a brand new recipe that DOESN’T include any of these ingredients:

boxed cake mixes
boxed jello
cool whip
soybean/canola oil
refined grains
artificially dyed and trans fat containing sprinkles (pretty much ALL mainstream sprinkles)
other artificial ingredients (flavors, colors, products, etc.)

Now, just so you know, none of my other baking recipes posted so far contain any of this stuff because truth is, these products don’t exist in my household. A few years ago I woke up to the fact that these products aren’t good for any of us. I know there are lots of people who haven’t realized this yet, so that’s why I’m doing this! The interwebs need #betterbaking recipes!

No sprinkles though!?!? Come now, how can that be? You see, there are these little things called naturally dyed sprinkles, and there are also these little things called cupcake toppers. They both make cupcakes as cute as they should be, without adding a bunch of chemicals and artificial dyes to your food. Problem solved! See how easy that was? I knew you would totally understand the whole no sprinkles thing, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Since I’m promoting cute cupcake toppers, I’m about to make it ALOT easier by offering FREE printable cupcake toppers. Print them, cut them with those crafty folk scissors, tape them to a paper straw or toothpick, and BAM! Cute and frugal cupcake topper. For reals though, how cute are these fall inspired toppers? More to come, I promise! To get these cuties, just scroll to the bottom of the post, and click the dropbox link.

Now that we have all of that exciting news out of the way, let’s focus on these heavenly chocolate cupcakes that not only look stunning and taste stunning, but use ingredients that are better! These are inspired by all of those “Fudgy Cupcake” recipes that include boxed Jello. I’ve tasted cupcakes with boxed Jello in the past, and yes, they are moist and yummy. But you can do the same thing using milk and yogurt, and yield the exact same texture and fudgy goodness without the boxed stuff! Yes, this is happening! No more boxed stuff just to yield a fudgy cupcake because you can do it with REAL STUFF! Ya digggg? Keep it coming, keep it coming!

Not only are these cupcakes fudgy and moist, they also are dipped in ganache, which is a fancy-pants way to say chocolate and cream, and topped with a DOUBLE CHOCOLATE cream cheese icing. Did those words really just come out of my mouth. Yes, yes I do believe this is real life and if this is what real life tastes like I’m so in. Just incase you didn’t get all that… I created this: Do you feel like you are in high schoolBiology again? 🙂

Why yes, that is a chocolate smudge in the bottom on that picture because I said this was real life, remember? And in real life these cupcakes are a tad messy, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Can we talk ganache now because I kind of love that word and it is one of the most ridiculously good chocolate creations ever. I mean, if you’ve never had anything dipped or filled with ganache your life is not complete. Not to mention, it is SO EASY and looks really nice. When choosing a semi-sweet baking chocolate be sure to look for a brand that is using the least ingredients possible, and not using GMO’s. My favorite brand is Alter-Eco, and they have many products with basic ingredients.

To dip the cupcakes all you do is make the ganache in 2 easy steps and dip them. Everything seemed to fall together perfectly when I did this because I chose to use foil cupcake wrappers that include a white wrapper on the inside, so they are double wrapped. This made is so easy to dip them because then the outside wrapper was able to be removed, and therefore didn’t get messy. Dipping the cupcakes isn’t really messy to begin with, but I would highly suggest double wrapping just to mess-proof them. Whew! That was ALOT of info… so let’s recap this post since we are going all Biology Class style today:

We don’t like dump cakes or cool whip
We are providing recipes that are #betterbaking recipes, using whole ingredients and no artificial stuff
We think cupcake toppers are way better then sprinkles with chemicals and trans fats!!!!
We are providing FREE printable fall cupcake toppers and more to come
Ganche is awesome
Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cupcakes are about the best thing that ever happened to whole wheat white flour in it’s entire little shelf life
Double wrap your cupcakes if you want to dip them in ganache
This was a super long post, so thanks for reading! 😉

And here’s more cupcake porn, just incase we didn’t cover that well enough.

As promised.. here is the link to the FREE printable cupcake toppers! Simply click the dropbox link, and download the file. I’m using dropbox links to ensure everyone this is a safe download.

*I use homemade brown sugar, which is simply 1 cup of organic cane sugar to 1 Tbsp of un-sulphered blackstrap molasses. This enables me to always have fresh brown sugar, instead of a hard clump when I want to use it. For more on this check out my Homemade Brown Sugar post.

Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package full fat cream cheese
1.5 ounce semi-sweet baking chocolate (non-GMO preferred)
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup organic 10x sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Allow cream cheese to soften on countertop. Beat softened cream cheese until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your mixing bowl several times to make sure all lumps are out. In a microwave safe bowl or stove top melt heavy cream and chocolate together. Pour mixture into cream cheese. Sift cocoa powder and 10x sugar into mixing bowl slowly. Add vanilla extract, and additional Tbsp of heavy cream if needed to smooth.

Chocolate Dipping Ganache:

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (non-GMO preferred)
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions: Chop chocolate finely. Bring heavy cream to the brink of a boil in a small saucepan on the stove, then pour over chopped chocolate. Allow to sit, unstirred, for 1-2 minutes. Begin stirring, and continue until smooth and silky.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

September 16, 2014 by Dana

Caramel and Apples have been friends forever. I am so glad they are besties for life because let me tell you… it makes food blogging so much easier! I don’t have to spend long hours thinking about elaborate cupcake recipes. I don’t have to think up some new and crazy food combination. I just have to put two things together that were made for each other… caramel and apples!

Breaking news: I LOVE PAPER STRAWS! Yes, I saw an isle full of paper straws at Target and boy oh boy do I have about 60 more reasons to continue taking pictures of food now! Are they not just the best thing that ever happened to food blogging? Ummm yes I do believe so. I can now go to Target in all of my yoga pants and messy hair glory and wander through the paper straw isle like I don’t have a care in the world!

In other breaking news if you have a husband make sure he knows paper straws don’t mix well with wee lil’ ones who like to chew on things. Apparently mine wasn’t aware of this information because I found baby Christian chewing the top off of a paper straw my husband put in his cup. Yeah, not a good mix! Fear not, Mommy swooped in and grabbed that straw right out of his cute little mouth and saved the day. Ok, maybe it didn’t go that smoothly but somehow I finangled that crap out of his mouth. Baby Christian is ok and was not hurt in the making of these cute cupcakes!

Now let’s talk about how crafty I’ve become since blowing through the paper straw isle at Target because this is the breaking-est of breaking news. Who knew DIY cupcake toppers could be so easy and so cute. 😉 All I did to make the toppers was cut the straw on an angle, then tape a construction paper leaf onto the straw. BAM! That is it. I do believe this is officially called crafting for the non-crafty folk? Why yes, yes it is. Now please excuse me while I hand model this genius idea.

*Pro non-crafty folk tip: Fold a piece of construction paper in half to cut out the leaf to get it perfect. I do believe I learned this pro-tip in Kindergarten. Thank you Mrs. Margerum!

Maybe we should just get back to food because I’m more comfortable being a foodie then a craftie. There are a few components that go into a Caramel Apple Cupcake so let’s discuss:

The amazing, moist *hate that word*, whole wheat goodness that is the cupcake
Cinnamon buttercream
Apple pie filling
Caramel drizzle

I know, I know, that is a lot of steps! But I promise they are ohhhh soooo delish and totally worth a few extra minutes to make the filling and drizz.

On another note, I broke one of my own rules and used 10x sugar in the icing. Being a former pastry chef, this is basically the lazy way to make icing but I know some people are intimidated by cooking sugar so I wanted to provide a recipe that did contain 10x, and suggest a brand that is trustworthy and non-GMO. Here is the brand I used. This link is for 20 lbs of sugar, hence the price. You can find it at most grocery stores in the organic section.

Apple Pie Cupcake Filling

Ingredients:

2 large apples (3 small)
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar (I used my Homemade Brown Sugar)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions: Dice apples small. Put apples and all other ingredients in a small sauté pan and cook over medium heat until apples are tender and sugar becomes syrupy.

Caramel Drizzle

Ingredients;

1/4 cup brown sugar (I used my Homemade Brown Sugar)
1/8 cup milk
1 Tbsp butter
pinch salt

Directions: Put all ingredients in a small sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly, about 5-6 minutes.

*Cake recipe adapted from my favorite baking blog Sally’s Baking Addiction using her Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting post.

Whole Wheat Apple and Oat Pancakes

May 16, 2014 by Dana

I mentioned before I had been trying to perfect my pancake recipe. When I’m creating recipes to use for my kids it does take a bit of trail and error with ingredients to get things just right. I’ve been making pancakes from scratch for quite some time now, so I’m familiar with what makes a good pancake! I also have 3 tiny taste testers to let me know what they like as well.

Nutrients

Of course, being a health conscious mom I also want to pack as many nutrients as I can into my kid’s breakfast. When my 7 year old son goes off to school in the morning I want to be sure he will have energy to last him until lunch time. The problem with sugary kids cereals and some frozen pancakes is that they are loaded with sugar and refined grains that give kids energy spikes, then crashes. Kids tend to loose focus easily and eating highly refined foods won’t help with that!

Oats provide long lasting energy and are iron rich, so I feel good about feeding them to my toddler and baby as well. Its awesome being able to make a breakfast like this and feed all 3 boys the same thing! The stone ground whole wheat flour in these is also naturally rich in iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folate so your getting nutrients from grains without the bleaching and enriching refined grains go through. I’ll never understand the concept of stripping grains of their natural nutrients, then adding them back in. Getting back to basics and using stone ground whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and real apples make these pancakes a delicious way to start the day. They are great for snacks and lunchboxes as well!

*Here is a link to the flour I use:

unsalted butter

Parmesan Encrusted Shrimp Tips and Tricks

Ultimate Red Velvet Cupcake Tips and Tricks

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

Heath Brownie Tips and Tricks

Let’s Talk Vanilla Sheet Cake!

Vanilla Sheet Cake Tips and Tricks

Vanilla Icing Recipe

Recipe:

Equipment I Used

Products from Amazon.com

Simply Vanilla Buttercream (sweeter):

Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Icing

For more #betterbaking recipes check out these posts!

Homemade Caramel Filling/Topping

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Dipping Ganache:

Apple Pie Cupcake Filling

Caramel Drizzle

Nutrients

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