Beach Cupcakes and the Oregon Coast!

I love the ocean! It is one of my very favorite places to be. I especially love the Oregon Coast! I made ocean cupcakes because I love the Ocean, and because my mom made these same cupcakes for me for not one, but two of my birthdays.

I am posting this with Foodie Friday.

You will need cupcakes, Zebra Stripe gum, gumballs, graham crackers, paper umbrellas, and blue food coloring.

 Make your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, or use the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed. Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Now make your favorite frosting, or make my aunt Jackie's amazing frosting. To view my aunt's blog click here

In mixer combine 3/4 cup butter at room temperature, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla, and 3-4 tablespoons water. Beat until fluffy. Add more water if needed one tablespoon at a time.

Take half of your frosting and put as many drops of blue food coloring to get the frosting to a color that you like.

Now for the decorating part:

Frost half your cupcake with the white frosting, and the other half with the blue frosting. Smash graham crackers with a rolling pin until finely crumbled in a zip lock bag. Sprinkle the white frosting side of the cupcake with some of the crumbs. Place a gumball somewhere on the white frosting side the cupcake. Place a paper umbrella on the same side. We bought the umbrellas at Party Express.

With the Zebra Stripe gum you can either make a chair out of it by cutting it in half and placing the sides one side down and one sticking up. Or you can cut it in half, and cut the two corners off of one half to make a surfboard. 

With all these steps done, you now have a beautiful beach cupcake to enjoy!

Some pictures of the Oregon Coast:

I loved these!!  I know their names, but I won't even atempt to spell it!=)

They were so funny, especially when they would squirt you with water!

Look at all those star fish!!!

We loved seeing the sea lions!

 

That's all of my post! I hope you enjoyed it. Happy Summer!=)

Chocolate Summer Cupcakes!

Here's an easy and cute recipe for cupcakes! I make these to celebrate being out of school for the summer!!!! I found the cupcake recipe at http://www.cupcakerecipes.com/

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.

Add eggs to the mixture. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed.

Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Now you can make your frosting. This recipe is my Aunt Jackie's recipe and it is amazing! Click here to view my aunt's blog.

In mixer combine 3/4 cup butter at room temperature, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla, and 3-4 tablespoons water. Beat until fluffy. Add 1/4 cups cocoa powder. Add more water is needed one tablespoon at a time.

Last step.... Enjoy!!! I LOVE SUMMER!!!=)

I LOVE CUPCAKES!!!!

Lime Ginger Cookies

These are amazing! I've made them twice in one week and I'm absolutely in love with them!

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1cup sugar, plus extra for rolling dough in sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon grated lime rind

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Put butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Then add baking soda and flour little by little.

Then add grated lime peel and ginger. Roll dough into balls and roll the balls in the additional sugar. You can also mix 1/4 teaspoon ginger into the sugar to roll the balls in. Squish balls with the bottom of a cup. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. 

You can also sprinkle some extra grated lime peel on the top if you want too.

ENJOY!!!

Strawberry Coconut Balls

These are super easy and fun....... not to mention DELICIOUS!!!

Ingredients:

1 large package shredded coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 Large package strawberry Jell-O
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Put all ingredients into a large bowl. Mix together. Form into balls.  If you like a neater look, you could also roll them in more Jell-O; buy an additional small box of the same flavor.  You can use any flavor of Jell-O that you like.  They really are quite striking in appearance and color.  They are best if eaten right away.

See I told you it was simple!=)

I am posting this at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum.

Oh Henry Bars

These are DELICIOUS!!! They are also very peanut buttery, and super simple!

1 cup light corn syrup

1cup sugar

1cup peanut butter

4 cups Rice Krispy's or Special K cereal

1 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

In large saucepan, combine corn syrup and sugar; bring to boil. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and stir well. Add cereal.  Press mixture into 13-by-9-inch pan. In microwave melt chips together, about 2 minutes, stirring after about 1 minute. Spread chocolate over rice krispy mixture. Cool and cut into bars. Makes about 15 to 20 bars. ( Depending on how much you eat before it's done=>).

These are especially great for peanut butter lovers!

I am posting this at Blessed With Grace's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

I have also posted this with All the Small Stuff's Tuesdays at the Table.

I am also posting this at Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday.

I am also posting this at Foodie Friday.

Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms!

Two thumbs up for these M & M's. They are kind of funky, but still really good! Hurry up peanut butter fans you better get over to a grocery store and get some of these, because they are only available for a short period of time!=)

These make me SMILE!!!

Cute Lifesaver Cake!

This cake is really cute! It would also be good for Easter! You could use a cake mix and dye it different colors with food coloring, or do what I did, and make a white cake recipe.  So make your favorite cake and use my aunt's amazing buttercream frosting (at the bottom), and stick some Lifesavers on it!=)

Some interesting pictures I took while making my cake!

More pictures of my cake!

AHHHHHHH!

Aunt Jackie's Butter Cream Frosting:

Blend together 3/4 cup room temperature butter, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract, and 3-4 tablespoons water. You may need to add extra water, depending on how thick you want it. You can also add food coloring to make your cake extra colorful!