Traveling Oatmeal Carmelitas

Summer time means travel time. Unfortunately, with the cost of plane tickets and bills to be paid, our travel this summer is limited to places in drivable distances with the exception of a few east coast weddings where attendance is a must.

My friends and family are very important to me and being half way across the country means I don't get to see them as much as I would like to. It turns out (believe it or not) that plane tickets for sweets are much cheaper than for people, which means they'll be traveling a lot more this summer to see my friends and family... wherever they may be.

I've been meaning to send some sweets to my friend Lauren (or Flax as we like to call her) for a long time now... she requested something ooey, gooey and crunchy.. just like her personality ;) So what sweet embodies all of those descriptors? Oatmeal Carmelitas. 

Ooey and gooey from the caramel and chocolate and just a little crunchy from the oatmeal crust. Perfect.

Oatmeal Carmelitas 

Oven: 350 Bake time: 25 minutes (total)

8x8 baking dish 

1 cup AP flour

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping 

3 TBS flour

Preheat oven to 350,

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt, brown sugar.

Pour in melted butter and mix until combined.

Press half of mixture into baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.

While oatmeal mixture is baking, mix caramel topping and flour in a small bowl until blended.

After 10 minutes, remove oatmeal mixture from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle with caramel mixture.

Top with remaining oatmeal mixture.

Place back in the oven for 15 minutes, until oatmeal mixture is golden brown.

Make sure you give these bad girls a good long while to cool in order to set properly or you'll get a a gooey mess!

Happy Baking!

And make sure to check out Flax's pictures as she has fun around D.C. with the Traveling Sweets. 

Blueberry Pie ...for the 4th of July

Something red, Something white and now something blue...It's the 4th of July! 

The other day MM came home from work with 3 boxes of blueberries.

My first question: 'Blueberry on sale or something?'

'Nah...Blueberry Pie,' he responded as he rushed to the fridge.

A man who makes pies for fun? I can totally respect that. In fact, I LOVE that.

And so I give you on this wonderful fourth of July weekend...Blueberry Pie a la Mountain Man.

Blueberry Pie

Prep time: a few hours   

Oven: 425/350 Bake time: 40 minutes total

Crust:

3 cups AP flour

2 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed 

1/2 cup shortening, cut into chunks

2 tsp lemon juice

6 TBS ICE COLD water 

Place flour, sugar and salt in food processor and pulse a few times.

Add butter and shortening, a few chunks at a time, pulsing as you go. 

Sprinkle in lemon juice and continue to pulse, inhibiting the development of gluten.

Pulse until you reach a chunky mixture- Don't over mix!

Add half water and begin processing, adding in the rest as you go. Once incorporated, stop.

Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface, giving the dough a quick knead forming into a solid ball.

Cut the ball in half and shape each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

After refrigeration, bring one of the dough discs to your lightly floured surface and roll out into a circle**. 

**There are many theories on rolling, but I find that rolling from the inside out and only going in a singular direction versus back and forth works best.

To make the move to the pie pan easier, fold the dough in half and then again (quartered). Once transfered to the pan unfold, smooth out and cut off excess hanging over the edges. 

Return to the fridge.

Blueberry Filling:

4-5 cups of blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBS corn starch

2 tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl combine sugar and corn starch, mixing well.

In a larger bowl, place rinsed blueberries and add lemon juice. Sprinkle sugar mixture, but make sure to reserve a bit for the end.

Using your hands, as spoons can damage your berries, mix well and pour into pie shell. Finish off with a sprinkling of remaining sugar.

Finished crust

Roll out remaining disc of dough just as you did the first.

This is where you have options for your finishing touches: A simple solid top is very easy and can be very elegant. I have also seen shapes cut out with a cookie cutter and places in layers on top which can be very festive. I however, love the challenge and intricacy of a lattice crust.

With the dough rolled out, cut 3/4 inch wide strips that are the length of your pie pan. I start from the middle and in one direction follow a simple over-under pattern by folding back one side of the dough strip when laying the next layer down. Continue until the entire top is covered and then crimp the edges.

Refrigerate for another 30 minutes while the oven preheats to 425. Just before baking, brush with a wash of 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp of cream and finished off with a sprinkle of sugar.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes then tent with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes more.

The hardest part? Letting it stand and cool for 2 hours before you can dig in!

Happy Baking and Happy 4th of July!!

Patriotic Muffins

Fourth of July weekend means paying tribute to the good ole US of A with lots of red, white and blue ...and don't forget barbeque and fireworks!

I don't know if you're aware, but muffins are very proud to be American's and as a means to show their patriotism they wanted to take this opportunity to display their red and white (something blue will be debuting tomorrow so stay tuned).

I used my go-to muffin recipe as a base and then split the batch in half to create two different variations- Strawberry and White Chocolate Macadamia. The recipe for the base is to follow, but the direction you go after that is totally up to you. The great thing about this muffin recipe is that it really leaves the creativity up to you... any thoughts on other add-ins to make these even more patriotic??


Go-to Muffin Base
Oven: 375 Bake time: 25 min
Makes 1 dozen muffins

1 cup white whole wheat flour (you can also just use 2 cups AP flour)
1 cup AP flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, lightly beat egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.
Pour wet mixture into dry and with a wooden spoon mix until incorporated.
(This is where you would fold in your add-ins if you so choose)
Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each 2/3 the way full.
Sprinkle with streusel topping.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS AP flour
2 TBS cold butter, cubed

In a small bowl combine sugar and flour. Using a fork mash butter into mixture, until chunky consistency is reached. Place in the freezer for a few minutes before using to top muffins.

Strawberry Muffins
1 recipe muffin base
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 recipe streusel topping

Prepare batter, and fold chopped strawberries until distributed.
Sprinkle streusel topping over muffins.
Transfer to oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack for about 15-30 minutes before removing from pan.

White Chocolate Macadamia Muffins
1 recipe muffin base
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 recipe streusel topping

Prepare batter, and mix in white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts until distributed.
Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each about 2/3 way full.
Sprinkle with streusel topping.
Transfer to oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack for about 15-30 minutes before removing from pan.

These muffins are just the thing to start us off for a weekend of good food, good friends and fireworks. This afternoon we're driving about an hour with some friends to try out a famous BBQ place...can you tell we like our food? Anyone out there have some fun plans this weekend?? 

Happy Baking!

Healthier Whole Wheat Bread & Honey Apple Butter

I don't think I ask much of Mountain Man.. well, ok.. I don't think ask too much of Mountain Man. But one thing I will ask of him is bread- sandwich bread to be specific.

Bread making scares me. I feel like there is so much involved: the yeast, the rising, the waiting, the kneading, the waiting...I get overwhelmed just thinking about it! I'll make up a mean quick bread any day, but throwing yeast in the mix totally intimidates me. I guess I should try it out some time though...

In the mean time, I think MM does a pretty good job in the bread department and I'm going to let him keep doing a good job. :)

For this edition of "In the Kitchen with Mountain Man" the recipes are completely his, but the narration is completely mine- with a lot of help.

Healthier Whole Wheat Bread
1st rise: 1 hour
2nd rise: 40 minutes
Oven: 425-350
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Makes 1 large loaf

2 cups warm water
3 TBS active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar

1 cup bread flour
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup quick oats (coarsely ground)
1/4 cup flax seeds
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/8 cup flax seeds

In a large bowl, whisk together water, yeast, honey and sugar. Let proof/stand about 5 minutes. (For those of you as unfamiliar with bread terms as I am, "proofing" basically means letting the yeast become active and the mixture begins to foam)
Mix bread, oat, and 1 cup of whole wheat flour, flax seeds and oats.

Add flour mixture to wet mixture, adding the rest of whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, as you go until dough needs to be turned out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough for about 8-10 minutes, dough should be elastic-y.

Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with saran wrap (spray with Pam first).
Let the dough rest for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

Prepare lightly floured surface with a sprinkling of sesame and flax seeds.
After the dough has napped an hour, turn dough back out on lightly floured surface and lightly deflate. Roll the dough in the seeds until covered.
Transfer seed covered dough into loaf pan and cover again with saran wrap, this time letting it rest for about 40 minutes.

While resting, preheat oven to 425.
After the dough is well rested, remove saran wrap and immediately turn oven temperature down to 350.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Transfer loaf to cooling rack until ready to eat.

Honey Apple Butter
1 whole apple
2 cups water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves
1 cup butter, 2 sticks
1/4 cup honey

Quarter apple- removing seeds and stem (but not the core-it will dissolve).
Bring water and vinegar to a boil. Add apple pieces and sprinkle about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and dash of cloves into pot.
Boil for 20-30 minutes or until apples are extremely soft.

Remove apples and puree in food processor.
In a medium sized bowl, melt butter, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 cup honey in microwave.
Mix in pureed apples.
Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or less depending on taste preferences).
Refrigerate until mixture becomes solid again.

Slather on some Healthier Whole Wheat Bread and you're ready to start your day!

Happy Baking!

DBs June Challenge: Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

June has been a busy month for us here in good ole Temple, Texas, which means I waited till the very last minute to do this months Daring Bakers Challenge. After watching USA totally botch the game, I spent the rest of afternoon reviving my spirit in the kitchen preparing each of the steps involved in this months challenge. That's probably another reason I waited till the last minute.. I knew it would be time consuming, but man was it worth it!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers' to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book 'Chocolate Epiphany' by Francois Payard.


When making this recipe, make sure you have a few hours set aside to get everything together. Thankfully, it can all be done pretty smoothly because each component can be made while another is baking or cooling.

I chose to prep mine in the following order:
-Prepare the creme anglaise (for the mascarpone cream) earlier in the day- this requires at least 2 hours to cool in the fridge.
-Prepare pavlovas and while baking, begin the recipe for the mascarpone mousse.
-While waiting for the chocolate component for the mousse to cool, finish preparing the mascarpone cream.
The dessert took about 2 1/2 hours including the baking time for the pavlovas.

Don't be intimidated by all the steps! All the recipes are quite simple and the final presentation is pretty impressive.

Recipe 1. Creme Anglaise (component of Mascarpone Cream)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 TBS (75 grams) sugar

In bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until mixture turns pale yellow.
Combine milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Immediately take off heat.
Pour about 1/2 cup of hot liquid into yolk mixutre, whisking constantly to keep from scrambling eggs. Pour yolk mixture into pan with remaining cream and put back on heat. Stir constantly until mixture thicken enough to lightly coat the back of the spoon (this won't take very long).
Remove mixture from heat and transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
This will be used later for the Mascarpone Cream.

Recipe 2. Chocolate Meringue (Pavlovas- the base of the dessert)
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup plus 1 TBS (110 grams) white sugar
1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Put egg whites in a large bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed and gradually add sugar until stiff peaks form.
Sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder over egg whites and fold dry ingredients into egg whites. Make sure to fold gently and it will eventually come together.
Fill pastry bag with meringue and pipe into shapes on parchment paper. If you don't have a pasty bag, you can just plop your meringue and level with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 2-3 hours until meringues are dry and crisp. Living in Texas the humidity is a problem sometimes, but after about 2 1/2 hours in the oven the meringues were perfect!

Recipe 3. Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (to be placed on Pavlovas)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate chopped If you don't have 72% use a combination of higher and lower chocolate
1 2/3 cup mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 TBS Grand Marnier or orange juice (optional)

Put 1/2 cup of heavy cream into sauce pan over medium heat. Once warm, add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool (about 30 minutes).
Place mascarpone and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until mascarpone is loose. Stream heavy cream (Or you'll have a huge mess- I learned the hard way) and whip on medium speed until soft peaks form. Don't overbeat!
Once chocolate is cool, mix about 1/4 of mascarpone mixture into chocolate to lighten. Fold in remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill pastry bag with mousse.
During assembly, you'll be topping your baked pavlovas with the mousse.

Recipe 4. Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling)
1 recipe creme anglaise
1/2 cup mascarpone
2 TBS Sambuca (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream (I actually ran out of heavy cream and even without it the cream still turned out great)


Remove Creme Anglaise from fridge. Place mascarpone in microwave for about 10 seconds to make it a little softer. Slowly whisk in mascarpone until incorporated. 
In a separate bowl, beat heavy cream until very soft peaks form.
Fold cream into mascarpone mixture.

Assembly:
Pipe Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse onto baked and cooled Chocolate Pavlovas.
Drizzle with Mascarpone Cream.

This turned out to be my favorite challenge yet. A perfect dessert (and well presented if I do say so myself!) to top off a delicious dinner of fresh garden tomato pasta.

Shortly after this devouring, Mountain Man simply looked at me and held up his hand. No words needed to be shared...we both agreed... high five Daring Kitchen.

Happy Baking!

Breakfast in a Bowl

Biscuits. Eggs. Bacon. Cheese.

All you can want for breakfast in one tiny little bowl. And did I mention how easy it is?

MM wanted something savory for breakfast... I wanted to bake something. So we met in the middle and Breakfast in a Bowl was born.

Breakfast in a Bowl
Oven: 350 Bake Time: 20 minutes
Makes breakfast for 2

4 eggs, scrambled (2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites)
2 TBS milk
salt and pepper
2 biscuits (not baked), cut into pieces* recipe to follow
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

I made my own biscuit dough using an adaptation of Ree's Buttermilk Biscuit recipe from her cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks, but to make it even easier you could absolutely use the canned biscuits. This recipe makes about 8-10 biscuits and you'll only need 2, but lucky for you biscuits freeze well.

Assembly:
Spray 2 small oven-proof bowls with cooking spray.
Place half of biscuit pieces into bottom of each bowl and sprinkle with some of the bacon.

In a small bowl, whisk 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites and 2 TBS milk. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour egg mixture over bacon and biscuit pieces.
Place remaining biscuit pieces in bowl and sprinkle with remaining bacon and cheese.

Transfer to oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Check to make sure eggs are baked through by testing with a toothpick.

Allow bowls to cool for a few minutes before removing and transferring to plate.

Breakfast is served.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 cup AP flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 TBS crisco
2 1/2 TBS cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup + 2 TBS buttermilk

Whisk flours, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl.
Cut in crisco and butter, using two knives or forks. Mix until butter and shortening is incorporated and consistency resembles coarse sand.
Using a wooden spoon, mix in buttermilk until dough starts to come together and is slightly sticky.
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out about 1/2 an inch thick.
Cut biscuits with round cookie cutter.
Reserve 2 biscuits for breakfast bowl.

Place rest of biscuits into airtight container and transfer to freezer.
When baking biscuits, preheat oven to 350 and bake for 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are golden.

Happy Baking!

This Week at the Sweet Factory

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy my part time job? 

I don't even care about having to come into work early a couple days a week.

And my boss at The Sweet Factory is great.. she's always open ears to my ideas and pretty much lets me do my thing in the kitchen when it comes to baking and decorating (awesome).

This week: Lemon Cupcakes with Buttercream and Oreo Cupcakes with Oreo Cream Cheese Icing.

Lemon Cupcakes w/Buttercream  
Adapted from recipe found on CakeCentral.com

Oven: 350 Bake Time: 25 minutes

Makes 24 cupcakes

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Juice from 1 whole lemon

lemon zest from whole lemon

1/4 tsp salt

2 3/4 cup AP flour

1 TBS baking powder

1 cup warm half and half or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350.

Line 24 cupcakes with paper liners.

Beat butter and shortening and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated after each.

Mix in vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.

Alternate the addition of flour mixture and warm cream, beginning and ending with flour.

Blend until smooth.

Fill prepared cupcake liners about 2/3 with batter.

Transfer to oven for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake bounces back to touch.
After baking, remove from pan and place on cooling rack.


When cool, frost with Best Buttercream.

Best Buttercream
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup crisco
2 tsp vanilla
1 TBS meringue powder (optional)
8 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
*juice from 1/2 lemon (optional)


Beat butter and crisco until creamy and combined. Stir in vanilla. Add sifted powdered sugar, meringue powder and whipping cream. Beat until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
(I added juice from about 1/2 a lemon for a hint of lemon flavor)

 

Oreo Cupcakes w/Oreo Cream Cheese Icing 
Semi-homemade with Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix

Oven: 350 Bake time: 25 minutes
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 box Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake Mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup crushed Oreos

Preheat oven to 350.
Line 24 cupcakes with paper liners.
In a large bowl, beat all ingredients (expect Oreos) until blended and smooth.
Fold in crushed Oreos until incorporated.
Fill prepared cupcake 2/3 full with batter.
Transfer to oven and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake bounces back to touch.
After baking, remove from pan and transfer to cooling rack.

Completely cool before icing with Oreo Cream Cheese Icing.

Oreo Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup finely crushed Oreos

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
Sift powdered into cream cheese/butter mixture and beat until smooth.
In small bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form.
Add whipped cream to cream cheese mixture and beat until incorporated and fluffy.
Fold in crushed Oreos.

You got a sneak peak and a couple recipes out of it...

So.. when are you coming to visit me at the Sweet Factory???

Homemade Thin Mints

Thin Mints are one of my favorite GS cookies and it's kind of a bummer that they're only around once a year. Don't those little girls know how much people look forward to seeing their smiling little faces outside the grocery store guilting you into buying at least 3 boxes cookies??

Actually...maybe it is a good thing they're only around once a year..

Who needs to buy cookies in a parking lot once a year when you can make them at home all year round?

Homemade Thin Mints
Oven: 350 Bake Time: 10 minutes
Yields about 24 cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour (plus a little more for rolling)

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.
Add egg and mix until incorporated.
Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder.
Whisk baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.
Using a wooden spoon, incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients- mix until blended.
Transfer bowl to fridge and chill cookie dough for at least 15 minutes.
After chilling, turn out cookie dough onto slightly floured surface and roll out about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out cookies using a small (2-inch) round cookie cutter.

Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Coating

2 cups Andes Chocolate Chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 TBS crisco

In a double boiler, melt chocolates and stir in crisco until smooth and creamy.

Once cookies have cooled they're ready to be dipped.
Using tongs or a fork, dip cookies into chocolate until completely coated.
Transfer dipped cookies to parchment paper lined baking sheet for chocolate to set.
Allow cookies to set for at least a couple of hours before eating.

I like my Thin Mints cold, so as soon as the chocolate was set to the freezer they were sent until I was ready to indulge in these wonderful little minty cookies.

These also turned out to be a perfect Father's Day cookie to send to Daddy Tom who is now on month 6 of his tour in Afghanistan.

Peach Tea Cupcakes (for 2)

6am comes way too early on Monday morning, but that didn't stop me from being inspired even before I could even make coherent sentences.

As I reached to the cabinet for the elixir of life (aka coffee), something caught my eye... Crystal Light Peach Tea. Might I remind you, it was 6am so I of course shrugged it off and continued to make my morning cup of joe. But I found myself unable to stop thinking about it throughout the day until I came up with something... cupcakes.

Instead of making a whole batch of cupcakes, I went a different direction inspired by Christina over at Dessert for Two. Christina has a blog devoted to recipes built for two (genius!), cupcakes included. After browsing through her site and getting ideas I went ahead and attempted to make my own dessert for two- I hope I made Christina proud! :)

Peach Tea Cupcakes (for 2)
inspired by Christina at Dessert for Two
Oven: 375 Bake Time: 18 minutes
Makes 4 cupcakes

2 TBS oil
3 TBS sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 TBS vanilla yogurt
2TBS water
2 tsp Crystal Light Peach Tea
6 TBS AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 375 and line cupcake tin with 4 paper liners.
Whisk oil and sugar. Add egg and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla.
In a small bowl, mix yogurt, water and tea until smooth and tea mix has dissolved completely.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
Alternate adding flour and tea mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
Transfer batter to cupcake tin and place in oven.
Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Peach Buttercream
1 peach, skinned, pitted and pureed
4 TBS butter or crisco
1 TBS whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp lemon juice

Beat butter, powdered sugar, whipping cream and vanilla until creamy and smooth. Fold in pureed peaches and lemon juice.

Happy Baking!