Easter

Chocolate Bunny Carrot Cupcakes

~ lindy

Chocolate Bunny Carrot Cupcakes

Preheat oven 350*F.

*Note: We used Tan or Natural Colored Cupcake Liners, we decorated 1/2 the cupcakes with Chocolate Bunnies and half with Cadbury Eggs

Carrot Cup Cakes

Makes 22 to 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

*1 and 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

*1 cup Wheat Flour

*2 teaspoons Baking Powder

*1 teaspoon Baking Soda

*1 teaspoon Sea Salt

*2 teaspoons Cinnamon

*1 teaspoon ground Ginger

*1/2 teaspoon Allspice

*1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

*1 cup Extra Light Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil  (Olive Oil has to be extra light)

*1 and 1/2 cups Sugar

*6 Eggs

*2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

*1 and 1/2 cups grated Carrots

*Small Chocolate Bunnies, we used small Lindt Milk Chocolate Bunnies

*Candy Coated Chocolate Eggs, like Cadbury Mini Eggs

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl sift together the all purpose flour, Wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer on medium low-speed add the vegetable oil, extra light olive oil, vanilla and sugar mix until combined. Then add the eggs one at a time until all are incorporated.

Stir in the carrots.

Fill/scoop in muffin pan with cupcake cup liners 3/4 full of batter and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.  Cool completely before frosting

Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting

*

*8 ounces Cream Cheese, room temperature

*8 ounces Mascarpone, cold

*1/2 cup Heavy Cream, cold

*1/3 cup Granulated Sugar

*4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, clear

*pinch of Sea Salt

*

In a stand mixer with bowl, on medium-low-speed, add the cream cheese and cream until smooth. Then add the Mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar and salt. Beat on low-speed until thick and creamy and add vanilla. Pipe on the frosting or frost cupcakes.  Then dip frosted cupcake in green graham cracker crumbs and top with chocolate bunny or 3 Mini Cadbury eggs or favorite chocolate egg candies.

Green Graham Cracker Moss/Grass

*1/2 to 1 Sleeve Graham Crackers, crushed in a mini food chopper

*Green Food Coloring, water based works not oil based (Add around 1/4 teaspoon, then add drops of food coloring until desired color is achieved)

Place crushed graham crackers in plastic bag and add food coloring a little at a time mushing around the food coloring, add more coloring until desired color is achieved.

Notes:

Keep Frosted cupcakes refrigerated until serving, to keep graham crackers from getting soft decorate the cup cakes just before serving.

Refrigerate any left over cupcakes or frosting. Also, cupcakes can be made ahead of time and frozen in double bagged plastic bags. Thaw cupcakes in the fridge or on the counter for about 10 minutes, then frost and decorate when ready to serve.

Idea inspired by Thirsty for Tea

Enjoy!

Lindy

Bunny Butt Cookies

~ lindy


Sugar Cookie Recipe

*

Ingredients:

*
*1/2 cup Butter

*1 cup Sugar

*1 teaspoon Vanilla

*1 Egg

*1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream, Sour Cream or Cream Cheese (I’ve used each one of these variation each gives the cookie a slightly different taste and they’re all yummy! Note: If you use cream cheese use only 3 cups of flour!)

*3 and 1/4 cup any All-purpose Flour

*1 teaspoon Soda

*1/2 teaspoon Salt

*
In a stand mixer on medium-low speed cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the vanilla, egg and cream of your choice and mix just until combined.

*
Using Sifter, sift together in a bowl the flour soda and salt and slowly add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low just until barely combined. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do Not Over Mix!

*
Then divide the dough into 3 dough balls, flatten dough balls making disk shapes. Now wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or more.

*
Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and rollout disk on a floured surface with rolling-pin or use 2 pieces of plastic wrap, placing the dough disk in the center of 1 of the pieces of plastic wrap and the second piece on top of the dough disk, use rolling-pin and roll out the cookie dough about 1/2 inch thick.

*
Use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out shapes in the rolled out dough. Repeat for each dough disk. Then add to the next dough disk the scraps from the first disk or (discard scraps of dough), continue this technic until all the dough is used.
Place cookies on a Silpat covered half baking sheet, 12 cookies per sheet.  For best results refrigerate the cut cookies on baking sheet before baking 5-10 minutes.

*
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 425* F. oven for 8-12 minutes or barely starting to turn golden on the bottom; baking time depends on the size of cookie cutter used. Do Not Over Bake! If you do over bake they will become to hard. Cool on baking sheet.

Recipe from Tested Recipes Cookbook, Central Milling Company third edition, now out of print an old family cookbook

Glac’e Icing or Royal type Icing

*1 pound of Powdered Sugar (3 and 3/4 cup)
* 6 tablespoons Whole Milk or (I used 5 tablespoons whipping cream 1 tablespoon water it worked extremely well) you can use other milk but you will have to use more powdered sugar

Whisk together in a stand mixer on medium speed, the milk and powdered sugar until smooth no lumps.
Now stir in the light corn syrup and extract.

*6 tablespoon Light Corn Syrup (1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons)
*1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, use clear Vanilla extract if you need a white frosting and if you want an Almond Flavor use an Almond extract and use it in the cookie dough too.

Use this recipe for glazing cookies and the piping of the outside of cookies. Piping helps contain the frosting while pipe filling in the center of the cookie.

Use a pastry bag for each color of frosting you want to use, small round tip for piping around the edge and then I used a plastic bottle with a tip lid to fill in the center of the cookies which had a larger opening.

Gel Colors

*White

*Pink

*Copper or Brown

Special Supplies

**Bunny Butt Cookie Cutter Set, I found mine at Walmart

Enjoy!

Lindy