Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 pinch salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. In large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, applesauce, oil, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the cupcake springs back when lightly pressed. Cook in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Rich chocolate frosting:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
18 oz semisweet chocolate, broken into 1/2 oz pieces (I like ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips)
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Heat the heavy cream and butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Place the chocolate pieces in a bow. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Stir it in and then use a mixer to blend it together well until you have the consistency and sweetness you like. Frost the cupcakes.

Strawberry-Lime Cupcakes

My niece suggested we try this recipe. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try it out and I am so glad I did. These were soo delicious. The lime cupcake was good by itself but when the strawberry was added, oh my--I was in heaven. I adapted the recipe a little bit because I didn't like some of the reviews for the original recipe so this is a combination of the food network recipe with a recipe off of Allrecipes. Also feel free to make lemon cupcakes by replacing all things lime with all things lemon.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp lime zest
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sour cream
Strawberries

Frosting:
3 Tbsp butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp lime zest
1 Tbsp milk

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lime peel and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups with 1/4 of batter. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. For frosting, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add lime juice, vanilla, lime peel and milk; beat until smooth.

To assemble: Cut and remove a strawberry (coned) shape portion of cupcake from the top of each cupcake, leaving abotu 1/2 to 1 inch of cake in the bottom. Stuff each cake with a strawberry and cover with a little piece of cake. Frost.

Cookies N Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 3.9 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 box Oreo cookies, divided
1 container of cream cheese frosting

Directions:
Place cupcake liners into cupcake pan. Take 24 Oreos and separate one Oreo cookie side from the rest of the cookie. Take the cookie with the white frosting on it and place it frosting side up in each cupcake liner. Save the other half of the cookies to crush and sprinkle on top.
To make cake batter: Combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil, eggs, water, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Take 12 more Oreo cookies and crush them. Stir them into the cake batter. Put the cake batter into each cupcake liner. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Once cupcakes are cooled frost with a cream cheese frosting and sprinkle Oreo crumbs on top of each cupcake. Enjoy!