Pies! I love 'em!

I really love to bake all sorts of delights, but I what I love to bake the most would definitely have to be pies. I have always loved the idea that you can really create anything in a pie. Pies don't have to be exact, they don't have to be measured 100% accurately, you can throw in a little of this or a little of that, even had a completely new piece to it that you may have not done before. I love trying all types of new spices in my pies, I always want there to be a certain something that makes people ask me whats in it! I usually make fruit pies, which can be frustrating as certain fruits are not always in season. 

During the holiday season my go-to pie is the Cranberry-Apple Pie. Its a definite crowd pleaser and one of Jake's favorites, so I am usually making at least 5 during Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Its a super easy recipe and is absolutely delicious. 

You also don't have to make your own crust. Its great to buy one of the store bought crusts and throw it in the pie plate. I happen to be a big fan of Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee Recipe. I have been making this one for awhile. Its really easy and super flaky and delicious.

To make the crust grab an extra large mixing bowl and throw 2 1/2 cups of Flour in it with a pinch of salt, then cut up two sticks of butter into small pieces and throw into your flour. 

You can use a food processor to pulse the flour and the butter together, but I honestly find it much easier to use my hands and mix the butter and flour until its a crumbly mixture. The recipe then tells you to pour 1/4 cup of ice water into the flour and butter to form a ball. I find that it takes almost a 1/2 cup to form a good solid ball. Its all just a matter of practice though. Once you have the crust formed into a ball, split it in half and wrap both halves in plastic wrap. 

The crust will need to be refrigerated for at least an hour before using it. I like to make several batches at a time and keep it in the freezer so I always have a pie crust when I need it.

Once the pie crust is ready to go it is time to form your pie. This is a super easy process. Start by peeling and coring your apples. Throw those in a separate bowl for the time being. Once your pie crust is room temperature place the bottom half in your pie plate. Next combine your sugar and dry ingredients, Sugar, Cornstarch, a little bit of orange juice, and your spices (this is wear I like to get a little creative and perhaps add a little more or little less of something) Ground cinnamon, Apple Pie Spice, Nutmeg and a tiny bit of lemon juice. Mix this up really well then add in your apples and cranberries. Mix until the the Apples and Cranberries are completely coated.

Place filling in pie plate. Cover with top crust and bake! 

It is best to bake the pie for 10 minutes at a high temperature, then drop the temperature for the remainder of the time. I also suggest baking this pie with a baking sheet underneath it, the cranberries will burst and make the pie very juicy!

This pie is wonderfully tangy, juicy and delicious.

I hope you enjoy this tart little treat as much as I!

Crust Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small
• 1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender.)
   
2. With machine running, add ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
   
3. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
   
   
   Pie Recipe adapted from the Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 cups sliced peeled tart apples
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Add apples and cranberries; toss gently. Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry. Add filling; dot with butter.
• Roll the remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Cut vents in pastry, using a small apple cutter if desired. Place over filling; seal and flute the edges.
• Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°; bake 50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Its Christmas time & I'm back!!

It has been a very long time since I have seen the pages of this sweet little blog! A lot of changes have happened. I moved into a sweet little West End apartment in the city with two of my best lady friends,I have a fun new job and I have finally allowed myself to take time to enjoy the holidays. 

One of my favorite parts of the holidays are the baked goods! What sweet delights come out of this seasons. Gingerbread houses, sugar cookies, pies, candy and frosting galore. I have had plenty of time to do some fun holiday baking these past two days including sugar cookies, an apple cranberry pie (post to come soon) and these fabulous, fabulous Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with Peppermint Kisses. I actually did so much baking these past few days I needed to go to the store for confectioners sugar two different times!

I wanted to bring a special holiday treat to my co-workers, considering how hard we all work around this time of year, they most definitely deserve it. I found the recipe while pinteresting of course on the Bakergirl's Blog. She has some wonderful recipes on there, including this one! 

The first step to these cookies was to unwrap my most favorite type of Hersey Kisses. These are the kisses that only come out once a year.. The Candy Cane Kisses! 

So yummy!! If you like white chocolate and peppermint, get these while they're available!!

After you have all your kisses unwrapped throw them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. This will ensure that they are nice and hard when you are ready to put them on your cookies. Next step, Whisk together your Flour, Cocoa, Baking Powder and salt. This will give you the base for your cookie batter. 

Then in a large bowl mix up the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir this up until it is completely combined, then add your dry ingredients. This is where my sweet, sweet Kitchenaid mixer comes in handy. This batter got really, really thick and incredibly hard to mix with my moms little wooden spoon! 

The batter needs to be in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This left plenty of time to sit down with a cup of hot cocoa and mom and watch one of our favorite Christmas movies The Family Stone. 

After we finished the movie it was time to get back to it! I preheated the oven to 350 and started scooping about a tablespoon out of the batter. I then rolled the little cookie balls into powdered sugar until they were covered and lined them on a baking sheet. 

 

They only needed to be in the oven for about 12 minutes. Once I popped them out of the oven I gave each cookie a Peppermint Kiss and put the entire baking sheet into the freezer for a few minutes to allow the kisses to set into the cookie. They came out wonderfully, they are just as tasty as they look! I could not be happier with the outcome. I hope my co-workers love them as much as I do!

 

 I am glad to be back! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Remember to hug those close to you, and take time for yourself. Merry, Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Assorted Hershey Kisses (for these I used Hershey Hugs, mint truffle, cherry cordial, & peppermint kisses) 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. 

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, until just combined. Place plastic wrap over bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile unwrap Hershey kisses, place in a small bowl, and freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with baking spray; set aside. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl; set aside. 

Scoop dough into 1/2 tablespoon balls, roll in powdered sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies crackle and no longer look raw (they'll start to look cakey). 

Remove from oven. Immediately press a frozen kiss into each cookie, then place cookie sheet into the freezer just until chocolate is set and no longer shiny. Remove from freezer and allow to cool completely.

 

Recipe Adapted from the Bakergirl

Chocolate Paradise

If you know me at all you know one of my most favorite gifts to receive are cookbooks. Baking cookbooks to be exact. Recently my sweet and adorable friend Katie and I got together for dinner and drinks. She was so thoughtful to bring me a new cupcake cookbook that she saw in a store and thought of me! Its fabulous and I love it, filled with some really creative cupcake ideas! So thank you, lady!

While back in my hometown enjoying the Easter holiday with my family I decided it would be the perfect time to try out my new cookbook. I found the most delightful recipe for Chocolate Paradise Cupcakes. It was a chocolate cake batter with a marshmallow coconut frosting. YUM
I started by creating a double boiler on the oven. This is pretty simple to do, you just need a large saucepan filled only with about a cup of water. Bring that to a boil then slip a smaller sauce pan inside that. This allows the ingredients inside the sauce pan to come to a slower boil and doesn't burn them. Ingredient like chocolate can be so easily burned quickly.
I filled my small sauce pan with a few squares of semi sweet baking chocolate, milk and cocoa powder.

Unfortunately being in my parents house I did not have the luxury of my Kitchenaid mixer. I had to use my mothers "Wannabe" Mixer! Which ended up to be a disaster so I quickly switched to the hand held mixer. Yes, I am a Kitchenaid snob. (sorry mom). While the chocolate was melting I put the butter and brown sugar into a bowl to be mixed until fluffy. Then gradually added my eggs and mixed it together.

My chocolate was nice and melted by the time the butter and brown sugar was mixed.

I slowly added my delicious looking chocolate mixture to my butter, sugar and egg mixture. Then also added a small amount of sour cream. I have added sour cream to a couple of cakes in the past, it makes them super moist.

Then I slowly sifted together my flour and baking soda. I then gently added this to my batter. I folded it in, making sure not to over stir it.

The batter looked like chocolate mouse! It was so delicious to. I spooned it into my cupcake pan and into the oven they went for about 18 minutes. They needed to be firm to the touch.

While those were baking I started on my frosting. This called for another double boiler. In the small sauce pan you melt about 16 marshmallows with a little bit of milk. 

While the marshmallows were melting I started to mix up some heavy cream. You have to mix the cream until it is stiff and will form stiff peaks. Basically a whole made whipped cream.

Once the marshmallows are melted set them aside to cool before mixing them with the whipped cream.

Once the marshmallows have cooled fold them into the heavy cream gently, and add a little bit of coconut. This will need be to refrigerated for a while. The recipe called for 30 minutes, this definitely was not enough. I actually allowed it to sit in the refrigerator over night before frosting my beautiful cupcakes!

The cake came out gorgeous. They were so moist and fluffy. Like I said before I let the cakes and the frosting sit over night before frosting them.

Once they were finally frosted they were a little slice of paradise! The marshmallow, coconut frosting complimented the chocolate cake nicely.
What a delight. <3

Chocolate Paradise Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3 oz Semisweet chocolate broken into pieces
4tbs milk
1 tbs unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup butter softened
generous 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 extra large eggs
3 tbs sour cream
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Frosting
16 white marshmallows
3 tbs milk
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
generous 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350. Put 16 paper liners into shallow muffin pans

Place the chocolate, milk and cocoa in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth

Place the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then beat in the melted chocolate mixture and sour cream. Sift in the flour and baking soda and, using a metal spoon fold in gently.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool

To make the topping place the marshmallows and milk in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Let heat until marshmallows have melted stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool. Whip the cream until holding firm peaks, then fold into the marshmallow mixture with 1/3 cup of coconut. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Spread the topping on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle over the remaining coconut.

Recipe adapted from The Cupcake by Food Love

Its been to long!!!!

This new life I am currently living has me to busy to be in the kitchen. This is not something I am excited about. I have been dying to bake something, anything I didn't even care what. I just wanted to mix something delightful up.

I have a favorite recipe that I used to make pretty frequently, its a recipe for Banana Bread. This morning I realized I had several bananas that had gone by. I immediately was excited at the thought of cooking up Banana Bread and the fact that it requires the easiest ingredients that I most probably already had in my kitchen. Sure enough, I had everything I needed! I could not wait to get home and whip it up.

This recipe is so easy and delish. I usually use a food processor for my banana bread but the bananas were so ripe that they could be mashed with a potato masher.

I then melted 1/3 cup butter to add to my mashed bananas

I then added sugar, egg and a teaspoon of vanilla and mixed it all together.

Lastly I added the baking soda, and pinch of salt and the flour to the batter.

After it was all mixed together I buttered an 8x4 loaf pan and poured the batter in (I'm telling you this recipe could not be easier)

Into the oven this little delight went. It was in there for a little over an hour and of course the house smelled absolutely amazing while it was in there.

YUM! It was just as good as I remembered! The process took about 10 minutes to whip up and then a little over an hour to bake. It was so easy and delicious.

It was a quick and easy project, but enough to fulfill my baking needs! :) I promise to get back in the kitchen soon!!

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

I'm back!

Look who's back in the kitchen!
Unfortunately I took a short hiatus from the kitchenaid for a move to a new city, and a very large life transition.
I decided yesterday to get back on the horse. I have been eying this recipe for months and yesterday was the day for it. Thanks to Baked Perfection  blog these Oatmeal Creme Pies were born. I have always loved the Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies so I wanted to try and make them myself!

I started out by combing my dry ingredients of flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and set it aside.

 I pulled out my Kitchenaid who had been set aside for far to long. I creamed my butter, brown sugar, and sugar together until it was a gorgeous brown fluffy sugar.

I added the eggs one at a time, and then mixed in the molasses and vanilla.

With a wooden spoon I mixed in the oats. The batter got to be the perfect thickness. This is an excellent recipe for oatmeal cookies whether or not you chose to add the creme.
I dropped the dough on the parchment paper lined cookie sheets a tablespoon spoon at a time, fairly well spaced apart. Into the oven they went for 12 minutes.

They looked delicious! While I waited for the cookies to cool I started on my creme filling. The creme filling is a Marshmallow fluff base. I mixed a jar of fluff, a little bit of shortening, some confectioners sugar, and a little vanilla.

Once that was all mixed I added two tablespoons of hot water with a little bit of salt dissolved in it. Mixed it for a few minutes more and had the most delightful creme filling!

It was so light and fluffy. It was a lot like the creme filling that I make for my whoopie pies. The next step was to assemble the little delights. I just put a little bit of creme on one of the cookies and topped it with another to create a sandwich!

YUM! Just like Little Debbie! :)

 I'm so glad I found this recipe it was so delish! I even kept a few of the cookies without the creme because they were so good. Thank you Baked Perfection! I am very much looking forward to yet another baking adventure!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

adapted from Food.com via Back to the Cutting Board

recipe makes 24 sandwich cookies

Cookies:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups quick oats

Cream Filling

2 teaspoons hot water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees FahrenheitCombine flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl.  In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add in eggs, beating after each. Finally beat in molasses and vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture to creamed mixture and beat until just blended; mix in the oats with a wooden spoon.  Drop dough by tablespoons on parchment lined sheets, with plenty of space in between.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just starting to brown around the edges.  Let sit on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

While the cookies bake prepare the filling. In small bowl, dissolve the salt in the hot water. Set aside and allow this to cool.  Combine marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl; mix on high until fluffy (3-4 minutes).  Add the cooled salt water and mix well.  Spread filling on flat side of one cookie, press 2nd cookie on top.

Blueberries Again!

What a gorgeous week it has been! 50 degrees in February? Very strange, but I can't say I am missing the bitter cold winter winds. The spring like weather has made me think of all things fruity and delightful. I have recently found the most perfect recipe for a Blueberry Breakfast Cake. I found this on the Alexandra's Kitchen Blog  , just another food blog that I am in love with. This recipe is absolutely perfect for any time of year! It would make the most perfect breakfast for company around the holidays, or even just a brunch with friends. I will definitely be keeping this cake in my repertoire.

I know I always say it, but this really is the most simple recipe ever. I think it only took about 20 minutes to put together.
I started by fluffing my butter and sugar together. One of my most favorite things to do, I love the way the butter and sugar start out, and then what they become in the end! Nothing goes together better then butter and sugar. Along with the butter and sugar you throw in the zest of one lemon, which I love because it gives it a little tangy taste.

After the butter and sugar are nice and fluffy, I added one egg and a little vanilla and let that continue to mix. In the meantime I mixed my blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour. Mixing the blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter allows them to stick into the batter a little better.

Then in a separate bowl I mixed together my flour, baking powder and salt.

The treat in this recipe is the buttermilk. It makes the batter really thick, but in the end it makes the cake so fluffy. Buttermilk really is a gem. I added my flour mixture, and buttermilk alternating back and fourth between the two until it was all mixed together. The batter was extremely thick, much thicker then your normal cake batter. Lastly I folded in my scrumptious blueberries and spread the batter out into a greased 9' pan.

I baked the cake for about 40 minutes. You can only imagine how delicious this made the house smell! We live in a tiny house, which when cooking or baking can be a blessing or a curse. Cakes and delights such as this makes the house smell yummy, opposed to Jake's fajitas that make the house smell like burnt meat, YIKES! Anyways! 40 minutes later this gorgeous, blueberry sweet came out of the oven.

It was almost impossible to allow it to cool before cutting into it. I was dying to see how it came out. About an hour later when it was finally time, I most definitely was not disappointed with the outcome. It was so moist and the blueberries just burst in your mouth, and there was a simple hint of lemon. YUM. I would most definitely recommend this recipe for any occasion. Make this for family and friends, they will thank you for ever and want the recipe! Thank you Alexandra's Kitchen for this sweet treat. 

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Serves 6-8
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

PB&J

I have recently returned from a trip to Florida, where I was visiting two of my very best friends, my sister and brother in law. It was a wonderful visit, and I miss them already!

 

Living in Florida you get spoiled my so many delightful restaurants and bakeries that you just can't find in Maine. While I was living in Florida one of my most favorite places to stop and get a treat was a little cupcake bakery called Sweet by Good Golly Miss Holly. Its an adorable shop with the most delicious cupcakes you've ever tasted in your life. Upon my arrival my sister and her husband surprised me with one dozen mini cupcakes from Sweet! 

Every single one of them was just as delicious as the last, but there was cupcake in particular that intrigued me, it was a Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcake. It tasted exactly just like a sandwich and I was in love. When I got home I decided to try and recreate a version of this cupcake. I found a recipe on the Food Network that seemed easy enough. It was a regular yellow cupcake with strawberry jelly shot into the middle. 

The ingredients for the cupcakes were pretty simple. Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Sour Cream, Eggs, Butter, Vanilla, and Jelly. My adorable cupcake papers were a valentines gift from my sweet friend Meagan! They were perfect for valentines day! 

I started the process by creaming together the butter and the sugar. While that was being mixed I whisked together my flour and baking powder, and set it aside. After the butter and sugar was nice and fluffy I added the sour cream 

After that was well mixed I added my eggs, and vanilla, then slowly started to add my flour mixture and milk. Mixed it all together then they were ready to be scooped into the pan! 

 

And into the oven they went for about 20 minutes! 

Once they came out of the oven, I transferred them to a cooling rack and began on my peanut butter cream cheese frosting. The frosting was also very easy. In the kitchenaid I creamed my butter and cream cheese together and added the vanilla and peanut butter. Once it was all mixed together I threw in a little confectioners sugar for sweetness!

Now the fun part! Once they were cooled I filled a pastry bag with the delicious strawberry jelly. I filled each one until jelly was almost flowing out of the top.

Once the jelly was inserted in the middle, I frosted them with the peanut butter frosting. A little peanut butter and jelly treat!

I have to be honest, these were not my most favorite sweet I have ever made. The peanut butter frosting was a little much for me. If you are a hardcore peanut butter fan then these are for you! This is what this blog is all about, experimenting and learning!

We'll see what comes next!

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup strawberry jelly
• Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• Confetti pastel sprinkles, for garnish

Directions

Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the sour cream to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to beat until incorporated. Add the eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed into the batter. Add in the vanilla and continue to mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients, in increments, and mix until combined.
Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners to fill 3/4 of the way. Put in the oven and bake until the cupcakes are a pale gold color and a cake tester comes out clean, about for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool in the tins for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.
Meanwhile, fit a plain pastry tip to the bottom of a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag and fill with strawberry jelly. Once the cupcakes are cool, insert the tip far into the cupcake and slowly squeeze in about 1 tablespoon or so of jam. Be careful not to overfill the cupcakes or they will crumble and explode. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Frost the cupcakes with the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting using a pastry bag and a star tip. Sprinkle lightly with the confetti sprinkles and serve.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and butter. Beat until well combined, then add the vanilla and peanut butter and beat until well mixed. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and beat until well incorporated.