Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting!!

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

Which for me is basically just an excuse to make baked goods that are heart shaped, love-themed, or red & pink!

So these cupcakes aren't actually very Valentine's Day-y, BUT I happened to have a lot of bananas that were in need of being used in some sort of baking. So why not try out some banana cupcakes?! Frosted with honey cinnamon cream cheese frosting (which is as decadent as it sounds), and topped with a conversation heart, of course, to make it festive :)

^^I'm bringing this dozen to work... ^^

...giving some to friends for their birthdays....

...and keeping some for me and my roommates!

Perfect!

I'll be doing some more baking in the spirit of V-day, so stay tuned!!

End of the Week Treat!

Happy Friday!!

I'm totally on a chocolate peanut butter kick!

SO, I made chocolate peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Bringing them to work, to a reunion potluck, to a sorority retreat...lots of places to bring along baked goods for peeps!

Have a great weekend!

Super Bowl = Ultimate Brownies

GO PATS!!

and eat brownies.

I tried something new, and I am officially addicted to them! Think, fudgy, chocolate chunk brownies with layers of peanut butter oreo swirl. OM NOM! You gotta see this...

As you've probably gathered from reading through my blog, I am basically obsessed with peanut butter, oreos, and chocolate...

Pats + Super bowl Commercials + these brownies + great friends = huge win :)

Banana chocolate chip muffins anyone?!

Happy Friday!

In keeping with my goal of baking at least one treat per week, I chose to make a good ol' fav of mine- banana chocolate chip muffins. BUT, with a slightly healthy twist: 100% whole whole and IF they didn't have chocolate chips, they'd be fat-free. So think of it as a nutritious banana muffin, with a kick of chocolate and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top.

Mini-sized, cute, you can just pop 'em in your mouth! The perfect balance, right?

No one can ever tell that they are whole wheat and have a fat-free batter!

:)

Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter AND Coconut, Walnuts, & Chocolate...

Peanut butter, chocolate, oats, Reese's pieces, and dark chocolate chunks...what's not to love?! Soft, thick, chewy, flavorful, addicting, and perfect for any chocolate-peanut butter lover. They explode with peanut butter and chocolate flavor! They are truly my favorite and absolutely addicting!

I brought them into work at LivingSocial today! Excellent response. I'm glad everyone liked them as much as I do!

Oh, and did I mention they have zero calories? Ha, I wish. Only kidding. But they are made with all oats (no flour), more peanut butter than butter (healthy fat), and dark chocolate (antioxidants). Totally healthy, right? :) Enjoy!

The week before making the chocolate peanut butter cookies, I made these puppies and brought them into LivingSocial on my first day! They are oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with coconut & walnuts. Sweet treat = smiles. Yum!

My goal is to bake one treat per week! Feel free to send suggestions my way! rachellovesbaking@gmail.com

Winter Break Baking!

First post of 2012! How exciting! While I was home for winter break, I baked a few different things!

For Christmas Eve dinner, my family always does the traditional Italian Seven Fishes Feast for dinner. My Dad heads that up, while my brothers, sister, and I help in different ways. I always do the desserts.

And this is what I made! The main dessert is Chocolate Red Wine Cake with Whipped Mascarpone Frosting (plus more to dollop on top) garnished with strawberries. I also made Christmas cookies (some with my sister and my mom too)! There are walnut snowballs, spritz, almond crescents dipped in chocolate, gingerbread cookies, and peanut butter kiss cookies! And to add some healthfulness to the mix, I served a fruit tray with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kumquats, clementines, figs, apricots, and dates. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Red Wine Cake with Whipped Mascarpone & Strawberries

Cookie Tray!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Snowballs, and Gingerbreads!

Banana Breads + some muffins!! Made it for my family to have for breakfast! I make this all the time; it is consistently delicious & loved by all!

These are 100% whole wheat, and the one without chocolate chips is fat free. The base to the chocolate chip bread is fat free, just has the addition of chocolate chips! The flavor is fantastic and the texture is super-moist! No one can tell they're actually healthy!

Finals time = early Christmas baking!

I LOVE the Holiday season!
Family, Friends, Relaxation, and Christmas baking!!

I'll do more baking closer to Christmas of course, but finals time at college = festive baking! I finished my finals early and was able to make bake for my roommates, sorority, and friends who were still here! Nothing better than a treat while studying!

First I made Red Velvet Cupcakes! Moist cake with creamy cream cheese frosting, topped off with Christmas sprinkles!

Then I decided to make up a basket of goodies to bring to my sorority's house. Peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses is one of my favorite Christmas cookies of all time and are always a hit! Then I made soft chocolate cookies with crushed up peppermint Oreo-type cookies in them. Finished it off with little pretzel-chocolate-m&m bites.

After putting it in the kitchen, the basket was empty in less than an hour.

YUM!

Finally, before leaving to go home for the winter break, I made banana pumpkin bread. Fat-free, whole wheat, reduced sugar, moist, and delicious!

Happy Holidays!! More Christmas baking to come soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving!

What a perrrfect time for togetherness & baking! My annual Thanksgiving signature: Apple Pie.

Tried making a new recipe this time and it was DELISH! The key was turning the brown sugar mixture into a sauce, essentially a caramel sauce, and mixing it in with the apples. Then, after arranging the lattice top-crust, I poured more of the sauce over the top. Yummm. Perfectly sweet and amazing topped with vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt). No leftovers, which was sad, but at least that means it was enjoyed by my loving family! :)

On Friday I made these peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, in the spirit of giving of course, for my two brothers to bring back to college with them! I brought some back to DC with me for my roommates too!

Next post: December!! Christmas cookies here I come!

Look what you can do with a bottle of wine...

Wine + Baking = AMAZING! Now, I'm not a big cake person...I personally prefer the denseness of a brownie to the fluffy crumb of a cake. BUT this cake, along with the ~2 others posted on this blog, are the exceptions.

First time making this Red Wine Chocolate Cake, and it certainly will not be the last! The wine and chocolate flavors meld well together and create a unique taste that is out of this world! So moist it's like it melts in your mouth. Made some whipped mascarpone topping to go with it and it was the perfect compliment to the cake! Picture it with some fresh strawberries (when the season is right)...mmmmmmm.....

Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Whipped Mascarpone

My first piece :-D

SO the way I got started with baking with Red Wine was with these cookies. I made them for the first time in May and have been doing so ever since! Simple Red Wine Cookies. The flavor of the wine is subtle and the cookie is just sweet enough. You won't be able to eat just one (which is why I make them little)! ;)

Healthy, In-Season, & Scrumptious: That's What It's All About

Happy Fall!
The colorful, cooler season brings warm, comforting flavors to the forefront, and gives me an excuse to test out lots of new pumpkin and apple recipes!

I made these little guys for my group's presentation to Whole Foods.
They are Pumpkin Apple Cinnamon muffins. Made them mini so that everyone in the class could try them! The best part? They are whole wheat, fat-free, reduced sugar, and DELICIOUS! The Marketing Manager of Whole Foods loved 'em, that says something, right?!

More Fall Baking to come!!