Maple-Walnut Cupcakes

Excuse the slightly-lumpy icing--I should have poured
the sugar more carefully.

I'm not much of a cake baker, and most of the cakes I've baked have been from the boxed-mix variety. But these cupcakes are just about as easy to make as opening a box--and way more delicious. Plus there's nothing artificial here.

MAPLE-WALNUT CUPCAKES

Makes 18 cupcakes

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tbl butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk

1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugars in mixing bowl. Add eggs, beating in one at a time. 

Measure milk and syrup into a measuring cup.

Alternate adding milk mixture and flour mixture to batter with mixer on low speed. When batter is beaten well, stir in the chopped walnuts.
Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cupcakes pass the "toothpick test."

MAPLE-BROWN SUGAR ICING

2 tbl butter

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbl milk

1 TBL maple syrup

½ cup + 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Melt butter in small saucepan.  Add brown sugar and stir until bubbly.  Remove from heat.  Add milk and syrup and stir until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and beat until frosting is ready to spread.  Use IMMEDIATELY.

Mom's Penicillin

It's a Sick Day for my daughter today, so I've got a pot of homemade chicken-noodle soup simmering on the stove. Chicken soup really does make you feel better--and this is the good stuff right here; nothing artificial added! Chicken soup is also a frugal dish; you can use leftovers to make the stock (it's really easy) and this is a great way to use up those odds and ends of baby carrots and that last bit of the box of pasta.

CHICKEN-NOODLE SOUP

For the soup:
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
parsley (fresh, if you have it--a generous handful)
freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 tsp rosemary

Add-ins:
1 1/2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups fettuccine, broken into fourths (less than 1/4 pound)*

Start the soup at least 1 1/2 hours before serving. Simmer, covered. About 1/2 hour before serving, add chicken and pasta and cook uncovered until pasta is done.

*If you prefer to use a smaller noodle such as dilatini, pastina or orzo, 1 cup will be plenty.

Breakfast Delight: Maple Oatmeal Bread

A friend of ours gave us a bottle of "the good stuff":  real maple syrup from Coombs Family Farms.

I had to act quickly if I was going to get a chance to bake anything with this, as the pancake eaters in the house were making short work of this delicious syrup.

(Coombs, you've completely spoiled my family regarding maple syrup. They've enjoyed the real thing. There's no going back.)

I managed to reserve enough of this maple syrup to add to an oatmeal bread that's great for toasting and has a hint of sweetness--but doesn't go overboard.




For the recipe and nutrition information, please see my new blog, Cook and Count.

The fine print:  recipe and opinions are all mine. I was given no compensation by Coombs Family Farms or any other entity for this post.