FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!

i'm so excited to announce the first ever Foodie Monologues giveaway!

Sarita's Jewelry Box is giving away one lucky reader this cupcake lover's necklace!

how perfect!

to enter:

1)  become a follower!

and

2) tell me what your favorite food is! (it can be completely random!

for extra entries:

3) blog it

4) tweet it

good luck!  the giveaway will close in a week!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

i had a sudden craving yesterday for anything chocolate or peanut butter.

so i found this recipe and whipped up a batch of peanut butter chocolate cupcakes.

and they were incredible.

i don't know if it was the ganache filling or the light cream cheese icing or the sour cream in the cakes that made these cupcakes amazing, but whatever it was they were just that - amazing.

i brought them to swim practice tonight for my team and everyone ate them within 5 minutes flat.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

with ganache filling

from Squirrel Bakes

You'll Need:

Cupcakes

1 cup flour

1 and 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup and 2 tsp dutch cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp distilled white vinegar 

1/2 tsp vanilla ***I used 1 tsp instead

1 egg

Ganache

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1/4 cup whole milk

Icing

5 ounces softened cream cheese

4 tbsp softened unsalted butter

2 and 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

What to do:

For Cupcakes

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

2) In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

3)  Add in oil and sour cream and combine.

4)  Gradually add water.  Combine in vinegar and vanilla.

5)  Add egg.  Combine until blended.

6)  Spoon into cupcake liners.  It will be very soupy.  Don't worry!

7)  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  **I baked for 30 minutes.  It probably could have even baked for 32 minutes.

8)  Let cool

For Icing

1)  In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, combine cream cheese and butter until whipped.  

2)  Slowly add confectioner's sugar until whipped.

3)  Beat on medium for 4 minutes.

4)  Add peanut butter and combine

For Ganache

1)  Melt chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.

2)  Add peanut butter and corn syrup, mixing until melted and combined.

3) Remove from heat.  Add milk and whisk until combined.

To Assemble:

This is the first time i've ever filled a cupcake.  I liked the way I did it thought.

Taking a sharp knife, pierce the cake about halfway between the center of the cupcake and the edge. 

Pointing the knife inward, cut a circle so you get a dome shaped piece of the cupcake loose.

Fill the hole with ganache.

Cut the tip off of your dome and place the flat piece of cupcake on top of whole.

Ice cupcake

Now guys, I don't normally like cream cheese icing.  But oh my are these amazing!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

all previous recipes i have made can be found over at my other blog.

see the right hand column for the link.

i don't want to just re-post the posts here.

so i am slowly remaking all the good recipes for you!

today i made my favorite cookies ever.

ever since i made them last year i have not been able to stop thinking about them.

and, since it's finally fall(ish) out, i thought it'd be the perfect time to make them!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

the recipe is adapted from here

 To Set the Mood, light a Pumpkin Candle

 You'll Need

+

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons cinnamon (you can add less if you don't like cinnamon very much)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

 Combine pumpkin, sugars, oil, egg, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a mixer

Mix

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda into the milk

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture.  Combine

Add vanilla.  Combine

Add chocolate chips.  Combine

Place spoon sized amounts onto a lined baking sheet

Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes, or until top is firm and golden brown

these cookies come out light and fluffy so that they taste like a muffin top.

makes about 22 cookies.

enjoy!

Health Food on the Go

I promise this weekend to share some recipes,

but first let me share some of my favorite on the go health food.

i think this especially fitting since i'm going camping tomorrow!

1) Favorite Granola Bars

so yummy!

my favorite is the apricot and almond ones.

2) Favorite Protein Bar

Some have as close to 10 grams of protein per bar- which is great for vegetarians.

3) Favorite cereal

Cascadian Farm organic cereal in cinnamon crunch is unbelievable.

4) Favorite Sweet Treat

Bissenger's gummy pandas is not the usual gummy bear.

there are flavors such as green tea!  

5) Favorite To-Go Smoothie

Odwalla smoothies are high in protein and taste.

so those are my top 5 fav healthy treats.

i'll be gone the next 3 days camping in the woods and living off of those.

should be fun!

xoxo

*google image search photos

It's a Foodie's World

Hi y'all and welcome to the foodie monologues! 

you might know me from my other blog, purple monkey, but if not it's nice to meet you and i can't wait to get to know all of you! 

i've been blogging for a year, and used to post all my food related things on my other blog.

i've grown to love food so much, however, that I've created this blog to share with you the wonder of food, only.

you can still check out my other blog for all of my life happenings and to check out my creative outlet. 

the foodie monologues was started to document my food journey through life.

i love love love food and cooking.

i've been a vegetarian for the last 3 years and love to find new and exciting vegetarian dishes.

baking is my first love.  

especially cupcakes.

yes, i'm another cupcake lover with a blog.

refreshing, right?

i hope to one day open my own cafe and bakery.

for now, i'm a 17 year old high school student with big dreams.

i'm looking to study nutrition and business in college, and eventually go to culinary school.

this blog isn't just about recipes and cooking messes/successes.

it's about all the exciting food i discover in life.

i've been to some of the most amazing places to discover new food-

Paris, New York, Greece, Turkey, Costa Rice, and Canada to name a few.

I'm so excited to start this new food adventure.

stay tuned:)

xoxo

greek salad- greece 2010