Cupcakes and a Movie Sunday

I was so excited when my grandmother gave me the new Martha Stewart Cupcakes book a few weeks ago. As soon as I started perusing the glossy pages, I was dying to make several of the recipes. Have you seen this book? It is GORGEOUS! Seriously – if you like cupcakes, you should buy this book. It would also be a great gift!

For my first endeavor, I decided to make the Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes. I invited my mom over to help and watch a movie and let me say it was MUCH easier and much more fun to make cupcakes with someone than by myself. This way we were both cleaning and splitting up the steps, it was actually pretty relaxing!

So we’ve done this “cupcakes and a movie” thing on a Sunday twice now. Might be a nice little tradition to start!

As I said, our first go round was with the Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes. I am a sucker for anything with mint and this recipe only makes 12 cupcakes so it seemed like a safe place to start. The recipe was easy to follow and the cupcakes were great! I do think we cooked them a tad too long though so be sure to watch yours starting at about 25 minutes if you try these at home. The peppermint patty candy ended up being kind of hard and chewy instead of soft, as in the pictures in the book.

Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

¾ tsp salt

3 large eggs

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder (I used regular Hershey's)

12 small chocolate covered peppermint patties, such as York

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. Place chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until just melted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Whisk in the sugar and salt until mixture is smooth, whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth.

Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with two tablespoons batter, covering patty completely. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway into centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

The movie that accompanied the Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes was “Last Chance Harvey”. It was alright. Good for something to have on in the background but not really something I’d want to watch over and over.

This past Sunday we had “Cupcakes and a Movie”, Round 2. This time it was Martha’s Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes and “27 Dresses”. We were going to watch “Confessions of a Shopaholic” but once we saw all the steps involved in these cupcakes, we thought it might be better to just have something on that we’d seen several times before.

As it turns out, the cupcakes were not that labor intensive. It was just the time spent waiting for them to cool and then frosting that took awhile but we just watched the movie during that time anyway. Really though, there is nothing to be intimidated about here, it was actually pretty easy and the end result is fantastic!

I love how the frosting looks like real peanut butter cookies!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes – Martha Stewart Cupcakes
Yeild: about 2 1/2 dozen (I only got about 2 dozen when I made them)

Cupcakes:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup natural, creamy peanut butter (I used Peter Pan)

3 large eggs

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup sour cream (I used light)

Frosting:

12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (I used 1/3 less fat)

1½ cups powdered sugar, plus more for decorating

3 Tbs unsalted butter, softened

1½ cups creamy peanut butter (I used Peter Pan)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 3 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Prepare cupcakes: Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Put butter and sugar into bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a regular mixer). Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Mix in peanut butter. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Add flour mixture; mix until combined. Mix in sour cream.

3. Spoon scant 3 Tablespoons of batter into each muffin cup. Bake until pale golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 13 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

4. Prepare frosting: Put cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter into the clean bowl of a mixer fitted with the clean paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Stir in peanut butter with a rubber spatula.

5. Spread 1½ Tablespoons frosting onto each cupcake. Refrigerate until frosting is firm, about 10 minutes. Using tines of a fork dipped in powdered sugar, score each top in a crosshatch pattern.
6. Cupcakes can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to 2 days.

These are good but they are RICH. I’ve still got several of these cupcakes left, even after taking some to work (this is when I wish my office had more people!), and I do have to fit into a bridesmaids dress in October so this "Cupcakes and a Movie" may not be an EVERY week occurrence but maybe every other week…there are lots more recipes I’d like to try!