Pumpkin Bars w/ Brown Butter Maple Frosting

Pumpkin bars-

4 eggs
1 2/3 c sugar
1 c coconut oil, melted
1/3 c applesauce
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
2 c flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
In a bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce & pumpkin. Combine flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, & salt and them gradually add to pumpkin mixture.
Lightly coat jelly roll pan with cooking spray and pour mixture in. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.
Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting -
1/2 c butter, browned and cooled to room temp
1 package of cream cheese, a bit colder than room temp
2 TBSP Maple syrup
1 T vanilla
Powdered Sugar (several cups)

Mix browned butter, vanilla, maple syrup and cream cheese until smooth. Add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach desired consistency. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these cookies during a Christmas baking escapade. They are so good!

Confession: I do NOT love cookies. These were amazing though. I was pretty excited about them.

They came out in perfectly round looking cookies which was a huge win for me!

My 6 year old walked in and asked if I was baking ice cream. These little beauties looked just like scoops of mint chip ice cream.

Adapted from Little Diary on the Prairie.

Ingredients

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1½ c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1½ tsp. peppermint extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Mexican vanilla)
• a few drops of green green food coloring (color to your liking)
• 3 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tarter
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 10 oz. bag Nestle dark chocolate chips mixed with mint chips 

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar for about three minutes. It should be fluffy.
2. Add eggs, green food coloring and peppermint extract. Cream for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Measure dry ingredients in a separate bowl or sifter. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix until combined.
4. Add mint and chocolate chips. Gently stir to until incorporated.
5. Spray cookie sheet. Drop cookies using a 2 Tablespoon size cookie scoop.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Watch for the cookies to begin cracking. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer to cookie rack and finish cooling.

Perfectly Not Too Sweet Frosting

1 1/2 cups Sugar
3 sticks butter (1 1/2 cups butter)
1/4 cup flour
4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 T Vanilla bean paste (or regular vanilla extract) ***You can use any flavoring of your choice here***
1 1/2 cups milk

In a medium saucepan mix together the sugar, flour and cornstarch. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and mix very well. Pour in remaining milk slowly while stirring. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until mixture becomes very thick. Remove from heat. Place into a clean mixing bowl and allow to cool completely. (I place mine in the freezer and stir it frequently) Slice the butter into small sections and allow them to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. When the mixture is cool (I mean COLDER than room temperature) beat in the vanilla and start adding the butter 1-2 pieces at a time. Keep beating the frosting until all of the butter in whipped into the mixture. Now you are going to continue to whip the mixture until it resembles whipped cream. If it isn't fluffy, don't stop. HERE IS MY SECRET: every other blog I have seen a similar recipe on says that if you beat it too long the frosting will start to break down; that is the opposite of what I have found. If it appears to be broken down, you didn't beat it long enough. I can store mine in the fridge and then re-whip it the next day for another 10-15 minutes and it will be perfectly fluffy again.

** Chocolate variation *** Add 1-2 hershey's bars as soon as the cooking stage is finished. Stir in until completely melted and combined. Continue on as directed. Not too chocolatey, but perfect for chocolate cupcakes! Yum!

No-Chill Sugar Cookies

1 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour

Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer and mix until completely blended. Add more flour if needed. Dough should be slightly sticky. Place dough on a floured counter *** and roll out to 1/4" thick. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350* 9-11 minutes.
***If you would like colored dough like shown sepearte the dough into 4 (or the number of colors you would like) balls. Knead food coloring in by hand.***

Caramel Coconut Creme Pie

I came across this recipe for Freezer Caramel Drizzle Pie a few days ago and just knew I had to make it! You know, my way, like I make everything else. No one knows what my problem is. I just can't seem to bring to myself to follow a recipe exactly. It's ridiculous really, but I've just accepted it.

You'll Need:
2 - 9 inch graham cracker crusts
1 package cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
coconut extract
1/2 c powdered sugar
vanilla extract
1 c coconut
4 T butter
1 quart heavy cream
1/2 t salt
1 c packed brown sugar


I made homemade caramel first.
1 cup cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 c packed brown sugar

Heat cream and salt in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Add brown sugar and boil 7-10 minutes until it reaches desired consistency (remember it is still going to thicken up quite a bit after you remove it from the heat).  Set aside to cool.

In another sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat and add coconut. Stir frequently for 5-8 minutes until coconut is nicely toasted. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. beat on medium-high speed until smooth.  Add coconut extract to taste. (I used about 1-2 t.)

In another bowl, whip the remaining cream, powdered sugar (to taste) and vanilla extract (to taste). Fold HALF of this into the cream cheese mixture. Save remaining half for topping pies.

Pour cream cheese mixture evenly between pie crusts. Next pour caramel evenly over both pies. Top with remaining whipped cream and toasted coconut. Freeze for 1 hour or overnight. It tasted divine either way.

Caramel Fluff with Oreo Crust

I was in a create your own dessert mood tonight. This is what I came up with.

1 package Oreos, crushed fine
1/4 c butter, melted
1 quart cream, whipped and separated equally into 2 dishes
1 package cream cheese softened
1 recipe caramel sauce** see below
1 package chocolate pudding, prepared as directed
3 hershey bars

Combine oreos and melted butter and press into a 9x13 pan. In stand mixer combine half of the whipped cream and the package of cream cheese. (you can mix the caramel straight into this if you choose) Mix well before spreading over the oreo crust. Pour the caramel sauce over the cream cheese layer and slightly mix in to the top of the layer. (if you didn't already mix it in) Spread chocolate pudding over the caramel layer. Top with remaining whipped cream and decorate the top with hershey bits.

Caramel Sauce**
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 t sea salt

Place cream and sea salt in a sauce pan over medium high heat until it is near boiling. Add brown sugar and stir well. Stir frequently for 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and plunge into an ice bath. Let cool to room temp.

Caramel Frosting

1 c butter, divided
2 oz cream cheese, softened
3 lbs powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
8-10 T water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 t sea salt

Brown 1/2 cup of the butter and let cool completely. It should look like this.

In the mean time, place cream and sea salt in a small sauce pan. Bring to a near simmer and add brown sugar. Bring to a low boil stirring nearly constantly until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.

In your stand mixer, combine both butters and cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar slowly. Continue beating and pour in the caramel mixture  and vanilla slowly. Add water 1 T at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Brownies

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
5 eggs
3 T. Hot cocoa powder (regular milk chocolate)
2 t. vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Whip butter until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time beating between each addition. Add hot cocoa powder and mix well. Add vanilla and beat. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa. Add flour mixture to batter and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350* about 30-35 minutes.

Orange Rolls

I made this entire dough recipe and used half for caramel rolls and half for orange rolls. It made a lot of each. I made minis so if you are making full size rolls it's going to make less. I shared with 5 other families. It made that many mini rolls.

Dough- (this is the fairy roll recipe from earlier on the blog)
2 cups boiling water
2 cubes margarine (DON'T USE BUTTER - you may never hear me say that again, but in this recipe it changes everything. Trust me - I found out the hard way)
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. yeast
3 eggs, slightly beaten
6-7 cups flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Filling- (You will have to double this if you are making the entire recipe into orange rolls)
Zest from 1 orange (save the orange)
1/2 c butter, melted

Icing- (You will have to double this if you are making the entire recipe into orange rolls)
Juice from 1 orange
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
3-4 T. heavy whipping cream

Pour boiling water over margarine (You used margarine, right? If not, you'll be sorry.) Stir the sugar into this mixture and then let it cool until just warm. Then add the yeast and beaten eggs. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add these to the wet mixture and stir, stir, stir. Then get your husband to stir when your arm feels like falling off. (Or put it all in your kitchenaid mixer!) Cut the dough into two balls. Throw a towel over the dough and let the dough rise until double. Roll dough out into two large rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise (for minis. If you want full size rolls do not do this.) Brush melted butter mixed with orange zest over rolled out dough. Roll up rectangles into spirals and seal edge to roll with a little bit of water. Cut into spirals. and place on a greased 10x13 cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 16-20 minutes. When rolls have cooled enough to handle mix together powdered sugar and orange juice. Add cream to make desired consistency. Pick up each roll and dip the top into the icing and set on a platter to serve.

Caramel Rolls

I made this entire dough recipe and used half for caramel rolls and half for orange rolls. It made a lot of each. I made minis so if you are making full size rolls it's going to make less. I shared with 5 other families. It made that many mini rolls.

Dough- (this is the fairy roll recipe from earlier on the blog)
2 cups boiling water
2 cubes (1 cup) margarine (DON'T USE BUTTER - you may never hear me say that again, but in this recipe it changes everything. Trust me - I found out the hard way)
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. yeast
3 eggs, slightly beaten
6-7 cups flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Filling- (You'll have to double this if you make the entire dough recipe into caramel rolls)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1/3 c karo syrup
12-14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar (to sprinkle over dough before rolling)

Pour boiling water over margarine (You used margarine, right? If not, you'll be sorry.) Stir the sugar into this mixture and then let it cool until just warm. Then add the yeast and beaten eggs. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add these to the wet mixture and stir, stir, stir. Then get your husband to stir when your arm feels like falling off. (Or put it all in your kitchenaid mixer!) Cut the dough into two balls. Throw a towel over the dough and let the dough rise until double. In the meantime place brown sugar (1 1/2 cups), butter and karo in a medium sauce pan. Stir until all is melted well combined. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and pour mixture into two greased 9x13 pans. Roll dough out into two large rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise (for minis. If you want full size rolls do not do this.) Sprinkle with brown sugar. Roll up and cut into spirals. Place spirals on top the the caramel mixture and bake at 375* 20-22 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes and then flip pan over onto serving platter.





Don't forget to check out my fabulous makeup from Younique and don't forget to frost your lashes with 3d fiber lash mascara!

Chocolate Beet Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Yep! You read that right. Beets made into dessert. You say you have a friend/neighbor/family member who grew beets in his/her garden and didn't know what to do with them so he/she handed them over the fence and challenged you to turn them into something delicious? Me too! So you have come to the right place! (Don't tell me that I'm the only one that has things like this happen to them.) Anyways, I did some searching and found a beet cake recipe at Taste of Home. This is like a carrot spice cake only not. :) It was a huge hit with all NINE kids. (My five plus the friends' who gave me the beets) Come to find out, (AS I WAS BAKING!) the men were discussing baking a cobbler because they were worried that my "beet dessert" would be nasty. They were amazed! These are moist and so yummy. And I can justify it by saying they are a vegetable. (Just play along!)

1 cup uncooked, peeled and shredded beets
2 t lemon juice
4 eggs
1 1/4 c melted butter
1/2 c milk
2 T honey
2 t vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
2 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa
2 t baking soda
1 t salt

In a small bowl, toss beets with lemon juice; set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs, butter, milk, honey and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to egg mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in beet mixture. Scoop batter into lined cupcake pans (makes 24+ cupcakes) and bake at 325* 22-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

 1 cube butter, softened
1 package cream cheese*
3-4 cups powdered sugar (you can use more if you want)
maraschino cherry juice (or milk)
1-2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract (optional)
1 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped

Cream butter and cream cheese together and whip until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar and extracts**. Add maraschino cherry juice (1-2 T.) for desired consistency. You can add more powdered sugar if you get it too thin. Add in whipped cream.

*If you want a stronger cream cheese flavor use 2 packages of cream cheese. You will probably want to up the amount of powdered sugar.

**Always add extracts before the milk because they will thin out your frosting somewhat.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Cupcake batter:
2 cups flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
3/4 cups smart balance butter spread
2 1/2 c sugar
1 t. almond emulsion
2 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
3 eggs
1 box french vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)


Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer) combine sugar and smart balance butter spread until fluffy. Add eggs in one at a time beating til combined. Add in almond and vanilla mixing well. Mix in flour mixture and mix until combined. Add sour cream and beat well. Mix in pudding and beat well for a minute or two. Fill cupcake tins with batter and bake at 350* for 20-23 minutes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Mixture:
1 pound strawberries, tops cut off and sliced small
1 c sugar, divided
1 t. lemon juice
1 stock rhubarb, diced into 1/4" pieces (optional)
1/2 c. water

Mix strawberries with 2/3 cup sugar and 1 t. lemon juice and let set while you prepare the rhubarb, stirring occasionally. Combine rhubarb, 1/3 c. sugar and 1/2 c. water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook for 5-7 minutes until tender. Spoon rhubarb out of pan and into strawberry mixture without the extra liquid. (I prefer this recipe WITHOUT the rhubarb.)

Whipped Cream Topping:
Heavy Cream
Powdered Sugar
Vanilla

Whip heavy cream till it holds a peak adding powdered sugar and vanilla to taste.

Assembly:
Cut cupcakes in half and top with strawberry mixture. Replace top. Top with whipped cream and more mixture if you choose.

Brown Sugar Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Tonight was my first real attempt at cake decorating. I want to learn cake decorating, not just pretty frosting. I had to start somewhere. No laughing. The recipes I combined are amazing!

Brown Sugar Cake
3 cups flour
5 T cornstarch
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 c salted butter, softened
1 c sour cream
2 1/4 c brown sugar
4 eggs
3/4 c buttermilk (3/4 c milk w/ 2 t vinegar)

Mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt to combine. Set aside. Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately until all combined. Beat in sour cream.

Bake at 350* in two 9 in rounds (or an 8 and 10 like I chose) for 20-30 minutes depending on pan sizes. Let cool and then frost with browned butter frosting.

Browned Butter Fosting
1 c butter, divided
3 lbs powdered sugar
1 t almond extract
2 t vanilla
8-10 T water

Brown 1/2 cup of the butter and let cool completely. It should look like this.

Combine browned butter with 1/2 cup softened (not browned) butter. Beat in powdered sugar and extracts. Add as much water as needed to get desired consistency. Frost cake. Here is my crumb coating and finished cake photos. (No laughing! It was my first attempt.)

Boston Creme Pie

I was craving this yummy cake a few days ago so I decided to create my own. I took a butter cake mix and doctored it to my liking. Then baked it in two 9" rounds coated with cake release. The filling is a package of instant vanilla pudding prepared as directed, mixed with homemade whipped cream. Yum! I could eat this stuff with a spoon all day long! The trick to getting it to all stay together is foil and freezing. I didn't take pictures (sorry!), but I pulled out a strip of foil long enough to wrap the cake with some room for over lap and then folded it in half (hotdog style- remember that from kindergarten?) I wrapped it around the cake and tucked it into it's fold and taped it there. I then topped they cake layer with the filling and froze it. After it is nice and solid you can put the other layer on top, leaving the foil around all layers but sliding it upwards so there is a little lip around the top to hold in the chocolate. For the chocolate layer I melted milk chocolate chips and mixed in some heavy cream. Just pour it into the tin foil mold and refrigerate until it sets up a little bit.

• 

Perfect Waffles - Seriously!

I have searched and searched and SEARCHED for a waffle recipe that I love. There are plenty that I like (I mean it's hard to find a recipe that isn't at least okay, right?). This morning I made green waffles for my kids for St. Patty's day and I decided to do my own thing with the recipe. This makes a HUGE batch! (I have 5 kids ya know!) We even had leftovers. Most of you are probably going to want to cut this recipe in half.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
3 1/2 cups milk (today I had 1% - this is rare for me)
14 T butter (3/4 c. + 2 T), melted
2T + 2t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2T vanilla

Beat eggs until fluffy, add flour and milk alternately until well blended. Add melted butter and mix well. Add baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Pour mixture (according to waffle iron instructions) onto a hot waffle iron. Ta Da! Perfect waffles! Freeze any leftovers for a quick toaster breakfast.

*Chocolate Variation: Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the flour to make chocolate waffles. Top with whipped cream for a fun treat.




Don't forget to check out my fabulous makeup from Younique and don't forget to frost your lashes with 3d fiber lash mascara!

*Colored Variation: Add food coloring for a fun change of pace. My kids LOVE love LOVE it when I put a few drops of food coloring in the waffles/pancakes.

Famous Coconut Cupcakes

Ok, ladies who have been hounding me for this recipe, here it is. Hope you all love it as much as they do! Like most of my recipes, it isn't an exact science. Feel free to play around with the amounts until you get what you love.

Cake:
Your favorite butter vanilla cake recipe made into batter (don't use a recipe that calls for oil. Use a recipe that calls for butter. Trust me)
I use pillsbury butter recipe vanilla cake and add a large vanilla pudding mix, 1/2 c. sour cream and 1/2 c. white sugar (along with the water, eggs and butter it calls for)
2-3 T. Coconut extract (I add it in until I can smell it strongly)
1/2 cup coconut, blended in your blender until fine (this is optional)

Bake cupcakes or cake according to directions for whatever cake recipe you use.

Frosting:

1/2 c. white shortening
1/2 c. (1 cube) Smart Balance Buttery Sticks partially softened
1-2 T. coconut extract
1 lb powdered sugar

Cream shortening and butter sticks, add extract and mix well. Add p. sugar slowly and mix well. (Add more or less p. sugar to get desired consistency.) Frost cupcakes with desired amount and top with coconut if you choose.

"National Chocolate Cake Day" Cake

A few people who obviously don't care that I'm trying to lose weight, posted about National Chocolate Cake Day today. I'm sure they all knew full well that I wouldn't be able to help myself and would just HAVE to make a cake. I'm sure that's what they were thinking.... Okay, so maybe not. BUT, I did have to make one and I'm gonna blame them in the morning when I step on the scale and cry.


Cake:
1 boxed cake mix - I used a dark chocolate
1 large instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 c. sour cream
3/4 c. chocolate chips, melted

Mix cake as directed on box. Add in pudding mix and mix well. Add sour cream and mix well. Add melted chocolate and mix well scraping sides of the bowl. Bake as directed on the box in desired shape. I baked mine in a 9x13 mostly because I always make my cakes for cakeballs that way and I didn't give it any thought until it was already in the oven. Oops.

Frosting:
2 cubes butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. hot chocolate powder
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/2 c. melted chocolate chips

Place butter in mixer and whip. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Add vanilla and hot chocolate powder and mix well. add whipping cream and beat for about 1 minute on high. Add in melted chocolate and mix until smooth.

Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 t. vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Place all in bowl and mix on high until very stiff cream forms.

When cake is baked and cooled place cake in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour. Slice in half so you have 2 9 x 6.5" pieces. Then slice each of those in half to make 4 layers of 9x6.5". Frost two layers with cream and one with frosting. Place a cream layer on the bottom, followed by the chocolate frosted layer. Place the last cream frosted layer on top and add the last cake layer. Frost the entire cake with remaining chocolate frosting. Enjoy! (But don't blame me when you step on your scale and cry. Blame my crazy facebook friends. It's really their fault. Haha)

Alicia's Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cube butter, softened
1 cube margarine, softened
2 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. White Sugar
3 eggs
1/2 T. vanilla
1 t. Almond extract
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
4 c. flour
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
2 Hershey's Bliss Chocolate Meltaway Center Candy Bars, chopped small
Whip butter and margarine until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and white sugar. Mix until fluffy. Add vanilla and almond extracts and eggs. Mix well. Add baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add flour and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and candy bar chunks. Drop by cookie dough scoop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350* 8-10 minutes.

*This recipe makes about 75-80 cookies.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cube butter, softened
1 package cream cheese*
3-4 cups powdered sugar (you can use more if you want)
maraschino cherry juice (or milk)
1-2 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract (optional)
1 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped

Cream butter and cream cheese together and whip until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar and extracts**. Add maraschino cherry juice (1-2 T.) for desired consistency. You can add more powdered sugar if you get it too thin. Add in whipped cream.

*If you want a stronger cream cheese flavor use 2 packages of cream cheese. You will probably want to up the amount of powdered sugar.

**Always add extracts before the milk because they will thin out your frosting somewhat.

Rootbeer Float Cupcakes

I found this recipe for Rootbeer Float Cupcakes at Bitter Sweet. I have seen them around and thought I'd give them a go. I wasn't a fan of the frosting recipes that I have seen other bloggers using for them so I went on my own for that. I used Wilton's buttercream recipe and tweaked it just a teeny tiny bit. I could have eaten it with a spoon! It was that good.

Rootbeer Cupcakes

1 Cup Rootbeer Soda (non-diet)
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Teaspoons Root Beer Extract
1 1/3 Cups Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

• Preheat your oven to 325
• Combine root beer soda and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes.
• Add in the sugar and oil, whisking until slightly frothy.
• Mix in your extracts, and slowly add the flour, along with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Careful not to over mix.
• Fill cupcake liners approximately 3/4 full. (At first I thought I had a lot more batter than 12 cupcakes, but then I noticed the batter would settle, so I went back and added a little batter to each liner, which made 12 cupcakes)
• Bake for about 20 – 22 minutes.
• Yields 12 full size cupcakes or 50 mini cupcakes. (bake minis 12-15 minutes)

Rootbeer Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract (I didn't use the clear because I wasn't going for white frosting)
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon rootbeer extract (to taste)
  
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

Yields about 3 cups of icing.

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla & rootbeer extracts. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.