Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate

Posted on August 29, 2014 by HintofNutmegg

Let me tell you about yesterday morning.

5am wake up time. Yes, it’s the worst. And no, that’s normally not when I wake up. Typically I’m up at 5:29am, that is, if I work morning shift at the hospital. I prefer setting my alarm to odd-numbered times. Psshh, don’t you?

My brother brought the puppies (remember Archer & Meeka?) over to stay the night. On a good day they’ll sleep in until a little after 6 before scratching the door to be let out to go to the bathroom. Yesterday, the scratching and adorable howling (even at 5 in the morning I think they’re cute) started at 5:15am. There was no going back to sleep for me.

I was ready to leave the house by 5:50. Played with the puppies for 5 more minutes, put my sweater on, grabbed my keys, and headed outside to start the car. Wait, I forgot something important. I was carrying a green sparkly—if we are being specific here—rectangular Tupperware container filled with these mini Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache and Drizzled with Chocolate. I wanted to share them with my coworkers, who, by the way, are pretty awesome.

Can we just talk about that title for a second though? Could I have made it any longer? Probably. What can I say, I’m complicated like that.

And, so, with the donut filled container buckled into the front seat and Taylor Swift blasting on the radio, I left for work. At this point, you may be asking yourself, when is she going to drink her morning coffee? Or, more likely, why is she telling us this story? Don’t worry, I’m getting there. You’ll have all the answers very soon.

I stop at a Starbucks near my work. Normally, I make my coffee at home and take it with me, but Starbucks FINALLY has Pumpkin Spice Lattes again. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. And, I think I may hold off on telling you just so that I can write an entire post on my love for PSL’s. Seriously, please go to Starbucks and try it. And, if you already have and LOVE it like I do, this is me, standing next to you, as we both do a little happy dance. Back in the car, sipping on my PSL, singing to ‘22’ by T-Swift I think, “best idea ever to stop at Starbucks”.

I’ll regret this thought in a few minutes.

I find a parking spot right in front of the hospital and get out of the car. Standing outside, I lean over to get my purse from the front seat, secure it on my shoulder, and then lean over to get the Tupperware container. I throw my keys into my purse. Mistake one. Always keep them out until you lock the car. I grab my PSL from the cup holder, keep it in hand, and realize my phone is still on the driver’s seat. I place the PSL on the top of the car and balance the container under my left arm, using my side for support and my left hand to hold the bottom of it, as I reach for the phone with my right. I grab my coffee cup again. Mistake Two. Should have left it on the top of the car.

I now have my coffee and phone in my one hand and am still balancing the container with my other. I go to lock the car. Mistake Three. Not using the lock on the door to lock the car. I manage to fish out my keys pretty easily with my left hand while using my arm and side to keep the container from falling. But, of course, my keys are all jumbled up, so I have to untangle them. Stupid. Fussy. Key Chain. I decide to balance my coffee on top of the container, while I use my right hand to untangle the keys and hold my phone. My fourth, and final, mistake. Should have put something down.

Just as I’m about to hit the lock bottom, my coffee spills all over the container and down my shirt. Keep in mind, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are orangey in color, and I’m wearing a light pink blouse. Needless to say, some ugly words were yelled as I placed the cup on the ground and tried to clean myself off.

Bright side. I managed to still clock in on time. I was able to remove most of the stain on my shirt—I even got complimented on how cute it was. And, most importantly, the donuts weren’t ruined. In fact, my coworkers couldn’t stop telling my how good they were.
Cause, guys, these mini donuts are pretty bomb. It’s banana, peanut butter, and chocolate. The ultimate trifecta if you ask me. The donut itself is super moist (thanks to the sour cream) and has the perfect amount of banana flavoring. It’s then topped off with a creamy peanut butter ganache and a light drizzle of chocolate to complete the perfect bite-size morning (really, any time of day) treat. Honestly, there wasn’t a single negative review about these donuts. Trust me. Make these. They can turn even the worst of mornings, cough cough, much better.

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate
Yields: 36 mini donuts

Ingredients:
Baked Banana Donuts
¾ cup (12 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, melted, browned, and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup sour cream
1 ½ cup mashed banana (about 3 large bananas)

Peanut Butter Ganache
½ cup peanut butter chips
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Drizzle
½ cup light cocoa candy melts, melted

Directions:
Baked Banana Donuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease mini donut pan. Set aside.
Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, the butter will foam and crackle. Stir (or swirl the pan) as the butter cooks. When the butter begins to brown (mine was a very light brown color) and you smell a nutty aroma, take the saucepan off the heat. Pour the butter in bowl, whisk for about 30 seconds, and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk until lumps are gone.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and sour cream until well combined. Mix in the mashed bananas.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using a spatula, mix thoroughly until just combined.
Transfer batter to a piping bag with a large round tip or a Ziploc baggie with the tip cut off. Pipe into prepared donut pan, about 1/2 way full.
Bake for 6-8 minutes or until the top of the donut springs back when touched. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter Ganache & Chocolate Drizzle
Once the donuts are cooled, begin making the ganache. In a small saucepan combine peanut butter chips and heavy cream over medium heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Once the mixture is of drizzling consistency, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
Dip the top of each donut in the peanut butter ganache–make sure to hold it upside down for a bit to allow extra ganache to drip off. Let ganache set before drizzling the tops with chocolate.

Death By Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on February 20, 2014 by HintofNutmegg

Attention peanut butter lovers.

Attention Reese’s lovers.

Attention cupcake lovers of the world.

Oh, and attention those who wish to die from stuffing their face with the most ridiculously peanut butter packed chocolate cupcake in the universe.

Notice I said the universe. Not just the world. That’s how badass these cupcakes are.

If you think about it, it’s really not a bad way to go, is it? Death by peanut butter chocolate food coma. I’m in. I mean, it could always be worse, like death by jelly filled donuts. Ick. Don’t get me started on that.

Or, death by chocolate covered raisin poison. Blech. Raisins on their own are the worst, but then to cover them in chocolate is just plain cruel. Why? Because certain people, I’m not going to mention names or anything, could mistake a heavily coated chocolate raisin for a delicious chocolate covered almond, and then, accidentally choke when they realize their mistake.

I now eat chocolate coated things with hesitation.

Oooh or, possibly even worse, death by frosting overdose. Yeah, so here’s the thing, I’m not entirely a fan of frosting. I eat it, mainly because there never seems to be a way to scoop it off without it getting awkward, but to be completely honest, I could live with out it. I really could.

Anyways, lets get back to happy things. Like these cupcakes.

This week I wanted to make something that wasn’t so time consuming or detail oriented. I’ve spent the last two weeks making things like Seahawk Sugar Cookies—which required a ton of time and attention to detail—and Toasted Coconut XOXO Shortbread Cookies—which also took up some time because of the X’s and O’s. So, I decided easy, but equally tasty, was the name of the game this week.

One thing kept popping up in my mind. Box cake mix. I mean think about it. It’s super easy, relatively tasty, and I’m pretty sure at some point, we have all thrown a box cake mix together. We know box cake mix. We understand that by mixing four things together we can have quality cupcakes in less than 30 minutes. And, that’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing. But, I couldn’t just make a box cake mix and call it a day. That wasn’t going to cut it. Not for the blog. Not for me. And, certainly not for your sweet tooth.

What was a girl to do?

Enter peanut butter chocolate cupcakes that come from, drum roll please, a fancied up box mix. Gasp.

How could I? But, really, how could I not? These cupcakes are for the days when you want a top-notch cupcake, but you don’t want to spend a ton of time making them. They are for the lazy days, the days that seem to go on forever, the days that you want something simple, and the days that you need a dessert induced food coma.

Let me tell you about these cupcakes.

These cupcakes require one bowl and you don’t even need a stand mixer—realistically, you could simply mix it with a spoon if you wanted to. I will warn you, however, that the batter gets really thick, so if you choose the spoon route, prepare to work those muscles. Also, if you aren’t weird about eating batter, please do yourself, and me, the favor of eating some. It tastes amazingggg. I dare you not to lick the bowl, spatula, and spoon clean. The baked cupcakes come out super moist, almost airy and fluffy, and have that Devil’s food cake taste with a subtly peanut butter undertone.

Feel free to eat the cupcakes without the ganache or topping if you don’t want to be in the kitchen anymore. I completely understand. But, if you are willing to wait a few more minutes for complete heaven, make the ganache, which tastes like melted peanut butter, and cut up the peanut butter chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Together, as a whole, the cupcake packs a mean peanut butter flavor that will knock your socks off. Seriously, sit down while you eat these bad boys. But, before you do, pour yourself a large glass of cold milk, grab a napkin, and take two cupcakes. Trust me, one will not be enough.

But, then again, when is one serving ever enough?

Death By Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes
Yields: about 23 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes
1 (16.5 oz.) box Devil’s Food Cake (I used Duncan Hines)
1 (3.9 oz.) box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Peanut Butter Ganache
1 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Toppings
1/2 cup peanut butter chips, roughly chopped
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, roughly chopped
1 (12 oz.) bag miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cut into cubes

Directions:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with liners. Set aside.
Using a stand or hand held electric mixer beat together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, milk, butter, and peanut butter until well combined (about 2-3 minutes).
Scoop batter into the cupcake liners, about 3 tablespoons for each cupcake.
Bake for 18-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean when inserted into the middle of the cupcake.
Let cupcakes cool completely on a cooling rack.

Peanut Butter Ganache
Once the cupcakes are cooled, begin making the ganache. In a small saucepan combine peanut butter chips and heavy cream over medium heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Once the mixture is smooth and of drizzling consistency, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature (about 10 minutes).

Assembling Cupcakes
In a medium bowl mix together chopped peanut butter chips, chopped chocolate chips, and cubed Reese’s.
Grab a cupcake and dip the top into the peanut butter ganache–make sure to hold it upside down for a bit to allow extra ganache to drip off. Sprinkle the top of the cupcake with the Reese’s and chip mixture.
Repeat the above steps until all the cupcakes have ganache and topping.
Place in the fridge for 7-8 minutes or until ganache has firmed up. Drizzle each cupcake evenly with the left over peanut butter ganache. Place back in the fridge for 5 or so minutes until the drizzle firms up.

Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake

Posted on August 27, 2013 by HintofNutmegg

Sometimes you just need something over-the-top.

By need, I really mean deserve. As in we’re celebrating my Dad’s birthday and he needs a slice of Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake. Or, I spent the week studying for the GRE and am stressing like crazy, so I need a slice (or, three) of Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake. Or, insert any type of accomplishment, event, or mood (regardless if it’s good or bad) and you need a slice of Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake.

And by that other part, the ‘over-the-top’ part, I really mean something so decadent, so chocolately, so delicious that you won’t even feel guilty eating a slice because it instantly makes everything (and, I mean everything) much better.

Do you see what I’m saying?

Sometimes we deserve to treat ourselves, or need a pick me up, or need to celebrate. Sometimes we need something to make our day a little better, our stomachs a little fuller, and our smiles a little wider. For these days, I usually turn to dessert, and if you’re like me, then I just found us the perfect go to dessert.

Hello Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake. Where have you been all our lives?

In one word I would describe this cake as rich. As in, you’re going to need a large glass of milk or a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream to eat with any slice. The cake itself is extremely moist and chocolately both from the semi-sweet chocolate and the chocolate chips (which, melt slightly while the cake is cooking). The ganache is very rich and velvety, adding yet another chocolately texture to the cake. The caramel and Snickers toppings, which I highly recommend, give the palate a break from all the chocolate and really add the perfect final touches to this decadent dessert.

Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Yields: about 16 slices of cake

Ingredients:
Cake
7 ½ ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup cocoa powder + more for dusting pan
1 cup boiling water
2 ½ sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 ½ cups light brown sugar
5 eggs, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons vanilla
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups of sour cream

Ganache
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream

Toppings
About 12 fun-size Snickers, cut into baby cubes
Caramel for drizzling

Directions:
Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and dust Bundt Cake pan with cocoa powder.
In a medium bowl, combine semi-sweet chocolate and cocoa powder as much as possible.
Add boiling water and whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth and blended. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Reduce speed to low and add brown sugar. Beat until just blended.
Increase speed to medium and continue beating the mixture until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, a little at a time, until well combined.
Add the vanilla. Mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
Reduce speed to low and alternate between adding the flour mixture and sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until well combined.
Slowly mix in the chocolate-cocoa mixture. Beat until no white streaks are visible.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan (mine was full to the very top) and bake 65 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center with only a few moist crumbs.
Let cake cool for about 15 minutes upright before inverting the pan and lifting it off the cake.
Let cake cool completely, at least 1 hour (I let mine sit over night).

Ganache & Toppings
In a glass bowl, combine semi-sweet chocolate and butter.
In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring heavy cream just to a boil.
Immediately pour heavy cream over chocolate and butter. Whisk until mixture is smooth.
Pour ganache over top of cake, allowing for some to drip down the sides.
Once the top of the cake is covered with ganache, gently place cubed Snickers pieces all around the top.
Let cake sit until the ganache is set, at least 15 minutes.
Drizzle the top of the cake generously with caramel.

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate Yields: 36 mini donuts

Death By Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes Yields: about 23 cupcakes

Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Yields: about 16 slices of cake

Baked Banana Donuts Dipped in Peanut Butter Ganache & Drizzled with Chocolate
Yields: 36 mini donuts

Death By Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes
Yields: about 23 cupcakes

Double Chocolate Snickers Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Yields: about 16 slices of cake