Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

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These triple berry almond oat bars, I love them.

 

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

 

The tasty little things are like eating fruit crisp in bar form.

And they are healthy!

And vegan!

And so, so delicious!

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

Earlier this week I was paging through the ole Duesterhoeft Café cookbook and came across the recipe for fudgy oatmeal bars. My mom would make them for potlucks and other such things, because they make such a large pan and are super tasty. I decided that I needed to make them.

But then I decided to try to make them just a leeetle bit healthier. And then I accidentally completely transformed them into something else.

Something amazing.

Something that you can eat two of and not feel guilty about afterwards.

Something that looks like this:

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

I swapped:

  • All purpose flour for oat flour and almond meal
  • Butter for coconut oil
  • Chocolate fudge for tripe berry chia seed jam
  • An egg for a flax egg
  • Brown sugar for less brown sugar
  • Deliciousness for guilt-free deliciousness

So yeah, not quite the same. But that’s ok, because I’m pretty obsessed with how they turned out.

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

On the bottom there is a crust made with coconut oil, brown sugar, almond meal, oat flour, oats, a flax egg, and almond extract. This stuff alone is pretty amazing. Try not to eat it all (you gotta taste test a little!) before getting it into the pan.

There are a lot of substitutions you can make here – gluten-free, non-vegan, etc – so make sure to check out the note section in the recipe.

In the middle there is a fruit layer made with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and chia seeds. AKA triple berry chia seed jam. This stuff alone is also pretty amazing. Truth be told I don’t eat a lot of jam. I never buy it and this was my first experience making chia seed jam (or any type of jam) and now I’m in love. It’s super easy to make, tastes delicious, and is healthy! I’m sure you could easily swap out the sugar for some honey or maple syrup. I made some more again yesterday to use for oatmeal, yogurt, spoonfuls into my mouth, etc.

The two layers are topped off with some crumbled oat mixture, then placed it in the oven until baked to perfection (20-25 minutes).

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

As you can see these triple berry almond oat bars are made with a bunch of wholesome, healthy ingredients. Yes, they have some sugar, but I’d say it’s a forgivable amount. They are healthy enough to eat for breakfast and delicious enough to eat for dessert.

I ate these chilled in the fridge. I ate them heated up. Both were pretty dern good.

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

Now I’m going to go run 22 miles (pray for me) and when I come home I’ll probably polish off the rest of the pan. But to be honest, there really aren’t many left.

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars
 
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These bars are full of oats, nuts, and berries - almost like eating fruit crisp in bar form! They are vegan, can easily be made gluten-free, and are super healthy and delicious.
Serves: 16 bars
Ingredients
For the chia seed jam filling:
  • ½ cup strawberries, diced
  • ½ cup raspberries
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoon chia seeds
  • ¾ cup chopped almonds
For the crust and crumble:
  • ¾ cup oat flour
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup coconut oil, solid state
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 2.5 tablespoons water)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the bars can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil spray.
For the chia seed jam filling:
  1. Add the berries, lemon juice, and sugar to a saucepan and stir on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until it begins to bubble. The fruit should break apart and release liquid. Use the back of your spoon to press down on the blueberries and raspberries a little bit. Turn to medium-low, add the chia seeds, and continue to stir for an additional 10 minutes. It will thicken as you stir.
  2. Add the chopped almonds then set aside and allow to cool slightly.
For the crust and crumble:
  1. In a medium bowl, combine the oat flour, almond meal, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the coconut oil and brown sugar until they are fully combined. Stir in the almond extract and flax egg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.
To assemble:
  1. Press ¾ of the oat crust into the baking pan. Spread the chia seed jam over the crust then sprinkle the remaining oat mixture on top.
  2. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving. These taste awesome both warm and cold.
Notes
Use any berries you want for the jam. You can also just buy fruit preserves at the store.
You can sub all-purpose flour for both the oat flour and almond meal (1 ¼ cups total).
Make your own oat flour by processing oats in a food processor or blender until it reaches flour consistency. Almond meal can be made the same way (by using almonds).
Use gluten-free oats to make this recipe gluten free.
To make a flax egg mix 1 tablespoon flax meal with 2 ½ tablespoons water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Use a real egg in place of a flax egg if you aren’t vegan.

PS – Have you made chia seed jam before? What’s your favorite jam flavor?

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

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Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread

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Do you ever go to the grocery store and “accidentally” buy too many bananas so that you can either store the extra in the freezer or wait for them to over-ripen on your counter so that you can make banana bread?

No? Yes! No? Just me?

Well. I advise you to try it out. I also advise you to add dark chocolate chips and fresh raspberries to your grocery list, because this raspberry chocolate chip banana bread is so, so good and you’re going to want to make it.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

So let’s do it!

First, we’ll gather the ingredients. The stars here are the bananas, raspberries, and dark chocolate chips. Obviously. But we’ll need some other things too – flour, baking soda, brown sugar, milk, and an egg. Also, we’re going to use Greek yogurt instead of butter. Not because we don’t love butter, but just because.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

Next, mash up those beautiful, brown bananas. Mash them really, really good. We basically want them to be like liquid. Then stir in the brown sugar, egg, Greek yogurt, and milk until everything is super combined. Throw in the flour and baking soda and give the mixture a couple of stirs. Lumps and pockets of flour are a-ok. I realize that this will be hard for you perfectionists out there, but you can do it. Leave some imperfections. Fold in the chocolate chips and raspberries, being careful not to over stir. Finally, pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and place it in the oven.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

In 50 minutes your kitchen will smell far too delicious and you’ll have an exquisite loaf of bread on your counter. This is happiness.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

So much happiness that I had to give most of this loaf away. Which was really hard to do. Probably the hardest thing I had to do all week. Except for that 17 mile run yesterday. #strugglefest.

So yeah. What I’m trying to say is this stuff is really good. Basic banana bread and chocolate cacao nib banana bread are good too, but this chocolate chip raspberry banana bread is like really good.

Soooo… uh… make it. And eat it. And drink some coffee. And have a FANTASTIC Memorial Day weekend!!

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
 
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This Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread is a snazzy version of regular banana bread. It's simple, a little bit healthy, and so, so very delicious with bursts of chocolate and raspberries.
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups + 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 medium very ripe bananas
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup full fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons milk (any sort of milk will work: cow, almond, coconut, soy, etc)
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a small bowl combine the flour (just 1 ½ cups) and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In another small bowl toss the raspberries with the remaining 1 teaspoon of flour. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl mash the bananas until they are very, very mashed.
  5. Whisk in the brown sugar, Greek yogurt, egg, and milk until they are thoroughly combined.
  6. Stir in the flour. Lumps are ok.
  7. Fold in the raspberries and chocolate chips, saving some to sprinkle on top.
  8. Pour batter into the loaf pan and top with the remaining raspberries and chocolate chips.
  9. Baked for 50-55 minutes.

 

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

PS- what are you doing for Memorial Day? I am headed up north to the cabin to hang out with my family for the weekend! So excited.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

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Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

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These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were born from an “I want to bake right now” mood.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

On Tuesday night during my run I decided that I was going to go home and bake afterwards. Throughout my last few miles I was mentally going through my pantry, trying to figure out what I could make that would be simple, quick, and delicious.

Blondies, of course! That would be perfect.

Blondies are so easy to throw together. As long as you have butter, flour, sugar, and an egg you’re all set! And who is not consistently stocked up with these things?!

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

One of the fun things about blondies is that you can add whatever mix-ins you have in your pantry. Luckily I had just stocked up on various nuts and dried fruits and knew I had some sort of chip (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or butterscotch) stored in my freezer.

After getting home and physically looking at my pantry I decided that cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were the way to go.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

But, PROBLEM. I was out of vanilla extract. How in the heck does that even happen?! Butter, sugar, flour, eggs, I had, but no vanilla. Gahhh. Oh well, I was too excited about the idea of these to give up, so I just nixed the vanilla.

And you know what? They still turned out amazing. The sweetness of the butterscotch and cherries made the vanilla unnecessary. Thank goodness.

(Note to self: add vanilla extract to my grocery shopping list. Flour too, just in case.)

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

An awesome thing about baking blondies is that you don’t need a mixer. You can make them with a medium saucepan, a large spoon, and some measuring equipment. Cleanup is also super quick, which is always a bonus.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies are perfect for those “I need to bake right now” moments (or even for planned baking events). They are gooey, full of texture, quick, easy, and so delicious!

Know who would really love and appreciate them? Your mom.

I mean that seriously, it wasn’t one of those “your mom” jokes.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies
 
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Blondies are always quick, simple, and delicious. Add in some toasted walnuts, tart dried cherries, and butterscotch chips to make them extra tasty!
Serves: 16 bars
Ingredients
  • 1 cup walnuts, halved or coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup butterscotch chips, divided
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup dried tart cherries
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil spray.
  2. Spread the walnuts on a baking pan and toast in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice to ensure they don’t burn. Once toasted, set aside.
  3. Melt the butter and ¼ cup butterscotch chips in a medium saucepan.
  4. Mix in the brown sugar until smooth, then beat in the egg.
  5. Stir in the flour until just combined.
  6. Fold in the walnuts, cherries, and remaining butterscotch chips (feel free to save a little of each to sprinkle on the top).
  7. Place batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. It will be thick. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts, cherries, and butterscotch chips on top (if you remembered to save them) and pat down slightly.
  8. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
  9. Cool completely before removing bars from the pan. Then cut and enjoy!

Speaking of moms, my mom and I are going to go run the Fargo Half Marathon! RIGHT NOW. It’s my 5th (I think?) half and my mom’s 1st! She’s going to be awesome. Then we’re going to go to the cabin and spend the rest of the weekend relaxing. It’ll be perfect.

Sending lots of love to all the moms out there! You’re amazing. xoxo

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

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Coconut Coffee Cake

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Happy second day of spring! It’s such a happy feeling. To celebrate, I made you some coconut coffee cake!

Coconut Coffee Cake

The recipe for this coffee cake was inspired from one I spotted in my new favorite cookbook:

Coconut Coffee Cake

Yeah, that’s right, The Duesterhoeft Café: A collection of our favorite treasured recipes. I know what you’re probably thinking, “The Duesterhoeft Cafe, where is that? I must go.” and then, “How can I get my hands on that cookbook???”

To answer the first question, The Duesterhoeft Café is in the heart and soul of my parents, siblings, and all the friends and family that inspired recipes and shared delicious food with us throughout the years.

Just kidding!

It’s a fictional name that my parent’s gave our house when tricking my siblings and me after church one Sunday. They said they were taking us out to eat at “The Duesterhoeft Café”. We thought it was a legit restaurant, but really it just ended up being our house. My sister was not pleased. My parents, the joksters.

Coconut Coffee Cake

To answer the second question, only a limited number of copies were printed, so unfortunately you won’t be able to find it in bookstores. But by following Just J.Faye, you are in luck! I’m going to be cooking and baking all through this cookbook so that I can share the treasured Duesterhoeft recipes with you. Delicious things like my mom’s famous chicken wings, the coveted Swedish rice ring, and my great-grandma’s German potato salad. Yummmm. Drool.

My mom put this wonderful recipe collection together, had it printed and bound, then distributed to family and close friends. Some recipes have deep family roots, some remind me of the early 90’s, and some I have never heard of, but if it comes from The Duesterhoeft Café, you can trust that it’s amazing.

Coconut Coffee Cake

Anywaysssss, back to the coconut coffee cake. As I was scanning through the cookbook I saw the word “coconut” and immediately stopped. It’s spring. It’s time for coconut. I knew I had to make this one first.

According to my mom’s notes she just found the recipe in her old recipe box and doesn’t know where she ate it or who she got it from, but that she liked it and wanted to save it. I guess it’s not the best example to start with from our “treasured recipes”, but I guess maybe it’s like a hidden treasure that we re-discovered. Sure. Let’s go with that.

The original recipe calls for boxed cake mix and coconut instant pudding. I could not find coconut instant pudding! Does it not exist?! I want it. Maybe I should have checked different grocery stores? Oh well. I used vanilla instant pudding instead, made a yellow butter cake from scratch rather than using a boxed mix, and made a few other minor tweaks.

The result: super delicious coconut coffee cake. I mean, look at it.

Coconut Coffee Cake

The cake itself is just so soft. It’s based off the one I used for this rhubarb cake, but with canned lite coconut milk and vanilla instant pudding.

In the middle of the cake you will find a ribbon made of cinnamon, sugar, pecans, and coconut. This mixture is on top as well. The pecans and coconut get perfectly toasted while baking in the oven. The cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top gives the cake a sort of thin crispy layer that you break through with your fork before reaching the soft yellow cake below it. Heavenly.

But then to make it perfect, the cake is drizzled with a simple icing made of powdered sugar, vanilla, and coconut milk. It’s… just… I…

Coconut Coffee Cake

So good.

If you aren’t crazy about coconut, I’m sure you’ll still enjoy this cake. The coconut flavor is super subtle. However, if you are crazy about coconut and want more coconut taste add in a little bit of coconut extract (~1/4 teaspoon) and replace the vanilla instant pudding with coconut instant pudding (lucky duck, if you find some).

Coconut Coffee Cake

Know what this coconut coffee cake would be perfect for?! Easter brunch. AKA, the best brunch day of all the days. Mother’s Day being a close second, of course.

Know what else this would be perfect for?! Saturday afternoon cake & coffee with girlfriends. I just can’t be alone with this cake much longer. Seriously, come over later. Thanks.

Annddddd now I’m going to go run 13 miles. Yay, marathon training!

Coconut Coffee Cake
 
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Inspired by a recipe from my mom's family cookbook, this coffee cake is so delicious. A yellow butter cake made with coconut milk and vanilla instant pudding mix is lined and topped with a cinnamon sugar pecan mixture. Then there is simple icing drizzled on top to make it perfect. This would be ideal for brunch or an afternoon coffee break.
Serves: 9
Ingredients
For the nut mixture:
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup chopped pecans
  • ¾ cup flaked unsweetened coconut
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the cake:
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup canned lite coconut milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons butter, softened
For the icing:
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1-2 tablespoons canned lite coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.
  2. In a small bowl stir together the ingredients for the nut mixture. Set aside.
  3. In another small bowl whisk together the egg, egg yolk, coconut milk, and vanilla.
  4. In the bowl of the electric mixer (or a large bowl) stir together the sugar, flour, pudding mix, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Add the butter and mix on medium for about 90 seconds. The butter should be evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.
  6. Add the wet ingredients and beat until combined, about 30-60 seconds.
  7. Pour half of the batter into the baking disk. Top batter with half of the nut mixture. Top this with the remaining cake batter, then sprinkle the remaining nut mixture on top.
  8. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out with slight crumbs.
  9. In a small bowl stir together the icing ingredients and drizzle on top of the cake.
  10. Let the cake sit for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
The coconut flavor is quite subtle. To make it stand out more add ¼ teaspoon coconut extract and/or replace the vanilla instant pudding mix with coconut instant pudding mix.

Coconut Coffee Cake

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Bacon Scotcheroos

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On Wednesday night I met my friends for a bacon themed dinner. Yeah, BACON THEMED. It was amazing. My contribution: bacon scotcheroos.

bacon scotcheroos About a year and a half ago two of my friends and I started getting together for themed dinners. The host chooses the theme and prepares the main course. The other two bring an appropriate appetizer/dessert/drink to fit. Our dinners have ranged from Indian to pizza to crockpot to Brazilian to picnic to paleo to seafood.

I don’t know how it took us so long to get to bacon, but it happened. A bacon avocado salad followed by bacon wrapped chicken thighs and then rounded out by these bacon scotcheroos. Yeah. Delicious.

These dinners, I love them. We catch up on each other’s lives. Natalie and I will say something completely random in unison. Senthil will look at us like we are crazy – sometimes it’s hard to tell if he loves or hates us. One time (after a bottle of wine or two) we booked a trip to Atlanta for the Midtown Music Festival. Another time (after a caipirinha or two) we bought concert tickets to Phantogram. Then there was that time (after a vodka soda or two) we “performed” La Bamba over and over again on Rockband. This time we drank a lot of water, discussed Bonnaroo & other music festivals, and called dibs on a trip to India. Our next dinner is French themed. Who knows what will happen there.

bacon scotcheroos Anyways, back to bacon scotcheroos. What you really care about here.

For those of you unfamiliar (who are you?!), scotcheroos are similar to rice krispie bars, but instead of marshmallows they are held together with a mix of peanut butter, Karo syrup, and sugar. Then they are topped with chocolate and butterscotch, so you are left with a sweet, crunchy, chewy bar of deliciousness.

To fit the bacon theme and because there just wasn’t enough calories in the original version of these bars, I added bacon to the rice krispies mixture and sprinkled some sea salt on top. This savory addition helps cut some of the sweetness and also makes them extra delicious. I mean… bacon, chocolate, peanut butter. Triple win.

bacon scotcheroos What you need to do is bake that bacon. Eat one slice, then cut the rest into tiny pieces. Mix together the Karo syrup and brown sugar until it boils. Stir in some chunky peanut butter until it’s melted. Then add in the bacon bits and rice krispies. Press this mixture into a greased pan. I give you permission to taste test here.

Now go melt some chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Pour it over the rice krispies and top with sprinkles of sea salt. Hide the pan somewhere until it sets. Then cut them up and give them to all your friends. Eat one or two and don’t even feel bad about it. But then make sure to workout extra hard later.

bacon scotcheroos These bars are super quick and simple to make. They freeze well. They transport easy. And they taste amazing. I don’t know what else I can say to convince you to try them, except… bacon.

bacon scotcheroos

Bacon Scotcheroos
 
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Adding bacon into classic scotcheroos is just wonderful. These bars are simple treat to put together. Plus, they have bacon, peanut butter, and chocolate. Triple win.
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 12oz package thick-cut bacon
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup light Karo syrup
  • 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 6 cups rice krispies
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • Sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Grease a 9x12 cake pan. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil.
  2. Spread the bacon out between the foil-lined pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the bacon is baked to your liking. Chop into pieces and set aside.
  3. In a large saucepan, add the brown sugar and Karo syrup. Stir over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
  4. Stir in the peanut butter until it melts.
  5. Stir in the bacon pieces and rice krispies.
  6. Press mixture into the pan. Set aside.
  7. In a saucepan (it can be the same one as before), add the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Stir on low-medium until melted. This can also be done in the microwave.
  8. Pour the melted chocolate/butterscotch over the rice kripies. Add sprinkles of sea salt.
  9. Cover and set aside until the chocolate has set.
  10. Cut into bar. Serve. Enjoy.

Besides talking about these amazing bacon scotcheroos, I also want to quickly mention a very special cake for a very special person. This cake has been years in the making. It stems from a random and weird conversation at Taco Bell in the fall of 2006, then became an idea at Public Kitchen + Bar this January, and then a reality last night.

Only for one of my very best friends would I ever make a cake in the shape of a tampon that says “Happy Menarche”.

happy birthday! Kenny, happy 28th birthday, you are amazing. Megan and Danielle, I’m glad we dreamed up this cake. Kelly, Zach, Alana, Scott, Scott, Molly, Bethany, Andrew, Chris, and Corey, thank you for eating the cake (this amazing red velvet recipe) despite its shape.

From bacon dinners to tampon cakes, I truly am friends with the greatest people.

PS- after eating tacos and tampon cake we went to see WITS with Brandi Carlile and Eric Stonestreet (AKA Cam from Modern Family). Amazing. Please go listen to WITS, then listen to all the Brandi Carlile songs, and then watch every episode of Modern Family if you haven’t already.

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Almond Champagne Cupcakes

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I hope you all had a lovely holiday and spent lots of time with loved ones eating cookies and laughing! I did. That’s fo sho.

Now that Christmas has passed 2015 is just around the corner. I made you these almond champagne cupcakes to celebrate!

Almond Champagne Cupcakes Ok, if you want to get technical (Megan) they are actually almond sparkling wine cupcakes. We’ll just pretend that they are legit and from Champagne in France.

Anyways, New Year’s Eve! Do you love it? Do you hate it?

Personally, I love it. The idea of a new year is always very exciting to me. I enjoy reflecting on memories and great things from the passing year and looking forward to the new one to come. I get butterflies just thinking about all the amazing things that I want to make happen in 2015!

New Year’s Eve itself is never a particularly extraordinary night or anything; however, I love drinking champagne while wearing something sparkly and singing Auld Lang Syne (also this song & this song) with some fabulous people. It’s amazing.

Almond Champagne Cupcakes Have you ever tried the almond champagne from Trader Joe’s? If not, I recommend you buy a bottle (or five) right now, because it is delicious. It is also the inspiration behind these cupcakes (along with this recipe), so you’re going to want to buy at least one bottle to make them.

These almond champagne cupcakes are light and fluffy. The almond flavor comes from the use of almond meal, almond extract, and almond champagne. Don’t worry though, it’s not too almondy, but rather just almondy enough to take a bite and think, “Hey, these are almond flavored! Yum!”

Side note: I’ve never talked about almonds so much in one paragraph before.

To amp up the champagne flavor, champagne is reduced down to a syrup and then brushed onto the tops of the cupcakes and also used in the frosting.

Almond Champagne Cupcakes The batter comes together like most cupcake batter does: cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, and then alternate between adding in the dry and wet ingredients. Easy. While the cupcakes bake and cool you’ll have the perfect amount of time to reduce the champagne, make the frosting, and do the dishes.

After frosting the cupcakes, add some sprinkles. Never, ever forget the sprinkles. Especially on New Year’s Eve.

Almond Champagne Cupcakes

So there you have it: almond champagne cupcakes.

Almond Champagne Cupcakes
 
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These almond champagne cupcakes are light and fluffy. Almond flavor comes from the use of almond meal, almond extract, and almond champagne (which is used in the batter and as a syrup to brush on the cupcakes and use in the frosting). These are the perfect treat to say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015! Also, don't forget the sprinkles!
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Serves: 15 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • ¾ cup almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup almond champagne
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs
For the frosting & champagne syrup:
  • 1 ½ cup + 1 tablespoon almond champagne
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter
  • 4-6 cups sugar
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
  1. Preheat the oven for 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the almond champagne, buttermilk, and almond extract. Set aside.
  4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium, 3-5 minutes.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.
  6. Alternate between adding the flour and champagne mixture to the batter, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
  7. Pour ¼ cup of batter into each liner and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
For the frosting & champagne syrup:
  1. Add 1 ½ cups champagne to saucepan and heat on medium-high until reduced to 3 tablespoons. Let cool.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter, 1 tablespoon of champagne, 2 tablespoon of the reduced champagne, and 3 cups of the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
To assemble:
  1. Poke a few holes in the cupcake with a fork. Brush cupcake tops with the remaining tablespoon of reduced champagne.
  2. Top the cupcakes with the frosting. Add sprinkles and enjoy!
Notes
I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I made my own by squeezing some lemon juice into a ¼ cup of milk and then let it sit for 5 minutes.

I hope the rest of 2014 treats you well and that you welcome in 2015 with lots of champagne and sparkles and singing and dancing (and cupcakes)!

Almond Champagne Cupcakes

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