A Valentine Breakfast: Cocoa-Kissed Red Velvet Pancakes

Written by Chris -

February is National Pancake Month, how delicious is that? The food holidays keep getting better and better! These easy-to-make red velvet pancakes are flavored with cocoa – giving you a sweet start to Valentine’s Day.

I found these adorable heart-shaped “egg & pancake molds” at World Market for less than $3.00. They aren’t required; you can simply ladle ¼ cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake, but I think they add such a festive touch.

Cocoa-Kissed Red Velvet Pancakes

Ingredients needed for 10 pancakes:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup reduced-fat buttermilk or lowfat milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring
• Heart-shaped pancake cutters or cookie cutters (optional)
• Optional garnishes: butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup and fresh berries

Directions:

COMBINE flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; stir well.

WHISK egg, buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract and food coloring together in large bowl. Add to flour mixture; stir to combine.

HEAT nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Brush with a little oil or butter. If using pancake molds, be sure to coat with a little oil so the pancakes don’t stick. Place molds into skillet; pour about ¼ cup batter into molds or directly onto skillet if you aren’t using molds. Cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles start to form on top. Gently lift and remove molds; flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned.

Kitchen Tip: Because these are chocolate, they need to cook at a lower temperature. So don’t rush them. Also, if you only have a couple heart-shaped molds, these will take a little time to make. If you want to serve the pancakes all at once, warm your oven to 225° F. Place a wire cooling rack in a baking sheet then place the pancakes in a single layer on the rack as you make them.

The cakelike texture of these pancakes beg for a sprinkling of powdered sugar and drizzle of maple syrup. Let’s dig in, shall we?

May your Valentine’s Day be extra sweet!

Chris

Links:

• Cocoa-Kissed Red Velvet Pancakes
• World Market
• NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa

Related Recipes:

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Heavenly Heart-Shaped Pancakes

A Trio of Cupcakes for One Special Day

Written by Chris -

Being a mom is what I cherish most. I’ve watched my children blossom into such dear nine year olds. They don’t look alike, nor do they dress alike. In fact, they couldn’t be more different. They just happen to share the same birthday.

We have a standing tradition that each child gets to request any type of cake or cupcake for their special day. Last year, I got off easy – they all requested Red Velvet Cupcakes.

This year was a little different. Each child wanted to design and create their own cupcake. What a difference a year makes! And their creations really didn’t surprise me – all were very fitting to their different personalities.

Chocolate Cookie-Filled Cupcakes

This cupcake was created by my son who has a bit of a sweet tooth. His Grandmother introduced him to Oreos, not me (just for the record). An Oreo is placed in the bottom of each cupcake liner, and then chocolate cake batter is poured right over the top. This recipe reminds me a bit of what Picky Palate might create. This kiddo wanted to use prepared frosting – no homemade chocolate butter cream for him. But, he wanted to customize it (I gave him a high-five for that!). We stirred Nestlé Toll House baking cocoa into the vanilla frosting – so it went from a simple vanilla to a delicate milk chocolate. He chose the curly cue tip for piping – love that! And of course, we topped each cupcake with a mini Oreo.

Maple Bacon Browned Butter Cupcakes

This son says he wants to marry bacon – he has great taste! His cupcake is flavored with pure maple syrup and has bits of crumbled bacon throughout. The frosting started out as a delicious maple cream cheese frosting, but he ultimately decided he liked the prepared vanilla frosting better (ok, maybe my kids aren’t so different after all!). He too wanted to add his personal touch so he stirred a little maple syrup into it. He finished his cupcake with a piece of baked brown sugar bacon.

Vanilla Milk Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes

My daughter loves vanilla and chocolate swirled together in a cupcake – coated in sprinkles. She would put sprinkles on everything if she could! Her vanilla cupcake has a swirl of melted Nestlé Toll House milk chocolate right in the middle. She also chose prepared vanilla frosting over a homemade butter cream (no comment). But, she wanted to add a swirl of milk chocolate into the frosting, so that’s just what we did. We used Wilton Pink Sugar Pearls for the sprinkles – love those pearlized sprinkles!

All three cupcakes were a huge hit with family and friends. I poked fun of the prepared frosting, but in the end, I really liked the creative add-ins. When preparing three different cupcake recipes on the same day, I welcomed that extra bit of convenience.

My kids aren’t quite ready for their own blog like Recipe Boy (check him out, he’s adorable!), but as they continue to create recipes, I will be sure to share the outstanding ones!

Happy baking,

Chris

Recipe Links:

• Cookie-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes
• Maple Browned Butter Bacon Cupcakes
• Vanilla & Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes

Mini Morsel Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

A Valentine Birthday: Red Velvet Cupcakes

 

Written by Chris -

Our three miracles arrived in January, but they weren’t actually due until Valentine’s Day. So February 14th has always held a special place in my heart.

How we went from this…

To this… has been quite the (culinary) journey!

For the first time, they agreed on ONE birthday cake, Red Velvet! I am certain Sweet Arleen’s in Westlake Village, CA  (our local bakery and recent winner of “Cupcake Wars”) had some influence.  After Arleen won, we sampled all of her cupcakes and Red Velvet was the clear winner. But for this birthday, we couldn’t just stop with Red Velvet cupcakes. My daughter specifically asked that her cupcake have a chocolate ganache center. She was inspired by America’s Test Kitchen – the episode on Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling.  So, I needed to try this ganache out (you can see a photo of it later in the post). Happy to report it worked beautifully.

It gets even tastier… My daughter and I recently attended a cupcake decorating workshop held by Dorothy Tong, another recent winner of “Cupcake Wars.” I listened as she described her specialties… cupcake-filled cookies and cookie-filled cupcakes. It reminded me of a cookie-filled blog post by Jenny from Picky Palate. Pretty cool, right?

I decided to make two filled-cupcake creations for the triplets’ birthday. I added our Nestlé Toll House Valentine Swirled Chocolate Chip cookie dough to the center of the red velvet cupcakes (have you seen the pink and red swirled morsels above? They are so perfect for Valentine’s Day!).

And, I used the Chocolate Ganache recipe (shown above) from America’s Test Kitchen for the ganache-filled cupcake request.

Ingredients for 22 Red Velvet Cupcakes:

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/3 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red gel-paste food coloring
• 1 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Paper-line 22 muffin cups.

Sift flour, baking cocoa and salt together into a medium bowl.

Whisk together sugar, oil and eggs in large mixer bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in food coloring. Gradually stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk (adding flour in three additions and buttermilk in two). Combine baking soda and vinegar in small bowl (it will foam); quickly fold into batter.

Divide batter between paper cups, filling about 2/3 full. If you are using ganache or cookie dough for the center as above, now is the time to drop about a ¼ to ½ teaspoon right into the middle (press in slightly).

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until cupcake springs back when touched. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Above is a peek at the center of the cookie-filled cupcake.

And the Chocolate Ganache Filled Cupcakes above (it sank all the way to the bottom leaving a pool of deliciousness).

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 4 ounces light cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Candy sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy, scraping bowl occasionally. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

To pipe, place desired star tip into pastry bag. I like to use a heavy-duty food storage bag in place of a pastry bag for convenience (just need to snip the tip off and push the tip through). Place prepared bag in glass and wrap the sides over the glass. Spoon the frosting into the bag. Holding the tip end of the bag with one hand, twist the opened end with the other hand until the frosting begins to come out the tip. Pipe onto cupcakes.

Top with sprinkles.

Happy Valentine’s Day! May your day be filled with lots of hugs and kisses!

Links:

• Red Velvet Cupcakes
• Get a Toll House Coupon

Related cupcake recipes:

Chocolate Lover’s Cookies

Surprise Prize Cupcakes

 

Baking From the Heart: Easy Heart Shaped Cookie & Red Velvet Cupidcakes

Here’s a saying that I just love: “There’s nothing better than a good friend – except a good friend with chocolate.”

What better way to be a good friend on Valentine’s Day than by baking up some chocolate treats? This big, frosted chocolate chip Heart Cookie is a perfect way to appreciate a teacher, coach or friend. Using refrigerated dough and a heart-shaped pan mean it’s no trouble at all to make.

And it also leaves time to make some gorgeous Red Velvet Cupidcakes for an extra special Valentine. The color may be red, but the flavor is all yummy chocolate!

• Easy Heart Shaped Cookie recipe
• Red Velvet Cupidcakes recipe