a love for candy

Hello All! I spent today shopping with my grandma, sister, and nephew, who are visiting from Wyoming. I am exhausted, to say the least. My grandma stayed the night last night as our first official house guest. It was so nice to sit and chat with her. She brought a bunch of pictures (OLD ones, too!) of her side of the family and recipes for the cookbook I am trying to put together before the 4th of July. I am really excited to have all these family recipes in one spot. . . like my grandma's sweet pickles and chili sauce recipes. . . I can't tell you how long I have craved these! Maybe this summer, I will get up the nerve to try them out and can some. . . hmmm. . . the wheels are turning.

My oven is still out of order, but I haven't had time to bake lately so I am not noticing it. I made some no-bake cookies yesterday for Jon's lunch and they are delicious! I will post the recipe soon! And hopefully things are slowing down (I can only pray!) so I can get my valance sewn for my kitchen window and some baby stuff for a dear baby boy that will be born in June.

Before my oven broke, I did make these:

Back in January, the Food Network Magazine showcased a selection of cupcakes that are to "satisfy your cravings" for candy bars. They all looked delicious and I had to pick one kind for a play date snack. I picked the Snicker's copy-cat since it is one of Jon's favorite candy bars.

They turned out really good and really tasty. . . but I think they were missing one vital ingredient . . . caramel! I didn't really think about this until after I had made them and eaten one. They were still amazingly good and quite similar tasting to the original bar.

Peanut Cupcakes with Nougat-Chocolate Frosting

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

10 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 tbs vanilla

3/4 cup whole milk

2 cups chopped salted roasted peanuts, plus more for garnish

Nougat Frosting:

2 (13-oz.) jars marshmallow cream

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

pinch of salt

Chocolate Frosting:

6 oz. milk chocolate, chopped

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tbs vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Make the cupcakes by mixing ingredients together using your stand mixer or hand mixer. Don't over mix the batter. Line muffin tins with paper liners, filling liners about half way with batter. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool completely.

Make the nougat frosting by beating the marshmallow cream , peanut butter, and salt with a mixer until smooth (I recommend a stand mixer for this as my hand mixer got really hot and almost overheated). Set aside.

Make the chocolate frosting by melting chocolates slowly and then adding remaining ingredients and mixing until smooth and creamy.

Spread the nougat frosting over each cupcake then top with chocolate frosting. Make sure to leave just enough of nougat exposed. Garnish with peanuts.

Enjoy and happy baking!!!