Hersheys Quick'N'Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

I have not made cupcakes in SO long and oh my goodness it was a blast. Since the last time I made them, my decorating skills have slightly evolved, hence the more elaborate icing design than just slapping it on with a knife (which is just as good too!). I added some chocolate chips to the batter because I need multi-textured food; it really is bad I know. I also doubled the icing recipe, but shh...don't tell anyone. :)

Seriously, these were probably the best cupcakes I've ever made, thanks to Hersheys of course.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening, softened (usually I HATE using shortening, but don't substitute here. This really did make a lot of difference in the texture).

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup hot water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or milk)

Creamy Fudge Frosting-recipe below

Directions.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.

2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening, eggs, milk, water, and vanilla; beat on low speed of mixture for 1 min. (try doing this without a mixer...your arm will get a good workout I promise). Beat on medium speed for an additional 3 min or until mixture is smooth. Fill cups 1/2 full with bater.

3. Bake 15-20 min. or until the center of each cupcake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. 

4. Prepare frosting and frost the cupcakes however you desire. 

CREAMY FUDGE FROSTING:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

3 2/3 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

1/3 cup of water (you may not use all of this. If you add too much, just add more sugar).

Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa; stir until smooth and well blended. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt alternately with water; beat with a spoon or whisk until smooth and creamy.

Hersheys Mixed Nut Crunch

So yes, there are going to be 3 new posts today...and no I did not make them all today. I made the pie this weekend and this recipe and the next ones were made today. This recipe is from my Hershey Best-loved Recipes cookbook. I've been using various recipes from online so much recently that I've really missed using an actual cookbook. Originally the recipe is called "Cashew Macadamia Crunch" because it uses only cashews and macadamias, but I had a big tub of mixed nuts and I thought it was discriminatory only to use those 2 nuts. :) 

This is a salty and sweet pleasure for anyone! Unless you hate nuts, I can't imagine anybody not liking this candy. The nuts are held together by a gooey, sugary, and buttery mixture. The recipe also originally called for only milk chocolate chips, but after years of experience, I found that using half milk and half semisweet chocolate usually yields the best results. Hope you guys enjoy and tell me if you try it! :)

INGREDIENTS:

 2 cups (11.5 ounce package) Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips (or 1 cup Milk chocolate, 1 cup semisweet)

   *of course they tell you to use EVERYTHING Hershey, but I won't tell anyone if you don't. :)

2 cups mixed nuts

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons light corn syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Grease foil. Cover bottom of prepared pan with chocolate chips.

2. Combine nuts, butter, sugar, and corn syrup in large saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins to cling together and turns a light golden brown.

3. Pour mixture over chocolate chips in pan, spreading evenly; cool. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Remove from pan and peel off foil. Break into pieces (you might need to use a knife). Store tightly covered in a cool, dry place (I kept mine in the refrigerator b/c to me it tastes better cold). 

Ingredients

Strawberry Margarita Pie

I was in the mood to make a pie, and I definitely don't have a lot of money to spend on ingredients so I went for this yummy sounding pie recipe I found off the pillsbury website. The picture they have makes the pie look a whole lot bigger, but in reality it's slightly smaller. I also added about 1 cup of crushed graham crackers to my crust to make it a little thicker. Pay attention to the fact that the whipping cream, whipped, is used IN the pie. I, having a dumb moment, thought it was just for a whipped topping and I skipped on buying it at the store. Then I realized, one: there is no whipped cream on the top of the pie in the picture, and two: that it actually goes IN the pie. Oh well, I used the small amount of Cool Whip I had in addition to a touch of milk. There were, consequently, a few little white dots from the Cool Whip, but it still tasted really refreshing and light! This is a perfect summer dessert. 

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 1/4	cups crushed pretzels
1/4	cup sugar
1/2	cup margarine or butter, melted
Filling
1	(14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2	cup frozen concentrated margarita mix, thawed
1	(10-oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
1	cup whipping cream, whipped Directions: In small bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix well. Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. n large bowl, combine condensed milk and margarita mix; beat until smooth. Add strawberries; beat at low speed until well blended. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust-lined pan. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Store in freezer.