Saturday Morning Snapshot
It was a lazy morning for everyone here at casa mia…
State of the Blog
Am I crazy, or did this week go by insanely fast? It seems like I just hit publish on last week’s Weekend Post…
This was a fun week on the blog. I got to share a recipe that was one of my most made meals in college, some cornbread made exactly how I like it, and a cupcake recipe I love to look at, but would never, ever eat (if you haven’t, read that post to find out why ).
Next week, there will be another Meatless Monday Meal , a super fun and colorful roundup, and the last cupcake in my Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes series .
Recipes/posts released this week were:
Mexican Vegan Veggie Stew – Potatoes, corn, carrots, and celery simmered in a slightly spicy, tangy tomato base. A flavor-packed, low-calorie dinner that just happens to be vegan.
Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins With Honey Butter – Moist and sweet cornbread muffins topped with homemade honey butter make a tasty and easy side dish!
Samoa Cupcakes – Toasted coconut, quick homemade caramel, and chocolate coating over a pound cake cupcake is sure to please lovers of the Girl Scout’s most divisive cookie.
Pop-culture Corner
I’m finally making my way through more of this year’s Oscar noms. I started with Room , and I thought I was emotionally prepared . I. Was. Wrong.
It’s Daredevil season 2 weekend on Netflix! Are you watching?
Also on Netflix this week is the second season of Happy Valley . If you like heart-rending British crime dramas, you’re going to love crying over this one (It’s so good!!!).
And finally, CBS announced an air date for the fifth and final season of Person of Interest . Episodes will air twice weekly, Mondays and Tuesdays, starting May 3, giving the entire world just under a month and a half to catch up with the show, which is available in its entirety on Netflix. In related news, a Person of Interest related recipe is being tested in my kitchen this weekend…
Meal Planning
Saturday: Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Orzo Sunday: Tacos Monday: Quick Rosemary Pork Chops with Broccoli Tuesday: Takeout Wednesday: BLT Salad Thursday: Sharp Cheddar Broccoli and Ham Chowder Friday: TBD
Samoa Cupcakes: toasted coconut, quick homemade caramel, and chocolate coating over a pound cake cupcake is sure to please lovers of the Girl Scout’s most divisive cookie.
Hello and welcome to the only recipe on the site that is not taste tested and approved by yours truly. We are on our penultimate recipe of my Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake series and have reached the dreaded Samoa Cupcakes week.
Guys, I have a confession: I don’t like shredded coconut. I don’t like shredded coconut on things, so really I don’t like Samoa cookies. But you know what I LOVE? Complete sets of things.
There’s no way I could do a Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake series and leave out one of the most iconic cookies of them all, so for my Samoa Cupcakes, I enlisted some trusted tasted testers and went to work.
Samoas are a crunchy cookie base covered in chocolate, topped with shredded coconut and caramel, and then drizzled with more chocolate. So for these cupcakes, I returned to our pound cake cupcake base . That gets dipped in chocolate. Then we whip up some quick homemade caramel, toast some coconut, spread all that over the cupcakes and top it all a bit more chocolate.
The end result is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Visually, they are my favorite of all the cupcakes. They look just like giant versions of the cookies and are so cute.
How do they taste? Well, the components by themselves are all delicious. The pound cake and homemade caramel are two of my favorite things to come out of my kitchen. As a whole, according to the taste testers, they are…the best of all the cupcakes.
That’s right, of out of all the cupcakes I slaved over, the ones people (well, the people who like coconut) liked best were these. So if you’re a coconut person, you’re probably going to love these Samoa Cupcakes. If you don’t like coconut, well, they are awfully fun to make and take pictures of. Plus you can eat spoonfuls of the leftover caramel sauce while you do so. 😉
You can find my Tagalong and Do-si-do Cupcakes in the archives, and come back next Friday to see our final cupcake. We’re down to the #1 best-selling Girl Scout cookie, and this cupcake is the one my fellow coconut non-fans liked best…
More Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes…
Do-si-do Cupcakes
Tagalong Cupcakes
Thin Mint Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ▢ 12 Poundcake cupcakes cooled
Chocolate Coating
- ▢ 1 cup ( 6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chopped and divided (chips or baking chocolate are fine)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon canola or vegetable oil divided
Caramel
- ▢ 4 tablespoons ( 2 oz) unsalted butter
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 100 g) packed brown sugar
- ▢ 1/2 cup heavy cream
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toasted Coconut
- ▢ 1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Instructions
Chocolate Coating
- In a small microwave-safe bowl large enough for cupcake dipping, combine 2/3 cup of the chocolate with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted and no lumps remain. Stir vigorously until chocolate is shiny and smooth.
- Dip cupcake tops in the chocolate, allowing the excess to run off. Place cupcakes on a tray in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the caramel and coconut.
Caramel
- Combine butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, and salt in a small pot. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir and bring mixture to a simmer. Set timer for five minutes and simmer (turn the heat down if it begins to boil), stirring occasionally, until thickened and syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool until just barely warm to the touch.
Toasted Coconut
- While your caramel is cooling, preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and spread coconut evenly over the surface. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes until coconut is just lightly toasted. Don’t walk away from your coconut in the oven. It burns quickly!
- Allow coconut to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Assemble
- Pour toasted coconut into the pot of cooled caramel and stir to coat.
- Using a large spoon and your fingers, scoop and arrange the coconut in circles on the top of each cupcake.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/3 cup of chocolate and 3/4 teaspoon of oil. Microwave on medium for 30 seconds until chocolate is melted, stir and repeat if needed. Pour into a plastic bag (placed over a cup to hold it open), seal the bag and snip off a very small piece of one of the corners. “Pipe” a couple lines on a plate or parchment paper for practice and then pipe vertical lines of chocolate onto each of the cupcakes.
- Place cupcakes in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow caramel and chocolate to set.
- Serve and enjoy.
Nutritional Information Caramel Adapted From: SmittenKitchen Chocolate Coating Adapted From: Martha Stewart
Small-batch Instructions: This recipe halves cleanly. Depending on the type of bowl you have, you may need to make the entire amount of chocolate so it is deep enough for dipping.
Simple but impressive homemade margherita pizza with dough and sauce from scratch!
Welcome to another week and another Monday. How was everyone’s weekend? I had the most lazy, self-indulgent couple of days and did nothing but lie on the couch, and do a massive Netflix binge of Daredevil and Happy Valley . It was delightful. Almost as delightful as today’s recipe. Segue!
Today’s Meatless Monday recipe (number 3 for this month after my Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes With Broccoli and Cheese Sauce and Mexican Vegan Vegetable Stew ) is one of my absolute favorites, Homemade Margherita Pizza.
Let’s be real, is there anything more insufferable and twee than people who brag about making their own pizza from scratch? And double real, don’t we all secretly wish we were one of them, casually dropping into morning work conversations how delicious our perfectly simmered sauce and hand-made dough was the night before?
No? What are you doing here? You have hipsters to mock elsewhere on the internet.
Yes? You’re in luck, because I’m about to help you be one of those people.
Homemade margherita pizza is a different breed from your pizza parlor pizza. It’s not too greasy or overloaded with so much cheese you could drown in it. It’s fresh tasting, sharp and a little sweet and tart from the long-simmered tomatoes. The dough is thin with a soft center and crisp edges, without being too crunchy.
It’s a pizza you don’t have to take a nap after eating, and of course, will feel great about yourself after making. If you want to add the word “artisan” when describing your pizza on social media, no one is going to stop you. They’re going to be too busy being impressed by your culinary feat (which BTdubs, is super easy–shhhhh don’t tell any one).
I’ve included instructions for using a stand mixer or by hand. Both methods are easy, and I find this dough to be very forgiving!
Ingredients
Dough
- ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast one 1/4oz package
- ▢ 2 cups 1 tablespoon ( 248 g) all-purpose flour divided, plus more for dusting
- ▢ 3/4 cup warm water 105-110°F, divided
- ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
Sauce
- ▢ 1 15-oounce can whole tomatoes
- ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ▢ 2 large garlic cloves pressed or minced
- ▢ 4 large fresh basil leaves julienned, plus optional more for topping
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon sugar
Assemble
- ▢ 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- ▢ 6-8 ounces mozzarella sliced thin
- ▢ 1 large tomato optional, sliced thin
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 1 tablespoon of the flour, yeast, and 1/4 cup of the warm water. Stir until mostly combined (it’s fine if there are a few lumps). Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until top looks foamy and bubbles form on the surface. If the top does not become foamy, your yeast may be bad or your water may have been too hot and killed it. Give it another try with a fresh packet.
- Add 1 1/2 cup of the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of warm water (you may have to reheat it if it has cooled), salt, and olive oil and stir together.
- If using a stand mixer: use the dough attachment on low and mix in 1/4-1/2 cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Knead for 6-8 minutes on low until dough is smooth and elastic. When it’s done, flour your hands and work surface and turn dough out. Knead 5-10 times until it is no longer sticky, adding more flour as necessary. Skip to step 5.
- If kneading by hand: fill a 1/2-cup measuring cup full of flour. Using some of that flour, add to your dough, stirring in a little at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of your bowl. Use more of the flour to flour your hands and work surface very well. Turn dough out onto the surface and knead for about 8 minutes, adding flour from your cup any time the dough becomes sticky. The dough is ready when it is smooth, elastic and passes the windowpane test (dough is elastic enough that you can stretch it without tearing and when held up to the light, you can see light through it).
- Pat dough with flour, place in a large bowl, cover with a clean towel, and place in a warm place. Allow to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
Sauce
- While the dough is rising, you are going to make the sauce. Using a blender or food processor pulse the tomatoes until mostly pureed with some pieces of tomato still intact–think salsa. (In a pinch, you could just really go to town with a pair of scissors in the can.)
- Heat oil in a large pot (the pot is going to seem much too big, but this sauce likes to splatter and the larger pot will cut down on cooking time). Add garlic and cook until browned and fragrant. Add pureed tomatoes, sugar, and basil. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer uncovered for 20-30 minutes (your cooking time can very greatly depending on the size of your pan and type of tomatoestirring occasionally until sauce has reduced down to about 3/4 cup.
Assemble
- Preheat oven to 500°F.
- Cover pizza tray or cookie sheet with corn meal (the corn meal will keep your pizza from sticking). Turn your bowl of dough upside down over the tray and allow dough to drop out. If your dough is sticky, you can flour your hands. Gently stretch and manipulate dough to form a circle (or rectangle if making on a baking sheet). Spread sauce over your dough, leaving about an inch and a half of crust. Add mozzarella and top with optional tomato slices and more basil if desired*.
- Bake 12-16 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is browned and bubbly.
- Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Nutritional Information Recipe Adapted From: Epicurious & Williams-Sonoma
Small-yield Instructions: Because of the way these ingredients are sold 1/4 oz yeast packet, 15 oz tomatoes, etc., it’s easier just to make the full recipe and freeze half of the sauce and dough for later use. See below for dough-freezing instructions. Make-ahead Instructions: You can allow the dough to rise over 24 hours in the fridge. Finish kneading, dust with flour and place in a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap before placing in the refrigerator. Sauce can be made up to 5 days in advance. Freezer Instructions: Cooked pizza freezes surprisingly well. Allow slices to cool completely and then freeze in a plastic bag. To reheat, place pizza into the oven at 400°F and cook until warmed through, about 6-10 minutes. To freeze the pizza dough, allow dough to complete its rise and then spray with cooking spray or rub with olive oil before wrapping in plastic wrap and putting in a plastic freezer bag. Allow to defrost for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator before using. Dough will keep for up to 3 months.
