These oreo cupcakes are so dreamy…totally inspired by my favorite cupcake at Walt Disney World at the Boardwalk Bakery! They have an oreo mousse filling and a whipped cream frosting on top!

I think about these cupcakes all the time and if I'm anywhere near the Boardwalk…I have to have one of these cupcakes. Being able to make them at home now is awesome!

Somehow they made my favorite @waltdisneyworld cupcake even better by changing the cupcake flavor from vanilla to chocolate. This is the Oreo cupcake served at the Boardwalk Bakery. It's a must have…not one crumb left. ???? There's an Oreo mousse filling inside, the crispy candy pearls on the outside & the whipped icing…all PERFECTION! #TLKDisney #waltdisneyworld #latergram #boardwalkhotel #disneyside

A photo posted by Julie Deily (@thelittlekitchn) on Feb 22, 2015 at 8:09am PST

Let's start with the actual cupcake you get at the Boardwalk Bakery. Their oreo cupcake looks different from mine but has a similar oreo cookie mousse filling inside a chocolate cupcake and a whipped frosting. I couldn't find the crunchy candies on top but that's ok, the cupcake is amazing!

First off, I did ask the Walt Disney Chefs for the recipe. Did you know that they share their recipes? If they have a tested scaled down version of the recipe then they will share it. The version they shared with me was not chocolate though…it had a vanilla cupcake. The oreo cupcake at the Boardwalk Bakery used to have a vanilla cupcake base way back when though, so it makes sense!

So for the chocolate cupcake portion, that's my own. I tweaked the mousse filling and kept the whipped cream frosting as is.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

I used a rubber spatula.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Then, mix in the eggs. Add the vanilla extract, vegetable oil, coffee and milk.

A tip: if your coffee is still really hot, mix it with the cold milk and that will cool down the coffee really quick!

Add the dry ingredients in two batches and don't overmix.

Spoon the batter into a prepared cupcake tin. I use greaseproof cupcake liners.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes.

Whipped heavy cream until you have medium-firm peaks.

Mix in crushed Oreo cookies.

And there you have the mousse.

You might not be able to see but I have my butter knife at an angle.

And I'm cutting out a core of the cupcake.

It looks like a cone, see?

Fill that cupcake with the Oreo cookie mousse.

This is honestly what makes this truly an Oreo cupcake!

Put the core right on top, with the insides sticking out.

It looks messy and funny right now but we'll fix that.

I'm using a round tip and a pastry bag…piping the whipped cream frosting.

Around that core.

Going around.

And around.

When you're done, add the Oreo cookie halves. What does the cupcake look like to you?

Add sprinkle some cookie crumbs on top or you can use rainbow sprinkles too!

It's so delicious! And it tastes just like the cupcakes at the Boardwalk Bakery!

Can I say you're welcome?

These cupcakes are so cute and I bet you can't eat just one!

Definitely know that you need to refrigerate these guys because of the whipped cream frosting if you're not serving them immediately!

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Oreo Cupcakes

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter 1/4 cup, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee cooled
• 1/2 cup milk

Cookies and Cream Mousse

• 1 cup heavy cream divided
• 6 chocolate Oreo cookies crumbled, plus additional for assembly)

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 12 chocolate cream-filled cookies each cut in half (Oreos)

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Into a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together with a rubber spatula.
• Add butter and sugar to another large bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric hand mixer, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Add eggs and mix together until thoroughly mixed. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Add vanilla extract and vegetable oil and mix again. Add coffee and mix and mix thoroughly. (If the coffee is still really hot, mix it first with the cold milk before adding to the batter.)
• In two batches, add the dry ingredients iand mix together until they are combined (don’t over mix and don’t forget to scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl).
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each cupcake liner. Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes, until when inserting a toothpick in a couple of cupcakes in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove cupcakes from the muffin tin and cool on wire cooling racks.

Cookies and Cream Mousse

• Finely crumble 6 Oreo cookies; I put them into a plastic zippered bag and crush with a rolling pin or the bottom of a glass.
• Add 1 cup heavy cream to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed to medium-firm peaks, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Fold together whipped cream and crumbled Oreo cookies in a separate bowl (so you can reuse the same bowl for the frosting). Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cupcakes.

Assembly

• To that bowl you used previously, add 2 cups heavy cream and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed to stiff peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cupcakes.
• Using a butter knife, cut out the centers of the cupcakes. At a 45-degree angle, cut in a circle so when you’re done, you have cut out a cone shape.
• Using a spoon, fill each cupcake center with about 2 tablespoons Oreo cookie mousse. Take the cut out cupcake and place it on top, with the point facing up.
• Using a round tip inside a pastry bag, pipe whipped cream frosting starting at the bottom and moving up the sides to cover the cut out cupcake. Place two halves of an Oreo cookie on each side of the cupcake and sprinkle with Oreo cookie crumbs, if desired.
• If not serving immediately, these cupcakes need to be stored in the refrigerator because of the heavy cream. Once you’re ready to eat them, allow them to sit on the counter at room temperature for at least 10 to 15 minutes (or the cupcake will taste dry). These cupcakes can me be made a few days ahead of time.

Notes

Inspired by the Oreo Cupcakes at Boardwalk Bakery at Walt Disney World; thanks to the Disney Chefs for the Whipped Cream Frosting recipe!

The post Oreo Cupcakes appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have a thing for cupcakes. Maybe because they are small? And salted caramel. Well because it's caramel and butter is involved.

I have a good friend, Carrie, who tells me all the time she doesn't like salted caramel. So if you're like her, you can make the caramel without the salt and it would be caramel buttercream!

I'm so glad to be working with Land O'Lakes again to bring you another recipe and because this one's a little special, I consider this a holiday recipe.

You can make your own caramel sauce or use store bought. If you use regular caramel, you can easily make it salted caramel by adding sea salt (to taste) to it.

Also, when I'm making these cupcakes, I usually put the cupcakes in the oven, make the salted caramel and then the buttercream but you can honestly make the caramel and the buttercream ahead of time, even a couple of days before!

Sift all of the dry ingredients, especially, the cocoa powder because it always has hard bits in it, except the salt. Mix together all of the dry ingredients with the salt.

Take two tablespoons of the dry ingredients and mix in with the chocolate chips ahead of time, then set aside. I do this so the chips don't sink…some still will but that's ok. Also, I use the miniature chocolate chips because the big ones…no matter what you do, they sink to the bottom of the cupcake!

Cream the butter and the sugar together.

Add eggs and mix.

Then, add the coffee, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and the milk. Once you mix it up, it will look curdled.

I always carefully add the dry ingredients in two or three batches and mix.

Add the chocolate chips.

And mix with a rubber spatula.

I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup for these cupcakes.

And then bake at 350 degrees F for 16 to 18 minutes.

While those are baking, make your caramel sauce. Don't stir once you turn the heat on. You can pick up the pot and swirl around but don't stir.

Once they are an amber color…

Add the butter and whisk vigorously.

Then, add the heavy cream and whisk vigorously again.

Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and sea salt and mix together.

And now for the buttercream! I like to use both salted and unsalted Land O Lakes® butter for buttercream.

After mixing the butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar. It's a regular ol' vanilla buttercream…

Until you pour in the salted caramel!

And there you have it!

Check out the short little instagram video I posted of frosting one of these cupcakes…below!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream yesssss! @landolakesktchn (thanks to @loveandoliveoil for the video help!) recipe ???? ???? http://littlekit.ch/choccupcakes

A video posted by Julie Deily (@thelittlekitchn) on Nov 3, 2015 at 3:52am PST

Cupcakes that I KNOW you'll love! A few friends taste tested for me and they really enjoyed them. Now time to make these for your next holiday get together! Stat!

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Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 24 to 28 cupcakes

Ingredients

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick 1/2 cup, softened
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brewed coffee cooled
• 3/4 cup milk

Salted Caramel

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream room temperature
• 1/2 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick 1/4 cup, cubed, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing

• 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick 1/2 cup, softened
• 1 Land O Lakes® Salted Butter Stick 1/2 cup, softened
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup salted caramel cooled

Instructions

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
• Sift cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix together with a large spatula in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Measure out mini chocolate chips, place in a small bowl and add 2 Tablespoons of the dry mixture and mix. Set said both bowls.
• Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, on medium for 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through with a rubber spatula. Add eggs and mix for 2 minutes (scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl). Add vanilla extract, vegetable oil, coffee and milk. Mix thoroughly for about 1 minute (batter will look curdled).
• Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix together until they are combined (don’t over mix and don’t forget to scrape the bottoms and sides of the bowl). Add chocolate chip mixture and fold into the batter using a rubber spatula.
• Portion out 1/4 cup of cake batter into lined muffin tins. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes on 350 degrees F or when inserting a toothpick in a couple of cupcakes in the center comes out clean. Carefully remove cupcakes from the muffin tin and cool on wire cooling racks.

Salted Caramel

• Add 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water to a stainless steel pot (that has a heavy bottom and high sides). Mix to combine and then turn heat to medium high.
• Lift the pot and swirl but don't stir. Cook until the sugar turns to a caramel color, about 10 to 11 minutes (watch carefully so it doesn't burn).
• Turn heat down to low. Add butter (it will be really hot so be careful) and whisk until thoroughly combined. Again, being careful, add heavy cream and whisk thoroughly.
• Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and salt (add more if you like it even more salty) and whisk thoroughly. Allow to cool completely before putting into an airtight container and refrigerating.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

• In your stand mixer bowl using the paddle attachment, mix thoroughly the softened 1 Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick and 1 Land O Lakes® Salted Butter Stick on low to medium speed. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
• Turn off your mixer and in two batches, add the powdered sugar and mixing until well blended (it will look like a dough). Be careful, the powered sugar can go everywhere!
• Add salted caramel sauce and mix for about 3 to 4 minutes. I like to refrigerate my buttercream before using. Refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes (overnight even), just place on the kitchen counter for a little while before icing your cupcakes.
• Pipe buttercream over cupcakes using your favorite tip in a decorator/frosting bag. Drizzle leftover caramel sauce on top and serve!

Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

The post Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Ever since I made these cookies (well I should say when I got them right because it took several tries), I have been excited to share them with you! Nutella, cream cheese, chocolate and powdered sugar…you cannot go wrong! They are a twist on these red velvet cream cheese crinkle cookies I made last year! And our friends at Charley's vet surgeon's office loved them too. So they are vet approved for humans (only of course!).

And these are the same cookies I shipped out to my food blogger friends who I was matched up with! I hope Lori, Emily, and Rebecca enjoyed the cookies!

From the bottom of my heart, I'm so thankful for the 566 food bloggers who signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap…which mean over 20,000 cookies were shipped worldwide. With their help along with the generous brand partners this year: OXO, Dixie Crystals, and California Olive Ranch and Brownie Brittle, we were able to raise $12,335 for Cookies for Kids' Cancer!! What an accomplishment, we couldn't have done it without everyone. If you're a food blogger and would like to participate next year, please sign up for notifications.

And the cookies I received…umm amazing! I received Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles from Jennifer from Bake or Break, Chocolate Truffle Peppermint Crunch Cookies from Elizabeth from Sugar Hero and Soft Gingerbread Cookies from from Elizabeth from Food Ramblings.

First things first, when I make cookies, I usually measure out the dry ingredients (minus the sugar). Here's how to measure flour.

Whisk it all together and then set aside.

Mix the cream cheese and butter together and then add the sugar and mix it really good.

Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix again.

This is how I measure nutella (and peanut butter).

Goes right into the mixer. (PS and by the way, I can't live without my KitchenAid stand mixer, right about now it's been in overdrive with cookies and baking for the holiday season!)

And transforms the cookie dough! Be sure to scrap the sides of your stand mixer bowl.

Add the dry ingredients in two batches.

And mix on a low speed.

Who wants to lick the beater?

And there's the cookie dough. Chill it covered in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Then, using a medium (1 1/2 Tablespoon) cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough balls, round them up in your hands then dip them in powdered sugar (until completely covered).

You get powdered sugar everywhere but it's worth it.

Yep, these are delightfully chewy on the inside and perfect on the outside. Enjoy them!

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Nutella Cream Cheese Crinkle Cookies Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes minutes

Servings 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Place flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
• Mix butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. Add sugar to the bowl. Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugars together for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix for another minute. Add nutella and beat for another minute. Add flour mixture in two batches and mix with rubber spatula until incorporated. Refrigerate cookie dough for 4 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Using a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, portion out dough and roll into balls. Roll in powdered sugar until it's completely covered. Bake on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper for about 13 to 14 minutes. Pull parchment paper from baking sheet with cookies and place on wire cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

And stay tuned until next week, Lindsay and I will be sharing round ups of ALL of the cookies that were shipped worldwide. I can't wait!

Disclosure: We do not get paid by the sponsors of the cookie swap, all of the money raised goes directly to Cookies for Kids' Cancer. The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Thanks for your support!

The post Nutella Cream Cheese Crinkle Cookies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This past summer, we attended the 50th anniversary party for our neighbors. Being married for 50 years is a huge accomplishment and they are such a fun couple! It was a potluck and someone brought a brownie trifle with fudge sauce and whipped cream that was to die for. I knew I had to make it one day but I thought I would change the fudge to a salted caramel sauce.

I love working with Land O Lakes and this is my fifth and final post for Kitchen Conversations this year. Since it's all about butter, I had to do it up big. Making my own caramel sauce has been on my bucket list for a long time but I was scared. I know and it was an unreasonable kind of scared but I conquered it! (If you have never made it before, please do. You can do it!) I made the most amazing and simple salted caramel sauce…that I know you'll love! And the best fudgy brownies! Both with Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter.

It's officially the holiday season so I always have tons of Land O Lakes Butter on hand for baking and cooking. I love the Flavor Protect Wrapper® it comes in so it stays fresher longer. And I need to admit I actually get twitchy when I'm down to only one box of butter!

Let's start with the caramel. Cut the butter into cubes and let it sit on the counter to come to room temperature.

Add sugar and water and mix. THEN turn the heat on. Once the heat is on, you do not want to mix or the sugar will crystalize. Swirl the pot a little bit.

You can use a brush with water to break down the crystalized sugar on the sides.

Once it starts turning an amber color, add the butter. Turn the heat down to low.

Be careful when adding the butter and the heavy cream, it does bubble up a little bit.

Whisk vigorously until well blended.

Add the heavy cream.

And whisk again.

Add vanilla extract and sea salt and whisk again.

Caramel! It did take me three times and I finally got it. I didn't whisk the ingredients when I needed to, I thought mixing was good enough. Don't make the same mistake, so make sure you whisk vigorously until well blended.

To make the brownies, chop up bittersweet chocolate.

Save yourself some time by covering your bowl in plastic when melting it in the microwave.

Whisk the cocoa powder, hot water and chocolate until it's completely melted. Add the melted butter and whisk.

Add sugar and whisk. Then, add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula.

Add the dark chocolate chips and mix just to combine.

Pour the batter into a foil lined baking dish that's been sprayed with baking spray.

Once the brownies cool, cut them into bite-sized pieces and layer them with whipped cream and salted caramel.

It's seriously amazing. I pretty much know that I'm going to have homemade caramel sauce in my refrigerator at all times. It's a must-have in my house now!

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Salted Caramel Brownie Trifles with Whipped Cream Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Resting Time 2 hours hours

Ingredients

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup heavy cream room temperature
• One Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter Stick 1/2 cup, cubed, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 to 1 1/2 Tablespoons sea salt

Brownies

• 1/2 cup Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter 1 stick, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules
• 1/3 cup hot water
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 3 large eggs beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Whipped Cream

• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Salted Caramel Sauce

• Add sugar and 1/4 cup water to a stainless steel pot (that has a heavy bottom and high sides). Mix to combine and then turn heat to medium high.
• Swirl the pan but don't stir! Cook until the sugar turns to a caramel color, about 13-14 minutes (watch carefully so it doesn't burn).
• Turn heat down to low. Add butter (it will be really hot so be careful) and whisk until thoroughly combined. Again, being careful, Add heavy cream and whisk thoroughly.
• Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and salt (add more if you like it more salty) and whisk thoroughly. Allow to cool completely before putting into an airtight container and refrigerating.

Brownies

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch baking pan with foil. Spray with baking spray and set aside.
• Melt butter and set aside. Whisk flour and salt in a small mixing bowl.
• Add cocoa powder, espresso powder, and chocolate to a large mixing bowl. Add hot water and whisk together until chocolate is melted. Add butter and whisk thoroughly. Add eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until thoroughly combined. Next, add sugar and same, whisk until thoroughly combined. Add dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Don't over mix.
• Add chocolate chips and using the rubber spatula, mix in. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Spray an offset spatula with baking spray and spread batter so it's even and the top is smooth. Bake for 35 minutes.
• Remove from oven and place on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Picking up foil on both ends, remove from pan and place on baking sheet and allow to cool for at least 2 hours.
• Cut brownies into square bite-sized pieces.

Whipped Cream

• While the brownies are baking, add whipped cream ingredients to a large glass mixing bowl and mix on medium high speed with an electric hand mixer until cream has stiff peaks, at least 4 to 5 minutes. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

Assembly

• Layer brownies, salted caramel sauce and whipped cream in small trifle bowls or one large one. Refrigerate until ready for serving, up to one day.

Tips:

• Melt butter in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in your microwave. Melt in 8-10 second increments or use melt function.

Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversation blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

The post Salted Caramel Brownie Trifles with Whipped Cream appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have always had a fascination with crinkle cookies but I always thought they would be hard or crunchy. Doesn't the crackle crinkle on top of these cookies evoke hardness or crispness? I'm a soft and chewy cookie fan, through and through. So when I was working on a cookie recipe for McCormick for the holidays, I thought I would try out their Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies and give them a spin. I added cream cheese because I'm obsessed with adding cream cheese to cookies because of these ones. The cream cheese doesn't add a funny taste, you can't even taste it since I added a little bit more sugar…they just keep the cookie super soft and moist a little longer.

I couldn't help but take another bite. And another and another when these came out of the oven…until three cookies were gone. That's the test right? If you can't eat just one, they are worth making!

I usually have about four bottles of McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract and currently have about three bottles of McCormick® Red Food Color in my spice cabinet. You never know when you a craving for red velvet comes along. If you know me, you know I'm obsessed with red velvet. The big thing about red velvet is the chocolate…yes the chocolate and the red luxurious color just gives you a feeling of celebration or just something more special…I think that's why I love it so much.

Mix all of the dry ingredients and then set them aside.

Mix the cream cheese and butter together and then cream the sugar.

Look at that red color!

It becomes a deeper red because of the cocoa powder.

I make a huge mess but it's worth it.

They look and feel like little pillows of goodness!

These literally only take a few minutes to put together and I even cheated and baked some cookies without chilling the dough and they tasted great. They spread a little more than the ones pictured here but still tasted fine.

These aren't just for Christmas or the holidays, you can make these for Valentine's Day, for someone's birthday or just because. Watch out, I'm kinda obsessed with crinkle cookies now!

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Red Velvet Cream Cheese Crinkle Cookies Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons McCormick® Red Food Color
• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Place flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix with a rubber spatula and set aside.
• Mix butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer. Add sugar to the bowl. Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, red food color and vanilla extra and mix well. Add flour-cocoa mixture in two batches and mix with rubber spatula until incorporated. Refrigerate cookie dough for 4 hours.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Using a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, portion out dough and roll into balls. Roll in powdered sugar until it's completely covered. Bake on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper for about 9 to 10 minutes. Pull parchment paper from baking sheet with cookies and place on wire cooling racks. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

Modified from Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by McCormick. Thank you for supporting the brands that I work with, it enables me to do what I love and more importantly, I get to hang out with you all! As always, opinions I share are always my own and I only work with brands I love.

The post Red Velvet Cream Cheese Crinkle Cookies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Recently, I traveled to Detroit, Michigan to learn all about the new Buick Encore. It's a brand new model that Buick is releasing in 2013 and as part of the promotion, they invited 10 bloggers from different genres to participate in the Buick Encore's Pinboard to Dashboard program.

Basically, we create a Pinterest pinboard to inspire the look of an actual Buick Encore – from the interior and exterior colors and even show where we would take the car, what we would listen to while driving it and who we would bring with us.

I was thrilled to be asked and of course had a blast! I met some great bloggers, Michael, Shannon and Katie (I love their blogs!). We learned all about the Buick Encore and we had amazing BBQ.

I learned a lot about Buick and the new Encore and even got to see it!

The Buick Encore is a crossover SUV, smaller than the Enclave and fits 5 passengers comfortably. When it's released, it will be the smallest crossover and I call it affordable luxury. Buick is not your grandparents' car, they have come a long way in the last 10 years. Their cars are comfortable, full of quality and even style.

It was really cold so a few of us piled into the cars and took advantage of the seat warmers! We were one of the few to actually get to see the actual Buick Encore…it's actually not in production yet.

Some of my favorite features of the Buick Encore…I love the second glove compartment. I love the music choices and the little screen. You can control the radio on the steering wheel too.

There's a center console where you can plug in your iPhone to connect it to the audio in the car and even charge it. Of course, other phones not just iPhones, it's a USB connector.

I also learned that every Buick has IntelliLink features to let you connect to your phone via Bluetooth…talk and make calls hands-free. And connect more than one phone to your Buick too!

So when thinking about how I would like my dream Buick Encore to look like…of course I found inspiration in food. And destinations that I want to take it to…all has to do with food.

I really really love blue, as you know from visiting my site. I also love the combination of chocolate espresso colors with blue. It's a really popular wedding cake color combination.

How to make Blue and Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes

I used Wilton's chocolate buttercream icing recipe and my favorite buttercream icing recipe. First add 12-inch decorator (piping) bags into two cups. This makes it easier to get the icing into them. Measure out 1 cup of each frosting and add to the bags using an offset spatula.

Remove the icing bags from the cups and squeeze the icing all the way to the small end of the bag. Tie off the bags with rubber bands and snip the ends – be sure to cut them both the same size.

Then, set up your large 16-inch decorator bag with a large cupcake tip and add both bags to it. Make sure both bags are lined up and to the frosting tip. And pipe as you usually would, be sure to squeeze icing down to the opening from the top and apply even pressure to both frostings.

You can do this with chocolate and any other color such as pink or two completely different colors…the sky's the limit!

Updated: Here's a video, I later made that has pink & chocolate swirled frosting!

So there's my inspiration and color combination for my dream Buick Encore. Blue and Chocolate! I would love this wood for a trim inside the car. Chocolate leather seats would be perfect…since we will be taking the dogs along with us, it'll be easier to clean the dog hair.

My ultimate feature would be to able to control the reusable shopping bags we all have and they just take up the whole trunk! For the exterior, I would love to have a light blue color.

As to who would I take with me in my Buick Encore? I would take my husband and my dogs for a long road trip. Our dream has always been to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway in California and to see the Grand Canyon. These cupcakes would make a great snack as well as these and these.

Check out my Pinboard to Dashboard pinterest board, I would love for you to like or repin anything you find interesting!

A huge thank you to the entire Buick Encore team (including Molly, Phil, Jeanne, Lloyd, Craig and Erin) for this great opportunity. Five finalists will be chosen out of the 10 pinterest boards and their boards will be sent to fashion & lifestyle magazine editors. The winning blogger will see their Buick Encore come to life as the Buick team will build it!

Follow Buick on facebook and twitter and be sure to follow the #PinMyEncore hashtag on twitter to see the latest!

Now tell me, what features would you like to see in your dream car? What's your favorite colors and where would you take your dream car?

Disclosure: Though this post is sponsored by Buick Encore, the opinions shared in this post are 100% my own. And there are a couple of affiliate links in this post.

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