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Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes (70 calories per cupcake!)

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These cupcakes are a good thing.

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

They’re a very good thing. Like they couldn’t have come at a better time-bikini season!! (<–Yikes)

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

I’m not sure how it is even possible to have 70 calories in a cupcake but it happened..Unintentionally. I am actually a huge lover of angel food cake. I had never had chocolate angel food cake before, so I decided to give it a whirl. A whirl in cupcake form of course!

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

Because I made these into cupcakes, they obviously were begging for frosting, so that was a teeny dilemma I was having. I didn’t want to make a buttercream because I thought that might be too sweet (Yes, “too sweet” is possible for me) and I really am not much of a fan of cream cheese frosting, so I decided to go with my family’s favorite-whipped cream frosting

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

These cupcakes do deflate a little after a minute or two out of the oven. Be sure to fill the cupcakes with batter about 3/4 full, for the full experience!

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes

(Makes 15-17 cupcakes)

6 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup cake flour (or all purpose flour whisked with 1 teaspoon corn starch)

3/4 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

pinch of salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and line muffin tins with cupcake liners
  2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, allow the 6 eggs whites to sit (covered with plastic wrap) for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, sift 1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons of white sugar, the cake flour, the cocoa powder, and the salt. Set aside.
  3. Once egg whites are at room temperature, beat using the whisk attachment until frothy. Mix in cream of tartar. Beat with whisk attachment until soft peaks form, gradually add in remaining 1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons of white sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time. Beat until shiny and stiff peaks form. Beat in te vanilla extract.
  4. Sift the flour mixture over the egg whites, one quater at a time. Fold after each addition using a rubber spatula. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into each cupcake liner. Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes | Beautiful Disasters

Random Fact of the Day: he chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million.

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Coconut Blondies

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Life is good.

Coconut Blondies | Beautiful Disasters

I finished all my AP tests last Friday. We are a few breaths away from summer. Charles Ramsey’s heroic actions and great humor got me through AP testing week last week. And I have some delicious coconut blondies to share with you all.

Coconut Blondies | Beautiful Disasters

Maybe I am getting a little coconut-happy lately, but I kind of like it. Coconut signifies summer and tropical things to me, so being land-locked, coconut is one of those ingredients that has grown on me.

Coconut Blondies | Beautiful Disasters

I hope you all have a great day full of smiles, sunshine, and most of all, some coconut blondies.

Coconut Blondies

1/2 cup coconut oil (room temperature)

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour (all-purpose is fine, too!)

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or desired nuts)

1/4 cup chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil and brown sugar unti completely combined. Mix in eggs until incorporated. Add in extracts. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Finally fold in coconut.
  3. Spread dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and slightly press into the top of the spread dough. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool and cut into bars. Store leftovers in sealed container or cover with plastic wrap.

Random Fact of the Day: The blesbok, a South African antelope, is almost the same color as grapejuice.

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Hawaiian Dream Cookies

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As promised, here is a photo of me from prom this past weekend!

Senior Prom 2013

I did not ask permission to post a picture of my date, but he’s not that important anyways right? ;) In all seriousness, he is actually a really great guy and was super fun to spend the day with.  Can’t believe I have no more high school dances left EVER!

Senior Prom 2013

I really don’t have a ton to share about prom, there wasn’t any major drama worth sharing so let’s move onto these ahhh-mazing cookies I baked up!

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies | Beautiful Disasters

I’m sure many of you have tasted or heard of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies | Beautiful Disasters

I’m a huge fan. I particularly love macadamia nuts, which are sort of a special treat for me because they are super duper expen$ive here in the non-tropical Midwest. I decided to treat myself and bake up some cookies made with a match made in heaven-coconut and macadamia nuts.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies | Beautiful Disasters

All I have to say is, you MUST try this recipe. These cookies are everything you need and more.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies | Beautiful Disasters

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies (Hawaiian Dream Cookies)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup white  sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups coconut

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars using a mixer. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add in salt, baking soda, and flours. Stir in coconut with mixer. Fold in nuts by hand or slowly using the mixer
  3. Drop dough onto an ungreased baking sheet by the teaspoonful and bake in preheated oven for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then let finish cooling on wire rack for about 5 minutes. Enjoy! Store leftovers in sealed container.

Random Fact of the Day: A sneeze can travel as fast as 100 miles per hour.

Hawaiian Dream Cookies | Beautiful Disasters

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Black Bean & Rice Soup

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Prom was this past weekend, I’ll be sharing more about it soon but I prepared this post ahead of time so I could enjoy the weekend without stressing about the blog!

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

Black bean soup has become one of my more recent absolute favorite soups. I have always been a big fan of soup, but black bean has just become my new bestie, especially since I made the whole vegetarian change in my life a couple months ago.

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Panera’s black bean soup, but never quite realized how easy it is to make my own black bean soup at home.

Black Bean and Rice Soup | Beautiful Disasters

This version is not really exactly like Panera’s because I decided I wanted it to have a bit more body to it. The addition of rice is purely optional, but I think it really adds something! You can enjoy this as a meal by itself or if you’re feeling hungry, some bread or focaccia would be aweee-some.

Black Bean & Rice Soup

2 cans black beans

4 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

3 cups prepared rice

  1. Blend together the black beans with the broths, using an emulsion blender or food processor.
  2. With the black bean mixture in a large pot, add in salt, flour, and seasonings. Cook on medium heat until nice and hot. (You don’t need to bring it to a boil).
  3. Add in rice and keep on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until everything is incorporated. Enjoy!

Random Fact of the Day: The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 ft. (GAGGGG!!)

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Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars

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Eeeek! Prom is tomorrow. I feel like I was seriously just writing the overview of prom weekend from last year, weird how the time flies!!

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

I’ve been my uber busy self this week. It is like everything that I need to do for senior year has been piled into one week. We have AP tests starting this Monday after prom weekend (yeah, our school is that cruel) and then I had senior night for soccer last night, the soccer program pasta dinner Wednesday night, a game Tuesday night, and several tests and practice AP tests throughout the week that the teachers have been throwing at us to be prepared for next week.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Thankfully, my dress was bought and altered with plenty of time before this week and my appointments were scheduled for hair and such pretty far out to be sure I got the time I wanted. Oh and another nice little twist to throw in for my prom weekend?…we have a soccer game. Yep, same thing as last year.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

My coach insists EVERY year to schedule a game on the day of prom, so then we all get to sprint from the game to our appointments with hardly a shower. I guess he likes to keep us busy.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Enough with the prom talk, I’m sure I will have plenty to say after the weekend. Let’s talk about these bars! I have never had a nanaimo bar, but had heard about them and have been intrigued for a while now. This is a peanut butter version, and guys…you NEED these in your life! They are super decadent little bites of a chocolate-coconut graham cracker crust, with a smooth peanut butter filling, topped with a thin shell of chocolate. Yum!

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars

(Makes 36 small bars)

FOR CRUST:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder (I used dark)

1 egg, beaten

1 1/4 cups (1 sleeve/9 crackers) graham cracker crumbs

1 cup shredded coconut

FOR MIDDLE LAYER:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

2 Tablespoons vanilla pudding powder

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

FOR TOP LAYER:

4 oz. semisweet chocolate

  1. Melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder in a double boiler until fully incorporated (don’t let it come to a boil). Add the beaten egg and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the graham cracker crumbs and coconut. Press down firmly into an ungreased 8 x8-inch or 9 x9-inch pan. Let sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes. 
  2. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, vanilla extract, instant pudding powder, and powdered sugar, until light and fluffy. Spread filing over crust layer in an even layer. Pop pan in fridge for about 30 minutes to let it firm up a bit.
  3. Melt the chocolate for the top layer, spread over the filling and spread out evenly with a knife or spatula. Let sit in fridge for about 1 hour, then slice into bars and keep in sealed container. I keep them in the fridge to stay firm.

Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars | Beautiful Disasters

Random Fact of the Day: Only 1 out of 700 identity thieves gets caught

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