Mini Banana Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

          In a way, mini cupcakes have a higher standard than regular cupcakes.  Those two bites have to have the perfect texture and flavor so that you aren't left with a feeling of disappointment. It's like what I learned in statistics class: the smaller the data sample, the more representative everything has to be or you'll get the wrong impression.  

         These cupcakes are fluffy ans moist, with a strong banana flavor because of the mashed bananas.  They are fluffier than banana muffins, and they are truly banana flavored.  There isn't any cinnamon or nutmeg to distract.  I made dulce de leche Swiss meringue buttercream with some left over dulce de leche I had from these cookies.  The caramel flavor added more intensity to the cupcake, I think.  I topped them off with candied walnuts, which added crunch and tied all the flavors together.  The walnuts are coated in caramelized sugar and so they add more of that caramel flavor.  

         They were some fine specimens of cupcake.  

First, cream together the butter and sugar. 

Beat in eggs and stir in 2 ripe mashed bananas (I pureed the bananas in a blender). Stir in baking soda that has been dissolved in hot milk.

Fold in the sifted dry ingredients.

Portion out the batter, filling the liners 3/4 of the way. 

Bake and they will get puffy. Then let cool. 

Make a Swiss meringue buttercream, following the normal procedure: heat egg whites and sugar over simmering water, beat until firm, cream in butter, and mix in flavorings (dulce de leche).

     Then just frost the cupcakes, top with candied walnuts, and enjoy! The cupcakes will keep at room temperature for a few days.  

Banana Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

makes 3 dozen mini cupcakes, or 18 standard cupcakes

Ingredients

for the cupcake:

125g (4oz + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter

175g (6oz) sugar

2 eggs

2 large mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp Baking soda

2 Tbsp boiling milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

225g (8oz) flour

for the buttercream:

2-1/2 large egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened

1/8 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4-1/2 cup of dulce de leche, room temperature 

candied walnuts, follow directions here 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325*F.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Cream butter & sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Mix in mashed bananas.
3. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk and stir into the banana mixture.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and fold into the wet ingredients until incorporated.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.  Bake in over for 10-12 minutes if you're making mini cupcakes, or 18-25 minutes if you're making standard cupcakes.  They should be light golden brown and a toothpick should come out clean.  Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.
6. To make the buttercream, combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring the mixture to 150 degrees F while whisking constantly.
7. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until mixture cools and doubles in volume and forms firm peaks when the whisk is pulled up out of the meringue.
8. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. Add salt and vanilla and mix to combine. Add dulce de leche and mix to combine.
9. Frost the cupcakes and top with candied walnuts.  Keep at room temperature. 

Dulce de Leche Stuffed Mexican Chocolate Cookies

      

       I'm in the process of coming up with some recipes for a themed bake sale I'm holding at school.  The particular theme I'm working on is "ancient civilizations," which is pretty hard since ancient people basically ate some type of meat and grain, and that was it.  Anyways, I came up with these cookies to represent the ancient Incas, since they lived in what is now Mexico and (fortunately) had access to cocoa beans.  

       This is a thick, dark chocolate cookie with a dash of cinnamon, filled and stuffed with dulce de leche. The good thing about stuffing the cookies with dulce de leche is that the filling never hardens and always remains gooey.  Other caramel-stuffed cookies have to be eaten warm.  Also, these cookies are big, about the size of the palm of your hand, so they are perfect for selling.  

        Dulce de leche is a common Mexican ingredient, which is like carmelized milk.  You can buy it at a grocery store, or you can make it by yourself out of sweetened condensed milk.  Since I had a can of sweetened condensed milk already sitting in my pantry, and curiosity, I decided to go with the latter option. 

         There are lots of ways to make dulce de leche (just google it).  I chose the oven method.  All you need is a roasting pan, hot water, a glass dish that fits in the roasting pan, an oven, and a can of sweetened condensed milk.  

Place one can of sweetened condensed milk in a glass dish. I used a pie plate.

Cover the dish tightly with foil.

Place the dish in the roasting pan.  Pour hot water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the glass dish. Remove the dish from the roasting pan, and place the roasting pan on the bottom rack of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 425*F. 

When the oven is heated, place the glass dish back into the roasting pan.  Bake for 1 hr and 15 minutes.  Check the water level in the pan every half hour and add water if necessary.  Take the glass dish out of the oven and let cool for at least  hour. 

Remove the foil.  You should have a deep brown caramel. 

Stir the dulce de leche in a bowl until smooth and refrigerate until completely cool.  

     Making the cookies is very simple.  To start, you make a simple chocolate cookie dough.  It will be very thick.

Make the chocolate cookie dough.

Make a cinnamon-sugar mixture out of 3 tbs granulated sugar, 1 tsp cocoa powder, and 2 tsp cinnamon.

Scoop rounds of tbs of cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet,  1-1/2 inches apart.  Then scoop about 1 tsp of  dulce de leche on top.

Scoop another 2 tbs of chocolate cookie dough on top of the dulce de leche.  Pinch the dough into a ball to enclose the dulce de leche.  Roll it in the cinnamon sugar and place back on the baking sheet.  Press the dough down to a make a disk about 3/4" in diameter. 

 Bake at 350*F for 16-20 minutes.  Let cool.

Pipe more dulce de leche on top. 

       I was excited to make these cookies and I'm happy with how they turned out.  I already had all the ingredients at home, so I didn't have to wait for anyone to take me to the grocery store (which I hate doing; once I have a recipe in my mind, it's all I can think about until I actually make it).  The cinnamon and dulce de leche really add flair to the rich but ordinary chocolate cookies.

        If you want a spicier Mexican chocolate cookie, try adding 1/4 tsp chili powder to add warmth.

      Enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Stuffed Mexican Chocolate Cookies

makes 12 large cookies

adapted from My Baking Additction

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough:

2 sticks cold and cubed unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup good quality dark cocoa powder (like Hershey's Special Dark)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

For Finishing:

about 1 cup dulce de leche (see above for instructions for homemade)

3 tbs granulated sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until well-combined. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix in the cocoa powder well.  
3. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl, and then fold into the wet ingredients until combined.  
4. Scoop 2 tbs of dough onto the cookie sheets, 1-1/2 inches apart.  Scoop 1 tsp of dulce de leche on top of the dough, and then scoop another 2 tbs of dough on top.  
5. Pinch the dough around the dulce de leche filling to form a ball.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder for finishing.  Roll the balls of cookie dough in the sugar mixture and place back on the cookie sheets.  Press the dough balls into 3/4" thick disks.  
7. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 16-20 minutes.  Let cool on the pans for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
8. Fill a piping bag with dulce de leche and pipe onto the cooled cookies in any pattern you wish.  Store the cookies at room temperature in a sealed container.