Two comfort food desserts to sweeten up your day


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Sari Castro | Daily Trojan

Sari Castro | Daily Trojan

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend and enjoyed watching the Super Bowl!

As the semester progresses so does our stress, and if you’re anything like me, your cravings get a bit out of control. For all you sugar fans, here are two of my favorite recipes:

Peanut butter cookies (18-20)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 ripe medium bananas (or two small ones), mashed
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 6 tablespoons of peanut butter (make sure it’s creamy, not crunchy), melted and cooled
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips (or you can just go crazy with them)

Process

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl combine the dry ingredients together (first four ingredients).
  3. After the butter and the peanut butter have cooled, combine them together along with the sugar.
  4. Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
  5. Add the mashed banana, the mixture will not be smooth.
  6. Add the dry ingredients little by little, combining well after each addition (for this I like to use my hands, but you can also use a wooden spoon).
  7. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  8. If you haven’t done so, now is a good time to start pre-heating your oven to 325°F.
  9. Now time to make that cookie shape : )!
  10. Take a little bit of the mixture (about 1 tablespoon) and roll it in your hands into a ball and place it on the baking sheet, flatten it to is about 1/8 inch thick, repeat the process until you ran out of cookie dough. Make sure that the cookies are about 2 inches apart — this is very important. Otherwise you’ll end up with one huge cookie.
  11. Bake for 10-12 minutes (the bottom should be just slightly brown but not burn).
  12. Let them cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, and enjoy!

Strawberry cheesecake cupcakes (16-18)

Ingredients

Cupcake

  • 4 egg whites (quick whites liquid would work perfectly, but if you only have eggs just separate them and save the yolks for another recipe) Let this stand in a bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (this means you have to take the butter out of the fridge like 30-50 minutes ahead of time)
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
  • 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

Frosting

  • 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened (take it out ahead of time)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cups brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Fresh strawberries chopped

Chocolate letters

  • 70 percent cacao chocolate melted

Process

  1. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
  3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternating with sour cream (or plain yogurt), beating well after each addition. Use a wooden spoon for this.
  4. Beat egg whites with clean beaters until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of the egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites and strawberries.
  5. Fill muffin cups three quarters full. Bake at 350°F for 18 – 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.* Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans then set aside to cool completely.

*While the muffins are in the oven, take out your electric beater:

  1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.
  2. Add some water in a saucepan, and place a glass bowl on top, add the 70% cacao chocolate (do not use semi-sweet, you could but it’d be too much sugar) melt the chocolate and place it on a plastic bag. Close the bag tightly and make a little hole in the bottom and on a sheet of wax paper make the letters or draw whatever shape you want. Place this on the fridge for like 1 – 2 minutes and you’ll have your chocolate figures!!! :D
  3. After the muffins have cooled, add the frosting, garnish with strawberries and place the chocolate figures/letters on top.