Bakers Royale

For this week’s gift giving idea I turned a Girl Scout cookie into a 20 minute bark recipe.

Samoas Bark

I’ve taken the shortbread base of a Samoas cookie-chopped it up and enveloped it in a burnt caramel sauce. Staying in line with the cookie, I wanted to make sure the coconut came through as the dominating flavor, so I layered the top of the bark with a heavy sprinkling of toasted coconut . To finish like the cookie I drizzled chocolate on top, but also added a caramel drizzle to it as well.

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I’m trading in the Starbucks cup for a cupcake liner, more accurately, a few liners. Find your Christmas flavors in this gingerbread cupcake recipe. Throw some coffee in the batter and your all set for a perfectly baked gingerbread latte. Giving balance to the spice is a lemon cream cheese for an acidic bite of sweetness.

Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I ordered a gingerbread latte from Starbucks to kick my holiday mood into high gear. Most days I’m a black coffee consumer with a few sugars added to it. But during the holidays I usually kick start it with a Starbucks Gingerbread Latte and then rotate it with Peppermint Mocha.

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Make your Starbucks Peppermint Mocha richer, better and in a cupcake form. Yes, I went there and I’m betting you will too. It’s hard to beat a moist chocolate espresso cupcake with chopped bits of Andes Peppermint bits throughout for a bite of coffee and peppermint in one. To top it all is a soft mousse-like Swiss meringue buttercream infused with some peppermint. Then of course I went my usual cupcake carving way and finished it loudly with some chocolate drizzle and more chopped Andes and a peppermint candy on top.

Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes

Call me crazy, but I absolutely love and aniticipate the annual return of Starbuck’s Peppermint Mocha with the same fervor of a McRib fanboy. The annual re-introduction of them triggers all things holiday in me – you know all the jolly things that makes your belly jiggle from over indulgence and your face smile with delight.

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