If you're in a pinch for time, make these super-cute Betty Crocker bunny cupcakes. To make them more vegetarian-friendly, I'd substitute a thick, white frosting for the marshmallows. I think that would actually taste better too.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan(s)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed light-brown sugar

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ cup water

½ cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 oz bittersweet choclate

. Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, ginger, baking powder, salt, cloves, and pepper

. In a small saucepan, melt the butter in the water over medium heat. Stir the melted-butter mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth. Stir in the molasses and egg

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. With a spoon, drizzle half the chocolate over the batter. Pour remaining batter on top, and drizzle the remaining chocolate over the batter in a decorative pattern.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes

Note: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water or in a microwave. Using a squeeze bottle is an easy way to drizzle chocolate over the cake batter. Drizzle the chocolate in a zigzag pattern over the batter, then drag a knife through the lines of the chocolate, alternating the direction each time.

(This entry, cross-posted at Writegrrrl)

Laura's Cranberry Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsps margarine or butter, melted
3/4 cup orange juice
1 well-beaten egg
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (not dried)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a bowl, mix together (with a spoon) flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in orange juice, margarine or butter and egg with dry ingredients and mix until well-blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Turn into well-greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool thoroughly before serving.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons stick margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white
Cooking spray


Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl, and set aside. Beat the margarine at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, beating at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add the lemon rind, vanilla extract, and egg white, and beat well. Add the flour mixture, and stir until well-blended. Turn the dough out onto wax paper, and shape into a 6-inch log. Wrap the log in wax paper, and freeze for 3 hours or until very firm.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut log into 24 (1/4-inch) slices, and place slices 1 inch apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on wire racks.


Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 62(29% from fat); FAT 2g (sat 0.4g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 0.7g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 2mg; SODIUM 50mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 0.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 10.4g

Dark Chocolate Cake
(Keep in mind, the original use for this recipe results in a three-layer cake! Feel free to cut recipe in half, or you can do as I did, and make smaller cakes with the left-over batter.)
adapted from a recipe in The Complete Guide to Country Cooking

1 c. butter, softened
3 c. packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1 Tbl. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. buttermilk
1 1/3 c. boiling water
3 oz. dark chocolate, grated
(I used Chocolove 77% extra strong dark chocolate)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Bet on low until just combined. Add grated chocolate to boiling water and stir till smooth. Stir chocolate/water mix into batter until smooth. Pour into cupcake liners, and bake approximately 20 minutes (adjust to your own oven). Cool completely.

Dulce De Leche

Boil can of condensed milk (I used Magnolia, by Borden) in large pot of water for three hours. Be sure to keep can submerged, or you could end up with a caramel-coated kitchen!
Cool by placing can in a bowl and running cold water over it, until can is cool to touch.

Chocolate Ganache

Um...I don't actually have a recipe handy for this one; I had about 3/4 c. of ganache left-over in my fridge, and used that. So, employ ganache recipe of your choice.

When cupcakes are completely cooled: using a serrated knife, cut a quarter-sized circle into top of cupcake; remove. Trim excess cake from 'lid'; reserve. Remove some of the cake, creating a small crater (be careful not to cut through bottom of cupcake.)
Using spoons, fill cupcakes with dulce de leche to just under cupcake top. Replace 'lid'.

Spoon ganache over cupcake tops, just to edge. Allow to set. Pour yourself a big glass of milk, and dig in!

1/4 C (55 g) butter, softened
- 1 C (200 g) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 small bananas, sliced
- 1 C (110 g) cranberries
- 1/4 C water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 C (200 g) flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

(Serves 6.)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a 9 by 5 inch (22 by 12 cm) loaf pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a food processor. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well between each addition. Add in the banana slices, the cranberries, the water and the vanilla extract. Mix again until blended, but not too much : it's nice if the banana and cranberries are not completely mushed.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients into the batter, and mix until just combined -- do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 55 min or until the top of the cake is nicely brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Let rest for ten minutes, then run a knife around to loosen the sides, and turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Bird's Nest Cookies


Makes 2 dozen
These thin chocolate cookies with ganache icing dipped into grated coconut make the perfect nests for two or three miniature chocolate eggs.


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
Gel-paste food coloring (optional)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
6 dozen candy-coated chocolate eggs

1. Heat oven to 350°; line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar.


2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix on low speed just until a stiff dough forms, about 2 minutes. Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.


3. Place chocolate, heavy cream, and espresso powder in a medium heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally, until chocolate has melted. Remove bowl from heat, and set the chocolate ganache aside to cool, stirring occasionally.


4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out chilled dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/4-inch-round cookie cutter, cut out 24 cookies; place them on lined baking sheets. Chill cookies until firm, about 20 minutes.


5. Bake cookies until set, about 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. For colored coconut, combine a few drops of food coloring with 3 tablespoons water in a medium bowl. Stir in coconut; mix until evenly colored. Spread on an ungreased baking sheet; bake just until dry, about 12 minutes, being careful not to brown. Let coconut cool; transfer to a small bowl.


7. When the ganache has cooled to room temperature, whisk until it becomes stiff enough to pipe. Transfer ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch-round tip, and pipe around perimeters of cookies. Dip each cookie, ganache-side down, into plain or colored coconut. Fill "nests" with candy-coated chocolate eggs, 2 or 3 eggs per nest. Store cookies in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 3 days.