Annie's Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I have a girlfriend. My girlfriend's name is Annie. She lives right across the street from me, and I love her SO MUCH!! I think she loves me, too. Annie is older than I am. She is TWO! That is GROWN-UP and twice as old as I am!! Diana says this means she is a cougar. But to me, she looks like a yellow lab. She is a dog, just like me, not some kind of big cat. Diana says strange things sometimes. But that's okay. Because I love her SO MUCH!! Here is a picture of Annie. Isn't she SO CUTE??? Diana thinks I should tell you this photo is old, from when Annie was only five months. Now that she is a grown-up dog, she is even more beautiful! I LOVE HER!!!

This weekend, Annie's family was away, and so I was going to get to play with her ALL WEEKEND! That is a LONG time!! But then snow came out of the sky. And then ice came out of the sky. And the ice landed on top of the snow. And then it was very, very slippery. And when I went outside and I walked in the yard, my paws made the ice crack. The noise was VERY loud! (I was a little bit scared.)

Diana had a hard time walking on the ice. So did I. But I have an excuse: I have four paws, and I've only walked on regular ground and snow before. Not ice. That is new for me. And I have a tail!! What is Diana's excuse?!? She only has two paws feet. And she used to live in New England. And Canada! She should know better! And Diana doesn't have a tail!!

Oh, so, anyway. So Annie was supposed to come hang out this weekend, but Diana was worried Annie and I would slip on the ice and hurt ourselves while were playing. I don't think that would have happened. And I'll bet Annie didn't think so either. But Diana did, and she's the boss of me. Most of the time. So that was that.

Instead, Diana went over to visit Annie A LOT and played with her inside. I guess that's okay, but when Diana was with Annie, Diana wasn't with me. And I didn't like that. I didn't like that AT ALL! One time, Diana could hear me crying when she left. I think that made her sad, because when she came back from visiting Annie that time, she gave me even MORE hugs and kisses than usual. Sometimes, Diana gives me lots of hugs. And she loves to kiss me on top of my head. Mostly, that's okay. Sometimes, I'd rather just play.

Anyway, by this afternoon, the ice had stopped falling out of the sky, so I thought maybe FINALLY Annie could come over to play. But Diana said, "No, buddy, I'm sorry. It's still too icy outside." And then she said, "But guess what, Eli? Instead of playing with Annie, we can bake cupcakes for her to give to her family." I thought that was a dumb idea. I would MUCH RATHER play with Annie than bake cupcakes with Diana. I felt sad about not seeing Annie. Here is how my face looked when Diana told me Annie couldn't come over and we were going to bake instead of playing with my girlfriend.

And the more I thought about it, the stupider I thought Diana's plan was! Because it would be FUN to play with Annie! And guess what else? Here's what else: ANNIE KNOWS HOW TO BAKE CUPCAKES VERY WELL! When she was little, she helped Diana bake 96 cupcakes!

And guess what else? Besides choosing recipes from the cupcake cookbook and helping with the baking, Annie is also good at cleaning aprons after the baking is done! So that's why I thought it was dumb Diana wouldn't let Annie come over to help us today. But Diana had made up her mind. And like I told you before: Diana is STUBBORN! Once she's made up her mind, forget trying to make her change it. She was ready to get started, and I decided it would be okay to help. First, I had to look at what she bought at the grocery store.

Then, we looked at the recipe. Diana wants to try out lots of new cupcake recipes this year, and this one sounds like FUN! Because it has cupcakes AND cookies! And chocolate! Oh, wait, I don't eat chocolate. Because I am a dog. But chocolate sounds good anyway!!

First, Diana cut up the cookie dough and put it on a plate to put into the freezer for a while. I thought that was strange. But she told me she didn't want the cookie dough to be warm when she baked it, because then it would bake more quickly than the cupcakes and get burned. Wow! Diana is SMART!

Once the cookie dough was in the freezer, it was time to start working on the cupcakes. I had been playing with my red, white, and blue squeaky ball (I LOVE MY RED, WHITE, AND BLUE SQUEAKY BALL!!!), but I stopped so that Diana could take a picture of me with the mixing bowl.

After Diana put all of the ingredients into the bowl, this is what the ingredients looked like.

Then, she used the mixer that plugs into the holes in the wall to mix up all of the ingredients. That took a few minutes, and I got sleepy, so I decided to lie down and wait to look at the bowl again until Diana was done mixing.

Then, Diana said, "Hey, buddy, I'm done!" So I walked over to look, and this is what I saw. It looks more boring than it did before she mixed it up.

Next, Diana poured the cupcake batter into the cupcake pans. And then she took the frozen cookie dough pieces out of the freezer and put one on top of each cupcake. I think that looks SO COOL!

While the cupcakes were baking in the oven, Diana took some Chips Ahoy cookies and rolled over them with the rolling pin to make crumbled up cookies to put on top of the cupcakes. That is a GREAT idea!

I got tired just watching Diana roll over the cookies with the rolling pin, so I decided to lie down again. I was lying right by the door, and there was snow and ice right on the other side of the door. And Diana thought I was cold. So she covered me with my blanket. But I wasn't cold. And I didn't need the blanket. But I stayed under it anyway, because I didn't want to hurt Diana's feelings. I'm nice like that. But I think rolling pin is a silly name. It is not a pin.

After 20 minutes, Diana took the cupcakes out of the oven. They looked YUMMY, and Diana thought so, too, and I know that because she smiled and said, "Oh, Eli, these look YUMMY!"

Diana started doing the dishes while the cupcakes cooled off. She said she had to let them do that for a while before she took them out of the cupcake pans. When she went to look at the cupcakes again, I think she was surprised, because her mouth was shaped like an O. So I got up and went to look at the cupcakes, and I felt surprised, too. Because now the cupcakes had holes in them! The cookie dough fell through the top of the cupcakes. I don't think that was supposed to happen. Diana didn't think so either, and I know that because she said, "Uh-oh, Eli, this wasn't supposed to happen."

I felt discouraged by this whole thing. I don't think cupcakes are supposed to have holes in them. I had to lie down on my bed to collect myself.

While I rested, Diana made the chocolate buttercream frosting. It has sugar, butter, vanilla, milk, and cocoa powder. Wow, it looks GOOD!! Even though I can't eat chocolate, I can still look at it!

Then, Diana put frosting on the cupcakes. She used a little bit of extra frosting to fill in the hole on the top of each cupcake. While she did that, I was a ghost-writer. That is a FUNNY word, because I don't think ghosts can write. But Diana told me that's what I was, because I wrote a note for Annie to give to her family and pretended I was Annie when I wrote the note. And here is what I wrote. (Diana was a ghost writer, too, because she wrote about what kind of cupcakes we baked.)

After Diana put frosting on all of the cupcakes, then she put cookie crumbs on all of the cupcakes. And then she put a plate under all of the cupcakes. And then she took pictures of all of the cupcakes. And here they are!!

That was a fun cupcake baking adventure! But I still miss Annie. Maybe we can play together after the ice and snow melt. But now I'm going to take a nap. I think I will dream about Annie. And cupcakes. And my red, white, and blue squeaky ball.

Chocolate-Sour Cream Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream Frosting

Having created this blog as a means of encouraging myself to bake new cupcake recipes and to document my results, today I finally tried out a new cupcake recipe for the first time in a while! My good friend and colleague, S, left in early September to spend nearly four months abroad, and I promised her that upon her return, I'd bake her two dozen cupcakes. She got back to work in early January, but I was sick with a cold then and didn't want to bake, and then S was away visting family for a week. This week, I am healthy and she's back in the office, which is how I found myself baking chocolate-sour cream cupcakes with mocha buttercream frosting this afternoon.

Oh, excuse me. Eli is sitting here tapping my knee with his paw. He appears to be a bit miffed I haven't mentioned him yet. After all, this blog is titled Cupcakes with Eli.

Sadly, Eli was not able to join me for this particular cupcake baking adventure. He is a bit under the weather with a slight ear infection and is still quite tuckered out from yesterday's baking experience. However, he did agree to sit for this photo before taking a nap this afternoon.

As he slept and dreamed of . . .dog biscuits, maybe . . .I got busy baking my cupcakes. This is an easy recipe, with a base of devil's food cake mix. To that, I added some sour cream, eggs, vanilla, water, and oil, then combined it all and baked it for about 20 minutes. I also use sour cream when I make red velvet cupcakes, and in that case, the sour cream makes the cupcakes very moist. I expected the same with these cupcakes, but instead, the sour cream appears to have made them light and fluffy. I have no idea why. Strange. Eli, who is awake as I type this, is looking at me rather critically. I believe he is trying to tell me I'm overthinking the sour cream.

Moving on, then, to the frosting. I decided to top these cupcakes with mocha buttercream frosting, which is coffee buttercream frosting plus two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. The cocoa gives the frosting a delicious, rich, chocolatey taste, if I do say so myself!

Once the cupcakes cooled, I frosted them, then topped each one with half of a small Hershey bar and Hershey shavings, which I'd made by using a vegetable peeler on a bar of chocolate. I'm happy with results! What do you think?

Dog Biscuits Are Not Cupcakes

Hi! This is Eli! This is my very first blog post of my whole, entire life, and I AM SO EXCITED! Thank you for reading this blog! I am so excited about it! I can't wait to write more! And then even more! I have so many ideas in my head, but sometimes, because I don't have opposable thumbs, it takes me a while to get those ideas onto the screen. But Diana tells me that is okay, because by the time you read this, I will have already written it. Isn't that cool?

Oh, sorry. Diana is sitting here telling me I need to get to the point. She says that you probably want to know about the title of this post. Maybe you are confused, because this blog is supposed to be about me. Oh, and cupcakes. Well, this post is about me. But not cupcakes. Because it's about dog biscuits. I am so excited about dog biscuits!

I guess I should start at the beginning, which was at Christmastime, when Mrs. L and Mr. B (those are Diana's parents, in case you don't know) gave me my VERY OWN Christmas present! I was so excited! It was a kit to make dog biscuits. For me! My very own dog biscuit-making kit. Because I am a dog! And I love biscuits!

Diana told me she would help me make the biscuits. And I was SO EXCITED! Because I love biscuits! And I love Diana! And baking is fun! But then we didn't bake them. Even though Diana said we would. And I kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

And then it was today! And Diana said, "Eli, today is the day!" And I thought that was dumb. Because of course today is the day. What does that mean? It's not like today is yesterday. Or tomorrow. Or tonight. What did she mean?

Oh! But then she pulled this out of the cabinet! TODAY IS THE DAY FOR MY VERY OWN HOMEMADE DOG BISCUITS!!!

Oh boy! Oh boy! I was SO excited! But Diana told me she wasn't quite sure how the biscuits would turn out. So then I got a little worried and that made me less excited. I felt a little bit somber for a moment.

But then! Diana told me she bought extra ingredients for my biscuits. She got me peanut butter. And I LOVE peanut butter! I even have peanut butter treats!! And she got me honey! Ummm . . .I have NO IDEA what honey is. So I don't really have anything else to say about that. And she got me apples. And I LOVE apples!

Uh . . .wait a second. I thought Diana got apples. She told me no, she didn't. She couldn't find any at the store. I think she didn't look hard enough. She said that instead of AP-PLES, she got AP-RICOTS. What? What are apricots? I wasn't sure. I had to investigate further.

Because I'd never had apricots before, Diana told me I could try a little piece. And she said if I didn't like it, then we wouldn't put them in the biscuits. Guess what? I liked it. A LOT!

So then, it was time to get to the business of actually making these biscuits. First, I had to look at the mixing bowl, to be sure it was big enough to hold all of the ingredients.

Then, it was time to dump the biscuit mix into the bowl. Diana did that for me. Here is what it looked like.

Diana said she thought it looked pretty boring. I wasn't sure what to think. I decided it made sense to get a closer look.

Next, Diana cut up the apricots. She told me I was too little to handle the knife. I think that's silly, because when I stand on my back paws, I am almost as tall as Diana. And she is five-and-a-half feet tall. And I don't think that's little. But she was insistent and stubborn about the knife. And she is REALLY stubborn. And she can be really insistent. So I let her cut up the apricots.

After Diana added the chopped apricots to the biscuit mix, peanut butter, and honey, she dumped in some water and vegetable oil. Then she said, "Ewwww, this looks gross."

Between you and me, I wasn't so sure she knew what she was talking about. I mean, really. She's a human. I am a dog. I know dog biscuits. She doesn't. So I decided to investigate further. I meant to just take a look at the biscuit mix. Somehow, my nose got into the bowl. I have no idea how that happened. Oh, and also, I don't know how to fix freaky eyes in Photoshop. So my eyes don't really look like that. So don't worry.

Diana told me we had to roll out the batter and that we had to use something called a rolling pin. A what? Don't ask. I have no idea. But this is what it looks like.

So, we rolled out the biscuit dough, and then Diana cut out a bunch of bone-shaped biscuits. I dozed off a little bit at this point, because it took her too long.

By the time she was done cutting out the biscuits, there were eighteen of them. EIGHTEEN BISCUITS! That is a HIGH number of biscuits. FOR ME!

Diana told me I could inspect the biscuits before she put them into the oven. So I did! And I thought they looked GREAT!

So then Diana put my biscuits into the oven. Because she won't let me touch things that are hot. And ovens are hot. Sometimes.

Maybe you already knew this. But I didn't. It takes dog biscuits 50 minutes to bake in the oven. 50 minutes is almost an hour. And an hour is a LONG time. Diana told me I had to wait patiently. So I did.

And I waited some more.

And then, guess what? You probably guessed. I had to wait even more. Boring!

FINALLY! It was time to take the biscuits out of the oven! They looked YUMMY!

I was SO EXCITED! My biscuits were ready! For me! To eat! Except they weren't. Diana said they were too hot to eat. I was very disappointed. She felt bad that I had been waiting a long time, and she put them in the refrigerator so they would cool off more quickly.

You probably already guessed this, too, but guess what? Once Diana put the biscuits in the refrigerator, then I had to wait. . .again.

After about ten minutes, Diana took my biscuits out of the refrigerator. And she gave me one to eat! I am a bit embarassed to admit this, but she actually took a movie of me trying out the biscuit. Well, that's not exactly true. She didn't take just one movie. She took another one, too. I think I did a good job in the movies. Diana, on the other hand, sounds really strange. Her voice gets all high-pitched and cutesy when she's talking to me. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. But I LOVED the biscuit. And now it's time for other things. Anybody want to play some soccer?