The Week Kelly Came to Stay,

..we had a cooking and baking adventure! :D

The list of goodies we made! (and bought): *drumroll, please!*

1. Dove Chocolate (because I'm such a sucker for dark chocolate and those cute wrapper quotes!)

2. H-mart Spicy and Sweet chicken!! Yumm...

3. Kelly's Creamed Corn!

...and the best thing of all...

4. Guinness cupcakes with Baileys Irish Cream frosting!

If you must know, the star of this post would obviously be the cupcakes, because it turned out so unexpectedly delicious, and the best thing about it is that it wasn't too sweet, but just right!

Anyone who knows me know that I have a soft spot for a bottle of G. every once in awhile.. and yes, even though it is predominantly a "man's man's drink", I toss aside all the chest hair growth comments and drink up every last drop :) That's right.. *grinn*

So here's the recipe I got from Nook and Pantry which, by the way, has Amazing recipes on hand!! I definitely recommend checking it out! :D When I gave my muffins away, I didn't tell the person my main ingredient.. just the Baileys part.. haha until they bit into the muffin and declared it a success (because Guinness tends to turn women away :P) ...and it worked!

Guiness Cupcakes with Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting :)

Light, fluffy and full of flavour! Every Guinness lover's dream

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cups cocoa powder (I use the Ghiradelli ones!)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar

4oz (1/2 cups) unsalted butter

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 12fl.oz bottle of Guinness Extra Stout

1. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper cups (we made about 25 or so)

2. In a large bowl, sieve flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (yes, it takes awhile when you don't have a mixer!)

4. Add one egg at a time and beat then add vanilla.

5. Add sour cream and beat in, then slowly pour the Guinness

--> Note: Don't be alarmed if it starts to clump and look a little funky, just keep stirring and everything will start to mix!

6. Slowly add in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, all the while still mixing. Scrape down the sides often and make sure there are no flour pockets hidden.

7. Pour into prepared muffin pans and bake for about 20-25 minutes. The toothpicks should come out clean. Cool on rack.

---> Note: The original recipe notes to turn the pans halfway through baking time, but I would try not to open the oven too many times as the batter tends to sink in

Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
1 8oz cream cheese, softened

1 4oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar

2-4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (Be as generous as you would like!)

1. Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar till light and fluffy.

2. Slowly drizzle in the Baileys and stir in.

3. Allow the muffins to cool completely before piping on frosting.

4. Dig in! and Enjoy! Yummm

Does it not look amazingly scrumptious??!! Ahhh!! Baking success! :)

Kelly's yummy creamed corn and the H-mart chicken! Mmmmmmmm

Dove Dark Chocolates Hearts! Too bad Martha has horrible ideas, and taking away from the cute Valentine quotes they used to have on the wrappers :(