HAPPY BDAY CCC: Lava Cupcakes with DIY 10 Minute Ice Cream

čau! It's Lexa! By the way, that's Latvian. Anyways, so today is officially 1 year anniversary of the day we started this blog, so we decided to make a special desert together to celebrate! So, we made individual lava cakes/cupcakes. We also put ice cream on top, which took us about 10 minutes so make! (We made it while the cupcakes were in the oven.) So, here's the recipe!

Lava Cupcakes Recipe (makes 12): 

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (or any chocolate, hehe, we didn't have enough chocolate chips so there's a possibility we mixed a bunch of random chocolate...) 
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• oil or butter to coat muffin tins
• Cocoa powder, also to coat muffin tins 
• Ice cream (we made homemade ice cream, recipe below)

Cupcakes Directions:

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 
2. melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over the stove. When melted completely, turn off heat and stir in vanilla. 
3. combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
4. Sift into chocolate and mix with an electric hand mixer. 
5. add eggs and mix in. 
6. beat at high until batter is creamy. (About 4-5 minutes)
7. coat each muffin tin in butter, and pour in cocoa powder lightly. Shake out excess. 
8. Spoon mixture into the pan. 
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 
10. When the cupcakes are out, the centers should be gooey, and the outsides cake-like. Spoon on slightly melted ice cream, or make the DIY 10 minute ice cream instructions below. 

DIY 10 minute Ice cream 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 table spoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 sandwich Ziploc bag
• 1 gallon Ziploc bag 
• 1/3 cup rock salt 

Directions:

1. combine half and half, sugar, and vanilla in the sandwich bag. MAKE SURE IT IS SEALED TIGHTLY!
2. Fill gallon bag around halfway with ice and rock salt. 
3. Place sandwich bag in larger bag. SEAL BAG TIGHTLY!
4. Shake bag vigorously for 10-15 minutes. (We had to take turns and use gloves. You should probably so this outside, just in case you make a mess. ) 
5. Enjoy alone or on cupcakes! 

Enjoy your cupcakes! And happy bday CCC! 1 year anniversary!!!

To CCC lovers: go to our contact us page and scroll to the bottom of the post (not the page) and copy and paste the link ;-)

Happy spring!

Moi! That is Finnish! Anyways, it's Lexa, and I just mostly want to say, HAPPY SPRING! It's officially spring, as of yesterday, and though in some places it may not feel like it, since it is still snowing, it's spring nonetheless! Now you can go biking, and pick flowers, and go on walks, and do all that fun stuff outside! Also, may notice we've change our blog's background for SPRING!! Anyways, happy spring! Enjoy it! 

DIY Candles (Thanks Caroline!)

Cześć! That's Polish! And just for the record, I have absolutely no idea how to say that. Anyways, you guessed it! Lexa here! So, recently, we came across a very interesting post about DIY candles! How cool is it that you don't have to spend, like, ten dollars on candles (or however much they cost, I don't even know) when you can just make your own! So, anyways, here is the link to our e-friend (is that a thing?) Caroline's website, with her DIY candles!!

https://www.1502candleco.com/blog/how-to-make-soy-wax-candles

Basically, you can learn how to make your own candles, as well as things like what kind of waxes to stay away from, and safety tips, which is really helpful! Anyways, just go to the link, since I haven't made one YET so I can't help you, unless I was just gonna copy and paste her whole website. Which, yeah, not gonna do. There's a word for that, I think, but I can't remember what it is. Or wait, is that the same as, like, copy and pasting something into your homework and not citing it? Ugh, it's bothering me that I can't remember that word. We, anyways, back to the DIY Candles!

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this, and please email us, (actually, on second thought, email Caroline. Trust her more than us, since, you know, she's the one who created that post, so she's probably a better option.) with questions, comment, or concerns. Have a great day, and enjoy you new DIY candles! Wait, let's try that in polish. Mają wielki dzień, i cieszyć się nowe świece DIY! Yay, I did it! Anyways, I'll stop now. Bye!

The Best Chocolate Brownies EVER!!!

Salve! That's Latin!! Anyways, it's Lexa here! So, I don't know who made this recipe, but it was found on vitacost.com. So, let's give the creator of this recipe a round of applause, people! Now, time to teach you how to make the best thing since sliced bread! (Well, ok, to be honest, sliced bread may be better. But only barely!!) Ok, and just a fair warning, they do crumble a little, but their AMAZINGNESS totally makes that worth it.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. organic cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. almond meal
• 2/3 cup oat flour
• ¼ tsp. organic baking soda
• ¾ cup organic cane sugar
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 2 large eggs
• 6 Tbsp. organic unsalted butter
• 6 oz.dark or bittersweet chocolate (or 1 cup chocolate chips)
• Optional: Nuts, coconut shreds, chocolate chips
  

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use butter to grease 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder, oat flour, almond meal, baking soda and sea salt; whisk together and set aside.
3. In a double boiler (or bowl propped over a pot of simmering water), melt butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth.
4. Remove butter/chocolate from heat and stir in sugar, mixing for 30 seconds. Stir in eggs for 20 seconds, then add vanilla.
5. Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir to combine. Stir in add-ins, if using, then pour batter into baking pan, smoothing top with spatula.
6. Bake brownies for 33 to 38 minutes. (Note: Edges will rise higher than center. Use toothpick inserted in center to test for doneness.)
7. Let brownies cool completely before cutting and serving.

Also, sorry I don't have a picture. We ate it all. 😝😝😝😝 

Flourless Strawberry Brownies

Ciao! That's Italian, I think! It's Lexa! Today I am going to show give you a strawberry brownie recipe, from Amanda @ Running With Spoons! (If you want another recipe I've tried from her, click here for the link!)

Ingredients:

• one medium sized ripe banana
• 1/s cup of almond butter 
• 3/4 cup strawberry jam
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• Optional: 3 tbsp. small chocolate chips to mix in the batter!! (Well, you can use normal sized ones too, but smaller ones are more fun!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 35o degreed Fahrenheit. Spray a 8 x 8 (that's what the recipe said, but I used a 9 x 9, since our 8 x 8 pan blew up... TRUE STORY!)
2. Add mashed up banana to a mixing bowl, along with almond butter, jam, egg, and vanilla. Mix until well combined
3. When combined, add baking soda and cocoa powder, and chocolate chips (optional) and mix gently until the batter is smooth. 
4. Pour the batter into your pan, and distribute evenly
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes. 
6. Let cool for about 15 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely
7. Optional: Melt 2-4 tbsp. of chocolate chips and pour over the brownies. 
8. You can store these in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

Hope you enjoyed making these and eating them! Want to make some more delicious chocolate deserts? Click here for some amazing chocolate s'mores cupcakes! (Fun fact: We made this recipe together on the day we first created the blog! Another fun fact: we may or may not have dropped an egg that day...) 

Healthy Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Bonjour! That's French, as most of you probably know. It's Lexa here! Keep scrolling down for a simple, healthy chocolate donut recipe!

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened milk
• 1/4 cup plain/vanilla yogurt
• 2 tbsp. coconut oil or butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. melted chocolate chips.

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 375 degreed Fahrenheit
2. Lightly grease a donut pan
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and baking powder
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, milk, yogurt, butter, chocolate, and vanilla extract.
5. Add to flour mixture
6. Stir gently until combined
7. pour into pan and bake for 8-10 minutes

Glaze Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened milk
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Glaze Directions:

• Combine ingredients and stir until smooth
• Place wire rack over a piece of parchment and spoon the glaze onto each donut after they are out of the oven, or dip the donuts in it
• Repeat with all donuts
• Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy these simple donutsHave fun making them, and be sure to keep checking back for more recipes and crafts! Also, thanks to Amanda @ Running With Spoons for this recipe!