Snacks

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

~ SL

Just because fall in creeping in, it doesn’t mean fresh summer flavors have to disappear. One of my favorite summer treats is an orange creamsicle, so I decided to replicate those creamy, juicy flavors in a cupcake! This weekend, I turn 41, while I also celebrate Too Busy Livin’s first official year in business.

Photos by: Gabrielle Touchette Photography, Food styling by: Josée Trudeau
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Making the cupcakes

These orange creamsicle cupcakes are light and fluffy with a pop of citrus flavor. Whipping up the egg whites and folding them in at the end creates that fluffiness.

Getting help from the kids

There are quite a few jobs that kids can do to help out with this recipe. Younger kids can help with pouring, dumping, stirring and placing cupcake liners in muffin tins, while older kids can squeeze the oranges, crack eggs and practice using measuring cups and spoons.

Substitutions

If your oranges aren’t very juicy, you can definitely use orange juice from concentrate. You can even make lime or lemon flavored cupcakes by replacing the orange juice with either lemonade or limeade, and the zest with either lemon or lime zest.

Frosting the orange creamsicle cupcakes

I love a great store-bought shortcut, especially if it is as creamy and delicious as this frosting! To make this frosting, all you have to do is use a package of vanilla pudding, and replace the milk with 35% whipping cream. The frosting recipe comes from Two Sisters blog. They use white chocolate pudding, but you can use this method with any pudding flavor. Whip it up into a thick, creamy frosting and slather it on the cupcake with a spatula, or pipe it on like I did here. Be sure to store frosted cupcakes in the fridge so the icing stays firm and doesn’t spoil.

Garnishing the orange creamsicle cupcakes

I chose to garnish these with gummy orange slices, but you can also use:

  • Orange ju-jubes
  • Jelly beans
  • Sanding sugar or sprinkles
  • Dehydrated orange slices
  • Fresh mandarin orange segments

If you’re want to try another delicious cupcake recipe full of summer flavors, these S’more Stout Cupcakes are reminiscent of eating s’mores around a summer bonfire.

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Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

A fresh citrusy cupcake with a thick and creamy frosting

Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword citrus, creamsicle, cupcake, orange, whipping cream
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar Use 1/2 cup for whipping the egg whites.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 zest of one large orange
  • 3/4 cup orange juice freshly squeezed or from concentrate
  • 3/4 cup milk

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

  • 4 cups 35% Whipping Cream
  • 2 102g boxes instant vanilla pudding

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

  2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 4 egg whites.

  4. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until they begin to foam.

  5. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar, while continuing to whip. The egg whites should be opaque white and form soft peaks.

  6. Transfer whipped egg whites to another bowl and set aside.

  7. In the bowl of the stand mixer, add 1 cup of sugar and butter.

  8. Use the paddle attachment until the sugar and butter are combined.

  9. Add the orange zest and vanilla. Continue mixing until combined.

  10. Alternately add some of the flour mixture, the orange juice and milk, mixing constantly until a uniform consistency is achieved.

  11. Fold in the egg whites using the paddle attachment at the lowest speed, or by hand with a spatula.

  12. Use a large, triggered ice cream scoop to portion out the cupcakes into liners. If you prefer to skip the liners, grease the muffin tins with cooking spray.

  13. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes. They are ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

  1. Combine pudding mix and whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer.

  2. Using the whish attachment, whip until the pudding mix and cream are fully combined and you have a fluffy, spreadable frosting. If you mix it too much, you will end up with butter, so watch it closely.

  3. If you like a thinner frosting, you can add more whipping cream to thin it out.

Recipe Notes

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them. 

Frosted cupcakes must be refrigerated. 

Simple Slow Cooker Applesauce

~ SL ~ 1 Comment

It’s always nice to know people who have apple trees in their yards who are willing to share! My grandma and my friend give me apples every summer so I make applesauce to use in my baking year-round.

This recipe is so easy to make because you don’t have to peel the apples. Simply cut around the core, fill your slow cooker, add a bit of water, and let it cook on low for 4-6 hours. Puree the sauce once the apples have softened. The peels give it a peachy-pink color and the applesauce doesn’t have any added sugar. You can of course add sugar and cinnamon to taste if you plan on eating the applesauce as-is.

How to store your applesauce

I like to freeze it in 1-cup portions in small freezer bags. One batch of applesauce will yield about 9-10 cups of applesauce, depending on the size of your apples. Let the sauce cool completely before portioning it into freezer bags. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet before freezing to save space. I like to portion in one cup portions because I mostly use this apple sauce in these Healthy Banana Muffins with Applesauce, or these Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins.

If you have some time on your hands, you can also can it to make it shelf-stable. The National Centre for Home Food Preservation is a great resource for safe canning practices. Follow the instructions for canning applesauce here.

How to use your applesauce

As I mentioned, I like to use mine mostly in baking. There are a few of my go-to muffin recipes on my Tried & True Pinterest Board. You can modify most muffin or cake recipes to use applesauce as a substitute for butter or margarine. For one cup of butter, use 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup canola oil. Using applesauce makes cakes moist and more cost-effective, as the price of butter is rising by the day. You could also use it as a topping for oatmeal or as a substitution for an egg in your favorite muffin or cake. If using as an egg substitute, use 1/4 cup applesauce for one egg.

Preventing food waste

Even if you don’t get a load of apples from a tree, you can set aside bruised apples from the store and freeze them until you’re ready to make a full batch. Again, slice around the core and place in a freezer bag. Keep adding to the bag until you have enough to make a batch of sauce. For more tips on preventing food waste for a variety of ingredients, see page 64 of your Ultimate Guide.

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Simple Slow Cooker Applesauce

This three-step recipe is easy to execute and virtually hands-free.

Course Breakfast
Keyword apples, applesauce
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 hours
Servings 9 cups

Ingredients

  • Apples
  • 1/2 cup Water optional

Instructions

  1. Cut around the core of the apples and fill your slow cooker.

  2. Add 1/2 cup water to large slow cookers, and 1/4 cup to smaller slow cookers.

  3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until apples break apart when you stir them.

  4. Puree the sauce with an immersion blender.

  5. Cool completely before portioning and freezing in bags.

Recipe Notes

Adding water creates steam and helps speed up the process but is not necessary. 

If you are canning the sauce, fill hot, sterilized jars with hot applesauce and follow the guidelines from the National Center for Home Food Preservation for safe canning practices. 

Carrot Oat Mini-Muffins

~ SL

These carrot oat mini-muffins are the perfect after-school snack or lunch box addition.

Key ingredients

Whenever I develop muffin recipes, I always try to make sure they include bananas or applesauce. Why? Who doesn’t have a ton of bananas in their freezer? Also, we always have a ton of homemade unsweetened applesauce on hand that we make with apples from our friend’s tree. Applesauce is also a more economical choice and a pantry/freezer ingredient, versus using butter, so I like that too!

Food waste tip: Make your own applesauce from bruised apples

Did you know that you can make your own applesauce? Drop chopped skin-on apples in your slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water. Cook it on low for about 6 hours, puree and freeze!

I also like to use whole wheat flour and oats in my muffin recipes because I know my kids will take them for snack, lunch, or even breakfast sometimes, and I want them to be filling and satiating so the kids aren’t asking for another snack right after they have one.

We always have carrots in the fridge, so it’s an easy ingredient to include.

These Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins with Salted Caramel Chips also contain whole wheat flour, oats and applesauce. A few other muffins on my regular roster are these Chocolate Zucchini Muffins these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Both contain bananas!

Meal prep tip: Shred carrots while you chop carrots for another meal or snack

One of my favorite meal prep tips is to touch ingredients once for all uses. That means, shred the carrots for the muffins and bake them while you chop carrots for your weeknight meals and for lunches. This saves on dishes and time!

Mini-muffins or standard size?

I used to make standard sized muffins for the kids to take to school all the time, but I was always sending them in plastic bags. I have a personal goal to try to send zero-waste/low-waste lunches as much as I can, so these mini-muffins fit perfectly in the containers I have for the kids’ lunch boxes.

Waste-reducing tip: Avoid paper muffin tin liners

You can reduce waste by simply greasing your mini-muffin tins with cooking spray and skipping the paper liner. You can also purchase silicone mini-muffin liners.

If you’d like to make standard sized muffins, simply increase the cooking time by 5 minutes.

The kids couldn’t keep their grubby little fingers off these muffins.

Meal prep tips for Carrot Oat Mini-Muffins

If you want to pre-measure your ingredients, then bake them later, use three containers: One for the dry ingredients, one for the liquid ingredients and one for the carrots. You can whip together a batch quickly while your dinner is in the oven, then bake them while you eat. When they’re ready, you clean up once! Plus, your oven will already be pre-heated from cooking dinner.

Warm or cool?

I typically enjoy a warm fresh-baked muffin right out of the oven, but these muffins are a lot more flavorful when you let them cool and allow the flavors to concentrate.

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Carrot Oat Mini Muffins

Carrot Oat Mini Muffins are the perfect bite-sized treat.

Course Breakfast, Snack
Keyword carrot, mini muffins, muffins, oatmeal
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes
Servings 40 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups carrots

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

  2. Combine brown sugar, applesauce, egg and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.

  3. Add flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix until combined.

  4. Stir in carrots.

  5. Use a cookie scoop to drop into greased or lined mini muffin tins.

  6. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.