Gooey Gingerbread Cupcakes

Cinnamon, molasses, applesauce, ginger . . . you can taste the Christmas flavors in these cupcakes. Having little helpers makes it more fun. Thanks to Celia and Netti Fedele-McLeod, Sarah Holcombe and big helper, Al McLeod.

Licking the bowl is the best!

Seriously stirring the batter.

Which decorations will they choose?

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup light butter or light buttery spread
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Cupcakes Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups moist-style spice cake mix (about half a box)
1/2 cup egg whites or fat-free liquid egg substitute
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
Optional topping: cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups, or spray it with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, combine all frosting ingredients except powdered sugar. With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until smooth, 1 - 2 minutes. Continue to beat while gradually adding powdered sugar. Beat until smooth, another 1 - 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate. 


In another large bowl, combine all cupcake ingredients. Whisk until smooth and uniform. Evenly distribute batter among the cups of the muffin pan. 



Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 16 - 18 minutes. 



Let cool completely, about 10 minutes in the pan and 25 minutes out of the pan. 



Spread with frosting.

MAKES 12 SERVINGS
Thanks to Hungry Girl for the recipe.

Halloween Dip

Get festive with this easy layer dip. Anyone want to recreate it for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Think of the possible images you could design with black olives, green olives, pimento, chopped tomato, corn, red peppers . . .

Ingredients:

Refried beans
Sour cream
Salsa
Shredded Cheddar or Mexican cheese
Sliced black olives for eyes, nose & mouth

Directions: Layer these ingredients on the plate and surround with tortilla chips.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has a warm Mexican Bean Dip recipe on page 181 that would work very well also. Get creative!

John Wayne Eggs

The Duke would have liked these. Fluffy and cheesey with little chiles for bite. This was a special treat for Christmas morning. Easy to make and with 45 minutes to bake, it gave us time to open presents. Santa came to visit us so we were busy unwrapping gifts.

John Wayne Eggs page 194

1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 pound Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles
6 egg whites
2/3 cup evaporated milk or whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tomatoes, sliced

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese and green chiles in a bowl and spread the cheese mixture over the bottom of a buttered 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form.

Beat the evaporated milk, egg yolks, flour, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl until blended. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and pour over the prepared layers. Use a fork to make sure the milk mixture seeps through the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes and top with the tomatoes. Bake for 15 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

Serves 8

Note: We used Mozarella cheese instead of Monterey Jack. Also substituted fat free evaporated milk to watch calories. A new Christmas gift was a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender to whip those egg whites into shape. It was very efficient.