A variety of frosting tweaks

I bought some storebought cake mix & frosting to make birthday cupcakes for a friend, but I decided that it wasn't enough to just bake them & frost them.  Instead, I tweaked the frosting into four different types, and they all turned out awesome.

1. Vanilla - Straight out of the tub.
2. Chocolate - Mixed about 2 spoonfuls of frosting with about 1 spoonful of cocoa powder.  Melted about 1/2 a shot glass worth of chocolate chips & mixed them in.  Added hemp milk until it was the right consistency again.  It's still got little chunks in it -- I think from the chocolate, and they only appeared after adding the milk -- but it's delicious.
3. Chocolate chip cookie - A friend (in fact, the one whose birthday it is) left a little less than half of a container of store-bought mini almond chocolate chip cookies here last time he was over.  I tossed four of them into the food processor, turned them into powder, mixed them in with the frosting, and added milk until it returned to the correct consistency.
4. Peanut butter - Two parts frosting, one part peanut butter.  Goes super well with the chocolate cupcakes.

Dried Cherry Coffee Cake

I bought some unsweetened dried bing cherries at Trader Joe's this weekend, and I learned that there's a reason they usually sweeten them -- they aren't particularly tasty on their own.  So I started searching for recipes to use them in, and this one came up.  It's very sweet and very tasty.  I'd disagree with the comments -- it didn't turn out light for me, but that may be because I tinkered with the ingredients a bit.  It's still super moist & delicious.  The cherries & almond extract smelled awesome while they were soaking.  And the sugar on top gave it a nice sweet crustiness.

Original recipe here.

1/2 cup unsweetened dried cherries
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 (5.4 oz) container vanilla greek yogurt
A splash of milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tbsp white sugar

Chop the cherries into raisin-sized pieces (or slightly smaller than whatever size you're comfortable with finding in the middle of a coffee cake).  Mix with the hot water & almond extract; let sit for 20 minutes (maybe poking/shaking occasionally).  Mix together the dry ingredients (except for extra sugar & almonds), then add wet ingredients, then drain cherries & add them (I used the cherry soaking water to mix with my egg replacer).  Grease & flour an 8x8 pan (or two loaf pans).  Pour in batter.  Mix together almonds & extra sugar; sprinkle on top.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Granola

I wanted enough granola for the weekend, but not any leftovers.  This recipe scales up & down well and is super easy.

Original recipe.

2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats

Microwave the peanut butter & honey for about 30 seconds so they're melty.  Stir together, then add vanilla & cinnamon.  Add oats & mix well.  Squish into a granola-cluster-thickness layer on a baking sheet (silicone baking mats are nice here).  If you keep it all as one pancake, you'll be able to have bigger clusters; this will fall apart a little bit when you pick it up, but if it's all one big piece then that's okay.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  It'll still be soft when it comes out.  Let it cool.  It's much better -- crunchier & more flavorful -- once it's cooled off.  If you're making it in the morning for breakfast, put as much as you want to eat that day into a bowl & stick it in the freezer for a bit.

I had already eaten half of it before I thought to take a picture.  Also, mine's slightly burnt around the edges; still tasty.