Recently, I’ve been catching myself adding a little spice to my favorite cheesy dishes. One of my favorites is to add habañero jelly (a sweet and spicy combination) to my grilled cheese sandwiches. When I realized Tillamook Cheese and habañero jelly are a match made in taste bud heaven, I came up with the idea of combining them into sweet and savory dessert. This recipe takes the delicious flavor of cheddar cornbread and kicks it up a notch with spicy habanero and sweet frosting. 

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients: Cheddar Cheese Cornbread Muffins
¾ cup flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese Shreds
1 egg
2 tablespoons Tillamook Premium Sour Cream
¾ cup milk
Kelly’s Habañero Jelly (I also tried them with Glenmore Farms Marionberry Preserves – delicious alternative if you don’t like spicy)

Preparation: Cheddar Cheese Cornbread Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, corn meal, and cheese. In a separate bowl, beat egg, add milk, sour cream, and honey.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Stir mixture until dry ingredients are fully moistened. Fill cupcake cups ⅔ full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of jelly on top of the slightly warm muffin. Let cool for 20 minutes and frost.

Ingredients: Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz pack of cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup Tillamook Unsalted Butter
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preparation: Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat cream cheese and butter in a mixer with vanilla and gradually add powdered sugar while mixing until mixture thickens. Continue adding sugar to your liking. Put into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Enjoy!

Best when eaten right away :)

What unlikely combinations will you try making cupcakes with!?!

By Amalya

Who’s in the mood for my cousin’s Chocolate Mole Pumpkin Cupcakes? Made with Tillamook Butter – YUM!

INGREDIENTS for Cupcakes:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup water
½ teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoon Tillamook Unsalted Butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 ½ cup mini chocolate chips

INGREDIENTS for Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup Tillamook Unsalted Butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Have all ingredients at room temperature (especially the butter). Whisk flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, ground cloves, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Combine water and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Gradually add white and brown sugar to the butter. Beat in one egg at a time.  Add pumpkin puree and beat on low speed until just blended. Add the flour in three parts alternating with the water mixture in two parts, beating on low speed. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Bake in regular-sized cupcake forms for 18-22 minutes or in mini-sized cupcake forms for 12-15 minutes.

For the frosting, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer or a food processor. Beat until perfectly smooth and spreadable. Spread over cupcakes once cool. If you are feeling artsy, use a pastry bag with a big star opening on the end and draw a beautiful star and shake confetti sugar all over the top.

My cousin says these are delicious and moist. If you are feeling adventurous, add cayenne to the mix for mole with a kick!

Photo: Flickr/Andrea (Creative Commons)

By Gillian