Lemon & Mixed Berry Cupcakes

I decided that I'd make yummy cupcakes for my sons birthday in a few weeks instead of making a huge cake again. Texas summers are always too hot so I wanted to come up with something refreshing. These came out better than I'd hoped. Yummmmmmm! Lemon cupcake: 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tbsp lemon peel 1/2 cup low-fat milk 4 tsp lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

	Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
	Line muffin cups with liners.
	Cream sugar and 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and mix 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract into mixture with the second egg.
	Beat in flour, lemon peel and baking powder until thoroughly combined; beat in milk, lemon juice, and lemon extract to make a smooth batter. It was a thick batter.
	Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
	Bake in the preheated oven until cupcake edges are slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes completely. Made about 16 cupcakes.  Mixed berry buttercream: 1 cup butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups confectioners sugar 1/4 cup mixed berry, purée
	Beat 1 cup butter with 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat in confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, to make a creamy frosting. Purée mixed berries in small food processor. I used frozen. Beat in mixed berry purée to buttercream. Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie!

Ahhhh pizza! I love pizza & so does my family, but I don't like all the grease. Fold it & hold the pizza up for 5 minutes until most of the grease pours off.....Delicious, but not healthy. I started making pizza at home & I love it! Knowing exactly what goes into my pizza makes me happy to feed my family. The Cooking Light magazine pizza dough recipe is by far the best I've had. Have fun with it! Use a little garlic olive oil in the dough instead of just plain. Make a chicken pesto pizza instead of cheese! 

Barilla jar marinara sauce is really good or you can just use fresh or canned tomatoes. Add about 3 tbsp of tomatoes or sauce on top of dough that you've baked at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then add as much shredded mozzarella as you like. Add pepperoni or mushrooms or whatever toppings you prefer. We just made a plain cheese pie. Bake about 15 minutes still on 350 degrees & enjoy!

Pizza dough:

1/2 tsp sugar 

1 pkg dry yeast about 2 1/4 teaspoon. 2/3 cup warm water 100-110°

1 1/2 cups of bread flour

 2 1/2 tbsp cornmeal divided. 

2 tsp extra Virgin olive oil 

1/2 tsp salt 

2 tbsp bread flour

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water in a large bowl let stand five minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups level with a knife. Add flour 1 1/2 tbsps cornmeal, oil,  and salt to yeast mixture stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface knead 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsps bread flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray turning to coat top cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Punch dough down and shape into a ball in a  bowl with cooking spray place still in bowl turning to coat top cover and let rise another 30 minutes. Roll it into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured surface place on a 12 inch pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with 1 tbsp cornmeal and bake according to recipe directions.