Cooking with Coupons! - 9/30/11

I guess the more accurate term for this post would be "Baking with Coupons", but I don't like the way it sounds from an alliterative point of view.

Using coupons encourages me to try new products. Usually companies will put out a pretty decent valued coupon when they're introducing a new product. Combine that with a store sale, and cha-ching! Good savings. 

Let me just say I'm not the world's greatest cook. I think the domestic gene pretty much skipped over me completely. I don't like cooking, cleaning, or any of that stuff. Sometimes I do enjoy baking. Sometimes my baked goods are pretty awesome. I can make a mean homemade cheesecake (no, I'm not talking about a JELL-O instant one.) I've made some delicious cakes and brownies. But cupcakes? I struggle with those. Even if they taste okay, they're usually not-so-easy on the eyes. My frosting is always a little lopsided or the batter spills over the top of the baking cup. 

So when I saw a coupon for Fun da-Middles baking mix by Betty Crocker, I decided to give it a try. The point of Fun da-Middles is to bake the icing inside the cupcake. Imagine a Twinkie in cupcake form--that's how I view Fun da-Middles.

I also had a coupon for Hershey's S'mores Dessert Icing. Mmm-mmm-good! I haven't tried that before either, but I do love me some s'mores. I even had a coupon for Kraft Jet-Puffed StackerMallows. 

An idea was formed.. I'm going to make S'mores cupcakes! Yes, I realize the icing is already in the Fun da-Middles. But a little more icing on top won't hurt a thing, right? So I picked up a box of graham crackers (no coupon!) and put my idea into action. 

Here's a breakdown of the ingredients.

Fun da-Middles cake mix $2.00 on sale
Used -$0.50 mfr coupon DOUBLED
Cost: $1.00

Hershey's S'mores Icing $1.78
Used -$1.00 mfr coupon
Cost: $0.78

Kraft Jet-Puffed Stackermallows $1.00
Used -$0.75 mfr coupon
Cost: $0.25

Graham crackers $1.34 

Total: $3.37

The first step: Bake the cupcakes. I gathered all the ingredients--cake mix, eggs, oil, water. I preheated my oven to 350 degrees and placed baking cups in my cupcake pan. My cupcake pan has seen better days. It's pretty old and I could really use a new one. I combined all my ingredients together and then mixed according to the directions. And like any other time I've use a hand mixer, I managed to make a mess. No worries, though! 

Next step: Spoon one-third of the cupcake batter into the baking cups, making sure the bottom is completely covered. Then came the fun part--putting the icing in the batter! I had to squeeze the pouch several times before cutting off the corner. This is to make sure the icing comes out smoothly. 

The directions say to squeeze icing in the middle of each baking cup, making sure NOT to touch the sides. The first few were pretty easy, but then I accidentally got a little sloppy and got pretty close to the sides on some of them. Oops! 

Now I had to put the rest of the batter in the baking cups, making sure all the icing was covered. 

Finally they were ready for the oven! The directions said to bake for 24-29 minutes. I set my timer on 27 minutes. 

While they baked, I did the dishes and cleaned up the mess I made while mixing the batter. I also went ahead and crumbled up some graham crackers. I did it the old-fashioned way--put three in a baggie and then beat it with a spoon. (I couldn't find my rolling pin or I would've used it.) 

I took my cupcakes out to discover a nice golden brown color. I hoped they weren't a little TOO golden brown. I'm always afraid I'll burn them. I let them cool for about 20 minutes, then took the cupcakes out of the pan. Then I let them cool for about 20 more minutes before I frosted them. See the cracks on the top? I guess I did not achieve baking perfection.

Time to give the S'mores icing a try! The directions said to knead the package, twist off the cap, attach the decorator's tip, and then frost the cupcakes. Um... small problem. No decorator's tip! I guess I thought it came with it. WRONG! So, I first tried squeezing it out of the regular tip. I'd hoped I'd still get the pretty, swirly effect. Instead I got this:

Hahaha! Now does that look appetizing, or what?!?! Click on the picture to make it larger. That will give you the full effect. 

Needless to say, I had to spread the frosting across the cupcakes. That looked better. 

Next, I sprinkled the crushed up graham crackers on top of the frosting. That was a pretty messy project. 

 

Next I added the marshmallows. I totally underestimated the size of those stackermallows. They were huge! They'd cover the entire cupcake if I left them whole. 

So, I cut them into 6 pieces. That means I used only 2 stackermallows for my 12 cupcakes. 

Voila! All finished. It was time for the moment of truth. 

They were pretty good. The icing in the middle was fabulous! The cake was nice and moist. The stackermallows were fresh. The graham cracker crumbs were perfect. But the s'mores icing was just meh. It had a little bit of a weird taste. Maybe it would be better on just a regular chocolate cake or something like that. 

Baking these cupcakes was fun! It sure did take awhile and there were a few mishaps along the way, but overall, I give them a solid B.