After a pretty darn stressful week (few weeks, actually), I had a pretty amazing day. My parents kept the girls for us this morning, and the hubs and I spent a few hours together, just the two of us. We had some fun in downtown KC, and grabbed a quiet lunch. It was nice to have some adult time. Some QUIET adult time.
After a quiet morning, we came home and just kind of hung out. The girls went swimming, I took a nap (A NAP!!) and then made these cupcakes.
Tonight, we went to the ballfields and played some softball with the kids. And then, we played on the playground until it started to get dark. On the way home, I stopped by my parent's house and snagged some tomatoes out of Dad's garden, and made tomato and cheese sandwiches for a late dinner.
Boring, I guess to some, but those are the kinds of days that I just love. It was just family time, and focusing on what's important. At the playground, I found myself just sitting and watching my husband play with the girls, and just so, so happy. It's so easy to get caught up in the stress of life that when you actually remember to just slow down and enjoy? Those moments are priceless.
And, to top it all off, there were cupcakes waiting for us when we got home. Doesn't get much better, I tell ya.
These are a definitely boozy cupcake - you use a whole beer in the batter. I'll let you use your own judgement on serving them to kids - I know the arguments on alcohol cooking out are varied. The actual alcohol content per cupcake is pretty low - just .33 ounces of beer per cupcake. Personally, I keep these away from my kids, I doubt they'd appreciate the hoppy flavor, anyway.
The beer keeps these cupcakes super moist, and the beer flavor remains just barely present in the finished dessert. And while you can use any beer you have handy, I would recommend a dark, stout beer for the best flavor. The chocolate ganache frosting also has a hint of beer in it, but just enough to give it a touch of flavor. Chopped, salted pretzels sprinkled on top give it a popular sweet-and-salty flavor that I guarantee you're going to love.
And how perfect would these be for a football party?
Don't be afraid of the long ingredient list for these, either. They really go together VERY quickly, and I didn't even use my mixer to make them, which was a nice change.
Hope you love these. And make some time to enjoy the small stuff today, even if just for a little bit.
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