Tasty Tuesday-Treats for Peeps Green Tea Cupcakes

Mom is big on giving us hounds ANTIOXIDANTS as part of our diet and supplement regime.  In fact we think its her favorite word, any canine food stuff sprouting that word has mom chomping at the bit.   She regularly gives us Curcumin, Fish Oil, Sardines, Fresh Fruits and Veggies in addition to supplement mixes like: Organic Pet Superfood: Immunity, Nupro Gold, Pet Kelp, Cranimals, Honest Kitchen Invigor, and Dr. Harvey's Golden Year.   Mom gets all the mixes from Olive Green Dog they have a geriatric section on their website and she rotates the mixes to make sure we don't get to much of one particular herb.  (Mom read that rotating supplements was a good idea on the Dog Aware
website.

So with mom's supplement fixation you would think she takes a lot of vitamins herself, but No Sir E Bob, all she takes is a dinky little multi-vitamin, and she hardly eats the healthiest diet.   Yeah she tells us that she loves fruit and rides her bike a lot, but we live with her and we see her shoveling in the cheese poofs not to mention the recipes she has posted on the blog.  Sheesh!

So we have been telling her to try to get some antioxidants into her diet, like Green Tea.  After all she loves Japan: sushi, bubble tea, Hayao Miyazaki, and the late Dr. Z's geisha costume was her favorite of our Halloween outfits:

 

A few months ago mom bought some Matcha (green tea powder) at the Mitsuwa
Japanese market place in Edgewater.  She highly recommends this market to any NJ residents its filled with tons of cool Japanese stuff: tasty Ramen, bubble tea, cute plastic models of food, and Hello Kitty shaped marshmallows.   So this weekend she used it to make Green Tea Cupcakes (not sure if the antioxidants are still healthy when combined with all that butter and sugar).


Green Tea Cupcakes  with Green Tea Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon Matcha green tea powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 1 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours and green tea powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Ingredients:
1 eight oz packages cream cheese,softened slightly,cut into small pieces
1/2 stick unsalted butter,softened slightly,cut into small pieces
1 tsp Matcha Green Tea Powder

3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter on medium for three minutes until smooth.  Beat in the green tea powder.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until a good consistency.  

Frost the cupcakes.

Mom note: If you want to give the power of green tea antioxidant to your pooch I  found this supplement and I've ordered it in every size for my hounds and will review it soon. 

 

Banana Bread for the Peeps

On Saturday I posted a recipe for pooch friendly Banana Bread but people have to eat to and there where sill a lot of bananas.   So I made some tropical banana bread for myself (and the hounds' dad of course).   This bread is based on a recipe from the Kona Inn in Hawaii.  So why I may never get to Hawaii, too much money for doggie hotels, I can at least enjoy the flavors of this banan bread.   By the way if you are a dog owner interested in arm chair travel, like I am, the BBC documentary series Steven Fry's America is very good I am addicted and its available for instant viewing on netflix.

Tropical Banana Bread

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
3 mashed bananas
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped (I used roasted and salted)

Preheat oven to 350 and line a loaf pan with baking parchment paper.

Stir the flor and salt and baking soda together in a small bowl and set aside.   Beat the shortening and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in the bananas and eggs.   Add the flour mixture and stir just until well blended, do not over mix.  Fold in the nuts. 

Bake one hour until a tester comes out clean.  Serve with marmalade.


Note: Make sure you never give anything with Macadamia Nuts to Your Furry Friends, they are highly toxic to dogs.