Rich, fluffy, fudge tasting homemade chocolate cupcakes that are super easy to make. With my secret ingredient you’ll never go back to box mix!

I love chocolate! Especially chocolate cupcakes! For the longest time my all-time favorite chocolate were Reese’s Peanut Butter shapes you can get during the holidays. The shaped Reese’s have more peanut butter and the peanut butter is more creamy than the peanut butter cups. If you like Reese’s you know what I mean! My husband, Joe on the other hand loves dark chocolate. He has this rule that if I get him chocolate I can only get him dark chocolate! Like my preference for coffee with cream has changed because of my husband, so has my preference for chocolate. I now have been enjoying dark chocolate more than my milk chocolate peanut butter bars. What’s horrible and funny at the same time is that I’m annoyed that I did not get any dark chocolate for Christmas this year and Joe did!

For some reason a lot of people never attempt to make homemade cake or brownies. There is something daunting about making desserts from scratch. Well this recipe will put your mind at ease.

My homemade chocolate cupcakes are rich, dense and light in texture at the same time.  They taste like fudge that just lingers in your mouth. The coffee intensifies the sweet chocolate flavor. The mayonnaise… yes I said mayonnaise makes the cupcakes lusciously rich and moist more than the standard use of butter or oil.

How to Make Moist Cupcakes

Butter

The most important ingredient to make moist cupcakes is butter, REAL BUTTER, not margarine or shortening. The next ingredient to make cupcakes moist is eggs. Although butter and eggs are the standard in most cake recipes there are other ingredients you can use as well to make the cake moist.

Oil

If you want to make cupcakes really moist, you can substitute oil. Unlike butter, oil is 100% fat and does not have any water in it like butter does. The water in the butter evaporates as the cake bakes causing the cupcakes to dry out a little. therefore, cakes made with oil are more moist. I recommend using canola oil or vegetable oil. These oils have a neutral flavor.

Sour Cream or Yogurt

Sour cream and yogurt are also good substitutes to add moisture to your cupcakes. They are high in fat and contain lactic acid to make cupcakes moist and fresh. Replace the milk, cream or water with full-fat sour cream or yogurt.

Brown Sugar

I like to take dessert recipes that only contain white sugar and split the amount in half and do half brown and half white sugar. What is great about brown sugar is that it is made of granulated sugar and molasses. The molasses and the white sugar combined makes cupcakes moist and caramel-tasting. If you want to use brown sugar to bring richness to your cupcakes you can use the same amount of brown sugar as white sugar. As the name states , the brown in brown sugar makes cupcakes darker. I would recommend not using brown sugar in lighter looking desserts like vanilla cake.

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise has become my favorite ingredient to make my chocolate cupcakes lusciously rich. Mayo is made up of oil, vinegar and egg yolks. This combination makes cake preserve moisture.

Chocolate cakes tend to be more on the dry side because of the use of cocoa powder. The mayo and the coffee change this.

Try out this simple recipe! Soooooo good!

Check out other recipes like my Blueberry Cake Donuts.

The post Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The perfect seasonal muffin on a brisk winter morning. Bite into a sugary, crunchy muffin top. Enjoy the sweetness of the orange and the tartness of fresh cranberries in every bite!

I just love these orange cranberry muffins! A couple weeks before Thanksgiving fresh cranberries hit the shelves at my local grocery store. Of course the first thing I do when I buy fresh cranberries is make orange cranberry muffins.

There is just something about these muffins. First you bite into a crunchy, sugary orange flavored muffin top. As you get to the muffin you taste flakes of butter. You get that orange flavor and then the tart cranberries hit you with a bam! The vanilla extract and the almond extract adds a little extra something to make the flavor so tasty! The texture of the muffin is so light and fluffy. It is moist and sweet. All you need is a cup of coffee to make that perfect morning.

Although I would say this muffin recipe has a few more steps than an easy recipe, it is so worth the extra time spent in making them!

Helpful Hints

Before I start mixing ingredients together I always look through my ingredients and see if there is any pre-prepping that needs to be done. In  the orange cranberry muffins you will need melted butter that is cooled. So I will melt the butter at the beginning to allow it to cool.

Another thing I will need to do is make the buttermilk. Most likely if you buy buttermilk at the store you will not end up using it all before it expires. So I usually make it myself. It is super simple.

If you need 1 cup of buttermilk I would get out a liquid measuring cup and either pour in 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar or 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Then fill the rest of the one cup with milk. I use whole milk ,but two percent would work fine. Stir and let sit for at least 10 minutes. It will be a chunky consistency, like spoiled milk would look like.

I hope you like these muffins as much as I do and that it reminds you of the holidays!

Check out some of my other breakfast recipes like my Blueberry Breakfast Cake or my Pumpkin Muffins with Crumb Topping.

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Orange Cranberry Muffins

Sugary, crunchy, buttery, with hints of orange and burst of tart cranberries. The perfect breakfast pastry on a brisk morning.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Keyword breakfast pastry, cranberry orange muffins, muffins, orange cranberry muffins

Servings 14 muffins

Ingredients

Topping

• ¼ cup sugar
• grated zest of half an orange

Muffins

• 2½ cup flour
• 2½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⅛ cup sugar ⅛ cup = 2 Tbsp
• 2 eggs
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, cooled
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk see tips for homemade buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• grated zest of half an orange
• fresh squeezed juice of an orange
• 1½ cup fresh cranberries

Instructions

Topping

• Stir sugar and orange zest together in a small bowl

Muffins

• Preheat oven to 425°
• Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl
• In another bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until thick and lemon colored
• Slowly whisk in melted butter and oil until combined
• Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla extract, almond extract, orange zest and orange juice
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Add cranberries. Fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Fill muffin cups full and sprinkle with orange sugar topping
• Bake 16-20 minutes. Makes approximately 12-15 muffins.

The post Orange Cranberry Muffins first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Orange Cranberry Muffins appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

Bite into a soft, slightly sweet cookie filled with a date filled jam. Bring on the holidays!

Only two weeks until Christmas and I can’t help but reminisce about traditions when I was a little girl. Every year we all looked forward to my grandma giving us a tin filled with cookies and fudge. My grandma spent hours in the kitchen during the holidays making nutrolls, rugelach, pinwheels, date filled cookies (aka raisin filled) and many other kinds of cookies. This tradition made Christmas so magical.

Since my grandma has passed, my family has continued the tradition, but with a little twist. All the women in our family pick two types of cookies to bake and we gather together at my house for a Christmas cookie exchange party!

One of my favorite things to do is bake! I love making Christmas cookies and I smile when I think that this love for baking has came partially from my grandma.

Raisin filled cookies were always included in the cookie tin my grandma gave us. For the past few years I have took on the challenge of perfecting my grandma’s recipe. One thing I did do was change the raisins to dates.

Tips on Making the Cookie

• After the dry ingredients are combined cut in the shortening. You want to use your hands to work the mixture until it is crumb-like.
• Add in the wet ingredients and again work the mixture with your hands until a dough forms. This will take a little while.
• You can use any size circle cutter, depending on how big you want the cookies. You can use a cookie cutter, a cup or a lid. I used one of my daughter’s sippy cup lids.

Tips on Making the Filling

• First you want to use whole pitted dates. This simply means the date has been pitted or in other words the seeds were removed from the date. I used Dole California Whole Pitted Dates.
• Cut the whole dates into small pieces. (smaller than you see in photo) They do not break down as much when on the stovetop.
• Add all ingredients into the pot at once. If you want, you can add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to bring in those warm holiday flavors. You can leave the spices out like in the recipe if you just really want to taste the date.
• Cook on medium heat until it starts to thicken to a jam-like consistency.

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes!

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Date Filled Cookies

Cook Time 12 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

• 1 cup dates
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk together.
• Cut in shortening. Work together until blended with your hands.
• Add eggs, milk and vanilla to mixture and mix until combined. Work the mixture with your hands until dough forms.
• Roll dough out on a floured surface to the thickness you prefer.
• Use a circle cookie cutter or a cup or lid to cut circles.
• In a small sauce pot mix all filling ingredients. Cook on medium heat until it starts to thicken. Stir consistently. It is done when it is at a jam consistency.
• Add a scoop of filling to the center of cookie circles. Keep a little dough rim around the entire edge of cookies with filling.
• Place another cookies circle on top of cookie and filling and press around edges with finger to seal. Cut a small slit in top cookie circle.
• Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

The post Date Filled Cookies first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Date Filled Cookies appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow is so addicting. The perfect sweet snack mix to put out for fall parties. Crunchy, powdery, and will warm you right up with those fall spices. 

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Puppy chow, also known as muddy buddies is a crowd pleaser among kids. The traditional puppy chow is made of Chex cereal, milk chocolate, peanut butter and powder sugar.

Recently I was trying to think of a fall treat I could bring to my Bible study that is easy to snack on while talking. I came out with this Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow! Instead of doing the classic muddy buddies I can put a spin on the recipe.

It is so easy to make and requires only a handful of ingredients! There is no baking or chilling involved either!

Cinnamon Chex Cereal

I recommend using the Cinnamon Chex cereal. It really enhances the spices in the puppy chow. You can also use any plain rice cereal squares.

Chocolate

This recipe uses white candy melts. Candy melts are a sugary melting coating. You can find these in craft stores like Hobby Lobby, Walmart, or online. You can also use pure white chocolate.

You can use red or orange candy melts to add more color to the chow and bring in the fall leaf colors.

Spices

All you need is cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice!

Candy Corn

Most snack mix has a variety of treats in it. Whether it be nuts, pretzels or M&Ms. For my Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow I decided to add candy corn. You can also use sprinkles, mellow crème pumpkins, fall flavored Hershey Kisses or M&Ms.

If you love all things fall like me check out my Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies or my Pumpkin Muffins with Crumb Topping

I hope you enjoy this puppy chow as much as I do!

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Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

This fall sweet snack mix with holiday spices is sure to be a crowd pleaser at Thanksgiving

Course Snack

Keyword fall snack, muddy buddies, muddy munch, pumpkin spice puppy chow, Puppy chow, snack mix

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Author danellehickin

Ingredients

• 1 12 oz. box Cinnamon Chex cereal or Rice Chex
• 2 cups White candy melts or pure white chocolate
• 4 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 ½ cups Powder Sugar
• 1-2 cups Candy Corn

Instructions

• Pour Cinnamon Chex cereal into a large bowl.
• In 20 second increments, melt the candy melts in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Stir after each increment until completely melted and smooth.
• Add two teaspoons of cinnamon and two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice to the melted white chocolate. Pour mixture over the cereal and toss gently, coating each square.
• Pour powder sugar and two teaspoons of cinnamon into a large ziploc bag. Add chocolate-coated cereal to that bag and shake until each piece is coated. Pour puppy chow back into the large bowl. Discard excess powder sugar. Toss in candy corn. Use as much as you would like.
• Stays fresh for up to 2 weeks when covered.

The post Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

These pumpkin butter filled thumbprint cookies are the perfect fall treat that just crumble in your mouth. So buttery with the delicious crunch of salty pecans and that pumpkin butter! Yum!

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Fall is by far the best season ever. I love fall and I love pumpkin. I always make jam filled thumbprint cookies for Christmas and I wanted to make a fall thumbprint cookie. This pumpkin butter filled thumbprint cookie is the perfect bite of fall. The dough itself has pumpkin spice in it for that classic taste of fall everyone likes. The salty pecans give the cookie a little crunch. And the local pumpkin butter! It is very similar to apple butter, but with a pumpkin cinnamon taste.

When you are making the cookie dough the dough itself may look dry and crumbly. That is OK! As you work with it it will form together. Shape the dough into small balls and then use your thumb (hence the name) to make a hole in the center of each cookie. Be sure to not press down all the way. It is not a donut! About half way down is good for when making the thumbprint. The dough might crack while making the well. This is expected. Just try to press the dough back together as best you can.

The cookie dough balls will then need to chill for 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge or freezer before baking.

After chilling the cookie dough balls, dip them into the reserved egg white and roll into the finely grinded pecans. I recommend using finely chopped pecans to ensure the nuts stick to the dough. Use a food processor to grind the nuts. Try to avoid dipping the bottoms of the cookie into the nuts. This just allows the cookies to sit flesh on the pan.

The cookies bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-17 minutes. After baking the center well may puff up a little. Push down the well as soon as you take the cookies out.

When the cookies have cooled slightly, but are still warm it is time to fill them with pumpkin butter. I filled each cookie with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin butter depending on how big your cookies and prints are. The pumpkin butter will firm up when the cookie cools down.

I got my pumpkin butter at a local winery, Maize Valley Winery. The pumpkin butter itself is Maize Valley Pumpkin Butter. You can usually find pumpkin butter at specialty grocery stores or farmers markets during the season.

Tips for Making Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies

• Cookie dough may look dry and crumbly. It will form together as working with it.
• The dough may also start cracking as pushing thumbprint hole down. Do your best to shape it back together. The crumbly dough gives the cookie that melt-in-your-mouth aspect when biting into it!
• When making the thumbprint in the center of your cookie ball, only press halfway down. Just enough to hold a small scoop of filling.
• Chill dough balls in fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to allow dough from spreading. Keeps the shape.
• Dip chilled balls into egg white to ensure nuts will stick.
• After cooking the cookies, the wells may have puffed up. Press down thumbprint hole.
• Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring.
• When the cookie is still warm, fill with pumpkin butter

I Do Not Have Pecans, Can I Use A Different Kind Of Nut?

• Yes, most definitely. I like using walnuts as a substitution. Walnuts are also usually cheaper at stores.

I Have A Nut Allergy. Can I Omit Nuts?

• Yes you can. These cookies will still taste great. You might even be able to taste the pumpkin spice better:)

I Can’t Find Pumpkin Butter. What Can I Use for A Substitute?

• I would use apple butter if you can’t find pumpkin butter. I know that apple butter is way more common. Pumpkin butter also does not hit the shelves until fall. Apple butter is the next best option if looking for that fall taste.

How To Store Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies

• Store in an airtight container for up to five days. Can also freeze for up to three months. Thaw before serving.

These Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies are so simple to make. I hope you love them as much as I do!

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Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies

Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies just crumble in your mouth. Buttery, crunchy, with hints of fall spice and that smooth, sweet taste of pumpkin butter.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookies, fall dessert, pumpkin, thumbprint cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 17 minutes

Chilling Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 7 minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg separated
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans
• ¼ cup pumpkin butter

Instructions

• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add in the egg yolk and vanilla; mix until incorporated
• In a separate bowl whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
• Slowly add in flour mixture into butter mixture until fully incorporated. Dough may look dry. That is ok.
• Form the dough into small balls. Press your thumb into each cookie, half way down, to make a well for the pumpkin butter.
• Chill in fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 °F
• Dip cookies into the reserved egg white and roll into grinded pecans
• Place cookies on a sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone baking mat, one inch apart
• Bake for 15-17 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and pecans are darkened slightly. Remove from the oven and press down well in the center of each cookie that has puffed up.
• Let cookies cool for a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack. Fill with pumpkin butter when still warm.

If you liked this post be sure to pin it so you can find the recipe to make them again and to share with others.

The post Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Pumpkin Butter Filled Thumbprint Cookies appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

This summer it seemed like we were always having things to do whether it was picnics, birthday parties or sport activities! Anyways, we did not get to the far back room of the house, which is like the hodge podge room. That extra room that is always good to have when it comes to space, but could serve as an as needed area. It has been a second living room, a storage room and a play room within the last three years of living in our farmhouse. I am actually relieved that we did not install hardwoods in this room because where in the heck would we put all our stuff!

Yes, we put as much as we could in our upstairs, but the only other place to put our stuff would be our barn. Our basement is dirt floors, not waterproofed, unfinished and well looks like a scary, haunted house. It’s an 1850s house basement! What else would you expect! And I definitely did not want to have to get a storage unit.

Our plans are to get that far back room done next spring and summer. Awww! Already starting my to do list for next year! SPOIL ALERT! The hodge podge room will eventually be the master bedroom. Super excited to share with you all my plans I have for that room!

It has been a long time coming to get these floors done. We actually got the wood more than a year ago from Barberton Tree, a customer of my husband’s company. They use to mill wood and send them to Amish country. They stopped doing that part of the business and wanted to get rid of piles of wood boards. We ended up paying only $500 for a pile of one inch thick red oak boards. Enough to cover at least 1,000 square feet of flooring. We also snagged a pile of a mixture of one inch boards made up of soft maple, birch and ash, which we used to shiplap our living room with.

The Process

Hardwood floors are very labor intensive. These were no engineered wood boards with tongue and groove already on them. These were solid red oak one inch boards. First thing first we had to tongue and groove both sides of all boards. We had to either go somewhere and get them done or do it ourselves. My husband is always up for a challenge and is pretty good at renovation projects. We also always look intothe cost of doing it ourselves or hiring someone. It is almost always cheaper to do things yourself. Just assume it will talke up a lot of your time. We made a custom router table. It took a little over a month of doing 30 boards a day to tongue and groove at least the amount of boards to do most of the main living area. (We still have to tongue and groove the other side of the boards for the hodge podge/ soon to be master bedroom.)

Ripping out all the flooring in the main living area went somewhat smooth, except pulling out the staples from the carpeting was not fun.

Next we had to level the floors. Many basement posts later and sanding and chiseling away at some cement on the floors, we got them pretty leveled. We were lucky we didn’t have to completely rip out the floors and lay new floor joists.

Next was to cut the floor boards and lay them. We had to cut off the ends and cut them different sizes to make them straight. After all the floors were layed we had to sand, fill the cracks, then sand again. I recommend to rent a heavy duty floor sander from your local hardware store.

Sanding took at least four days because the filling made with glue and sawdust is very difficult to get off the boards. This part can be frustrating and labor intensive. We have never done this before but filling the cracks was recommended so dirt won’t fill the cracks in floors overtime. It would be difficult to clean.

Advice: don’t wipe the glue sawdust mixture over the floors. Try your best to only get in the cracks. My husband wiped the filling on like tile grout. The problem is that glue is not like a mud or sand that can be wiped off with a rag and water. It is sticky and wood glue is meant to stay on. So try to stay only in the cracks or as little on the floor boards as possible. We tried our best to get the glue off as much as we could. A hand sander helps near the end to get those random boards with glue still on them. I wish we could have been more careful in this step or got more glue off. In some parts of our floors it might look blotchy or dark in some spots on different boards. That of course was the filling not fully removed. I just have to deal with it, but it kind of adds more character and charm. Just the kinks of hardwood floors. They are not perfect like engineered flooring.

Choosing the Stain

The post Installing Hardwood Floors in our Farmhouse first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Installing Hardwood Floors in our Farmhouse appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

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I often crave baking. But sometimes there are days when I crave the treat more than the idea of baking something. This blueberry breakfast cake is my go-to recipe when I crave a treat that is simple to make and at the same time delicious. It is also my go-to recipe when I crave a baked treat and I have no clue what I am in the mood for. IT IS THAT GOOD!

Enjoy Blueberry breakfast cake in the morning, midday or at night!

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy

Blueberry Cake Donuts

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Makes 12-16 servings

Ingredients

The post Blueberry Breakfast Cake first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Blueberry Breakfast Cake appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

Taking a small space and making it functional, but at the same time charming

It has been a full year and my farmhouse half bathroom is finally finished! I am so excited to share my design ideas with you as well as the final look!

Like many old houses, our 1850s farmhouse only has one bathroom. It is crazy to think that big families lived their entire lives with only one bathroom in the house. Now it seems like there are always a minimum of two full baths in houses, especially in new builds! Luckily I have three little boys who love marking their territory outside ( if you know what I mean ).

Reno Photos

Walls

Right now I am really into more than just paint on my walls. I love all things shiplap, wainscoting, paneling and of course wall paper in the right places.

I have this idea to do vertical shiplap on the bottom part of the walls. I can’t decide whether to do chair rail height or 3/4 the wall height. I also can’t decide whether to go with shiplap-to-paint or shiplap-to-wallpaper proportion. I am already set on the shiplap being in the color green wheelhouse.

These are the colors I like for the shiplap.

I ended up choosing Coriander & Olive from HGTV HOME SHERWIN WILLIAMS. You can get this color of paint at your local Lowes or Sherwin Williams.

The upper parts of the wall I was thinking about doing wallpaper. Since the shiplap will be a dark green I want to pick a wallpaper with neutral colors, maybe a black and white design or beige. I was also thinking on doing a simple floral design. I also though about just painting the walls a creamier white than my living room, but a couple shades darker. The half bath is small and I want it to feel quaint, but not busy looking.

Wallpaper Ideas

You can find these wallpaper designs on Etsy.

1st Option: Hand Painted Azulejos Wallpaper. By TimberleaMinimal

2nd Option: Dainty Floral Wallpaper. By Timberleaco

3rd Option: Boho Minimalist Peony Wallpaper KOKOARTSHOP

Wall Paint Choices

What do you like?

I ended up choosing to do paint instead of wallpaper to save on costs. I went with the HGTV SHERWIN WILLIAMS Salt Crystal.

I admit I did not like this color in the beginning. Because my half bath is in a hallway and does not get any natural light the light bulbs you choose greatly affect the color of the paint. Instantly the color looked more yellow, a banana cream pie yellow, all those out there who like those cream pies know what I’m talking about!

After adding the vanity and decor as well as the antique lower wattage light it still has a yellow tint , but more on the beige side.

Find these paint colors at Lowes or Sherwin Williams.

Flooring

When we were laying the hardwood floors this summer I had to decide then if I was going to continue the hardwoods into the half bath or use tile. Because the bathroom is small already I decided to have the oak floors continue into the bathroom. This creates the look of a larger room with keeping the flow of the same floor instead of having a transition to a new floor.

Lighting

I have been debating on side of the mirror lights or over the mirror lights. I already knew I was not going to do a ceiling light because we were going to put a vent on the ceiling instead. And we all know there are no stylish vent lights out there! I thought long and hard and decided on side by side miror lights. I grew up with lights over the mirror and thought this was a different look.

I did think I wanted to keep with the black fixture look throughout the house, but I changed my mind after looking at the mirror we got awhile ago in Waco, Texas at Magnolia Market. I decided on an antique brass color for lighting, as well as faucet, and other fixtures.

Shop Magnolia.com for one-of-a-kind decor pieces.

As you get to know me better you will notice my style is very similar to Joanna Gaines’.

Light Options

I chose the 3rd option, but I turned them where the light is facing upward.

1st Option: Jillian 1 – Light Dimmable Warm Brass Wallchiere

2nd Option: Whitaker 1 – Light Dimmable Antique Brass Bath Sconce

3rd Option: Javion – Light Dimmable Antique Brass Vanity Light

You can find all three light options at Wayfair.com

Vanity

I have been keeping an eye out for awhile for my bathroom vanity. My half bathroom is small and so I need a thin, more on the small side, cabinet. Right down the road from my house I found the perfect piece! I live in a town that is known for a place to get antiques. I have been wanting to go to this antique store for awhile but every time I pass it it has been closed. An old couple who grew up in the house has a barn behind it that they made into an antique shop. So many treasures in there! I love when I find a place with quality furniture pieces that are one-of-a-kind. I got an old wash basin vanity with built-in towel bars on each side. It also has a drawer and shelf on the bottom, which I love and have an idea to put a basket on for toilet paper!

Decor

Now for the fun part! Shopping for decor to add personality to a space! My half bathroom is sooo small so I only need a couple pieces. I wanted to go with some kind of artwork on the wall above the toilet and on the wall that you look at when entering the bathroom.

I have been really into dried flowers in frames.

I also love cow pictures ever since we got our two sweet girl Jerseys, Breyer and Reese.

I needed a basket for my toilet paper.

I also wanted something on the other side of the sink on top of the vanity.

All the decor items you can find at Hobby Lobby and Marshalls. The trash can you can find at Target. The mirror you can find at Magnolia.com.

Final Look

The post Farmhouse Style Half Bathroom first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Farmhouse Style Half Bathroom appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

Keep the character of your farmhouse by repurposing the original wood trim.

When I moved into our old 1850s farmhouse it was stripped down to the studs. The previous owner was in the process of turning an old house into a new house. If you like old farmhouses or the farmhouse style we get excited about salvaging the original character. Once you get to know me a little better you will realize my style is often mixing old with new. I love the comfy, worn in look, but with a modern aesthetic. Luckily a lot of old parts of the farmhouse were saved and stored in the barn. Some of the things that were salvaged are spindles from the original front porch, a few doors as well as old trim.

A good chunk of what was saved were old trim pieces from doors, windows and entryways. Today wood costs are expensive. Most people use thin trim because of cost. Let me tell you that the old trim in our barn are wide with that classic farmhouse design to them. If only houses are made as good and with quality materials as back in the 1800s!

I love finding irreplaceable pieces. The problem though with the trim is that since windows and entryways have been changed, the original trim no longer fit. The trim also cannot be cut to fit because there are notches in them so the side pieces would fit into them without leaving an unfinished end look. Impressive!

So I have been brainstorming on how I could use this gorgeous trim. My first idea I came up with is to turn my old trim into a SHELF!

I love the look of leaning layered frames against the wall on a shelf. I have been looking forever for a unique piece with character to place on my long wall in the living room. I also have been trying to figure out a good place to put family photos. I like the idea of black and white individual photos of my kids, but I was having a heck of a time figuring out where to put them. I am not the type of person who likes photos of family everywhere! I actually prefer subtle pieces that tie in with the design and decor.

So the trim is white and looks like many layers of paint are on them. At one point in time it looks like the trim was painted teal. At first I liked the old chipped look with some wood and teal showing through, but in the end I decided to strip all the paint off the trim piece I was going to hang on my living room wall. The main deciding factor was the fact that my living room has white walls and I needed to add warmth and more wood accent to the room.

Removing Paint From Old Trim

Removing years of paint from the trim was a heck of a project. I just remember my husband Joe being outside working on it for hours! He also tried multiple things to get all the paint off.

Ideas for Frames

I wanted to stick with the same color scheme throughout the house so everything flows well. My house has black, grey and white as the main colors with pops of wood throughout. Because these frames will be up throughout the entire year they needed to be in this color wheel. My first plan was to just stick with all black. Black matches everything. Black is the go to for frame colors. But I decided on doing black and grey. If you don’t know already I have four kids so it will go black, grey, black, grey. I also decided on alternating the size of frames as well. Frame sizes in order go 8×11, 5×7, 8×11, 5×7 and also in the order of my kids ages.

You can find these picture frames at Hobby Lobby! If you don’t already know this store has the best selection of frames and almost always has 50% off every other week. Just check the online weekly ad be fore running there to get a frame! Trust me I have done that before when they weren’t on sale and I don’t exactly live close to a Hobby Lobby!

What do you think?!

Check out other projects I have done at the farmhouse like our half bathroom. 

The post Old Wood Trim Repurposed first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Old Wood Trim Repurposed appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.

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Every year since my husband Joe and I have been married we go on vacation in Outer Banks, North Carolina. Joe has been vacationing there before we were together with his family. Anyways, the first time he took me to Outer Banks he took me to this local donut joint called Duck Donuts.

I have to admit the first time I went there my first impression was disappointment. If you never heard of Duck Donuts it is a made-to-order cake donut shop. You choose the donut and the toppings and they make it right then and there. In the early years when they were a newer business the choices were limited. It was the plain cake donut and a few frosting options and toppings. So here I was pregnant craving huge fluffy glazed donuts with chocolate frosting. My husband opens up the box and there sit six TINY donuts and No GLAZE!

So upset, my husband the sweet man he is took me to another donut shop with the huge yeast donuts I was expecting. Well later that day I was hungry so I decided to try the donuts and they were amazing! Something about the inside of the donut! So moist and fluffy. Not dense and dry like the classic cake donut. Now every year we made it a tradition to go there at least once while in OBX. Oh and now they offer a wide variety of donut flavors and toppings!

So one day my kids and I were in the mood for donuts. We had blueberries in the fridge and so I decided to make blueberry cake donuts. I have made donuts before, but haven’t quite got the texture down. Duck Donuts are amazing because of the texture of their donuts. And today I am going to share with you this baked blueberry cake donut that are very close to tasting like Duck Donuts, if you have ever been there! And if you haven’t, these donuts are easy to make and delicious!

Blueberry Cake Donuts

Makes 12 donuts

Donut Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup sourcream
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup blueberries

Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze Ingredients

• 2 cups powder sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• a small handful smashed blueberries

How to Make Blueberry Cake Donuts

Step 1: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease donut pan.

Step 2: Whisk flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder together in large bowl.

Step 3: In separate bowl mix together sourcream, melted butter and eggs.

Step 4: Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in the blueberries.

Step 5: Spoon batter into greased donut pan.

Step 6: Bake 18 – 20 minutes or until donut springs back when touched.

Step 7: Dip donuts into glaze.

How to Make Cinnamon Vanilla Glaze

Step 1: Whisk together powder sugar, vanilla, heavy cream and cinnamon together. Smash a handful of blueberries and mix into glaze.

Check out my latest posts:

• Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
• Orange Cranberry Muffins
• Date Filled Cookies

The post Blueberry Cake Donuts first appeared on Wildflour Farmhouse.

The post Blueberry Cake Donuts appeared first on Wildflour Farmhouse.