When bakery shop owner Maggie Roby can’t have what—or who—she’s yearning for (COUGH*** oh-so-delicious Jake Sutton***COUGH), she goes crazy baking stuff. You want big buttery chocolate chip cookies? She has them. A crunchy caramel pecan pie? She made one. How about a sweetly tart Texas key lime jubilee? DONE.
The best substitute for sex, Maggie decided, was pie.
And since she couldn’t eat enough pie to make those bad feelings go away—whipping up pastries all morning, every morning, kind of ruined a person’s enjoyment of baked goods—she kept her ovens working overtime.
Now her display case was packed with pies. There was caramel delight pie filled with soft piped caramel and drizzled with chocolate. There was butter pie bursting with butter, sugar, eggs, raisins and walnuts covered in a crisp pastry shell. And there were crumbly apple tarts bubbling over with oats, cinnamon and brown sugar.
She assembled the ingredients for lemon meringue. Between customers, she returned to the kitchen to add her grandmother’s special lemon curd filling to the bottom of a short crust and then she layered in the fluffy meringue. After she slid the pie in the oven, Maggie washed the pastry board and set it to dry.
Now it was ten a.m. two weeks after her sister’s wedding, Cuervo had returned to being the drowsy little hamlet it was and she was bored out of her skull. And restless. And so not thinking about Jake Sutton.
Fortunately for Maggie, she has her pug, Gus, to distract her. And when she’s not knitting adorable little sweaters for him, she uses her downtime to make the occasional doggy treat. I mean, seriously. Who can resist those big syrupy pleading eyes? You might have a pair of those at home, too, which is why I wanted to share Peanut Butter Pupcakes (cupcakes for dogs) that I’ve adapted from a terrific recipe on UrbanBlissLife.com. I think you’re gonna love it. Well, someone you know probably will.
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
- peanut butter, slightly warmed to make it spreadable, topped by a Milk Bone or other dog treat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a cupcake tin with 6-7 cupcake liners—online, you can actually find cupcake liners that have dogs on them. Super cute!
- Combine the egg, peanut butter, oil and shredded carrots in a large bowl. Don’t add sugar! Sugar isn’t good for canine constitutions.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and oats. Add this to the carrot mixture, and stir, adding in a splash of water if the mixture gets too thick to deal with.
- Spoon the mixture into the cupcake liners.
- Bake for 15-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs on it. The tops should be a lovely golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.
- Once cooked, frost each cupcake with peanut butter and then add a Milk Bone or other doggy treat on top. If you’re like my friend Carol, you’ll invite a whole bunch of other dogs and owners over to snarf Pupcakes and wear humiliating hats. Hello, Instagram!
Enjoy!
In a little town in the heart of Texas, the same old story can turn into happily ever after . . .
On any given day, Maggie Roby has cake batter on her sleeve, flour where the blush supposedly goes, and sore feet from standing since dawn. For her sister’s wedding day, she’s added a side of heartache. Maggie’s failed marriage taught her that love is a lie and commitment a mistake, and it was an expensive lesson. But with her bakery thriving and her life simplified to work, family, and knitting for her pug, Maggie thinks she’s bought some peace. Until Jake Sutton walks in and she realizes she isn’t safe from desire at all . . .
Jake has model-perfect looks and about a billion dollars to throw around, but Maggie also sees the same never-say-die grit she prizes in herself. The attraction between them is hotter than her oven in July. But when Jake decides to restore the old Art Deco movie theater right around the corner from her bakery, she worries that temptation is a little too close for comfort. And the added ingredient of a man from her past only complicates the mix. This time nothing less than true love will do. If she can learn to listen to her heart, she just may be able to have her cake and eat it too.
Uncover the Truth With These New Mystery Series