Essential Oils and Cooking

As most of you know I am a doTERRA Essential Oil Representative and educator.  I have been using oils in my recipes for about the last year or so and for my health for 2 1/2 years.  Let me tell you in advance though, I ONLY recommend using doTERRA oils in my food (or any other use).  The oils you get from retailers and some other essential oil companies are NOT Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) oils.  doTERRA IS! The government only requires companies to put 20% essential oils in their bottles.  The rest is fillers.  Sometimes your body can have adverse reactions to these fillers.  Furthermore, some of the oils you find at retail locations aren't even the essential oil they advertise.  For instance, one retailer advertises they have peppermint oil.  doTERRA tested this oil and discovered it was something called Cornmint!  I've never even heard of that before!  However, doTERRA Essential Oils ARE 100% pure oil.  Every single drop in the bottle is essential oil!  No fillers.  Not all of doTERRA's oils should be ingested though.  To determine if they are safe to ingest, doTERRA puts a supplemental facts label on the bottle.  If you see this, they are safe to put inside your body AND to cook with!  I posted a picture of the supplemental label so you can see what it looks like.  You'll probably have to zoom in.  If you'd like to learn more about doTERRA Essential oils, I would be happy to help you.

With that being said, let's move on to the recipe!  I was recently asked to share a recipe using essential oils at a team meeting.  I felt quite honored to be asked to share.  The recipe I chose is Key Lime Cupcakes and here's the recipe for you.  Remember, when you cook with essential oils, it doesn't take much because they are so concentrated.  Be on the look out for more recipes with doTERRA Essential Oils!!

Key Lime Cupcakes

1 box yellow or white cake mix (or gluten free cake mix)

4 drops Lime essential oil

Other ingredients on box 

Key Lime Frosting

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 Tbsp butter, softened

Juice from 1 key lime

3 drops Lime essential oil

3 cups powdered sugar

Soften the cream cheese and butter to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 350 F. Add cupcake liners to muffin tins or spray with Pam.  Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box. Add the Lime essential oil to the batter. Pour evenly into the muffin tins. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Remove cupcakes from the muffin tins and let cool to room temperature.  While the cupcakes are cooling, mix up the key lime frosting. Put all frosting ingredients into mixing bowl and beat for 3-4 minutes, or until smooth. Add more lime essential oil if you prefer to have a stronger lime flavor. To make the frosting to your preferred thickness, add more powdered sugar to thicken, or ¼ tsp. of milk to thin out the frosting. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to thicken more.

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, top each cupcake with frosting.  Refrigerate.