A Slice of Heaven

I wanted to share another recipe I've discovered on Pinterest (originally from here).  These are one of the best desserts I've had in a really long time and they are so super easy to make.

Cake Batter Blondies

Ingredients:

*  1 box white cake mix

*  1/4 cup canola oil

*  1 egg

*  1/2 cup milk

*  1/2 cup white chocolate chips

*  1/4 cup sprinkles (I used more, just for fun!)

1.  Combine cake mix, oil and egg in mixing bowl.  Slowly add in milk to keep the texture thick.

2.  Gently stir in chocolate chips and sprinkles.

3.  Pour mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 baking dish

4.  Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes.  They will still be slightly gooey in the center and I was fairly certain that they weren't finished, but they were.  And they were absolutely delish!!!!

Happy S'mores Day

It's that time of year again...National S'mores Day.  Last year I made s'mores cupcakes.  This year I decided to try a different recipe.  This one I found on Pinterest (surprise, surprise), originally from here.

Ingredients:

*  1/2 cup butter, softened
*  1/4 cup brown sugar
*  1/2 cup sugar
*  1 large egg
*  1 tsp vanilla extract
*  1 1/3 cups flour
*  3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
*  1 tsp baking powder
*  1/4 tsp salt
*  2 king sized milk chocolate bars
*  1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.



Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick.

Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

(I copy and pasted the instructions because I wasn't even able to follow the instructions when I was making 'em, so I didn't even want to try to write them on my own.  And sorry for the cell phone pics, I was in a hurry.)

Are you planning on celebrating National S'mores Day?

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Last Friday I hosted my first Bunco party and wanted to make pink lemonade cupcakes for dessert.  I had seen a recipe on Pinterest, but used this recipe instead (found here).  I modified the recipe slightly.

Ingredients:

For the cake
*  1 box white cake mix
*  3/4 cup pink lemonade frozen concentrate
*  1/2 cup water
*  1/3 cup vegetable oil
*  4 egg whites

1.  Preheat oven to 350* and line muffin tins with liners.
2.  Combine all ingredients and mix with an electric mixer on low for about 30 seconds, then increase speed to medium for another minute.
3.  Fill liners until 2/3 full.
4.  Bake for about 25 minutes.
5.  Let cupcakes cool completely before icing.

For the icing
*  3 cups powdered sugar
*  1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
*  4 tbsp. pink lemonade frozen concentrate
*  pinch of salt
*  food coloring

1.  Combine all ingredients and mix slowly until blended.
2.  Increase speed and beat until you have desired consistancy.  It took about 5 minutes for me.
3.  Add a few drops of red food coloring to make pink icing.

Then I topped the cupcakes with pink sprinkles and straws.  They were a huge hit.  Come back on Thursday to see more of my Bunco party!



Linking to:
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Lemon-y Cupcakes

Ingredients:

*  1 package white cake mix
*  1 (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
*  1 cup water
*  4 egg whites
*  2 tbsp. vegetable oil
*  16 oz. powdered sugar
*  8 oz. cream cheese, softened
*  1/4 cup butter
*  2 tbsp. lemon juice

1.  Heat oven to 350*.  Beat cake mix, pudding mix, water, egg whites, and oil in a large mixing bowl on low speed till moistened.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Spoon batter into cupcake cups.

2.  Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely on wire rack.

3.  While those are in the oven beat sugar, cream cheese, butter, and lemon juice on low until well blended.  Frost cupcakes.

I sprinkled mine with pink sprinkles cause I ran out of yellow and served as dessert to my tortellini recipe.  Very yummy!





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Tasty Tuesdays

Yummy Tortellinis

Last weekend we had Husband's parents over for dinner to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday.  I tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest and it was so delicious, you should try it too!  It was originally from www.ourbestbakes.com.


Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
*  12 oz. of totellini (the originaly recipe recommend Barilla, but I just used some from Costco)
*  4 oz. of bacon (about 4 strips)
*  3 cloves garlic
*  2 Tbsp. flour
*  2 cups milk
*  3/4 tsp. salt
*  1/8 tsp. pepper
*  1 1/2 tsp. dry basil
*  1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (I used Hatch chile powder instead)
*  1 medium lemons
*  2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
*  3/4 cups mozzarella, shredded
*  3/4 cups Parmesan, shredded

Preheat oven to 350* degrees.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add tortellini and cook accordingly.

Cook bacon until crispy in a medium pan on medium heat.  Remove bacon and place on paper towel.  Add minced garlic to pan and cook until tender.  Add flour and whisk together, slowly add milk and continue to whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil and red pepper (or red chile powder) and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, zest lemon.  Then cut in half and juice.  And lemon zest and juice to sauce (Husband decided to add more than that  It was very yummy and lemony).  Continue to stir sauce until thick, about 2-3 minutes.

Drain tortellini and place back in pot.  Crumble bacon and add to pasta.  Add spinach,  1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Next add sauce and gently stir to combine.

Place mixture in baking dish.  Top with remaining 1/4 cups of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

I doubled the recipe just in case.  We had enough leftovers for two more meals.  Which is always nice, and I didn't have to worry about there not being enough and people going to bed still hungry!






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Tasty Tuesdays

Swiss Muesli

I love this stuff.  It may be because my family comes from Switzerland.  Or, because it's pretty good.  And filling.  And fairly healthy (unless you're doing a no/low carb diet).  Or, a combination of those.

*  4 cups rolled oats
*  2 cups milk
*  2 tbsp. honey
*  3 apples, peeled and shredded
*  2 cups low-fat yogurt (any flavor, but I prefer vanilla)

You can also add raisins, halved grapes, or nuts.  They aren't my favorite, so I didn't.

1.  Mix together oats, milk, and honey.  Let soak overnight.

2.  Add apples and yogurt (and any other add-ins you may like) the next morning.

3.  Enjoy your yummy breakfast!

P.S.  This recipe should make about 8 servings





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A Summer Salad

Here's a quick and refreshing salad for those hot summer nights.

 

*  one bag of baby spinach
*  two nectarines, cut in to small chunks
*  one package of blackberries, rinsed
*  2 tablespoons-ish of pinon nuts
*  dressing of your choice

I was planning on buying poppy seed dressing but found this instead.  

It was pretty yummy, but I think next time I'd stick with the poppy seed.

What are your favorite summer salad ideas?

Super Late Valentine's Post II

Still sharing our Valentine's super late.  But better late than never, right?

Our dinner date was at home this year.  We made fondue, cause we love The Melting Pot, but don't love the prices.  So I'm gonna share our recipes with you.  It was actually pretty easy, and obviously much cheaper!


Cheese Fondue
* 1 cup white wine
* 1 tbsp buttter
* 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
* 7 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
* 7 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
* 7 oz Emmentaler cheese, shredded

(We couldn't find Gruyere cheese at our local grocery store, so just doubled the cheddar)

1.  In a small saucepan, bring wine to a boil
2.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.  Add flour and whisk together, stirring constantly to avoid sticking or burning.
3.  Once flour is cooked, add boiling wine.  Whisk together till smooth, then add cheese slowly, stirring till all cheese is melted.  Transfer cheese mixture to fondue pot and keep over low heat.

(And being the super planner I am, I didn't have the candle for our fondue pot, so we used the Little Dipper that came with our Crock Pot)

Lesson 139- A Minty Treat

This isn't a cookie for my cookie collection (here and here), but it's a yummy treat that I'll add anyways.  It's Seven Layer Peppermint Bark and it's yummy!!!

Ingredients:
* 2 cups white chocolate, divided in half
* 2 1/4 cups regular chocolate; divide in 3: 1 cup, 1 cup, 1/4 cup
* 2 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
* 7 full-size candy canes (approx)

You'll also need:
* 2 bowls for melting the chocolate
* blender or ziplock bag and mallet for crushing candy canes
* wax paper

Directions:
1.  clear off a large space on your counter top.  Cover your counter top with wax paper.
2.  Crush you candy canes, either by hand in a baggie, or in your blender.  You'll need both chunks and powder.  Separate the two using a sieve.
3.  Put half of your white chocolate into a bowl along with 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. Melt it in the microwave. You can melt this on the stove if you choose to, but its so much easier (and quicker) to just follow the directions and use the microwave.
4.  Pour white chocolate on to wax paper, smoothing it out with the back of a spoon. Work quickly, because it will begin to thicken fast. It's ok if it's a bit bumpy, but try to smooth it out as thin as possible--but not too thin!
5.  Let it dry completely.  Totally and completely.
6.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the regular chocolate.  
7.  Before this layer dries, pour the candy cane powder over the chocolate.

8.  Let this layer dry completely.  Totally and completely.
9.  For the 4th layer, melt your other cup of brown chocolate, along with another 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint. Pour it over the top then smooth out.
10.  And let this layer dry completely.  Totally and completely.
11.  Melt the remainder of your white chocolate, with more peppermint.  Then spread it on top.

12.  Sprinkle the candy cane chunks on to the white chocolate.  Then gently press them into the chocolate to make sure they stay put.

13.  Now melt the remaining regular chocolate and drizzle over the top.

14.  Let dry totally and completely.  I left it over night.
15.  Once it's dry, pick up the bark and drop it allowing it to break into pieces.
 

 Sorry I wasn't very good about taking pictures on this!  But you should try it anyways!

Lesson 137- A New Cookie

As I mentioned I am in the hunt for my own Christmas cookie collection.  I found this recipe, and as a huge fan of egg nog, I thought it would be a good recipe to try.

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cups white sugar
* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup eggnog
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2.  Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3.  Cream sugar and butter until light. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Do not over mix.
4.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake 20 to 23 minutes until bottoms turn light brown.

Turns out I didn't like them too much.  There was too much spice to them for my liking and the texture was more like bread than a cookie.  However, my parents really liked them...so I sent the batch home with them!
 

Lesson 135- Sugar Cookies

I've decided that it's time I start making a collection of cookies to make each Christmas.  I figured sugar cookies would be a good place to start since you can cut lots of fun shapes and then decorate them.  And they're yummy too.

My recipe comes from a Pillsbury cookie book I bought at a book fair in Kindergarten and have held on to ever since (approx. 20 years now--and saying that makes me feel old).

Ingredients:
* 1 cup rolled sugar
* 1 cup butter, softenend
* 3 tbsp. milk
*1 tsp. vanilla
* 1 egg
* 3 cups flour
* 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, butter, milk, vanilla and egg; blend well.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; mix well.  Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.

Heat oven to 400*F.  On lightly floured surface, roll dough, 1/3 at a time to 1/8-inch thickness.  Cut with floured cookie cutter.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets; sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 400*F for 5 to 9 minutes or until edges are light brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets.  Makes 5-6 dozen.

Once they are completely cooled, I take store-bought cookie icing and outline the cookie with icing.  Then with a butter knife, I spread the icing evenly towards the center.  Then I dip the cookie in a bowl of sprinkles.  Here's my first batch of Christmas cookies.

Mmmm!

Lesson 101-Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

One Sunday morning I woke and decided that I needed to make cupcakes.  Conveniently it was Husband's grandma's b-day, so I used that as an excuse to make cupcakes.  I chose mint chocolate cupcakes.

Ingredients:
* 2 cups self-raising flour
* 4 tbsp cocoa powder
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 2 cups sugar
* 2 cups unsalted butter, softened
* 4 eggs
* 1 tsp. mint extract
* 3/4 cup chocolate chips
 For the Icing:
* 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1 tsp. mint extract
* green food coloring
* 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the over to 325*F.  Place baking cups in to muffin tin.  In a medium bowl, sieve the flour, cocoa, and baking powder.  Set aside.  Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the flour mixture gradually, stirring until well combined.  Stir in the mint extract and chocolate chips.  Spoon the mixture into the cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the tins from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.  To make icing, beat the butter and icing sugar in a small bowl until smooth and creamy.  Stir in the mint extract and just enough food coloring to turn the icing a mint green.  Ice the cupcakes and decorate with chocolate chips. 

The amount of butter in this recipe would make Paula Deen proud.  They were yummy, but not my favorite.  If I were to do this recipe again I would only add mint to the frosting and not the batter.

And Grandma J loved em!

Lesson 94- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

The other day I was definitely in need of some cupcake therapy.  And the combination of peanut butter and chocolate sounded heavenly.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. baking cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners. 
 
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix at low speed for 30 seconds while scraping bowl.  Mix at high speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl every minute.

 
Spoon cupcake batter into liners until they are 1/2 to 2/3 full.  You should have enough batter for 24-36 cupcakes.
 
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

 
Cool 10 minutes in pans then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting: 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar 

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy. 

Then I put 3 chocolate chips on top for decoration.  

I enjoyed them thoroughly even though they almost put me in a sugar coma.  Husband however, didn't like them.  But...I took them to Bible study where there were enjoyed.  So, I'm gonna go with the majority on this one. 

 

Lesson 77-You're Killin' Me Smalls

Did you know that today is National S'more Day?  Nope?  It's okay, neither did I till last week when I was watching Food Network.  So I thought it would be appropriate to try out a recipe I found a while back to honor this National holiday--and maybe start a petition to not have to go to work on National S'more Day.

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package French vanilla cake mix
• 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 egg whites
• 24 milk chocolate candy kisses (I ended up using about 15 chocolate chips per cupcake instead)
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs, water and egg whites. Beat for 2 minutes at high speed of an electric mixer.

3. Divide batter evenly among paper lined cups, filling about 2/3 full. Place a chocolate kiss (or chocolate chips) in each cupcake, pressing in lightly. Spoon 1 teaspoon graham cracker crumbs onto each cupcake.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 18 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and top each cupcake with 1 teaspoon marshmallow creme. Dip spoon into hot water to prevent sticking. Return to oven for about 1 minute to melt slightly.

Warning:  These are just as messy as traditional S'mores--and just as yummy!

And while we're at we can't forget this line from Sandlot--that movie is filled with so many classic quotable lines.

Ham: Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more? 

Smalls: Some more of what? 

Ham: No, do you wanna s'more? 

Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing? 

Ham: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alrite now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good! 

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!  Hysterical! 

Oh, and another bit on the s'mores topic.  One of my favorite memories from living in England: introducing them to my youth group.  Too fun!!! 

Okay, so pretty much you can never go wrong with s'mores.  Or cupcakes.  Or a classic movie.  Or crazy teenagers.

Linking to:

Tuesdays at the Tablea href="http://hoosierhomemade.com/cupcake-tuesday/" target="_blank" title="Cupcake Tuesday at HoosierHomemade.com">a href="http://www.itsablogparty.com" target="_blank">

Lesson 68- Introducing the Best Bread

It is safe to say that bread is my favorite food. I could eat it everyday for every meal. It's just so yummy. And I don't really discriminate when it comes to bread. But that was before I met this loaf. It is easily the best bread around.

I first discovered it a few years ago and decided to make it again a few weeks ago when we had some friends over for dinner.

Ingredients:
* 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tbsp. white sugar
* 2 packages instant yeast
* 1 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. dried marjoram
* 1 tsp. dried thyme
* 1 tsp. dried rosemary
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 egg
* 1 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
1. In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, salt, and herbs.
2. Heat milk, water, and 1/4 cup butter until very warm (120-130 degrees F); stir
into dry ingredients. Stir in egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.



3. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes.
Cover; let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.
4. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 30 inch rope. Braid ropes;
pinch ends to seal. Tie knot in center of braid; wrap ends around knot, in
opposite directions, and tuck under to make round loaf. Place on greased baking
sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubles in size, about 20
to 40 minutes.



5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 to 35 minutes or until done,
covering with foil during last 10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.
Melt remaining butter; brush over loaf. Sprinkle with additional herbs, if
desired. Remove from sheet; let cool on wire rack.



I hope you enjoy. It sure it yummy!



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