Just Desserts

Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies

2010-11-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

Now that it's the holiday season I'm always on the lookout for different and interesting baking ingredients in the baking isle. I don't know about everyone else, but I absolutely love baking this time of year. Most people are a little more lax on their diet so they can indulge in the yummy holiday goodies that everyone is baking. Needless to say, the other day I was walking down the baking isle and I stumbled across something I've never seen before: cherry baking chips. They have a strong red color and looked a little iffy, but I thought I'd give them a try.

Tonight I decided that a chocolate cookie with these cherry baking chips would taste like a chocolate covered cherry maybe. You know those Cherry Cordials that you can find in Walgreens or any kind of candy store? Those old timey cherry cordials that old people are constantly eating?...I wanted to make a cookie version of those.

I found a recipe in my Cookie Bible recipe book for a Double Chocolate Cranberry Chunkies. Although I did have some dried cranberries that I wanted to use, I decided to eliminate the cranberries and add those cherry baking chips instead. Oh my goodness...these cookies literally taste like a chocolate covered cherry. They are absolutely amazing! Plus the red chips add such a beautiful pop of color to the cookie that it would make a great addition to any holiday table this season. :)

Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup cherry baking chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Whisk together and set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until blended. Stir in chocolate chunks and cherry chips.

3. Drop dough by level 1/4 cupfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Flatten dough until 2 inches in diameter w/ bottom of a glass that has been dipped in additional granulated sugar (I skipped the sugar and just dipped it in water b/c I felt like the cookies were already sweet enough and didn't need extra sugar).

4. Bake 11-12 min. Cool cookies.

Roasted Corn and Red Pepper Quesadillas

2010-08-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Usually during the summer I honestly don't like cooking that much. I'm not sure why exactly either. In the winter I'm much more prone to cook--maybe because the oven warms the apartment. The good thing about summer, however, is the abundance of fresh vegetables. As a vegetarian, I appreciate the fact that I can go to the grocery store and find a ton of fresh veggies on sale. One of my favorites right now is fresh corn (at Kroger it's usually 3 or 4 for $1). I was trying to decide what to make for dinner and awhile ago I made veggie enchiladas with fresh corn. This time I went on a different route...

So last night I cooked a really delicious meal for Mark and I thought it was "blogworthy." I wish I had taken a picture of it but we ate it up too quickly. Next time I'll take a picture! We were going to make enchiladas, but we decided last minute to make quesadillas instead. They had roasted fresh corn, red pepper, onions, and cheese. They were amazing! If you have a panini maker they make exactly quesadillas in a shorter time than on a griddle pan. I had leftover corn, pepper, and onion mixture but you can use it to make a ton of other stuff. Try using it in soup, on a panini, or in pasta.

Ingredients:

1) 3 husks of fresh corn (I used the bicolor)

2) 1 red pepper (any color would taste fine)

3) 1 medium yellow onion

4) minced garlic

5) olive oil

6) margarine

7) 1 & 1/2 tbsp. rosemary

8) 4 whole wheat tortillas

9) shredded cheese

Directions:

Remove the corn from the husk by cutting it with a knife. Saute some garlic (however much you like really) in olive oil in a saute pan. Add the corn with a tablespoon of margarine and chopped rosemary (fresh rosemary tastes the best). Stir until the corn is tender, about 5 min.

In another saute pan add olive oil and saute the peppers and onions.

Put all your veggies in one bowl and let set for a few minutes to let the flavors blend together.

Assemble your quesadillas by adding your cheese (however much you'd like) and veggie mix. Cook on the panini pan until done and enjoy!

Sorry that I don't have the accurate measurements on a lot of the ingredients. I don't measure anything when I'm cooking, only baking, so it's really up to your how much of something you want. Mark gave them a thumbs up too!

Berry Cobbler

2010-03-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I am still alive I promise. I have been doing a lot of wedding stuff, including moving into a new empty apartment. The good news is: I now get to bake more! I am slowly trying to get my fiance to enjoy sweets more, but I think I have a long road ahead of me. It's ok...I'm up for the challenge.

This recipe came from my mom. When I was younger she used to make this cobbler with fresh blackberries in the summer and it was so wonderful (especially with vanilla ice cream). I used frozen berries because I am broke and it's all I have. I also tweaked the recipe too because my cobbler was a little more dry than I like it. My mom warned me to take out the majority of the juice from the frozen berries because it can make the cobbler soggy. I think I might have taken out too much. To fix the problem I added a few spoonfuls of Reduced Sugar Raspberry Preserves and it brought life to this cobbler. :)

This is the reason I haven't been baking as much...he occupies a lot of my time. It is completely well worth it too. :) :) :)

This is what the cobbler looked like before it went in the oven.

This is what it looked like in the end. Not the prettiest cobbler, but it is really really really good.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen berries, thawed and heated in the microwave

1/2 cup butter, melted (I only had that spreadable non-margarine stuff, and it worked fine)

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup self-rising flour (I usually HATE self-rising, but it worked well in this recipe I must admit).

1 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla preferred)

1/2 tsp. butter extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix the flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl. SLOWLY add the milk. Mix in the melted butter slowly as well. Mix in the extracts and cinnamon. Pour into a baking dish (you can use a cobbler dish, a pie dish, or a 13x9 pan which I used). Spoon the fruit evenly on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min.

Christmas Goodies

2009-12-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Merry soon-to-be Christmas! I know that my posting is quite sporadic now, but I must say that I have been really busy lately. Thankfully school is now out for a little while and I can work without having to study during my lunch break, which is hard to do when there are loud baristas lurking around the corner trying to scare you or saying something funny (I do love you Starbucks though). :)

I have some wonderful and exciting news to report to any of you faithful followers who still happen to stumble across my blog every now and then. I AM ENGAGED!!! Oh my...I don't think I even knew it was possible ever to be this happy. I am marrying a man who is the perfect fit for me and is way too good to me.

There will be much more on that later though. :) On to the food...because I make minimum wage and I must pay rent and utilities, and then Christmas presents this month, I didn't have much money to spend on nice ingredients. I turned to my Cake Mix Bible and knew that I could find some cute little Christmasy goodies to make for the holiday. I found these cupcakes and cookies and look pretty good if I don't say so myself :). The cookies are meant to be smaller and rounder, but I was lazy and didn't want to wait a long time for all of them to bake so I just made them bigger.

The pictures aren't pretty this time b/c my roommate is gone for the holidays. :( I'm sorry you have to bear with my awful pictures. BUT, she gave me an Anthropologie cooking apron for my Christmas present! This is my second favorite gift this year (my engagement ring is my favorite). :) :)

Monkey Bread

2009-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

For some reason or another, I only think to make Monkey bread during the holiday season--especially Thanksgiving. In my mind it is the sacred and essential Thanksgiving breakfast...a cinnamony beginning to the start of a day of feasting. This recipe can't be any more simple. You buy the cheap canned biscuits (Kroger has them for 48 cents a can), cut them into quarters, roll them in cinnamon and sugar, pour some margarine and honey on top, and you're done! Nothing is more fulfilling and strangely fun than picking off pieces of this dessert/bread masterpiece. (You can also easily add toasted walnuts or pecans to this and it would taste really great too).

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

4 cans of biscuits

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. honey

1 stick margarine

Directions:

Cut biscuits into quarters. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Drop biscuits into sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place biscuits in a Bundt pan. Melt margarine. Pour margarine and honey into sugar-cinnamon mixture. Pour over biscuits. Bake 20 min. at 350 degrees. Turn out of pan immediately.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

2009-09-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my inability to read, I picked up a recent cookbook thinking that it was the "Cake Bible," and instead I got the "Cake Mix Bible." Instead of returning it (it was only $7), I decided to keep it and see what recipes I could use. Although there aren't many recipes that look impressive, this cheesecake looked beautiful in the picture. It is a standard cheesecake recipe, but I do think that a chocolate crust using a cake mix is a pretty good invention.

Ingredients:

1 package DUNCAN HINES Moist Deluxe Devil's Food Cake Mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 packages (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1 tsp. all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 10-inch springform pan.

2. Combine cake mix and oil in large bowl. Mix well. Press onto bottom of prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 min. or until set. Remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

3. Place cream cheese in large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed w/ electric mixer, adding sugar gradually. Add sour cream and vanilla extract, mixing until blended. Add eggs, mixing only until incorporated. Toss 1/2 cup chocolate chips with flour. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour filling onto crust. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Bake at 450 degrees F. for 5-7 min. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Bake at 250 degrees for 60-70 min. or until set. Loosen cake from side of pan with knife. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pan Dulce

2009-09-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

As I was flipping through the pages of one of my new cookbooks, the name of this bread caught my eye. It is a sweet bread made throughout Mexico. It has a dense bread-like texture with a sweet, crumbly topping. I would recommend everyone to try these simply because they are different. They are best served warm and in Mexico they are served with jam or marmalade for breakfast.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

2 tsp. active dried yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. caster (superfine) sugar

2 tbsp. butter, softened

4 large eggs, beaten

For the topping:

6 tbsp. butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup all-purpose flour

Recipe:

1. Pour the milk into a small bowl, stir in the dried yeast and leave in a warm place until frothy.

2. Put the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl, add the butter and eggs and mix to a soft, sticky dough.

3. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and dredge it with a little more flour. Using floured hands, turn the dough over and over until it is completely covered in a light coating of flour. Cover it with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave to rest for 20 min.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, then gently mix in the egg yolk, ground cinnamon and flour. The mixture should have a slightly crumbly texture.

5. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each of them into a ball. Space well apart on greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with the topping over the breads and press it lightly into the surface.

6. Leave the rolls in a warm place to stand for about 30 min. until they are about one and a half times their previous size (mine weren't that large). Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. and bake for 15 min.

Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

2009-09-14T15:37:00.001-07:00

With fall approaching I felt the impending desire to bake something involving the seasonal flavors: cinnamon, pumpkin, apple, etc. Thanks to the recent purchase of a few new cookbooks, I found a recipe that fit the majority of my "fallish" food cravings. These cinnamon and apple muffins are in fact supposed to be larger than pictured here, but I decided to make a few more smaller ones as opposed to six big ones...plus I didn't have any paper muffin liners and I thought that they would bake and come out of the tin more easily if they were smaller. Perhaps that logic is twisted because now that I think about it, it really makes no sense at all. :) Oh well, regardless the picture in my recipe book is of course much prettier and the muffins look much healthier and meatier, but I like my emaciated muffins just the way they are thank you. :) Feel free to use any kind of apple in this recipe as well. I chose the Gala apple because it is in season (and on sale [yes I am a cheap college student I admit]). Although Granny Smith apples are my favorite to eat by themselves, I wouldn't recommend them for this muffin because I think they would be a little too tart and clash with the flavor of the cinnamon. That of course is my own opinion...feel free to choose whichever apple you like. Ok enough of my ramblings and on to the recipe. Happy September all!

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp. caster (superfine) sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I added a lot more)

2 small eating apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped

For the topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. (or more) ground cinnamon

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large muffin tin with six paper cases (or in my case, not...)

2. Mix the egg, sugar, milk, and melted butter in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the chopped apple and mix.

3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cases. To make toping, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the uncooked muffins.

4. Bake for 30-35 min.

Frozen Honey Cheesecake with Praline Crust

2009-08-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone who has been faithful enough to keep up with my blog! I know it's been awhile since I've posted a recipe on here and I am simply hoping that someone is still possibly visiting my website occasionally. I could go into the details as to why it's been so long since I've posted anything, but I highly doubt that anyone out there cares about the happenings of my personal life.

Needless to say, there will be a slight change in the recipes posted on here. As of recently, I have been tampering and falling in love with new and more evolved flavors other than my typical favorite--chocolate. Because of this, many of my upcoming recipes are going to be a little more advanced in their taste as opposed to more mundane brownie recipes. I hope this is ok with everyone--I hope that these new flavors will excite you as they did me as I was working away in the kitchen with my Itunes on shuffle. :) I also have the wonderful and new addition of my roommate and her awesome camera and photography skills, so the pictures posted on here should be elevating from what they used to be.

Crust:

3 1/2 oz. flaked almonds

6 oz. (3/4 cup) sugar

7 oz. plain sweet biscuits (I bought regular biscuit dough and added some white and brown sugar on top when I baked them).

3 1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 13-oz. can condensed milk

2 oz. (1/4 cup) honey

10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) cream

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. To make the praline, spread the almonds on a foil-lined, greased baking tray. Put the sugar in a pan with 1/2 cup water and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then simmer without stirring until the toffee is golden brown. Pour over the almonds (don't touch it!), then set aside to cool and harden before breaking into pieces.

2. Lightly grease a 23 cm. (9 inch) diameter springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Reserve about half the praline and finely chop the rest with the biscuits in a food processor. Stir in the butter, spoon int the base and press firmly on the side of the tin (I "skipped"/didn't see this step, so I just put all the mixture on the bottom for a thicker crust). Bake for 15 min. and then leave to cool.

3. To make the filling, process the mascarpone and cream cheese together until soft and creamy. Add the condensed milk and honey. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in slowly. Pour into the tin, sprinkle with cinnamon and swirl gently with a skewer or knife. Do not overmix. Freeze for several hours, or until firm, and decorate with the remaining praline.

Crust:

3 1/2 oz. flaked almonds

6 oz. (3/4 cup) sugar

7 oz. plain sweet biscuits (I bought regular biscuit dough and added some white and brown sugar on top when I baked them).

3 1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 13-oz. can condensed milk

2 oz. (1/4 cup) honey

10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) cream

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Hersheys Quick'N'Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

2009-06-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have not made cupcakes in SO long and oh my goodness it was a blast. Since the last time I made them, my decorating skills have slightly evolved, hence the more elaborate icing design than just slapping it on with a knife (which is just as good too!). I added some chocolate chips to the batter because I need multi-textured food; it really is bad I know. I also doubled the icing recipe, but shh...don't tell anyone. :)

Seriously, these were probably the best cupcakes I've ever made, thanks to Hersheys of course.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening, softened (usually I HATE using shortening, but don't substitute here. This really did make a lot of difference in the texture).

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup hot water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or milk)

Creamy Fudge Frosting-recipe below

Directions.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.

2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening, eggs, milk, water, and vanilla; beat on low speed of mixture for 1 min. (try doing this without a mixer...your arm will get a good workout I promise). Beat on medium speed for an additional 3 min or until mixture is smooth. Fill cups 1/2 full with bater.

3. Bake 15-20 min. or until the center of each cupcake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

4. Prepare frosting and frost the cupcakes however you desire.

CREAMY FUDGE FROSTING:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

3 2/3 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

1/3 cup of water (you may not use all of this. If you add too much, just add more sugar).

Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa; stir until smooth and well blended. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt alternately with water; beat with a spoon or whisk until smooth and creamy.

Hersheys Mixed Nut Crunch

2009-06-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

So yes, there are going to be 3 new posts today...and no I did not make them all today. I made the pie this weekend and this recipe and the next ones were made today. This recipe is from my Hershey Best-loved Recipes cookbook. I've been using various recipes from online so much recently that I've really missed using an actual cookbook. Originally the recipe is called "Cashew Macadamia Crunch" because it uses only cashews and macadamias, but I had a big tub of mixed nuts and I thought it was discriminatory only to use those 2 nuts. :)

This is a salty and sweet pleasure for anyone! Unless you hate nuts, I can't imagine anybody not liking this candy. The nuts are held together by a gooey, sugary, and buttery mixture. The recipe also originally called for only milk chocolate chips, but after years of experience, I found that using half milk and half semisweet chocolate usually yields the best results. Hope you guys enjoy and tell me if you try it! :)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (11.5 ounce package) Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips (or 1 cup Milk chocolate, 1 cup semisweet)

*of course they tell you to use EVERYTHING Hershey, but I won't tell anyone if you don't. :)

2 cups mixed nuts

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons light corn syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Grease foil. Cover bottom of prepared pan with chocolate chips.

2. Combine nuts, butter, sugar, and corn syrup in large saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins to cling together and turns a light golden brown.

3. Pour mixture over chocolate chips in pan, spreading evenly; cool. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Remove from pan and peel off foil. Break into pieces (you might need to use a knife). Store tightly covered in a cool, dry place (I kept mine in the refrigerator b/c to me it tastes better cold).

Ingredients

Strawberry Margarita Pie

2009-06-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood to make a pie, and I definitely don't have a lot of money to spend on ingredients so I went for this yummy sounding pie recipe I found off the pillsbury website. The picture they have makes the pie look a whole lot bigger, but in reality it's slightly smaller. I also added about 1 cup of crushed graham crackers to my crust to make it a little thicker. Pay attention to the fact that the whipping cream, whipped, is used IN the pie. I, having a dumb moment, thought it was just for a whipped topping and I skipped on buying it at the store. Then I realized, one: there is no whipped cream on the top of the pie in the picture, and two: that it actually goes IN the pie. Oh well, I used the small amount of Cool Whip I had in addition to a touch of milk. There were, consequently, a few little white dots from the Cool Whip, but it still tasted really refreshing and light! This is a perfect summer dessert.

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 1/4	cups crushed pretzels
1/4	cup sugar
1/2	cup margarine or butter, melted
Filling
1	(14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2	cup frozen concentrated margarita mix, thawed
1	(10-oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
1	cup whipping cream, whipped Directions: In small bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix well. Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. n large bowl, combine condensed milk and margarita mix; beat until smooth. Add strawberries; beat at low speed until well blended. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust-lined pan. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Store in freezer.

Butterfinger Mounds and Chocolate Clodhoppers

2009-06-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Two candies in one post today! The Butterfinger mounds are from cookiemadness.com and the clodhoppers are from bakingchambers.com The butterfingers really do taste a lot like the actual candy. You could dip them in chocolate or just drizzle it on top if you want, but I was lazy and didn't feel like it today. The clodhoppers, also called chocolate brittle...AWESOME. Definitely use Hershey milk chocolate bars with this one.

Butterfinger Mounds

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups corn flakes

Place butter, sugar and corn syrup in a medium sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir to dissolve sugar. Quickly stir in butterscotch chips and stir until chips are melted. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla and stir until smooth. Stir in corn flakes.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Let sit until firm or chill until firm.

Makes around 12

Chocolate Brittle (Homeade Clodhoppers)

1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup sugar (either white granulated sugar or light brown sugar both work, but I prefer to use the white sugar for taste preference)
20-30 Graham crackers (amount depends on size of cookie sheet)
Approx. 400g of your favorite chocolate bar (I like to use either Cadbury's milk chocolate bar, Hershey's cookies and cream bar, or Lindt's dark chocolate bar)

1) Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2) Melt butter and sugar over medium heat stirring occasionally and bring to a boil
3) Arrange graham crackers to fit evenly on cookie sheet
4) Pour butter mixture over graham crackers and spread to cover all graham crackers evenly
5) Place in oven for 8min then cool completely on a wire rack
6) Once cooled, break sugar coated graham crackers into bite size pieces
7) Melt chocolate in large pot over low heat stirring frequently
8) Once melted, add graham bits to melted chocolate and stir to cover each piece equally
9) Pour chocolate covered grahams back onto lined cookie sheet and spread evenly
10) Place in fridge to cool, once cooled break into pieces again and enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

2009-05-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Yet another cookie recipe from Anna's website cookiemadness.com

Oh my goodness...these are AMAZING. I don't like cherries at all, but these cookies I can handle. It's like a warm chocolate/gooey chocolatey cookie with a cherry in the middle. The very best part of the cookie is the homeade chocolate frosting on top. Sweetened condensed milk + chocolate + cherry juice=the best frosting ever.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 jar maraschino cherries (10 ounce)

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour and cocoa. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, beat margarine with an electric mixer at a medium-high speed, about 30 seconds until softened. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, beating well until combine. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheet. Press down center of each ball with thumb. Drain maraschino cherries, reserving juice. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie.

In a small saucepan, combine the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 5 tsp. of reserved cherry juice. Spoon about 1 tsp. of the frosting over each cherry on unbaked cookie; spreading over to cover cherry. (Frosting may be thinned w/ additional cherry juice if necessary).

Bake in preheated oven set on 350 degrees for about 10 min. or until done. Remove to wire rack and cool. Cover and store at room temperature up to two days.

White Russian Tiramisu

2009-05-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

This came from the website www.myrecipes.com I had bought some ladyfingers at an Italian shop awhile ago and wanted to use them, hence the tiramisu recipe! I actually it a light recipe. Each serving is 134 calories and 4.5 fat grams. It calls for Kahlua, a coffee liquor, but I wasn't able to find it unfortunately. I think it would've added even more flavor to it, but w/o it it's still really amazing! Personally it tastes exactly like the kind you buy at the Italian restaurants.

Ingredients:

1 cup ground coffee beans

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup Kahlua (coffee-flavored liquer), divided (I used a sugarfree vanilla syrup instead)

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) mascarpone cheese

1 (8 ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

24 ladyfingers (2 3-ounce packages)

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa, divided

Directions:

Assemble drip coffee maker according to manufacturer's directions. Place the ground coffee in the coffee filter or filter basket. Add cold water to coffee maker and brew. Combine the brewed coffee and 2 tbsp. Kahlua in a shallow dish, and cool.

Combine cheeses in a large bowl. Beat at a high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add sugars and 2 tbsp. Kahlua, and beat until well blended.

Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise.

Quickly dip 24 ladyfinger halves, flat sides down, into coffee mixture; place, dipped sides down, in the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish, slightly overlapping landyfinger halves. Spread half of cheese mixture over ladyfingers; sprinkle with 1 tsp. cocoa. Repeat procedure with remaining ladyfinger halves, coffee mixture, cheese mixture, and 1 tsp. cocoa.

Place 1 toothpick in each corner and 1 in the center of tiramisu (to prevent plastic wrap from sticking to cheese mixture); cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

2009-05-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Does it come to anyone's surprise that a recipe from Paula Deen is great? I mean really, if I could have any mother-in-law in the world, it would be her. I think one of her sons is still single--maybe I should get to work on that.

In the meantime, here is a Paula recipe from http://www.foodnetwork.com It's essentially chocolate chip cookie dough (minus the raw egg) dipped in chocolate to make a truffle. What drew me to this recipe was the use of sweetened condensed milk, which makes it sticky and wonderful. This recipe is for all your cookie dough lovers out there who make cookies just to scrape the bowl...I know you guys are out there--don't hide it, be proud! :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate morsels
1 1/2 pounds chocolate bark candy coating, melted

Directions

In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add chocolate morsels and pecans, mixing well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper; chill 2 hours.

*Cook's Note: Since the dough is sticky, roll your fingers into flour. This will make it easier to roll.

Melt chocolate bark candy coating in a double boiler. Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Place on waxed paper and chill to set. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies (Small Batch)

2009-05-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe for a chocolate chip cooking using a hard boiled egg (it sounds gross doesn't it?) on a blog called http://kevnkoi.blogspot.com I heard a lot of great feedback and comments regarding this cookie recipe, so skeptically I decided to give it a shot. Oh...my...goodness...it literally puts any other normal Nestle Toll House cookie to shame. It's absolutely enormous, and it has a bit of saltier flavor to it. It is THE best chocolate chip cookie I've ever eaten.

Also, here's my thing with cookies (also with pizza too). I like them, but one doesn't satisfy me whatsoever, so knowing that I'll need a large quantity to be happy, I usually stay clear from them. So it comes to no surprise that I'm giving you guys a recipe for a HUGE cookie. The bigger the better right? :) Go get to boiling those eggs!

Amazing Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies! (Small Batch)

3.1 oz all purpose bleached flour (2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour)

2 ounces cold unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 of a hard boiled egg (Update: it's now been tested using only hard boiled egg (1/2 egg and no raw egg) and it's even better!)

1 tablespoon lightly beaten egg

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup or how ever many your want of semi sweet or milk (or both!) chocolate chips (I added more of course)

Combine flour and butter in food processor. Pulse until mixture is mealy and coarse. Add the salt and baking soda and pulse to mix. Add both sugars and hard boiled egg. Pulse again until mixture is mealy looking. Add in the raw egg and vanilla and pulse until mixture just begins to come together.

Dump mixture into a bowl, add chocolate chips and shape into two balls. You will see egg whites in dough – they’ll disappear as the cookies bake.

Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until cookies appear lightly browned around edges. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

Important: Let cool completely before serving. The texture gets better as the cookies cool. It’s even better if you cool the cookies, freeze them, then thaw them.

Makes 2 big cookies (about 4 oz. each)

French Silk Pie

2009-05-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from http://www.suite101.com/

I've never made a French Silk Pie before, and I must say that I'm kind of proud of my first endeavor. I did make a few minor adjustments of my own to recipe of course.

*it does contain raw eggs

French Silk Pie Recipe

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
2 tsp pure vanilla
3 large eggs

Directions:

*You can make your own pie crust, but I just used a pre-made graham cracker crust. I melted 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and spread over the crust. Put in the freezer for a few minutes; this creates a chocolate layer in between the pie and crust and it's really good.

Part 1:

Melt chocolate in a small bowl over hot water. Do not let the chocolate harden up.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter at medium to high speed about 1 minute.
Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and continue to beat until light and fluffy. This will take 3-5 minutes. Scrape bowl often. It must be mixed long enough so it is no longer gritty.
Slowly add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed until the chocolate is well blended and mixture is smooth and creamy. Scrape again.
On medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating after each one before adding the next egg.Scrape bowl.
Add vanilla and give it one more mix.
Spread into a pie crust.

Part 2:

1 cup Whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
Chocolate curls, optional for garnish

Directions:

In large mixing bowl, beat cream until it sets up. There is no way to explain how long this will take. Every mixer is different. It should be light and fluffy and look like soft whipped cream. Do NOT let it get to the butter stage which can happen very quickly. If in doubt, under mix. You can always whip it a little more after the sugar is added.
Add powdered sugar and and vanilla and beat until fluffy and stiff. Do not over beat.
Put whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and decorate the pie. Or pile the cream on high with a spatula.
Sprinkle with chocolate curls.
Refrigerate pie and any leftovers.

Makes one 9 inch pie

Cheerio Cookies

2009-05-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

YAY FOR CHEERIOS!

8 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon EACH - baking powder, baking soda and salt.
1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)
1 1/2 cups Cheerios
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (a little more if you like chocolate)

1. Cream the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer. Stir in the peanut butter, egg and vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together the baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; stir until incorporated. Add the oatmeal, cheerios and chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes.

Yields 18 big cookies, 24 normal size cookies.

Peanut Butter Filled Yellow Cake w/ Chocolate Frosting

2009-04-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

This cake is for all of you out there who don't have much time to make something, or if you don't have many ingredients. I don't typically use canned icing, but like i said this is an easy-made cake. I had a few icing decorations from my cake decorating class so I put them on top. I made up some variations of this cake, namely the mini chocolate chips, peanut butter filling, and addition of extracts. I didn't try it, but my mom LOVED it. I must say that it does look pretty awesome. :)

Cake:

Prepare a yellow cake mix by following the directions on the box. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla extract and 1 1/2 tsp. butter extract. Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips. Pour into two floured and greased 8-inch cake pans; cook for 40 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

Filling:

1 1/2 powdered sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 stick of butter, softened

1 tbsp. of milk

Add all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat using an electric mixer.

Frosting:

Using a can of regular chocolate icing, add 1 tsp. almond extract.

Mississippi Mud Cake

2009-04-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I apologize for not posting in such a long time, things are just a bit hectic right now with school and trying to find a job. On to more important matters though: Mississippi Mud Cake.

I found this recipe off http://cookiebakerlynn.blogspot.com What I love about this cake is that it's supposed to be messy, so it's basically error-proof! The bottom is a thin chocolate layer of moist/gooey cake with toasted pecans (I added a few additions and special touches to her original recipe by the way). The next layer is melted marshmallows, topped with homemade chocolate frosting that kind of melts on top of the marshmallows. Oh...my...goodness...my first thought was, why am I just NOW making this? Living in the South, you would think that I would've heard of this cake, but oh no.

I'm not recommending all of you to make this cake, I'm TELLING you to b/c it's just that good. How many people have ever had chocolate cake with a layer of melted marshmallow with chocolate buttercream frosting melted on top? It's also really simple to make too. I hope you all enjoy this recipe and I'm expecting some comments below telling me how wonderful your cake turned out. :)

CAKE:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Dash of salt
1/4 cup plus 1-1/2 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
10 oz. marshmallows (I used large, but I think mini might work better)

Chocolate Frosting:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp warm milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

1- Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Grease a glass 9 x 13 - inch pan. (If using a metal pan, increase the oven temp to 350 deg. F)

2-Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Stir in vanilla, almond extract, mini chocolate chips, and pecans.

3-Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until top is barely soft to the touch.

4- While cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Cream butter then add the cocoa, mixing well. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, adding warm milk as necessary, until spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.

5- Remove cake from oven and cover top with marshmallows. Return to oven for 2 minutes or until marshmallows are soft. Spread marshmallows over cake and immediately cover with Chocolate Frosting.

6- Let the frosting harden before cutting the cake into squares.

Mint Chocolate Trifle

2009-04-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

So while I was looking in my pantry I found a box of Pillsbury Mint Chocolate Brownie mix that's been sitting in there for awhile. I decided finally to use it in something so I wouldn't have to keep looking at it. Then I glanced across the kitchen for another inspiration and I saw a glass container full of mini York Peppermint Patti's...a trifle!

This is really easy to make and it got rave reviews, but I actually didn't try any so I can't tell you from a firsthand experience. But what's not to love, mint brownies, pudding, Cool Whip, and York Peppermint Patti's? The great thing about this dessert is that it doesn't leave you feeling really full. Aside from the brownies, everything else is pretty light.

Ingredients:

1 box Pillsbury Mint Chocolate Brownie mix (if you don't have one just add some peppermint extract to a regular brownie mix)

1 box of chocolate pudding (serves 4)

1 box vanilla pudding (serves 4)

2 16 oz. containers of Cool Whip

10 mini York Peppermint Patti's

Optional:

1/2 cup Andes mint baking pieces (I had them leftover)

1/4 cup hot fudge sauce or chocolate syrup

Directions:

Prepare brownies according to directions on box-let set for about 10 min. and crumble.

Prepare both puddings, in separate bowls, according to directions on the boxes.

Pour the chocolate pudding on the bottom layer of the trifle; add one of the Cool Whip containers as the second layer. Put half of the brownies on next (add 1/4 cup of crushed Andes mint baking pieces if you want). Add the vanilla pudding, then the brownies, and top with the last container of Cool Whip. Sprinkle the top with York Peppermint Patti's (and remaining Andes mint baking pieces). Drizzle with chocolate syrup or hot fudge sauce if desired.

Cake #3

2009-03-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

I HATE Wilton roses...

Just in case anyone was wondering, this is a strawberry cake with a layer of hot fudge.

Coconut Pudding Pie

2009-03-28T13:25:00.001-07:00

My personalized graham cracker crust creation.

As promised, I'm putting up more recipes on here, though I still feel like I've lost some of the people who used to come and visit. :( Sad. I hope you all come back though! I do again apologize for my bad pictures. I don't have a very good camera at all, nor am I able to turn the flash off b/c I don't know how.

I kind of felt like I was in a baking rut...I was tired of doing bars, brownies, cookies, or candies, so why not make a pie? To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of pies in general. I don't like pastries or crusts or anything of that sort, especially doughnuts--gross.

I found this recipe off of www.pillsbury.com I wanted to make a pie with a fruity filling, and once I saw this Choose-your-own Filling Pie I was heart-set on using coconut. I did modify their original recipe, using Coconut Creme Pudding instead of vanilla and I also used a graham cracker crust instead of a crescent roll crust, which sounds weird to me. To make this extra special, I had the brilliant idea (humble I know) of smearing a layer of melted chocolate on top of the graham cracker crust. Once my mom tried this pie, she informed me that every pie ever made will HAVE to have chocolate on top of the graham cracker crust. This pie is super easy to make and only takes about 10 min. to make it.

Moment of honesty: I haven't tried this pie. I did try a little of the filling and it was good--very light. This would be a great summer pie b/c you wouldn't feel heavy and gross and after it. Oh yeah, go check out Pillsbury's website! They have a ton of wonderful recipes on it.

Ingredients:

1 graham pie crust

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 box (4 serving) of Coconut Creme instant pudding and pie filling mix (if your store doesn't carry it, Vanilla works too)

1 3/4 cups milk

2 tsp. coconut extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping

1/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted

Directions:

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth, about 2 min. Spread carefully and evenly over the graham cracker crust. Put in freezer for around 5 min. or until the chocolate is hardened.

Make pudding mix as directed on box, using 1 3/4 cups milk. Stir in vanilla and coconut extracts and the whipped topping. Spread on crust. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store covered in refrigerator.

White Trash-revamped

2009-03-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

If you guys haven't noticed yet, I LOVE homemade candy. Cakes, cookies...eh, they're ok and all, but candy is where it's at! I'm sure all of you have had white trash before so I decided to vamp up the recipe a little bit. I added peanut butter (of course I would right?) to the white chocolate in addition to Cadburry mini chocolate eggs. This stuff is amazing...really really really good. It is, however, kind of rich and after a few bites you've had enough.

The other great thing about this is that you don't have to use the stove or oven AND you just dump everything into one bowl. Instead of writing a paper, I made this and am watching Grey's Anatomy...I know I know, it's trashy at times--just let me have my guilty pleasure. Besides, when you're wanting to procrastinate school, anything sounds good other than the actual work itself.

There is a little bit of justification to not doing school too. The Memphis Tigers (my school!!) play tonight so I of course have to watch and support. They are going all the way to #1 this year I feel it. Last year #2 was an ok spot, but I feel it...#1 here we come!

Ingredients:

2 cups Cheerios

1 1/2 cups peanuts

2 cups pretzel sticks, broken

2 cups Chex cereal (I just realized I forgot to add these :()

1 1/2 cups M & M's

1 bag Cadburry Mini Chocolate Eggs

1 package of white chocolate chips (around 16 oz.)

3/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Put all the ingredients except the white chocolate and peanut butter in a large bowl. Melt the white chocolate and peanut butter in a microwavable bowl (about 2 min.) until smooth and creamy. Pour over mixture and mix together, coating the dry ingredients evenly.

Put wax paper on the counter and pour mixture on top, spreading in a thin layer. Let set and break into clumps. Store in an airtight container or plastic bag.

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Torte

2009-03-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't been posting many recipes on my blog, or even comments for that matter. I've been really busy with school as of lately so I haven't found much time to cook. My cake decorating class has received all my baking attention as of recently, but I promise that I'll do better and start posting more recipes ASAP! Don't forget about me and never check my blog anymore...I'm still alive.

I promise you that this tastes and looks much better than my horrible picture. Unfortunately before I could take a good picture it was cut up and served, hence the bad picture. This is like a chocolate chip cookie/cheesecake blessing of goodness! I found it off www.pillsbury.com I highly recommend this to anyone who likes chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake.

Ingredients:

1 roll (16.5 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat and it tasted fine)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocoalte chips

1 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate-flavored syrup (I actually used the magic shell syrup)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In an ungreased 10 or 9 inch springform pan, break up cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Bake 15-18 min. or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and egg until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the peanuts. Pour over cooled crust and spread evenly.

In a bowl microwave the butterscotch chips until smooth and melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Drizzle over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and peanuts.

Bake 30-40 min. until edge is set but center it still slightly jiggly. Cool on cooling rack 10 min. Run knife around side of pan to loosen the torte; carefully remove side of pan. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

To serve, cut torte into wedges. Drizzle 1 tsp. of chocolate syrup onto each dessert plate. Place wedges over syrup. Store in refrigerator.

Cake #2

2009-03-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

Here's my clown cake!

My first Wilton Cake

2009-03-16T20:53:00.001-07:00

Here it is! My very first cake I officially decorated myself. Please be nice :)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

2009-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your kind words wishing me to get well. Unfortunately I'm still not 100% better, but hey...as long as I'm not nauseous and throwing up I'm good. I found this recipe again off Anna's website cookiemadness.net

This didn't turn out like I had hoped it would, but I was also in a hurry because I was doing my friend's hair and makeup for a wedding she was in. I wanted to make a smaller batch in a 8 x 8 inch pan, so I halfed the recipe and tried it. Not everything got done, but after a setting up for an hour or so in the refrigerator they were great.

The bottom is essentially a cookie crust with the chocolate in the middle layer, topped with a brown sugar meringue. I felt better after reading in some of the comments that other people had trouble making them as well. Eh...I've had my share of undercooked bars so I know all the tricks, but the refrigerator sets them up very nicely.

The end result tastes like a chocolate pecan pie, but that probably isn't how they're supposed to taste. I put the original recipe here (not like I halfed it) so if you want to try and half it...good luck.

On a sugary note, my cake decorating class is on Monday so you'll soon be seeing a pretty rainbow cake! I'm putting my sister Andrea's cake on here too for a compare and contrast, so I expect everyone of you to say that my cake looks better. :)

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar, divided use

1 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 egg whites

2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat in milk, vanilla, and egg yolk--reserve white.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir into butter mixture. Press into baking pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of batter.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar to whites and continue beating for another 30 seconds or so. If you add an extra egg white, use an additional 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Spread the egg white mixture over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top and bake for 28-30 min. or until edges are golden brown and pull away from side of the pan.

Let bars cool slightly, then lift from pan and score while still warm. Allow bars to cool completely or chill if desired.

Super Small Batch of Extra Large Chunk Cookies

2009-03-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

So I've been sick for the last two days...two precious days of my spring break. I could be negative nancy and be annoyed that I got sick on my spring break, but instead I'm choosing to be grateful that it happened now. I at least don't have to miss class.

I'm still running a fever, but today I'm getting a little antsy and decided to make some cookies. I ran across this recipe at Anna's website at cookiemadness.net I wanted to make a small batch of cookies, and these were so gigantic in her picture that I had to try them out.

These really came out well...I was surprised. Usually big cookies don't get done in the middle, but these were super soft in the middle, but not underdone by any means. From the little bite that I took (cookies don't sound too appealing when you're sick), they were incredible. They were so soft and gooey that I might never make regular sized cookies again.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and very hot

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp. beaten egg (break egg, mix it with a fork and measure)

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup flour, leveled in measuring cup

1 tsp. water (optional)

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 milk chocolate candy bar, broken into pieces (I used Cadbury's Milk Chocolate bar)

2-3 tbsp. white chocolate chips

1/2 cup M & M's

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together hot butter, powdered sugar and brown sugar until smooth. If still hot, let cool for about a min., then stir in egg. Beat with a spoon until egg is fully mixed; stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and stir just until mixed.If dough seems too dry (falling apart), add water. Stir in white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, broken candy bar pieces, and M & M's. Shape dough into a fat log of about 5 inches. Chill for 1 hour. Carefully cut log into 4 equal pieces (each should weigh 3 1/2 oz).

Place cut pieces, spaced about 4 inches away from each other, 4 to a sheet, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 18-20 min., rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and arrange a few more semi-sweet chunks on top--the candy will melt and adhere to the cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 min, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Let the cookies sit around for awhile to set.

Peanut Buttter Cup Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

2009-03-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"

If someone came up to me and asked me what my favorite dessert is, I wouldn't even need a second to tell them of my love for ice cream. Now I'm not talking about the nasty grocery store kind of ice cream...I'm talking about frozen custard or the other really fattening kinds of ice cream. Sorry, but unless I'm having a health-conscious day, I'm not going to go get frozen yogurt--it's a waste of time.

But back to the ice cream! I've never made any before because I'm very intimidated of the ice cream maker. All the spinning, churning, ice, rock salt, etc...I had no idea how to make it. So I finally buckled down and got my dad to show me how to use our ice cream maker; it was so much easier than I thought. What does this mean? Well from now on I'm pretty much going to go a little crazy over making ice cream. Once summer hits, I'm just going to warn you that it's going to probably be a new flavor a week. This recipe is from http://www.foodess.com I added my favorite candy, Reese Cups, to the mixture because everyone knows that I like to have multiple textures in my food.

Is this ice cream good? Oh my goodness...look at the picture? Do I really need to tell you how great it is? The ice cream is essentially more like a creamy vanilla custard, and then peanut butter swirled in just about makes me want to eat the whole container. But sadly enough I won't eat it all, well today at least. :)

Ingredients

Ice cream

2 & 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 bag of Reese Cups, chopped

Fudge Swirl

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/8 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

pinch of salt

To make ice cream:

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Put yolks, sugar, and salt into a bowl. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until yolk mixture has tripled in volume and can hold a ribbon on surface for 2 seconds, about 3 min.

Reduce speed to medium and add cream and milk; beat to combine. Transfer mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until it's thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. It should read 180 degrees F., about 5-7 min.

Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice-water. Add vanilla extract. Let cool completely, stirring often.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or freeze in an airtight plastic container until ready to serve. If frozen for mroe than 4 hours, let ice cream stand at room temperature 15-20 min. before serving.

To make fudge swirl:

Combine cream and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat until it bubbles. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate, peanut butter, and salt. Let cool.

To assemble:

Pour ice cream from machine into a freezer-safe container (it will be the consistency of soft serve). Allow to harden slightly in freezer, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer and pout fudge sauce in a zig-zag over top. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the fudge into the ice cream. Return to freezer and allow to harden another hour or more, until scoop-able.

Poor Man's Toffee

2009-03-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

Imagine this to be some late night informercial that you're watching because there's nothing worth watching at 2 am. The lady comes on saying "Are you bakers tired of baking? Well put away your mixers and mixing bowls and try this recipe out!"

Ok yes overly cheesy (no pun intended...you'll get it in a second), but I'm in the midst of "studying" for my African American Lit. midterm tomorrow...and by studying I mean NOT studying. But there are just times when you don't feel like melting or softening butter or measuring out a ton of ingredients. If you feel that way, then this candy recipe is a quick and different twist on a normal toffee or brittle recipe.

Normally when I make this I use saltines for the base, but on http://vanillakitchen.blogspot.com I found a different version of brittle, a personal favorite candy recipe, using Cheez-It's. When I saw this my immediate reaction was 'oh sick.' I bookmarked it in case I changed my mind...and I felt adventurous tonight so I tried it. You actually don't taste the cheesy-ness of the crackers once it's finished. It really does all blend in together--the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I made my parents try it out and asked if they liked the saltines or Cheez-It's better. My dad was in favor of the Cheez-It's and my mom liked both equally. They do have a distinctly different taste. The saltines are more mild whereas the Cheez-It's give have a little kick...a little 'BAM!' as Emeril would say. :)

Usually people use toasted almonds to top their brittle, but not me. For some reason I felt inclined to use crushed Butterfinger on top...honestly I think it's b/c the Cheez-It's are orange and so is Butterfinger. Maybe I really do have the mind of a three year old and made color associations. For whatever reason, Butterfinger is way better than nuts on top of this.

P.S. On a side note, keep checking the blog b/c very soon (as in tonight or tomorrow), there will be something I've never made appearing for the first time on my blog. I even will have to make a new label for it, so get excited and keep checking! Post a comment if you think you know what it is, and if you guess right...I'll send you some! Ok well not really, but you'll get gold star in my book.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter or margarine (you can cut some out to save some calories, but the toffee won't taste as good)

1 cup, packed light brown sugar

1 package of milk chocolate chips (about 2-3 cups)

3/4 box of the Big-size-Cheez'It's (the bigger ones cover more room)

2 Butterfinger bars, crushed

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil. Spread out the Cheez-It's until there are no holes (lay some on top of the others--don't just use one single layer).

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Once brought to a boil, simmer for 3-4 min. Pour mixture on top of Cheez-It's. Do not mix or stir them up! Bake for 6-8 min., until it bubbles. Let stand for 1-2 min. and spread chocolate chips across the surface. Let set for 1-2 min., or until the chocolate chips have melted. Spread the mixture until evenly coated. Spread the crushed Butterfingers on top.

Set in the freezer or refrigerator until set. Break into bars.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Brownies

2009-03-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

I think if I had a rewind button for life, I might've used it tonight when I decided to make these brownies...ok well maybe not now that they're done, but a few minutes ago I definitely would've pushed rewind.

I had some leftover chocolate graham crackers that I wanted to use up, hence the recipe I found on http://priscillabakes.blogspot.com Her brownies look absolutely beautiful, and tonight I knew that I wasn't in the mood to even try and make them pretty. Perhaps it's b/c I just finished reading some really boring stuff for school, who knows.

So these brownies have no flour or butter in them...but for all of you who think you'll be saving on calories, just wait. The chocolate ganache isn't necessarily healthy...and it hates me. I've never made it before until tonight, and it turned out fine--that is until I dropped the not-yet-set ganache brownies on the floor. Thankfully only the top layer of ganache messed up and the brownies were fine. Oh yes, it went everywhere. I thought about taking a picture like I've seen people do with baking messes, but this was too depressing to capture.

The Bachelor Final Rose Part 2 comes on tonight (YAY Molly!) so I was too impatient to let the ganache set up, which of course it wouldn't do anyway b/c it really does hate me. Please ignore how horrible these pictures are, but I promise you these brownies really are great. They don't have the usual texture of brownies; it's slightly crunchy and thicker than a fudge brownie. The graham crackers crumbs really act like a great thickening agent.

Final point: make these. The ganache was a bit rich for me, and since we're not on good terms I would say that it's not absolutely necessary to make. You could just melt some chocolate chips over this and call it a day. But for now I'm still in emotional turmoil over The Bachelor and have to see who the next Bachelorette is going to be! So sorry for the gross pictures, but just keep in mind that I'd spent 15 min. cleaning up ganache off the floor...and my pants, so I'm probably a little fussy.

P.S. On a side note, I started taking a cake decorating class so soon you'll be seeing a plethera of hopefully pretty cakes. Just don't judge my decorating/baking skills from the aesthetics of these brownies. :)

This is about how thick the batter should look after the 3 min.

They have potential to look much better, but The Bachelor is more important for me to sit and wait around for the dumb ganache to harden. Whatever they still taste good.

Ingredients:

16 chocolate graham crackers

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tbsp. instant coffee granules

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch pan. Crush the graham crackers finely. Pour into a bowl and add cocoa and salt. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugars; beat with an electric mixer at a high speed until thickened, about 3 min. Stir in the coffee granules and vanilla. Fold in chips/chunks and the graham crumb mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 min. Make sure not to overbake. Let cool completely in the pan and frost with ganache.

Ganache:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups chocolate chips

Microwave cream until bubbly and hot. Fold in chips and stir until thickened and smooth. Spread over brownies. Let harden and cut into squares.

**My family LOVED the texture of these brownies by the way! Chocolate graham crackers in a brownies=awesome!

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

2009-02-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

How the candied pecans looked coming right from the stove.

...and how they look separated. They're all glossy!

When these came out the kitchen smelled like warm pumpkin and cinnamon.

Yet again it's another cold Saturday here in Memphis where the ice is coming down like mini hail. The weather predicts that soon it'll turn into snow. Yesterday the temperature was 63, and now it's 33 and icing...and people wonder why they're always sick here. I wanted something warm since it's so messy and cold outside, so what better than some warm bread?

I found this recipe from http://www.joyofbaking.com It's a pumpkin bread with nuts and a swirl of cream cheese. I thought it looked pretty, and I had the ingredients, so I decided to make it. One bad thing about this bread is that it uses up a lot of dishes. Another bad thing is that after I finished everything (cleaning included), I looked down to see that my cream jacket I have on has nice little splots of orange pumpkin bread batter all over the front. This is what I get for wearing cream I guess. It's kind of like when you eat spaghetti it's inevitable that you'll be wearing white that day.

Moving on from my inability to bake with dirtying myself, this bread tastes amazing...well ok the batter tastes really good, the bread is still baking in the oven. I did tweak the original recipe slightly though. I added some maple syrup and I made some candied pecans to go on top for an extra layer of crunch. If you didn't know--I'm all about multiple textures. I hate eating something with one texture; it's just not fun. If you look at the ingredient list and freak out that there's so much sugar and butter in it, remember that it's making two whole loaves of bread. It's not like you're eating 2 sticks of butter on your own, which reminds me of Kate Hudson in Bride Wars where she was in her Butter of the Month club. :)

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature (I used reduced fat)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 & 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Pumpkin Bread:

1 cup pecans or walnuts

3 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Butter and lightly flour two 9 by 5 x 3 loaf pans. Set aside.

Toast nuts by placing on a baking sheet in oven for 8-10 min. Cool completely and coarsely chop. Set aside.

Cream cheese filling: In a food processor, process cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and process just until smooth; add eggs one at a time, processing just until incorporated. Don't over process. Stir in flour. Set Aside.

Pumpkin Bread:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Whisk or stir in pumpkin, water, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and toatsed nuts. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir JUST until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix b/c it will make the bread tough.

Divide the batter in half. Take on half and divide it evenly between the two prepared pans. Divide the cream cheese filling in half and place each half of filling on top the two pans of batter, smoothing the tops. Top with the remaining half of batter. Bake breads for about 50-60 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Place pans on wire rack and let them for for about 10 min. before removing breads from pans. Can serve warm, cold,or at room temperature. Store leftovers in the refrigerator or else freeze for later use.

Candied Pecans:

From my last experience with cooks.com, I should've known NOT to use their recipes again...but I'm a nice person and I thought I'd give them a shot. Their candied pecan recipe was again a joke, so I had to tweak that too and hopefully it'll turn out ok.

Ingredients

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

5 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 & 1/4 pecans

Bring salt, sugar, cinnamon, and milk to a boil. Let boil on medium heat for about 5 min. I put in a candy thermometer and it read about 220 degrees F. Let the mixture thicken and remove from heat. Add in vanilla and pecans. Pour on wax paper and let set, separating with a fork.

Chocolate Blood Orange Bars

2009-02-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

Well, you win some and you lose some. I almost didn't put this recipe on here, but it was just b/c the form wasn't what I wanted...but they taste so good I had to. Last night I had the idea to make an orange bar instead of lemon bars. Rather than use a graham cracker crust, I made a chocolate graham cracker crust. Sounds pretty good right? It does taste good...really good, but let's just say it's a mystery how it turned out.

I've always been fascinated with blood oranges. One b/c they're oddly a dark red, and two b/c the name kind of scares me. Well the name might have put a curse on these bars, but you'll have to find out for yourselves.

This was my crust; it was absolutely perfect.

My added ingredients.

The finished product! It looks pretty doesn't it...just wait until it's cut open.

Here's a square.

...and the inside.

Now if you recall, I used a chocolate crust...and the crust/bottom of this is clearly not chocolate. What happened? Who knows...it's a mystery, but I think it's kind of cool actually. The only bad thing about these bars was that they are very goey, but all you have to do is chill them overnight and they set up perfectly. This could be for a number of reasons: I would add more flour than just the 1/4 cup I got from one recipe, the glass pan wasn't the best choice to cook them in, and they needed to set in the refrigerator longer. B/c I got impatient and wanted to see what they looked like, I only let them chill for 30 min.

I'm hoping that by tom. they'll set up some more, but oh my goodness they taste so good. It's like eating an orange truffle in a gooey mess of goodness. If any of you have any suggestions for this, let me know. They are definitely best served cold and chilled.

Ok so confession time: I have to come out of the closet and admit that I like my brownies and bars a little gooey...a lot gooey, so of course I loved these when they first came out. Then the next day I loved them even more when when were cold and had hardened a bit. The orange and chocolate are completely blended together--one doesn't overpower the other. Feel free to leave any comments on my creative endeavor. But point being: if you like your bars on the fudgier side, follow my instructions and let them chill. If you like them to be a little cakier, add more flour and reduce the amount of eggs. Either way they definitely are a must to make.

Ingredients

Crust

1 & 1/2 cups chocolate graham crackers, crushed finely

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa, sifted

5 tbsp. butter, melted

Combine all ingredients and press firmly into a 9 x 11 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 min.

Filling

4 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup blood orange juice (about 3 medium-sized oranges)

1 & 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. orange extract (optional)

1 tsp. orange rind

1/2 bar of dark chocolate, broken into little pieces (optional)

Combine beaten eggs and sugar until smooth. Add orange juice until well blended; add orange extract and orange rind. Add in dark chocolate pieces and pour over graham cracker crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Chill in refrigerator or let set and serve at room temperature.

Cocoa Butterscotch Krispies

2009-02-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

In my defense, I really had no plans on baking anything today. After finishing reading for one

of my literature classes, I decided to go get some popcorn or something to equip for my next book I have to start for another literature class (such is the life of an English Lit. major). So as I'm glancing over our pantry, I see a box of Cocoa Krispies that in a week or so will go bad...and I felt sorry for them. So then I look up and see an opened bag of mini marshmallows that will also go bad in a week or so. Then something inside me took over and the next thing I know I'm whipping up a batch of cocoa krispies! I swear it was an out of body experience.

I didn't want just a boring cocoa krispie though, so again a light shines upon a half leftover bag of butterscotch chips screaming at me to be used. So I decide to add a middle layer of butterscotch and M & M's (for a little crunch and rainbow :))

10 minutes later out come probably one of the best rice krispies I've ever had. They are sweet, but sooo good. The butterscotch really marries the marshmallow and chocolate flavor together wonderfully. I highly recommend these if you love rice krispies. These are also great b/c they're made in a smaller pan, thus they're bigger. I hope you enjoy my sweet creation. :)

Ingredients

3/4 bag of mini marshmallows

5-6 cups Cocoa Krispies

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 bag of butterscotch chips (about 1 & 1/4)

3/4 cup M & M's

Directions

Lightly butter an 8 x 11-inch pan with butter or margarine (I used butter flavored cooking spray b/c I was lazy). Melt butter or margarine with marshmallows in the microwave; add Cocoa Krispies. Add half of mixture into prepared pan. Melt butterscotch chips in microwave for about 1 & 1/2 min. Spread over Cocoa Krispies and add 1/2 cup M & M's. Add remaining Cocoa Krispie mixture on top. Top with remaining M & M's. Let set until firm or set in the refrigerator for a few min.

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pretzels

2009-02-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

I recently had an inclination to try and make pretzels for the first time. I scanned through a few recipes online and all of them called for around 5 cups of flour, which seemed like a lot to me. I thought it would end up making way too many pretzels than I wanted. I finally settled for this recipe on cooks.com, and boy was it a mistake. I've never seen a recipe have such ambiguous language in it!

All of the mixings ready to be beaten until "smooth and glossy"

The shape that I formed looked like a calzone.

All formed into their pretzels shapes and ready to be put in the oven.

My personal favorite was to wait until the dough was "satiny." What is that even supposed to mean? Then it was supposed to be "soft" butter...does that mean butter softened or a spreadable butter? Another favorite was that the batter was supposed to be beaten until it was smooth and glossy. Dough doesn't get glossy! So I basically just used the recipe as guidelines and took over for myself...not like I had any option.

The end result tasted just like a pretzel! They weren't bland necessarily, but I might add more brown sugar and cinnamon in my b/c I have a huge sweet tooth...more like a sweet mouth. But they taste great, not an overload of sugar that will make your teeth rot. They also make the house smell like those little pretzel places at the mall that when you pass, you feel like if you don't have a pretzel at the very moment--you'll die. :) Definitely try and make these though! Pretzels taste so much better when they're hot and soft compared to those hard store bought ones. They would taste wonderful with a skinny Cinnamon Dulce' Latte from Starbucks.

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 & 1/2 tsp.)

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)

Topping

2 1/2 tbsp. butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions (with no help from cooks.com thank you)

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast with warm water; add dry milk and stir. Let stand 5 min. until yeast foams or bubbles. Beat in 1/3 cup butter, salt, egg, 2 cups flour until well blended. Beat in 1 more cup of flour. Let dough stand for 15 min.

Sprinkle some flour on top of dough and turn onto a floured board. Knead for about 1 min., or until "satiny." Spray a large bowl well with nonstick cooking spray. Turn dough into this bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Roll to 12 x 14 inches. Spread half the dough with 1/4 of melted butter and sprinkle with 3/4 of sugar and cinnamon mixture. Fold unfilled dough over filling; press edges together (mine looked like a calzone). Cut into 12 strips. Separate strips and twist if the dough separates. Form into pretzel shape (see my picture if it helps...it's almost like a heart with the center touching the bottom). Lay pretzels seam side down on cooking sheets sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Use a baking brush to spread the remaining melted butter across the pretzels and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min. or until slightly brown and firm to the touch.

Marbled Nutella and Peanut Butter Brownies

2009-02-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

So it's a cold and rainy day here in Memphis...and what better way to beat the blues than to bake! Though really, it's not like I ever need an excuse to bake something. I realized that what makes baking so fun is that I always get excited to bake something; there's never a moment when I dread going into the kitchen and making something tasty.

With these three ingredients, how can you go wrong really?

This is the syrup I used in place of the hazelnut extract that I wasn't able to find anywhere.

With that being said, I found this recipe on cookiemadness.net, thus I'm of course giving all credit to Anna who is a baking genius. I, however, did tamper with the recipe just a bit. Instead of using a dark chocolate bar with hazelnuts in it, I bought a package of hazelnuts and toasted them. Then I added 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the Nutella swirl mixture.

I know that Nutella has a hint of hazelnut flavoring, but I wanted to make it more prominent with the addition of the actual hazelnuts themselves. Plus I thought that the batter might need some hazelnut flavoring as well. I searched two grocery stores for a hazelnut extract and came up empty-handed. On the way home as I was trying to think of an alternative, it hit me that I have some sugarfree hazelnut coffee flavoring syrup. I was weary of how good it might taste in a dessert, but on the bottle it said that it can be used in baking. So I added a tsp. to the peanut butter brownie mixture and it gave it a nice, subtle hint of hazelnut. Yum.

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Brownies

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. hazelnut syrup (regular or sugarfree)

Swirl Mixture

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. butter

1/4 cup Nutella

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted (toast in a oven at 350 degrees for about 10 min. or until fragrant)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x11 inch pan with aluminum foil.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until slightly crumbly, but able to be smoothed when stirred with a spatula. Beat in vanilla and peanut butter. Add eggs one at a time just until mixed--don't overmix. Add baking powder and salt until well blended. Add flour until it is just incorporated and spread peanut butter mixture into prepared pan.

To make the swirl mixture, place chocolate chips, Nutella, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until smooth (about 1 1/2 min.). Add in hazelnuts.

Drop spoonfuls of Nutella mixture of peanut butter brownie batter and drag a knife through to make a marbled pattern. Bake on center rack for 30 min. or until brownies begin to pull away from the side of the pan and center seems set. Cool pan on a wire rack. When brownies hit room temperature, chill them for an hour or so. Lift from pan and cut into squares.

Funfetti Friday!

2009-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

Funfetti Cookies (I made mine a little large)

You can use whatever food dye you want in the frosting, but I used pink of course :)

Funfetti Cake Balls

This is what they look like all mixed up and about to be put in the refrigerator.

My cat Cinnamon sat patiently watching me while I was baking in the kitchen...but I think he got a little tired from all that staring.

So if you are one of those people who are stuck with having to bring dessert somewhere and have no time to make anything, here's two good recipes using a Pilsbury Funfetti Cake mix. Yes funfetti is supposed to be a kids cake, but why can't adults enjoy the sprinkles in a white cake too? The cookie recipe came from Pilsbury's official website, and if you wanted to add a special flavor try adding vanilla or coconut extract. The cake balls recipe comes from allrecipes.com, but you can also use any kind of cake to make these. I've made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting from a mix and dipped them into semisweet chocolate. I've had great reviews of those red velvet cake balls too...they almost look like a glorified truffle.

Now if you think that you're too grown up to eat funfetti cake, make it for the kids b/c if it has sprinkles, they're going to be sold on it. I think these would be a great dessert to take to a kids birthday party. For a baby shower you could decorate the cookies with a blue or pink frosting (I used pink of course b/c I'm a girl and will put pink on everything).

Funfetti Cookies

1 (18.9 oz) Pilsbury Most Supreme Funfetti Cake Mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1/2 (15.6-oz) vanilla frosting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil, and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With the bottom of glass, dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.

Bake for 6-8 in, or until edges are lightly golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with sprinkles.

Funfetti Cake Balls

1 (18.9-oz) Pilsbury Most Supreme Funfetti Cake Mix

1 can of vanilla frosting

white or milk chocolate to coat (about a package worth of of chocolate)

Bake cake according to instructions on the box. Let cake cool slightly and crumble into pieces. Add frosting and form into balls. Let them set in the freezer for about 3 hours.

Put parchment or wax paper on cookie sheets. Remove cake balls and coat with chocolate; place on cookie sheets. Let set in the refrigerator for chocolate to harden.

Hawaiian Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-02-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for a Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookie. After scanning through the ingredients and reviews, I decided to tamper with the ingredients myself. I knew that just adding coconut and almonds to a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe wasn't going to yield enough flavor, so I added coconut and almond extract. As my mind was ticking of new ways to make this next time, perhaps an addition of coconut milk or mashed banana would be good.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened or at room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. coconut extract

1 tsp. almond extract

2 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 &1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add almond and coconut extracts.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir in small additions into the creamed mixture until well blended. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds. Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-12 min. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 min. before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Death By Chocolate Trifle

2009-02-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

This recipe was found off allrecipes.com I tweaked the recipe a little to make it more my own, but it's super easy to make. If you're a chocolate-lover then you're just going to have to try this recipe. If you don't want to use a cake mix, you can also use a brownie mix too.

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

1 cup chocolate syrup

2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix

8 candy bars (whatever your favorite are)

1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Bake cake in 9x13 inch pan according to the manufacturer's instructions. While the cake is baking, prepare the instant pudding according to instructions on box, set aside to chill.

When the cake comes out of the oven, punch holes in the cake with a fork. Pour the chocolate syrup over the top of the entire cake. Using a fork, crumble the cake into smaller pieces. In a large bowl, put a layer of cake on the bottom, then cover with a layer of pudding. Then spread a layer of whipped topping, then sprinkle some of the crushed candy bars. Repeat the layers to the top of the bowl, ending with the candy bars on top. Refrigerate until serving time.

Peppermint Brownie Cups

2009-02-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon this recipe on a website at http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com I so happen to have looked in my pantry earlier on today and saw these Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking chips that we've had since Christmas and was wanting to use them up. I tweaked the recipe slightly to make it my own, but also a little more user-friendly. They actually turn out to be a

nightmare if you use the mini muffin tins like I did...so don't. They stick.

Ingredients:

6 tbsp. butter

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

2 cups Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with liners.

In heat-proof bowl, melt together butter and chocolate in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until smooth. DON'T overcook b/c it will make the chocolate thicken up. Allow to cool for 5 min.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk or beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Add eggs and peppermint extract, mixing until combined and smooth. Add to flour mixture and mix until combined. Gently fold in the 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups peppermint chips (the other 1/2 cup is used to sprinkle on top).

Carefully pour batter to prepared each muffin liner until about 2/3 full. Sprinkle a few peppermint chips over top of each individual brownie. Bake for 18-23 for both sized muffins.

Cappuccino Chip Muffins

2009-02-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

I discovered this recipe off one of my new and favorite websites, http://www.cookiemadness.net It's actually a "celebrity recipe," apparently William Shatner likes these muffins a lot. The espresso powder is slightly hard to find so I suggest going to little Italian shops. I found this specific espresso powder at a place called Luccesi's. The espresso acts like a subtle background to the cake-lake muffins. The coffee also acts as the perfect counteract for the chocolate. I used mini muffins tins in my recipe, so adjust the cooking time to 8 min. Note: make sure the eggs, milk, and butter are all around room temperature, otherwise the muffins won't rise as well or they'll either be too tough.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg (room temperature)

1 cup milk (room temperature)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg lightly. Whisk in milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in milk mixture. Stir JUST until evenly blended (over stirring will make the muffins tough). Stir in chocolate chips.

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake 8-15 min. for regular-sized muffin pans, or 7-9 min. for mini-muffins pans.

Neapolitan Rice Krispie Treats

2009-02-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on a website called cookiemadness.net If you haven't figured it out by now, I love cooking with cereal. These are just a change from the regular Rice Krispie treats. The bottom layer has strawberry NesQuick in it, which I personally wouldn't drink on my own, but it gives the bottom layer a nice hint of strawberry. The second layer has Cocoa Krispies with a little bit of chocolate chips, and the last layer is just the plain Rice Krispies. I added a little more butter, marshmallows, and Cocoa Krispies to mine b/c I of course wanted the chocolate layer to be the largest.

Ingredients:

Layer 1:

1 1/2 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1 3/4 tsp. strawberry Quik

2-3 drops red food coloring

2 1/4 cups Rice Krispies

Layer 2:

1 1/2 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

2 1/4 cups Cocoa Krispies

Small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Layer 3:

1 1/2 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

2 1/4 cups Rice Krispies

Directions:

Line a 9x5 inch metal loaf pan with parchment paper on non-stick foil (I used a glass pan with aluminum foil).

Melt butter in a bowl. Stir in Strawberry Quik and food coloring into melted butter, getting a dark pink hue. Add the marshmallows and stir to coat with pink butter. Microwave marshmallows for 30 seconds; stir until melted and smooth. Add cereal and stir to coat. Empty into loaf pan and press down well.

Rise out bowl and repeat melting procedure with Layer 2--add Cocoa Krispies to melted marshmallows, then stir in chocolate chips. Empty onto strawberry layer and press down as neatly as possible.

Repeat melting procedure with Layer 3. Add Rice Krispies, stir to coat, then layer on top of the chocolate layer. Press flat. At this point, your bars should be at the very top of the loaf pan.

Let sit for a least 1 hour.

Lift from pan and set on a big cutting board. Slice a thin layer off each end of the loaf to trim. Slice lengthwise down the center, making to long sections, then slice the loaf cross-wise to make 6 big squares.

Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake

2009-02-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

This cake is very light and can be used with chocolate wafers (which are really hard to find...try Fresh Market), but I used Oreo cookies that I separated. It's easy to make and tastes like an ice cream chocolate chip cake minus the thick ice cream texture.

Ingredients:

4 cups heavy cream

3 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla

1 & 1/2 packages Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies (or Oreos)

Directions:

Combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. Do not overmix. Place a cookie in the center of a plate that is at least 9 inches in diameter. Arrange 6 cookies around the center one, formng a circle. Spread about 3/4 cup of the cream mixture onto the cookies. Repeat layers, ending with the whipped cream. Garnish if desired with chocolate shavings, nuts, cocoa, etc. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

Nutella Cupakes

2009-02-01T19:14:00.001-08:00

This came from one of my favorite blogspots, Fresh From the Oven. Just so I get this out, I really feel guilty for using these pictures that aren't my own. I feel like I'm committing the unforgivable sin of plagiarism. I won't keep doing it, but I hate giving a recipe without a picture...it's no fun and gives no motivation or desire for you guys to make it.

I made these cupcakes and they were very easy and delicious. I used the mini-muffin pans to make them smaller, but they are so pretty and swirly!

Ingredients:

10 tbsp. butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 & 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Nutella, 12 tsp. (1 tsp. for each cupcake)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. The batter won't look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.

Fill each muffin liner with bater. They should be 3/4 full. Top each cake with 1 heaping tsp. of Nutella; swirl in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the Nutella.

Bake for 20 min. and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Mandarin Orange Cake

2009-02-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

So it has been over a month since I've last posted anything on the website; I'm afraid I've become quite lazy with taking pictures of my recent discoveries. Because of this, the few recipes I'm going to put up don't have pictures that I've taken. Instead I'm just going to steal the pictures from the original website just to get things started up again...I promise to take my own pictures next time.

This cake recipe was given to me by my dear friend Ashley who raved about how wonderful this cake was. I myself haven't made it or tried it, but my mom did and she said it was easy and absolutely incredible. The oranges in the cake batter apparently make the cake very moist and light.

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package of yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges with juice. Beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 min. Allow to cool.

To make topping: In a large bowl, beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice, and dry pudding mix until blended. Spread on cake.

Dark Chocolate Chunk and Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

2008-12-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

This recipe came again from bakeorbreak--I love this blog. http://www.bakeorbreak.com/recipes/2008/02/22/dark-chocolate-chunk-and-dried-cherry-oatmeal-cookies/ I'm not a huge fan of cherries, but I would imagine that the dried cherries would add a good counter balance of tart to the sweet of the chocolate.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup dried cherries

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks (I recommend using dark chocolate)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add to the butter mixture just until combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by tablespoonfulls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 min., or until bottom edges are lightly browned. Cool on pans for a few min., then remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Billionaires

2008-12-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

These very similar to a 100 Grand candy bar. If you want to make these extra special toast the pecans!

Ingredients:

1 (14 ounce) package caramels

3 tbsp. water

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup crisp rice cereal

3 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp. shortening

Directions:

Line two baking sheets with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. In a large saucepan combine the caramels and water; cook and stir over low heat until smooth. Stir in pecans and cereal until coated. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared pan. Refrigerate for 10 min. or until firm.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over low heat; stir until smooth. Dip candy into chocolate, coating all sides. Place on prepared pans. Refrigerate until set and store in an airtight container.

Holiday Pecan Log

2008-12-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

This came from www.tasteofhome.com These taste just like the ones you can buy. If you want you can add piece of cherry like some pecan logs have, but mine are just the plain ones.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup + 2 tsp. butter, softened and divided

3 3/4 cups confictioners' sugar

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 package (14 ounce) caramels

1 tbsp. milk or half-and-half cream

2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

Butter an 8-inch square pan with 2 tsp. butter; set aside. Combine confectioners' sugar and milk powder; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, sugar, and corn syrup; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil. Stir in confectioners' sugar mixture, about a third at a time, until blended.

Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Continue stirring until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Spread into prepared pan and cool. Cut candy in 4 strips; cut each strip in half. Shape each into a log; wrap in waxed paper and twist ends. Freeze or refrigerate until form.

Meanwhile, in a microwave, melt caramels with milk, stirring often. Roll logs in caramel mixture, then in pecans. Wrap in waxed paper. Store at room temperature in airtight containers. Cut into slices with a serrated knife.

Corn Flake Bars

2008-12-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

This came from one of my favorite blog spots, bakeorbreak. http://www.bakeorbreak.com/recipes/2007/12/15/corn-flake-bars/

These combine my favorites: cereal and peanut butter. They're a quick dessert if you need something in a hurry.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups crushed corn flakes

Directions:

Combine the brown sugar and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peanut butter. Fold in corn flakes until well mixed. Spread into a 9x13 inch pan. Chill until set and cut into squares.

Sweet Sorghum Cookies

2008-12-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

These cookies are extremely moist, but not so much that they fall to pieces. They are the best-shaped cookies I've ever made. I'm not a huge fan of sorghum, but these taste like a lighter version of gingerbread cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 Sorghum syrup

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine, shortening, and sugar Beat in sorghum and eggs; set mixture aside. In another large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly with a wire whisk. Gradually mix flour mixture into creamed ingredients until dough is blended and smooth. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar; place 2 1/2-inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 min. Do not overbake. Cool on wire rack. Store in tightly-covered container to maintain softness. Yields about 3 dozen cookies. These cookies are soft ad chewy and freeze well.

Candy Cane Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2008-12-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

These cookies are obviously very festive. The only problem I encountered was taking the cookies off the baking sheet. Once the peppermint pieces melt, they attach to the pan making it very hard to remove them. Be sure to spray your cookie sheets with a nonstick cooking spray. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/PrintFull.aspx?RecipeID=44965&servings=36

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 (5 ounce) milk chocolate candy bar, chopped (I actually used a package of Andes mint chocolate candies instead and it added a stronger mint flavor)

1 cup coarsely chopped peppermint candy canes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed. Mix in the chocolate chunks and chopped candy cane. Form spoonfuls of dough into balls, and place them 2 inches apart onto a GREASED baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 min. in the preheated oven.

White Chocolate Holiday Bark

2008-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

This easy candy came from the Food Network Channel, so you know it must be good. It has the sweet and salty taste embedded with the smooth white chocolate. I added a few roasted peanuts to mine because I didn't have enough pistachios.

Ingredients:

1 pound finely chopped white chocolate

1 1/2 tsp. nut or plain oil

1/2 cup cranberries

1 1/4 cups shelled pistachio nuts, toasted and papery coating peeled

Directions:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, simmering the water on a low heat. You can use a candy thermometer to keep a check on it; it should read between 82 to 86 degrees. Once melted, stir in the oil, cranberries, and nuts. Spread wax or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Pour the mixture on it the cookie sheet and refrigerate until the mixture hardens. Break into pieces.

Puppy Chow/Dog Food/Reindeer Poop

2008-12-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

There's quite an assortment of names for this, but I find puppy chow the most appealing and least disgusting. I'm sure everyone has eaten this at some point in their life so there's no need for me to tell you how wonderfully addicting it.

Ingredients:

9 cups Rice Chex cereal

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar (It really depends on how much you want. I tend to use half a bag or so)

Directions:

Melt the butter, chocolate, and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 1/2 min. Add vanilla. Pour the cereal into a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture, coating the cereal thoroughly. Place the mixture in a large plastic bag if you don't have a lid for your large bowl; add the confectioners' sugar and shake until all the cereal is evenly coated. You can add any extras to this if you want; I added peanut butter M&M's to mine, though I like it without anything added the best.

Pink Lady Cake

2008-12-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from smittenkitchen. Here's the link to the original recipe with much better pictures than I can provide: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/10/pink-lady-cake/print/

The cake is gigantic! It filled up my entire KitchenAid bowl. I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese icing, but those who were seemed to like it...it's definitely a lot of cake, but very pretty. :)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

4 1/2 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar

5 1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries

8 egg whites

2/3 cup milk

1 to 2 drops red food dye

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese. softened (You can use low-fat too)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch or 8-inch round baking pans. Line with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer (I'd use a KitchenAid, not a handheld electric mixer) on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 min.; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point.

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, and red food dye to blend. Add the whites to the batter in 2 or 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the 3 prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for 30-35 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10-15 min. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least one hour.

For the frosting:

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

New Upcoming Recipes

2008-12-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since my lasting posting I know, but I have good reasons. This Christmas I'm giving away tins full of various sweets I've been making this past week. Due to the number of items I've been making I haven't had the time to post them all on here. So one night soon after I finish all my baking for the gifts I'll post them on here so keep checking!

White Chocolate Grapes

2008-11-25T07:00:00.001-08:00

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com (here's the link http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/White-Chocolate-Grapes/Detail.aspx) This is definitely something everyone should try once. We had some grapes in the refrigerator which I knew would go bad soon, so I found this recipe. Obviously if you aren't a huge fan of grapes I don't recommend this recipe, but I found the white chocolate/peanut combination with the grapes to be excellent! Just a tip: make sure your hands and the grapes are DRY. Water and chocolate are not friends. The original recipe called for shortening, but we don't use shortening in our house to I substituted margarine. This made the chocolate mixture much more thick, but in my opinion it made it easier to coat the grapes with it. It's your call though, shortening or margarine.

Ingredients

2 cups white chocolate chips

2 tsp. shortening (or margarine)

1 pound seedless grapes

1 cup finely chopped salted peanuts

Directions

Combine the white chocolate chips and shortening/margarine in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Spread the chopped peanuts out on a piece of waxed paper. Dip clean, dry grapes into the chocolate, then roll in the peanuts. Set of a wax paper until dry. Warm chocolate as needed in the microwave to keep it liquid.

Pomegranate Pistachio and Banana Bread

2008-11-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

This bread is my favorite bread ever...hands down. I'm not a huge bread person in general, but oh my goodness this bread is so marvelous. The mashed bananas keep it moist, but the buttery pistachios add a nutty flavor and the darling little pomegranates add a citricy burst. Not only does this taste so wonderful, but when you open your oven door, the kitchen is filled with this overwhelming bread aroma. I had to look online how to score and de-seed a pomegranate. You chop off the tip of the pomegranate, score it in four sections (slide your knife down four sections), and put it in water where the membrane will float to the top and the seeds are easily pulled off. Here's a link just in case my instructions didn't make sense. Each slice of bread has around 162, depending on how small or large you cut it. http://video.about.com/gourmetfood/Pomegranate.htmhttp

Ingredients:

1 cup arils (the pomegranate seeds. I used two pomegranates)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2-3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl stir together bananas, oil, milk, and egg; stir into flour mixture with the arils and chopped pistachios just until moistened; do not over-mix. Spoon batter into prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle a few whole shelled pistachios and a few additional arils over the batter for garnish. Bake for 50-60 min. until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min.; remove loaf from pan and cool on wire racks. Store bread tightly covered; or wrap tightly in foil and freeze for up to 1 month.

Pistachio White Chocolate Cheesecake

2008-11-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe from the Pilsbury website. It has one of my most favorite flavoring and scents in the world--almond extract! There's something oddly invigorating in watching the cheesecake turn a light shade of green when you add the pistachio pudding mix to the cream cheese mixture.

Ingredients:

Crust

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used Oreos)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp. butter, melted

Filling

20 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup sour cream (I used light)

1/2 tsp. almond extract

4 eggs

1 (3.4-0z) package instant pistachio pudding and pie filling mix

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped shelled pistachios

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar; mix well. Stir in butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 min. Cool 10 min. Wrap outside of pan, bottom and sides,with heavy duty foil. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese in large bowl at medium speed until creamy. Beat in 3/4 cup sugar until very soft and creamy. Add sour cream and almond extract; beat well. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a time, beating just until combined and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

With a whisk, beat in pudding mix until well-mixed. Stir in white chocolate chips. Pour into crust-lined pan. Sprinkle pistachios over top. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 min or 1 hour and 20 min., or until sides of cheesecake are set and slightly puffed but center still moves when pan is tapped. Cool cheesecake in pan on wire rack 1 hour. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving. To serve, remove sides of pan. Cut cheesecake into wedges.

Chocaroon Cake

2008-11-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is a chocolate bundt cake with coconut creme filling. I drizzled a Dove Chocolate fudge sauce on mine, but you can sprinkle confectioner's sugar or melt chocolate chips and spread as an icing over the cake. Just in case you were curious, a slice of cake is about 373 calories.

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 pinch salt

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 & 3/4 cups flaked coconut

1 (18.35 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 & 1/4 cups water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Beat egg white with salt until foamy. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture forms stiff shiny peaks. Blend in flour and coconut. Combine cake mix, instant pudding mix, eggs, yolks, water, and oil in a large boil. Blend, then beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 min. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Spoon in coconut mixture and top with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 min. Remove to wire rack and cool thoroughly.

Peanut Blossoms

2008-11-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is simply a traditional recipe that everybody knows and loves. Now this is a great case of how I am directionally challenged. I keep telling myself that I should read through the recipe entirely before I make something, but that never happens. Consequently while I following the directions I get so excited and do what I think is next in the recipe. So in this recipe as I put them dough balls on the baking sheets I went ahead and put the kisses in too...so please don't be like me and do that. I'm not sure it'll make a big difference, but who knows.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup of shortening (I used Canola oil instead)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Granulated sugar for coating

Hershey's kisses (I used about 38)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat peanut butter and shortening (or oil) in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well mixed. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to peanut butter mixture, beating until blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5-6 min. or until set. Immediately press Kisses into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheets to wire rack.

Peanut Butter Candy Bar Squares

2008-11-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from a website called Bake or Break, a wonderful blog of delicious food. Here is the original website: http://www.bakeorbreak.com/recipes/2008/10/24/peanut-butter-candy-bar-squares/ These bars are like a nostalgic visit of all your childhood favorites: Nutter Butters, Reeses cups, and Butterfingeres. These are super simple and are a crowd pleaser of any age!

Ingredients:

1 16-ounce package Nutter Butter cookies, crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

7 & 1/2 ounces Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (about 25 miniature cups), coarsely chopped

4 ounces Butterfinger candy bars (about 7 small candy bars or 2 regular size ones)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 in. pan with aluminum foil, allowing it to extend over edges of pa. Grease/spray foil. Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 6-8 min. Combine condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Set aside. Sprinkle chopped candy bars, chocolate morsels, and peanuts over crust. Drizzle condensed milk mixture over toppings. Bake for 25-27 min. or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using foil, lift out of pan. Peel foil away and cut into bars. Makes 28 small or 18 large bars.

Cranberry Whole-Grain Muffins

2008-11-06T16:58:00.001-08:00

The tender muffins, studded with cranberries and nuts and scented with orange are 100% whole-grain. This traditional Thanksgiving flavor combination, in muffin form, make a delicious and healthy start to your day of feasting. Pair this with the cider and you've got a great combination!

For Muffins:

1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts *(I toasted mine and sprinkled them with cinnamon when they were still hot. Toasting the nuts always enhance their flavor and make a huge difference)

1 tbsp. finely grated fresh orange zest

2 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

For glaze:

2 tbsp. orange juice

3 tbsp. sugar

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line muffin cups with liners. Whisk together flour, oats, powdered milk, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add cranberries and nuts. Whisk together orange zest, eggs, ilk, and oil. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake for 18-20 min., or until they are golden brown. Cool in pan on rack for 5 min., then turn out onto rack.

To make glaze:

Stir together orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Brush the tops of the muffins with the mixture while still warm.

Orange-Kissed Brownies

2008-11-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

So the website for this recipe was messing up and not loading everything on the page, hence the reason there is a picture without a recipe. If you would like the recipe feel free to e-mail me and I'll do what I can to get it or fix the website error. I'll warn you and say these brownies have a LOT of butter in them...like 3 and 1/2 sticks worth...I know. It didn't group all the ingredients in one amount; it would say how much butter was needed in the brownies, then down the ingredients list it would say how much it required for the frosting. Though the brownies do have a lot of butter, which you could omit at your discretion but I'm not sure how it will affect the baking, they are rich so you don't eat a huge brownie anyways. These received wonderful reviews!

Chocolate Scotchies

2008-11-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispy cereal

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and corn syrup and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and rice cereal. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. In a microwavable bowl melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips until well smooth and blended. Spread over the top of the bars. Chill until set and then cut into bars.

Cookies & Cream Fudge

2008-11-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

This fudge is really sweet, and this coming from me says a lot. I would recommend lowering the amount of sugar if I were you. Mine weren't cut very smoothly in the picture b/c I cut them before setting all the way, but you can at least get the general idea about what they look like.

Ingredients:

3 cups granulated sugar (you might try 2 cups instead)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 cups white chocolate chips

1 jar marshmallow creme (or just melt half a 10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmallows)

1/2 cup finely crushed Oreos

1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

1 cup crumbled Oreos

Directions:

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil. Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 3 min., still stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Stir in white chocolate, marshmallow creme, finely crushed cookies, and vanilla extract. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle crumbed cookies on top. Gently swirl the cookies into fudge using a knife without touching the bottom of the pan.

Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil Cut into 48 pieces.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-10-31T14:20:00.001-07:00

This was an award-winning recipe so I thought I'd see what the fuss was about. With the addition of pudding mix, which you can't taste by the way, the cookies stay really soft. I thought of my sister who loves cookies when I made these so hopefully she'll try it!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

4 tbsp. white sugar

1 package of vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Bake for 10-12 min. in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. *Be sure not to overcook these cookies.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

2008-10-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

So now that you have all these leftover, soggy, strained cranberries, it would be a waste to simply throw them away. Instead make cranberry sauce with them! I'm not a huge fan of cranberry sauce to be honest...all I think of when I hear it is that horrible canned, jellyish substance that wiggles. This sauce is actually really good. I added cinnamon and a little lemon juice to mine and it's superb! Here is a link to a website if you need some ideas of ways to use cranberry sauce.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/447625/6_uses_for_leftover_cranberry_sauce.html?cat=22

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. of frozen or fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with a paper towel. Cook for 3 min. Stir, then cook for another 3 min. Add cinnamon and lemon juice.

Fresh Cranberry Spiced Tea

2008-10-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yes I know...as soon as I change the title to "Just Desserts" I put a recipe for cider/tea on here, but it's sweet enough to be a dessert. Not only does it make your kitchen fragrant with a nice spicy aroma, but it also tastes incredible. Just make sure and remember that the cranberries have to sit in the water for until cold, which takes a while. I recommend letting them sit overnight.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. fresh or frozen cranberries (I actually used dried cranberries)

9 cups cold water

2 cups orange juice

2 & 1/2 cups pineapple juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cups white sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp. whole cloves

1 tsp. whole allspice

Directions:

Place the cranberries and water into a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook just until the berries pop, about 5 min. Remove from heat and let stand at room temperature until cold, several hours. (I let mine sit overnight).

Strain out the cranberries and stir the orange juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and sugar into the liquid. Add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and allspice. Bring to a low boil. It's ready to serve at this point, but it's even better if you allow it to sit overnight.

Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars

2008-10-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Imagine a light chocolate cake with a marshmallow creme filling, topped with crunchy chocolate-peanut buttery rice cereal. These base of these bars isn't too heavy so it keeps these from being overpowered by chocolate. The reason the ingredient amounts are so weird is that I adjusted the serving size from 36 to 22, which is enough to fit in a 12 X 8 pan (a little small than the usual cake pan, though the original recipe calls for a 15 x 10 x 1).

Ingredients:

1/3 cup + 2 tbsp. margarine or butter, softened

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. & 2 tsp. sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup + 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. + 2 and 1/2 tsp. baking cocoa (I added a little more, plus a little bit of Hershey's syrup b/c I didn't think it tasted chocolatey enough)

2 and 1/3 cups + 2 tbsp. mini marshmallows

Topping:

3/4 cup + 1 tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp. + 2 and 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. +2 tsp. peanut butter

1 and 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa; add to creamed mixture. Spread in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x -in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 min. (Mine took an extra 10 min.) Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over cake; return to oven for 2 to 3 min. Using a knife dipped in water, spread the melted marshmallows even only the cake. Cool. For topping, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and well blended. Remove from heat; stir in cereal. Spread over bars immediately. Chill.

Brickle Candy

2008-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

This candy is good b/c it's salty, sweet, and not really hard. It almost has a toffee-like flavor in the caramel. I actually used whole wheat saltines in mine, but you can use graham crackers too.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 package saltine crackers

1 12 ounce package milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Lay out crackers on the cookie sheet. Melt the butter, brown sugar, and baking soda on a low heat. Stir constantly so it won't foam. Boil until a light brown/caramel color. Pour mixture over the crackers. Scatter the chocolate chips over the mixture. Cook for 10 min. When it comes out use a spatula to spread out the melted chocolate chips to form a coating. Put in the freezer for a few min. Remove and break into pieces.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

2008-10-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

2 cups Oreo cookies, finely ground

3 tbsp. sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

10 ounces raspberries, thawed

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 cup water

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-in-half

24 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 packages)

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place a large baking sheet with edges into oven w/ 1/2 inch water in it. In a medium bowl combine cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the bottom of pan w/ aluminum foil.

In a medium saucepan combine raspberries, 2 tbsp. sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until sauce thickens, approximately 5 min. Strain sauce to remove seeds.

In a double boiler (or microwave oven) melt the white chocolate chips and half-in-half, stirring until smooth.

In a large boil mix together the cream cheese and 2 tbsp. of sugar until smooth. Add eggs on at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Pour half of mixture over crust. Spoon 3 tbsp. of raspberry sauce over the top. Pour the remaining cream cheese mixture into the pan. Spoon 4 more tbsp. of raspberry sauce over the top (you can use the remaining sauce to serve).

Place springform pan in water in the oven. Bake for 60 min. or until filling is set. Turn oven off, open door halfway, and let sit for 30 min. Remove from oven and cool. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-10-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

I randomly thought of this recipe last night. It looks like a truffle or bon bon, but it's actually a chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Covered Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

Refrigerated cookie dough (you can make your own)

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I combine both)

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

Cook the dough in little round balls and take them out as soon as they're about to turn brown. Once you get them out of the oven mold the each dough piece into a round ball (you might want to use latex gloves). Set in freezer for a few minutes.

Melt the chocolate and evenly coat the dough balls. Decorate with whatever sprinkles or candies you have on hand.

Snickers Candy Bar

2008-10-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

This recipe actually came from a diet recipe blog. Each bar/serving has 200 calories just in case you wanted to know, but you'd think it had so much more. These literally taste like a cold Snickers candy bar.

Snickers Candy Bar

Ingredients:

3/4 cup crunchy of creamy peanut butter (I used crunchy)

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme

1/4 cup butter

1 (14 ounce) package caramels

1 1/2 cups salted or unsalted peanuts, chopped

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt together 1 cup milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup butterscotch chips, and 1/4 cup peanut butter. Spread this mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan and put in the refrigerator or freezer to set up while the next layer is prepared.

Boil together the butter, sugar, and evaporated milk for about 5 min. Take off the stove add the marshmallow creme, 1/4 cup peanut butter, vanilla, and peanuts. Pour over the first layer that was chilling, then place back in the freezer.

Melt the caramels with the whipping cream until smooth, then pour over the second layer that is chilling; place back in the freezer.

Melt together the remaining peanut butter, milk chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips, then spread on the top of the third layer in the pan. Return to chill until set up. Refrigerator them after.

Just the Beginning

2008-10-20T22:16:00.001-07:00

As I stumbled upon a delicious recipe online at a random site, so began my addiction with searching the internet for amazing and new dessert recipes. Sure I can cook, but baking is so much more fun. I must admit that I MUST have a picture of whatever I'm going to prepare because it gives me the incentive to make it. Thus being said I've collected a lot (it's ridiculous actually) of recipes I have bookmarked...in bookmark folders...in alphabetical order. I know I can go a bit overboard at times, but hey just go with me. The first recipe I made is carmel popcorn balls (it's also festive too since Halloween is almost here) at the request of my dad. I don't like carmel popcorn myself, but I thought these were fantastic. The homemade caramel tastes completely different than the regular stick and hard kind. Hope you enjoy!

Caramel Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:

1 bag of microwavable popcorn

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Pop the popcorn and set aside. In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer inserted, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in condensed milk; simmer, stirring constantly, until thermometer reads 238 degrees F (114 degrees C). Stir in vanilla.

Pour caramel over popped corn and stir to coat. Let it cool for a few minutes. Shape into balls of desired size, but wet your hands before to prevent them from sticking. Place on wax or parchment paper.