Caramel Apple Dumplins

Caramel Apple Dumplins

 

Valentine’s Day is this weekend! Will you be eating something sweet with your honey?  I used to love Valentine’s Day for the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates it would ultimately bring to me, but since I already have a supply of chocolate (including some left over truffles from Christmas), Valentine’s Day now puts me more in the mood for a baked delight.  If you’re looking for something sweet to serve your honey this Valentine’s Day, but you don’t want to spend all day long in the kitchen, look no farther!  I have the perfect recipe for you: Caramel Apple Dumplins!

This dessert is an old-time classic favorite, and it is so warm and comforting to eat during the fall and winter months.  And beyond that, this version is oh-so-easy and made with ingredients that a lot of you likely already have on hand!  (That’s my favorite kind of recipe!)  Check it out! [Read more…]

Gingerbread Cookie Milkshake

Gingerbread Cookie Milkshake

I’m an absolute FIEND when it comes to frozen treats.  I especially love ICEES and milkshakes.  Chocolate has always been a classic favorite of mine, but I never pass up the chance to try a new flavor.  A few years ago around Christmas time, Burger King had a Gingerbread Cookie Milkshake.  Oh my goodness!  That thing was SO good!  Every fall and holiday season I hope they will bring this yummy treat back, but so far I’ve been out of luck!

Finally I did some searching and found a few different recipes for gingerbread shakes and other treats.  And I finally made my own Gingerbread Cookie Milkshake at home!  The secret ingredient (besides these adorable little Pepperidge Farm Gingerbread Cookies) is a little molasses!  I have to admit, when I first looked at all the different cookie and shake recipes calling for molasses, I was really thrown!  Even as I was making the milkshake, I tasted a tiny bit of molasses and thought, “Ugh! How is THIS going to taste good?”

But amazingly it totally WORKS!  The shake turned out absolutely perfect!  It met my expectations and so much more!  So if you like gingerbread cookies and you like milkshakes, you simply have to try this recipe! [Read more…]

Waking Up with McCafé + Red Velvet Angel Food Cake Recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #McCafeMyWay #CollectiveBias

McCafe Hazelnut Coffee

 

I’m generally a very happy and cheerful person, but I HATE getting up in the mornings!  I always have!  On days when I don’t have to wake up at a certain time, I’m good, but when that clock radio jolts me awake in the morning, it’s like one of the worst feelings on earth!   To paraphrase what my husband has said, “I definitely need a few minutes to get myself together when I first wake up.”  So I take my “few minutes to get myself together” while Noah eats his breakfast and gets ready for school.  Then we drive to school, and since I work from home, it is oh-so-tempting to just jump right back in bed after I come home from dropping him off!  (And okay…sometimes when there’s nothing pressing to do or I have a migraine or haven’t slept well, I may do just that!)  But most days I need to stay up and get things done, and then I need my morning caffeine fix!  Enter McCafé!

[Read more…]

Game Time with Coke, Ritz and DiGiorno® Pizza and Ritz Balls Recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PreparetoParty #CollectiveBias
Game Time with Coke Ritz and DiGiorno

Are you ready for the Big Game? Great brands like Coca-Cola, DiGiorno® Stuffed Crust Pizza  and Ritz Crackers make it easy and affordable for anyone to throw a great football party! Last weekend we enjoyed a day of football and food.  Today I’m going to share my recipe for Ritz Balls and I’ve got some other tips for how you can creatively use these products to make your football party food fun and fresh! [Read more…]

25 Delicious Must-Make Recipes from 2014

25 Delicious Must-Make Recipes

 

Happy New Year! (Again!)  As a blogger, it seems to have become quite customary to take the interim period between Christmas and New Year’s Day to look back over the year’s work and then re-share some of the highlights.  So I’ve been looking back at everything over the last few days, and today I have a fun round-up of posts for you: my 25 Delicious Must-Make Recipes from 2014!

I can honestly say that I enjoyed making and EATING all of these, so I hope you will check them out and decide to make few of these for yourself (especially the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes….just saying!)

And as always, I welcome your comments on this and any of the recipe posts featured here, especially on my photos.  In 2014, I worked on improving my photo staging and editing, but I was still limited by not having a DSLR camera (not to mention, the lighting was not always ideal!).  However, I’m really proud of the improvements I was able to make throughout the year, and I am super excited because I….I mean, Santa, just got me a DSLR camera for Christmas, so I cannot wait to make things look even better here in 2015!  [Read more…]

Hot Cocoa Muddy Mix

Hot Cocoa Muddy Mix

I’ve never been a “go out on New Year’s Eve” kind of person. I’d much rather than stay home. It’s way less crowded!  But what I do love, is to have plenty of appetizers and snacks to help celebrate the occasion.  The night wouldn’t be the same without them!  This year for the sweet side, I made this Hot Cocoa Muddy Mix.

I’ve made a few different Muddy Mix recipes (or Puppy Chow if you will): Peppermint MuddiesCheesecake Muddy Mix. and Strawberry Cheesecake Muddy Mix.

I love this stuff because I can make it in about 10 minutes or less!  It is also a very festive snack that you can change up with just an ingredient or two (like my linked examples above).

I’ve enjoy each muddy mix I’ve tried, but I think this my new favorite!  I looked at a few recipes for inspiration, and then I threw this together….I called myself making a “half batch” since a lot of recipes instruct you to use 6 or 7 cups of Chex Cereal (basically the entire box), but even my half batch made a pretty big bowl of stuff; I’d say it’s enough for 2 to 4 people.  It’s definitely enough if it’s just you, your spouse, and a couple of kids.  (Then again, this stuff DOES stay good for a few days, so even if you’re not having a party and just want a little extra for you and your family, by all means, feel free to double the recipe!) [Read more…]

Saltine Cracker Toffee from Tanya at My Fruitful Home

I can’t believe Christmas is this week, and I’ve barely had time to post any of my Christmas content.  Thank goodness we have guest bloggers!  Today Tanya from  My Fruitful Home is here to a share simple and delicious treat, Saltine Cracker Toffee.

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Who doesn’t love toffee? My favorite candy bar is the Heath bar. I love that toffee and chocolate combination. When I found a simple recipe for Saltine Cracker Toffee I was thrilled! It is so easy, but tastes like you spent a lot of time on it. There are only four ingredients. The recipe follows.

 cracker toffee

Ingredients:

* 40 saltine crackers

* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

* 1 cup light brown sugar

* 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips or 1, 12 ounce bag

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 400 F

1 Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers in a single layer.

2 In a saucepan combine sugar, butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.

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3 Pour over crackers right away and spread to cover completely.

cracker toffee

4 Bake at 400 F for 5 to 6 minutes.

cracker toffee

5 Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over top of crackers and leave for five minutes.

cracker toffee

6 Spread melted chocolate and let cool completely.

7 Break into pieces

Tanya is from the blog My Fruitful Home where she blogs about recipes, home, crafts, and living the abundant life with a chronic illness.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars with Nestle Toll House Delightfulls

Disclosure: Thanks to Nestle Toll House for sponsoring today’s recipe post. The opinions expressed here are my own.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Today we’re doing holiday baking with a new “secret ingredient.”  The secret ingredient, which I’m about to reveal to you is Nestle Toll House DelightFulls. As I was shopping for baking ingredient last week, I found these little jewels and just had to try them out!  Imagine your favorite baking chips, then imagine them a little bigger and with a special surprise inside! [Read more…]

Texas Pete® Red Velvet Cones and Helping Feeding America with a Tweet or Share

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Texas Pete for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We use hot sauce almost daily at our house.  The guys love eating a little Texas Pete Hot Sauce with sandwich meat, cheese, and crackers, and I love using it to add a little spice to my cooking.

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Ordinarily I use it to add flavor to chicken and other meats we’re baking or grilling, and I also enjoy using it for dips, appetizers, and casseroles.  Since my boys love hot sauce so much, I’ve been looking for new Texas Pete Hot Sauce recipes, and I’ve been most intrigued by a certain dessert recipe that I found.

“Dessert?” you ask.  Yes, you read it right.  Dessert!

In particular, I am referring to this recipe.  Take a look.

 


Texas Pete® Red Velvet Cones

 

YIELD: 48 cake cones

PORTION: 1 cake cone

INGREDIENTS:

Cake Batter

5 cups All purpose flour

3 cups Granulated sugar

1 Tbsp Baking soda

2 tsp Salt, fine

2 tsp Cocoa powder

3 cups Vegetable oil

2 cups Buttermilk, room temperature

4 Large eggs, room temperature

3 Tbsp Red food coloring

2 Tbsp Texas Pete® Original Hot Sauce

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

48 Ice cream cones, small, flat bottomed

Cream cheese Icing

36 oz. Cream cheese, softened, whipped

1 stick Unsalted butter, softened, whipped

2 cups Powdered sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 tsp Texas Pete® Hotter Hot Sauce

Piping bag with small decorative tip

Shaker, Powdered sugar, for garnish

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, Texas Pete® Hot Sauce and vanilla.

3. Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

4. Carefully spoon the batter into the ice cream cones filling them 2/3 of the way up to give them room for rising in the oven. Arrange the cones on a parchment-lined sheet tray standing up and place them into the oven to bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes or until they have fully risen and a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

5. Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool completely.

6. While the cakes are in the oven, prepare the spicy cream cheese frosting.

7. Place the softened cream cheese and the softened butter into a medium size mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the Texas Pete® Hotter Hot Sauce and whisk one more minute. You may add more powdered sugar or Texas Pete® Hotter Hot Sauce so that the icing is to your liking.

8. Place the spicy cream cheese frosting into a piping bag with a small decorative tip.

9. Using the tip of the piping bag, carefully puncture a small hole into the center of the top of the red velvet cake and pipe approximately 2-3 tablespoons of the spice cream cheese into the center of the cake allowing some of the cream cheese to come out of the top for decoration. Continue until all the red velvet cake cones are filled. Use any extra cream cheese icing to frost the tops of the cones.

10. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Doesn’t that sound great?  As someone who likes a little spice and also loves dessert, I am very intrigued by this combination!

If you want to try this recipe to, you can find Texas Pete Hot Sauce in your local grocery store.  Look for it with the condiments and sauces.

Tweet & Share to Help Feeding America:

Right now Texas Pete is doing their part to help Feeding America.  If you share my post on your social media using the hashtag #TexasPete, they will donate $1 to Feeding America. (And if you do tweet or share, please leave a comment here letting us know you did, for tracking purposes.)

And you can also share your own blog posts, featuring Texas Pete Hot Sauce.  Just share them on your social media using the hashtag #TexasPete, and you’ll help donate $1 to Feeding America.

What do you like to make with Texas Pete® hot sauce?

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Guest Post: Chocolate Pie with White Chocolate Peppermint Mousse from Elizabeth at Balm to my Soul

Today I’m excited to bring you another holiday guest post.  This one comes to us from Elizabeth of Balm to My Soul, and she is sharing her Chocolate Pie with White Chocolate Peppermint Mousse.  It looks and sounds so delicious!  Take a look! [Read more…]