Pinterest MUST DO List

So, I know that the Pinterest train is already well on its way. And I'm not late hopping on board -- I've been riding along for quite a while.

HOWEVER, I feel that my "make" to "want to make" ratio is, well, terrible. I think I can count on two hands how many of the recipes/trick/tips I've tried. It's just EFFORT, man! You have to WANT it.

But I'm going to give you guys a few of my MUST DO items -- because I've done them and they've become part of my every day (or every week/every month, etc.) life.

HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD FROM (OR JUST REALLY CLEAN) YOUR BATHROOM GROUT
If you've ever had mold growing along the grout lines of your tub, or if it's just dirty or old or gross or NOT WHITE, do this. So easy. SO VERY EFFECTIVE.

HOW TO GET RID OF REALLY CLOGGED DRAINS (WITHOUT CHEMICALS!)
No picture needed. No chemicals, either.

BEEF AND BARLEY SOUP
OMG. My kids FLIP for this. It's so easy, so inexpensive and so, so delicious (and healthy!). It takes me back to my childhood and makes me feel like I'm cooking one of those meals that my kids will come home for ... something only Momma can make. Aren't those the best kinds?

BANANA BITES -- FROZEN. WITH CHOCOLATE. OMG.
So, this isn't rocket science. This really isn't even cooking. But this IS delicious and the perfect way to quell a chocolate craving. Or a sweets-of-any-kind craving. Sliced bananas. Frozen. Dipped in chocolate. Kept frozen. Oh, yes. She put peanut butter on hers, which is FINE. But I'm a purist. Really, though, you can't go wrong.

BEST CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE RECIPE EVER.
And no, I'm totally not exaggerating. Although, technically, maybe this doesn't count as a Pinterest find because I pinned it from a recipe I first tried in college. I think. Regardless it's just ... it's just so good, guys.

OK, so those are all for now. I recommend all of these over and over and over, cross my heart. A lot of things on Pinterest ... you just don't know. But these, I keep coming back to. Enjoy!

I know ... I'm a liar. Will Cookie Dough Cupcakes help?

I know, I know! I said I'd be posting more and then I'm all like, nevermind. But I'm trying! Life, man.

Anyway! I made these crazy-good cupcakes tonight. Now, to be fair, I only ate the cake part because the frosting? Totally not my thing. So why did I make them and how do I know they're good?

Because I made them for my kiddos. And they ate them happily -- they may have even eaten the frosting from a tube, directly into their mouths.

Because these dark chocolate caramel fudge cupcakes are topped with cookie dough. Oh yeah. I said it. COOKIE DOUGH. Best part? EGGLESS cookie dough. So it's totally safe to eat for anyone who's actually into that sort of thing.

But I mean, come on. I hate cookie dough and all ... but even these look appetizing to me. A little. If I squint.

But they loved them. And really, isn't that what a Valentine's Day gift is for -- making the ones you love happy?

Want to make these yummies? Of course you do. Click-arino.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

These are super yummy.

I made these to go in a treat box for my son's teachers. Fortunately, there were some leftovers.

There are no leftovers now.

Burp.

There is no final picture. Please go here for that.

Again, burp.

Line a cooking sheet with a single-layer of crackers.

Add caramel sauce to the crackers. Bake for 5 minutes.

Add chocolate chips. Don't add marshmallows. Trust me.

Ingredients:
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1.5 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place saltines in a single layer on foil lined baking sheet.
Melt butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and bring to low boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
Pour mixture evenly over saltines. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes or until the entire layer is bubbly. Watch this closely.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over saltines. When the chips begin to melt, spread the chocolate evenly over saltines making sure to spread all the way to the edges.
Place baking sheet in freezer for about 15 minutes until the entire layer has hardened. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

These are just plain fun cookies. Fun to make, fun to eat.

OK, they're probably a little more fun to eat.

Why are the kitchen sink cookies? Not too hard to understand this pun -- they have everything in them but the kitchen sink.

Some people call them monster cookies. I call them delicious.

I started with this recipe and tweaked it. It's worth it. Quick, easy and YUM.



Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup crushed pretzels (keep them chunky)

1/2 cup M&Ms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or greased aluminum foil.

On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour, baking soda and salt until just combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, pretzels and M&Ms.

Make balls of dough (about 3 tablespoons in size) and drop onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. (*note -- they will still be soft! Don't keep cooking until they're firm). Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Halloween Cupcakes

I made these for the heck of it last week, and ended up giving most of them away because I was eating all of them wanted to be nice.

The base is my rich double chocolate cake, turned cupcakes. It makes about 36 cupcakes, so I had more than enough to share.

But that doesn't mean I wanted to.

Buttercream ... I want to write you a sonnet. You are smooth and rich and so velvety creamy. Me + You = love.

Try and enjoy!!

My Pinterest Addiction

I've mentioned my Pinterest addiction before.

I'll say it again -- if you're not on and you want an invite, I'll be your pusher. You just let me know and an invite is ON ITS WAY.

That said, here are my recent discoveries that I FULLY intend to make:

Apple Spiced Caramels

Butterfinger No-Bake Cheesecakes

From MarthaStewart.com

Lemon Scented Pull-Apart Pound Cake

Le sigh. LOVE that site.

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think you know by now that I love pumpkin. I do. I can't help it. It might be genetic.

So forgive me yet another pumpkin recipe.

I remember the first time I tried pumpkin pie ice cream. That's not the dessert I'm sharing, but it's related. Trust me. It was six years ago and my first fall/winter with my husband. I'd just moved to Oklahoma from Texas to be near him after meeting him on a cruise ship that spring. Here, he introduced me to Cold Stone Creamery and Oh.My.Word. I'd never had ice cream so rich and wonderful.

And when I saw they had PUMPKIN? Ice cream? Are you kidding? I had to try it. It was Thanksgiving in my mouth. The best part was that they let you have a free mix in each time you get ice cream there. So, what to add to pumpkin? Chocolate sauce. Not fudge -- sauce. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I'm telling you -- it changed pumpkin for me. I started seeing it in new ways -- beyond just pie.

Thus, these cookies. All the spices that pair so well with pumpkin ... with the added bonus of CHOCOLATE CHIPS, ya'll. They're soft like little cakes, portable like the cookies they are and so wonderfully flavorful, I bid you good luck keeping them in the house more than a day.

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl and stir to combine.

Fold in chocolate chips.
Place walnut-sized scoops onto parchment paper or greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes each. Let cool for five minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely. Makes 24-30 cookies.

These are best, in my opinion, served cold from the fridge or while warm, but set. Because it's easiest to make ahead of time, if you're serving guests, pop them in the fridge after you make them and they are simply DELICIOUS.

Halloween Cookie Bars

Everyone loves Halloween -- at least everyone in my house.

My kids have gone through hundreds dozens of costume ideas. Power Rangers, monkeys, puppies, Princess Belle, astronaut daddies ... the list went on and on.

But because I'm lazy thrifty, I convinced my kids the best idea of all was one they hadn't thought of -- pirates. I mean, it's $.99/each. How can you not buy that? My son said, "Oh, yes! I can be the pirate and you can all be my mateys!" Maties? Either way, he's pumped. He watches a lot of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So much so that his curse word of choice is, "COCONUTS!"

His class is having a Halloween party in a few weeks, and I'm tasked with bringing cupcakes. Which is SUPER exciting, but I didn't want to wait for a few weeks to start making treats. So, I give you:

Halloween Cookie Bars

Ingredients:
1 package white almond bark, melted
1 package crushed Halloween Oreo cookies
1 bag Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup crushed pretzels
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Halloween sprinkles

Directions:
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, add crushed cookies and almond bark and stir to coat.
Pour the cookie mixture on the parchment paper and smooth out until flat with a rubber spatula.
Sprinkle the toppings on the mixture while the chocolate is still warm, then put in fridge for 10 minutes until hard.
Remove from the fridge and cut into triangles or 1" x 1" squares.

These would be great for Christmas by subbing out M&Ms, red Oreos and Christmas sprinkles. It's super sweet, but my kids don't seem to mind.

Banoffee Pie

Hello, lover.

Banoffee pie is the combination of banana and toffee. It equals heaven.

I could have made this from scratch. It might have been better. But I didn't and it was still fabulous.

I also didn't wait to take pictures in natural light. Forgive me.

Ingredients:
4 bananas, sliced in 1/4" circles
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 chocolate cookie crumb pie crust
1 tub whipped topping
1/8 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Few dashes pumpkin pie seasoning
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

Directions:
Boil the sweetened condensed milk in the can without the label for 2.5-3 hours. The longer you boil, the thicker the caramel. You're making caramel, you know. Let cool completely.
When the caramel is cooled, slice the bananas and layer on the bottom of the pie crust.
Add the condensed milk caramel.
Mix the spices into the whipped topping and layer on top of the pie.
Drizzle the chocolate chips on top of the pie and chill overnight.
ENJOY the heck out of it.

Rich Double Chocolate Cake

This is, possibly, my crowning jewel. And it's ridiculously easy.

I used to have a cupcake business on the side, but I gave it up because I realized I liked baking for friends, not profit.

I always baked the cupcakes from scratch for my clients, but when making things for ME, I wanted simple. I saw this recipe a few years ago and have tweaked it to fit my family's tastes since then.

And guys? Honestly?

It's better than just as good as my from-scratch version.

It's fantastic as a cake:

But equally good as a cupcake:

Please try this. You will absolutely love it.

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 (3.4 oz.) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
3 eggs
⅓ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Liberally spray Pam into bundt cake pan or insert liners into your cupcake tin.

Beat all ingredients except chips until well blended, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.

At this point, the pudding has made your batter very thick. This is what you want. Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour (bundt) or 14-16 minutes (cupcake).

If you're baking this as a cake, let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If baking as cupcakes, let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.

Minty Nutella Coconut Chunk Cookies

Yum.

Last week I went to the grocery store and bought Nutella. I love the stuff, but rarely keep it in the house because it would be gone like THAT.

It's already gone.

But part of the reason is these cookies.

Thursday was my and the hubb's anniversary, and he bought me a bag of coconut M&Ms. Have you had them? Buy a bag, pop them in the freezer and thank me later. They're pretty awesome. So as not to eat them all in one sitting, I decided to put them into cookies. But I also wanted Nutella cookies. This dilemma equalled amazing results.

Minty Nutella Coconut Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:
1-¼ cup All-purpose Flour
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
⅔ cup Dutch-process Cocoa
½ cup Unsalted Butter
½ cup Granulated Sugar
½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2-3 drops Peppermint Extract
½ cup Nutella
⅓ cup Milk

1 egg

2 bags Coconut M&Ms

½ cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside. In a larger bowl, add the butter and sugars and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the extracts and egg and combine. Add the Nutella and mix until batter is smooth. Alternate the flour and milk and mix until combined.
Fold in the M&Ms and chocolate chips.
On a greased sheet or parchment paper, add scoops of walnut-sized balls. Put into the freezer for 5 minutes, then flatted with the bottom of  a heavy cup dipped in sugar.
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes or until soft, but starting to set. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

I'm linking here, here and here!

Banana Spiced Cheesecake

Last fall I had a strong hankerin' for cheesecake. Partly because I wanted to eat it, but mainly I wanted to make it. I also had a ton of bananas that needed to be used somehow, STAT.

Put your hands together, my friend.

This thick banana cheesecake has a smooth texture — and is VERY filling! It's topped with a thin layer of thick chocolate ganache and cinnamon whipped cream ... guys, it's so tasty!

I'm not going to lie, though. It's in-depth. Don't let that dissuade you. It's WORTH IT!

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1-¾ cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
½ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons Melted Butter

For the Filling:
3 whole Ripe Bananas (overly Ripe Is Best)
24 ounces, weight Room Temp Cream Cheese (light Works OK, But Full Fat Is Best)
3 whole Large Eggs
1 whole Large Egg Yolk
¼ cups Sour Cream
1-½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla

For the Ganache:
½ cups Heavy Cream
½ Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
¼ teaspoons Cinnamon
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

For the Whipped Cream:
½ cups Heavy Cream, Very Cold
¼ teaspoons Cinnamon
1-½ Tablespoon Sugar
Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9″ springform pan with cooking spray.

Crust:
Combine dry ingredients with the melted butter and combine with fork until the mixture is moist throughout. When the mixture is crumbly but will hold together when squeezed, it’s ready to be pressed into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then let cool completely.

Filling:
Place a roasting/baking dish LARGER than the springform pan in the oven and fill halfway with water. While you’re preparing the filling, the water will heat to the perfect temperature. Wrap the bottom of your springform pan with a double layer of aluminum foil to safeguard from water getting in the pan.

In a bowl, mash the bananas and set aside (note-the texture is better the more you mash. This is why overripe bananas work best).

Add the cream cheese to a separate bowl and beat until smooth. Dump in the bananas and mix until incorporated. Add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Add the sour cream and mix until combined. Finally, add the sugar, spices and vanilla and beat until well mixed.

Pour the filling into the crust. Place the pan in the oven, inside the roasting pan filled with water and bake until the cheesecake has a light golden color and the center is set (but can still have a slight jiggle). This will take anywhere from 80-90 minutes.

Cool the cheesecake to room temperature in the pan, then cover and place in the refrigerator overnight (or at least four hours).

Ganache:
When the cheesecake is cooled completely, heat the heavy cream and corn syrup over medium low heat. Add the cinnamon and pull off the heat. Add the chocolate chips and mix. When the mixture is slightly cooled, remove the sides of the springform pan and add the ganache to the top to the edges of the cake. Since the cheesecake will be cold, smooth the ganache quickly to prevent it from hardening up. It looks lovely when the ganache drips over the sides.

Whipped Cream:
Whip the cream, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl for around four minutes, or until they form stiff peaks. Add to a decorating bag fitted with a tip and decorate as you’d like. Or just lop some on the top and call it good. You worked hard on this!
Eat!

Zee Party

We had our little girl's birthday party this weekend and it was a hit! Everyone had a great time. I made these, which were a HUGE hit.

But her cupcakes were awesome!

I used a plain white cake mix, then dyed the layers in 6 different colors. They turned out so cute! I was going to used store-bought icing, but I went with my favorite buttercream instead.

Happy birthday, to my little belle.

Gumdropapalooza

In preparation for my daughter's birthday party this weekend, I've been doing two things:

1. Stressing out.
2. Making a mess.

Number two is directly related to number one. Or is number one directly related to number two? Either way, it's been crazy.

Last night I attempted to make gumdrops. I should say I attempted to make them WELL, as I did succeed in making them, but also, number two.

I wish I'd taken pictures.

Have you ever made gumdrops? If so, have you ever made them in too small of a pan? I have. And let me tell you, the results were disastrous.

I have a flat-top stove and the four cups of sugar and six packets of gelatin boiled out of the too-small pan and all over my stove. Black clouds billowed from my burner where the burned sugar crystallized on top.

Ya'll, it got crazy.

But, the end result, minus number 1, was this:

Goodie, goodie, gumdrops.

I made my husband try all of them except the blue. The yellowish color is lemon, the red is orange (I know, weird.) and the blue is peppermint. I've been told I was too light-handed with the extracts. So use more than you think you should.

Everyone likes them. Now we wait for them to crystalize and get ready for my little gumdrop's 3rd birthday party.

Goodie, goodie!

"Leave the Milk Out!" Cookies

So I'm not a huge cookie fan. But my husband and kids are. So I tend to make a lot.

The first time I made these cookies, I tested one with milk and let my husband try it. I went back into the kitchen to put the milk away, he yelled, "JUST LEAVE THE MILK OUT!" And he proceeded to eat about half the batch while standing in the kitchen.

They're good. They're really good.

Bonus? I've included substitutions for turning these chocolate chip cookies into white chocolate macadamia nut (which, by the way, I DO love).

Ingredients:
2 cups All-purpose Flour
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 whole Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
8 ounces, weight Chocolate (white, Dark, Milk--your Choice) Baking Squares, Chopped Into Chunks
¾ cups OPTIONAL Roughly Chopped, Toasted Macadamia Nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in small bowl.

Using a mixer, beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, then scrape sides with rubber spatula.

Blend in flour mixture in three stages and stir in chocolate (and optional nuts).

Scoop out walnut-sized (I use a melon baller) balls of dough onto baking sheet, leaving 1-2″ between mounds. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until bottoms are slightly golden and tops are still a light color. Remove from sheet and transfer to cooling rack.

Makes approximately 48 small cookies.

Promises, promises.

I know I promised you all a delicious salted caramel chocolate chunk brownie recipe. I know I still haven't delivered. Honestly, I think about it way more than I should. It's like, housework, schmousework, I need brownies.

But I haven't gotten around to trying out the recipe that's in my head. Why? Because I've fallen in love with my sewing machine. We're totally MFEO. I wound my first bobbin and I haven't looked back. I feel like I could take on the world. A sewing machine-sized world.

Now I'm throwing around terms like shirring and the idea of covering everything in my house with ruffles. It's bad, guys. Send help ...ers. Send helpers who will refill my water and make me eat because Momma's a one-track mind right now. Currently that track is taking me to Thread Town and Sewing City. Hop on board!

But brownies will come. If only because I promised to use them as currency and my dear friend won't let me forget.

So, soon, friends! Soon there will be chocolate. And it will be GOOD.

Dreaming of Fall

If the fact that this is my second pumpkin recipe post in as many weeks is any indication, then it's clear that my mind has sworn off this oppressive heat and is vacationing in the future of fall.

Warm colors, cool air -- and DELICIOUS pumpkin desserts. Sigh.

I miss you fall. Come home soon.

In the meantime ...

Sweet Pumpkin Turnovers


Ingredients:
2 cans (8 Oz. Can) Crescent Roll Dough
1 can Pumpkin Puree (15 Oz. Can)
2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2/3 cups Sugar, Plus 2 Tablespoons
Sprinkles Of Brown Sugar
1 whole Egg White
1 Tablespoon Water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and sugar. Set aside.

Open crescent rolls and lay them flat on a floured surface. Roll it out to about 12″ x 12″. Using a pizza roller, make three vertical slices, each 3″ apart, then three horizontal slices, also 3″ apart. This will leave you with sixteen 3″ x 3″ squares.

Sprinkle the dough with some of the brown sugar and spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture into the center of each square.

Fold to make a triangle and crimp edges with a fork. It’s okay if they don’t close all the way or stay tight. The dough will puff in the oven and make the turnovers open a little anyway. (You can be more precise about it, but the mixture doesn’t run, so I never care too much!)

In another bowl, mix the egg white and water and brush over top of the turnovers. Sprinkle with more brown sugar.

Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve and enjoy!

My Heart Beats Pumpkin

Anyone else love pumpkin like I do? Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin butter ... I just love it. Period.

But one of my favorite ways to incorporate pumpkin is in these pumpkin muffins. I don't know if you knew this, but pumpkin and chocolate are makeout buddies. Yes. And like all good relationships, they each bring out the best in the other. Chocolate muffins aren't chocolatey enough without pumpkin. And pumpkin treats with chocolate? Tears. Of. Joy.

So, want the easiest recipe you've ever had for moist, rich, WONDERFUL chocolate muffins? OK!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or CHUNKS!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, spice and cake mix until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon equal amounts of batter into the muffin cups. Note--they will pretty much keep their shape, so I find they come out looking very pretty if you give them peaks by gently touching the back of a spoon to the top of each uncooked muffin before putting them in the oven.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These are just so wonderful. Guys, I promise you -- make these today. You will NOT be disappointed.

Unless you're on a diet.

And eat 10.

But I always do haven't ever done that. 

Cheesecake Truffles = Love

That's right. Cheesecake TRUFFLES.

And easy as can be.

Messy. But easy.

Ingredients:
1 tub (18 oz) Philadelphia Ready-to-Eat Cheesecake Filling (or you can totally make your own cheesecake)
18 oz chocolate almond bark
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
With the large side of a melon baller, use 3/4 of the tub of cheesecake filling and form into 1″ wide balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and put into the freezer for 10-15 minutes until firm.

Melt the almond bark in one dish and spread the cocoa powder in another shallow dish.

Remove the cheesecake balls from the freezer in small batches and begin first by dredging the balls in the cocoa powder. You want a LIGHT coat, so I always drop mine onto a clean surface to shake some of the powder off. After that, dip the truffles, one by one, in the melted chocolate. This will be a little difficult because the chocolate does not want to stick to the cocoa powder. That’s why it’s important to really get a light coat of cocoa powder!

Note – your hands will get messy!! Wash frequently to prevent chocolate build up. Or eat the chocolate build up. Your choice.

Immediately after dipping in chocolate, roll again in the cocoa powder. The cold balls will make the chocolate start to harden and once that happens, the cocoa powder won’t stick. After dipping in the powder for a second time, place it back on the wax paper. Once these are done, put them in the fridge and take more out of the freezer.

Repeat until all are delicious.

Tell me if you try these. Don't be put off by the instructions -- they're SO worth it.

Cupcaaaaakes!

For a while, I had a side business making sweets -- cakes, cupcakes, cake truffles, etc. I love making sweets and I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, so I was never tempted to eat the treats. What I realized, however, was that I like baking a lot more as gifts than as income.

One of my favorite "cheats" now is to use preboxed cake mix and dress it up. Let's face it -- sometimes it's just easier to use a mix. I'm no snob. If it's good, eat it.

photo by: bekah mercer photography

Strawberry Cheesecake Cuppies
These strawberry cupcakes really hit the spot when you want something sweet and sinful like cheesecake but don’t have the time to wait! Really moist. Really good.


Ingredients:
1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Strawberry Cake Mix
1 package (3.4 Oz. Box) Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix
2 cups Sour Cream
3 whole Eggs (large)
⅓ cups Vegetable Oil
½ cups Water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees then line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
Beat all ingredients until well blended. Note that the batter will be very thick and glossy (that’s the pudding!). Fill cupcakes 2/3 to the top and bake for 14-16 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely then frost with my favorite buttercream.

There's no way you're not going to like these. The flavor of the cheesecake pudding gives the cupcakes a very mild tang, like a cheesecake, but mainly works by keeping the cupcakes INCREDIBLY moist. These are some of the most delicious strawberry cupcakes I've had.

And the frosting I linked? It's the simplest, smoothest, most wonderful Swiss meringue buttercream recipe I've ever used. It's my gold standard. You'll love it. Promise.