Cute and Easy Father's Day Gift

I thought I would take a little break from my pink mixer and show you an easy, inexpensive idea for a Father's Day gift.  My daughter and I did this little project last year and my husband really loved it.

I picked up the wooden letters from Michael's.  We took several photo's and then decided which ones looked best placed in this triple frame.  I thought it turned out really cute and we had fun making it for him.

Donut Muffins

I'm always looking for new quick and easy breakfast ideas for my daughter, so when I saw this recipe for donut muffins, I knew I had to give them a try.  She's not a big oatmeal fan like me, so pancakes or cereal are the norm on school mornings.  Since she loves doughnuts, I couldn't wait to make these and see what she thought.  I snuck in some whole wheat flour to make them a little healthier and she still loved them!  Next time I might substitute the oil for applesauce and see if she notices.  Don't you just love being a sneaky cook sometimes!

Donut Muffins

Adapted from The Best Mom on the Block

 1 3/4 C Flour (I used 1/2 C whole wheat & 1 1/4 C All-purpose flour)

 1 1/2  tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 C sugar

1/3 C vegetable oil

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 C milk (I used 1%)

 1tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, egg, milk and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture, mixing only until incorporated.

Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Brush cooled muffins with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar or powdered sugar.

Sugar Cookie Bars

I have been hanging onto this recipe for about a year now and finally gave it a try.  I have never been a big fan of sugar cookies, I am definitely more of a chocolate chip cookie kind of girl, but these things rock!
The thickness of the cookie bar along with the sweetness of the frosting is just delish.  Beware ~ this recipe makes a lot of cookie bars since you make them in a 13 x 18 baking sheet, so you may want to half the recipe if you're not feeding a crowd.  Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Bars

Recipe from The Repressed Pasty Chef

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

5 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg.  Add vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and soda - whisk to combine.  Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.  Spread on a greased baking sheet (use a 13 x 18 pan).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool complete and frost.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

4 cups powdered sugar

5 T milk

Combine butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.  Add vanilla and salt.  Add powdered sugar in one cup increments until combined, then add milk.  Mix until smooth and spreading consistency.  Spread over cooled cookie.

Raisin Bran Muffins

I thought this recipe sounded really interesting when I first saw Joy the Baker post it a couple weeks ago.
I had never made muffins using cereal before, but they were so easy to prepare and yummy too.

Raisin Bran Muffins

recipe from Joy The Baker

1/2 of a 15 oz. box of Raisin Bran Cereal (about 4 cups)

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

In a large bowl mix together Raisin Bran, flour, salt, sugars and baking soda.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla extract and buttermilk.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  If you plan on baking the muffins right away, allow the mix to sit on the counter for 45 minutes before baking.  This will allow the cereal to soften.

If you'd like to bake the muffins throughout the week, place the batter in an airtight container and store in the fridge.  Scoop into lined muffin pans when ready to bake.  Sprinkle with a spoonful of granulated sugar if desired.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Compost Cookies & Happy Earth Day!

This is a really long post for me, but stay with me, because the end result is amazing!

A couple of months ago, when my daughter was out of school for one of our snow storms, she watched an episode of Regis and Kelly.  One of their guests was Christina Tosi, a famous pastry chef from some place in New York City called Momofuku's Milk Bar.  Well, I guess this cookie became so famous that even Regis and Kelly wanted in on the action, so they asked Christina to come on the show and make the cookies.  This cookie is filled with the most unexpected flavors (potato chips, fritos, rice krispies, chocolate, etc), but somehow it all works to create a fabulous cookie!  Anyway, my daughter was so impressed and intrigued with this cookie that she printed the recipe from the Regis and Kelly website and asked me to please make them sometime.  Since last night was the eve of Earth Day and I wanted to help keep our planet clean by cleaning off my kitchen counter of all the snack foods lying around, I decided to make Compost Cookies.

I used pretzels and cheddar gold fish crackers for the snack foods and chocolate chips, Reese Pieces, and M & M's for the baking ingredients.  I should have read the recipe before I began making them, because I didn't notice until I had them all mixed up that you need to refrigerate the scooped cookie dough at least an hour before you bake them.  This is a very important step and I didn't want to mess them up, so I did.

A few minutes later, I glanced at the calendar on my fridge and noticed that I was supposed to be at a Swim Team Board meeting about ten minutes ago, so I ran out the door and went to my meeting.

I got home about two hours later and then baked the cookies.  They turned out perfectly and oh my were they good!  I ate three and this was about 9:30 at night!  My daughter loved them too and took a bag of them to school today.  Hopefully those teenagers will eat them all and I won't have any left this evening, because I would not even want to know how many Weight Watcher points are in one of them!

Enjoy!

Compost Cookies

Recipe from Regis and Kelly

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 T corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 cups of your favorite baking ingredients (chocolate chips, cocoa krispies, etc)

1 1/2 cups of your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc)

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate, increasing mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes.  During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.

When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix 45-60 seconds just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated.  Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On the same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30-45 seconds until they evenly mix into the dough.  Add your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.

Using a 6 oz. ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto parchment lined pans.

Wrap scooped cookie dough lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.  DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape!

Heat a conventional oven to 400 degrees (350 degrees in a convection oven)

When the oven reads 400 degrees, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets a minimum of 4 inches apart in any direction.

Bake 9-11 minutes.  While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.

Enjoy the sweet and salty goodness!

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

I love mini desserts!  They are so cute, easy to make and you can pop one or two in your mouth and not feel too guilty about it.  The chocolate and peanut butter combo is one of our favorites in this house.  My husband and daughter have been known to down a package of Reese Cups in about two seconds.  I prefer to break off chunks of my dark chocolate bar and dip them in to the peanut butter jar ~ delish!

The last time I made brownies I decided to give them a little twist by adding some peanut butter and chopped Reese Cups.  They turned out super cute and yummy too.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Recipe idea from BakedbyJoanna

1 box of your favorite Brownie Mix

Oil, egg & water required for brownie mix

Smooth Peanut Butter (I used Natural Jif)

Chopped Reese Cups

Mix brownies according to box directions or make your favorite recipe.

Spoon brownie mix into mini muffin pan and fill about half full. (I used my Pampered Chef pan)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 8 - 10 minutes.

After they have cooled a couple of minutes, take the back side of a 1/4 teaspoon and make a small hole in the center of each brownie.  Microwave about a 1/2 cup of peanut butter for about 20 seconds or so, until it is pourable.  You need to watch this because the peanut butter can burn quickly. Drizzle melted peanut butter on to each brownie and top with chopped Reese Cups.

Enjoy!

Rice Krispy Treat Bunny Pops

Rice Krispy Treat Bunny Pops

Bunny Pops have been an Easter Tradition in our house since my daughter was about two years old.  She is sixteen now, so needless to say, that's a lot of bunnies!

I use a Wilton Bunny Cookie Treat pan and your basic Rice Krispy Treat Recipe.  After you have shaped the Rice Krispy mixture into a bunny head, add your cookie stick.  Let them set for a few minutes and then move them onto a large piece of wax paper or parchment paper.

To decorate, I usually use light blue Jelly Beans cut in half for the eyes, but this year I made my own eyes from Royal Icing using this great tutorial I found over at Gourmet Mom On the Go. 

The eyes were so easy to make and they last forever, so now I'll have cute little eyes to decorate treats with in the months to come.  I use a pink jelly bean cut in half for the nose and brown or black frosting for the whiskers and mouth.  After the frosting has dried a little, cover each Bunny Pop with a clear treat bag and tie them with pretty ribbon.  Now you have cute Bunny Pops to give out to all your friends!

Happy Easter!!