Berry Berry Goodness! Great BBQ dessert!

This weekend was a GORGEOUS weekend!

The weather was great, it was warm, the sun was out, and it was the 1st official day of spring!  I hope you East Coast people visited a Rita's Water Ice for your free water ice!

This recipe I actually found online. It is a great No-Cook Spring/Summer/BBQ dessert recipe. My husband and I were having friends and family over for a BBQ. Guests were coming between 2 & 3 in the afternoon. It is around noon when I realize that I had not figured out a dessert! I found a great dessert to try,  I was reading through the recipe, and it needed to sit in the freezer overnight, so that was a no-go.

I googled on the internet quick easy BBQ desserts. This one popped up and I read through the recipe directions, it sounded super easy, and I didn't need to bake anything! It was a winner. I rushed the grocery store, grabbed the ingredients, and rushed home to start. I then realized I didn't quite grab the correct ingredients, but I could improvise with what I had bought.

This recipe would be great at a cookout, or an outdoor dinner. It is just great for the warm spring & summer weather!

Berry Berry BBQ Cake

(the original name was kinda plain so I changed it, sorry!)

Ingredients
1 loaf butter pound cake
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup sliced strawberries
**1/2 cup blackberry jam
**1 cup blackberries, each cut in half
4 cups whipped topping

**see below

 **( In exchange for the blackberries, I used blueberries. It worked great! This would make a great 4th of July recipe since it is red, white and blue!)

Directions
( I found it does not matter what layer you use for the berries. Strawberry does NOT have to go on bottom. For blackberries, I used blueberries instead.)
 1.Slice pound cake lengthwise into 3 equal layers. Set top two layers aside.

2.Spread strawberry jam on bottom layer and top with strawberries. Gently press second layer onto strawberries. Spread second layer with blackberry jam and top with blackberries. Gently press remaining cake layer onto blackberries.

3.Frost top and sides of cake with whipped topping. Garnish with additional strawberries and blackberries.
 

* Do not put on whipped topping until ready to serve. I learned this when I tired to put on and put in refridgerator. It get kind of melty. It still tastes good though!

If you are short on time, this recipe is a real winner and will impress your friends and family!

 

 

rolled sugar cookie recipe

Lazy Weekend Concoction:

Rolled Sugar Cookies

This recipe is the recipe I used for my St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Sugar Cookies. You can use this recipe for any holiday of the year or for any fun sugar cookie cutter project!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground all-spice

1/8 tsp sat

2 tsp cinnamon ( I added this ingredient)

1/4 nutmeg (I added this ingredient)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, soft

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

**A bowl of cinnmon & sugar to top the cookies with if desired to make cinnamon sugar cookies

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, baking powder, all-spice, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
• Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl till creamy.
• Add eggs and beat till just blended.
• Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended
• Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 mins or until firm.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. ( I did mine a 1/4 inch thick and they came out much better than the 1/8 inch.)
• Cut out cookies with desired cookie cutter shape. Continue to gather dough, re-roll and continue cutting till all dough is used.
• Place all cookies on a greased cookie sheet., about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 10 mins or till lighty browned at edges.
• Cool on sheets till lightly firmed.
• Decorate as desired!

I rolled my cookie dough in sprinkles before I rolled them so that it was already incorpoated into the dough.

I also sprinkled colored sugar onto my cookie cut outs bfore placeing them in the oven, so that way it is baked into the dough.

**If you want to make cinnamon sugar cookies, dust them with the mixture before baking them.

Enjoy!!

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!

I hope everyone wore something festive today! I wore my shamrock socks under my work boots!

Here are a few recipes for you to celebrate the holiday!

Cinnamon Sugar Shamrock cookies & Festive Chocolate Chip cookies

Shamrock cookies first!

Gather the ingredients of what you need.

 I love cinnamon, it just makes everything taste so good!

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl

In a larger bowl, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.

One dough is mixed shape into a disc shape

wrap in plastic wrap and place in refridgerator till firm

Next roll out dough on flour surface.

Recipe say 1/8inch thick, but I find that slightly thicker cookies are better!

Follow your regular chocolate chip recipe. When it comes times to add the chocolate chips, add some festive ingredients to it. I found cookies decorations at A.C. Moore. I used sprinkles that had shamrocks in them!

Once combined, place on a cookie sheet as you normally do, and bake as directed.

Use what cookie cutter shape you desire. You can use this recipe for any cookie cutter shape.

I found this shamrock cutout at A.C. Moore for $0.69!

Transfer cookie dough cutout to a greased baking sheet.

Add your decorations to bake! I used green & white sugar toppings. Place in oven.

Remove from oven and let cool.

And serve!

Chocolate Chips with Festive shamrock sugar decorations!

Check back for recipe!

In a rush? Easy Holiday Cupcakes

I was in a total rush today, running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I have off from work all next week, so I wanted to bring some holiday cheer to my shift by bringing in some baked goods! I didn't have much time on my hands, so I turned to my kitchen cabinets for some help! I luckily had a box of Betty Crocker cake mix, so here was the answer to my problem!

I was going to make cupcakes! I recently recieved a gift from my wedding (thank-you Jesse & Kerry Small!!) a mini cupcake pan! I had never made mini cupcakes before, so I decided this should be fun!

Take a box of any cake mix. Follow directions on box, and make according to the recipe. They only take 5 minutes to mix ingredients and about 20 mins to bake!

Blend all ingredients together in a mixing bowl

Take a cake pan/muffin pan. I was making cupcakes, so I took a muffin pan and lined it with cupcake liners. Fill the liners 2/3 full. Do not put too much mixture in, or the cupcake will overflow!

Decorate however you want! Icing then sprinkles! Since it was the holiday season, I wanted to be festive! I had gotten a pack of Wilton Holiday sprinkles from Michaels. They have a great selection of baking materials.

Mini Cupcakes are perfectly bite size!

Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!

Pecan Pumpkin Pie Squares Recipe

Pecan Pumpkin Pie Squares Recipe

Ingredients

•1 cup all-purpose flour
•1/2 cup old-fashioned or instant oats
•1/2 cup packed brown sugar
•1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
•3/4 cup granulated sugar
•1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
•1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
•2 large eggs
•2 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Topping
•1/2 cup pecans, chopped
•1/4 cup packed brown sugar
•Whipped cream

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in small mixer bowl. Beat at low speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until crumbly. Press on bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BAKE for 15 minutes.

COMBINE granulated sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes; pour over crust.

BAKE for 20 minutes. Combine pecans and brown sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle pecan topping over filling. Continue baking for 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Top with whipped cream.

Lauren's Vegan & Very healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Hi friends,


     Hope everyone had a great weekend. My friend Lauren is also an avid baker, and volunteered her recipe for my blog. I say pumpkin is not a halloween thing, i think pumpkin recipes are good all the way to christmas. 


Here is a healthy fall recipe for you! This is not something I created, this is her very own homemade recipe. I hope you enjoy it!




Lauren's Vegan & Very healthy Pumpkin Muffins


They are gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free..and DELICIOUS!

Moist and soft.

15oz can pumpkin
2c soy flour
1/2c raisins
1/2c Truvia natural calorie-free sweetner
1 Tblsp cinnamon
1 Tblsp cloves
1 Tblsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Oven temp 350
Mix everything into one big bowl
Spray muffin tins with no stick cooking spray
fill muffin slots all the way up with the mix
bake for 18-22 minutes
let cool for 5 mins before removing gently




enjoy, guilt-free. : ) 

This Weekend's Lazy Weekend Concoction

This Weekend's Lazy Weekend Concoction:

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

• COOKIES
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• CREAM CHEESE FILLING
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

FOR COOKIES:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe.)

BAKE for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

FOR CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

SPREAD a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

 Enjoy this lovely fall treat!

Pumpkin Apple Butter Recipe

~PUMPKIN APPLE BUTTER RECIPE~

INGREDIENTS

1 (29 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
2 cups apple cider
1 cup applesauce1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (i added this into the original recipe)

MY DIRECTIONS

   These are the directions that came with the recipe. I used a crock pot instead and it turned out great. I put it in a crock pot with high temperature for about 3.5 hours. Stir occasionally( so it does not burn), when it thickens you know it will be done. I canned and sealed mine in Mason Jars. (I'll put up how to seal & jar later)

Original Directions

 In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine all ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Pour into freezer containers. Refrigerate up to 1 month or freeze. 

The final product. Super easy to make, and makes your kitchen smell wonderful!

Apple Fun, part II

More Candy Apples? Of Course! I wanted to try something a little different than the semi sweet chocolate I used the day before. I went to Michael's Craft Store and bought candy melt they sell in the baking section. You can used candy melt for apple dipping, candy making, and other fun stuff!

(sorry the pictures are backwards i the order i wanted them!)

The final products! Turned out pretty good, and i brought them into work as samples, they got good reviews from my co-workers!

A peanut butter covered apple drizzled in white chocolate and dark chocolate. The candy melt worked pretty good. It had the same effect as the semi-sweet chocolate I used, but it hardened a little faster. 

A great way to drizzle chocolate or any other topping. I bought these little squeeze bottles in the baking section at Michaels.  Fill the bottle with whatever topping you desire....for example, white chocolate. Put the chips in the bottle, fill it about half way. Place the bottle in warm/hot water to heat the chocolate. DO NOT PUT IN BOILING HOT WATER. This will melt the bottle! Once candy is melted, decorate as desired! You can always put bottle back in warm water to heat up the chocolate again!

These would make great treats for the fall season, and for trick-or-treaters!