DIY Pumpkin Fruit Cups

Here's another cute and easy throw together for the kiddos.  Any orange fruit cup - mandarin oranges, jello, etc..  will do.  Draw your pumpkin face on it and thats it! Cool fruit cups. Happy Kids.

Peanut Butter Banana Truffles

I kept seeing this recipe floating around but never thought to try it until I started getting into making chocolate covered treats.  I'm probably the last person on earth to know that chocolate, bananas and peanut butter go together, but now that I know, I'm setting this one on the top of my chocolate covered list.  Even better, is to freeze them. I cannot explain it any better other than to say its an amazing bite of deliciousness.  From the ice cold banana, to the sprinkle of salt on the chocolate, these are without a doubt a hit.

What You Need:

• 2 bananas - slice them into 1/2 inch pieces.
• 2tbs of creamy peanut butter
• 1 tbs heavy cream
• 1/4 cup or confectioners sugar 
• 1 bag of Wiltons chocolate melts 
• Sea Salt
• Toothpicks
• Wax or Parchment paper
• Baking sheet

Directions:

• Line the baking sheet with the wax or parchment paper
• Place the sliced bananas on the sheet and set aside for a moment.

• Mix the peanut butter, confectioners sugar and heavy cream together. At this point the peanut butter will be thicker and you can take a bit and place on top of the banana slices.

• Melt your chocolate (I personally prefer to use Wiltons versus the Nestle morsels because of how easily and quickly they melt).
• Dip each of the banana/PB slices into the chocolate. Swirl it around to ensure its all coated.  Using a toothpick, transfer back to the baking sheet.
• Sprinkle a little sea salt and any other sprinkles you want.
• Place in freezer for an hour or so. More or less is up to you.
• You're Done!

Lemon-Lime Sugar Cookie Truffles

I've tried several different kinds of cake balls thus far, but I've never made them with a cookie mix. In fact, I've also never made them without using the Babycakes maker and the whole point of me getting that thing was because I thought it would be easier.  BUT, after making these truffles by hand, I am thinking I may opt for this method more often. Both ways have their pros and cons of course.

So I've never zested a lime or lemon ever in my life....and its generally something I've avoided because it sounded, well I'm not even sure what it sounded like but whenever I would see a recipe that involved zesting something, I'd ditch the entire recipe.  I've also never really considered lemon treats either. I'm not sure why.  Anyhow, I saw these amazing truffles over at Singforyoursupperblog and the yellow sprinkles lured me in. I decided I'd totally conquer the zesting and not to mention everyone here loves sugar cookies so this could easily be a win.  

What You Will Need:

• 1 bag of store bought sugar cookie mix (or make your own)   
• 1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese (12 ounces) - room temperature.
• 2 bags of Wiltons Candy Melts - white chocolate  (or any other brand. I just prefer Wiltons)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime.
• Yellow sprinkles

What You Should Do:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  
• Follow the directions on the bag of sugar cookies or recipe.
• Add the lemon and lime zest and juice and mix mix mix.

I zested and I liked it.
(click the pic )

• Once everything is mixed well, spread the dough in a 9x9 baking dish that you've sprayed with some nonstick spray. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

• Cool completely. Meanwhile, go ahead and set the cream cheese out on the counter. By the time the cookie bake is cooled, the cream cheese will be room temp.
• Once totally cooled, remove from the dish and crumble it all into a medium mixing bowl.

• Add the cream cheese and mix with a fork until everything is blended together.  It'll seem like its not blending at first.. keep going, it will work.  Taste test... omg I'm in heaven.

• Now roll balls a little smaller than a golf ball and put in the fridge for about an hour.  I was able to get around 35 balls from the mix.

• When the balls are chilled, remove from the fridge and then melt the white chocolate per instructions on the package.
• Slowly dip each ball into the chocolate and coat the entire thing. A couple of toothpicks will help get the job done and are useful for getting them out of the chocolate.
• Set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and immediately top with sprinkles. The chocolate will set fairly quickly so you'll want to sprinkle right away
• Place in the fridge until you're ready to eat them. 

NOTE: These are very sweet. I'd recommend not popping a whole one in your mouth and to have some milk or other drink handy. If you're anything like me, one will be plenty. If you are like the rest of my family, you'll be popping several in a sitting.

I also made a couple pink ones for my friend Wendy. I call these ones Pink Lemonade Truffles. ;)

Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

In my quest this past Saturday for a simple, no bake cookie recipe, I came across numerous images online of this cornflake cookie. 

I have never heard of a cornflake cookie, but it looked REALLY easy to make and sounded like something my son and his friends would enjoy (and apparently the adults too because by the end of the evening they were all gone!)

First of all, I have to say they were not as easy as I expected. And maybe I did something wrong. Maybe I measured out the ingredients wrong, though I'm sure I didn't....whatever the case, it was nearly impossible to stir for quite some time and then trying to form the cookies was a small feat - not only that, in the end, the results didn't look anything like what I saw online with soft, silky looking peanut butter coating the flakes.  Mine looked more like a lump.  I ended up drizzling melted chocolate across the top to fancy this non fancy up some.

The recipe is pretty basic.
You'll Need:

6 Cups of Cornflakes

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Corn Syrup 

Jar of Peanut Butter - 18oz

Chocolate to melt, drizzle and fancy
Parchment or Wax Paper

* This amount gave me two full plates of cookies.

Directions:

Place the sugar and syrup in a sauce pan and bring to boil over medium heat.

Remove it from the heat once melted and add the peanut butter.

Stir until its all melted/blended together.

Pour the mixture over the cornflakes and toss them until they are covered.
* here is my issue, it seemed I didn't have enough of this mixture and this contributed to me having a hard time making the cookie lumps.

Spoon onto parchment paper and once its totally cooled you can drizzle some melted chocolate on it.

Eat, Enjoy, Eat Some More.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cookies. Ice Cream. Sprinkles. Three things that go well together.
I don't have a big sweet tooth, but everyone in this house does and I enjoy making these things. So here we have a quick and easy ice-cream sandwich.


You will need:


Cookies!  - I used store bought oatmeal and chocolate chip.
Ice Cream - I used vanilla
Sprinkles


Its as easy as spreading the ice cream between two cookies, dipping the edges in sprinkles, freezing it for a bit to harden and eating.


I will say that I thought I could use frozen yogurt the first go around, but between the heat outside and the heat in my kitchen that turned into an instant melted pile of disaster.  I'm not kidding when I say instant either.  


Never fear though, that cookie yogurty mess was saved with sprinkles, cinnamon powder and a cherry on top. I crumbled the cookies up in the melted mess, added a little more and served it up. The kids were eagerly pleased and none the wiser.

Rum Balls

These rum balls are simply another variation of the Basic Babycakes Cake Pops minus the lollipop stick.


What You Will Need:
Fudge Brownie Mix - 1 box.
Wiltons Candy Melts - Dark and White Chocolate.
Sprinkles - Cookies and Cream, Chocolate, and Confectioners Sugar
Rum - 1/2 Cup.


Directions:
Follow the exact directions used for the Basic Babycakes Cake Pops but also include 1/2 cup of rum to the mix.

Here's everything you need and here's how the cake balls came out. They don't look very promising but don't worry, because once you cover them in chocolate, they will look quite nice.

I'm not very neat in the kitchen.

Oooh Ahhh, don't they look good?

As good as an iPhone picture can make something look... but really, they really taste good!!

Basic Babycakes Cake Pops

Cake pops are everywhere these days. I have to admit I have never tried one from the store or one that anyone else has made, but I'd like to assume that the ones I make taste as they should.  I'm definitely not good enough at making them yet to make fancy designs on the outside, but I can toss on some sprinkles and that works just as well for me.  All this work to have these yummy little cake bites gone in a flash. You really can't eat just one!


I found the Babycakes Cake Pops maker at the craft store for $29.  There are little slots for a dozen cake balls.  I should have picked up the model that came with the stand because after just my first run with this model here, I quickly came to learn that it is important to have something sturdy to hold the pops up while they cool.   I did end up using the styrofoam inserts that where in the box holding the maker steady, but thats only because I didn't have anything else in the house and had no intentions of leaving the house.  From what I can tell though, using a solid rectangular foam piece should work fine.  So if you happen to get the model I got, make sure you grab a block of styrofoam too.  Your other option is to just set them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  The only problem then would be a flat dent at the top of your pop.  

What You'll Need:

• 1 Box of your favorite cake mix and everything in its instructions that you need (eggs, etc)
• 1 bag Wiltons Candy Melts - flavor is your choice.
• Sprinkles, crushed graham crackers - whatever you'd like to decorate with.
• Lollipop Sticks - I got mine at Michaels.
• Parchment Paper

Directions:

• Make the cake mix according to the directions on the package.
• Plug in the Babycakes maker and when the light is green, slowly pour batter into each of the 12 wells - approximately 1 tablespoon of batter.  
• Close the lid and let it bake for about 4-6 minutes. Once thoroughly baked, remove and set aside. A box of cake mix should get you about 3 dozen cake balls.
• I used Wiltons Candy Melts for my outer coating after trying Hersheys white chocolate chips, which I found took a lot longer to melt and I had to add vegetable oil to thin it out.  Wiltons melted fairly quickly and tastes just as good.  Follow the directions on the package to melt the chocolate. 

• Once melted, dip one end of a lollipop stick into the chocolate and then into a cake ball.  This will help the ball stick to the stick better when you dip the entire ball into the chocolate.  

• Next, dip the chocolate. I found it works best if you dip and roll the ball.  Tap it slightly not he side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate.  
• Sprinkle with your favorite sprinkle and then if you have the stand or styrofoam, prop each cake pop up. If you don't have either, you can lay them head down on some parchment paper on a baking tray - reminder, this will cause the chocolate to harden with a flat surface at the top of the pop.  
• Place in the fridge for a few hours or the freezer for 10-15m (this is what I did). The chocolate will set and then are considered ready to eat! Michaels has these little treat bags you can use (they are right by the lollipop sticks) if you plan on making them for a special occasion.  

** If you don't have a Babycakes maker, you can make the cake balls by hand. There are countless recipes online for cake that you can follow.  Or here is a very basic cake from scratch recipe:


1 1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. Add milk, margarine or butter, egg and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed 1 minute. Bake as directed and then follow the same steps with the chocolate melt.

Kit Kat M&M Cake

Totally pretty and colorful, and kinda of impressive if you ask me... but most importantly, EASY to make.  


You Will Need:


2 boxes of cake mix.  I used Yellow Cake - you can use whatever your heart desires.
36 Kit Kat sticks (the regular sized ones, not the snack size).
12.6oz bag of M&M's - any color.  
2 tubs of icing - your choice - vanilla, buttercream, chocolate, etc...


Instructions:


Follow the instructions on the box to make two 8inch round cakes.


When the cakes are cooled, ice between, around and on top.


Next place all 36 Kit Kats in a ring around the cake. They will stick to the icing.


And finally, pour your bag of M&M's in and you are done!


You can change up the colors for whatever holiday, celebration or taste you'd like. 
Red for Valentines, green for St. Patricks Day, etc.. 
Most recipes i've seen online for this cake have a pretty matching ribbon tied around the Kit Kat part. I had no ribbon today. It would have just come off anyways.
The cake was absolutely fancy with total non fancy effort!