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.

Virgin Sangria!

Well the pictures for this post aren't going to be as awesome as this tasted as I was far too busy eating the fruit to even pay attention to the fact that I was doing such a crappy job... the fruit was THAT good!   I mean, look at it!....via my crappy iPhone pictures.. :/   Anyways, so I was having this surprise party for my best pal Wendy and her husband DJ, to celebrate the fact that they have a new baby on the way. Everyones talking beer, wine, vodka gummies and the like- all things my partner in crime cannot partake in now that she's pregnant.  So I'm racking my brain for a tasty virgin summer drink that would totally make her happy and well what better drink than Sangria!  Its easy to make, it tastes amazing, and really, once the citrus soaks in there, with the grape juice and stuff....it kinda tastes like an alcoholic beverage... I think. Sorda.  Wendy was happy. Success!

What You'll Need:
3 Cups Grape Juice
3/4 Cups Apple Juice
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
2 Cups Ginger Ale
1 Lemon - thinly slice, leave on the peel.
1 Lime - thinly slice, leave on the peel.
1 Orange - thinly slice, leave on the peel.
1 Apple - core and cut into chunks.
Grapes - seedless.
Cherries - I leave the stems on for easy grabbing and eating.
Nectarine - remove pit and cut into chunks.
Strawberries - cut in half or leave whole.

Directions:
After washing and cutting the fruit,  combine everything except the ginger ale into a pitcher or two and place in the fridge overnight. You don't have to do this, but its well worth it to have all the flavors mix together and soak into the fruits.
Before serving, add the ginger ale. 

Vodka Gummy Lifesavers

As if the vodka gummy bears weren't delicious enough, I've come to realize over the past weekend that the gummy Lifesavers are even better.  The gummy in these gummies are slightly a different texture... slightly softer but not too much where it all ends up mushy.  With just 5 days to work with, I think any more would have been way too much.


More noticeable is the fact that they attacked almost an entire bottle of vodka in under 24 hours. By the next morning, these gummies had soaked in that vodka much more than the bears did by that time and I had to more than just top off the bowl.  


The recipe is pretty simple. Follow the vodka gummy bear recipe I previously mentioned, and just sub the bears for the Lifesavers.  This time too, I used a raspberry vodka, which enhanced the flavor.  

Here's all you need. Plus some fruit punch in the end.

This is a total of four bags of gummies. 

Two in the bowl, two still bagged. 

I upgraded to a larger bowl after taking this pic and good thing I did, as this would have been a tight fit.

The Lifesavers are soaking and ready to begin the journey.

The morning of Day 2.

Refilling the bowl with more vodka.

And Yum!

Vodka Gummy Bears

                

There's really nothing else to say other than these are oh so great and always a party hit. You should make them. Now. And I totally give credit to Wendy, my most favorite Guatemalan on the planet, for introducing these to me. I don't think my life would have ever been complete without them, or her for that matter.

You'll Need

1 glass bowl with airtight lid.

Gummy Bears - how much is up to you.

Bottle of Vodka.

Fruit Punch.

DAY 1:  

You can use as many bags of gummy bears as you'd like. In this case, I used two. It later proved not to be enough.. they are so addictive! And don't skimp on the bears.. buy the good stuff like Haribo, not the cheapo bargain bin kind. Blech.

Bears in the bowl, then drown those babies with vodka. You'll want to pour the vodka in to just above the surface of the bears.

Stir, stir, stir, put the lid on and stick it in the fridge.

This ends Day 1.

DAY 2:

Its now the next morning and you'll want to check in on your little bears. By now some of the vodka has been absorbed by the bears. They had themselves a little party!  Stir them up and top them off with a little more vodka, and stir again.  Put the lid back and and stick them back in the fridge.


At the end of your day, you'll want to stir them again.

DAYS 3 thru 5 (or 6):

Repeat the AM and PM stirring every day. Its preferable for your entire bear soaking process to run a full week.. but if you are short a day or so, its not the end of the world.  

The night before your big day, you'll want to top the bears off with some fruit punch. Don't forget to stir, cover and place back in the fridge.  The next morning you'll stir and by evening you'll get to enjoy the yummy beary goodness.  There will likely be liquid still in the bowl.  Drain the bears out and drink it damn it!

 Mmmmm behold, bears drowned in vodka.

Bacon Ranch Cheese Pulls

This is a really easy recipe that you can throw together for a gathering of friends, eat all to yourself, or whatever it is that you do. The one thing that attracted me to this is the bacon. And here's where I initially made a huge mistake.... I used bacon bits. Shock! (anyone who knows me knows its bacon or bust) I had never tried them before this and I will never eat them again. Use REAL bacon. Otherwise it just tastes gross... unless you like bacon bits... but they're gross!! DON'T do it!
Anyhow, easy to make bla bla bla, you are just five quick ingredients to yumminess.


What You'll Need:
1 round unsliced loaf of sourdough bread (you can use other bread too. I used an Italian loaf here)
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese.
Bacon - cooked and crumbled (or gross Bacon Bits if you must)
1/2 cup melted butter
Ranch Dressing

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Slice the bread in both directions. Be sure not to cut through to the bottom though. 
Spread ranch dressing between the cuts and then sprinkle with cheese. 
Sprinkle your real bacon all over and in the bread too.
Pour your melted butter over the bread.
Wrap it all in foil and place the loaf on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Unwrap and bake for another 10 minutes and you are done!