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. ;)

Homemade Lollipops

 

The main thing about this here is that its fun. If you want quality looking lollipops, you may want to go to the store, or perhaps you're a fancy superstar in the kitchen, unlike me.  But if you want fun and you want to entertain the kids or yourself, homemade lollipops kill at least 30 mins - 1hour and everyone walks away happy.  


What You Will  Need:
Jolly Ranchers or any hard candy - 1 bag.
Lollipop Sticks - I got mine at Michaels (don't get the plastic ones, they'll melt!)
Sprinkles - if you want...
Nonstick Spray
Parchment Paper
Aluminum Foil
Baking Sheet


What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.


Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and then the parchment paper. Spray lightly with some nonstick spray and set aside.


Separate your candy colors and then you can go a few ways with this. Smash them, or don't smash them.  Or both. If you plan on smashing them, place the color set in a ziplock baggie and smash on a hard surface like a cutting board.

Now you can start making your patterns. You'll want to do this directly on the parchment paper.  You can use cookie cutters as your pattern makers, but I found this useless. The shapes didn't really stay put once the candy melted. 

Here are some of our smashed and unsmashed.

(click for a closeup)

Place your creations a bit apart so they have room to spread while they melt. You don't want them melting into each other.  


Put in the oven for approximately 7 mins or so. Keep an eye on them, you don't want to let them go too long.

Remove and immediately put your lollipop stick in. You'll want to kind of roll it once to coat it. 


Let them sit for a few so that the candy hardens.
While this is happening, you can add sprinkles even other candies if you'd like. 

Here are some of our creations!
(clearly I can't take a picture worth jack, but you get the idea)

                

Chocolate Chili Popcorn

Not a single picture I attempted to take of this recipe came close to showing just how awesome it actually tasted.  I promise you, if you like popcorn, chocolate and anything spicy, you will love this.

I'm not even that huge a fan of chocolate, minus the occasional craving or two, but I could not stop eating this - the combo was so absolutely delicious I want to make some more right now!!

What You'll Need:

Popcorn 

Chocolate

Sugar

Hot Sauce - your choice. I did some Bhut Jolokia and some crushed home grown Thai chili peppers.

Your Directions To Greatness:

 So initially, I opted to go with a bag of microwave popcorn. Either my microwave sucks, or the entire box of popcorn is bunk because I wasn't getting a full bag of popped popcorn. By the third bag in, I gave up and threw the kernels in a pot with some olive oil and was totally entertained watching it pop. I know this may be weird, but I have never popped popcorn this way. Ever. Pretty damn cool. 

While your popcorn is popping, you can begin working on the next step.  How much sugar, chili and chocolate you  use is up to you. For the chocolate, I used Wiltons Chocolate Candy Melts, about 1/2 the bag. You can use any chocolate really, like the little chocolate chips you bake in cookies.  Melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals and don't forget to stir. 

Mix your sugar and chili together until completely blended. Taste it... not spicy enough, add more. Too spicy, then you're SOL... I suppose add more sugar. I actually ended up adding far more (the Bhut Jolokia) than what I have shown in the image above (crushed Thai peppers).

By now your microwave should be calling you. Your chocolate is ready.  Pour it over the popcorn, mix well and then add the sugar/chili mix.

Here's what you get. A couple bites in, you should be able to taste the spice. If you don't, you're doing it wrong.

Enjoy!

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.

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.

Easy Homemade Pop Tarts

Who doesn’t like PopTarts? This household does and so I decided I’m going to be fancy non fancy and make some because then I can say Ohh Ahh I made PopTarts.  I looked at a couple recipes online and they all looked pretty simple; I’m figuring, I got this!  Well I’d like to say that after my attempt, I’ll probably maybe perhaps never make them again.   I can't claim that they look amazing as I had hoped, but they tasted oh so good. I might even venture to say better than the real PopTarts.  Maybe I’ll make them once more. And maybe the next time it’ll go much smoother.

So my first feeble attempt was quite messy. I don’t know how these other people do it but I’d like to see their behind the scenes. I toggled between two recipes on Bake Me More's site and Smitten Kitchen's.  In the end, I was starting to feel real lazy and semi defeated that I gave up on the idea of making the fancy filling with the cornstarch (a la Smitten Kitchen) and just went straight for the easy squeeze bottle in the fridge and nothing more.  I honestly found it to be just fine and delicious.  So for those of you who plan on trying this, I think there’s no need for the added step of mixing in the cornstarch bla bla bla. But what do I know, maybe it makes the filling that much better. I didn’t even attempt the other filling options.

Here goes, the simplest way I found:

Ingredients:

1 package of refrigerated pie crust

Jelly – I used the standard Grape Smuckers.

Butter – few spoons will do.

Glaze, Icing, Sprinkles – whatever you want to top it with.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

There will be 2 pie crusts in the package. It’ll help to let the open package sit for a bit to room temperature. Impatient me didn’t wait THAT long...but I did let the dough soften up some. Dust your workspace with flour and unroll one of the pie crusts out into a rectangular shape. You should have it rolled out enough to cut a 9x13 piece.  I used a baking pan to measure it out and a pizza cutter to cut it.

Repeat with the 2^nd roll.

Next you’ll want to cut the big pieces into several smaller, even rectangles (your Pop Tarts), again using the pizza cutter. I managed a total of 16 smaller pieces.

Now many will say to use the cut off edges to make more or to make other treats.  This is about the point where I was getting annoyed because I couldn’t get it even enough. NOTE: a ruler would help. BUT, I didn’t have a ruler and after a couple attempts to make it look fancy and even, I say forget it... cut what I could cut..tossed the excess. Oooh, so wasteful!

Once you get all your pieces cut you’ll want to melt your butter.  I just tossed a couple spoons in a bowl and nuked it for 20 seconds in the microwave. Brush the butter along the edges of each rectangle. This will help seal your yummy packages.

Now place about 1 tsp of jelly (or whatever you opt for as your filling) in the center of each rectangle and then top it with another piece.  Press down on the four sides lightly to seal, then take a fork and crimp the edges all the way around. You’ll then want to poke small holes on the top of the pop tart so it puffs right when it bakes.

Baking time was about 8 minutes, give or take.  The jelly may ooze out (mine did) but that’s ok. It kind of hardens like a fruit roll up. I just peeled it off and ate it because I was feeling hungry and greedy.

While they are cooling on a rack, you can create your topping.

GLAZE

I did attempt this and semi- failed because I can never seem to get this mix right...

You will need:

1 cup of powdered sugar

Milk to thin.

Place the powder in a bowl and slowly pour milk in until it’s a thick syrup.  I swear I did this... but my results proved otherwise.

It never glazed over in that white tone that I wanted, more so rather an opaque. It still worked and held the sprinkles and tasted fine. Make sure your pop tarts are cooled first before pouring it on. I was impatient and threw them in the freezer.

ICING

Of course you can make your own or be non fancy lazy like me and buy a squeeze pouch and have the kiddos squeeze it on. Fun times for all.

SPRINKLES

Sprinkles makes even the non fancy, fancy.

Now comes the time where you can step back and be amazed by your creation. Even my horrible cutting skills were saved by the icing and sprinkles. Likely you can do a better job than me, but nobody in my house complained and the plate was empty before the day was over.