Cake Mix Biscotti

I feel like so many people have been trying to kick the processed foods out of their life. This makes me so happy! Being one of those people who actually can't stomach overly process foods the way I used to, I'm glad to come across more and more recipes that show ways to make this easy and be able to share recipes that can help others do the same. This recipe actually constitutes as semi-homemade rather than from scratch but there's a reason why. About 6 months ago I got pretty fed up with the "food" that was in my pantry. Boxed noodles, potatoes, brownies, cakes, rice, and so on - I had it all! I finally donated all that food because I wasn't eating it anymore and I had found really amazing substitutions that I actually preferred more. HOWEVER I kept a few things (like my boxed cake mix) to see if there was anything I could make with it, besides cake. I decided to make biscotti instead. That's how this cake mix substitution came to be. This is a fun way to clear your pantry of that processed powder you have in your pantry or cupboard and bring new life into foods that you're slowly trying to work your way out of.

What You'll Need:

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1 cup of AP flour

2 eggs

1 stick of butter (melted)

1/4 C of water

Chocolate for drizzling (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and make a dough. I know it sounds like a lot of butter but it's totally worth it, I promise!

3. Divide dough into two pieces and place on a lightly floured work space.

4. Flatten each piece into a rectangle - 1" thick and 3" wide. You'll end up with two rectangle-shaped chocolate dough pieces. I know you can tell this is going to be good!

5. Bake each rectangle for 25 minutes on a foil lined baking sheet, until it firms up then let cool for a few minutes or until it's cool to the touch.

6. Slice each piece into 1.5" thick pieces and place back on a baking sheet. You'll end up with around 14 pieces. Bake for another 15 minutes to make them really crunchy.

7. Let them cool and drizzle with chocolate or a little powdered sugar. I chose to omit this process because I figured I had my calorie intake for the moment. Sure does sound good though!

8. Serve with coffee and ENJOY!

*Some delicious add-ins are walnuts, dried cherries, or chocolate chips!

Snickerdoodles

 Everyone loves a good Snickerdoodle cookie. Now that I've finally made them, I'm hearing from everyone that these are their favorite cookies. I have to admit that I was never a huge fan. I think I finally had my first Snickerdoodle a year ago, and it was only a bite. There was no real reason for me to not like them - especially because I'd never had one. But I mean how can anyone not like a good sugar cookie covered in cinnamon and sugar? But I finally cracked and decided to surprise Mike with a batch for his birthday a few weeks ago because, of course, they're his favorite cookie. You know me, I'm not the biggest fan of baking but the recipe I found was super easy. I used a recipe I found online (thanks Sue W.) and it'll probably always be the recipe I use. I've used this recipe once more since then and they came out fabulous yet again so I knew the recipe was worth sharing.

What You'll Need:

1 1/2 C white sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon butter (softened)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 3/4 all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tarter

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

What to Do:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Then, in a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, vanilla, and softened butter. If you're fancy and have a nice mixer... well, then I'm jealous. I just use my good, old-fashioned hand mixer which I think is on it's last leg. Anyway. Make sure everything is mixed really well. (Tell me, is this not the best start to any recipe ever??

3. Once it's nice and mixed, add the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. I've only ever tried the recipe with cream of tarter but reviews I read said that you don't absolutely need it. I now have a little container full of it that have no idea what to do with. Maybe I'll make meringues... or more Snickerdoodles.

4. Mix everything until the dough forms. If you're a rebel and eat raw cookie dough on occasion, you 1) are like me and 2) NEED to try this.

5. Next, in a small bowl you'll want to combine the cinnamon and sugar so you can coat the cookies.This is what makes the Snickerdoodle a Snickerdoodle. So this two step process is essentially the most important. Funny how that works.

6. Get the dough and lightly roll it into balls then roll the balls into the cinnasugar mix. Place them on a non-greased cookie sheet and lightly press them down. Bake them for 8 minutes and immediately place them on a wire rack to cool.

7. ENJOY!

I think another great thing about these cookies is that they bake really quickly so I get to eat sooner! These cookies have definitely changed my mind on Snickerdoodles. They're crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. I'm thinking about adding these to my Christmas cookie lineup this year and seeing what I can do with making them look more festive. I doubt festivity would matter considering these are (almost) everyone's favorite cookie. I hope you try them and fall in love with them just as much.

Homemade Caramel Corn

It has been unnecessarily cold outside these days. I wished for colder weather and I guess I got it. Now, it's not my fault that this weather makes me want to eat everything in sight but it does. So when I had a day off recently I really wanted something comforting and sweet. I set off to Pinterest to find something that would hit the spot, and boy did I find it. I can't seem to find the original source but if anyone knows who it is feel free to let me know so I can credit that wonderful, wonderful person. Anyway the recipe is Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn and is super simple to make. If you frequent Pinterest as much as I do, then chances are you've come across this recipe. And if you haven't made it yet you definitely should. Some pieces are soft and gooey and some are just sweet like kettle corn. Anyway, it's simply amazing and only requires a few ingredients. In other words, it's my dream recipe.

 What You'll Need

1/2 C of Brown sugar

1/2 C of Butter (it's worth it!)

Around 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

1 bag of microwave popcorn

*I admit the ingredients may seem somewhat indulgent but it's the holidays. That means indulgent foods are a requirement. Trust me. I adapted this recipe because I'm not a fan of microwaving things if I can just use a sauce pan - textures, flavors, and things tend to get weird in microwaves. I did, however, use it to cook the microwave popcorn. I totally prefer stove-popped popcorn I just didn't have any so I went with the processed stuff this time and thought it came out great. Use what you'd like though. 

1. In a small sauce pan melt the butter. Add the sugar and wait for it to dissolve. Meanwhile, pop your corn and set aside in a serving bowl. You'll be adding the marshmallow mixture to the popcorn soon so make sure the bowl will be big enough. 

2. When it's approaching smoothness you can add the marshmallows. Confession, I used all of the marshmallows that I had. Like, all those in the picture went into the butter. Minus the one's I ate of course. it was a lot of marshmallows. Now that this is off my chest we can move on. You should have this on low-medium heat just to make sure it doesn't burn. Now stir! Mix it until the marshmallows become creamy, kind of like you're making Rice Crispy Treats. 

3. When it's all mixed and smooth pour it on the popcorn. Gently stir that to incorporate all of the ingredients. Then voila, you have caramel marshmallow popcorn! I suggest eating this with a partner because it does get pretty sweet. And if you conquer this yourself then hell yeah to you! I hope everyone enjoys this. Cheers, until next time!

Brownie Pizza

 It's been a long time since I've posted a dessert but the time has come and I think you're going to like it! It all started the other day when I had a basket full of fresh strawberries and nothing to do with them. I planned on eating them like so but decided to make a dessert instead, the problem was that I didn't know what to make. Out of nowhere I remembered this dessert my mom had brought home from work once and knew that was exactly what I was going to make. We call this incredibly decadent dessert Brownie Pizza but Mike calls it a tart and I'm not sure why. And even though there is fruit on this, I recommend putting the calories away for this one.

What to Do:

1. Start by making a brownie mix according to the directions on the box. You can use a homemade brownie mix or the box stuff. I obviously don't bake much (if you follow my blog you know I like my baking shortcuts) so I gladly used my usual boxed brownie mix. Oh simplicity.

2. Instead of putting the mix in the usual 13x9 baking dish, put it on a cookie sheet that is really well greased. I believe the one I used was 13"x10". Cook for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. 

3. 15 minutes later you'll have exactly what you need. Make sure you let it cool completely. This is a cold dessert so I recommend letting it sit out or in the fridge for a couple of hours.

4. Next it's time to make the frosting. Use one package of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of sugar and beat together until the sugar is totally incorporated. If you taste it, you have to try not to eat the whole thing right then and there. Trust me, I know how tempting it will be.

5. When the brownie is fully cooled you can either move it to a fancy platter or leave it be on the cookie sheet. Because I'm not a baker I tend to have to little luck with my baked goods being transferred cleanly and in one piece so I opted to leave it on the cookie sheet. No biggie. When you have the brownie correctly placed slather (yes I meant to type that) the cream cheese frosting on top, making sure that you get the ends and corners with extra. I usually hate the edges of baked goods which I why I tend to over-compensate with them.

6. Now for the healthy stuff. I've never used any other fruits than bananas and strawberries but if you ever try this and use something else, please let me know! The important thing to remember for the fruit is to make sure all of the slices are even AND that they are patted dry to get rid of any extra moisture. You can just use a paper towel for this.

*I used two medium sized bananas and laid those down first because I know they go brown and I wanted this to look pretty.

7. Then add the strawberries.

**This is where it gets interesting.

8. Heat the fudge according to the directions then drizzle it over the brownie. You can also use chocolate syrup but I already had the fudge so I used it. 

Voilà! Foodie heaven! When you eat this you get a chewy, moist brownie with a sweet cream cheese taste. And just when it becomes too much you get the freshness from the strawberries and bananas that cut down the decadence and add their own refreshing sweetness. It's pure magic! I owe this dessert to my mother who brought it home and now has the recipe forever on my blog! Thanks mama! So I hope this has tempted you to get up and eat something sweet! Go ahead, go - I won't judge you. Until next time, cheers!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

These are the most awesome little bites of amazing that I have ever had. After I made these I had them in my refrigerator and would just take one out and eat it whenever I felt like it. These should be as common in a refrigerator as butter or eggs. I got the recipe from Love & Olive Oil after seeing the awesome reviews on it. What I like most about this recipe is that it's essentially EDIBLE COOKIE DOUGH! I know for a fact that I'm not the only one that loves eating cookie dough but feels a little guilty eating it raw. I tried a recipe once for an edible raw cookie dough that was made with cream cheese and it was good...but it tasted like cream cheese - not like I was about to bake cookies (which is what my friends and I were looking for). This, folks, is the real deal. I plan on making these again for a girls night, date night, or night in. I absolutely adore these - so I'm sharing them with you!

What You'll Need:

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 C butter (room temp)

3/4 C of granulated sugar

3/4 C of brown sugar (well packed)

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 C of milk

1 C of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

dark chocolate for dipping

Start by mixing butter and sugars until they're creamy and then add the milk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix your flour, baking soda, and salt then add that to your sugar mixture.

Measure out your chocolate chips and fold those into your batter.

You'll have to let this sit in the refrigerator for an hour-ish, I know, I hated it too. When it's been long enough, or like me, you take them out after about 30 minutes, it's time to roll them into 1" balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. You're going to hate me for this to but now you have to put these in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

A few minutes before you take them out, get your chocolate melted. You can double-boil them or just use these nifty little containers like I do. All you have to do is put in the microwave for a few minutes, then you get perfectly melted chocolate.

This is just a warning from one foodie to another but because the cookie dough is so cold, the chocolate won't coat as smoothly as it would if it were room temp. See what I mean though, they're not very sexy (but I promise the taste isn't affected at all).

After they're covered in chocolate all you have to do is eat them. I recommend the thinnest layer of chocolate you can get because they actually taste better with less. With these, less is more (unless you're eating them...). LOOK! This is what's waiting inside, hidden beneath the wonderful chocolate. Mmmm...

Foodie Love

I didn't cover all of mine with chocolate because I didn't like the way the chocolate was coming out so I only did half. I actually liked the way both came out. Both are completely addicting! Besides waiting for the dang things to cool off and freeze, they're so easy to make. You could easily whip some up and serve them while looking totally sophisticated. Enjoy!

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I'm not much of a baker (the fact that things can go terribly wrong if you add too much of something terrifies me and isn't good eats). It's safe to say that when I need cakes made I turn to my girl Betty Crocker for assistance. That's why this post is such a surprise, even to me! This is how it started...

I was surfing the net (yeah I just said that) and saw I picture of chocolate cake so I decided to make it. Literally, that's all that happened. The website that started this chocolate cake obsession was Foodess- I think I need to send her a thank you card... and a Christmas gift, and perhaps my first born. I actually was looking at another one of her recipes first and saw the thumbnail of the cake titled "Moist Chocolate Cake" on the side. Sold. Without thinking about it, I wrote down the recipe, turned off the television, went to the store, came home and started making that exact chocolate cake recipe. The funny thing is that even as I took pictures I didn't plan on blogging about this because I assumed it wouldn't turn out - boy was I wrong. How could I not share this with my fellow foodies??

What You'll Need:

2 C Sugar

1 3/4 C Flour

3/4 C Cocoa (Hershey's Dark Blend)

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp Salt

2 eggs

1 C Buttermilk

1/2 C Unsalted butter (melted)

1 Tbl Vanilla extract

1 C Hot coffee

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and start your coffee so you won't have to wait for the last minute.

Mix your sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Use wisk to make sure everything is fully mixed. I recommend buying a brand new thing of cocoa powder even if you have some because you'll end up using a lot of it, especially if you make your own frosting too (like I did - scroll down).

As your fellow foodie, I just feel like I should warn how much mess the cocoa makes. I mean I literally found it all over my kitchen - and it's the hardest thing to clean. So I warn you, be careful when you're measuring it. Please.

Add your eggs, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla to the bowl of dry ingredients. Use your wisk to mix everything a little so when you use your mixer, flour won't go everywhere. With a hand mixer or a standing mixer, mix your ingredients on medium speed for two minutes, or until everything is fully blended. 

By now your coffee should be done. Pour one cup and pour it in your bowl. I've seen recipes before that call for coffee and I've always ignored them. I will never do that again. If you really don't want to use coffee you can use 1 cup of boiling water, but I suggest trying the coffee first.

Grease your pans with Pam or butter, but make sure you grease it well. Pour the mix evenly into two 9" round pans. I don't have any 9" round pans and didn't feel like buying any so I poured mine into two 8" x 8" square pans. I'm sure this is against some baking rule but I'm not a baker, so I know no such rule. Bake these babies for 30 minutes, insert a toothpick into both and make sure they come out clean.

When they're done take them out and let them cool on a rack. This new, fabulous baker had some issues with the cake sticking to the pan when I flipped it onto the rack. With the mess of cocoa still around me, chocolate batter on my clothes, my hair in a bun I don't remember putting up and the fact that I was still rocking this cake - like hell I was going to let a little sticking mess up my cake now! Of course this just meant I had to make my own frosting to cover of the mess...

So I'll let you in on how this went...

Frosting

What You'll Need:

1/2 C Softened unsalted butter

2/3 C Cocoa powder

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl. Use a spoon to mash the butter so it isn't clumpy and to (slowly) blend with the cocoa. I used my the wisk-looking attachment for my hand mixer to whip my ingredients. Guess what - I've never made my one frosting before. And guess what - I probably never will again. Not because it wasn't interesting but because I wasn't sure how sweet it was going to be and Betty Crocker pretty much seems to have her frosting down. BUT I do think the one I made really goes with this cake.

Everything is going to be really clumpy so add milk until you get the consistency you want. Add more powdered sugar for more sweetness.

When you're cake is completely cool start frosting your cake. Mine was not completely cool - but keep in mind I didn't find the recipe until like 8:00 at night so I didn't really feel like waiting a lot longer. Put one layer on a plate or cake platter (I don't own anything like that so I used a cookie sheet, how ironic) and things turned out delicious, not beautiful, but delicious. Put one layer of cake down, some frosting, the other layer of cake, and frost the rest of the cake. I know my frosting isn't pretty but it's so good, I just kept adding it. 

Now for the pretty pictures of what we had. I think I should say that Mike was skeptical over me baking a cake from scratch and hearing there was coffee in it. Now, well he eats a piece every few hours, it's that good. Mike is eating it as I type (I believe it's the 4th piece today *smiles*). I can't blame him. This is the moistest cake I've ever had in my life. It's rich, decadent, and almost fudgy. I'd love to know what anyone else thinks, or if anyone else tries this! I hope you find it as fabulous as we do!

 

 

 

Homemade Watermelon Jello

One of the best parts of every month is getting my new issue of Sunset Magazine. In my August issue, they talked about melons and how to pick and serve them. I never thought about all of the things you could do with ALL of the different types. One of the recipes they had was watermelon jello. I honestly never thought about making my own jello when I can just buy a box of it, but I had a watermelon in my fridge and I really wanted to be able to say "Yeah I made my own jello - no big deal." As it turns out, it's really easy to make. This is my version of it...

What You'll Need:

2 C of Watermelon juice

1/2 C of Sugar

2 1/2 packets of Gelatine

1 C Cold water

Cool-whip for garnish

Sunset's recipe was for double this amount but it was only the two of us so I didn't need to make as much as their recipe called for. You can either use store bought watermelon juice or you can make your own - I made my own, it sounded like way more fun. I had a whole watermelon but if you're cutting the recipe in half, you only need half the watermelon. The first step is to start by cutting off both ends of the watermelon so you have two flat surfaces and no rolling watermelon. Carefully use a knife to to cut off the rind. Only take the rind off one half if you don't plan on using it right away. I was using the other half for another recipe so I peeled the whole watermelon at once.

My two halves, completely peeled.

Take one of your halves and cut that into pieces so you can puree it. The smaller you cut the pieces the easier it'll be to puree. Half way through pureeing it, use a spatula to push down the watermelon to help it along.

Once the watermelon is pureed strain it. You'll end up with a whole lot of watermelon mush and pure watermelon juice. You should have around two cups.

Pure watermelon juice...

A little helpful hint if you have more than 2 cups of watermelon juice is to pour them into ice trays and freeze the extra. You can use those to add to other juice or clear soda to make it sweeter and more flavorful and without watering down your drink the way ice will. If you don't have enough juice fill the rest up with store-bought watermelon juice or water. You won't taste the difference.

Not it's time to get the gelatine ready. Start by putting your 1 cup of cold water in a microwave safe bowl and adding your gelatine to that. Try your best to get as close to half a packet as possible. I found out a little more or less won't make a difference.

2 1/2 packets of gelatine in cold water

Let the gelatine stand for a couple of minutes. After a few it will have dissolved a little. Put the gelatine in the microwave for 1 minute. Then wisk your sugar into the gelatine. Pour your gelatine into your watermelon juice and wisk it. I mixed the gelatine-sugar mix and my watermelon juice in my big measuring cup so it would be easier to pour into my individual glasses.

Pour your jello into individual glasses to let set. I went super fancy with my serving dishes - mainly because I had nothing else cute to serve them in. It ended up working well with the over-sized wine glasses.

Let the jello sit in the fridge for about 2 hours. I made these in the afternoon so they were ready after dinner. When they are ready add as much cool-whip as you'd like and serve cold. We really liked how much they tasted like watermelon. I would say that because this dessert really brings out the natural sweetness of watermelon, you could cut these servings into quarters and actually serve 4 people. I think it would be the right amount per person. Sunset also says to serve with melon balls and mint which I think sounds delicious. I think it would help enhance the taste and texture of the jello. Overall, this is a really refreshing dessert and tastes exactly like watermelon!