S'mores Brownies

Crazy is as Crazy does....

In this case, Is it crazy to put the ingredients from a s'more into a brownie???
Crazy, huh????

But in this case it works!!!!!

I find myself always thumbing through Facebook, looking for the newest and greatest recipes. As others share Youtube videos and pictures of their pet snakes, I look for recipes. 

It's quite the obsession. 

I sometimes feel that if I don't check for recipes a million times a day, I will miss out on the next best thing to bake...

So it was with great excitement that I stumbled on the Brown Eyed Baker and found this absolutely PERFECT recipe for S'mores Brownies!!!! PERFECT, I say! 

My daughter, once again, is a S'mores Fanatic so this recipe was right up her alley...

It combines a Graham Cracker Crust with Chewy Brownies and a Marshmallow layer with several Graham Crackers smushed on top....

Absolutely Perfect!!!! 

The Original Recipe and Post can be found here: S'mores Brownies

It takes a little elbow grease to make these, but it is soooo worth it! 

   S'mores Brownies

yield: 32 brownies

 

prep time: 30 minutes

 

cook time: About 45 minutes

 

total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For the Graham Cracker Crust:
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Brownies:
1 box of Brownie Mix
1 bag mini marshmallows
Additional graham crackers, broken into pieces

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan. Line the pan with foil, leaving some overhang, and then butter the foil; set aside.

2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt, mixing well. Add the melted butter and, using a fork, toss until the entire mixture is moist. Dump the graham cracker mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing it into an even layer. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your brownie recipe. Pour the brownie batter over the cooked graham cracker crust, spreading it into an even layer. Bake the brownies according to the directions.

4. As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, switch the oven to broil. Pour the bag of mini marshmallows onto the brownies, covering it in an even layer. Pop the pan back in the oven for a few minutes. Keep a close eye on them - you want them to start to char so you get that s'mores flavor, but don't want to completely burn them.

5. As soon as the pan comes out of the oven, top the marshmallow layer with the pieces of graham cracker, pressing down slightly so that the pieces of graham cracker get nestled into the marshmallow.

6. Cool completely and then cut into squares. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Enjoy!!!!

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Red Velvet Box Cake Cookies

I bet you didn't know that you could make delicious, quick and easy cookies from a Box Cake Mix!!! 

I hadn't either... Until, I stumbled across a wonderful post and recipe by one of my favorite Bloggers: 

I am Baker.

You too can follow her blog and look at all her wonderful recipes on: Iambaker.net

My daughter is a HUGE Red Velvet cake person. I mean HUGE, so I decided to make the recipe featured on 'I am Baker's' Blog for Devil Food Cake Cookies into Red Velvet Cake Cookies!!! 

I wasn't sure if the recipe would translate the same, but I was pretty confident it would turn out okay. 

Here they are prepared and being packaged up individually for a school event....

They are moist and somewhat chewy and the extra sprinkle of powdered sugar made all the difference. 

Just the right amount of sweetness...

I am baker uses Devil's Food Cake Mix in the Original Recipe, but trust me, you can use any Cake Mix you have on hand. The possibilities are endless....

Original Recipe and Blog Post can be found here: Devil Food Cake Cookies

I omitted the Chocolate Chips in the Red Velvet Version....

Enjoy!!!!!!

Triple Chocolate Devils Food Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup White Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 cup Milk Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Pour dry ingredients into medium bowl.
2. Add oil and eggs and mix until well combined.
3. Stir in all chips.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop out small balls of dough. This recipe makes 18-24 cookies, so I had three cookies sheets prepared.
5. Place eight dough balls on each cookie sheet. (If you would prefer a smoother appearance for your cookie, go back and roll each cookie between your hands.)
6. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

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Happy 'Almost Back to School' Time....

As many of you know and some not too aware, my family is a blended one (6 children in total) and when August comes around every year, I panic slightly and am mostly happy that the children go back to school. 

I will miss them, trust me, but I also like to get back into the routine of my life. Summer flew by this year, though, and I felt we did not get nearly enough crossed of our Summer Bucket List.

That said, the twins (15 years old) came up to stay with us these past 2 weeks before school starts up again for them. We missed them so much this summer and were not able to celebrate their birthdays with them, in July, so we had a Belated Birthday celebration.  

When thinking of a new cake flavor, I wanted to combine some favorite household flavors and make a truly special cake. So, I went to my trusty recipe Book.... The Cake Doctor!!! 
How'd you guess??? 

What I came up with was a: "Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Cake"!

It combines all the flavors everyone loves so that no one felt left out...

I love the way this cake came out. It is very pretty without being frilly and girlie, especially since the cake was for two boys. The swirls added an interesting element to the cake. It was absolutely delicious!!!!

Although the recipe calls for a 9x13 pan, I opted to make a 9 in layer cake with a layer of chocolate frosting in between, so that it would be more festive. I also added peanuts on top in order to add a slight crunch to the cake.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MARBLE CAKE

1. Flour, for dusting the pan
2. 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow or vanilla cake mix
3. ⅓ cup smooth peanut butter
4. ½ cup vegetable oil
5. 3 large eggs
6. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
7. 1⅓ cups water
8. ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
9. 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
10. 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) butter, melted
11. 2 tablespoons warm water

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist a 9 by 9–inch metal cake pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust it with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, peanut butter, oil, eggs, vanilla, and 1⅓ cups of water in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed. The batter should be well blended.
3. Measure out 1½ cups of the cake batter and place it in a medium-size bowl. Set the bowl aside. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared cake pans, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula.
4. Make the chocolate marble by stirring the cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar, butter, and 2 tablespoons of warm water into the reserved 1½ cups of cake batter until well combined. Spoon tablespoon-size dollops of this mixture on top of the peanut butter batter. Swirl with a knife to marble the cake, but be careful not to touch the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the oven.
5. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool.

 Recipe adapted from The Cake Doctor Returns Recipe

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Retirement Cake for a Domino Lover...

My dad just turned 65 in April of this year and is set to retire soon. 

He was born and raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and came to work in NY in his late teens/early 20's. As a young man, he lived the American dream - working hard and owning his own business in order to support his family and raise both my sister and I.

I owe everything to my parents: they taught me that with hard work and determination, all is possible. I know it's a cliche, but it's so true. 

Throughout that time and through all those years, he had a dream and a hope that he would return to Puerto Rico and share his last decades with his siblings and live in the same town where he was born and raised. 

To celebrate the next chapter in his life, my sister and I wanted to celebrate with him. 
What better dessert is there than one that shows what his love and hobby is: DOMINOS! 

My dad was so excited when he saw the cake. It had a domino game being played on top and several dominos, in waiting, on the sides. 

The cake was: 
Pina Colada Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting
Airbrushed Brown to resemble a wood playing table.
Dominos were made out of white fondant and each set of dots hand-drawn on. 
The flag was printed on edible wafer paper with edible ink.
The table was also adorned with small red party cups

  
My only wish is that my dad enjoy every minute of his retirement years, while surrounded by loved ones. He has childhood memories with his siblings and now will make retirement memories with them too. I love him with all my heart!!! 

Let's Raise a glass... 

Cheers!!!!!

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A Very Bubble Guppies Birthday

If you all follow this blog, you know that when my children (including my niece and nephew) make a special request for their birthday, I always try my best to get the job done. 

For my Nephew's 2nd Birthday, My sister told me that it would be a 

"Bubble Guppies Birthday Party" 

Complete with a "Bubble Guy" entertainer. 

So I went right to work looking up ideas to create a dessert table fit for a Prince, I mean 'Merboy'. And I found a million Ideas on Pinterest....

For the cake, I made a Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cake as the bottom layer and a Cinnamon Streusel top layer. 

Decorated the whole cake with blue Vanilla Buttercream and Blue Fondant 'Wave' decor.

For the decor, I attached Bubble Guppies characters made out of Wafer paper and made with edible ink. 

I also added Brown Sugar 'Sand' and Fondant seashells, starfish and sand dollars with some green royal icing seaweed. 

Clamshell Snickerdoodle cookies also adorned the table with Royal Icing holding the Bubblegum 'Pearl. 

Excuse the fuzzy picture. I also made Banana Upside-down Muffin Sand Castles with little paper flags. Laying in the Brown Sugar 'Sand' were Vanilla Sugar cookie and Royal Icing Sand Dollars. 

The Bubble Guppies also made an appearance on the Sugar Cookies decorated with Wafer Paper and Royal Icing Border. 

The 'Bubble Guppies' Dessert Table was a Success. I think everyone enjoyed the tasty creations made for his birthday. 

Also included on the table were: 

Cake Pops

#2 and letter 'A' sugar cookies

And the SMASH cake for the birthday boy. 

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Carrot Cake made with Crushed Pineapple and Coconut Flakes

Not sure if I mentioned before how much I love Semi-homemade things... GASP!!!!

Even with my baking, I love to make something special out of something ordinary. 

For instance, I LOVE the Cake Mix Doctor books. I know, I know, A cake box mix? Why not make a cake from scratch. 

My philosophy is... If it isn't broken, why try to fix it. I can just see myself attempting a cake from scratch and being distracted by one of my kid's something or other and forgetting the baking powder or baking soda? You see, I don't even know what ingredient goes into making a cake! So how can I be expected to make something great out of that.  

So, yes, I use cake mixes and I do so happily. :-D

For this little project, I wanted to make a carrot cake similar to the one my mom made when I was a kid. It was moist and had coconut in it. How great is that? 

So, I adapted a recipe from my trusty source: The Cake Mix Doctor. 
I absolutely LOVE her and have gotten raves from 9 out of 10 cakes I have made from her cookbook. 

I also wanted to use the new Bundt pan I received as a gift from my hubby for my birthday.

Here is the final product. Pretty.....

Here is the recipe with some modifications: 

Carrot Cake with Pineapple and Coconut

1 package White cake mix
1 package vanilla pudding
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup orange juice 
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs 
2 cups grated carrots
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained 
1/2 cup shredded coconut 
Powdered Sugar

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour Bundt pan

2. Beat cake mix, pudding mix, pineapple, juice, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger  eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in carrots and coconut. Pour into pan. 

3. Bake cake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around side of pan to loosen cake; remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Sprinkle with Powdered Sugar. 

Enjoy!!!!

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"Frozen" Birthday Party Cake and Cookies

When my niece has a birthday and says,  "jump", I most certainly do.....

This year's theme was "Frozen". 

Since my sister was celebrating her birthday at a all-inclusive party place (crafts, pizza and cupcakes), I decided to surprise my niece with a small, itty bitty Olaf-inspired cake. 

I made her a two-tiered (6 in and 4in) cake complete with an Olaf topper, royal icing snowflakes and small fondant snowballs. 

I found an AMAZING step-by-step/picture-by-picture tutorial on how to make Olaf with fondant and gumpaste on Cake Central. 

If you want to try and make an Olaf too, you can find the tutorial HERE: http://cakecentral.com/b/tutorial/olaf-from-frozen

I followed the tutorial, but my Olaf was a little different that the one pictured on the tutorial, as I made him standing on his two snow-feet and not leaning to the side. I also ran a wooden skewer through the whole body into the head so he'd be a lot more stable. 

I added some royal icing snowflakes and some fondant snowballs. I dusted it all with some shimmering disco dust to give the illusion of snow. My niece totally LOVED it!!! and was soooo surprised!!! 

Also included in the party bags were Snowflake sugar cookies that added that extra special touch to the whole occasion. A little airbrush in the center of each cookie added a little pizzazz to the cookies.... 

I am so happy with the way everything turned out!!!!

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