Dip it in Chocolate

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Monday, July 18, 2011

Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I saw this recipe on Pinterest the other day. That website seriously gets me in so much trouble. I omitted the currants because, well, for one thing I haven't the slightest idea where one even goes to buy currants, and for another, I didn't feel like having strange pieces of random fruit in my cookies. But do whatever you want. Word on the street (and by street, I mean MarthaStewart.com) is that you can replace the currants with raisins. Your call. Martha's frosting was.... less than desireable. I don't know if it was the lemon juice or what the heck was wrong but it was a big fail. It tasted salty and sour and weird. Maybe she got the recipe in jail. I don't know.

Anyways, I replaced it with some of my own cream cheese frosting and suddenly everything was right in the world. These are AWE. SOME. Put them in your tummy now. You can also make the cookies a day in advance and store them in a Ziploc. It makes these super fast to assemble and eat. The cookies are chewier than I expected and taste a bit like a gingersnap/carrot cake cross, but they are still amazing. If you are afraid of grating carrots, you need to invest in one of these. Seriously. I'm pretty sure that's the best five dollars you will ever spend.

Malt Shoppe Ice Cream Pie

It makes me sad when I make something so delicious and the pictures turn our horrible. Maybe you remember my disclaimer that I am NOT a photographer? In case you needed proof I thought I'd post this picture. Just take my word that this ice cream pie is so worth making and buying all the ingredients for. (I don't know about you but I didn't have almost *any* of these ingredients in my pantry.) Still glad I made it. There's something about malt that's just knock-your-socks-off. You're going to want to use a Springform pan for this. (That's the kind where the sides unlatch and pop right off). Play with your pan before you make this. If you're a moron like me and haven't used your Springform for awhile, you might spend 10 minutes trying to figure out how it comes apart and almost dump the whole pie on the floor. It could be bad news bears.

Blackberry and Strawberry Lemonade Pops

Remember kinda a long time ago (but really only like 2 weeks ago) when I made those Cherry Limeade pops? Well these have been floating around in my brain ever since then and I finally made them. So easy. So yummy. They would probably be better with fresh lemonade, but hey, I'm kind of a lazy kind of girl and nobody gives me grades or gold stars for my cooking. When *that* program is implemented let me know. I get pretty competitive when gold stars are involved.

Banana Cream Pie Pops

I am tired of Summer. I don't think anyone is ever supposed to admit that, but I'm ready for it to be Fall and Halloween and the season of unreasonable eating. If it was Fall I would just make a pie and pretend to be practicing for Thanksgiving. Since it's Summer I have to put a frackin' stick in my pie and pretend it's a popsicle so all my "healthy friends" will eat it. (Since summer is also the season of fruit diets and bathing suits, no one wants to be my friend in the summer).

Monday, July 11, 2011

Thin Mint Popcorn

I know you probably think all my family ever eats is popcorn and popsicles. Just to reinforce that idea I thought I better post my latest popcorn creation. Cinnabon might still be my favorite, but my husband (who is a chocolate-mint hater) went crazy over this! Also there is a leafy green in my picture so the road to healthier family eating is being paved already. Seriously, this is a big step for me guys.

Strawberry Sauce & Blackberry Sauce

These are two great basic berry sauces that can be used for topping cheesecake, ice cream, or waffles, or even mixing into lemonade. They can be kept in the freezer as well, so you'll always have some when you need it.

Blackberry Sauce
-2 cups blackberries (or 8 ounces if you're cool and have a kitchen scale like me), frozen is fine.
-3-4 tbsp white sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries
-1/2 tsp vanilla

or

Strawberry Sauce
recipe from Our Best Bites

1 pint strawberries, fresh is best

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

If you're using fresh berries, wash and hull them (cut out the gross white part in the middle/under the stem of your strawberries). If you're using frozen berries let them thaw. Combine all 3 ingredients for your recipe in a medium saucepan and simmer over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Feel free to mash up those berries. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Then pulse in a blender until smooth. If you're doing blackberries, pour mixture through a fine strainer to remove seeds; store in the refrigerator. (Or freezer if you won't be using in the near future).

Cherry Limeade Popsicles

No need for Happy Hour at Sonic anymore! These pops are SO yummy and so refreshing. If summer had a taste, this would be it!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Cinnabon Popcorn

I kinda grew up in Europe. Where Reese's peanut butter cups are non-existent, root beer extract is used only in cough medicine, and people are far too refined to consider eating anything resembling Poptarts, Toaster strudels, or Rice Krispie treat cereal. I'm totally not complaining. Google images of "Gaufre avec chocolat" and I think you'll see why I was very happy there.

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

These might be my second favorite cupcakes ever. They are rich and creamy and chocolatey and actually kind of taste like cheesecake. As a bonus, they use a doctored cake mix that ends up tasting homemade. The secret is in adding more cocoa powder to a chocolate cake mix, and sour cream to make them ultra-moist. These are multi-step and take quite a while, but they aren't difficult.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

So my mom calls me the other morning and grills me over whether or not I'm eating breakfast. (She loves to advocate breakfast and also eating adequate amounts of protein. Neither of these things do I do on anything resembling a consistent basis.) I said *of course* I was eating breakfast (Because I was. I had a half-eaten piece of licorice in my hand at that very moment.)