A little jump into spring with… Key Lime Pie Treats!

February 25, 2013January 21, 2017 - Mama 2 Comments

Okay, have you SEEN our snow totals lately? 13 inches last week. It hasn’t even melted, hardly, and we’re already expecting another foot tomorrow.

I have never been more ready for spring to arrive in my life. One of my friends recently joked (and I assure you, it was a joke), “Someone REALLY needs to shoot that stupid groundhog.” Plus, I mean, Easter is actually in March this year, and the last thing I want is to wear snow boots during an egg hunt…

I’m sure all of you up north are laughing at me right now, whining over 2 feet. But then again, I laugh at the south shutting down an airport after an inch, so really, it’s all relative, right?

Anyway, because Easter is actually coming up pretty quickly, and because I am SO ready for spring to arrive officially, you’ll start seeing pops of spring around my blog. Like in the banner above.

And, anytime you see a tag like on the photo below, you’ll know that I’m featuring a recipe that is going to get you amped up for springtime!

Key Lime is a pretty essential flavor, in my mind, when I’m thinking springtime.

It embraces everything springtime is about… pretty colors, light, airy flavors, and a fresh, sunny vibe. I’m just a huge fan, all around.

One of my favorite treats to have during springtime is Key Lime Pie. Ohmygosh… that stuff is awesome. But it can be kind of a pain to make, at times. Plus, it has gobs of ingredients (okay, not gobs, but still… I’m a lazy cook sometimes).

Well, I’ve found a way to easily create that Key Lime Pie taste, but with almost no effort. You don’t even have to turn on your oven, which is nice when it’s sunny and 70. Heck, you could even make it in the microwave! (I’m talking to you especially, dorm dwellers or people who don’t boil water without blowing up the kitchen).

First, we have to start with the base ingredients. There’s only three, by the way.

Every key lime pie I’ve ever tasted has had a graham cracker crust, so to recreate that flavor, you’re going to need a box of Golden Grahams.

Start by hand crushing them until you have about 6 cups. These don’t have to be perfectly crunched, or beaten with a rolling pin, or anything like that… just generally crush them into smaller pieces in your hand.

This is where your key lime flavor joins the party… in the form of….

marshmallows?

Yup, Campfire Marshmallows have KEY LIME marshmallows this spring!

While I can’t help but think that would be one of the best springtime s’mores ever (replacing chocolate with white chocolate, adding two of these puppies, roasted, and some honey grahams, oh yes… yum), when I saw them, my first thought was these treats.

To have enough with your 6 cups of cereal, you’ll want 10 ounces of marshmallows. This equates to about one full bag, plus 20 marshmallows from a second bag.

You’ll put the mallows and 3 Tablespoons of margarine or butter in a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl.

(If you don’t want to use a partial bag, just use an entire bag of the marshmallows, 2 tablespoons of butter, and about 4 1/2 cups of crunched cereal for a thinner treat).

Melt the marshmallows and butter over low heat, stirring near constantly, until the marshmallows melt. If you’re microwaving them, stir every 30 seconds.

As the marshmallows melt, they will become greener and greener.

Once they’re melted, like this,

stir in your Golden Grahams, and press them into a 9×9 pan that has been thoroughly greased.

Let them sit until they’ve cooled and hardened slightly, then slice and serve.

I cut mine into circles with a cookie cutter, then topped them with a dollop of Cool Whip that I mixed with green food coloring.

No joke, this tastes so much like a key lime pie that I may never make the real pie again… this was just awesome.

Don’t Lay A Finger On My (Valentine) Butterfingers!

February 14, 2013January 21, 2017 - Mama 1 Comment

I am a huge fan of candy bars. I seriously love all kinds… but I especially love Butterfingers. And now, I can make them at home. You see, amazingly, for that homemade Butterfinger perfection, you need peanut butter, of course, and chocolate, but you also need one last ingredient…

Candy Corn.

Now, I love Candy Corn. And I love Butterfingers. And I also find the homemade Butterfinger recipe anytime when Candy Corn isn’t available.

So, when I stumbled upon delicious Valentine’s Corn at Walmart when searching for candy for my Valentine’s buffet, I knew it would be absolutely perfect. I picked up an extra tub of the Valentine’s corn, grabbed some peanut butter, and some chocolate, and set to work.

I started by foil-lining a 9×9 pan, and then, in a separate microwave safe bowl, microwaved 16 oz of candy corn in 30 second increments until it was melted. I then added an entire container (16 oz) of creamy peanut butter.

I mixed these ingredients thoroughly, and then added some additional red food coloring to make sure that my Butterfingers had a really nice, rich color. After all, for them to be nice and Valentine-y, they needed to be good and red.

I pressed the resulting mixture into my 9×9 pan.

This went into the freezer for several hours until hardened slightly. It’s roughly the consistency of fudge.

To cut into bars, I highly recommend a pizza cutter.

You can also use a cookie cutter to cut out fun shapes, like the hearts I made for Valentine’s day.

Melt some chocolate in the microwave and dip the frozen mixture into the chocolate.

Tap off your excess chocolate with a fork.

Freeze again until the chocolate is solidified. Make sure you’re putting the dipped candies on parchment lined sheets, or they will stick and pull the bottoms off of the candy. Don’t ask how many batches I made before actually remembering to do this.

Once they’re done, they can be served.

Believe it or not, these really DO taste just like a Butterfinger candy bar! I never would have guessed from the ingredients, but they are spot-on.

I may or may not have acted as my own Valentine and eaten an entire batch by myself.

Who can resist that stunning red color inside?

Yum.

Homemade Butterfingers

2015-01-06 00:22:34

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Ingredients

16 oz Candy Corn
16 oz Creamy Peanut Butter
1 pkg Chocolate Chips
Food coloring, if desired

Instructions

Melt candy corn in the microwave in 30 second increments.
Stir peanut butter into the candy corn, then press into 9x9 foil lined pan.
Freeze until hardened, then cut into bars.
Melt chocolate chips, then coat bars in chocolate.
Freeze until coating has hardened.

Mama Plus One https://www.mamaplusone.com/

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody. Try to share at least one of the Butterfingers with your Valentine. If you’re your own Valentine, share it with yourself. These treats are almost worth being your own Valentine for, I can tell ya.

Brown Eyed Susans

February 5, 2013January 21, 2017 - Mama 2 Comments

I had never heard of a Brown Eyed Susan before. Ever. Which is interesting because almost anyone I told about these cookies after making them said “Oh! Those are good.” Seriously, how had everyone heard of this cookie except for me?

I had found the cookie recipe torn out of a cookbook that looked like a flashback to the 1970s, on a page touting these as delicious after school snacks, along with some chocolate sandwich cookies. I thought they looked interesting, and they certainly sounded interesting. So, I decided to give them a try, since they sounded easy enough. Plus, they involved thumbprints and I’m a sucker for any kind of thumbprint cookies ever since my childhood when I got to make thumbprint cookies with my mom. Pressing my thumb into the dough is a sensation that absolutely evokes memories for me.

Start by mixing sugar, butter or margarine, an egg, and some vanilla in a bowl.

Cream that together until it’s well-combined.

Add in some flour to make the dough. If it’s too soft to roll into balls, go ahead and pop it in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes, just to get it a little stiffer.

Roll those into one inch balls. Or at least, close to one inch. I rarely measure mine and end up guessing, which means I get fewer cookies because I overestimate the size.

Place those on a cookie sheet and prepare to bake them– they don’t bake long, about 8-10 minutes.

Then it’s time for the fun part– the thumbprints! Press your thumb gently into the top of each cookie. I found that it helped to flour my thumb lightly so the cookie didn’t stick to my thumb.

When they’re all done, it’ll look something like this.

While those bake, it’s time to prepare the chocolate frosting. It’s a simple mixture of powdered sugar, melted butter, cocoa powder, and milk.

Mix that together until it has a smooth consistency. This frosting is very good, has a rich chocolate taste, and would also taste very good piped into a cupcake for a delicious chocolate filling (you may need to add a little additional milk to thin it out slightly).

When the cookies are baked and cooled, top them with a teaspoonful of the chocolate frosting. Then, press an almond into the top of each one!

Ta-da! Delicious!

Let me know in the comments below: Have you ever heard of Brown-Eyed Susans? Am I the only one left out of the loop?

Brown-eyed Susans

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 2/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate filling

Almonds (garnish)

Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in small bowl until fluffy. Add flour and salt, blending well. Shape small portion of dough into 1 inch balls (chill if it’s too soft). Place on ungreased cookie sheet, then make indentation in center with thumb. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until firm and lightly browned. Fill with teaspoonful of Chocolate Filling. Swirl with spatula; top with almond. Remove from cookie sheet onto rack to cool (the recipe says that you get about 3 dozen cookies… I managed to get about 1 dozen)

Chocolate Filling

Combine 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, 3 tablespoons Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 1/2 tablespoons milk; blend until smooth and creamy.

Vanishing Pecan Toffee Bars

January 17, 2013January 21, 2017 - Mama 3 Comments

When I first stumbled upon this recipe in the recipe box, I wasn’t sure what it was. The recipe was nameless, scrawled on a faded and folded yellow piece of paper in a handwriting no one in the family could recognize. I don’t know who the original creator is, or even where my grandparents encountered the recipe. All I know is that it is delicious, and I’ve decided to call them Vanishing Pecan Toffee Bars. Why “vanishing?” Because within an hour of making these, every single one was gone.

Start by lining a 9×13 pan with Honey Maid graham crackers (Honey variety). Set that aside.

In a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and pecans over low heat, stirring it constantly. When it starts to boil, cook 5 minutes longer, continuing to stir.

Pour that over the graham crackers evenly, and stick it in the fridge to chill until it’s cooled, about 20 minutes.

Melt some chocolate. The original recipe called for a six-pack of Hershey’s bars melted, but I could only scrounge up one, so instead, I decided instead to melt a bag of chocolate chips (also from Hershey’s).

Chill that until the chocolate is solid, and then cut it into bars. Serve (and hope there’s at least one left for you!)

These really didn’t take very long to make… I started the recipe before dinner, and while it was chilling the first time, I was making dinner. Right before dinner, I spread on the chocolate, and chilled it again. When the dinner dishes were cleaned up, the bars were ready to slice and serve during a post-dinner game of cards.

What is your post dinner routine like? Do you ever serve dessert? Play games as a family? Watch TV? I’d love to hear about your after-dinner routine in the comments!

Vanishing Pecan Toffee Bars

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/4 cup pecan pieces

1 bag chocolate chips or 6 Hershey bars

Line 9×13 pan with graham crackers.

Melt butter, brown sugar, and pecan pieces in a saucepan over medium-low heat.

When it begins to boil, cook 5 more minutes while stirring.

Pour the mixture over the graham crackers. Chill for 20 minutes.

Melt chocolate and spread over toffee mixture. Chill again until the chocolate is set, then cut into bars and serve.

Snap, Crackle, Peppermint Rice Krispie Treats

November 16, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 3 Comments

I’m nearly certain that Rice Krispie Treats almost kind of count as a cookie.

There’s just something about them that is so delicious, and this is hands-down the most delicious of all.

Grab some Rice Krispies and, of course, some of my favorite seasonal delights…

In a saucepan, over low heat, combine the entire bag of Peppermint Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and half a stick of butter, cut into chunks.

Stir. And stir. And stir some more.

Keep stirring until it looks something like this:

And then, it’s time to fold in your Rice Krispies. You’re going to need about 6 cups of it. Fold that in gently, being careful not to squish the Krispies!

Then, grab a 9×13 foil-lined pan. If you like them a little thicker, use a 9×9 pan. For cookie exchanges, I prefer the thinner bars and for Santa, I like them a little thicker.

While those are still a little squishy, sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of Andes peppermint crunch baking bits and press them gently into the surface of the Rice Krispie Bars.

Then, melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, preferably semi-sweet, and drizzle that all over. This season, I am absolutely all about the drizzle. It’s a very easy way to dress up every treat, without a ton of effort. It looks classy and fun, with a simple flick of the wrist.

Once the chocolate has solidified, all you have to do is lift the foil lining out, slice, and serve.

It’s that easy.

But I Don’t Bake! Chocolate Bark

November 15, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 5 Comments

It happens every year. People send out the cookie exchange invitations, and there’s always that person that gets invited, but decides to turn down the invitation because they don’t bake. They may not come right out and say “Sorry, I don’t bake, so I can’t come.” But they’ll find ways to get out of going, for sure.

If you’re that person, be warned. I’m stripping you of your excuses, because you can absolutely make this. If you can work a microwave, you can make this.

Start with these beautiful Nestle Toll House Holiday Morsels.

Then, get you/your sous chef/your mom/your child/your brother to sort them by color.

I recruited my amazing sous chef/mom to sort them while I did the second step.

Okay, this is the really hard part… take foil, line a 9×13 pan, and set a single layer of chocolate graham crackers on the bottom of the pan.

Melt your three colors of chocolate chips in three separate microwave safe containers, stirring every 30 seconds of the melting process to keep from overcooking them.

Spread the brown molten chocolate onto the graham crackers. Then, blob red and green melted morsels onto the layers, making sure to alternate colors.

Take a knife and gently swirl it back and forth across the pan.

Draw lines with the knife in the other direction, too.

If you want, you can even drag the lines diagonally.

Stick the whole pan into the fridge until the chocolate is hard. Lift the foil out of the pan, then break apart the bark in small chunks– random shapes are fine.

Ta-da! Take that to your cookie exchange and impress everyone without lifting a finger. If you want to get fancy, you can stir in a total of a teaspoon of extract into the chocolate– mint is a favorite, but orange adds a surprising twist.

See? Even if you don’t bake, you can absolutely make this bark and go to a cookie exchange. You win, and everyone else wins, too.

The Snowballs are On Fire!

November 14, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 3 Comments

Fire! Fire! Help Me! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Anyone else an IT Crowd fan? No? I’m telling you, that’s an underrated show if I’ve ever heard one…

Well, either way, you’re going to need a fire extinguisher if you’re trying this recipe.

These sweet snowballs made of chocolate and powdered sugar look awfully harmless, don’t they? Well, until you see the secret ingredient…

Whew. Jalepeño peppers!

Okay, I’m going to pause the recipe here for a little joke…

Why was the pepper nosey?

…It was jalapeño business! Ha. Ha ha. Just go with it, guys.

De-seed those so you don’t totally burn your tongue off.

Dice them up into little pieces.

Now, set those aside.

In a separate microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 package (12 oz) of Nestle’s Semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of Nestle baking cocoa, and 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Microwave that for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate bits are completely melted.

If you stop here and do nothing else, this makes a great cupcake filling.

Today, though, we’re going to keep going.

Dust your peppers with 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and then fold those into the chocolate mixture.

Once they’re folded in, refrigerate the whole mixture for a couple of hours until the mixture is firm.

Grab 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. You’ll want plenty of powdered sugar.

Take the chocolate by the spoonful and roll it into balls. Don’t try answering the phone or typing an email or anything else during this time, because your hands can pretty much only roll these balls right now.

Drop the balls into the powdered sugar and toss them until they’re coated. After one coat, they’ll look a little something like this:

Roll them around in the powdered sugar a second time, making sure each one is completely coated… and then enjoy them.

If you’re feeling naughty, serve them to your unsuspecting guests. Feeling nice? Give them a little warning about what’s inside.

Comment below and tell me which you are– naughty or nice– and whether you’d warn your unsuspecting guests about the fire that waits. These are sure to be the most unique thing that appears at your holiday cookie exchange, and they’re delicious, too.

Spice, Spice Baby… Soft Apple Spice Cookies

November 13, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 3 Comments

Stop, collaborate, and listen.

These Soft Apple Spice cookies are going to Spice Up Your Life (Can I do a Vanilla Ice reference and a Spice Girls reference in the same post? Because I’m doing it… so ha).

Grab your favorite spice cake mix. I love Betty Crocker Spice Cake mixes.

Also grab some apples. I have three shown, but then after cutting them, I realized two was enough.

Peel them, and then dice them up.

Once you’re done with dicing them, go ahead and toss them with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of caramel ice cream topping.

It’ll look like a less blurry version of this:

Now, get back to that cake mix. In a bowl, combine your cake mix, 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon of either apple juice or water.

Fold in your apples.

Now, here’s where it’s up to your discretion. These cookies are delicious enough and soft enough that little cookies are enough to satisfy a craving, so I drop mine by the teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. If you want a larger soft cookie, go with a tablespoon and spread them farther apart.

Bake those at 350 for 10 minutes, or until edges are done. Then, a secret trick that my mom has always done to get cookies rounder and flatter and more awesome, as soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven, smack the tops with your spatula and then remove them directly onto waxed paper.

Let those things cool completely, and then pile them on a plate. If dropped by teaspoonfuls, you’ll get around 50 cookies.

Now grab your cookies, and let’s get out of here.

Word to your Mother.

(Am I the only one who still listens to Vanilla Ice? Leave me a comment below and let me know your favorite Vanilla Ice song, or your favorite holiday cookie!)

“Mint” to Be Layered Chocolate Mint Bars

November 12, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 4 Comments

Lucy and Ricky.

Wilma and Fred.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Thelma and Louise.

Mint and Chocolate.

Some things are just meant to be together… and these brownies, mmm, these brownies… well, not only are they the perfect combination of mint and chocolate, but a delightful pairing of these brownies with your tastebuds, well, that’s a match made in heaven.

You’ll want to start with Betty Crocker Mint Chocolate Cookies, which are divine by the way, and a box of Betty Crocker brownies, the kind for a 9×13 pan, any variety you please, plus the ingredients to make them.

Go ahead and prepare the brownie mix according to package directions. Pour that into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan.

Now, prepare the cookie dough according to package directions, just mixing the ingredients listed on the back of the package.

Now that looks and tastes delicious, but I feel like we can really kick it up a notch on the festivity scale.

Tint it green using a few drops of green food coloring. I used 7 drops of my regular McCormick food coloring.

Now, drop it by the spoonful on top of the brownies, trying to cover as much of the brownies as you can.

Bake that whole mixture at 350 for approximately 30 minutes or until it’s done. Cool the whole thing completely.

Once it’s cooled, melt about 1/8 cup of chocolate– you seriously don’t need that much for this. It’s just to make it extra pretty.

Drizzle the living tar out of it… just drizzle all over that thing.

Let the drizzle set completely, and then cut it into pretty little triangles, just like this.

See? Totally “Mint” to be…

If you cut them into triangles, not only do they look extra fancy, but you get twice as many… if you cut them into squares, you’ll get 24 bars, but cut those squares into triangles, and BAM! 48, extra-fancy, gorgeous bars. Ta-da!

Just promise me you won’t share any of them with Brangelina… I’m a Jennifer Aniston fan.

Almond Joy to the World… the Cake Pops are here!

November 11, 2012January 21, 2017 - Mama 8 Comments

It never fails. In the post Halloween madness, I rifle through the candy dish only to find that the Almond Joys are gone. We have this problem every year, an Almond Joy shortage, because everyone in our family happens to love Almond Joys.

So, as I was walking through the grocery store, I saw something that made me do a serious double-take.

International Delight has come out with Almond Joy coffee creamer! I was hesitant to put it in my cart, because, come on, how often do things actually taste like the candy they’re supposed to? I’m a skeptic. But, I thought, if nothing else, this will taste pretty good in coffee.

Then, I remembered something. Miss CandiQuik wrote an awesome post about using Coffee Creamer in cake pops! Um, hello? Wouldn’t that just be perfect?

When I got home, I tasted a little bit of the coffee creamer, and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. It literally tasted like liquid Almond Joy, and I was in heaven.

To make the cake pops, I started by baking a chocolate cake. You can totally use your favorite boxed chocolate cake mix here if you’d like, but I realized after my shopping trip that I was fresh out of chocolate cake mix (how does that even happen?!) and decided to whip up my favorite from-scratch recipe. If you’re making the cake from a box, add in 1 teaspoon of almond extract when it’s in the batter phase. If you’re making a from-scratch cake, substitute any vanilla called for with the almond extract.

To make the cake from scratch, start with 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, making sure to sift t, then add in 1 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 3/4 of a teaspoon salt. You can actually stop here, bag up the mix in an airtight baggie or container, and keep it on the shelf for up to three months, but I decided to add my liquids and bake right away. Before using the mix, I try to sift it again, which produces a lighter cake.

Once you’ve sifted your dry ingredients, stir in 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, 3 eggs, and 2 teaspoons of almond extract (for a typical cake, use vanilla, but for these cake pops, almond adds that extra boost for Almond Joy flavor). Bake the cake in a 9×13 pan in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until cake is done in center and toothpick comes out clean.

Now let it cool completely, which is really, really difficult to do when you smell the cake and want to dive straight in, fork optional.

Once it’s cooled… shred the cake to bits!

This is where your Almond Joy coffee creamer comes in. Pour in as little as 1/4 cup but as much as 1/2 cup, kneading the mixture together as you go, making sure it’s moist enough to form a ball. In this step, I also added in 1 tablespoon of CocoReal to boost the coconut flavor, but that is totally optional and doesn’t affect the taste too much. Then, knead in 1/2 cup shredded coconut.

It will look a little something like this:

See all of that delightful moist cake-y coconut mixture?

Take that and roll it into balls. This is where you can take one of two paths… I rolled mine into ping-pong sized balls, which is about the size of a typical fun size Almond Joy once it’s shaped. This size is a good size, but it can actually be a little rich, so you might want to roll them about half of that size. On the plus side, you’ll get more of them, which is perfect if you’re taking the treats to neighbors and friends, or bringing them to a cookie exchange. If you’re like me, you’ll want the big pieces. It’s up to you how big you’d like to roll them.

After making sure my balls were all uniform (I live with a 12 year old… I can’t type that without snickering anymore), I rolled each of the balls into a log-like shape that resembled an Almond Joy more closely, then I pressed an almond into each one.

Pop those into the freezer for at least half an hour, but preferably a little longer than that.

Melt some milk chocolate, remove your pops from the freezer, and then dip your stick into chocolate and then stick it into the pop. If you find the chocolate is too thick for proper dipping, you can always thin it out with a little bit of coconut oil.

If any of your almonds decided to jump ship, at this point, you can drizzle a little bit of melted chocolate into the indentation and press the almond back onto the pop. That should secure it on easily.

Refrigerate or freeze those for a little longer to solidify the chocolate and make sure the sticks are secure.

Now, do the final dipping… dip each cake pop in chocolate, shake off the excess, and then let them dry completely, sticking them in the refrigerator to help speed up the process. Melt some white chocolate and tint it green (or use Nestle’s fun red and green baking bits!) and drizzle that over the top of your cake pops, if desired, to add a festive touch.

Don’t have any lollipop or cookie sticks on hand? Don’t worry… you can absolutely make these cake pops into cake bites by leaving the stick out and dipping the bits into chocolate themselves.

Serve that with a large cup of coffee using the leftover Almond Joy creamer, and you have the makings for a perfect snack.

Don’t forget to play with other flavors of International Delight liquid coffee creamer and let me know which ones you like best in your cake pops!

Mama Plus One

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