Semi-Homemade

Lots of Layers Individual Dips

- Mama 3 Comments

We’ve all been to a party and tried the seven layer dip, right? That glorious pairing of all of our favorite Mexican delights, piled into layer upon layer of delicious goodness…. see, I have this theory that pretty much any Mexican dish can be made with the same eight ingredients, no matter what it is, in varying combinations each time.

But this… this transcends all of that. It’s just incredible.

The way I see it, there are two major pros to putting dips in individual cups instead of serving them out of a big dish.

1) There is zero crowding around the dip bowl. Everyone grabs a dip cup and heads to wherever they plan on mingling or watching the game or whatever else they’re doing with dip. No more elbowing your way in just to get half a chip into the dip.

2) No germy issues! Seriously, the last thing I want is to be sharing a dip with a bunch of people, only to see one of them do the dreaded double dip. Ick. I don’t know where their mouth has been, or in some cases, I do, and it’s not somewhere I want my mouth to go after dipping after them. But see, with an individual dip cup, you don’t have to worry about that. Everyone has their own cup, and can dip or double dip without affecting anyone but themselves.

Plus there is the added bonus that these look SO fancy, especially with the awesome clear plastic mini slanted tumblers from Party City. You get 10 for $3.99 which is super affordable for a party, and not only can they be tossed afterwards or handwashed and re-used, but they’re also recycleable! Not only that, but there are tons of other great Party City items perfect for serving these individual dips for different occasions. Aside from these, my clear favorite, I also love the mini martini glasses, the mini pedestal cups, the cocktail petite bowls, or the mini cubes (in the mini tasting party section of their website). All of the above are just perfect for serving these fun dips, and they’re all affordable!

I started the night before my party by mixing my favorite layer of these dips… the Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party Dip Mix! I love the flavor of these on their own, but as a part of this dip, you simply cannot ask for a better option. The dip is so easy to make– you just take a little bit of the dip mix, some mayonnaise, and some sour cream and mix them together in a bowl. The nice thing is, for the reasonable price, you can get a lot of dips out of this one container of Fiesta Party Dip Mix…. it’s $8.99 to make about 8 cups of the fiesta party dip, and you’re using less than a cup for 10 of these individual dips. I like to make this layer of the dip the night before so the flavors have time to really mesh together. This dip is definitely better on the second day!

The day of the party, I prepare my individual dips… I start with a layer of refried beans on the bottom. You don’t need much– a little less than a tablespoon worked for me. After that, spread on a layer of the fiesta dip you prepared in the first step of the dip. Again, I used a little less than a tablespoon. Use whatever you’d like to in order to make the layers look the way you’d like them to. On top of the fiesta dip, pour on a little bit of salsa. I used about a teaspoon of my favorite salsa in each one, Old El Paso. Yum.

Now for the pretty part– the garnish! I tore up some lettuce and laid it gently on top of the salsa so it would give my garnish a flat surface to rest on. I then piped on some sour cream using a star tip in an icing bag, and sprinkled on shredded Kraft cheese (I used a cheddar and pepper jack blend) and some chopped green onions.

Right before serving, top each dip cup with a pretty chip, and make sure you keep plenty of extra chips on hand for more dipping!

That’s it. So easy, and this is way more impressive (and sanitary!) than serving your seven layer dip in a regular dip bowl.

Note: You can absolutely copy these layers to serve in an ordinary dip bowl, by the way. There’s no law that says you have to serve it in individual cups. I just love it that way!

Sweet Microwave Meatballs and Pepped Up Tomato Soup Shooters

- Mama 4 Comments

Throughout college, we had a lot of movie nights turned potlucks where everyone brought a snack to share. Typically, people brought chips and dip or whatever granola bars and Pop Tarts they had in their dorm room, but me? I had to shake things up. And, since I didn’t have access to a stove or oven, I relied on a very trusty book, A Man, A Can, A Microwave. In fact, this book became such a part of my college experience that I started buying it as a gift for dorm-bound high school graduates.

These meatballs are modified from one of those fantastic microwave recipes in that book, and they’re so easy to throw together with a few cans and very little prep work. I like to keep the ingredients on hand for unexpected guests since it makes such a great appetizer.

All you do is grab a microwave safe dish or bowl, like a Pyrex bowl, and pour in 1 can of sloppy joe sauce (I love Manwich brand!), 8 ounces of crushed pineapple (Dole is my favorite), 2 Tablespoons of Teriyaki Sauce (La Choy around here), 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 a cup of finely chopped green bell pepper, and 2 teaspoons of Tastefully Simple Fiesta Dip Mix, to add a kick. After mixing that together, add in a pound of frozen pre-cooked meatballs. Microwave that for 12-14 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Now, I’ve dressed up these meatballs on a pretty plate with cocktail forks from Party City for a girls’ night in party, but you can serve them fresh out of the bowl at a tailgate party. They’re perfect for dressing them up or down, however you please.

In the back of the above picture, I also have my pepped up tomato soup shooters and two-cheese faux grilled cheese. These were two more college recipes that eventually became party favorites.

The Tomato Soup is super easy! Just take one can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup, and instead of making it with water, make it with milk to keep it extra creamy. Add in 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Microwave or warm on the stove until heated through, and, if you’d like, serve in a soup bowl with a swirl of sour cream and some oyster crackers, or serve in these elegant cordial glasses from Party City.

Top it with skewered Two-Cheese Faux Grilled Cheese, and you’re all set. What makes it faux grilled cheese, though? Well, this isn’t your ordinary stovetop grilled cheese… take two slices of bread and stick them in the toaster. When they pop up, immediately sandwich a slice of American Cheese and a slice of Provolone between them and let the cheese melt. If it’s not quite melted enough, pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds until the cheese melts, then slice into triangles.

Perfect recipes, and you don’t even need access to a stove to make them!

Death By Chocolate Black Forest Bars

- Mama 3 Comments

I feel the need to give you a little disclaimer right now. If you make these, good luck not eating the entire pan. These were a hit with every chocolate cherry lover I shared them with. They’re rich, they’re delicious, and they’re really very easy to make.

In fact, maybe a little too easy to make… you’ll want to make these for every potluck and bake sale you can, not to mention that it’s perfect for a Death By Chocolate Halloween party…

You will want to start out with a Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake Mix, found at many grocery stores nationwide. This mix comes with two pouches inside, the first being a cake mix and the second being a fudge mixture.

Go ahead and prepare the fudge mixture packet according to the box directions, by adding 1/3 cup of water to the fudge mix packet in a small bowl. Stir that until it thickens, and set it aside until later.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 pan with foil. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix pouch with a stick of melted butter, 1 egg, and half a teaspoon of almond extract. Stir in 1/4 cup sliced almonds. This will be a very thick mixture!

Divide that mixture in half. Press one half into the bottom of the pan, covering it completely, as a thin crust. Then, spread the fudge mixture you previously set aside over the crust layer.

Now, start taking portions of the second half of the cake mix mixture and press it into thin layers and lay them on top of the fudge mixture. I flattened them in my hand and then gently laid them on top rather than trying to press them onto the fudge layer directly.

Drain a 10-16 oz jar of cherries completely, then pour the drained cherries on top of the mixture, trying to make sure that each finished piece will have at least one cherry. Then, toss that into the oven and bake it for 20-25 minutes.

Let this cool completely. 100%, totally, absolutely cool to the touch. If you do it any earlier than that, you risk mucking up the drizzle, and you’d hate to do that, wouldn’t you? (I’m the least patient person ever, but I AM a perfectionist, so the threat of messing up drizzle is enough to keep me from digging into the next step too soon).

Once it’s totally cool, sprinkle on your other half cup of sliced almonds.

Now, the fun part. Take half a cup of semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate, or dark chocolate, whatever you prefer, but I chose semisweet) and melt it in a double boiler or in the microwave. If microwaving, stir it every 30 seconds. If you find it’s too thick and not drizzle-able, you can add in a little bit of shortening or coconut oil to help smooth it out a little bit.

Now, drizzle the living tar out of your black forest bars. Get them good and drizzly.

Let that dry completely. I know, exercising patience again. Ugh.

Once it’s dry, cut those into bars, or better yet, triangles. When I was at the Duncan Hines Test Kitchen, I noticed that the chefs cut a lot of decadent treats like fudge into triangles instead of squares, and they looked so elegant that way! I’ve gotten used to cutting a lot of things into triangles now, too.

Death By Chocolate Black Forest Bars

1 Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake Mix
1 stick melted butter
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ Cup sliced almonds
1 jar (16 oz) Maraschino Cherries, well drained
½ cup Semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line 13×9 pan with foil and set aside. Mix Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate small pouch in small bowl with ⅓ cup water, stirring until the mix thickens. Set aside. In separate bowl, combine cake mix (large Duncan Hines pouch), butter, egg, and extract in a large bowl. Stir in ¼ cup sliced almonds. This will be a very thick batter. Divide batter in half, and press one half into the foil-lined pan. Spread entire fudge mixture onto bottom crust. Flatten large portions of second half of thick batter mixture and lay gently on top of the fudge mixture. Top evenly with jar of drained cherries. Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven, and let cool completely. Once completely cool, sprinkle with remaining sliced almonds. Microwave chocolate chips until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. If the chocolate is too thick, consider adding a small spoonful of coconut oil or shortening to help it smooth out. Drizzle chocolate over finished bars. Once chocolate drizzle has hardened, cut into triangles or bars.

Recipe adapted from Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Mix and 3 Books In 1: Church Potlucks, Sunday Supper, and Bake Sale.

SixSistersStuff.com

Fall Flavors Tour: Better Than Pumpkin Pie

- Mama 9 Comments

There was this dessert, growing up. It was always appearing at family functions, and almost everyone I knew had heard of the dessert in some form or capacity, though it took different names. For many, it was simply called “Four Layer Dessert,” as though it was something like a seven layer dip. That adequately described it, of course, but it lacked a certain… flavor… that the dessert deserved. Others called it Better Than Robert Redford, which was apparently very important to the adults around me who discussed the dessert, but honestly, as a child or even a tween, that reference was largely lost on me.

There was one other name for the dessert. The one thing I remember, when people would call it by this name, is that typically, the last word of the dessert was kind of whispered, with a wink. “Yes, the, uh, dessert… well, it’s called better than… (whispers) sex.”

Truthfully, though, whether you call it Four Layer Dessert or Better than Robert Redford or even Better Than Sex (I don’t have to whisper, do I? I can, really, if I need to), the dessert was definitely a staple. It took all of the best things in life, from flaky crust to nuts to chocolatey perfection, and amped it up into a light, cool, creamy dessert.

But you see, chocolate just isn’t everyone’s thing. And part of me always wondered why that was served at Thanksgiving, a time when so many beautiful fall flavors are present.

So, while definitely inspired by Better Than Sex, well, this just isn’t it.

This is that, only much.

Much.

Better.

But sincerely, since I couldn’t think of a name that could really suit this dessert while still being exciting and thrilling like the hush-hush name of it’s chocolatey cousin, I decided to simply call this dessert exactly what it is. It’s better than pumpkin pie.

I don’t care if you love pumpkin pie more than your own right foot, this is better. No one, not even my dad (who really REALLY loves pumpkin pie) disagreed with me.

First, the crust.

You’re going to take 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of softened butter, as well as 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp each of cloves and nutmeg, and mix them together.

Then, press that into a greased 9×13 pan.

Bake that for 15 minutes, and then cool it completely. You want to make sure it’s absolutely 100% cool, or the whole dessert will melt onto itself and get really weird and not at all like the perfect dessert this is, so don’t try to rush it.

For your second layer, you’re going to whip up 8 oz. of Philadelphia cream cheese (that’s one of those little blocks), 1 cup of powdered sugar, and 1 cup of Cool Whip. I like to use my mixer for this, but if you prefer to use a fork, you can.

Spread that evenly on top of your cooled crust.

In the same bowl, take two packages of Jell-O Pumpkin Spice pudding (it’s seasonal) and mix that with three cups of milk.

Let that sit for about 3-4 minutes to thicken up after you’ve mixed it together thoroughly. Then, pour that evenly on top of the cream cheese mixture.

On top of that, take more Cool Whip (enough to cover the pudding) and spread that all over the top.

Then, grate Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses over the top. Mmmmm…

Refrigerate, then slice and serve cold.

See? Isn’t that MUCH better than Robert Redford? And pumpkin pie?

One of my dearest friends and taste testers said “This dish is so light and fluffy that you eat it not realizing how many calories you’re eating! It seems like you’re eating a pumpkin cloud, not actual calories!”

She’s right. It’s easy to eat one two fifteen slices of this without a second thought.

If that’s a concern, you can absolutely swap out the cream cheese for a reduced fat cream cheese and the milk for a lighter percentage of milk, and use low-fat Cool Whip as well.

This is the lightest, flakiest, most incredible dessert you can imagine. Even people who don’t like pumpkin pie like this, and it’s got a nice, rich pumpkin flavor to it thanks to the Jell-O pumpkin spice pudding and the Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses.

Because it’s so light and airy, there’s no way it won’t fit around the turkey and stuffing and everything else at Thanksgiving, and it’s also perfect for Halloween parties because of it’s very festive color.

If you don’t try any other recipe from my Fall Flavors Tour, I am begging you… try this one. Please. I promise you’ll thank me.

_____________________________________

Growing up, did you have a variation of Better Than Sex dessert, and if so, what was it called in your family?

If you try this dessert, leave a comment below and let me know what you think of it! And as always, share pictures- I’d love to see them!

SixSistersStuff.com

Fall Flavors Tour: Pumpkin Spice Frozen Custard

- Mama 3 Comments

I’m an ice cream addict. I seriously love it, and there’s one ice cream shop in my area that was literally the most amazing place to get ice cream growing up. It still is a great place for ice cream, but I find myself being able to make the trip up there less and less. They have the wittiest flavor titles, like Rock Chocolate Jayhawk, Tiger Tracks, and Powercat Crunch for our major college teams in the area. My personal favorite at the moment is Cookie Monster, which is a sweet cream ice cream tinted blue with Oreos and chocolate chip cookies mixed in. It’s to. die. for.

I still remember the very first ice cream I tried at Sylas and Maddy’s though. It was fall, and they had this one perfect fall flavor that I couldn’t get enough of. See, it was Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream, but they actually included a full pie in every gallon. Not even kidding, they just chopped the pie up and threw it into the ice cream maker. It was rich. It was creamy. It had every ounce of pumpkin pie flavor in this ice cold treat.

I had to see if I could recreate that incredible, intense pumpkin pie flavor, minus the full pie. So, I considered what I had on hand, and thought about ways to use actual pumpkin puree in my ice cream maker, and toyed with different options and recipes. None of them were thick enough, hearty enough, and packed with enough pumpkin spice flavor.

Finally, I remembered that Jell-O has a seasonal pumpkin spice pudding that had exactly the quality of flavor I was looking for. However, the texture of it took it from an idea for ice cream, to an amazing custard-like finished product. It was thick and creamy, just what I needed.

This recipe does call for an ice cream maker to churn it into a creamy creation. However, if you do not have one, you could put the mixture into your regular freezer, but it will be slightly less creamy and whipped.

Because this recipe is straightforward, I just didn’t have many pictures of the in-between process.

Here’s the recipe:

2 Cups whole milk
1 Cup sugar
2 (3.5 oz) pkgs Pumpkin Spice Jell-O Pudding
4 Cups heavy Whipping Cream (I used A&E)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Whisk all ingredients together, put in an airtight container, and refrigerate for two or more hours. Then, pour mixture into ice cream maker and use according to manufacturer instructions. Once thickened, you can serve it as-is, or put it in the freezer to allow it to thicken further.

Serve in a waffle bowl, sugar cone, cake cone, or straight out of the freezer, however you’d like.

You can also take a pie crust and press it into mini tart or muffin tins, brush with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake until golden brown, then serve a scoop of the frozen custard in the middle to make a delicious frozen pie. Or, you can sandwich the frozen custard between gingersnap or shortbread cookies for a delightful fall ice cream sandwich!

The possibilities are endless.

__________________________________

Do you have an ice cream maker at home? What is your favorite recipe for it? Do you enjoy ice cream during specific seasons or all year round?

As always, I’d love it if you left pictures or comments down below to let me know what you think of this recipe, especially if you try it out!

Oh, and if you’re ever in Olathe, KS or Lawrence, KS, be sure to stop by Sylas and Maddy’s for some of the best ice cream you’ll ever have, ever.

Fall Flavors Tour: Candy Corn Cheesecake

- Mama 6 Comments

I am cheesecake obsessed. Not even kidding. Every year around my birthday, I ask for a cheesecake instead of a traditional cake. One thing about cheesecake that makes it even better is having a mini cheesecake that I don’t have to share with anyone. But, to make it even better, I can add one of my other favorite treats in with it– an Oreo. Those things are addicting, I swear.

However, what could be more fall than Candy Corn? And when I found out that there were actually Candy Corn Oreos this year, I knew exactly what I had to do.

Yes. Mini. Oreo. Cheesecakes… with Candy Corn Oreos.

And the best part about these? You don’t have to make some complicated crust or dirty a bunch of dishes. Just start by lining cupcake tins with cupcake liners, and drop one Candy Corn Golden Oreo in the bottom of each… you’ll need 15 total.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 packages (8 oz each) room temperature Philadelphia Cream Cheese (or your cream cheese of choice), 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract using a mixer (or a fork) to cream well.

Go ahead and gradually add two large beaten eggs (room temperature!), 1/2 cup sour cream, a pinch of salt, and 2 Tbsp corn syrup (the corn syrup really brings out the candy corn flavor of the Oreos). Mix that up until it’s smooth and maybe a little bubbly.

From here, I got a little wild and poured the batter into three different bowls, tinting one yellow, one orange, and leaving one white to resemble candy corn, but you can absolutely just leave it white if you’d like, or tint it one of the colors. I just loved the layered effect!

Pour it into your muffin tins, covering the Oreo, filling to just under the top rim by a centimeter-ish. Fill any unfilled sections of your tin with an inch or so of water, to make sure it cooks evenly.

Bake it for 14 minutes, then rotate the pans and bake for another 14 minutes to ensure even baking, then remove from oven.

Let cool, then put it in a container in the refrigerator for four hours or until chilled.

Then, serve, and taste the magic.

I’m not kidding, these things are magical. A couple of my taste testers came over before the cheesecakes were fully chilled, so I asked them to take some home and try them later, after they had finished cooling. I wanted to share with you the text that I got right after that. “Those cheesecakes are to die for!… we need the recipe ASAP!”

Seriously. These things are THAT good.

Oh, and for the record, they freeze really well in an airtight container, so you can just grab one anytime you need it, a perfect single-serve dessert. They’re good if you have a small family because you can grab just the amount you need, or they’re great for bake sales. You can also store them in the freezer as a last-minute dessert (think of those times you need to take a meal to a family at church who just had a baby, or need an impromptu potluck dessert to have on hand, or even times you have unexpected guests and want to impress!) just in case!

_________________

Do you have a go-to dessert that you keep on hand in case of unexpected company? Or if you live in a small family (1, 2, 3 members), do you have a dessert you keep on hand?

Let me know what you think of these cheesecakes in the comment section below, and, as always, if you make them, please share pictures or comments! I’d love to hear about them!

SNAP! 36th

Sweet Sugar Fried Doughnuts

- Mama 3 Comments

I’m going to tell you a secret.

These are the easiest, most delicious doughnuts you’ll ever make. Seriously, they take less than 10 minutes to make, start to finish.

To me, doughnuts seem like things that are complicated to make. It seems like it would be difficult to do, but it’s really not as intimidating as it seems. But these, these are special doughnuts. Almost magical.

My mom made them frequently when I was growing up, and they are so easy that a child could help you make them. Except for the frying part. Probably not a good idea to let your child do the frying, unless they’re an older child!

So. Step one. Open up a can of biscuits. Any refrigerated biscuits in a can will work for this, but I really like Grands, since they make the biggest, fluffiest doughnuts. I try to avoid any flaky biscuits because they just aren’t the same, but like I said, really almost any kind of biscuit will work.

Just get out your biscuits and separate them out, into individual biscuits.

This is where it kind of depends on your own style of doing things. I like to use my mini circle cutter to cut holes out in the doughnuts, making them more of a traditional shape. My mom likes to just take a knife or kitchen shears and cut the biscuits in quarters. You can leave them whole, you can take a cue from my mom and I and cut them however you prefer, or you can cut them any other way you desire. You could even use cute tiny cutters to cut out a fun shape (like a star or heart!) out of the middle of the biscuit and make creative doughnut holes to nibble on.

Grab your favorite frying pan and pour some oil in it. This is where I’m kind of funny. We have a whole slew of quite expensive frying pans, and instead of choosing to use those, I prefer to use this $10 pan we got on sale one time. It seems to be the most non-stick of all of my pans, so I always use it when I fry things. I wish I remember where I had purchased it, because I’d buy a whole flock of them and get rid of most of my expensive pans.

Pop those puppies in the frying pan on medium heat, and start preparing your cinnamon sugar mixture. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl until you feel like you have the right amount of each. You can also play with spices here, if you’d like– sometimes I add nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, cinnamon maple crunch, whatever sweet yummy spices I have in the cabinet, I tend to cycle through them on days I make doughnuts. Keep an eye on your doughnuts!

From here, things will go very quickly. When the side of the biscuit puffs up and starts to rise, it’s time to flip them. You’re going to want them to be golden brown on the side you were frying, like the biscuits in the upper right corner of the photo below.

The ones on the bottom left aren’t quite ready, so I flipped them back over to get them a little more golden on that side.

As you pull the biscuits that are golden on each side out, drop them into the cinnamon sugar mix and coat them on each side with the mixture, then put the coated biscuits on a paper towel to drain off any extra oil.

Then, serve the whole pile of biscuits to your family or friends, or eat them all yourself, like I’m prone to do. They’re delicious plain, but I especially like mine drizzled with warm maple syrup. Honey also works, or even chocolate sauce or even topped with a pile of whipped cream or fresh or frozen fruit.

Delicious!

Holy Cake Mix Brownies, Batman! (With Cookie Dough Frosting, of Course!)

- Mama 5 Comments

I’ve found lately that I really like to make things in threes. Last week, you saw a dip trio from me. And today, I present you with a yummy brownie trio. Yes. Not one, not two, but THREE kinds of brownies.

And they’re so easy. As easy as buying a brownie mix even, except for the fact that these are WAY better, and have way more variety. It took me a couple of tries to get just the right consistency down, but these, these are just right. And delicious, and ooey-gooey.

Take a box of cake mix (My three varieties were dark chocolate, red velvet, and yellow, respectively). I use Duncan Hines, because I think it produces the moistest brownies, but you can go with whatever mix you have in your pantry.

Pour the box of mix into a big bowl. Add in 1/4 cup of oil (vegetable, canola, whichever floats your boat. Probably not olive oil. That would be weird), a beaten egg, and 1/4 cup milk. Mix it up. It’s going to be really really thick. Almost impossibly thick. That’s a-ok.

If you want to add anything, now is the time to do it. For my yellow cake mix, I added in 1/3 cup of sprinkles, and in the red velvet ones, I added in a couple of handfuls of something called “Vanilla chocolate chips,” which I’m pretty sure has no actual chocolate in it, just vanilla, but you get the point. I left the dark chocolate ones without any additions, because I gave it the royal treatment with some awesome cookie-dough flavored frosting.

Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. And then wait. And wait. And wait some more. These are so ooey-gooey that if you don’t wait, they’ll ooze all over the pan. If you wait, though, when you slice them, they’ll be perfectly gooey inside, but they won’t fall apart.

Oh, and you’ll want to know this yummy little tidbit. The yellow cake mix funfetti blondie? It doesn’t taste like cake. It tastes like BATTER. Pure, delicious, cake batter.

The frosting is equally easy. Cream together a stick of room-temperature butter, just under 1/2 cup of white sugar, and just under 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Really cream it together until it’s light and fluffy (if you’re using a hand mixer or stand mixer, it’ll take a couple of minutes). Gradually add in 1 cup of flour mixed with 1 cup of powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar). Stir in 3 Tablespoons of milk (until it reaches desired consistency) and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Make sure it’s all well mixed, and you’re done! After frosting whatever you’re frosting (in this case, brownies, but this frosting is awesome on cupcakes, spoons, and yes, even cookies), sprinkle it liberally with mini chocolate chips. Yum.

And, without further ado, here are the full recipes:

Funfetti Cake Batter Blondies

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
1 beaten egg
1/2 Cup rainbow sprinkles

Mix together first four ingredients in a bowl to form a thick batter. Stir in Rainbow Sprinkles until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Red Velvet Brownies

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup milk
1 beaten egg
2 large handfuls of vanilla chips or white chocolate chips

Mix together first four ingredients. Add in vanilla or white chocolate chips and mix until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix Brownies

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (or dark chocolate cake mix, or chocolate cake mix)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 beaten egg

Combine ingredients and spread into greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Cookie Dough Frosting

1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mini Chocolate Chips (about 1 tablespoon per brownie, cookie, or cupcake)

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Gradually add flour and powdered sugar.
Stir in milk until mixture reaches desired frosting consistency, then add vanilla extract and stir.
Frost items, then sprinkle on mini chocolate chips. Or, eat with a spoon. Or your fingers. Whatever.

The possibilities are totally endless when you’re making a brownie out of cake mix. Strawberry blondie? Totally do-able. Spice brownie for fall? Yup, you can do that. German chocolate brownie with coconut frosting? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that would be awesome. You could even mix nuts into that batter. Yummy. Carrot? Apple caramel? Banana, orange, lemon, strawberry supreme? The possibilities are literally endless. If you can find a cake mix for it, you can probably make a brownie like this out of it.

What flavor are you going to try first?

Delicious Cookie Dip Trio

- Mama 8 Comments

What’s better than one dip or two dips? How about a trio of delicious sweet dips!

Seriously, I had been staring at Pinterest a few weeks ago, and stumbled on the very-popular cookie dough dip. I got the bright idea that one cookie wasn’t enough. Two cookies might have been enough, but I had this handy dip container that has space for three dips, and, well, why not serve three pretty dips?

I’m going to tell you right now… these are ridiculously easy recipes. I’m going to start with the hardest recipe, but it truly isn’t hard at all.

I love cookie dough. Seriously, love it. Half the time, when I go to make cookies, I don’t even get actual cookies. I get a dough-covered spoon. So if someone tells me that I can make a dip that tastes like that cookie dough, but is eggless and safe to eat, I’m on board! The problem is, a lot of recipes I had been finding tasted a lot like cream cheese with chocolate chips added. There was one key ingredient of cookies missing that really helped make a cookie taste like a cookie. After a lot of trial and error, I bring you…

Cookie Dough Dip that actually tastes like a Cookie!

Grab 1/2 a cup of butter (yup, that’s about 1 stick). Melt that in a saucepan, and add 1/3 cup brown sugar, whisking it in until it’s all blended together completely. When it starts to bubble over the heat, remove it from the heat and stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

In a separate dish, cream together an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Add in the brown sugar mixture and stir until it’s thoroughly blended.

And here’s the part that makes it into a cookie-flavor. Add in 1/3 of a cup of flour. Mix it until it’s all smooth, and add in 3/4 of a cup of mini chocolate chips.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, and top with a handful of mini chocolate chips.

You know those Keebler Frosted Animal Cookies? Those really addicting ones? Yeah, those. Well this dip is kind of like that, only a billion times better (and more addicting, of course).

And did I mention it’s only 3 ingredients? (Well, kind of, if you don’t count sprinkles and red food coloring, which are totally optional).

Take an entire bag of those animal cookies. Okay, the entire bag minus the five you eat during the crushing process. Crush those babies up. Mix that with one 8-ounce block of softened Philadelphia cream cheese. Refrigerate.

Right before serving, tint a tub of Cool Whip animal-cookie-pink. Yes, that is the technical term. Fold the Cool Whip and dip together, and sprinkle liberally with nonpareil rainbow sprinkles!

Then eat. Seriously, that’s it. So simple.

But wait! There’s more! This dip is made the same way as the Animal Cookie Dip, except… with Oreos! All you do is take an entire package of Oreos (hold back 5 so you can eat 2 and save 3 for a garnish) and crush them to bits. I like to use the rolling pin/ziploc bag method, but you can just shred them with your hands, or use a food processor or slap-chop or something.

Add in your block of softened Philadelphia cream cheese. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, then mix in a tub of Cool Whip. Top with your remaining 3 Oreos (of course, crumbled up, too).

Here are the perfect dippers. We loved pretzels, ruffly chips, graham crackers, and vanilla wafers.

So, what was the resounding favorite? It seemed like the Oreo and Cookie Dough were tied for first, but it varied day-to-day. Pretzels and graham crackers topped the list of best dippers for these. I was a huge fan of cookie dough dip one day, and the very next day, thought Oreo was the best. They’re all so good!

Try one, or all three, and comment below letting me know what you think!

 

Hungry for more cookie-inspired treats? Try my No-Bake Cookies and Cream Truffles, or my Cake Mix Brownies with Cookie Dough Frosting!

Crystal Light Sour Appletini Ice Cream

- Mama 11 Comments

It has been 110 degrees here every day for about a month. I am dying. Seriously, even a dip in the pool is almost like swimming in a hot tub at this point, providing little to no relief from the really high temperatures around here. They’ve even been peaking to 115 degrees.

This is not okay with me. I prefer temperatures around 70 and 80 degrees, so this is just downright ridiculous. However, it has given me more than a few opportunities to break out my ice cream maker and play with it a little bit. It has resulted in some yummy concoctions, but none was more a hit than this one… a nice, icy, Crystal Light Sour Appletini Ice Cream.

I’m going to start here by saying that this recipe involves zero alcohol, so it is kid-friendly (I’m including myself in the kiddo category!)

As soon as Crystal Light came out with their mocktails, I was hooked on them. They’re delicious to whip up on a warm day and serve iced. I have always been a Crystal Light fan, mind you, but the new drinks really take the cake. The other day, I went to the mailbox, and found a fun gift from Crystal Light—a mocktail glass!

I’m going to be the first to say that, as a non-drinker, I have no idea how to even hold one of these pretty things, so while I immediately poured a glass of the Crystal Light mojito in it (yes, I’m aware, it’s the wrong glass to serve that in or whatever…) I actually kept spilling it on myself. I’m not kidding. But I wanted to get some use out of this fun glass they sent me, and I thought back to all of the times I’ve served desserts in glasses like that.

It hit me. I had to make a Crystal Light ice cream, and I had to do it right away.

At first, I had trouble deciding which flavor to use. I am absolutely certain this ice cream would work with any type of Crystal Light, but I really wanted to see how an Appletini version would turn out.

This is, honestly, the easiest recipe you’ll ever find for ice cream, hands down. There are no eggs. There’s really no measuring involved. All you do is grab your ice cream maker and your three ingredients, and you’re good to go.

Start by pouring a 2 liter bottle of ginger ale into your ice cream maker cylinder thing. (I think that’s the technical term for it!)

Pour in your Crystal Light Appletini Mocktail packets, or the Crystal Light packets of your choosing. (Note: I’ve found kids really like the punch that three packets of Crystal Light adds—it is a VERY sour apple flavor. Adults seem to prefer a recipe involving only two packets of the Crystal Light for the appletini recipe. It’s up to your own discretion, but the flavor of whatever packet you use will be stronger with the additional packet).

Add in a can of Sweetened Condensed milk. My grandfather swears by Eagle brand, my grandmother is a fan of Carnation, but personally, I buy the cheapest I can find at the moment, which in this case, happened to be generic. It will look something like this.

That’s it. Put the dasher into your ice cream machine, put the lid on, and turn that puppy on! Use your ice and rock salt the way you typically would for an ice cream, and then wait. And wait. And try to avoid opening the machine to see what it’s doing (I am the most impatient person alive). I personally use a Rival 4-quart machine and it takes about an hour and a half, but you can use this recipe in any 4-quart ice cream machine.

When the machine is done with it, it is typically more of a “soft serve” texture. It’s yummy like this, but I like to freeze it a little harder, typically for several hours or overnight.

Then, you can serve it in your favorite martini glass, and enjoy poolside, spoon optional.

Nutrition and serving information: The dessert clocks in at about 92.5 calories for a half cup serving (closer to 95.5 if you use 3 Crystal Light packets in the recipe instead of 2), which is a good 35 calories less than plain vanilla ice cream at the store. This recipe for Crystal Light Ice Cream also contains 1.5g Fat and 17.5g Sugars. Not exactly diet, but not exactly tipping the scale, either. You’ll get roughly 28 servings from one recipe, or about 3.5 quarts total.