Serious Cinnamon Rolls Made From Scratch

During the first year of mine and Brent’s marriage, we ate Pillsbury Grands! Cinnamon Rolls almost every Sunday morning.

 It was pure bliss for a while and was a tradition that we always said we would carry on to our future kiddos, and then I looked at the ingredients list on those bad boys….

Although they were totally delicious and convenient, I always felt a little guilty feeding my health-conscious chiropractor husband artificially enhanced cinnamon rolls (who’s hands are helping me out in the rolling process in the above picture, just FYI. If my hands looked like that, I probably would have bigger priorities than rambling on about sugar, carbs, and running every day. Amiright??)

Thus, my desire to make my own, homemade cinnamon rolls was born!

 I mean, if I start making homemade cinnamon rolls NOW, I will definitely be an expert in 10 years when we can finally afford kids who will most definitely want legit cinnamon rolls! 🙂

Just kidding. I can’t imagine waiting 10 years to have a little munchkin of my own. 

Maybe 3 years?

And kids aren’t THAT expensive, right???

Riiiighhhht.

Whoever you end up feeding these rolls to, you will undoubtedly receive pats on the back, high fives, squeals of delight, a few wet kisses, and perhaps a parade…Ferris Bueller style. 

I have always been a little hesitant to make anything that included “Active Dry Yeast”, “rising”, and “kneading” in the recipe, explaining why it has taken me a decade to make homemade cinnamon rolls.

Wow. SO easy. Like, tail between my legs for being such a scaredy pants this whole time easy.

And REAL! No sissy ingredients here, mister.

Excuse the red, wrinkly, skeletor hands. I didn’t want to put hand cream on before handling this dough…sick.

Slice ’em up!

Mmmm, cinnamon swirl 🙂

At this point, I decided to cover the cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and foil and refrigerate them overnight.

This dough may or may not have been made at 9:30 PM on Friday night. 

Yeah, the hubs was REALLY jazzed about spending his Friday night helping me make homemade cinnamon rolls.

Must be love.

Then, after waking up at 4:30 AM on Saturday to get my run on with Woodlands Fit, I came back home, showered, and popped these lovelies in the oven!

I also made a cream cheese icing that I completely drowned these babies in.

Why yes, I would like some warm, gooey, cinnamony dough with my icing. Thanks for asking.

Ummm, yeah. These are insane. Just sayin’.

Serious cinnamon rolls with a side of scrambled eggs and bacon for our delicious Saturday morning brunch!

Make these! And get your parade on! And love your life!

Serious Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough-

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
• 1 packet Active Dry Yeast (7 grams)
• 1/2 white sugar (divided into two 1/4 cup portions)
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt

Cinnamon Sugar Filling-

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

Icing-

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Directions: Beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until thoroughly combined.

Directions:

1. Pour warm milk into a medium sized bowl.
2. Add Active Dry Yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar to milk and let it sit for 10 minutes, or until foamy and bubbly.
3. Pour yeast mixture into bowl of electric standing mixer. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, eggs, melted butter, flour, and salt to yeast mixture.
4. With the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on medium speed until it turned into a ball shape. The dough should be a little bit sticky, but dry enough to handle, and firm. (Don’t overmix!)
5. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and then turn it off.
6. Place dough in a heat-proof bowl, cover bowl with a moist towel, and place in the oven (turned off!) for 1 hour. Dough should be doubled in size after resting in the warm oven for 1 hour.
7. Plop risen dough down onto a generously floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.
8. Spread 1/3 cup softened butter on top of dough. 
9. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over butter and pat down a bit.
10. Tightly roll dough, lenghthwise, and gently pinch the edges to secure the filling.
11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
12. With a serrated knife, mark dough log 11 times, then cut on the markings to make 12 cinnamon rolls.
13. Butter and flour a 13×9 baking dish or two 9 inch round baking dishes.
14. Place rolls into baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden on top (don’t overbake!)
15. While rolls are baking, prepare the icing.
16. Pour icing over the top of warm rolls and dig in!

*Note: Cinnamon roll dough can be refrigerated for up to two days if you are not planning on baking them immediately. After placing the rolls in the baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.

ENJOY!

Mastering The French Macaron

Last September, I ate my first macaron at Macaron Cafe in NYC and it was love at first bite.

Since then, I have been obsessed with these sweet little French treats.

SO obsessed, that my mom surprised me with a macaron recipe book a few months ago!

So I decided to try my hand at making a batch of these little gems for my dad’s birthday this past Sunday. 

Making these was a humble experience, to say the least.

I found out (very quickly) that macarons are fragile, temperamental, and have to be watched like a hawk once they go in to oven.

They say the hardest thing about making macarons is getting the “feet” right (the “feet” being the little crust on the bottom of each macaron).

I would say my “feet” look pretty good for being my first time making these guys! 

Good enough for me to bolt into the garage (where the Mr. was) yelling “THEY HAVE FEET!!! COME LOOK AT THEIR FEET!!!””

 I’m sure he was a bit disappointed to find delicate confections and not a wild animal.

Once they were cool, I filled them with a luscious vanilla buttercream!

I also sprinkled some organic cane sugar on top for a little sparkle.

These were pretty.darn.good. if I do say so myself 🙂

Yay for mastering the French macaron (sort of)!!!

A few of these sweeties cracked on the way to my dad’s birthday party, but all in all, they were a hit!

I highly recommend this recipe book for beginner macaron makers! After getting the basic recipe down, the flavor combinations are endless!

ENJOY!

Oreo Brownies with a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl

This past weekend, one of my co-workers decided to throw a pool party and BBQ at her house.

I immediately signed up to bring dessert, because…I mean, what else would I bring?? 🙂

Being my first pool party of the summer (and the fact that Texas has become AN OVEN ON BROIL this summer) it was no surprise that I found myself cannon-balling onto her pool after being there for about…mmmm… two and a half minutes.

I am also a 24 year old child, so cannonballs and that “dunking category” game are a must at all pool parties.

I also knew that I wanted to bring, not only the world’s best cannonball technique, but also a dessert that involved Oreos and peanut butter.

Why such a specific combination?

Because while I was at work the day before, I had a good 30-minute conversation with another co-worker of mine about the greatness that is Oreos dipped in peanut butter.

Yep, that’ll fuel your run, fo sho!

So, because of this mouth-watering convo, I officially had a craving.

 And here is what I did.

I made my normal fudge brownies and then poured the brownie batter into a large sheet cake pan.

The I mixed together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and an egg, poured that on top of the brownie batter and swirled it around with a knife.

I then took two sleeves of OREOS, crushed them up into large chunks, and sprinkles those crazy chunks on top of the batter.

Now THAT is a brownie, friends.

Oreo Brownies with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl

makes 36 brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie-

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 cups white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweeetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the peanut butter cream cheese swirl-

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Topping-

• 12 oz crushed Oreos (2 rows worth of cookies in an 18 oz package)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a large sheet cake pan or rimmed cookie sheet (I use this one).
3. For the brownies, mix together butter and sugar until creamy.
4. Add in eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
7. Gradually mix flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into baking pan.
10. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and egg until creamy.
11. Pour on top of brownie batter and swirl around with a butter knife (but try not to scratch the bottom of the pan!)
12. Sprinkle crushed Oreos on top of the brownies and pat down to secure them in the batter.
13. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes (for super soft brownies), rotating the pan at 20 minutes so that the brownies bake evenly.
14. Let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares.

ENJOY!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Blueberry Muffins

I really love cupcakes.

I also really love healthy things.

Muffins, to me, are cupcake’s healthy cousin.

I love my cousins.

Therefore, I really love muffins.

I also really love pumpkin.

I also love my sister and make pumpkin granola bars for her about twice a month.

I also make something else pumpkin-y twice a month, because my recipe for her granola bars uses half a can of pumpkin and I hate to waste the other half.

It usually gets dumped into a muffin batter, which is always a good thing.

My lovely mom also surprised me with a large container of fresh blueberries the other day (fresh blueberries > diamonds…in case you haven’t heard), so I HAD to dump these gems in there as well.

I was ALSO feeling wild and crazy and decided to experiment with molasses!

Note to self: Raw molasses does NOT smell OR taste like a fresh baked molasses cookie.

Don’t be like me and take a swig right outta the bottle.

Sick nasty.

But, molasses mixed with pumpkin, blueberries, sugar, flour, and eggs makes for a VERY delicious (and healthy!) muffin.

And after making those Brookies a few days ago, I felt the need to redeem myself and show my kitchen that I can make delicious things without using butter or oil. 

Done!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsp molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, and molasses together until creamy.
4. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
5. In a small bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and salt.
6. Gradually add flour mixture into pumpkin mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, until both the flour mixture and buttermilk are incorporated into the batter.
7. Fold in the blueberries.
8. Pour batter into 12 muffin cups (cups will be full!).
9. Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbsp sugar over the top of the batter.
10. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out fairly clean.
11. Let muffins cool in baking pan for 5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

ENJOY!

Better Brookies

I am so white.

Vampire white.

I should probably bake less and tan more.

Just kidding. Not happening.

Pale Baking > Less Baking

Ever since I saw these on my friend Amanda’s blog (she doesn’t know she’s my friend, but she is) I have had an insatiable craving for Brookies. 

In college, my friend Kate and I used to make Brookies at least once a week using Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and a box of brownie mix.

They were insane and the complete highlight of my week.

I’m not a big store-bought cookie dough or brownie mix person, but when their powers combined, it makes for a very nice little treat.

Well, I had some time on my hands, so I decided to make the cookie dough and the brownie from scratch.

I need to have time on my hands more often.

I have to be honest and say that these Brookies are just a tad better than my college day Brookies.

Behold the Mound ‘O Brookie!

Tad Better Brookies

Cookie Dough Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Brownie Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp espresso powder
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

To make cookie dough:

1. Cream together butter and sugars.
2. Mix in dry pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract.
3. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Gradually add flour mixture into butter mixture until barely incorporated (don’t overmix!).
5. Fold in white chocolate and butterscotch chips.
6. Butter and flour a 13×9 baking dish.
7. Press cookie dough into the bottom of the pan.

To make brownies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Mix in vanilla extract and eggs.
4. In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and espresso powder.
5. Gradually add cocoa mixture into butter mixture until barely incorporated (don’t overmix!).
6. Fold in dark chocolate chips.
7. Pour brownie batter over cookie dough.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a a few fudgy crumbles stuck to it.

Let Brookies cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

ENJOY with ice cream or milk or both!

Tremendous Twice Baked Potatoes

After returning home from Wedding-Palooza 2011, I found myself in a cooking slump. 

I wanted to make something different from my normal ho-hum oven roasted potatoes, steamed veggies, and protein of some kind, but I wasn’t in a big grocery shopping mood.

I had a bag full of russet potatoes left over from Easter and decided that I better use them up before they started to spoil.

I seriously love twice-baked potatoes and always gravitate towards them at restaurants and deli counters, but I always thought that they would be rather labor-intensive, so I never made them.

Now, are twice baked potatoes a little laborious? Yes.

Are they totally and completely worth it?? Absofreakinlutely.

First, wash and scrub 8 small or 4 jumbo russet potatoes.

Pat them dry and wrap in foil.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and throw (literally…I chunked these guys in there) the potatoes onto the oven rack.

Bake for 1 hour.

Let the potatoes cool completely.

I pierced this poor little soul to check for doneness.

Once the potatoes have reached room temp, unwrap and slice in half.

Apologies for the cheese explosion that took place on this plate before I snapped this picture. I was too lazy to grab a clean plate after grating the cheese for these guys.

I know better. Give me another chance.

Gently scrape the potato flesh from the skin.

And when I say gently, I mean gently. 

I had a few choice words for these potatoes after ripping through a few of the skins. Watch out.

Dump the potato flesh into a large bowl.

Place potato skins on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Potato flesh! 

Is the word “flesh” completely grossing you out at this point? I can’t decide if I like that word or not…

Definitely do not like the words fishy, clusters, supper, or panties. That is a FACT.

Mash it up!

Add melted butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, milk, salt, pepper, onion powder, & garlic powder to the mashed potatoes.

Mix it all around!

Using my handy dandy ice cream scooper, scoop the mashed potato mixture back into the potato skins.

Tada!

Sprinkle more cheese (and bacon bits if you like) on top of the potatoes.

I just used Hormel Bacon Bits, but freshly cooked and crumbled bacon would be insane. 

You should do that and tell me how it is. 

I’m lazy and use a $1,000 camera to photograph cheese explosion plates. 

Don’t be like me.

Bake at 350 for 20 min, or until heated thoroughly and the cheese is nice and melty.

These are SO SO SO delicious and totally customizable! You can add any veggies, meats, dressings, cheeses, or sauces to the mashed potato mixture to suite them to your taste. The combinations are endless!

I decided to sauté some veggies and venison sausage to pair with these guys. I also toasted up a random english muffin for a little carb-action. Super yum and CHEAP dinner! Booyah!

And since we are on the topic of fueling our bodies with high-carbohydratey items, guess what I just signed up for??? San Antonio Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon baby!!! This will be my second marathon and I am so excited! My stomach gets anxious just thinking about it! 

ALSO, I was reading in Competitor magazine the other day that The Woodlands is having it’s first annual The Woodlands Marathon in March 2012! You better believe I will be part of that race! It will be here before we know it!!!

Tremendous Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 8 small or 4 jumbo Russet potatoes
• 1/2 cup bacon pieces (plus more for topping, if desired)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and scrub potatoes, pat dry, and wrap in foil.
3. Place potatoes on oven rack and bake for 1 hour.
4. Allow potatoes to cool to room temperature.
5. Unwrap potatoes and slice in half, lengthwise.
6. Scrape out potato flesh, placing the flesh in a large bowl and placing the potato skins on a lightly greased baking sheet.
7. In a large bowl, mash the potato flesh until it is soft and fluffy.
8. Add bacon pieces, sour cream, milk, butter, seasonings, and 1/2 cup cheese to the mashed potato. Mix thoroughly.
9. Scoop potato mixture back into the potato skins.
10. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese (and more bacon pieces, if desired) on top of the potatoes.
11. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted and potatoes are heated through.

ENJOY!

Tuxedo Coconut Chippers

Brent and I had some friends come over for lunch the other day, and I decided that some cookies would make the perfect mid-day sweet treat.

I have been CRAVING chocolate chip cookies for some time now, so baking some of those immediately popped into my head. 

I also had coconut on hand, and well, that shiz gets dumped into practically everything I bake if we have it hanging around.

I also have a fondness for Tuxedo cookies, so I decided that Tuxedo Coconut Chippers sounded pretty delicious!

Some people like crispy cookies (crazies), but personally, I like my cookies super soft.

Like…potential salmonella poisoning-soft.

So I pull them out of the oven right as they start to turn golden on top. 

Just felt the need to give you a forewarning as you read the baking time below 🙂

But you just bake these babies until your heart’s content. I won’t judge you, you crazy crispy cookie lover you.

Tuxedo Coconut Chippers

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped (*optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy.
2. Mix in egg and beat thoroughly.
3. Mix in vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in two additions. Mix until barely incorporated.
6. In a small bowl, mix together coconut, chocolate chunks, and nuts.
7. Fold toppings into dough mixture.
8. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.*
9. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
10. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (or light grease with cooking spray).
11. Roll 2 Tablespoon’s worth of dough into a ball and place on cookie sheet.
12. Do this until you have 12 large cookie dough balls.
13. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (or…I dunno…20 minutes for crispy cookies?), or until lightly golden on top (or brown on top, if you’re going the crispy route).
14. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets before transferring to cooling rack.

*By refrigerating the cookie dough, the cookies will stay a little bit more rounded and won’t flatten out as much when baking. Also, it gives the vanilla extract the time to flavor the dough a little more, bringing out all of the other flavors. It is not necessary to refrigerate the dough, but it makes for a nice treat if you have the time!

ENJOY!

More Baking & More Burgers

I just noticed that most of my post titles say “burger” in them. 

Hmmmm, obsessed much?

Anywho, it has been GORGEOUS here in Houston the past few days! This morning I woke up, immediately threw on my running shoes, and bolted out the door determined to take advantage of this weather!

I never know how bad my knees are going to hurt me during my runs, but I successfully finished 6 miles with just a tiny bit of stiffness in my knees. So..not bad!

Brent did his fair share of working out in the form of yard work this morning (he’s a champ), but we were both still craving to be outside after our respective work-outs.

After some debate, we decided to grab dinner at Dry Creek Cafe in Houston.

Neither of us had ever been there before, but they are known for their burgers, so of course we had to try it out.

It’s a really cute, hippie-esque restaurant with a great patio for outside dining.

Not only do they have amazing burgers but they have amazing cupcakes as well.

Burgers and…cupcakes? 

I.am.home.

I opted for the veggie burger with a side of sweet potato fries.

 I was a little turned off once I learned that this was not a homemade veggie burger (I’m thinking Morningstar…maybe Boca) but it was still very good! It was jazzed up with an amazing lemon aoli, asadero cheese, and stuffed with lettuce, sprouts, red onion, cucumbers, avocado, fresh pickles, and tomato.

I ended up removing the red onion (blah!) and a few of the cucumber slices (meh) before practically licking my plate clean.

You know what is the worst feeling? 

I will tell you…it is devouring a giant veggie burger and copious amounts of sweet potato fries and then remembering…that there were cupcakes to be had.

Ugh. I was unfortunately way too full to pound back a cupcake. 

My insides already talk to me on a daily basis, but I feel like they would have had some choice words for me if I decided to throw a cupcake at them after this meal.

I mean…I’ll still probably have a scoop of ice cream later tonight…but at the time, there was no way.

So all in all, we thoroughly enjoyed Dry Creek and will be back for more burgers AND cupcakes very soon!

Ok, let’s backtrack.

Can I just share that I baked from 1:00 PM to 5:20 PM on Friday?

Yes, yes I did. And it was glorious.

My sweet friend, Tara, placed one of my first official Bluebird Bakery orders to be delivered on Friday, so I was a busy baking bee on Friday!

Tara and me on her wedding day!

We have been bff’s since 5th grade and now live about 30 minutes from each other…it’s total bliss.

96% of my memories that make me laugh until I cry involve the crazy shenanigans that we got into between the ages of 10-24. To be continued… 🙂

Her order consisted of:

Chocolate Fudge White Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter White Chocolate Frosting

(she got a whole cake, not just a slice 🙂 I just forgot to take a picture of the whole cake!)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

and Blueberry Streusel Muffins!

Excellent choices 🙂

I have always wanted to own my own bakery/coffeeshop and decided to go for it after Brent and I moved from Dallas to Houston this past December.

It will be called Bluebird Bakery!

I am still in the beginning stages of getting my product out there and researching start-up costs, bakery locations, etc., but I have started taking orders through my Bluebird Bakery Facebook page.

I am planning on doing a “Bluebird Bakery” info post tomorrow, but if you would like to learn more about it, please view our page on Facebook!

-back to veggie burgers-

Do you buy pre-packaged veggie burgers or make your own? If so, what brands/recipes do you like? 

I am interested to hear your likes and dislikes on veggie burgs 🙂 I’m a little obsessed with ordering them at restaurants but for some reason am a little disgusted at the thought of buying them pre-packaged. I feel like that would change, however, if I found a yummy pre-packed one or recipe. Thoughts?

Baby Brownies

My sister-in-law gave birth to her third precious little bambino this past Wednesday, so I made some super sweet brownies to celebrate the birth of super sweet baby Callie.

New babies are a great excuse to make brownies.

Especially brownies that are packed with all things wonderful and glorious, like chocolate, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, peanut butter M&Ms, chocolate chips, cream cheese frosting, and more peanut butter.

Yep. I went there.

Cream together butter, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Mix in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, sift (whisk) together flour, cocoa, and salt.

Gently mix cocoa mixture into butter mixture.

Fold in chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Baked goods with M&Ms make me happy.

Fold them in!

Butter and flour a 9×13 baking dish and pour in the batter.

This is the thickest brownie batter of all time, so it will require your assistance to spread around evenly in the pan.

Drop cream cheese frosting on top of the brownie batter by the spoonful.

Mmmmmm, lookin’ good…

Take a knife and swirl around cream cheese frosting until evenly spread out.

Swirl around until the top of your brownies look like the top of a skunk.

Or Cruella DeVille’s hair situation…you choose.

Bake at 350 degrees until the top looks like this! 

(I sprinkled a handful of chocolate chips on top after removing the brownies from the oven).

Let these cool on a cooling rack until they are completely…cool.

Cool?

While they are cooling, throw toys at your sleeping golden retriever and try to wake him from his slumber.

Mean. I know. He clearly hates his life.

His reaction to my toy-pelting was a big ‘ole stretch.

Fail.

Once the brownies are cool, cut them into squares (or rectangles), remove them from the pan, and place them back onto a cooling rack.

Place a baking sheet underneath the cooling rack.

You’ll want something the catch the peanut butter drizzles.

Melt about 1/3 cup peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 20 seconds.

Using a spoon or fork, dip into the melted peanut butter bowl and drizzle it over the top of the brownies.

Let the peanut butter set for about 5 minutes, then serve and eat!

Oh man. 

Mom taught me better than this.

These brownies are so wrong but oh so right.

 Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping sauce (not heated)
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, at room temp
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter M&Ms
• 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting ( I used leftover frosting from my coconut cupcakes, but store bought frosting will work also)
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (for sprinkling on top of the brownies while they are still hot)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter, melted (for drizzling)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a 9×13 baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, sugar, and vanilla.
4. Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, mixing thoroughly in between each addition.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powders, and salt.
6. Slowly mix half of flour mixture into butter mixture until flour is barely combined.
7. Slowly mix in other half of flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
8. Fold in chocolate chips and peanut butter M&Ms.
9. Pour batter into greased baking dish.
10. Drop cream cheese frosting, by the spoonful, over batter and swirl around with a knife until evenly spread out.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until cream cheese frosting is a light golden color.
12. Remove brownies from oven and place pan on a cooling rack.
13. While brownies are still hot, sprinkle 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips over the top.
14. Let brownies cool completely before cutting.
15. Once cut and cooled, place brownies on cooling rack and drizzle melted peanut butter over the top.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or lots and lots of milk!

ENJOY!

The Epic Cupcake Weekend

My sister is getting married on April 30th, so this past weekend, we celebrated her last few days of singleness with a super fun Bachelorette Party Extravaganza.

Of course, cupcakes were in order for the dessert.

I think all bachelorette parties need cupcakes.

Gigi’s “Miss Princess” cupcake

I was planning on making homemade cupcakes for the party but, in a last minute rush, decided to just order one and a half dozen Gigi’s Cupcakes to be picked up at 11:00 AM on Saturday.

Gigi’s “Wedding Cake” cupcake

So, our weekend cupcake tally begins with 16 Gigi’s cupcakes.

Now, around 1:00 on Saturday, my friend Laura called me and said that the SprinklesMobile was in downtown Houston for the day and that we needed to go hunt it down.

I was already in the area helping my sister prep for the Bachelorette Party Extravaganza, so we decided to take a break and join Laura, and her husband Scott, in tracking down this curious cupcake van.

Yes, there is an actual Sprinkles cupcake store in Houston…but getting cupcakes from a van is WAY more fun.

ESPECIALLY when you have to find that van in chaotic downtown Houston when a free Panic! At The Disco & Kings of Leon concert is going down.

Worth it.

So, after about 30 minutes of cupcake-van-stalking/trying to find parking, we finally reached our sugar-filled destination. 

And you know what we found? 

Not your normal Sprinkles cupcakes. 

Oh no. 

We found FREE Sprinkles cupcakes. 

TONS and TONS of FREE Sprinkles cupcakes!!!

The SprinklesMobile lady was about to close up shop van, so after giving us each a free cupcake, she reached behind the van counter and said, “Here, you can have ALL OF THE LEFTOVER CUPCAKES that I wasn’t able to give out” and proceeds to hand Laura’s husband a bag FULL of at least 26 individually-boxed cupcakes.

Oh, be still my heart.

Joy = 30 free Sprinkles cupcakes.

So, that means we are at 46 cupcakes for the weekend. 

Try to keep up.

That night, the Bachelorette party started around 6:30 with all of the girls meeting at my sister’s house.

One of the girls brought…cupcakes. 

24 candy-penis-topped cupcakes.

Alrighty.

16 Gigi’s + 30 Sprinkles + 24 Penis = 70 cupcakes

Mercy.

Oh no, the cupcake fun didn’t stop there.

After the Bachelorette Party fun, I returned home the following day to my husband, who informed me that his boss’s sister’s birthday was the following Monday and that she requested 1 dozen of my Vanilla Coconut cupcakes for the celebration.

 Feeling MORE than inspired from my Saturday cupcake encounters, I happily obliged this request.

I concluded The Epic Cupcake Weekend with a batch of Vanilla Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.

 The Epic Cupcake Weekend Tally Total = 16 Gigi’s + 30 Sprinkles + 24 Penis + 12 Coconut

82 CUPCAKES went through my paws this past weekend.

It was one for the books.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes):

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temp
• 1/2 cup whole milk, at room temp
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp butter flavoring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy.
3. Add in sugar and mix until fluffy (about 5 minutes).
4. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.
5. Add in flour and milk (alternating), beginning and ending with flour.
6. Mix in vanilla extract and butter flavoring until barely incorporated.
7. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liner and fill each cup 3/4th of the way full.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out fairly clean.
9. Let cupcakes cool in pan for 5 minutes, then place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients (frosting for 12 cupcakes):

• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temp
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:

1. Using a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together on high until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in vanilla extract.
3. In batches, slowly add in powdered sugar, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl.
4. Mix until fluffy and spreadable.
5. Frost cupcakes and top with shredded coconut.

ENJOY!