Crazy For Cobblers & Crumbles

Summertime calls for desserts that involve warm fruit topped with cold vanilla ice cream. That is a fact.

So in the past week, I have made TWO desserts that involve these two things…all for the sake of summer.

And my insatiable sweet tooth.

First, a crazy good peach cobbler!

Brent has more of a toddler-size sweet tooth and eats dessert with me about twice a month, but even he can’t resist dessert when it involves fresh peaches baked with buttery, sugary goodness and topped with heavenly Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla.

Then, in a last minute rush to provide a dessert for my mom’s July 4th celebration, I threw together this insanely delicious fruit crumble!

Sooooooo goooood

Time to jump on the yum train, people! 

Make these desserts! 

It’s summer and the fruit is too good to pass up!

Do it, do it!

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

For the peaches-

• 8 large peaches, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tsp cornstarch

For the topping-

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Mix together: 1/3 cup white sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the peaches.
3. Place peach mixture in a 9×13 baking dish (or 4 quart casserole dish).
4. Bake peaches for 20 minutes.
5. While peaches are baking, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
6. Cut chilled butter cubes into flour mixture with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
7. Stir in the boiling water until just combined.
8. Remove peaches from the oven, drop the doughy mixture on top of the peaches, and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture (1/3 cup sugar plus 2 tsp cinnamon) on top of the dough.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
10. Serve warm with ice cream.

Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together fruit, white sugar, and 3 Tbsp flour.
3. Place fruit mixture in a 9×13 baking dish.
4. Mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, and oats. Cut in chilled butter cubes with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.
5. Crumble this on top of the fruit.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until top is a light golden brown.
7. Serve warm with ice cream.

ENJOY!

July 4th on July 3rd and Another Obsession

July 3rd started as many days do, with some overnight oats and then a workout.

This time in an almost empty Crofters jar. 

So good.

After some gym time, I came home, ate brunch, and started peeling peaches for our delicious July 4th (on July 3rd) celebration dessert that we would enjoy later that night with some fabulous friends!

It LITERALLY took me 45 minutes to peel and slice 8 large peaches.

Is there a better way to do that other than peeling them with a knife and then slicing around the pit?!?

Ugh.

Anywho…TOTALLY worth the hassle because this cobbler was THE BOMB.

Never using canned peaches again, ever.

So, for the past 3 years, Brent and I have spent our July 4th holiday with some great friends of ours, Scott & Laura!

Laura, Scott, and I all went to Baylor together and had THE BEST times!

We have spent many holidays together (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Halloween…) and this will be our 3rd July 4th celebration all together!

Laura and I share a deep love for cupcakes and our puppy dogs and can talk about these two things for hours on end.

Scott and Brent are the same…except with beer and their smokin hot wives 🙂

Once arriving, we were greeted with warm hugs, the smell of a charcoal grill, and Skinny Girl margaritas!

This was my first Skinny Girl margarita and I must say that these are quite delicious for being “skinny”.

And I am a little obsessed with Bethenny Frankel and would probably buy anything that she thought was awesome.

Yep, I am in love.

Brent is the guac king, so he got to work on these perfectly ripe and creamy avocados while Laura and I talked about who we would rather be…Bethenny or Giada.

I think I could survive off of guacamole, tortilla chips, and Skinny Girl margaritas.

The spread!

My eats consisted of a delicious, juicy cheeseburger, some chips with guac, and two different types of potato salad.

I think the only thing nutritious about this plate is the avocado and the whole wheat bun…but that’s ok.

Gotta love holidays!

The evening continued on with more eating, chatting, laughing our patooties off, and some much needed pool time.

A hearty helping of peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream was enjoyed later on, that I of course forgot to take a picture of.

Dessert makes me completely forget that I am a food blogger, thus I almost ALWAYS dive in before snapping a picture.

However, I was better tonight and remembered to take a picture of an INSANE Fruit Crumble that I made today, for another July 4th celebration!

Peach Cobbler & Fruit Crumble recipes to come asap!

How was your July 4th today? Did you eat a fruity dessert??

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!

A Binkie For Baby BronBron

And hubs and I had the pleasure of hosting a luxurious hot dog dinner while watching the MAVS win The National Championship!!!

It is hard to put into words how elated I was watching my sweet little Mavericks bring it home.

Go.Mavs.

I threw health to the wind in honor of the Mavs and plated myself two delicious dogs for dinner: one topped with ketchup, mustard, cheddar cheese, and sweet relish; the other topped with chili, cheese, and mustard.

With a side of FuYuns and Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Chips.

I can’t remember the last time I had a hot dog and Funyuns.

Not as good as I remember, (I used to have a bag of FunYuns and a king size Zebra Cake for lunch almost every day in high school…oh yes) but not too shabby once in a blue moon.

We had my sister-in-law, Holly, her husband Kris, and their three kiddos (Abigail, Ethan, and Callie) over for dinner and to watch the game/feed my baby fever.

My Sweet Precious Holly Bear

Cutie Patootie Abigail

I love how she eats her hot dog like a corn on the cob…with a side of “cheese noodles” as she calls them. 🙂

Me holding sweet 8 week old baby Callie. 

I’ve been bitten…hard. I think I want one… 🙂

Holly and Snuggle Bunny Ethan. Too cute.

Brent and Ethan doing the mandatory rough-housing.

It’s way fun.

Tousled Hair  = A Really Fun Time 🙂

After hot dogs and watching the Mavs send the Heat home with their binkies, we dug into the Brookies that I made for dessert!

I heated these up in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then topped with two scoops Blue Bell ice cream (one scoop Homemade Vanilla and one scoop Fudge Nut Brownie).

Again…no words.

Recipe to come manana!

Did you guys watch the game??

The Butterscotch, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Brookie combo was super delish, but I am interested to hear what YOUR ideal Brookie flavor creation would be! Please share!!

Not Ok

Brent’s stomach issues are a bit more severe than we thought.

He woke up at around 2:45 this morning worse off than he was last night.

I heard him in the bathroom around 3:00, and when he came out, I asked if he was doing ok. 

He said, “No…I need to go to the ER.”

This was a big deal coming from the man who avoids anything hospital-related as much as possible.

So I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and we bolted out the door with the hopes of finding a 24-hour ER that wouldn’t cost us an arm and a leg.

I also forgot my glasses on the way out, so I am SURE someone thought I was a drunk driver from my half-blind driving skills.

We arrived at St. Luke’s Community Emergency Center around 3:30 AM and saw a doctor around 4:00 AM.

I feel like ANYTHING you do at this hour feels weird, but our little ER visit was somewhat strange in addition to the early morning hour.

Our doctor was a very tall and rather fit man with black hair that he had slicked back into a low pony. As he was talking to us about Brent’s food poisoning, he all of the sudden said, “Oh my..you’re not going to believe this!”

“Ummm…what?”

He proceeds to reach down to the floor with a paper towel in hand and returns to our eye level with the paper towel folded up in his hand and exclaims, “A TICK!”

“Ummm…gross. And random.”

He then proceeds to be completely focused on his new little blood-sucking friend, says “We need to exterminate him” and grabs the ear scope off of the wall and smashes the tick that is inside of the paper towel.

Crunch.

After our rather bizarre and interesting experience with the tick exterminator doctor, we left the exam room and headed to the front desk…bracing ourselves for the ER price tag.

Much to our surprise, we were bid fair well by a chipper front desk attendant saying “Ok, that will be all! Hope you feel better soon!”

I responded with, “Ummmm…sir, we haven’t paid yet.”

The man responded with, “Oh, all of the exams after midnight are FREE!”

Brent and I proceed to stare at the man in silent disbelief for a good 10 seconds.

Me: Ummm…what?

Of course, I instantly become skeptical…and the fact that I watch way too much Dexter does not help…but we confirmed with the man that we did not owe anything and headed for Walgreens to fill Brent’s prescriptions for 2 different antibiotics.

We arrived home around 6:00 AM and crashed.

I woke up around 9:45 AM…Brent around 11:00 AM.

While I was waiting for my french press coffee to finish steeping, I wrote the hubs a note on our Write Plate.

This is my preferred canvas of random communication between the hubs and me.

After waking up a bit, the hubs forced down a small gala apple and some gatorade and played on his PS3 while I took pictures of him.

The sacrifices he makes for my little blog…

Nova was very concerned about our early morning exit for the ER.

But still thought that 3:30 AM was the perfect time for some “hey mom, try to get my big red squeaky iguana from me” action.

Alright, one throw, but then I have to take your daddy to the ER…

Nova is insatiable when it comes to playtime.

Photo courtesy of Kevin & Amanda blog

You know what is also insatiable??? My sweet tooth (as if you didn’t already know that…)

While I was browsing my normal blogs this morning, I came across this tower of utterly delicious insanity and realized that I HAVE TO MAKE IT as soon as the hubs is able to look at normal food without having to make a beeline for the toilet.

I can literally feel my taste buds perk up every time I look at this picture. 

I am the epitome of Pavlov’s dog…I realize this.

I also have a special place in my heart for Oreos, but I tend to actually favor Newman’s Own Newman O’s. They contain no partially hydrogenated oils and no trans-fatty acids, and I think they taste much better.

They also come in Peanut Butter flavor, which would make this dessert situation even more delectable…if that is even possible.

Does anyone have any fun plans for the weekend? 

My plans are to work, take care of my sickly husband, and hopefully bake.

Anyone else planning on baking anything???

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!

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Brunch Cake

Don’t you just love the words “brunch” and “cake” in the same sentence?

And chocolate. I believe that chocolate is totally acceptable after 10 AM.

You want to know a secret? 

I have a mini KitKat bar everyday at 10:30 AM. Yep. I keep those babies STOCKED.

Most mornings, I have my normal oatmeal or toast with fruit, but I believe that it is completely fine to indulge in the occasional dessert-y breakfast.

Because, let’s face it. Cinnamon rolls, muffins, coffee cakes, doughnuts, waffles, pancakes, etc. are all amazing and are all dessert-quality. 

I’m not sure who started the dessert for breakfast trend, but I think it’s great. 

Especially on lazy Saturday mornings.

Lazy, syrup-soaked Saturday mornings.

So I made this brunch-y cake in honor of all lazy, syrup-soaked, sugar-induced Saturday mornings.

It’s really good and reminds me of a cinnamon roll. 

In cake form. 

With chocolate chips in the center and chocolate frosting on the top. 

Yes?

You will need the above and below ingredients.

And I need you to pretend that there is 3/4 cup room temp whole milk in this measuring cup, mk?

I poured before snapping a pic.

I feel confident in saying that this cake is more brunch-y than dessert-y because we had it for…dessert…last night, and although very delightful, did not provide that rich dessert taste that I was looking for.

I feel like this cake is perfect for the person who can totally justify eating a cinnamon roll or streusel topped muffin for breakfast but can’t justify birthday cake for breakfast.

I know, this makes no sense but SO MUCH SENSE.

I think some people call that denial. 

I like to call it Selective Saturday Sugar.

Best cinnamon roll EVER? Tough Cookie Bakery’s vegan cinnamon roll, easy.

It can be found in various cafes and coffee shops in the Dallas and Austin areas, but while living in Dallas, Brent and I always enjoyed ours at Crooked Tree CoffeeHouse.

With a Toffee Nut Latte.

Drool.

Now, I HAVE experienced The Cinnabon. 

Whoa, that was totally an “I am my mother’s daughter” moment. 

My mom puts “The” before most retail locations…THE Target, THE Walmart, THE yogurt shop…

Ok sorry, back to Cinnabon.

Cinnabon cinnamon rolls are good. Dang good. 

But Tough Cookie is better. Way. Like totally way. Like go get one now, bro.

I don’t really talk like that.

I would say out of all dessert-for-breakfast items, I dig cinnamon rolls the most.

Brent usually goes for peanut butter topped, syrup-soaked waffles and a small cup of milk.

Do you pronounce it MILK or MELK?

I can’t stand it when people say MELK. 

Yeah, I went there.

Ok, I’m sorry if you say MELK. 

That was rude of me.

You can say MELK, I will tolerate it.

But seriously, stop that.

Wow, there are lots of pictures in this post. I just realized how many I included. 

I don’t think I have enough things to say in between each picture. 

Hallelujah, right? 

I’ll stop rambling on and just proceed with the cake.

Sprinkle cinnamon, sugar, espresso powder goodness over the chocolate chips.

Pour batter over the goodness.

Makes sure it reaches the edge of the cake.

Bake it until it looks like so…

Try not to plunge your knife into this cake TWICE like I did to check for doneness.

I did it for you.

Just pull the cake out of the oven when it is similar in color and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Or please use a toothpick to check for doneness. Not a big ass butter knife. Thanks.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out of the pan with the parchment still intact.

Remove the parchment and continue to cool while you make the frosting.

See? Giant cinnamon roll cake!

Place chocolate chips and butter in a heatproof bowl, or a double boiler.

Meet Percy, my super classy homemade double boiler situation.

Place bowl over a pot of simmering water and melt chocolate and butter together, stirring constantly so the chocolate doesn’t burn.

Remove bowl from heat once the chocolate and butter are completely melted.

Mmmmm, Percy makes yummy frostings…

Plop that frosting on top of a cooled cake.

It’s ok if the frosting is still a little warm from Percy.

Spread.

Decorate top of cake with whatever your heart’s desire. I used pecans because it was what I already had on hand, but I think hazelnuts would have been spectacular.

Yay for Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Brunch Cake in honor of all Selective Sugar-Induced Syrup-Soaked Lazy Saturday Mornings!

I think I need to work on shortening my titles.

I also think you should make this cake.

And enjoy it with coffee, milk, or even chocolate milk.

And if you want to eat it for dessert instead, you totally should.

Just add ice cream…and maybe some butterscotch chips.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Brunch Cake

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk, room temp
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp sugar (preferably brown sugar, but white sugar works great too)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into large chunks

Directions:

1. Butter an 8″ round cake pan. Place parchment paper down into pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, sift together dry cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
5. Gently whisk egg mixture into flour mixture until barely combined.
6. Gently fold melted butter into cake batter until smooth.
7. Pour half of cake batter into pan.
8. In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for the center of the cake except the chocolate chips.
9. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of batter. Sprinkle cinnamon, sugar, espresso powder mixture over the top of the chocolate chips.
10. Pour remaining batter into the cake pan on top of cinnamon mixture.
11. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and slightly pulling away from sides of pan.
12. Cool in pan for 15 minutes.
13. Remove cake from pan with using parchment paper and allow to cool on a wire rack while you prepare frosting.
14. Remove parchment before frosting… 🙂

To prepare frosting:

1. Bring about 1 1/2 cups water to a simmer.
2. Place chocolate chips and butter in heatproof bowl and place bowl on top of simmering water.
3. Stir chocolate and butter together over heat until smooth.
4. Frost the top of cooled cake and decorate with desired ingredients.

ENJOY!

Bridal Love

This past Saturday was Hannah’s (my lovely sister) bridal shower. 

She’s getting married on April 30th!

I think I had more fun at this shower than I did at my own 🙂

It was held at my grandmother’s house, where most of our big family events take place.

I love this tradition.

Nobody hosts like grandma.

I was in charge of food for the shower…because I’m obsessed with all things food…so this made sense.

I tried to incorporate all of Hannah’s favorite foods in the menu.

The Bridal Shower Luncheon Menu

Veggie Platter with dip

Fruit Bowl

Mediterranean Pasta Salad (recipe to come!)

Chicken Salad on Potato Rolls

Peanut Butter Honey Banana Sandwiches

Cupcakes

Banana Pudding

I seriously loved every second of preparing the food for this shin-dig.

I think I see a catering company in my future 🙂

Bubble Favors 🙂 Who doesn’t love a cute bubble bottle?

Me and the Bride to Be

We love our Grandma

Mom and Hannah…aren’t they just the loveliest?!?

I made these invitations for the shower. It’s amazing how much money you can save by printing your own! I found these at Michaels, bought them, went home and downloaded the template online, typed in the shower info, printed, assembled, mailed, and saved about a billion dollars.

If you think saving money is cool, you should do this.

ChaChing.

Nanner Poodin’

Funny story…well, I laugh about it now but it was SO not funny when it happened. But as I was making this pudding, I was being VERY meticulous in spreading out the layers, making sure the Nillas stayed in place and the banana pudding/whipped cream ratio was perfect. 

It.looked.amazing. 

So as I stepped back to observe my incredible trifling abilites, I noticed my lovely little banana slices still piled up on my cutting board, just sitting there on the counter next to the trifle bowl…laughing at me for forgetting to put them into my BANANA pudding.

Awesometown.

So I had to strategically oil-drill down each banana slice with a spoon through the top of the pudding bowl, doing my best to not COMPLETELY mess up my layering job.

It didn’t look as good as I had hoped, but it was still delish 🙂

I was going to make cupcakes, but then decided it would be easier to just order them from Hannah’s favorite cupcake place in Houston called Sugarbaby’s.

Second best cupcake ever next to Crumbs in NYC. 

But Sugarbaby’s has the best customer service ever ever ever.

Go here and inhale lots and lots of cupcakes.

We had an assortment of cupcake flavors. 

I dined on the delicious and icing-heavy (joy!) strawberry cupcake with strawberry frosting.

Hallelujah.

The bride opening her fabulous gifts!

I gave her a super cute apron, oven mitt, and hand towel set from Anthro.

She’s wearing it in this pic as she tells a very intriguing story about the importance of “kitchen outfits”.

That’s me in the corner…intrigued.

I also made these cute favor bags filled with Hannah’s favorite candies: 

Plain M&Ms 

( I call these “normal M&Ms”, because they are boring…no offense Hannah) 

&

Starburst Jelly Beans 

(which are like a party)

So all in all, I think the shower was a super fun success. 

I loved being able to serve my sister and future bro-in-law in this way and am so excited to see her walk down that aisle on April 30th!

Congrats Hannah and Alex!

Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache

Since Brent was out of town this last weekend, my sister came over on Saturday for a sister date at my house.

As mentioned in the previous post, we are both brownie lovers. 

Extreme brownie lovers.

So I decided to make a Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache.

This was so good, it hurt a little bit.

Ya know what else hurts a little bit? Pavement. Pavement hurts a little bit.

Why do I know this?

Because yesterday, I was walking my sweet giant little 14 month old golden retriever, Nova.

While walking him, I looked down at my phone to check an email in the exact moment that Nova saw a squirrel.

Nova went for it.

Before I knew it, I was SUPERMANNING through the air and proceeded to be dragged by my sweet little punkin head down the oh so lovely pavement road.

It’s ok, It’s ok. It was nothing a Double Chocolate Brownie Torte with Butterscotch Ganache and a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream couldn’t fix.

Later on, however, I did have a bit of anxiety that someone was filming me and I would end up on YouTube, like this lady.

It wouldn’t surprise me. I.FLEW.

Now, I made a little bit more butterscotch ganache than I needed. 

So what do you do when you have more butterscotch ganache than you actually need?

You close your eyes and keep pouring.

Oopsies.

The thought of not using all of this right then and there was inconceivablish…

I told you, I just can’t be trusted. Don’t be like me.

Unless you like delicious things…then be like me.

So whether or not you get dragged by your 90 lb baby-triever down a lovely paved road today, you should still make this.

Double Chocolate Brownie Torte

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temp
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (semi sweet will work too)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
3. Mix together butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixed thoroughly.
5. In a separate medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
6. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until barely combined.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. You will want the center to still be a little bit gooey.
9. Cool for 10 minutes in pan.
10. Remove from pan, place on a large serving platter, and pour warm Butterscotch Ganache over the top.

Butterscotch Ganache

Ingredients:

• 6 oz butterscotch chips
• 6 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter over medium heat until just before the boiling stage.
2. Place butterscotch morsels in a heat resistant bowl and pour hot cream/butter over morsels.
3. Let sit for 15 seconds, then stir until smooth.
4. Pour over torte.

Serve with ice cream!

The Very Best Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Some new friends of ours asked us over for dinner the other night. Of course, I asked if we could bring anything. They said that everything was covered but that we could bring a dessert if we wanted one.

Ummmm, yes. We ( I ) want one.

So I made this…cake. 

It’s a chocolate cake.

It’s a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream frosting.

It’s a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream frosting and white chocolate chips.

O.M.G. this thing is good. Deadly good. And crazy easy.

I would pay good money for a slice of this bad boy at any restaurant.

I kind of want to keep this recipe all to myself.

But mom taught me to share.

So here we go.

The Very Best Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

• 1 box devils food cake mix
• 1 small box Jello instant chocolate pudding mix (not the sugar free kind!)
• 1 cup sour cream (normal, not light!)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together dry cake mix with dry pudding mix to break up any lumps.
4. Add everything but the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients.
5. Mix well. 
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and briefly remix.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Pour batter evenly into two 9 inch round cake pans.
9. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs on it.
10. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and place on wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 4 Tbsp whole milk
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Beat together peanut butter and butter until fluffy.
2. Gradually mix in sugar.
3. When frosting starts to thicken, add in 1 Tbsp milk. 
4. Alternate adding in sugar and milk.
5. Once all of the sugar and milk is added, beat frosting on high for 3-4 minutes until it is fluffy and spreadable.
6. Frost cake.
7. Sprinkle white chocolate chips on top and/or sides of cake.
8. Refrigerate cake until about 30 minutes before serving.
9. Cover and store at room temperature or in refrigerator.

Serve with ice cream. Or lots and lots of milk. Or both.

And maybe some Oreos. Just in case things get crazy.

Welcome to YumTown.