Lemon Drop Cupcakes!

Had someone place a cupcake order and told me to make whatever flavor I want!  Well, with all this snow, I decided to go for a more summery/sunny option!  LEMON!  These are pucker-up delicious!!!  Just the right amount of sweet and tart, and oh so lemony. . .and as an added bonus:  I used a cake mix!  What can I say, I was in a hurry and I just doctored it up a bit!  

Lemon Drop Cupcakes!

CAKE: 
1 box White Cake Mix
1 cup lemonade
zest of two lemons
juice of two lemons
1/3 cup oil
4 egg whites

1.  Mix together lemonade, lemon juice, lemon zest, oil, and egg whites.

2.  Stir in cake mix until thoroughly incorporated.

3.  Scoop batter into 24 cupcake liners and bake at 350 for about 22 minutes.  Cool Completely.

LEMON BUTTERCREAM:
1 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar
zest from one lemon
juice from two lemons
milk (enough to get desired consistency)

1.  Cream together butter and shortening.

2.  Slowly add in about half the powdered sugar.

3.  Mix in lemon zest, and lemon juice and whip the daylights out of it!

4.  This last part is all about your taste:  add in however much more powdered sugar or milk to get the desired taste or consistency you like.  I like my buttercreams a bit fluffy and airy so I whip it a lot, and use most of the sugar.  I usually add enough milk to make it light!

5.  Tint with food coloring if you wish, and frost cupcakes!

Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

Who doesn't love Monster Cookies?  It's the best of  all things baked. . .chocolate, peanut butter, creamy, crunchy, delicious!  I found a recipe for something similar to this on the "Something Swanky" blog and had to give it a try!!!  I used her exact recipe for the cake portion. . .but made my own frosting.   

They are amazing. . . especially if you're really looking for that peanut butter flavor!  When I was done making these there was about a cup of leftover Cookie Dough Frosting. . .and I had to throw it away.  Because I knew. . .that if left in a container in the refrigerator, that stuff didn't stand a chance!  Sure, I could have put it in the fridge and walked away. . . for about five minutes. . .but I'd be back.  And so would my kids.  As if having 30 of these babies sitting on my kitchen counter isn't tempting enough, the last thing I need is a giant container of "leftover goodness" calling my name from the fridge!  As I was throwing it away, it was like watching a horror movie in slow motion.  All three of my kids came at me crying :

"""NNNNNnnnnnnooooooooOOOoo!!!!!!!!  Don't do it!!!!!  We'll eeaaatttt ittttt!!!!!"  

That's my worry exactly!  You can pace yourself and eat just one cupcake. . . but given the opportunity to grab a spoon and go for it, there's just no stopping! 

These sweet little cakes will be brought to my church small group tonight, and hopefully devoured! 


Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
2/3 cup milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  Cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugar. 

2.  Add in eggs one at a time until well incorporated. 

3.  Mix together your flour and baking powder.  Add it alternately with the milk. 

4.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

5.  Scoop into cupcake liners (this batch makes about 30 cupcakes) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.  Cool Completely and frost!

Monster Cookie Dough Frosting:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 c. Butter, softened
3/4 c. Peanut Butter
3 1/2 c. Powdered Sugar (even more if you really want it thick)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Flour
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
Milk (enough to get desired consistency) 
2 c. Oats (more or less depending on desired texture)
1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
1 cup Mini Reese's Pieces
1 cup Mini M&M's

1.  Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and peanut  butter.

2.   Add in the powdered sugar, brown sugar, and flour.  Mixture will be thick! 

3.  Mix in vanilla, and add enough milk to get desired consistency.  (I like mine right between cookie dough and frosting!) 

4.  Mix in oats and candies and top each cupcake with a big old scoop of "cookie dough!"

Cheesy Spaghetti Pie!

I don't know how you roll at your house, but at mine, we are all big fans of a lot of the shows on Food Network!  Our favorites are The Pioneer Woman, which Ava and I watch together EVERY Saturday morning, Trisha's Southern Kitchen, which we always watch AFTER The Pioneer Woman, and The Best Thing I Ever Made/Ate! 

On one of our lazy Saturday mornings, Ava and I were watching The Best Thing I Ever Made and the topic for this episode was ChEeSE!  One of the chefs said that he made this recipe for his family for years, it's inexpensive, takes only about 20 minutes to make, and it's simple!  Well, for weeks we kept this episode on our DVR, but never made this cheesy recipe.  (Ava and I have this thing that if EVERY recipe in an episode looks good to both of us, we pick one to try to make at home. . .and this was her pick.)  Ava really wanted me to try to make it, so tonight for dinner. . . I tackled it!  I tried to make it just like Marc Murphy. . .but ended up making a few substitutions based on what I had on hand at home.  The original recipe is here, but I'll post it the way I made it!

As far as my official "review" goes. . .it was good.  Not great, not a life changing recipe, nothing that brought me to tears of enjoyment, just good.  I mean essentially it's pasta and cheese. . .how can you go wrong?   I guess what makes it "special" is the crispy, crusty, outer edges of the pie.  That part. . .was  just a pinch life-changing.  Who knew pasta could have such a tasty texture!  I guess, if you're a mac and cheese fan this is right up your alley!  It's our of the "box" and a little bit different.  Pair it with some fresh veggies or a salad and dinner is complete!  This was a good "Meatless Monday" option and I'm sure I'll make it again!

 Cheesy Spaghetti Pie

1 lb of cooked spaghetti noodles (I used thin spaghetti) cooled to room temp.
4 eggs
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
6 slices of American cheese
olive oil

1.  Toss together the eggs, parm, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese with some salt and pepper.  I just do this to taste.  We happen to prefer a LOT of pepper around here. 

2.  Toss noodles with egg/cheese mixture.  Here's where it gets just a little gross. . .its' really hard to do this with a spoon or utensil. . . so I washed up and used my hands!

3.  Over medium heat, heat about two TBSP of oil in a large SKILLET (this is not baked, all done on the stovetop!)  Toss in about half of the noodles. 

4.  Top noodles with the six slices of cheese.  Just layer or arrange them to cover most of the noodles. 

5.  Add the rest of the noodle mixture to the top.  Keeping heat medium/high cook it in the skillet for about 6 minutes.  Here's the tricky part:  you have to flip it over.  There is a method to this!  I cover the skillet with a plate, and turn the pasta out onto the plate. . .then put the pasta (uncooked side down) back into the pan and cook for another 6 minutes!  When it's done, just turn it onto a plate again!  Let it cool for about then minutes and then use a serrated knife to cut it into wedges!

 See!  It's just like a pie!  A great, big, cheesy, noodley, pie!  Cut it up, plate it up, serve it up, and enjoy!

Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls!

Let me start by saying, that the whole world seems to be on a "Funfetti" kick.  Funfetti cake, Funfetti pancakes, Funfetti ice cream, Funfetti puppy chow, . . .and now. . . Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls.  Why not right?! 

So I have this little routine I do every night.  Before I go to sleep, I always do two thing:  browse Pinterest, and then read the Good Book.  Can you think of a better way to end the day?  Inspiring Ideas followed by the Word of God?  I think not! 

Well, a while back I came across this recipe on the "Six Sister's Stuff" blog and HAD TO MAKE IT!!!!  The only substitution I made was I used Funfetti Cake Mix. . . because I have two little girls who absolutely adore all things sparkly and fun. . and the closest things to sparkles in your food, is of course, sprinkles in your food!  I had to go a little further though. . .and add in another whole container of sprinkles! 

Yeah. . . they were pretty delicious.  It made a rather large batch though. . .so we had some lovely friends who were gifted with a pan of 9 rolls as well!  The texture isn't your typical gooey bread consistency, and it's not really like cake either.  It's right in between.  Just where it should be.  I'm sad to say that I didn't get a picture of these with the frosting on top (and of course MORE sprinkles)  but I was able to snap a quick pick when they came out of the oven!

Now the recipe on the Six Sister's Blog calls for a CAN of cream cheese frosting.  .  . but that stuff don't fly in this house!  I made homemade cream cheese frosting, and there's no comparison to anything you can buy in a can:  and I should admit, that when you make it at home the batch of frosting you get is rather large, so you can freely slather that goodness on nice and thick! 

Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls!

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Rolls:
1 box of white or yellow cake mix
2 packages of active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups of warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour

Filling:
2 cups brown sugar
Cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

1.  Mix yeast and warm water until dissolved.  

 

2.  Combine cake mix, salt and flour in a large bowl.  

 

3.  Add warm water/yeast mixture and vanilla to cake mix, salt and flour mixture.  Mix well.  This may require kneading with your hands a bit to completely combine ingredients.  UNLESS you have a nice big Kitchenaid mixer. . . then it will gladly do the work for you! 

 

4.  Cover tightly.  Let rise for one hour.  Punch down and let rise again for another 30-60 minutes.

5.  On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle shape, approx 1/4″ thick.  

 

6.  Once dough is rolled out, brush with softened butter.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Sprinkle with cinnamon – use as little or as much as you like. 

 

7.   Starting at end opposite from you, roll the dough towards you until all dough is rolled into one long piece.  Slice dough into 24 equal sized pieces.

8.  Place rolls in two greased 9×13 pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.  I usually sit my rolls on my stove top while my oven preheats to 350 degrees.  This allows them time to rise and provides a bit of warmth from the oven warming.  

 

9.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.  

 

10.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  If you prefer your frosting to melt into your rolls, frost after rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes.  If you prefer your frosting to stay on top of your rolls, wait until rolls have cooled until frosting.  With all that cream cheese frosting I made. . .I frosted once when warm. . .and then did a follow up layer of delicousness!