Cake Pops!

Sorry, no pictures for this one. :( I made them for a friend's birthday and they were gone super fast) Anyway, Cake Pops, as I'm sure you know, are the trending treat of the year. Luckily, they can be made without the sticks (even though pops are more fun).

Ingredients:
1/2 can cream cheese frosting (I'm sure homemade works wonderfully as well)
1 box strawberry cake mix (the birthday girl loved strawberry, but I give you permission to use other flavors)
1 package chocolate bark/chips


Directions:

1. Bake the cake according to directions for a 9x13 pan. Cool completely.
2. Crumble cooled cake into a large bowl with your hands.
3. Mix thoroughly with 1/2 can of frosting.
4. Roll mixture into quarter-size balls and lay on a cookie sheet.
5. Chill in freezer for about 2 hours.
6. Melt chocolate in microwave (or use double broiler) and roll balls in chocolate. Lay on wax paper until firm.
(Have fun with the decorating! There are examples of super cute seasonal pops all over Pinterest. Personally, I used the rest of the can of frosting in addition to the chocolate to make Neapolitan-type cake balls. Again, they were a big hit.)

Makes about 40-50.

Thanks to My Sweetest Dreams for the recipe, adapted from there.

Cuppa Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is amazing. All who differ speak now. *silence* However, who really wants a whole panful of it? (I refuse to ONLY have coffee cake with company.) BUT! Wait no longer! There's a recipe that serves one! (thanks again, Pinterest!) And, this recipe is so good, it COULD be served to company (and is easily doubled and divided among mugs for sleepovers). 

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg (completely optional; great without)
2 Tbsp sour cream (I was low on this particular type of dairy, so it worked fine with only one Tbsp)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (about)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a smallish mug, soften 1 tablespoon of butter in microwave for 10 seconds; not melted, just soft.
2. Stir in sugar until it's fluffy and creamy.
3. In a separate bowl, break egg, stir it up, and add to mug along with sour cream, vanilla, baking powder, and 1/4 cup of flour.
4. In another separate bowl, soften the second tablespoon of butter. Add 2 tablespoons of flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix with fingers a bit.
5. Make the mixture in the mug somewhat even and top with the cinnamon mixture.
6. Microwave for 1 minute, then continue in 10-second increments until done. (My microwave worked at 1 minute, 30 seconds)
7. LET COOL!!! (I made the mistake of digging right in, and it was too doughy. Let set for about 2 minutes to get a real coffee cake texture.)


Thanks to Prudent Baby for the recipe

Mush Apple Topping

This is one of those, "I want to make my apples more exciting.... What's in the cabinet?" situations. It turned out good enough to share with y'all, but it's definitely not pretty... Especially when it's not the professional-quality pictures I usually have. But it's great for kids: easy, tasty, and messy. :) I'm also proud of one of my first original recipes :D But there's definitely some necessary modifications (like I originally used 1/3 cup of milk because my 1/4 cup was dirty and it turned out too runny). Have fun with it and feel free to make substitutions. Please comment with suggestions! :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 apples, sliced
Cheerios (Honey Nut or Multigrain)

Directions:

Mix everything but Cheerios in a bowl. Spread over apple slices and top with Cheerios.
**Best on apples but can be used on other things as well, like pretzels or a spoon**

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

My Post-Lent-Midnight-Amazingness

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
16 oz milk chocolate candy coating (I'd also like to try dark chocolate coating)

Directions:

1. Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl on high speed until light and fluffy.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Add milk and vanilla to sugar mixture. Stir in dry ingredients with a spoon (or on low speed) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or more.
5. When dough is firm enough to handle, form dough into 1" balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes. (Before completing this step, make sure your baking sheet fits in your freezer. I had to use a cake pan instead.) 
6. Melt candy coating in microwave according to package directions. Using forks or dipping tool, dip cookie balls into candy coating and cover. Tap fork on side of bowl to remove any excess coating, and return to wax paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set (about 15-20 minutes).
Store chilled in airtight container for up to 1 week. Makes about 3 dozen, which is like 3 servings :)

Thanks to Love and Olive Oil, recipe adapted from that blog.

Onion Dip

So, here's my little blogger rant. I had some friends over so I could show off my cooking skills (I mean, who doesn't?). The chicken and mac & cheese turned out GREAT; recipes below. But I wanted to try out this chips & dip recipe I saw on food network. And the chips were baked, not fried, so they would be somewhat healthy, right? So I tried it the day of company. I  neglected to remember my awful knives and ended up cutting the potatoes very uneven. They came out like fries, not chips. As long as you call them potatoes, not chips, they were okaayyy... very peppery. Hey, you can't succeed every the time. Anyway, you can check out that recipe here. Perhaps you will have better luck than I. With that said, the onion dip turned out pretty good!

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons olive oil

2 small onions, minced (I used red onions because the original recipe didn't specify)

4 scallions, thinly sliced, greens and whites separated (KEEP BOTH GREENS AND WHITES!)

3 cups nonfat PLAIN yogurt (I almost got vanilla o: or you can use 2 1/2 cups Greek yogurt)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add onions and scallion whites. Cook, stirring often, until golden brown and soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

(I don't appreciate greasy veggies, so I "drained" them with a paper towel in a bowl to get rid of the excess oil. Also, the original recipe says to thicken the yogurt with a strainer lined with a paper towel for 20 minutes. The yogurt wouldn't go past the paper towel!! If it works for you, please let me know how!)

3. Combine onions with yogurt, mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and scallion greens and stir well to incorporate.

4. Chill for 1 hour or more to let flavors meld. Serve with veggies or potato chips. It went pretty well with my soggy potatoes, too!

Thanks to Ellie Krieger and Food Network for the recipe (doubled)