5th of July

Since we had a major storm July 4th, the Murray fireworks were postponed until July 5th. I love anything that makes the holidays last longer, so it was okay with me! :) I also decided to wait until the 5th to make my 4th of July goodies! These were soooo soooooooo good! I can't even tell you how great they were. I didn't actually try any of the apple (and just fyi: the apple were supposed to be blueberry, in keeping with the red, white, & blue theme, but neither of us would have eaten them so I opted for apple instead--Matt's favorite.) but the cherry ones were so insanely good I made them again the next day because we ate them all!!

I made the pie crust from scratch which realllly isn't hard to do AT ALL--especially with these instructions. I LOVE this website because they are so great at explaining things and making things seem so simple (and they ARE!).

Now, onto the goodies! :) First off, like I said earlier, I really suggest making your own pie crust. It's not as hard as you think and I've literally made it three times since I made it the first time. And that was only 4 days ago!! Get yourself some butter-flavored shortening and have a ball! The ladies over at Our Best Bites have a GREAT tutorial for a really awesome, easy, and basically fool proof pie crust. Please try it out!

Secondly, the first time around, I made all of the tops stars for the 4th... errr, 5th... of July. The second time around, my creativity got the best of me and I couldn't wait to do something else with them. Something cute, fun, and awesome. Well, as you can see, they didn't turn out as well. Matt suggested that I try to lattice some of them like a regular pie. These were really cute--but SUPER time consuming. Cutting out mini-circles, cutting those circles into strips, dipping each strip (one. at. a. time.) into butter, then into sugar, then finally getting onto the mini-pie. Then, trying to pull every other strip back without getting red cherry sauce all over your fingers, going to wash your fingers because you're too OCD to get the strips all cherry-fied, and repeating all over again and again. Not fun. But very cute. So you might want to try it. Once. Then you'll see. :) A couple other things I tried were hearts (these worked great--just as good as the stars), letters (A for Ashlee, M for Matthew, etc. These worked, but not the best. They were kind of too big.) and then my wonderful helper decided he just wanted to get them done as fast as he could so he just balled up dough, dipped it in butter and sugar (he even threw some cinnamon in there. Props for that one.) and threw it on top. Those are the ugly ones you'll see in the pictures. Not mine. His. Not mine. Just so everyone knows.

And without further ado... here's the link to the recipe and the pictures I took of mine. She explains it a lot better than I ever could. And has good pictures. :) Enjoy!

Star-Studded Mini Pies

Apple-filled

Cherry-filled (yum!)

Close-up of one of the stars

The random ones we did.

Close-up of the lattice ones. Cute, huh?

Don't Get Used To This!!

I know, I know! Three posts in three days!! Crazy, huh? :)

I bought some bananas the other day knowing that a few of them would get mushy so I could make these. I stumbled across this recipe on FoodGawker (LOVE this site!! SO much inspiration!!) and couldn't wait to try it out! It's the perfect recipe for mushy bananas--so often we just make banana bread and call it a day. But next time you're in the mushy banana pickle, make these! I promise you won't regret it!!

I changed the recipe up a little (my version is the one seen below) because I was out of oatmeal. I just omitted that, then upped the flour a little. These were amazing! Different from your average (but still amazing!) chocolate chip cookie, yet also different from your average banana bread... I swear these cookies taste just like banana bread-in cookie form-plus chocolate chips. Tell me your mouth's not watering just thinking about it!

I took some pictures, but they basically look just like chocolate chip cookies so there's nothing special there. And I don't feel like getting up to get my camera to upload them. I ate so many of these cookies, I'm just plain lazy at the moment. :) But here's the recipe for you all to enjoy. Let me know if you try it!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
original recipe found here.

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe banana (two good-sized bananas)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add half the flour mixture, mix, and then add the banana and mix. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop tablespoon-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies (mine made a whole lot less, because I like to make huge cookies!! But make yours the size you like--either way, they'll taste great! Just watch them in the oven to make sure they don't burn!)

As Promised...

A recipe you don't have to turn on any appliances to make--not even the microwave! SUPER easy--and fun because you get to get messy! :) I'm sure for you non-messy types, you could use a spoon, but it's much more fun this way! These would be great to make with the kiddos, or even as a fun date night with your man (or woman!). And, by the way, they taste great!

"What are they?" you ask?? No-Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls. They channel those glorious no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, but aren't exactly like them. For one, they're in ball form and covered in powdered sugar. Also, as I stated earlier, you don't cook them--with the no-bake cookies, you boil all the ingredients on the stove before you add in the oatmeal. With these, you just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mush together with your hands, shape them into balls, and roll in powdered sugar. Easy as that! I've kept mine in the fridge ever since and they're still good today. I like them cold. I'm not sure how they would work being kept out of the fridge-I know they would melt in my apartment so I'm not even going to try! Let me know how you like them!

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened (definitely make sure it's soft, or you won't be able to squish it all together!)
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, combine the oats, sugar and cocoa. With clean hands, mix in the water, vanilla, butter and peanut butter to form a dough. Wash hands, then roll the dough into balls 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Roll balls in confectioners' sugar until thickly coated. (Obviously I wasn't too good at this part! Haha!) Chill 20 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cheeseball

This one comes from my mom. :) It's one of those party foods you only have once a year or so, but it's soooo good you wish you had it every week! :) I was eating an oreo tonight (just the chocolate part-I hate the cream filling. I know, I know... shoot me.) And the chocolate cookie part reminded me so much of eating this cheeseball because that's what you use to eat it, chocolate graham crackers. So, I decided to go to the store and get the stuff I needed to make it. It's super easy-the only hard part is waiting for it to 'harden' in the fridge. But it's well worth the wait. Another thing--if you can find them, the chocolate graham cracker sticks are the perfect things to eat this with. They're harder to find these days, though, so I just got plain old chocolate graham crackers. You eat this like you would a normal cheeseball with crackers, this is just a dessert one. Oh, and one last important thing: USE. REAL. BUTTER!! It won't set up right if you don't. Believe me, the first time I made this I was in the dorms and they sold "butter" at the little grocery store on campus. Since I could use my meal plan to get it and not spend any of my own money, of course that's what I did. Didn't work. Still tasted good, but definitely didn't ball up like it should have. Sorry for no pictures again. I'm bad at remembering to take them and I don't have all the pretty plates or the best lighting to take them in, especially since I usually bake late at night! Just imagine a ball of cheesecake, with mini-chocolate chips in it, covered in nuts. :) YUMMY! Let me know if you try it!

Chocolate Chip Cheeseball

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter (no substitutes), softened
¼ tsp. vanilla
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup finely chopped pecans
1 box chocolate graham cracker sticks

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars; beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Place mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans. Serve with graham crackers.

Strawberry Pops

Let me start out by saying that Martha Stewart usually does not have my vote when it comes to recipes. I'm sure they are wonderful and tasty, but they almost always have random crazy ingredients that no normal person has in their pantry, or use some long, drawn out cooking method for no good reason and I'm just not into all that craziness. This recipe is the complete opposite. If you're looking for an easy, healthy, summer treat, these Strawberry Pops are it. With only two ingredients, it's pretty much as easy as you can get. As a side note, the recipe says it makes 8, but they are using the plastic cup & popsicle stick method. I bought some ice-pop tray things (mine only had 4 instead of 6) at Target and it filled them up, plus had a little extra. I ended up putting the extra into regular old ice cube trays (it only filled up a couple of the compartments), but I may make more next time and fill them up all the way because they're the perfect size to just grab a bite when you want a quick snack. All that to say, it really depends on how you make them. Mine pretty much only made 4, with a little extra.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled **This would be equal to one plastic container of strawberries you buy at the grocery store.**

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:

1. Pulse 1 1/2 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled, with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1/3 cup water in food processor until pureed, with some chunks of berries remaining. Pour half of mixture into a bowl.
2. Pulse remainder until smooth. Stir puree into mixture in bowl. Pour into 3-ounce molds or plastic cups, insert sticks or wooden spoons, and freeze until solid, at least 8 hours.

Strawberry Cream Freeze

Haven't made this yet, but it looks pretty good. I think my favorite would be in the waffle bowls, but really either of the three ways looks incredible. And easy! I'll let you know if/when I try it! (Click on the picture for the recipe!)

Gooey Cookie Pie Bites

These were really good. They didn't turn out like I expected, and I originally made them for Matt but he didn't like them. Fine with me, I ate them all!! :) I don't feel like copy/pasting the whole recipe when you can just click HERE and read her comments about it too. But I'll show you all my pictures (I forgot to take ones after they finished baking. Whoops.) and a couple extras of the Alton Brownie BITES I made the day before. YUM! :) PS: I love getting use out of my mini muffin pan! Enjoy!

Next on my list...

This is definitely next on my list. It looks a.m.a.z.i.n.g. And easy.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/08/alexs-choice/

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake Pictures

First of all, this cake rocks! It tastes like chocolate cake, but better. Different. It has that something that makes you go "what IS that???" Definitely my new go-to chocolate cake. It's easy to make--the only thing I don't usually have on hand that it requires is buttermilk. Maybe I'll find some other recipes that use buttermilk so I will always have it on hand! :) Enjoy the pictures.
(Ignore the craziness where the "crust" stayed in the pan. :) Oh, and I did already start to cut it before I remembered to take a picture so ignore that, too! Haha!)

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

I've been wanting to make this ever since I got a new bundt pan after Valentine's day. ($5 at Walmart AND it came with a carrying case which I can use for other cakes too! And it's not a crappy one either. It's actually pretty durable.) I bought the ingredients last week sometime and didn't get around to making it until today. It's getting ready to come out of the oven so hopefully it's good! (The batter sure was!! :)) I'll post pictures once it's finished and cooled.

Cinnamon Chocolate Cake
-Vintage Victuals

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan with cooking spray. Put butter, water, oil, and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. Then, add the buttermilk and baking soda. Mix together the eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl, and add to the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan.

Sugar Cookies

I bought some new "toys" the other day so since it's Friday (and my day off!), I decided to try them out! I bought the Wilton 101 piece cookie cutter set from Wal-mart, and their 18-piece cake decorating set. I had a total blast. I can't remember for the life of me where I got the recipe I used, but it's titled "No Fail Sugar Cookies." I ended up halving the recipe because I didn't have enough flour for the whole thing. Also, I didn't have enough ingredients to make any of the icings I looked up (can you tell I need to go to the store???) so I just used a can of store-bought I already had and colored it three different colors. Green, pink, and a darker pink. My boyfriend, Matt, loves the lesser-known super hero The Green Lantern, so I decided to make him a few with the Green Lantern symbol on them. I spiced a couple of those up with some pink, which he didn't really appreciate. :) For the others, I just pulled out some random cookie cutters and had fun coming up with ways to decorate them. Enjoy!

The naked cookies.

The Green (Pink) Lantern

Love. My first try at lettering.

More hearts, plus M & A for Matthew & Ashlee.

Pink cowboy boots!!

Dinosaurs!

Some randoms. A heart I forgot when I was doing all the others, a "ruff" looking dog, and a LOST plane! :)

Alton Brownies

Yeah, I just did that. :)

These are awesome and anyone who is anyone needs to try them. Super easy and way good. Best brownies I've ever had... Hands down. I love Alton Brown.

Cocoa Brownies



Ingredients

Soft butter, for greasing the pan
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.
In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.