Lemon Pie Energy Bites

                                     

-1 cup chopped pitted dates

-1 1/3 cup old fashioned oats

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-4 tablespoons lemon juice 

Add all ingredients in food processor

Pulse until well combined

 Form into balls

 Eat right away or throw them in the fridge for later

Ollie ate 4 of these right away when I made these. Kid approved.

 You can't beat a tasty and healthy snack with 4 ingredients. Cheers!

                                                      

Strawberry Jello Poke Cake

- 1 box white cake mix

- 1 3oz box strawberry jello 

- 1 cup boiling water 

- 8oz Cool Whip 

- fresh sliced strawberries 

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish

Make cake according to box directions

Allow cake to cool, then take the end of a wooden spoon and poke holes all over the cake 

Mix jello powder with 1 cup boiling water (allow to dissolve)

Evenly pour jello mix all over the cake

Allow cake to cool in the fridge for a few hours

Top with Cool Whip and fresh strawberries before serving

Seriously the easiest and most yummy cake you can make with 4 ingredients. 

Great to bring to parties or serve at holidays! Cheers!

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

Dry ingredients-

- 3/4 cup flour

- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour 

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients- 

- 1 cup buttermilk 

- zest of 2 lemons 

- juice of 2 lemons

- 1 egg 

- 3 tablespoons melted butter

- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

- 1/4- 1/3 cup poppy seeds 

In a mixing bowl mix together dry ingredients

In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients then fold in poppy seeds 

Fold wet ingredients into the dry, mix until combined - do not over mix, lumps are fine 

Cook on lightly greased griddle until golden brown on both sides 

Serve with real maple syrup and butter 

These were the best pancakes I have ever made!! So good!! 

The fresh lemon juice and zest really makes it. Cheers!

F'n Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

                                                    

This should be your go to cookie recipe. Pretty much the base of this (minus the chocolate chips) plus whatever you want to add will make the perfect cookie. Me and my friend Kristy used to make batches and batches of these cookies all the time. It's something you can keep in the fridge for a few days and make them fresh as needed (or wanted).

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg room temp (lightly beaten)
• 7 oz chocolate chips (about 1/2 a bag)
• 1 stick softened butter

In a large bowl combine softened butter, sugar and brown sugar.

With a hand mixer or stand mixer beat on low speed until well combined and smooth.

Add the vanilla and egg, and beat on low until fully mixed. Don't over beat.

In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients, flour- baking soda- salt.

On low speed add the flour mixture into the wet mixture until well incorporated. Don't over mix. 

Add chocolate chips and incorporate into cookie dough by hand with a wooden spoon. 

Refrigerate for an hour. 

Spoon cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. 

Remove from oven, and slide parch paper onto workspace.

When see (3 minutes or so) move to cooling rack.

Wait 5 minutes until you serve. 

Can't beat an amazing cookie recipe. You can spend your whole culinary career searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. This comes pretty damn close. Cheers!

Banana Muffins with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

                                                 

Since I had just recently made chocolate chip banana bread, I really needed to think of something different to do with the surplus of ripe bananas in my freezer. I decided on muffins. Muffins do duel duty as breakfast- and dessert. Simply because my kids think they are cupcakes regardless. I loved this recipe. It was so simple. I combined a few differant ones that I had and made my own frosting up. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 ripe bananas (mine are usually frozen so I just set them in the sink to defrost a bit)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup melted butter (cooled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375.

In a mixing bowl mash the bananas with the sugar and egg.

Stir in the (cooled) melted butter.

In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.

Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the banana mixture. 

Stir until combined, it will be lumpy. 

Spoon into muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes.

Until a toothpick can be stuck in and comes out clean.

Allow to cool before frosting.

To make frosting:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 8oz package of cream cheese (softened)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

With a hand mixture beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on low until well combined. 

Adjust to taste. 

Of course this recipe can be converted to loaf form if you prefer to have a banana bread, or cake even. It's good any which way because we all know it'll be going to the same place. The thighs and perhaps love handles. So lets enjoy it while we can. Cheers!

                                                      

Carrot Cake Poke Cake

Please excuse the pictures. I had to make due with what I had after 90% of this cake was devoured on Easter. I guess that's a good thing, because you now know the recipe is good! 

I love poke cakes! They're so fun to make, and even better to eat. The addition to the pudding into the cake makes it so rich and moist. And the homemade topping is delicious! I made the cake the night before Easter and threw it in the fridge. Then Easter morning I whipped up the topping, frosted the cake - then stuck it back into the fridge until after dinner. It was the easiest Easter dessert I've ever made. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box carrot cake mix (plus eggs, oil and water)
• 1 box (3.5 oz) instant cheesecake pudding mix
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (16 oz) container frozen whipped topping (thawed)
• chopped walnuts (topping)

Make carrot cake according to directions on box. Bake in a 9x13 baking dish.

When removed from oven poke holes all over the cake.

Mix pudding with cold milk, incorporate well. 

Just before it starts to thicken, pour pudding all over cake. 

With a rubber spatula spread and push pudding all over the cake into the holes.

Once the pudding has been absorbed into the cake, toss in the fridge and let sit over night.

To make the topping:

In a stand mixer cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla in and then whipped topping. Mix until fluffy and everything is combined. 

Spread over the carrot cake.

Refrigerate until ready to serve, then sprinkle walnuts on top.

Adapted from: Carrot Cake Poke Cake

Best Blueberry Muffins

This recipe was seriously so quick and easy. I had it all prepped and in the tins in 15 minutes. Then only about 20 minutes to bake. This can easily be made in 30 minutes flat though. 

Its a tradition in my house to serve my grandfathers famous beef stew, with blueberry muffins. Its just the best combination of savory and sweet. I've been slacking the last few times I've made beef stew, and have been using store bought muffins. Which is fine! I however, have never actually made muffins from scratch before. I know, right?! So the task was a little daunting, because I was afraid it would be a flop. Then I found this recipe- and it was perfect. I think anyone can make this muffins and not be nervous about it. 

I'm going to make this my go to recipe. Its the perfect base muffin mix, that you can pretty much add in whatever else you want into it. Be it- blueberries, cranberries, chocolate chips... you get the point. Hope you enjoy them as much as my family did! My kids literally can't get enough of them. Not only did they have them with dinner last night, but they had them with breakfast this morning. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh, I used frozen)

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a 12 cup muffin pan, then give it a light spray with cooking spray just so the muffin tops don't stick to the pan.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt- set aside.

In another bowl mix together cooled melted butter with the sugar and eggs. Mix well. Then add in the milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Folding gently and using a rubber spatula until all ingredients are well combined. 

Fold in blueberries, just until incorporated.

Divide the batter into the 12 muffin tins.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425.

Reduce heat to 375 and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick can come out clean.

Adapted from: Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins with Streusel

Candy Cane Dipped Oreos

Made these guys to bring as dessert to a few places on Thanksgiving. To say they were a hit would be an understatement. And to say these were easy to make- would be an understatement as well. Just a great recipe to have - so glad I found it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 packages candy cane Hershey's Kisses (unwrapped of course)
• 1 package Oreos

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In 20 second increments melt the kisses in the microwave until completely melted and smooth. Using a fork dip each Oreo in the candy cane goodness. Place on baking sheet. Repeat process until all the ingredients are gone.

Refrigerate for an hour until completely hardened. 

Double Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

I bought some coconut oil a little while ago- and I've been dying to try it out. Figured why not start with some cookies. Found this fabulous recipe- and these cookies came out awesome. The kids went crazy for them.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 eggs (at room temp)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Use a stand mixer to mix together coconut oil and brown sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add in vanilla.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the coconut oil mixture until all is combined. Add in coconut and chocolate chips. Mix well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper- and drop teaspoon sized cookie dough onto the baking sheet. 

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack. 

Adapted From: Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Apple Pecan Cake

We went apple picking a few weeks ago, and there are still a ton of apples I have yet to use. I saw this apple cake recipe on Pinterest a while back, and decided to give it a go. It was really simple- and apparently the best cake I've ever made according to my husband.

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3 cups peeled and chopped apples

Frosting:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar and eggs. Add in the flour and baking soda. Stir to combine. Add in the vanilla, pecans and apples, mix well. Add to a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow to cool.

To make frosting, in a sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil, allow to boil for 2 minutes. Set pan in a bowl filled with ice water, and beat for about 3-5 minutes until it becomes spreading consistency. Spread over the top of the cake.

This really was one of the easiest, tastiest cakes I've ever baked. And Im sure you can replace the apple with other kinds of fruit too. This would be amazing as a blueberry cake... Oh, I know what I'm doing next! Cheers!

Credits: Fresh Apple Cake

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spice Icing

I had some left over canned pumpkin, from the pumpkin alfredo I made the other day. So I came across this recipe yesterday and adjusted it a little to fit what I had in the kitchen. The frosting turned into an icing, but whatever it still tasted awesome!

INGREDIENTS:
(makes 12 cupcakes)

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 stick of butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
• 1/2 cup of milk

For Icing/ Frosting mixture:

• 4 oz of cream cheese
• 3 tablespoons of butter softened
• 3 tablespoons of canned pumpkin (Leave this out if you prefer a traditional frosting, this made the mixture really loose)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
• 1-2 tablespoons of milk if frosting is to thick (mine was and adding this turned it into icing, so leave this out for more of a frosting)

Preheat oven to 375

In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spiced

In your mixing bowl or stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg and beat until combined. Add in the pumpkin and beat until combined. Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and milk. Stir until well combined.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3rds full. And bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

To make the Icing- in a mixer beat together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and spices. Add in pumpkin and milk (leave these two out for a more tradition frosting. Adding these to mine made it an icing).

Frost cupcakes and Enjoy!

The kids devoured them! I let them create their own Halloween treats. Maxx made a pumpkin zombie. We had fun with this, fall is here officially now! Cheers!

Adapted from: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spice Creamcheese Frosting

No Bake Mini Reese's Cheesecakes

At our house we try to do a weekly dinner with family and friends. Usually on a Saturday or Sunday so we can take our time with the cooking, and the chatting (and the drinking). Yesterday I hosted Sunday dinner, and wanted something easy and no bake for dessert since I was cooking dinner as well. These were perfect! I had picked up the ingredients (all 2 of them) a few weeks ago. I was going to make them on Valentines day, but never got around to it. So behold- The no bake mini reese's cheesecake!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 12 mini cheesecakes)

• 1 box Jello No Bake Cheesecake
  
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 12 Reese's Cups
• 12 muffin liners

Combine the cheesecake package from the box with the milk in a bowl, whisk for about 3 minutes until the lumps are gone and it starts to thicken.

Line your muffin tin with the muffin liners. Place a reese's cup at the bottom of every liner. Spoon cheesecake filling to the top of every liner.

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve (at least an hour).

The original recipe shows crumbled graham crackers and mini chocolate chips on top of these guys. Toppings totally slipped my mind, but they were yummy just the same. This concept would be great with any sort of 'mini cheesecake' idea you may have. The no bake cheesecake concept is a huge time saver. I love making cheesecakes and desserts from scratch. Sometimes though, its nice to just do something easy and spend that saved time with family and friends. Cheers!

adapted from:reese's bottom cheesecake

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Its been a busy few months and I haven't posted anything here since July! I was off to such a great start but I have definitely been slacking. So really the only New Years resolution that I have is to get back with the food blogging and recipe hunting!

So I made these last week as Christmas gifts and they came out awesome! Really easy for a 'red velvet' recipe. Give it a shot and I'm sure they will be something everyone can enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 and 1/2 cups + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature.
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup  sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2.5 teaspoons red food coloring (liquid or gel)
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips

Toss the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Switch the mixer to medium speed and beat in the brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Once mixed, add the food coloring and beat until combined. Turn the mixer off and pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and slowly beat until a very soft dough is formed. Beat in more food coloring if you'd like the dough to be redder. On low speed, beat in the chocolate chips. The dough will be sticky.

Cover the dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. Chilling is mandatory.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Scoop 1.5 Tablespoons of dough and mold into a ball, as pictured above. Place 9 balls onto each baking sheet. Bake each batch for 10-11 minutes. The cookies may have only spread slightly, that is ok. Simply press down on the warm cookies to slightly flatten and form crinkles. Stick a few chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies, that's optional and only for looks.

Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

This is a very festive cookie to make for the holidays. It could also be great for Valentine's day too.

Credits:red velvet chocolate chip cookies

Banana Bread

This is my go to banana bread recipe. Super easy and it comes out incredibly moist!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup walnuts

preheat oven to 35o.

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Mix until all combined.

Add to loaf pan ( I used an 8x8 baking dish).

Bake for 1 hour.

Let cool before slicing.

There are a lot of different ways to make banana bread, of course. I find this way the easiest. There's really no need to add dry and wet ingredients separately  it comes out great doing it this way. Enjoy!

Frozen Blueberries Covered with Honey Greek Yogurt

Saw this online the other day and I specifically bought blueberries yesterday so I could make this for the kids. This is perfect for summer or when you want a sweet healthy snack without the guilt. I told Maxx they were Ice Cream fruit snacks. He bought it! The original recipe says to take a tooth pick and do each berry individually in the yogurt - I put yogurt in a ziplock with the blueberries, shook it and threw it on a cookie sheet and froze it. Looking at my pictures compared to the original, I think next time I will take the time and dip each individual berry to get a really nice coating. Regardless the kids loved them! I wish I had bought another thing of blueberries.

INGREDIENTS:

• Fresh Blueberries
• Honey Greek Yogurt

Take a toothpick and dip each berry in the yogurt, place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and freeze.

Easy Peasy! The kids love it! Mom's Happy! Enjoy!

Credits:

yogurt covered frozen blueberries

Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter Chips

Today was Ollie's 1st birthday, and I wanted to do something special for breakfast but with little clean up because our breakfast routine is pretty hectic. Even though I used boxed pancake mix, they came out very flavorful with the convenience  of using one bowl for it all. And adding the peanut butter chips give it just the right amount of sweetness you don't even need syrup. Because lets face it, I will never give a 1 year old or 3 year old anything with syrup on it ever. I'd be cleaning it up for the next 20 years.

INGREDIENTS:

• Boxed Pancake Mix (usually you need oil, egg and milk for this)
• 1Ripe banana 
• Peanut Butter Chips (I had Reese's in the house)

Make the pancake according to directions, I just did the smallest batch 10-12 pancakes. Soften the banana with a fork and blend it into the batter. Preheat Griddle to 375 and spray with cooking spray when heated up. Pour the batter into desired amount of pancakes- and right before you're ready to flip them- place some peanut butter chips on top of the pancakes. Flip- continue cooking and serve.

I know most people don't need directions on how to make boxed pancakes- but this is just a cool thing I do for the kids so they can still have something sweet in the morning, without tons of butter, syrup or chocolate chips.