Edible Acorns

My kids were baffled by the idea of an edible acorn! 

We've been collecting acorns for the past 2 months so when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew we had to make it.  This craft is so easy my three year old daughter was able to make it all by herself.  This is what you'll need:

Hershey kisses, unwrapped (I used dark chocolate)
butterscotch chips
mini vanilla wafer cookies
frosting (I had some leftover in the fridge)

Simply attach the mini vanilla wafer cookie to the rounded part of the Hershey kiss with frosting.  Then center and attach the butterscotch chip to the vanilla wafer cookie with more frosting.  That's it!

These are so cute and perfect for the holiday season.  I put mine on a Christmas plate and kept them covered in the fridge.   

Cake Fridays

Buttery, crispy bottom

Smooth pumpkin, sour cream filling

Crunchy, spicy crumb topping

These taste like a coffee cake but in bar form.  They are another version of the sour cream crumb bars I posted earlier this week.  I hate to say it, but I think I like these more!  The pumpkin in the filling holds together better than the sour cream alone.  And the spices...don't even get me started!  I love pumpkin pie spice so I actually substituted 1 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice for the teaspoon of cinnamon and the quarter teaspoon of cloves.  These are salty, sweet, spicy, and bursting with fall flavors.  I just love biting into the crispy outer shell and having that soft filling spill out on all sides.

These would be absolutely perfect for your Thanksgiving dessert table.  Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or caramel sauce and watch people swoon.  Seriously, make these for Thanksgiving or better yet, make them now!

View the recipe here. 

Marvelous Muffins

Wow!  These are some tasty muffins!  I didn't know what to expect since they contain no oil or butter.  I thought they would turn out dry and flavorless.  Boy was I wrong!  They are moist, hearty, sweet, and spicy.  The buttermilk and eggs give them richness and lift, while the applesauce adds a healthy creaminess. The addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla gives them sweetness and enough spice to have you going back for more.  These are seriously hard to stop eating!  Not to mention they are well-rounded and nutty from the oats and whole wheat flour (which by the way, I left out the nuts and they were still incredibly earthy).  You have got to make these and share them with your family for a most delightful breakfast, snack, or after dinner treat.  Slathered with butter, dipped in Greek yogurt, or right off the cooling rack, these muffins are surprisingly delicious!     

FYI: My muffins baked for 12 minutes and I got a little more than a dozen. 

Sour Cream Crumb Bars

These bars are like nothing else I've made before.  The bottom crust comes together beautifully, the filling whips up in a flash (I actually used fat free sour cream), and the crumb topping is bumpy yet soft.  

These actually remind me of cheesecake bars but with an even lighter, creamier filling.  I refrigerated mine so they would set-up more but feel free to cut a bar right out of the pan and eat it with your hands.   

These are phenomenal with whipped cream, ice cream, caramel sauce, etc.  Perfect for a party, kid friendly, nut free, and gushing with smile inducing flavors.  Sweet with a bite from the sour cream, these crumb bars are a treasure to behold. 

Oatmeal Mondays

 

Granola Pancakes!

I made these with the granola I baked last Monday.  I mixed up a batch of Bisquick pancake batter and dropped 1/4 C ladle fulls onto a lightly buttered skillet.  I then sprinkled handfuls of my peanut butter Nutella granola over top.  When bubbles appeared around the edges, I flipped them.  I then cooked them for 2-3 more minutes on the other side.  When they were finished, I transferred them to a cooling rack.  You can also keep them warm in the oven but if your kids are anything like mine, they prefer cool or room temperature food.  They turned out great and are perfect with syrup drizzled over top.  Enjoy :)  

Toasted Coconut Carrot Buttermilk Bread

 
This is my creation, using tips and tricks I've learned along the way.  I referenced Food Network magazine for the base recipe for carrot-coconut bread, along with Cook's Country for the buttermilk trick.  The combination of the 2 made an excellent product I'm excited to share with you today!

I adore the smell of toasted coconut so I revived my shredded, unsweetened coconut in the pantry by popping it in the toaster oven for 8-10 minutes. Be sure to watch it so it doesn't burn!  You'll know it's done when you can smell it.  I then soaked it in buttermilk for 10 minutes so it really flavored the milk, thus flavoring the bread.

Now you are ready to make your bread!    

Here is the recipe:

2 shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1 C buttermilk with 1/2 C toasted coconut added

Mix in small bowl.  Set aside.

1 C flour
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
2/3 C sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t nutmeg

Mix in larger bowl.  Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 30 minutes to an hour, then cool completely on wire rack.

Optional:

Slather it with this cream cheese frosting:

3 oz room temperature cream cheese
2 C confectioners sugar
6 T room temperature butter
1 t vanilla extract

Beat with hand mixer until smooth and creamy (may need to thin out with 2-3 t milk).  This makes enough to frost a 13x9 inch cake so you may want to halve it.    

Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins

I made these muffins yesterday.  I love making flourless muffins, donuts, etc. These did not require peanut butter but Greek yogurt in its place so I thought they would be light and delicious.  Let's just say I refrained from taking any pictures :(  They have a very mild banana taste and produced many pockets in the finished product.  I'm not sure if the recipe requires Greek yogurt with some fat; mine was nonfat.  Again, they were better slathered in butter but the visual was not very pretty.

FYI: I omitted the mini chocolate chips and topped 4 muffins with mini peanut butter cups before baking.  I got 16 muffins and they baked for 11-13 minutes.  

Oatmeal Mondays

My family is always up for trying out new granola recipes.  This one looked particularly delicious because it combines two of our favorite things: peanut butter and Nutella.

3 things I like about this recipe:

1. It's quick to make and bake.
2. It's tender, flaky and crispy after it cools.
3. It compliments a bowl of Greek yogurt and sliced banana beautifully.

You have got to make this!  

Here is the recipe.

FYI: Next time I would add whole peanuts but it's really a personal preference.  I like to bite into chunks when eating granola and the chopped peanuts got lost in the mix.  Also, be sure to bake this granola for 10 minutes, stir, and then bake for 8 minutes max.  I found that if chocolate flavored granola bakes for too long it gets a burnt flavor.

Doilie cupcake liners and swirled frosting

Decorating is not my thing but when I saw these 2 straightforward, uncomplicated tricks to dress up your cupcakes, I confidently dove right in.

The first concept is doilie cupcake liners.  I love lace for its feminine flair.  It's old fashioned, classic, and one of those things almost everyone has in their house already.

Whether your cupcakes are chocolate or vanilla, this dainty paper would look darling wrapped around them. Try colored doilies for a pop of color, like red and green doilies for Christmas, earth tones for Thanksgiving, or pastel colors for Easter.  The possibilities are endless.    

The second concept utilizes a pastry bag or squeeze bottle with tip attachment.  I always wanted to swirl my frosting, especially vanilla and chocolate because it reminds me of one of my favorite childhood memories: eating swirled custard in a sugar cone.  The thought of it makes my mouth water!

To create this effect, you simply place vanilla frosting on one side of your pastry bag or squeeze bottle and chocolate frosting on the other side so they are parallel.  Then you apply pressure and viola!  Swirled frosting adorns the most coveted of treats, cupcakes!  This looks especially cute on mini cupcakes.  

So there you have it.  Two manageable, uninvolved methods you can use to make your dessert even more special. These tricks are a piece of cake or cupcake if you will :)