Cake Batter Treats

It has been a awhile since I posted on this blog and for that I am sorry. I have lots of pies that I have made recently and just need to find the time to put them up here!

But for now something super fast! I don't think this takes even an hour from start to finish.

Rice Crispie Cake Batter Treats!

I saw this picture on Pinterest:

And

I may or may not have immediately ran to the store to by a cake mix to make it.

And…had a little too much fun playing with those gorgeous, colorful sprinkles.

And…enjoyed every single, glorious, hint-of-cake-batter-flavored bite.

And…shared the rest with friends so that I didn’t eat too many bites.

And…now I share it with all of you.

And…you should make some.

:)


You need:
Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/4 cup yellow cake mix (the dry cake mix, not prepared into a batter!)
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

(I used more than 1/4 cup of cake mix (1/3), I wanted a bigger cake flavor. Just eyeball what you think.)

And...this is what I did:

Method:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in a handful of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes or in the fridge for about 10-15 before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.



Viola!


SUPER easy and fast.

And yummy!

Something Sweet and Just a Little bit Saucy.

So here we go. Sweet potatoes and bourbon. Something I know very little about. Especially bourbon.

But Bakerella had a recipe for Sweet Potato Bourbon Cupcakes and I decided to totally try something new. The recipes are on the bottom. She also topped them off with a Bourbon Glaze over the Vanilla glaze, but I omitted that. You can find the recipe for that on her page.

Here is what you'll need for the cupcakes.

 

 Butter, Sugar, Egg

 Sweet potato, vanilla. I used a caned pre-cooked sweet potato because I was not interested in waiting on cooking one myself, but you can cook one or two if you want. Bake it or boil it.

They came out nice and rounded, perfect for dipping them in the vanilla glaze I used as the icing. 

 Top them off with some pecans to make them look less boring.

 I am not going to lie to you, these were not as good as I thought they would be. (I prefer chocolate though.)

My husband on the other hand LOVED them. He liked them more than most of the desserts I have made. He even put some on a plate and brought them to my neighbors. Weirdest. Thing. Ever.

So they are good, just not MY favorites.

And the sweet potato makes them very moist.

Bourbon Sweet Potato Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
1/3 cup bourbon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line cupcake trays with 24 baking cups.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large bowl.
• In another large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and eggs until fluffy.
• Add sweet potatoes and vanilla. Mix well.
• Add 1/3 of flour mixture to sugar mixture until combined. Add bourbon. Add second 1/3 of flour mixture. Add milk. Add final 1/3 flour mixture.
• Mix well with each addition.
• Fill baking cups.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.
• Cool completely.

Vanilla Glaze
2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 Tbsps milk

• In a medium bowl, mix sugar and butter. Add vanilla.
• Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until you get the desired consistency. (Adding more milk will make it thinner.) Mix until smooth.
• Transfer glaze to a small, deep bowl and you can just dip the tops of your cupcakes in it.

Candied Pecans
sugar
water
pecan halves
spices of choice (like nutmeg or cinnamon)

• Add 2.5 time the amount of sugar to water in a pot. (I used 1/4 cup water for 1/2 cup pecans.)
• Add spices and bring to a boil.
• Add pecans. Simmer for about six minutes. Drain syrup off.
• Lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 for between 8 to 10 minutes. 
• Sprinkle some extra sugar on top to make them prettier.
• Allow to dry completely.
• Note: These rocked! They can be made by themselves and served as a sweet snack

Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

I have never made anything with pumpkin except pumpkin pie, and I thought that this year, that needs to be fixed. Why should I use pumpkin for only one thing?

Bakerella showed me this recipe and when my Dad came into town to visit my son (and me too, I think!) I whipped them up.

My sister was also hanging out, so she commandeered the camera and I had no control over what was snapped, please forgive any pictures of me, thank you!

A prime example of my sister taking over.

These were supposed to be pictures of my ingredients:

Granted, my sister Victoria is beautiful,
but I don't see how this can help you.

So lets move on and see if I can find anything that is of use. The recipe is at the bottom of the blog.

First you cream the butter then add the sugars and mix until creamy.

Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well each time.

Add the vanilla too.

You are going to add the flour and pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin last, alternating each item until done.

Then the chocolate chunks (or chips).

I use a scooper to have even cookie sizes. This was my first batch and I lined my sheet with wax paper but it didn't work well, so I just sprayed the cookie sheet with a little bakers joy and that worked wonderfully!

For the Maple Butter Frosting (totally optional):

Melt the butter til brown-ish, but don't burn it!

Mix all the ingredients.

The recipe says maple flavoring, but I just used pure maple syrup.

Enjoy!

I also tried this recipe as muffins and it worked well too!

The Mini muffins I cooked as long as the cookies, but the big muffins were about twice as long.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/4 cup self-rising flour
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

• Whisk together flour and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter.
• Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.
• Add flour/spice mixture to sugar mixture in three additions. Alternate with pumpkin in two additions, ending with flour mixture.
• Stir in chocolate chunks.
• Drop on cookie tray lined with parchment paper.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about four dozen cookies.
• Let cool.

Maple Brown Butter Frosting
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp maple flavoring

• Sift sugar and set aside.
• Melt butter over medium heat until golden brown. Watch closely so it does not burn.
• Add butter to sugar, scraping all the butter into the bowl.
• Add milk and maple flavoring. Stir until smooth.
• Spread on top of cookies with an knife or offset spatula.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

(Original Post June 25, 2011)


Ever get a taste for pancakes, but don’t feel like flipping?

I do. Especially since I always seem to be the one still flipping while everyone else gets to eat the first ones off the pan. If I had a bigger griddle, it would probably be ok. But I have a little one and usually end up frying one pancake at a time to make sure they look decent… which takes for ever.

But not this way. Try these laborless baked pancake muffins. Hmmmmmm… Puffins anyone?

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

They are just what they seem, a maple pancake in muffin form.

A FROM SCRATCH maple pancake muffin.

Yum.

The Cast of Characters:

Mix your dry ingredients, set aside.

Then mix up the wet ingredients.

A little bit at a time, stir in the dry mix, and add some mini chocolate chips.

You don't HAVE to add the chocolate, but I highly recommend it.

Chocolate makes everything better.

Now you can spoon the mix on you greased pan, but (this is the only thing I don't like about the mini stuff) it will be messy.

I decided to put my mix in a disposable pastry bag and pipe them into the pan, way faster and cleaner.

Fill them three fourths the way up, but don't worry if you fill them a little higher.

I had to go over quite a few to use all my mix, but still get only 24 (I probably could have made about 30 smaller ones).

And when they come out they are ready to eat.

Plain.

With syrup.

With fruit.

With anything.

Super yummy and very quick to make!

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins. (By Bakerella)
(Someone please come up with a shorter name for these.)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
• In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.
• Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.
Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.
Serve immediately with warmed butter if you like or even just with maple syrup.