Tuesday Treats: Banana Blueberry Muffins

Check out these delicious, yet super healthy, muffins on my new blog at Two Green Foxes!

Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday Treats: Paradise Cookies

Maybe its because I will be in paradise soon…in St. Kitts and Nevis…but something just told me to try out these cookies…and that's just what I did this weekend.  

Our neighbor is suffering from complications from a broken foot and I thought these would be nice to bring along to she and her son, along with the "Crabbies" I made and some other goodies, in hopes of making her smile!  I think they did the trick…check 'em out and try them yourself!  They are a recipe from Paradise Bakery (per Pintrest, that is).

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

bag of chocolate chips ( I had extra and threw them in, as I need to get them out of my house so I can get into my bikini!)

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.  

3.  Add vanilla….then, flour…then baking soda….then salt (I did not combine dry ingredients in seperate bowl as I was instructed to…I was just too lazy, quite frankly).

5.  Stir in chocolate chips.

6.  Scoop individual portions on ungreased baking sheet.

7.  Bake until golden brown around edges.

8.  Allow to cool.

ENJOY!!!

Christmas Treats

Since I'm redoing my living room and kitchen this year, our house is not very warm and cozy and lacks the Christmas spirit.  I'm a little bummed about it, but I know next year it will be even better for our cocktail party!  This weekend I decided I needed to do something around the house to make it seem more cozy and inviting so I decided to make some Christmas treats for our neighbors, mail lady, and my hair girl, all of whom I owe big thank you's to this year and always!  This was the perfect way to spend the day, as it made the house smell of the holidays with the cinnamon floating in the air!

To give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, the above picture shows the 7 mini baggies I made for those special people.  I also had two other baggies I filled for my parents and my friend, Katie, who was busy baking for her neighbors and coworkers all weekend, too!

I saw a couple different recipes online, most for pecans and some different ingredients, but this is what I came up with, and I have to say, they turned out pretty darn good!

Ingredients

32 ounces of raw, unsalted almonds

3 cups sugar

3 cups brown sugar

6 Tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup water

Directions

1.  Spray crockpot with butter spray very well, coating the entire pot and turn on low heat.

2.  In large mixing bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon and salt.  

3.  In crock pot, with a spoon, mix together the eggs and vanilla.  Add the almonds and coat with the mixture, stirring for a couple of minutes.

4.  Add the sugars and stir well to coat. 

5.  Every 20 minutes, stir the mixture for 2 hours.

6.  In two hours, add the water and stir well, continuing to stir nuts every 20 minutes for an additional hour.

7.  Spray baking sheets with butter spray.  Drop dollops of nut mixture on prepared baking sheet and allow to cool for a couple minutes.  When mixture is cool, place in airtight containers, or in my case, little baggies for neighbors, family and friends.  Try not to eat any…I dare you.  It will not happen…they are just too good!

Since you are home for a good couple hours, make sure you have something to do.  Baxter and I decided to wrap our gifts with Christmas music on in the background.  We had a great time…well, I think Bax did, too, that is until I put his Santa hat on him for a quick pic!  

 I used a twist tie to ensure freshness and then just tied some colorful ribbon around the bags.  I will add a card to each and deliver this week.  

ENJOY!!!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

I took this a couple weeks ago to our Christmas Brunch with the babies.  Although, we were too busy playing and didn't to taste it as much, I shared the wealth with other friends and family who are asking for the recipe as its so moist and delicious!  

Ingredients 

1/2 unsalted butter, softened

zest from one large lemon

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar 

additional 1 Tbsp sugar (for sprinkling on top)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour (minus 1/4 cup to toss in with berries)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9 in square pan and set aside.

2.  Cream together butter, lemon zest, and 3/4 cup and 2 Tbsp sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.

3.  Mix flour (minus 1/4 cup), baking powder and salt.  

4.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and alternate with buttermilk.

5.  Mix together berries with additional 1/4 cup flour.  Fold mixture into wet mix with spatula carefully.

6.  Spread batter into prepared pan.

7.  Bake for about 35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

8.  Allow to cool and serve warm or cool.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Thankful Pumpkin Bread

Remember this picture?  See all those leaves?  That was BEFORE the hurricane.  Can you imagine all the leaves after the rain and wind?  My front yard was COVERED!  I attempted to rake Saturday morning.  Attempted…key word.  It was still pretty windy out and after about an hour, I gave up.  I got some leaves up, but most importantly, I was able to get the leaves off the freshly planted grass seed my mom had put down for me when I was away.  

After I came inside to get ready for lunch with my girlfriends, I heard a very familiar noise outside.  I looked out the window and almost began to cry!  Two men, that live on either side of me, had gotten out their rakes and leaf blowers, and were getting up every.single.leaf on our lawns.  They put all the leaves into bags and took them to the dump.  

When I came home, I went to take Bax out back to run around.  Oh.my.goodness.  They outdid themselves.  The two men had even gotten up every leaf in the backyard.  I can't even begin to tell you how many leaves there were with our big trees.  This was amazing!  

Did I also mention earlier that this one neighbor came over in the hurricane in the pouring rain and wind to deliver a little note from his wife.  It was the sweetest note, just letting me know if I needed anything or if Bax and I got bored, we were always welcome in their home.  How sweet is that?!

I was beyond thankful for their kindness.  I quickly got together my baking supplies and baked them Mom's Pumpkin Bread and delivered it to them in the morning, still warm.  

I had a few other people on my list to bake for, also.  My mom and dad had kept Bax and I warm while we were out of power last week, so of course I made them some, too.  And my other neighbor, poor thing, broke her heel…worst fracture, as it takes forever to heal.  I baked her a loaf and sat with her for a little while this weekend.  

I truly feel blessed how lucky Baxter and I are to have such wonderful neighbors and family close by.    

If you have anyone to thank, try sending over a loaf of this bread.  I assure you, you will get a big smile that makes you feel good inside!  

Tuesday Treats: Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies were DE-LISH-IOUS!  Melt in your mouth!

My sweet tooth struck again this past week and I had minimal ingredients in the house.  I put in the ingredients I had in the website, allrecipes.com and boom, there I had a recipe I will be using again soon, I'm sure!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 1/2 cup shredded coconut flakes

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla until incorporated well.

3.  Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to mixture and combine well.

4.  Add half of your flour and mix well, but until just combined (you apparently can end up with rock hard cookies if over mixing here).  Add second half and mix until just combined. 

5.  Stir in oats.

 6.  Stir in coconut flakes.

 7.  Make dough into balls and distribute evenly on baking sheet.

 8.  Bake for about 8 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.

 9.  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes.

(since I have no patience, this did not happen for me)

 10.  Allow to completely cool on wire rack.

(or, on paper towels….this is how my mom has always done it and therefore, this is how I do it in my kitchen…easy clean up!)

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

Another pumpkin Pintrest dessert!

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

Ingredients for Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

15 ounce can of pumpkin

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two loaf pans.

2.  Cream Cheese Filling:  Beat cream cheese.  Add sugar and mix until smooth.  Add eggs until just incorporated.  Mix in flour.  Divide mixture evenly in two separate bowls.  

 3.  For Pumpkin Bread:  Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl.  Set aside.  

4.  In mixing bowl, beat eggs.  Add sugar and melted butter.  Stir in pumpkin, water and vanilla. 

5.  Slowly add four mixture to wet mix until combined.

6.  Divide batter in half.  Take half of each half and pour into prepared loaf pan.

 7.  Top batter with cream cheese mix.

 8.  Top with remaining pumpkin batter.

9.  Bake for about an hour or until toothpick comes out clean.  (I baked for an hour, but I think you should actually check it about 50 minutes into it, as it may be done then)

10.  Cool bread in pans for about 10 minutes and then remove from pans and allow to completely cool.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I've heard all over Pintrest that this is the best cake, and even my friend, Erin, in California told me about it a while ago.  I knew I had to try it, and I found just the occasion.  Last week, after my parents had their final day of moving with the movers and all, I wanted to bring them dinner and dessert, as I knew they would be tired after a long day.  I thought this would be a perfect time to try out the recipe.  Not only did they love it, but so did their neighbors!

Ingredients

11/2 cups butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease bundt pan and place to side.

2.  Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy.

3.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.

4.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

 5.  Combine flour and salt.  Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended well.

6.  Stir in vanilla.

7.  Pour into prepared pan.

8.  Bake at 300 degrees for an hour and 40 minutes.  

 9.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes.  

 10.  Remove from pan and continue to cool completely.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Rolo Brownies

I wish I had a better picture of these treats, but I took them to Stone Harbor with me and completely forgot to take a picture of the finished product with it's ooey gooey insides!  Nonetheless, they were easy and delicious and worth another occasion.

Ingredients

1 box brownie mix (and ingredients that go with it)

Rolo candies, frozen

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Lightly grease mini muffin pan.

3.  Make brownies, according to package directions on box.

4.  Fill each muffin cup 2/3 of the way with brownie mix.

5.  Place frozen Rolo candy in center.

6.  Spread batter from around sides to cover top of Rolo candy.

7.  Bake 10-15 minutes.

8.  Allow to cool slightly and remove from pan.

ENJOY!!!

Tuesday Treats: Luscious Lemon Delight

Just another delicious Pintrest recipe!  I made this dessert for my dad for Father's Day, as he loves anything lemon (well, except for lemon wedding cake, but that's a story for another day!).  It was the perfect treat for a warm summer day…cool and refreshing!

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans PLUS

2 tbsp chopped pecans

1 stick butter, softened

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed

2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant lemon pudding mix

2 2/3 cups milk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Combine flour, 1/2 cup pecans, and butter in medium bowl and mix well.  Press into bottom of 11 X 18 inch pan.  

3.  Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.  

4.  Allow to cool.

5.  Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy.  Add powdered sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add ONE cup Cool whip and fold in gently.  Spread over cooled crust.

6.  Combine pudding mix and milk in medium bowl.  Mix until thickened.  Spread on top of cream cheese layer.

7.  Top with remaining Cool Whip.  

 8.  Sprinkle with remaining pecans.  

9.  Chill, covered, for one hour.

ENJOY!!!!  

(Hopefully as much as Dad did!)

Tuesday Treats: Better than Josh Lucas

You may know this cake as "Better than Sex Cake" or "Better than Robert Redford Cake," but I put my own spin on it for Josh Lucas.  

Whenever I'm asked who my celebrity crush would be, people always are confused who JC is.  Did you all not see Sweet Home Alabama?!  Maybe it's his southern charm, but I swoon for this man…

Maybe it's "Jake Perry's" southern charm or his romantic-at-heart personality, but either way, I was bummed to learn he got married this past March ;)

Anyways, cake…that's what we were talking about.  Right.

Ingredients

1 box Devil's food cake mix (and ingredients that go with it)

1/2 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

 Caramel (or Chocolate) ice cream topping

Heath Bar bits

1 (8 ounce ) container Cool Whip

Directions

1.  Bake cake according to directions for a 9 X 13 pan; cool for 5 minutes.  Poke holes with fork throughout cake.

2.  Slowly poor milk over cake and let soak in holes. 

3.  Drizzle caramel/chocolate over the cake.

4.  Place cake in refrigerator and allow to completely cool.

5.  Top with cool whip, drizzle more caramel/chocolate sauce over top and sprinkle with Heath Bar bits.  

6.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

ENJOY!!!

Sweet Home Alabama
Melanie Carmichael:  What do you want to be married to me for, anyhow?
Jake Perry:  So I can kiss you anytime I want.

Thursday Treats: Candy Birthday Cake

Yup…I loved this cake so much I couldn't wait until next Tuesday to share!

This past Tuesday, we had our "family" dinner night…Mexican theme this time.  But what was more special to our usual Tuesday night dinner, was the fact it was someone's birthday!!!  It gave me the chance to bake up something new!  The Birthday Girl's cake was request was simple…yellow cake and chocolate icing.  Hmmm….what could I do to spruce that up?!  Well, hellooooo Pintrest, you saved me again!  I actually used a couple different recipes on Pintrest and think I came up with the best concoction!  

Ingredients for Cake

2 1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup Sunny D

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

6 packs of the King Size Kit Kats, broken in sets of two

Large bag of M&M's

Ingredients for frosting

1 stick butter

2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa

~ 2 pounds powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

whole milk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease and flour 2 round cake pans (either 9 in or 8 in will work).

2.  Cream together butter and sugar.

3.  Add remaining ingredients (except eggs) and mix well.

4.  Add eggs and beat for about 2 minutes.  

5.  Equally divide batter and spread into prepared pans.  

6.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.  

7.  Meanwhile, melt butter for frosting in a pan over low heat.

 8.  Add cocoa powder to melted butter and stir.  

 9.  Add about a cup of powdered sugar and stir.

10.  Transfer frosting mixture to mixing bowl and blend.  Continue adding powdered sugar and milk until you reach desired consistency and amount of frosting you will need.  

(the recipe I used called for 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1/3 cup milk…I used waaaay more)

 11.  When cake is done, allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes.  

 12.  Run knife along sides of cake and turn over on wire rack to cool completely.  

13.  Place big dollop of frosting on one cake.  Spread evenly, but no need to go completely to edges, as you see, it will run over (which is not a big deal either).

14.  Place second cake on top and spread frosting on top.

 15.  Continue frosting top and sides of cake.  

(usually I do one layer for a "crumb layer" and then another to smooth it out…do as you wish with this, it will not matter since it will be covered up)

 16.  Line Kit Kats around cake.

 17.  Fill top with M&M's and, if you wish, tie a cute bow around for decoration.

(I think it will hold fine without it if you prefer not to use a bow)

 18.  Store in refrigerator until about an hour before serving.

(probably don't need to do this, but it has been 100 degrees around here, so I was not taking any chances!)

 19.  Take out about an hour before serving.  

(and let others admire their dessert!)

 Happy Birthday, Mrs. B!!!

 20.  Untie ribbon and slice between Kit Kats.

(I found the first slice had to be a little larger…the equivalent of 4 Kit Kats, in order to get the pie server under the cake to lift.  After that, feel free to cut smaller slices of 2 Kit Kats)

(Thanks to Lil Miss C for her Instagram photos!)

ENJOY!!!