Raspberry Frosted Vanilla Mini Cupcakes

 

I picked up a subscription to Food and Wine magazine recently for my daughter's school fundraiser. I have already found several great recipes.  This cupcake just looked pretty and I knew it would have to be yummy too.  I tweaked the recipe from strawberry to raspberry and eliminated the milk products.  Instead of regular cupcakes we made mini ones.  I would guess you could use any type of berry jam.  Be careful to not add too much the frosting will get soft.  These were the perfect sweet treat to bring our dinner club and so pretty.

Recipe Modifications

• used fleischmann's unsalted margarine
• used vanilla rice milk
• you can use your favorite white or cream cheese frosting recipe and just add jam to taste.  I added raspberry jam and topped with fresh raspberries instead of strawberry
• made mini cupcakes instead of regular ones
• frosting was a bit soft so popped in the fridge before traveling with them

Cupcake Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature

Recipe

This recipe comes from Food and Wine

Click Here for Recipe

Dark Chocolate Sprinkled Rice Krispie Pops

 

These are so easy and yummy that I will be making them again and again!  Rice Krispie treats are something most of us don't outgrow.  Add rich dark chocolate, sprinkles and a stick to keep your hands clean and you have the perfect treat.  These are also great for the little helpers in your life.  My 2 year old was able to dip in the chocolate and sprinkles herself.  She did try to eat them as she made them though ;-)  You could easily change this up by dipping in nuts, seasonal sprinkles, changing the color of the chocolate, making the treats different sizes, chocolate then mini marshmallows than carmel then chocolate again...I could go on forever.  Now I want one, and of course they'be been eaten up!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal
1 bag dark chocolate chips
sprinkles
popsicle sticks
ribbons to decorate if you'd like

Recipe

1. Make rice Krispies according to recipe on the box, allow to completely cool.  I used an 8x8 pan and made sure they were pressed evenly in the pan
2. Cut treats into popsicle sized bars
3. Melt chips in microwave in 30 second increments on 50% power, stirring thoroughly after each increment
4. Place sprinkles in bowl
5. Stick a popsicle stick into each treat and dip in chocolate, then dip into sprinkles
6. Place in fridge to set and then server at room temperature

This recipe found at Twig and Thistle blog

Click Here for Recipe

Valentines Ice Cream Cake Pops

I am a huge believer in finding the joy in life.  Valentines Day is so much more fun now that we have children! We went all out this year and tried out this super cute cake pop recipe.  The girls got to make home-made valentines and treats for their neighborhood friends.  This recipe is less healthy and less homemade than the majority of our cooking but that's alright it's fun to have a special treat now and then ;-)  And everyone loved the pops so if you are looking for a cute birthday idea these are sure to please and can be decorated for any holiday or celebration

Recipe Modifications

• I used a cookie scooper to scoop the cake balls.  They look just like mini ice-cream scoops
• I found my balls too big to dip in the chocolate without falling apart.  So I dipped cone in chocolate, put the cake ball on and then used a spoon and poured over the balls.
• I bought plastic wine glasses from the dollar store and used a beer six pack to transport the pops.  Worked perfectly!

Ingredients

1 9x13 cake mix (homemade or box)

1.5 to 2 cups cream cheese frosting 

Sugar cones

Chocolate candy melts (I used Wilton)

Sprinkles

Sweet Hearts candy

Serrated knife

Styrofoam

Lollipop sticks

Recipe

This recipe comes from cakepopsgalore

Click Here for Recipe

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins have great banana flavor, a hint of sweet, nice bite and bake very pretty.  The girls love to eat them as a snack or for breakfast.  My favorite way is warm with a tiny bit of butter or margarine.  We "healthed" up the basic banana muffin recipe to make a more filling snack.  You could go even further and substitute 1/3 cup applesauce for the oil.  Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 egg or 1/4 cup pasteurized egg product

3/4 cup coconut milk (almond or skim plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice would work too)

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 medium mashed bananas, around 1 and 1/4 cups

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients flour through nutmeg and whisk together.
3. In a large bowl thoroughly mix the egg, oil, milk, vanilla and mashed bananas.  Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined.  Do not over mix the muffins will be tough
4. Pour batter into lined or oiled muffin tins.  Fill 3/4 full.  This recipe makes 12 muffins in my square pan and enough left over batter for 10 mini muffins.  We like a light sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar on top before they bake.
5. Mini muffins bake for 10-12 minutes.  Regular muffins bake for 12-15 minutes.  These bake fast, be careful not to over bake.  Remove from pan after they have cooled for 2 minutes

Dark Chocolate & Tart Cherry Granola Bars

I saw this recipe and thought what a great idea and then completely forgot about it!  Thanks to the magic of Facebook and Pinterest, I rediscovered the recipe.  Homemade healthy granola bars that my girls and I would love and are easy to throw in my purse to eat when you need a snack.  What could be better!  After reading the reviews I made some tweaks and came out with a healthy, yummy, chewy, chunky and portable granola bar.  I will definitely be trying my hand at granola bars again.  I'm thinking of doing a cinnamon maple oat one next.  These are seriously so easy to make and you'll get a more nutritious bar for much less bank.

Recipe Modifications

• used 1/4 cup canola and 1/4 cup olive oil
• used 1/3 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped dried tart cherries
• cooked in glass dish and bars were about 2.5 inches thick instead of 1.  made 20 bars
• cooked for 20 minutes and let cool hour.  They crumbled when cut so baked additional 25 minutes. smushed down when I got them out of the oven to really compact.  Then cooled for 30 minutes.  Then put in fridge until they were cold.  After that they cut great!  Next time just bake for 40, smash to compact and cool in fridge before cutting

Ingredients

4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats

1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Chocolate Chips*

1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Honey

Recipe

This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs weelicious

Click Here for Recipe

Easy Blender Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

So my girls wanted pancakes and eggs this thursday morning.  I wanted them to have a healthy version so I took a stab at my own recipe.  The flavor is great and I will be making and tweaking this recipe in the future, success!  The batter is a thinner batter so smaller fast cooking pancakes are best.  You can let the batter sit for a while for a fluffier pancake, well if your family isn't as impatient to eat as mine is!  I read an interesting article on the affects of baking powder and baking soda, kinda cool to learn the science behind the ingredients The Food Lab: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cups old fashion oats

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon or to taste

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup rice milk (can use milk/soy milk/almond milk)

1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup pasteurized eggs or 2 eggs

1 really large or two small bananas, in pieces around a cup

Recipe

1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend until just mixed.
2. Heat oiled/buttered griddle over medium high heat.  Add batter 1/4 cup at a time.  Flip when bubbles begin to form

Oven Baked Meatballs

 

The girls have been into plain noodles lately.  So we went with these yummy oven baked meatballs served with veggies and buttered parmesan sprinkled noodles.  I adapted the usual meatball recipe I use, decided to bake rather than pan fry and they turned out perfect.  I will be making these again.  As a bonus you can make meat mixture the night before or whenever you have down time, even put them on the tray so it's easy to just pop into the oven during the hectic crazy dinner time rush!

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced onion

1 teaspoon olive oil

ground turkey (1.5 - 2 lbs)

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (this can be omitted to make milk free)

1/2 cup pasteurized egg or 2 eggs beaten

4-6 cloves garlic minced or pressed through garlic press

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste (I use around 1/2 teaspoon of each)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

hot sauce (we like cholula) to taste if you want to kick it up

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Prepare cookie sheet by lining with foil
2. Heat oil in medium fry pan over medium high heat.  Cook onion until it's caramelized.  It will start to turn a nice brownish color at tips but will not completely dehydrate.  Then remove from heat and let cool
3. Combine onions and remaining ingredients (turkey through thyme) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
4. Make the meatballs and place on cookie sheet.  Depending on the amount of turkey you use, you should get 10 - 14 meatballs about 1/4 heaping cup in size.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until they are cooked through (no pink in the middle).