Starbucks Style Hot Chocolate

Can you believe we still have a whole month of winter left? I feel like it has lasted all year. Even though I am counting down the days to nice, warm weather, I can still enjoy the simple pleasures winter brings, like rich hot chocolate.

Are you a Starbucks fan, but can't afford the bill every time you are craving their sugary goodness? Well, I found a recipe that nearly beats Starbucks famous hot chocolate. Add a little peppermint or caramel to this and you'll never pay that $3-4 price again.

Recipe from: Instructables.com

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup water

4 Tbs cocoa powder

4 Tbs sugar

3 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Here's what you do:

-Combine water, cocoa, and sugar in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high and stir until the mixture starts to create steam, but doesn't boil yet.

-Add milk, then vanilla to the pan and stir until everything is mixed and the milk is close to boiling.

-Serve in your favorite mug topped with a generous serving of whipped cream.

Enjoy your last few weeks of winter!
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Popcorn

Jake and I went to Trader Joe's a few days ago and found these de-li-cious mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups. I love them! In my personal opinion, they are better than Reese's. I combined them with popcorn and a little more sugar to create a great party snack.

Recipe slightly altered from Two Peas and Their Pod

Here's what you need:

-5 cups butterless, plain popcorn popped

-Salt

-1/4 cup honey

-3 Tbs sugar

-1/4 cup peanut butter

-1/4 tsp vanilla extract

-A dark chocolate bar

-3/4 cup Trader Joe's mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups (or mini reese's cups)

Here's what you do:

-Lightly salt the popped popcorn

-In a saucepan, combine honey and sugar. Stir regularly until it comes to a boil, then let simmer for two minutes.

-Add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until well mixed and peanut butter is melted.

-Stir into popcorn while still hot.

-Spread onto wax paper.

-Use a micro-plane to grate dark chocolate on top of the popcorn. (Use as much or as little as you want)

-Allow to cool completely.

-Break popcorn mixture apart into small pieces.

-Place popcorn pieces and peanut butter cups in a bowl and mix well.

-Serve

I love finding new treats at Trader Joe's. What are your go-to Trader Joe's items?

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Valentine's Treat

It's almost Valentine's day! I'm not a huge Valentine's fan, but I like an excuse to bake something sweet and head out to dinner with my hubby. Tomorrow is the day to be extra nice to your sweetie. Why not make him a simple treat like this to sweeten up his day.

Here's what you do:
-Make a fresh batch of rice krispie treats.
-While still warm, press the mixture into a square pan.
-Place Valentine's M&Ms on top of the treats.
-Cut into squares and serve!

Sometimes I feel like I need to make up for my lack of compliment giving by baking... (It's my love language). Jake's love language is words of affirmation, and he's great at giving me compliments. Here's one of my favorite/funniest compliments he's given me:

I had just finished putting on my makeup and sat down next to Jake. He was about to compliment me on how good it looked, but stopped himself and rephrased it to this:

"Wow, Teesha. Your face makes your makeup look so good!"

He's smart, that man.

My challenge to you this Valentine's is to use your spouse's love language to make his day special. Don't know what your or your spouse's love language is? Try this quiz.

I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with your sweetie!

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Let Them Eat Cake

Photo by My Mom @ Kimberly Clark Photography

My family came to my house for the first time this past Holiday season. It just so happens that my Uncle's birthday is on December 24th. I wanted to make him a special birthday cake, so I made his favorite: German Chocolate cake.

This weekend is my brother's birthday, so I'm making a family favorite: Strawberry Poppy seed cake! I'm already excited to eat it, and I still have to wait 3 more days.

What is your choice of birthday cake?

Banana Bread Snack Cake

 These are sooooooooo good. If you love banana bread, brown sugar, cream cheese, or cake, you need to make this. I think since it's called "snack cake" it's healthier for you... right?

I found this recipe at a blog called How Sweet it Is. Instead of me trying to tell you how she made it, I'll let you check out the recipe on her blog. Here.

Mmmm. I think I'll go eat another piece now.

Enjoy!

Phyllo with Berries

My mom used to make a version of this when I was young. These phyllo shells are filled with tasty lemon pudding, fresh berries, and topped with cool whip. It's a lighter dessert, and is a great finish for any meal.

They go really well with Sangria's and the latest episode of the Bachelor.... But you didn't hear that from me.

Serves: Roughly 6

Time: Roughly 30 min with baking.

What you need:
-Phyllo Pastry shells or cups (I used Pepperidge Farm shells)
-Lemon pudding (make beforehand and stick in the fridge until ready)
-Berries of your choice. Fresh, frozen, mashed... you choose
-Cool Whip

What you do:
-Bake phyllo shells/cups as directed on box. Allow to cool.
-If using shells, remove the center to create a hole. Keep what you removed for the top.
-Spoon pudding into the bottom of the hole you created. (Add as much as you want)
-Place a cluster of berries on top of the pudding.
-Finish with a spoonful of cool whip.
-Top with the phyllo piece you scooped out.

It's that simple! Enjoy!

I Want S'more Cupcakes Please!

Sometimes on my way home from work I sing. Sometimes I reflect on the day. And sometimes I create really unhealthy food combinations like the one on this post.

I love s'mores! But since I don't have a campfire in my apartment, I have to get creative in order to enjoy the delicious combination of graham crackers, chocolate, and toasted marshemallos! This is how I created my own s'mores cupcake! It's very sweet, but oh so good! I had Jake take them to work so I wouldn't eat them all, and everyone loved them!

Here's what you need:

Graham Crust: (from All Recipes)

• 1 ½ cups finely crushed graham crackers
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter

Vanilla Cupcake Batter: (adapted from Food Network)

• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 (plus a little more) cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Here's what you do:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

Grease muffin tin.

Combine all ingredients for graham crust.

Press a thin layer of crust into each tray.

Bake for 3-5 min.

Batter:
Combine both flours.

Whisk butter until smooth.

Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs until everything is combined.

Gradually add flour mixture, milk, and vanilla alternating. Mix until well blended.

Add batter into muffin tins filling a little over ¾ full.

Bake 20-25 min.

Insert one Hershey’s square into the center of each cupcake after about 15 min. of baking. Allow to finish baking until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool.

Add a spoonful of marshmallow cream onto each cupcake. Place 3 mini mallows on top. Broil until golden. (This is what makes this treat so good)

Add a Hershey’s square on top!

Enjoy!

P.S. I also made some with chocolate gnache... You can easily do this by creating a gnache, cutting a hole into each fully baked cupcake (Don't cut all the way to the bottom!), and filling it with the gnache. This makes it more like a dessert than a s'more.

Cake Balls

Ok, these were even better than I thought.  Jake has eaten at least two every night.  That is definitely a sign of a great dessert because Jake does not have much of a sweet tooth.  Which makes me eat less sweets, but also makes me feel even more guilty when I eat them without him... it's a terrible mess, let me tell you.

What you need:

• A box of cake mix (I used red velvet because it's lucious and I rarely make it)
• A can of frosting (cream cheese was delicious BTW)
• A bag of white chocolate chips (or semi-sweet, or baker's... but I don't recommend milk chocolate; it is much to sweet for this sugary ball of goodness)
• Lollipop sticks (optional)
• Sprinkles (optional)

What you do:

• Bake cake as directed in a 9x13 inch pan.  (Make sure the cake is completely baked.  A gooey cake would ruin the whole thing)
• When the cake has cooled completely, crumble it up into little pieces and add to a large bowl (poor cake)
• Dump the WHOLE can of frosting into the large bowl, and mix with your fingers until it's combined and sticky (If you have small children around, this would be the perfect job for them!)
• Roll into small balls about the size of a big bouncy ball.  You should be able to make about 40 or more.
• Refridgerate or freeze for several hours until the balls feel firm
• Melt the chocolate chips, then dip the balls in and cover them with chocolate.  Quickly cover it with sprinkles before it dries. Then set it on waxed paper
• If you decide to add the stick, make sure it gets covered in the chocolate too; otherwise, the cake ball will fall off.

When the chocolate dries, serve and be famous!

From my tiny kitchen to yours!

Recipe found at Bakerella

I never should have asked my husband to title this post... you'll see why...

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Yes, that's right. I told my husband that these yummy treats are called "Cake Balls" and asked him to help me create the title for this post... bad idea. I'm pretty sure he will have the brain of a Jr. High boy for a while. (P.S. I still love him a lot). Okay, let's move on to business.

If you have not heard about cake balls, you are missing out. They are bite-sized pieces of cake served in the cutest way and even more unhealthy for you than normal cake. These are soooo cute! I'm pretty sure I am going to have to make these for a Bridal Shower I am throwing this month....

Or maybe I should make Red Velvet with Milk Chocolate...

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Or even Red Velvet with White Chocolate...

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Too many cute options!

Which do you think I should make?

P.S. If you want to make these before I post my recipe, here's the link to the website I grabbed it from.

The Perfect Treat!

Before I give you this great recipe for easy snicker-doodle cookies, I have to tell you that I feel like my childhood was deprived because I have never made a snicker-doodle cookie in my life. I loved to bake and while making chocolate chip cookies is always a fun experience, I did not realize that all the while I should have been making snicker-doodles. What kid would not love to roll the dough and smother each cookie onto a mountain of cinnamon and sugar? If you find one, let me know.

Another note, I never have cream of tartar, and every recipe calls for that particular ingredient which never touches my shelves. This recipe is awesome because you don't need it! I grabbed it from the food network http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/snickerdoodles-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sugary Topping:

4 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees F

Directions:

1. Stir together all the dry ingredients
2. Cream the butter using a paddle (I love to use my cute, red Kitchen-aid for this)
3. Add the sugar (Don't feel bad, your New Year's resolution is to work out more, right?)
4. Add eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Mix until it's nice and smooth.
5. Add the dry ingredients. Mix well.
6. Now, the best way to do this is to let your dough hang out in the refrigerator for about an hour... but if your really impatient like I am, just go to number 7!
7. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugary topping
8. Roll dough into small balls, about the size of an acorn. Smother them in the sugary goodness.
9. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.
10. Bake 10-12 minutes, until they look slightly golden and cracked.
11. Let them cool.

Invite some friends over. Put on your favorite Christmas movie and serve your tasty cookies with hot chocolate, coffee, or (my personal favorite) warm chai tea.

From my tiny kitchen to yours!