Pumpkin Spice Crispy Treats (from Kraft)

I found these Kraft Pumpkin Spice Mallows at the store the other day and boy are they yummy!

I thought they would be great in hot cocoa.

And then I thought, "Hey, I bet they'd be good in Rice Krispies Treats!"

Well, sure enough...I looked on the back of the bag and they beat me to it!

There was the recipe!

So without further ado...

Here is Kraft's recipe for Pumpkin Spice Crispy Treats...

1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter or margarine

1 bag (10 oz.) Jet Puffed Pumpkin Spice Mallows

6 c. crisp rice cereal

1 c. Candy Corn

Line 13X9 inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; lightly grease foil.

Microwave butter in large microwavable bowl on HGH 45 sec. or until melted.  Add marshmallows; toss to coat.  Microwave 1 1/2 min. or until marshmallows are completely melted, stirring after 45 sec.  Add cereal, mix well.  Press cereal mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan.  Cool.

Remove cereal mixture from pan, using foil handles.  Cut into squares or pumpkin shapes using pumpkin shaped cookie cuter.  Decorate with candy corn.  Store in air tight container at room temperature.

Enjoy your fall treat!

More Chocolatey Goodness!

These cupcakes are 100% pure chocolate.

Devil's Food cake, filled with chocolate pudding, and frosted with chocolate icing.

I told you!

100% pure chocolate!

Myself...I enjoy a variety of desserts.

I love trying new flavors.

I love experimenting with new flavors and combinations.

But two of my three guys in our house think that there is no other option when it comes to dessert.

IT MUST BE CHOCOLATE!

I'll try a new recipe, and the first thing my husband will say is, "You know what would make this better?"

Yep...you bet.

Chocolate.

He'll say, "If it were only filled with chocolate" or "If it had a little drizzle of chocolate sauce across the top" or...you get the picture.

Me?

I enjoy chocolate.
But I can take it or leave it.

I enjoy WAAAAAAY too many other things to get stuck in a chocolate rut.

But I HAVE to make some simple chocolatey goodness every once in a while for my guys.

They put up with all of my fancy, crazy recipe trials...so the least I can do is make the men a simple chocolate cake or pie every once in a while!

LOL!

A Few More Halloween Cookies...

I decorated a few more Halloween cookies.

Still having issues with my Royal Icing.

Although...

I'm wondering if I've discovered a link to the runny icing and what just may be the cause!

My Kitchen Aid Mixer is on the same counter just above where my dishwasher is.

I have had my dishwasher running numerous times when baking/decorating.

Well, let me tell you...my dishwasher puts out an ENORMOUS amount of heat and steam when operating.

I'm wondering...just maybe...if all that moisture/humidity seaping out was the cause to my runny icing?

Who knows.

One can never tell with Royal Icing.

But hey, it's worth placing the blame somewhere, right?

LOL!

These were a few simple spiders I did.

My youngest son loved them.

Their bodies are actually made from some pre-made "flower centers" that I had made a while back and frozen.

I planned on using them for flower centers.

But...

When I saw I had purple, I thought they'd coordinate nicely with the Halloween color scheme.

Plus, my youngest LOVES purple!

Teehee!

They're simple...but we like them!

Fresh Harvest Apple Cake

I have been planning to make this cake ever since the weather turned cooler.

Then one of my baking buddies mentioned she was looking for an apple cake recipe today and that prompted me to dig this one out.

This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE apple cake recipe and I'd like to share it with you.

Fresh Apple Harvest Cake

6 c. peeled, cored, chopped apples
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. veg. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans

Topping:
1 c. light brown sugar
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9X13 pan. In med. bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt & cinnamon.. In lg. bowl beat eggs, add sugar & mix well. Stir in oil & vanilla. Add dry ingredients gradually, stirring well after each addition. Fold in apples & nuts. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 45 min. In small saucepan, combine light brown sugar, butter & evaporated milk.  Cook over med. heat 5 min.  Stir constantly. Pour glaze over hot cake.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Halloween Cookies...just a bit early!

I thought I'd get a jump and start practicing some Halloween cookies.

Well, as it turns out...it's a good thing I started practicing early!

It was another BAD day for Royal Icing.

I am still, to this day, trying to figure out why some days, it turns out with shear perfection!

Then there are other days, it is a gooey, non-drying mess!

They still tasted good, none the less.

But if you have any ideas, suggestions, or tips...

PLEASE leave them in the comment section!  LOL!

I'd love the advice!

I had better luck when I first started nearly a year ago!

I'm hoping maybe it was just the humidity/weather.

But who knows.

I'd love to hear your experiences with Royal Icing!

Snickerdoodle Pie...

First let me start by saying...I am NOT a pie maker. 

That being said, I am ATTEMPTING to make more and more, but they are not pretty.

I believe desserts should be pretty...but not everything that is good is pretty!

Ok...now that we've got that straight, LOL!

I discovered this pie about a year or so ago out of my oldest son's and my love of Snickerdoodle cookies.  We made it and we both fell in love with it.  So...I thought I would share the recipe.  I don't remember where I got it, so pardon me for not giving credit where credit is due, but I will say, "I AM NOT THE AUTHOR OF THIS PIE", there I said it...so no one get mad at me for stealing your recipe, LOL!  Let's start with the crust!

Flaky Pie Dough

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

4 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

4 tbsp vegetable shortening chilled

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse meal. With motor running, add 2 tbsp ice cold water and process just until dough forms a ball. Add more water, 1 tsp at a time, if dough is too dry. Press into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days before using.

And now...moving on to the pie!

Gather your ingredients!

You will need:

1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar for topping

1 c. sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

4 large eggs yolks

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Roll out pie dough on a lightly floured surface into an 11 inch circle. Fit into a 9 inch pie pan and trim edges so they overhang by 1 inch. Fold dough under to create a double thick edge, crimp decoratively. Place in refrigerator to chill while preparing filling.

Preheat oven to 350. Set a rack in the lower third of oven. Line a baking sheet with foil and set it in the oven to preheat.

Let's start measuring and mixing!

In a small bowl combine cinnamon and sugar topping. Set aside.

Now that you have your cinnamon sugar mixture, let's work on the pie filling!

Melt your butter.  I just use the micro!

Now you will slowly add each ingredient one by one into a mixing bowl and whisk!

Butter.

Buttermilk.

Don't forget to separate your eggs!

Is there anything more gross than looking at egg whites when you separate them?  LOL!

Add the egg yolks.

Flour...vanilla...

Salt and sugar.

And whisk away!

Pour into your crust.

Get your cinnamon sugar topping...

And sprinkle it all over...

It should look like this!

Place your pie on the foil wrapped pre-heated baking sheeet.

Bake at 350 for twenty minutes, then without opening oven door, reduce heat to 325 and bake another 20 minutes until pie is set, puffed, and golden.  Let cool on a wire rack.

Now wasn't that fun!

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as my son and I do!

Happy pie eating!

P.S. I told you it wasn't pretty!  Haha!

Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes (Take 2)

These cupcakes have come to be my ALL TIME FAVORITE cupcake.

I am not opposed to using a boxed cake mix.

But there is just NO SUBSTITUTE for the taste and flavor of something completely 100% homemade from scratch.

I made these before and that is where the love affair started.

I have been meaning to make them again, but they are a very time consuming cupcake.

Not difficult by any means...they just have a lot of steps...and require time.

I got the recipe from Heather at SprinkleBakes.

You can find it here.

Mine are not near as pretty as hers...but I can assure you, they taste AMAZING!

I did not make the little candied decorations this time for mine.

I attempted this last time, and let's just say...

I didn't have the best experience with it, LOL!

If you love caramel, if you love sea salt...and the sweet/salty combination they bring together...

You have GOT to try these cupcakes!

Baby Cookie Pop Bouquets!

As promised, this week was all about the babies!

I had two clients who recently had babies and I wanted to not only do a baby gift, but also a little something for the other family members (mom, dad, siblings).

So this was a perfect time to practice some baby cookies!

I had never done baby cookies.

The only "somewhat" baby cookie cutter I had in my collection as of yet, was a little duckie.

So...

I had to attempt to make some templates and do FREE-HAND cutting with a knife!

I did the baby bottles and onesies free-hand.

I traced and cut out a template/pattern from the computer.

Then I just took a paring knife and traced around them.

For a first attempt, I was pretty happy with the results!

No longer limited to the cookie cutters I have in my collection!

Really, the possibilities are endless with cutting free-hand!

Rubber Duckies...

As promised, this week's posts are all about the babies!

Today I have some rubber duckies for you!

I did these the other day as part of my new baby cookie pop bouquets.

If I'd have thought about it, I think I would've added some sugar to the outline of these little guys.

Just didn't think about it at the time.

But I was happy for the most part with how they turned out.

I used a Wilton cutter for these guys.

I wasn't sure how to go about making their wings.

So instead, I just placed a little flower there!

Not bad for a first!

Baby Bottle Cookies...

Don't you just love these baby bottles?

Not that they are perfectly decorated or anything...

Because they are FAR from it, LOL!

But I think they are just do dang cute!

I didn't have a cookie cutter for these, so this was my second attempt a making my own template and cutting free-hand with a knife.

I don't think they turned out half bad for a newbie!

I was quite impressed actually, LOL!

These were a part of the set I was making to go into my two baby cookie pop bouquets.

I was really happy with my work this week.

Like I've said...I'm very critical of my work...

But having only been decorating since April, I didn't think these were "half" bad.

It's a journey...enjoy the ride!