Peppermint Marshmallows

These are good!  For the first time in 7 years (or more) we put fresh candy canes on our tree!  I know, gross!  Make a mental note never to eat a candy cane off our Christmas tree because you will never know how old they are (unless you come this year...they are brand new)!  And, maybe buying candy canes each year will become a new tradition because I used up most of the remainders to make these peppermint marshmallows.  They are very easy and require no candy making skills.  Candy making thermometers and I do not get along so this was a good thing.


GO HERE for a great tutorial and recipe!

I have added them to both my hot chocolate AND my coffee.  Both tasted better because of these dainty little treats. 

Chocolate Pretzel Rings

Salty, sweet....what's not to love.  Oh yeah, and easy!

I've gotten a little slack lately for this section of the blog not being updated.  Fair enough.  My friend Meggan sent me this recipe:

• Preheat oven to 225
• Spread aluminum foil on a pan
• Get those pretzels only available this time of year that are a "O" shape
• Spread them out on the aluminum foil
• Place a hershey's kiss/hug/caramel fill kiss....whatever you want in the center
• Bake for 2 minutes - just enough to melt the chocolate
• Remove from oven and immediately push an M&M into the middle
• Let cool.  Peel from foil and enjoy!

Super delish and easy!  Thanks Meggan!

Dump Cake

Remember when I told you, here, that my style was easy and leaned towards healthy?  Well, with today's post, you can forget all about that "healthy" bit.  Healthy is not how I would describe this dish.  Not in the least.  Easy though...easy is definitley in the description.

Here's what you need:

1/2 cake mix (I think yellow tastes the best with this)
1 can pie filling
1 stick of butter

Here's what you do.  Oh, and I should note, I have cut this recipe in half because that's plenty of dessert for us.  But, it's traditionally made in a 9x13 pan instead of a pie plate.

Okay, on with the show.

Preheat the oven to 350

Spray a pie plate with nonstick spray and dump the pie filling in.

Now take the cake mix, and dump half of it on top of the pie filling.  If you have a good eye, just guess where "half" is.  If you're a nerd like me, you can calculate that half of the cake mix is 258 grams and use your kitchen scale to get an exact measurement.  Save the other half for next time.

Now take that stick of butter (preferably right out of the fridge) and cut it into little pats (or is it "pads"?) and arrange them on top of the cake mix.

Then just pop it into the oven for 45-60 minutes.  When the filling is bubbling and the top looks golden, it's done.  Now would be a good time for me to insert a completed Dump Cake picture.  But, stop searching.  It won't be making an appearance today because as soon as it was done, we went over to our neighbors for game night and the dump cake went with us. No time for pictures.

Traditionally, when you do not half the recipe, a lot of people use one can of cherry pie filling and one can of crushed pineapple.  Maybe that sounds more appealing to you, but I will stick with my raspberry bliss.

Spooky Pumpkin Muffins

Just in case you need a really last minute treat to bring to a Halloween party....here you go!  Grab a box of your favorite muffin mix (I used pumpkin because it seemed seasonally appropriate).  Once the muffins are cooled, put some ready made cream cheese frosting into a ziploc baggie.  Snip off the corner and pipe on the ghosts.  I raided Ellie's candy to find some mini M&Ms for the eys, but chocolate chips would work just as well.

Happy Haunting!!!

Cupcake Bites for Halloween

Last time I made the cupcake bites, my brother, ever so politely made the comment that they looked like eyeballs.  It made me think....why not?  So I went all out with the idea.

Same cupcake bite as before.

This time with iris colored M&Ms and a few bloodshot lines.

Eyeballs.  It's what's for dinner.

Oreo Pops

I came up with this the other day.  Well, I can't say for sure that no one else has ever achieved the greatness that I call "Oreo Pops", but what I mean is that this idea is without a recipe or inspiration from someone else.  Maybe it's because I'm attracted to all the colors that Wilton Candy Melts come in.  When I saw orange at the store, I immediately thought of pumpkins and I needed something round to go with them.  Hello Oreos!

They are fairly easy.  Just stick a lollipop stick in the frosting of a double stuff oreo cookie.  Melt the candy melts according to the direction on the package.  I also add about 1-2 teaspoons of shortening to thin the melts out a bit.  I think it helps with the dipping.  Never use water to thin out candy melts.  Vegetable oil and shortening are your best options.  I stuck mine in an empty box to stand upright while they dried.

Then, I took an edible marker to draw Jack o'Lantern faces on the Oreo Pops.  I got tired of drawing faces, so I wrote words like "boo" and "eek" on a few of them.  Clever, I know.

Oreo Pops.  They're spooktacular!

Cupcake Bites

The Vikings play the Packers tonight.  We're suppose to be having an outdoor tailgate at our house and suppose to be watching the game on the big screen outside.  However, due to weather, I have a feeling it will be cancelled.  Nonetheless, I made these yesterday just in case.

Let me just start by saying, these are a pain in the butt.  I got the idea from Bakerella.  Basically, you take a baked cake, mash it up, combine it with a tub of frosting, roll little balls out of the mixture, and then coat them in candy melts of your choice.  I urge you to visit her site, because what I created is nothing what they are suppose to look like.
Actually:

There, that is from her site.  That is how they should look.  And, maybe you want to make me feel better and say "well, she probably makes hundreds of these and picks the best 5 for the picture".  True, she might.  But, I made at least 40 and I couldn't even find one that remotely resembled hers.

I mean, I had some really ugly ones.

However, they are delicious.  I had to hide them from Rob so he didn't eat them all, just in case the party does happen.

Either way, Skol Vikings!