• Cookie Dough Cupcakes

    Yes, that’s right.  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about these cupcakes so I jumped on the opportunity to make these for my sister’s baby shower.  These and my Chocolate Ganache Filled Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream will go into the favor boxes and holy cow, I hope our guests are ready for a sugar high! These cupcakes are a little time consuming – you’ll need a couple of hours to make them.  The base is a chocolate-chip, brown-sugar based batter, with…

  • Fauxstess Cupcakes

    Since I’m in the midst of the lovely Weight Watchers lifestyle, I haven’t been baking as much as I would like lately.  Even though I have a pretty strong willpower when it comes to avoiding and ignoring the sweets and treats in my house, I find it better to not even tempt myself.  I’m going to save my baking for special occasions, and especially those that I can bring treats and leave them at someone else’s house. Today I am baking for my brother’s 27th…

  • Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Bars

    You can actually SEE how delicious these are.  You can see the powdery sugar stuck to the gooey, chocolaty graham cracker cookie.  You can SEE it, can’t you? And yup – they taste just as good as they look.  Maybe better. I broke all of the July-in-Kansas rules today and turned my oven on.  Yes, I turned my oven on even though it was exactly 900 degrees outside today.  And with the heat-index, it felt like 950 degrees.  But I just had to make these…

  • Stuffed Crust Pizza

    This has been an extremely busy month for my little family.  Between my husband’s work schedule, birthdays, graduations, anniversary parties and my oldest daughter’s last days of Kindergarten (and all that comes with it), T-Ball, dance class and gymnastics, we’ve been running in a million different directions.  Dinner has become almost an afterthought lately…let’s just say there have been a lot of turkey sandwiches and cereal for dinner this month.  I know, I know.  Bad food blogger. Today, I noticed we were on the same…

  • Champagne Cupcakes

    There’s something wrong with this picture.  Right now, I’m hanging out in my living room while my kids are napping.  For some reason, the movie Twister is playing on my television.  I’m wearing my oldest, most comfortable yoga pants and my hair is in a ponytail.  There’s a basket of freshly laundered kitchen towels staring at me, begging to be folded before they become a wrinkly mess. And I’m writing about champagne cupcakes.  Such is my life, I suppose. Here’s the thing, though.  These look fancy,…

  • Instant Party with Bacardi Mixers pt 1

    This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BACARDI® Mixers for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.   You know by now that I love to entertain and host parties so I’m always looking for a reason to celebrate.  Like the old adage “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” there is always something to celebrate – and it’s not terribly difficult to find it if you just look.   For instance, last week my husband and I were celebrating the last week of softball.…

  • Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Cookie Frosting

    So, close your eyes for a minute, and imagine with me. Wait, don’t close your eyes yet.  You have to read this first. Ok, in a minute, you’re going to close your eyes and imagine a soft, perfectly-chocolate cupcake.  It peels away from the wrapper in one piece, and is just strong enough to hold the weight of the frosting without being too dense or heavy. You bite through a soft, sweet layer of peanut butter “cookie” nestled atop a generous layer of dark, slightly-sweet…

  • Maple Pecan Muffins

    In my never-ending quest for simplicity in my weekday mornings, I always turn to easy, make-ahead meals.  Because, really – who has time to do all of the dressing, teeth-brushing, hair-brushing, backpack-packing and grumpy-kid quelling IN ADDITION TO whipping up a fancy breakfast? Not me.  It doesn’t even matter if we wake up earlier.  It’s like my five-year-old knows precisely how long she needs to brush her teeth to make it take up exactly 99% of my morning.  She’s all, “Oh, we have 45 minutes before…

  • Spicy Chicken Hoagie

    I am a huge sandwich fan – a HUGE sandwich fan.  So much so that I could totally relate to Joey and his sandwich obsession on “Friends.”  Speaking of Friends, do you remember the episode where Ross freaked out because someone ate his sandwich?  The Moistmaker??  I do.  And come Thanksgiving, there will totally be a Moistmaker recipe on this blog.  You think I’m joking…I’m not. So yes, I love sandwiches.  I think it’s probably just that I love bread, and you can’t really have a…

  • Nutella Cupcakes

    I’ve had one of those weeks.  Well, actually, I’ve had one of those months.  You know, when you can’t get ahead, everything is a crazy mess, your to-do list is twice as long as usual, your kids are sick and on fall break, AND your husband has to travel for work?  Yes, I’ve had that kind of month. I haven’t had a lot of time for baking this month, I haven’t really even had much time to go to the grocery store. As a result,…

  • Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    Chocolate.  Strawberry.  Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Heaven. Have you ever had Swiss Meringue Buttercream?  It’s amazeballs.  It’s silky, buttery and not too sweet.  This particular frosting tastes like strawberry ice cream.  I’m telling you, it’s fabulous. Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC) starts with eggwhites and sugar heated on the stovetop, and then whipped into a stiff meringue before adding butter and flavoring.  It has a reputation for being difficult and finicky, but really I’ve never had any trouble with it.  Once you add the butter to the…

  • Pudding Cookies

    I honestly don’t know why I can’t leave well enough alone.  I already have a great chocolate chip cookie recipe (click here) and my Mom makes magnificent chocolate Chip cookies.  So why on earth do I continue to search for different recipes?  I think it’s a sickness.  These particular cookies caught my eye on Pinterest a while back.  The idea of pudding in cookies was just too much – how could I pass up such a magical idea?  I couldn’t.  Well – I tried.  For…