Pink Lemonade Cookies

♥ Beginner

A week or so ago, my dad was just RAVING about these cookies that he had made. He made me eat a few of them (yea, force-fed them to me, if you believe that) and agree that they were pretty good. Not gonna lie, they actually were pretty awesome. The hang up? They were box mix cookies! Thanks a lot Pillsbury.  

I know what you're thinking. "Since when do YOU care if something comes out of a box?" Well, I had one of those moments last weeks that changes your mindset on WASTE. The hubs lost his job, and I had to come to the realization that my baking desires take a back seat to diapers, wipes, and actual food. Go figure. (By the way, be prepared for situations like these by building your food storage now.) Anyhow, I knew I couldn't be wasting our precious money on box mixes for cookies, so I had to come up with an alternative. Surely I had enough ingredients from scratch at home that I could duplicate these little lemony angels. 

And so you have it. A Pink Lemonade Cookie from scratch. You're welcome. (Don't judge my one and only photo, they were eaten before I could get any really good ones. Besides, it's the flavor that counts, right?) 

What you'll need:

* 1 Cup Butter, Softened

* 1 Cup Sugar

* 1/2 Cup Powdered Sweetened Pink Lemonade Mix (or regular sweetened lemonade powder - you can add pink coloring later) 

* 1 Egg

* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

* 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Extract (or lemon juice)

* 3 Cups Flour

* 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

How it's done: 

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and grease a cookie sheet. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, or KitchenAid,  cream butter, sugar, and lemonade mix until fluffy. 

3. Beat in egg, vanilla, and lemon extracts. 

4. Add dry ingredients to the batter, beating until thoroughly combined. 

5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and roll in sugar. Place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes (or until edges start to brown). 

ENJOY! 

S'mores Cupcakes

♥♥ Intermediate

I know that S'mores are typically a summer treat, but we seemed to be having them a lot around the new year (didn't I hear some where that they will bring luck to you throughout the year?) so I thought that it might be a good time to capitalize on a potential S'mores Cupcake.


If you like S'mores, you'll love these. If you're diabetic however, stay far away! These have double the sugar that most cupcakes do, and they're likely to put you in a sugar coma. These have by far been some of my favorite cupcakes yet.

What you'll need:

• 1 Box Dark Chocolate Fudge (Duncan Hines) Cake Mix (You can use any chocolate mix, but this is the best) 
• 1 1/3 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Marshmallow Cream 
• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Mini-Marshmallows
• Chocolate (for decoration. I like Milk Chocolate Candiquik) 

How it's done: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F, and line muffin tins with paper cups. Spoon 1 Teaspoon graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each liner.

2. Combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined. Fill liners 3/4 full of cake mix, and bake for 19-22 minutes. Baking times will vary.

3. While cupcakes are baking, in a small bowl combine cream cheese, marshmallow cream, and powdered sugar until combined.

4. Once cupcakes have baked and cooled, make a small hole in the top of the cupcake and pull out a small amount of filling. (I like to use my hand-held apple corer for this job!)

5. Pipe cream cheese/marshmallow cream mixture into cupcakes. (Fill as much as you would like, but stop when cream reaches the top of the cupcake.

6. Pipe cream cheese frosting on top of cupcakes, and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Drop a few marshmallows on top, and drizzle with chocolate. (If you use the Candiquik, the chocolate will harden quickly.

ENJOY!

Lofthouse Cookies - Copycat!

♥ Beginner

Who doesn't love a good Lofthouse cookie? Or 8 of them?! You know which ones I'm talking about, the fluffy sugar-like cookies slathered with frosting and sprinkles, in whatever holiday theme is relevant... You see them as soon as you walk in to the grocery store, because they KNOW you'll buy those. You're welcome for making your mouth water.

I will admit, this recipe is NOT as good as those original Lofthouse cookies, but in a pinch they will do. And honestly, they are easy enough that you don't need to rush out to the store because most of the ingredients you'll likely have on hand.


What you'll need:

Just in case you had no idea what I am talking about.

• 1 Box of Classic White Cake Mix (I will always suggest a Duncan Hines) 
• 1/2 Cup Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1/8 Cup Flour
• 1/4 Cup Shortening
• 1 Can Strawberry Frosting (Or any flavor!) 

How it's done: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F.

2. Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and flour. Mixture will seem oily, but that's a sign that it's just right. 

3. Using a 1/2 Tablespoon, scoop batter, form it into a ball, and then drop onto a cookie sheet. Using the measuring spoon guarantees uniformity. 

4. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Baking times will vary. 

5. Wait for them to cool completely on a wire rack, and then frost with the frosting you've chosen. Top with sprinkles if desired. 

Enjoy! 

Carrot & Cream Cheese "MuffCakes"

♥ Beginner

Originally, these were called inside-out cupcakes because the frosting is on the inside... however, these are more like muffins (because they are great for breakfast!) with a cream cheese filling. Now we call them "MuffCakes".

These were a great hit at the ward linger-longer, and although I anticipated bringing some home because they aren't very pretty, they were all gone before we snuck out. If you're a carrott cake lover, or cream cheese lover (like myself) then you'll love these sweet little muffcakes as much as we do.

I originally made these from scratch, making my own carrot cake, and they turned out pretty good. But the next time, I made them from a Duncan Hines Decadent box mix and not only were they easier, but they were much more flavorful. At roughly $3.00 a box, it was worth it for the ease. If you want the recipe from scratch, let me know and I'll post it. Otherwise, here's my recipe using the box mix (because let's be honest, you're going to take the easy route too.)

*Btw, I stole these from King Arthur Flour (but mine are better, cough) 


What you'll need: 

• 1 Box Duncan Hines Decadent Carrot Cake Mix (New!) 
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 8 oz. Package of Cream Cheese (or Neufchatel Cheese)
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1/4 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

How it's done: 


1. Preheat your oven to 400*F, and grease or paper your muffin tins. (If you grease, your muffins will rise more and be fuller looking.)

2. Mix up your cake mix with the eggs and oil. Set aside.

3. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until well blended. 


4. Pour 2 Tablespoons of carrot cake batter into muffin tins. Top with heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture, and then cover with remaining batter. (You want the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full - or more if you're like me.)

5. Tap your muffin tin lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles.


6. Sprinkle the top with course white sparkling sugar, because who doesn't love a little extra sugar??

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Baking times will vary. Once baked, let them rest in the muffin tin for 5 more minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

These little gems are perfect when eaten still warm, although they are just as good when they've had some time to cool too! 

Pumpkin Cheesecake!

♥♥ Intermediate 


It's been nearly a month since the last time I posted on the blog, but I've had good reason. We just found out that we're expecting baby #2 (please, hold your applause and excitement). With that in mind, I'm sure you can figure out why I haven't been baking. (If you can't, I'm tired and I smell EVERYTHING... which really isn't great on your stomach if you're in the kitchen with fruity and spicy smells.) 


However, I'm determined to get back in the kitchen and continue to spread fabulous recipes to all the world. You're welcome. 


I decided to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake for family home evening this week, and it turned out really good. To be honest, I thought it would be so similar to a pumpkin pie that adding cream cheese wouldn't even matter, but it was very uniquely a cheesecake... and very, very, very tasty. If you're looking for a good pumpkin recipe, you should definitely try this one. And aside from the insane amount of cream cheese you'll need, it's a very short list of ingredients. This does take considerable time to make, so start late in the evening and sleep while it's cooling. Happy baking!  (I need to give some credit to Mrs. Martha Stewart too, because I stole this from her...) 


What you'll need: 
For the crust... 

• 10 Whole Graham Crackers (crushed)
• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted

For the filling: 

• 4 Packages (8 oz. bars) Cream Cheese, very soft
• 1 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree (I added WAYYYYY more than 1 Cup, but I probably should have left it at that.. ) 
• 2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 4 Large Eggs, Room Temperature

How it's done: 

***To prevent the top from cracking, be careful not to overmix the batter, and do not open the oven door while the cake is baking or cooling inside the oven.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Assemble a 9-inch nonstick springform pan, with the raised side of the bottom part facing up.
2. Make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until moistened; press firmly into bottom of pan. Bake until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. (I put the graham crackers, sugar, and butter in the food processor on pulse - and it was SOOOO easy!) 
3. Make the filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar on low speed until smooth; mix in flour (do not overmix). Add pumpkin puree, pie spice, vanilla, and salt; mix just until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated before adding the next.
4. Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour filling into springform, and gently smooth top. Transfer to oven; reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Bake 45 minutes. Turn off oven; let cheesecake stay in oven 2 hours more (without opening).
5. Remove from oven; cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Un-mold before serving.
6. 
   

I really loved this recipe, it was a great combination of the flavors that I have always loved, and the texture of cheesecake (and honestly, there is no better texture). Try it. You'll like it.