Tomorrow is a special day at my house.  It is the birthday of my #1 baby.  My little girl will be ELEVEN! It is so hard to believe! I asked her what type of cake she wanted, and I got the cutest response.  Since she has a dairy allergy she always walks by the bakery case and covets those delicious specialty cakes.  She said, “I want a chocolate strawberry cake  Not just a chocolate cake with strawberry icing, but a fancy cake with real strawberries and the gooey filling inside.”

So basically I had to become a pastry chef! I am always looking for short cuts and this is no different. These cupcakes have the gooey creamy center she wanted without a huge mess in my kitchen.   Here are the delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes we made for her special day. It would be amazing to surprise a special someone with on Valentines day too!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

I am on a Valentine’s Kick this year.  I was sitting here just minding my own business the other day flipping through a cookbook and it hit me.  Well, it didn’t really hit me but I saw this recipe for 2 ingredient fudge.  I had never heard of such a thing, but whoever came up with it is pure genius!

I decided I would try to make Strawberry fudge, since strawberries are one of my most favorite things in the world.  I love this recipe even more because my dairy free oldest daughter can actually eat it!  Not this strawberry variety, but you can mix and match to make whatever flavor you choose.

Don’t miss these other great dessert recipes for something sweet for your Valentine

This is the only 2 ingredients you need.

Dump in a large microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds, stir and then continue until melted together.

This is what it looks like all melted.

Spread in a 9×9 greased dish, or take the easy way like I did and line with wax paper.  Allow to cool and cut into squares.  Decorate with sprinkles

Every holiday I make themed treats, and every holiday my poor son (who is gluten free) ends up with gluten free brownies while we eat all the cute goodies.  So for Valentines day I am putting my foot down. He will have the cute themed treat!

I know we have a couple weeks yet, but I had to do a test run to make sure it tastes ok. LOL So we busted out the great popcorn maker that Santa brought this year.  Half the fun is watching it pop the corn!

Gluten free or not, this is some seriously addictive good stuff! I will work out a little extra tomorrow to make up for it, because I just can’t resist it!  Don’t forget to check out all the great dessert recipes here on A Few Short Cuts!  There are some really good ones!

Gather all of the ingredients including the popped corn.  You could even add pretzels for the salty contrast, it would be incredible!

Mix the popcorn and cereal in a large bowl.

In a microwave safe bowl melt together 1 bag of white chocolate chips and 2-2 1/2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil.  On 50% for 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds until it looks like the picture above.

Poor the melted chocolate over the popcorn and cereal. Stir to coat. Then sprinkle in the M&Ms and stir.

Allow popcorn to cool and set.  Serve!

Place in cute little cellophane bags for adorable Valentines Gifts!

I love “Snack”urday.  It came out of my love for making special treats with my kids on Friday nights and Saturdays.  While some “Snack”urdays are more adults, or just a family indulgence.  It all comes back to fun times with the family.  Tonight me and the kids got in the kitchen, rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty.

We had some fun making these Chocolate Football Bites…and of course had a blast taking pictures with our new kids cooking utensils that happen to have little bodies. LOL

If you are watching football this weekend or even for the superbowl, but these fun treats with your kids.  You will make amazing unforgettable memories with them! Plus they are gluten free and dairy free so they are perfect for everyone!

Gather you ingredients.

Place Chocolate, karo syrup, and butter in microwave safe bowl

Microwave for 1 1/2 -2 Minutes.

Place 4 cups of cereal in a large bowl.

Pour the chocolate mix over the cereal and stir.

Shape with moistened hands into 3 inch footballs and place on a wax paper or parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

Decorate footballs with icing or white decorator gel.

Enjoy!

If you are looking for something light to satisfy your sweet tooth this weekend, but you are counting calories it can be hard.   This Blueberry Angel Dessert is the perfect combinations of textures and sweetness.  I personally love fruit and could eat it by itself without a problem.   When it is added to a dessert dish like this is really brings out the flavors.

If you are looking for a good Angel Food Cake Recipe to make for this dessert here is a really yummy one.

I love the holidays!  It is amazing how each one is so unique.  They all set their own mood, and ambiance to differ themselves.  Yet, time wise, they are all so close together.

The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over and now we start looking forward to all things new and exciting.  The air bubbles with the anticipation of things to come!  We begin making goals, and setting our sights on the New Year.   Christmas focuses on the kids, but New Years is more for the adults.

If you are having a romantic night in, or having friends over for New Years this recipe jumped out at me.  It is so fancy, bubbly, and light that it HAS to be made for New Years!  I love that you serve it in fancy martini glasses too.  Just adds to the excitement.

If this dessert isn’t for you, check out all of my other dessert recipes!

Recipe & img source

So in case you can’t tell my cookie theme this year is all about holiday traditions.  I have been thinking about foods we typically associate with Christmas and then making a cookie. These Eggnog Cookies were just too unique in my book to pass up!  I am not a big fan of Egg Nog but these cookies are superb!

Don’t miss all the other great cookie recipes!

And don’t forget to enter this years A Few Short Cuts Cookie Swap!  I would love to see your favorite cookie recipe

These just look christmassy, and they taste heavenly! These Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies can be made any time of year to share with friends but they are extra fancy for gift giving.

This recipe is very easy and the dough can even be frozen for those nights when your sweet tooth starts talking to you.   You know what I am talking about.   Don’t forget all of the other Cookie Recipes that are great for holiday baking!’

I have been bustling about the house trying to be in the Christmas spirit.  “Joy to the World” is echoing off the walls in my house, The Stockings are hung by the chimney,  the kids are drinking hot cocoa, and I am in the kitchen baking cookies.

I was trying to be unique with my cookie selection this week and sat at the kitchen table thumbing through cookbooks.  Every time I looked up I saw these three chocolate covered noses and grins starring back at me over the top of their coffee mugs of cocoa.  It was inspiration that I couldn’t ignore.

So for our Christmas Cookie this week, I give you, Hot Cocoa cookies! Don’t forget to head over to the A Few Short Cuts Cookie Swap 2011 page for more cookie inspiration!

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt

stir into the butter mixture until well blended.

Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Immediately top each cookie with 3 mini marshmallows.

Return to oven for 1 minute if you want them extra gooey.  Allow to cool and serve.  Store extra cookies in an airtight container! Make 4 dozen.

It is that time of year.  The time of year when you deck the halls with ribbons, evergreens, and tinsel.  The time of year when the kids squeal when they see Santa at the mall, and circle every toy in the catalog with a big red marker.  It is the time of year when my kitchen reeks of the smell of baked goods rising in the oven.

I love to bake cookies. Dozens and dozens of cookies.  Don’t worry I don’t eat them all myself, but I love to give them as gifts!  Each “Snack”urday from now until Christmas will be a Cookie Recipe that you can share, or bake for your family and friends.  To help you find new Christmas Cookie Recipes, we are having the A Few Short Cuts Cookie Swap again this year.  If you have a Christmas Cookie Recipe you would like to share just head over and leave a link or leave the recipe in the comments.  It is that simple.  Hopefully we have many to look back on this year!

This is one of our family favorites that make a ton of cookies, but everyone is absolutely delicious!

I am going to break down and be completely and totally honest.  This is one of those desserts that I have had the recipe in my box of tricks for a long time.  Why haven’t I made it?? Well, it scared me. LOL  Rolls can be intimidating.  I thought it was going to be extremely difficult and that it might fall apart.  I mean, after all I am no pastry chef, I just like to bake.

I decided to give it a whirl.  You don’t know if you don’t try.  So I pulled out my trusty KitchenAid mixer and cranked it up.  The prep time for this one was surprisingly little.  I had the cake in the oven in about 10 minutes.  Then came the moment I was most scared of….rolling the cake.  I would just like to say, It was not scary at all! The cake rolled…no cracks and I probably put all of 15 minutes of effort in the great Pumpkin Roll.

So if you are looking for something besides pie to serve your thanksgiving guests, try this pumpkin roll.  It is so easy, and looks very impressive.  Did I mention it is delicious?!

You can also find more Pumpkin Recipes here!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.

In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda.

Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top (if you are adding them)

Bake at 375 degrees F  for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

You are going to want to be ready to turn you cake out on a towel or parchment paper that is covered with powdered sugar.

Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.

To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth. Carefully unroll the cake.

Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges.

Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

So I was chit-chatting with my sister on the phone yesterday and she took a picture of this piece of red velvet cake and texted it to me.  Seriously…torture!  So I decided since she is too far away for me to steal hers I would make my own.  I can’t tell you the last time I made red velvet cake.  For my own good, I made cupcakes.  Kinda like built in portion control, as long as I eat only one. LOL

This Red Velvet cupcake recipe is amazing.  They come out so light, moist and fluffy.  The cake isn’t overly sweet; so the sweetness from the cream cheese frosting is a perfect compliment.

If you are looking for something to cure your sweet tooth, bake a batch of these tasty morsels and share them with someone you love! If you don’t care for Red Velvet Cake check out these other cake recipes

Preheat oven to 350 and cream together butter and sugar.Add eggs and blend well.
Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to the butter mixture.
In a medium bowl; Sift Flour, Baking Soda & Salt together
Alternate adding the flour mix and the buttermilk until batter is mixed thoroughly. Mix in vanilla extract and water.

Pour the batter into the cupcake cups and fill about 2/3 full . Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.
For the frosting just  blend together the frosting ingredients on medium speed until blended.  Frost cupcakes when cool.

There is a chill in the air, and to be honest the coziness of having something tasty in the oven is just comforting.   I love pumpkin desserts and this one is no exception.  I love going through my stockpile and seeing what I have ingredients for and tossing something together that makes the family smile, and makes the house smell like a bakery.

These Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars have a unique taste that is so amazing!  The creamy pumpkin taste reminds me of a pumpkin pie, but the chocolate really makes it decadent!  You have to try these.

Don’t forget to try these other pumpkin recipes too!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place the oreos, and melted butter in the food processor and pulse until crumbs.  Press into a lined 8×8 baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.

In food processor mix 2- 8oz packages of cream cheese and one cup of pumpkin puree.  Once mix blend  in 1 cup of sugar, 3 eggs, and 3 tbsp of flour.  Pulse until mixed.

In a small microwave safe bowl melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave.  Start it at 30 seconds and stir.  Continue until melted.  Mix together 1 cup of the pumpkin cheese mix with the chocolate.  Stir together and sit aside.

Pour pumpkin mix ontop of cookie crust.

Spoon chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture.

Use a knife to swirl.

Bake at 350 for Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 50 minutes.

Cool in pan. Cover; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares…or less.   Serve.

I saw these and I couldn’t resist!  We needed a creepy treat for Halloween this year and this is it!  Peanut Butter Eyeballs! These were super easy!  My kids helped.  In fact, they made them which was so much fun to watch and then we had a little spooky fun with the camera.

It is so much fun just to goof off with the kids!  Spend an evening this weekend making these Peanut Butter Eyeballs.  They are so much fun!  Don’t forget to try out these other great Halloween Treats!

Mix the peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar together in a large bowl.

Form the peanut butter mix into eyeball sized balls and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until set.

While cooling melt down some white chocolate to coat the balls. Dip to coat and then place back on the baking sheet.  Top with an M&M and place back in the fridge to set.

use red food coloring to make veins if desired.

I love Halloween, Fall, and all things Autumny.  However, you can ask anyone who really knows me, and they will tell you that my weakness this time of year is Candy Corn.  I can’t help myself.  I will buy one bag, cause who doesn’t buy at least one bag.  Then that first bag disappears…who knows where it goes.  And then there is another bag purchased.  Now, this has become worse since they have started releasing coupons for these honey sweet triangles. I have restrained myself the past 2 trips to the store and have not bought a bag….I promise!

So since I have been good, I decided to do my ode to candy corn this week and make candy corn cookies.  I typically make big cookies but these little candy corn cookies are a perfect snack size.  If you just want a quick nibble of something sweet these will do the trick.  Plus, they are so festive!

I used Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Pouches.  I mixed following the directions.

I mixed in the Cocoa Powder to 1/3 of the dough. And hand mixed in the yellow food coloring to the other 1/3. My kids ran off with the red.  So I couldn’t make orange.

Layer the dough into a wax paper lined loaf pan.

And refrigerate for atleast 2 hours.

Remove dough from pan and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.

Then cut into triangles.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Serve or store in an airtight container! YUM!

My house is full of giggles this evening.  We are having a double sleepover.  My Daughter and Son happen to have friends that are Brother and Sister also.   It is a fun time and we have had an absolute blast so far.  Of course after we grilled Hot Dogs and Hamburgers we needed something sweet.

I went downstairs to dig around in my stockpile of sweet treats.  I pulled out a box of brownies, bag of marshmallows and a jar of peanut butter.  Oh…and then a helper grabbed some chocolate chips.  We knew that we were in for sugar overload, but it would be good.

My helpers and I came up with this gooey concoction that is decadently delicious and kid friendly!  You have to try this one!

So I was on pinterest the other day and saw some caramel apple donuts.  I was hooked just by the picture.   My mom bought me a donut pan for my birthday and it has been sitting in the cabinet just waiting for the perfect recipe.   This was it.

Tonight I hit the kitchen and began to whip up what I thought was going to be a mind blowing breakfast.  Unfortunately the best made plans sometimes fail, and this was one of those times.  The donuts fell apart; just crumbled right out of the pan.

Since my kitchen was already a mess and had apples everywhere.  I hit the drawing board.  I started experimenting.  Why not dirty a couple more dishes? I came up with this delicious caramel apple cake that is moist, dense, and absolutely full of fall flavors.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Measure flour, Baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

In another bowl wisk together eggs & sugar.  Then mix in vanilla and oil.

Mix egg mixture into flour mixture until well blended.

Stir in 1 cup of shredded apples.

Your dough will look like this.

Spread batter into 9×9 square pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Heat some caramel ice cream topping for the caramel sauce OR…in a small sauce pan Wisk together 1/2 cup apple cider and 1 cup packed brown sugar.  Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from heat.

Pour caramel over warm cake.  Cut an serve by itself or with ice cream.

I am in a pumpkin mood!  My house is slowly starting to look like fall.  I hit the craft store for some burlap and some pumpkins.  I am digging out my fall decorations and bringing them in and I have projects lined up for the kids this week.  So I found this recipe for Pumpkin Custard and thought to myself ….oh…how good this would be with a crème brulee topping.   So voila!  Pumpkin Custard Brulee!

This recipe is easy, but it does take time to bake, time to cool, and very little time to eat.  So, be prepared that this recipe does not offer immediate gratification, but it is totally worth the wait!

Gather ingredients and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat the pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg whites and fat-free milk until smooth. Add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves and nutmeg; mix well.

Spoon into ten 6-oz. ramekins or custard cups coated with cooking spray. Place in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.  Put about 1 cup of water in the baking pan for a water bath.  This will help the custards bake more evenly.

Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until right before serving.

After the custards have cooled in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours place 1/2 tsp super fine sugar on the tops of the custards.

Place custards under the broiler or burn with a torch until the sugar has melted and formed a crust.  Allow to cool for 2 minutes before serving.