Thin Mint Milkshake

I’m a Cub Scout Mama but way back when, I used to be a Girl Scout.  My little guy sells popcorn, which is all well and good, but it’s definitely not Girl Scout cookies!  Foodie Jr.’s little buddy happens to be a Daisy and since her mom bought popcorn from him, it was time to reciprocate.  (Who am I kidding, I would have bought Thin Mints from any little girl pedaling them at the store.)  Since you can only eat so many Thin Mints (really?) I thought it was time to make something with them.  So, I made a milkshake for Mr. Foodie, he’s big on the milkshakes.  Plus, I wanted to use the old school, beat up, green aluminum cup my mom gave me in the picture so it all matched nicely.  Make these, you will be happy.  And so will those little girls at the grocery store you bought them from.

THIN MINT MILKSHAKES

Ingredients:

6 Thin Mint Cookies, plus one for optional garnish

1 Cup Milk (your choice, I used almond milk for Mr. Foodie’s needs)

2 Scoops of your favorite Vanilla Ice Cream

Whip Cream

Directions

1.  Throw all ingredients in the blend and blend away until you reach desired consistency.

2.  Garnish with whip cream and whole cookie and serve!

Dessert Three Ways

I really enjoy being a part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  I was recently picked to try out Duncan Hines and Comstock products for this go round.  I was given some coupons for myself and to share with others for free products.  All my friends and family were very happy!  I chose several products to try:  Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze, Duncan Hines Brownie Mix and the Comstock Lemon Pie filling.

I made the Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake with the Amazing Chocolate Glaze as- is for my mother’s birthday party.  This cake was to die for!  We all really enjoyed it.  I made it as a bundt cake and it was so moist and rich.  The Glaze was so, so easy to use and I personally think it is much more yummy than regular frosting.  This is definitely a must-try, even if you are partial to scratch baking.

I used the Brownie mix to make a peppermint mocha brownie by just adding one tablespoon of instant espresso powder and 1 cup of chopped white chocolate peppermint bark.  I based this around popular holiday drinks as I thought the brownie would lend really well to the flavors.  I used a lot more instant espresso than I normally would as I really wanted to drive the mocha flavor home and it worked!  The brownies were very easy and turned out just as I had planned so I was really happy with them.

For the Comstock Lemon Pie filling, I made a bread pudding.  It was my first time making bread pudding but I really thought that lemon would go well with the texture and mild flavor.  Again, I was really happy with the result!  It came out creamy with a mild lemon flavor, our family really enjoyed it!

I really urge you to try any of these products, whether to bake as-is or to experiment with putting your own twist on them!  Thank you to Foodbuzz, Duncan Hines and Comstock for giving me the opportunity to try these great products!

LEMON BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:

12 Cups of Croissant or Butterflake Rolls, cubed

6 Eggs

1 Cup Sugar

2 Cups Whole Milk

1 Tsp Pure Maple Syrup

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Can of Comstock Lemon Pie Filling

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 9×13 pan.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and maple syrup together.  Gradually mix in the milk and the flour until well blended.

3.  Add bread cubes to the mixture and stir until all bread cubes have soaked up the liquid.  Add half the can of lemon pie filling to the bread mixture and mix well.

4.  Add half of the bread cubes to the baking dish.  Spread half the can of the lemon pie filling over the entire the layer.

5.  Add the remaining bread mixture on top of the lemon pie filling.

6.  Bake for 45 minutes, toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Godiva Butterscotch Truffle Iced Coffee

I was lucky enough to be selected to try out Godiva’s coffee line via Foodbuzz’ Tastemaker Program.  There are fewer things I like better than chocolate and iced coffee, so much so I probably have some sort of iced mocha daily.  I was excited to take on this challenge issued by Godiva and create a new drink.

Great things come in red packages!  Godiva sent me two different blends:  chocolate truffle and hazelnut creme.  It was hard to pick which one I wanted to use because were really decadent.  Ultimately, I chose the chocolate truffle as I thought it paired well with butterscotch, one of Mr. Foodie’s absolute favorite flavors.  He was definitely the inspiration for this recipe.

I steeped the 12 oz. package of ground coffee in about 6 quarts of water overnight and then drained it into another container through cheesecloth to get out the grounds.  (This yielded quite a bit of concentrate that I can keep in the refrigerator and use to make iced coffee all the time!)  I also made this drink two different ways – one with regular, non-fat milk and one with Vanilla Flavored Almond Milk.  The latter was for my lactose intolerant husband.  Both tasted pretty much the same, his was a tad bit sweeter due to the flavoring in the almond milk but there was absolutely no overpowering vanilla flavor at all.  We really enjoyed this drink, Mr. Foodie drank his in about 15 seconds flat.  I think I made a coffee lover out of him with this one!

Many thanks to Foodbuzz and Godiva for giving me this opportunity.  If you haven’t already, I urge you to try the Godiva coffee line, you will not be disappointed!

GODIVA BUTTERSCOTCH TRUFFLE ICED COFFEE

Ingredients:

3 TBS Butterscotch Syrup (I made my own with milk and butterscotch chips, but you can use any store-bought version.)

1/3 Cup Steeped Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee

1 Cup Milk (of your choice)

6-8 Ice Cubes

Whipped Cream

Extra Butterscotch Syrup for drizzle

Directions:

1.  Put 3 TBS of butterscotch syrup into the bottom of a tall glass and add steeped coffee.  Stir until well mixed.

2.  Add milk and stir until well mixed again.

3.  Add ice cubes.

4.  Topped with your desired amount of whip cream and extra butterscotch drizzle.

Shortcut Chocolate Guinness Cake

In an effort to use up some of our St. Patrick’s Day Guinness stash so Mr. Foodie did not drink it all, I thought I would make one of my most favorite cakes – a chocolate Guinness cake.  Pictured above is one of my best gal pals at a Girls Night Out Baby Shower.  She requested a post baby shower so she could have a beer  –  the cake went well with the theme.  (Excuse the beautiful iPhone photo!)  You can make this cake from scratch or from a box mix.  Honestly, it is good either way and people will gobble it up.  I’m including the recipe for a doctored cake mix because, well, it’s that kind of day around here…

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE – THE SHORT CUT WAY

Ingredients:

For Cake

1 Box of Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (extra moist with pudding preffered)

1 Bottle of Guinness Stout

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Bittersweet (or Semi-Sweet if you prefer) Chocolate, chopped

For Ganache

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

6 TBS Heavy Cream

3/4 Tsp Instant Espresso

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.

2.  Combine cake mix, stout, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl and use electric mixer on medium to beat until combined.  Pour evenly into bundt pan.

3.  Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4.  Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

5.  To make ganache, heat chocolate, cream and espresso in a double broiler and combine until smooth.

6.  Drizzle ganache over cooled cake.

Pop Frenzy

Marshmallow Pops

Cake Pops

Cake Pops and the like are all the rage these days it seems.  Bakerella has a great site with tons of different ideas, if you haven’t checked it out, you definitely should!   I recently helped out with two baby showers and decided to do pops for the favors.  For the first shower, I used marshmallows and dipped them in melted white chocolate that I had colored pink and added sprinkles.  For the second, I did a devil’s food cake pop, dipped in chocolate topped with sprinkles.  For the record, the marshmallow pops are much easier and less time consuming!  The cake pops taste yummy though – you might remember them from my previous post about cupcake balls – same idea, just a different presentation.

For cake pops, it’s pretty simple – bake a cake, cool it and crumble it.  Mix the crumbles with a tub of frosting and roll into balls.  Chill the balls and then dip into your desired melted, dipping chocolate.  I recommend buying a regular semisweet baking chocolate and melting on the stove top with a little shortening over using the chocolate candy melts.  This provides a thinner chocolate for dipping and I had way fewer disasters with this.  The cake pops can be heavy, so the thinner the chocolate the better for dipping, lest you lose many a ball to the chocolate abyss.

Peanut Butter Heart Cookies

Happy Valentine’s Day!  This is a typical peanut butter blossom cookie recipe but instead of the kiss, I used a heart shaped Hershey candy.  The candies I purchased were labeled ‘extra creamy’ and they definitely help make these cookies yummy!  Wishing you and yours a very happy hearts day!  Enjoy!

PEANUT BUTTER HEART COOKIES

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar

3/4 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1 Egg

1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

Extra granulated sugar for rolling cookies in

Chocolate heart candies, unwrapped

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 Degrees.

2.   Cream butter, peanut butter, sugars and egg in a large bowl.

3.  Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.

4.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet.

5.  Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, ovens will vary.

6.  Remove cookies from oven, press chocolate hearts into the cookies.

7.  Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool on rack.

 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

With all the special holiday cookies floating around, I got a hankering for something traditional!  Just threw some oatmeal in my grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe…

CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cup Unsifted Flour

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Margarine

3/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

1 12 Oz. Package Chocolate Chips

1 Cup Oatmeal

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3.  In a separate bowl, cream butter, margarine, sugars and vanilla.

4.  Beat in eggs.

5.  Gradually stir in flour mixture.

6.  Stir in chocolate chips and oatmeal.

7.  Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes.

Butterscotch Hot Chocolate

A warm, tasty adult treat for the holiday season.  This recipe was given to me by a good friend, Jen, some years ago and it’s my favorite hot chocolate!  It’s the perfect combo of creamy, chocolaty and buttery!  The original calls to be topped with whipped cream but I felt like marshmallows when I made this batch – both are good!

BUTTERSCOTCH HOT CHOCOLATE

Ingredients:

5 Cups Half & Half

3/4 Cup of Chocolate Syrup

1/2 Cup of Butterscotch Schnapps

Whipped Cream or Marshmallows for topping (optional)

Carmel Sauce or Powdered Cocoa for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1.  Heat the Half & Half, Schnapps and Chocolate syrup until hot but not boiling, making sure you mix well.

2.  Pour into mugs and top how you desire.

Giada’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Tart

There are few combinations I like better than chocolate and hazelnuts.  (Nutella, anyone?)  While watching the Food Network a while back, I saw Giada make this and knew I had to give it a try.  I really liked it but it was VERY rich so a little bit definitely goes a long way!  It is a very easy recipe and I served it to company who liked it very much.

GIADA’S CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT TART – from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup sugar

2 TBS all-purpose flour

3 Eggs, beaten

1 1/2 Cups peeled, chopped, and toasted hazelnuts

8 Ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

1 Cup corn syrup

2 TBSbutter, melted

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1/4 Tsp salt

1 Store bought frozen pie crust, defrosted

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2.  Line pie pan with store-bought crust.

3.  In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and the flour.

4.  Add the eggs, hazelnuts, chocolate chips, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt.  Stir well.

5.  Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

6.  Bake for 1 hour.

7.  Cool the tart for at least 30 minutes before serving.

 

Cupcake Bites

I recently made an adapted version of Bakerella’s Cupcake Bites for Foodie Jr.’s school bake sale.  I have to admit that I wanted to make these purely because of aesthetics.  I thought they were adorable but I wasn’t sure how they were going to taste.  I did not think they would taste bad because really, how can you go wrong with cake, frosting and chocolate?  But, I was unsure how it would all come together.  They are actually really yummy – Foodie Jr. and Mr. Foodie both really liked them a lot.  Mr. Foodie thought they tasted like a Ding Dong or Ho Ho.  These really are easy to make and cute, I highly recommend trying them out – your guests will be impressed!

CUPCAKE BITES

Ingredients:

1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix, cooked as directed on box in a 9×13 pan

1 Can of Fluffy White Frosting

1 Package of Milk Chocolate Bark

1 Package of White Chocolate Bark

Candy Coloring, any color(s) you desire

Candy Sprinkles

Candy Cup Mold (I used the Wilton one)

Directions:

1.  After your cake is cooked and cool, crumble the entire cake very finely into a large bowl.

2.  Mix the cake crumbles with the entire jar of frosting thoroughly.

3.  Roll the cake/frosting mixture into balls – they should not be larger than your candy molds diameter.

4.  Melt the chocolate barks in microwave or per package directions.  Add your desired coloring to the melted white chocolate.

5.  Fill each cavity of your mold with the milk chocolate.  Push a cake ball into each cavity, the chocolate will come up the side of the ball a bit.

6.  Set molds in the freezer for several minutes to let the chocolate set – this does not take long at all!

7.  Carefully pop the balls out of the mold and dip the tops into the colored white chocolate mixture.

8.  Decorate colored tops with sprinkles and let balls sit for a few minutes as topping sets.