Brownie Pops

Today I tried brownie pops.  I wanted to make it quick & convenient so I used a boxed brownie mix. All I did was follow the boxed directions, baked them in a Pampered Chef Stone Pan.

  Once they were cooled slightly, about 10-15 mins. I began rolling them.  I did put on rubber gloves first and used a teaspoon to scoop out what I thought would be enough to make a pop.  Make them however big or small you want.  Be sure to put on gloves!

Try to roll them as "tight" as you can so when you put the stick in, it stays.  Pop in the freezer for an hour or so.

I melted chocolate in the mic and dipped the partially frozen brownie pops in.  THEN I dipped them in crushed PECANS!...

Once you have rolled them in nuts put them back on the pan, then transfer to the fridge.  So fun to eat! And they taste FAB!



Cookie Pops...Take 1

I just might have to make this recipe over again using a different recipe.

I lost my original recipe from the first batch I made that came out so delish!  I've racked my brain trying to find out where it went to.  So I went online to try and Google one.  I came across Paula Dean's recipe for her Cookie Truffles, I mean you can go wrong with Paula Dean right!?

All the ingredients were the same as the original I tried from what I remember.  But the dough in Paula's recipe was way to "runny" so I added more flour to firm it up.  Then I had to put it in the fridge to harden more to form into balls.  that did not work wither because the dough flattened in the freezer.  Well after being in there for an hour or so it was firm enough to roll into balls, and put sticks in. 

Don't work the dough to much when rolling or it will soften.  Work as quickly as you can rolling and inserting the sticks.  Put back in freezer right away.  If you can wait this long, leave in freezer over night before dipping in melted chocolate.  You can also roll in nuts if you like.

If you want to try THIS one I made just Google Paula Dean's Cookie Truffles. If I find the first recipe I tried I will come back and share it with you all!

The dough was very lose so I had to add more flour to firm it up.

The dough was so loose & "heavy" the balls "fell" when they were in the freezer.

I re rolled the firmed dough & quickly added the lolli sticks & immediately put them back in the freezer. (Try to wait over night to dip in chocolate)

Finished product!  Next time I will dip the whole thing into chocolate.  Everyone loves them!  The tasgte like chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough, but without the raw egg in the ingredients!

Fonderific!

So every year I make my kids cakes myself.  The girls especially love to pick out their "theme" style of cake. 

I almost always use fondant.  I just discovered Fonderific which tastes 100X better than Wilton fondant and is much easier to work with.

I have never colored my own fondant, but this years cake required a color that does not normally already come in the fondant.  So we had to color our own.

We went to Ro Z's Cake shop and got all our supplies..she is the nicest person EVER and was sooo much help!

Coloring fondant is SUPER easy (much easier than I though), it DOES take some time to get the shade you want, so have patience.

Some tips I have learned:

1. Use gloves or your hands will be stained for minute! ;)

2. Try to cover your counter in saran wrap or that Glade Press & Seal stuff.  That way you can knead your fondant without staining your counters.

3. Keep your fondant after you have opened it inside a plastic bag and air tight container so it does not dry out.

4. Normally if your fondant is pretty stiff, pop it in the mic for 30 seconds per pound and that loosens it up just enough to make it easier to start kneading.  If it is at room temp, just work it with your hands and it will soften up.

5.  Try not to work the fondant (if its fonderific fondant) TO much or it will get TO soft as it can tear easy and make it harder to work with.

6.  You can work gum paste into your fondant if you are making lets say flowers, gum paste when it drys will dry harder than fondant and hold shapes better.

Here are the flowers we made to put on my daughters cake, in one of the pictures you can see the Lime green fondant that we colored for one of the tiers of her cake.

The green is much prettier in person, trust me! ;)  Stay turned for the final cake in a couple weeks, I can't wait to share it with you!

Cranberry-Macadamia Bars

I tried this recipe for the first time tonight.  I received it from my neighbor when he brought over a few "samples".
A couple suggestions:

1. Use your own homemade sugar cookie recipe. (I would have, but it was late & night, so I was trying to save some time so I used a boxed sugar cookie.

2. Melt your chips and drizzle on top, I just sprinkle the chips on top and let it set in the oven for them to get "soft".  If you drizzle it will look better and none of the chips will fall off!

INGREDIENTS:

Your favorite sugar cookie recipe
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sweet dry cranberries
1 cup coarsely chopped Macadamia Nuts
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
1 teaspoon oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare your favorie sugar cookie recipe OR make a boxed one per directions on the box.

2. Press dough in bottom of greased 9-inch square pan.  Bake at 350' for 15 mins

3. While cookies are baking heat 1/3 cup butter, brown sugar & cranberries over medium   heat stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.  Spoon & spread evenly over partially baked cookie base. 

4.  Sprinkle with nuts.

5.  Bake an addtional 10-15 mins or until golden brown

6. Melt chips and oil in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds stirring in between intervals.  Be
sure not to melt to long, the don't all have to be melted.  By the 3rd 30 second time in mic, you should be able to pull out bowl and stir the chips until smooth.

7.  Drizzle over the top of cookie bars, let cool then cut into squares.

Let's get to bakin!

Welcome to my very first blog!

What better way to get into the bloggin business than to to blog about what I love to do: cooking & baking!  Here I will share recipes I have found, used, succeeded at, as well as failed.

I'll share baking recipes as well as "Non" baker recipes.  If you have any you would like to contribute, please do so!