All-In

I think I am a pretty resourceful person. I don't like to go to the store if I don't have to and I make due with what I have.

Have you ever searched for recipes on-line using keywords of stuff you have at your house? I do all the time.

So here is what I did this time.

I had a batch of pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookie dough. This would be the kind that you just slice and then bake. I didn't want to just slice nad bake though. What fun is that?

Did I mention that I was out of flour? That meant that I could use my rolling pin and roll out the dough to use the cookie cutters that I wanted to use.

Here is what I did- I sliced the cookies, then used a small circle and cut out the circle from the cut dough. Then I was able to bake them the amout of time the package called for.

(When I opened the oven I did not like what I saw. The circles weren't perfectly round. So I pulled out the cookies and used the cookie cutter again to cut off the excess dough and then I got the perfect circle!. Matt loves the cookie rings he got to eat.)

What can you possibly make with little circles? POKER CHIPS!!!!

I had seen poker chips on a website before and I thought they were so much fun. My father-in-law is also an avid poker player. He is in the middle of tax season and not able to go play like he wants so I thought the idea was perfect.

To make the Royal Icing you need Meringue powder. I follow the directions that come with the box, but I also end up having to add a lot more water. Just remember to add one Tablespoon at a time.

I out lined the cookies. Remember the outline needs to be thicker then the icing used to flood the cookie. I'm still working on making it all look clean.

I filled a bag with all of the leftover white thick icing. The small #2 tip was perfect for all of the detail. The bottles I use for flooding and outlining had too big of a tip so I had to switch.

And there it is! You feel like playing some poker now don't you?

Batter Up

I came home from lacrosse practice and I totally had a cookie dough craving. All I wanted was the dough.

That's all I ever want.

The batter is my fav.

So I was looking on some blogs to see if I could find something new and yummy to make, and of course something that I had all of the ingredients for.

Here is what I found... Dropped Cracked Cookies (adapted from All Recipes.com)

Dropped Cracked Cookies:

1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter
3 egg yokes
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup coarse sugar crystals or granulated sugar

And here is how you do it...

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together butter and sugar until nice and creamy. Mix 1 egg yoke at a time and then add in vanilla extract. Add all dry ingredients.

Using a medium cookie scoop, form balls.

Roll them into sugar crystals.

Place balls on cookie sheet. Do not flatten. Bake 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before placing on cooling rack.

Eat the left over dough :)

Enjoy the yummy cookies. They are delish!

Give Me S'More!

You saw my post below right?

Well if you did you see that I got some new stuff. Because of that I just HAD to put that new stuff to use....hmmmm.....what to make....

I haven't been to the grocery store in a bit so I had very limited ingredients in my pantry. Pretty much this is what I had: yellow cake mix and marshmallow fluff...something could be made with that right? haha

So I searched on web this: Yellow box cake mix and marshmallow cupcakes

You know what popped up? S'MORE CUPCAKES.. Ahh haaaa :)

So here is the recipe because I know you want to try it.

S'More Cupcakes:
1 box yellow cake mix

All ingredients called for on the box

1 cup Graham Crackers
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow fluff

1/2 cup butter softened

2 cups powdered sugar

Hershey Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix together all ingredients and then fold in graham crackers

3. Spoon into cupcake tins

4. Bake for 18-23 minutes

5. Make frosting and when cupcakes cool pipe onto cupcake tops and then garnish with a Hershey bar pieces

The Frosting Stuff

Yummy Yummy Cupcakes!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

My parents gave me some money for my birthday and I knew exactly what I wanted.

Williams and Sonoma and Dillard's were on my list of places to go today and this is what for...

A flat beater with scraper

$22.00 at Dillard's

5 Quart Glass Mixinf Bowl with Handle and non-sealing lid

$70.00 @ Williams and Sonoma

A cupcake corer

$3.00 Williams and Sonoma

I am so excited about these purchases. I already made some cupcakes and those will be shown on my next post! YAY!!

Breakfast Made Easy

Do you love banana bread?
Do you love blueberries?

What about Blueberry Banana Bread? I DO I DO!!!!
I grew up with this and it is one of my favorite comfort foods.

I am going to share with you one of my favorite and easiest recipes that I got from my mom a while back. I normally make it in a loaf pan but muffins are much easier to eat on the go.

So here is my recipe.

Blueberry Banana Bread:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup bananas, mashed

1/2 cup quick oats

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup pecans (optional)

1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 and get muffin pans ready

2. Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs

3. Sift together dry ingredients

4. Mix mashed bananas together with creamed mixture

5. Mix in dry ingredients

6. Fold in blueberries and optional pecans

7. If using loaf pan, grease and flour.

8. For loaf bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean for muffins bake for 35-40 minutes.

MMmmmmm. They look good before.

After!!



They are so yummy warm and with a little butter.

Store these in an airtight container and enjoy for breakfast or a quick snack.