Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in junior high I took home ec.....and I did not really like it at all.  Looking back it seems weird because right now I would love to teach it, and I have always loved craft and cooking stuff, but for some reason or another I didn't like the class back then.  The ONE good thing that did come out of it was this recipe for reverse chocolate chip cookies...one of my favs!

The line-up!

Start by using the wire whisk and beat together your marg, sugar, egg, and vanilla.

 Next you need to switch to the flat beater and add in the dry ingredients one at a time...here it is with everything except the cocoa...

 and now with the cocoa!  Take your bowl off of the mixer and scrape down the sides with a spatula.

 Add in the white chocolate "chips" and mix by hand.  (I use dipping chocolates cut in half instead of actual white chocolate chips)

 Using a tablespoon measure drop the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet...if you are not currently using parchment paper you should totally give it a try...I love it!!!

 Bake for 8-9 minutes at 350.  I went to take a picture of the finished cookies and this was all that was left....someone else got to the cookies before I did!  They are that good!!!

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies

-1/2 cup marg

-1/2 cup white sugar

-1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

-1tsp vanilla

-1 egg (at room temp...if you have time!)

-1 cup flour

-1/2tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp salt

-50mL cocoa

-1/2 cup white chocolate wafers cut in half (I did use more in this batch just because I did not want to save the few I would have had left)

Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes, makes 30 cookies

PINK sparkling champagne cupcakes!

So with a title like PINK sparkling champagne cupcakes, how could you go wrong...let me tell you...YOU CANT'T!!!  This recipe first entered my life just before new years and I have been looking for a reason to make them ever since!  Heather from Sprinkle Bakes is a genius for coming up with this recipe! One of my friends is having a birthday party this Saturday and my first response to the invite was "is anyone making cupcakes???"...turns out cupcake were already taken...luckily it was my good friend Ali from over at the petite parisian!  And do you know which cupcakes she was planning on making...that's right, great minds think alike!  We decided to divide up the work, and then join forces to put these little darlings together!  We had a blast deciding which sprinkles to use and how to place them for pictures.  Ali's husband was watching tv nearby and I am sure he thinks we are crazy...maybe we are...but just the appropriate amount!

Anyways here are the pictures of our beauties!

Not only are these cupcakes Be.freaking.utiful, they are also to die for delish!  We used the recipe from Sprinkle Bakes but substituted pink champagne...and added a little pink food colouring gel to make them even pinker!

I can't wait until the party tomorrow so I can eat a full one of these (Ali and I split one tonight...we just couldn't wait!!!), and because we have found a new stash of drink sparkles!!!  If you are not up to date on drink sparkles click here for Ali's passionate post!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

Last night we were over at my parent's house for dinner and we hit the jackpot...mini reese PB cups!  Today while the boys were napping I better find a way to put them to good use...  What better way than CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES!!!

Here is the line-up

(plus 2tbsp of milk...I was not sure if I was going to use it or not at this point!)

 Mix up the cake batter according to the package directions...the only thing I do differently is to use margarine instead of oil.

Pour the batter into the liners...that pitcher in this picture is one my G-ma made me and is my absolute fav for this job...never a drip!!!

 Unwrap all of the mini reese cups and plunk one into each cupcake.  You do not need to cover it or push it down because the cupcake will rise around it!  Toss them in the oven for about 18-20 minutes.

While the cupcakes are cooking you can get started on the icing...especially if you have kids napping that may be up any minute!

Mix 1 cup of PB with one block of cream cheese...

 like so

 Add 2 cups of icing sugar and 2 tbsp of milk and you end up with this peanut buttery, cream cheesey wonderfulness. {just a funny little side note - I had friends over this morning and I was asking them what they thought about a PB/CC icing...and one of them said of course it would be good because ANYTHING mixed with PB is good! hahaha, and I am kind of the opposite - I think that ANYTHING mixed with cream cheese is good!}

All that's left to do is ice the cupcakes!  Just make sure that your cupcake is cool before icing (like I mentioned earlier if you are expecting a little one up anytime you can speed up the process...I put my cupcakes outside to cool off...maybe it was more because I was desperate to taste one than being worried about the boys getting up!)

 and the inside! mmmmm, I will forsure be making these again!

Chocolate PB Cupcakes with PBCC icing

- prepare cupcake batter according to the package

-fill liners about 1/2 full and pop a mini reese cup into the batter

-bake for about 18-20minutes

-begin preparing frosting by mixing one cup of PB with one block of CC

-add 2 cups of icing sugar and 2 tbps of milk and beat until smooth

-ice your cupcakes

-ENJOY!

Warm Feta Spinach Dip

One of my favorite appetizers at Earls is their warm feta spinach dip...love it.  I have tried a number of times to re-create it and I think I have done it!  Here it goes...

The Line-up

 Once you have all the ingredients out this recipe is crazy easy to make...dump all of the ingredients except for the mozza into a bowl...

 and using your immersion blender (or food processor, or regular blender), mix everything together...

Add the mozza in and mix by hand...like I said, crazy easy!

All you have to do now is spread your mixture into an oven safe dish and bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.

and out comes a super yummy dip!!!

Then on to the pita chips...

the line up

Crush 3 cloves of garlic and let it sit in some olive oil...the longer the better!

Cut your pitas up into chips...I cut each pita into 8, it makes the perfect size for dipping!

Lay them out on a cookie sheet, lightly brush them with the olive oil and bake at 400 for about 5 minutes!

and then dig in!

Warm Feta Spinach Dip

-1 package of frozen spinach (thawed)

-1/2 block of cream cheese at room temperature

-1 can of artichokes

- 2 cloves crushed garlic

-1 1/2 cups of feta

-200g block of mozza, grated

1.  Put all ingredients except for the mozza into a bowl.

2.  Mix using an immersion blender

3.  Add in the grated mozza and mix by hand

4.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes

Oreo Creamcheese Goodness...I mean truffles!

Last year around this time I found a mind-blowing, 3 ingredient recipe.  They were SO good that I decided that they could only be made as Valentine's day treats otherwise we would be eating them non-stop.  I figured that it is now close enough to Valentines day that I could make some...

The line-up...that's right you only need three ingredients to create these yummies!

 Throw the oreos into the blender and grind the crap out of them.  I do one row of the tray at a time, and mix them up until it looks like oreo cookie crumbs.

 Just like so...

 Put all of the crumbs into a bowl and mix with one block of creamcheese...it is quite an arm workout.  I am actually not quite sure why I mix this by hand instead of the kitchenaid, I guess the spoon is easier to lick off than the kitchenaid attachment!

 mmmm

 Once it is all mixed up put it in the fridge for an hour or so.  Then roll it into 1" balls...I couldn't tell you how many the recipe makes because there were five of us sneaking tastes!

 After the dough is all in the 1" balls put it in the freezer for an hour or so, it makes it WAY easier to dip in the chocolate!

Use melting chocolate and dip each ball into the chocolate...I did not get any pictures of this because you have to move fast...dip, shake off extra chocolate, sprinkle, and repeat!

 so. freaking. yummy!

 All packaged up ready to gift!!!

I am addicted...

I have found another thing that is eating up TONS of my time... PINTEREST!!!  Have you heard of it?  If not you NEED to check it out!  It is a place to store AND organize all of the neat ideas that you find on the internet...what could be better!  If you want to check out my "pin board" click here.  I hope that you end up  loving it as much as I do.  If you start a board let me know so I can check it out too :)

I can't believe it's SNOW!!!

Today I found  recipe for SNOW ICECREAM over on Blooming on Bainbridge...and it was PERFECT timing because we just got DUMPED ON!!!

Here's he line-up!

Start by whisking everything except the snow on ingredient at a time until it is bubbly!

 now start adding snow about a cup or two at a time.  Keep doing this until...

 TA DA!!!  So yummy!  While John was eating it he just kept saying "I can't believe it's snow!"..he also said "I can't even taste the snow" hahaha!

SNOW ICECREAM

1 egg

2 cups of milk

vanilla...or other flavouring (the amount depends how strong you want the ice cream to taste)

1 cup of sugar

1 big ol' bowl of snow!

-start with the first ingredient and whisk away

-continue adding one ingredient at a time 

-when the mixture becomes too hard to whisk switch to a spoon

Winter ONEderland

My friend Mel threw a winter ONEderland birthday for her son's first birthday.  Here are some of the fun details!

The invite...I love this little poem.

Custom waterbottles...such a little thing can make such a big difference!

Chocolate dipped marshmallows on pretzel sticks. Perfect for little fingers!

All of the extras for the homemade white chocolate hot chocolate...mmmmm

The AMAZING cake that Lisa made.  I have seen a couple of the cakes that she has made and everyone is drop. dead. gorgeous!

 How cute are these little penguins warming up around the fire!

And these two out ice fishing!

The house was decked out with hand cut paper snowflakes and white tissue pom poms!  It was a true winter ONEderland!