Baking Monday – Candy Bar Blondies

This isn't my first time recycling Halloween candy into baked goodies, but it is a new recipe. These bars had a mix of Baby Ruth and Butterfinger bars.

Easy to make, disappeared quickly!

(Not So) Spooky Halloween Pudding Cups

Elementary school in the fall means ... it's party time! The parent who planned this year's fall party sent out a suggestion to make these cute desserts for the second grade. 

I make little paper faces as a template. After dropping one into a cup, I stacked another cup inside to keep it straight, then traced with a Sharpie. This worked really well, especially when making them for a crowd!

While the dessert gets lots of oohs and aahs, guess what? Kids don't really like vanilla pudding (and I agree!) I tried to make it as yummy as possible by adding a top layer of chocolate pudding under the crushed Oreo cookies. But I'd say that 75% of the kids scooped off the top layer and the rest went in the trash. Which is kind of what I expected, so no worries.



Dora came up with suggestions for making faces on a chocolate version, like using stickers or googley eyes. My grade on these treats would be C for taste (unless vanilla pudding is totally your thing) but A for cuteness!

Baking Monday – (Not) Red Velvet Cupcakes

I had avoided red velvet cake for years, because of the crazy amount of food dye, something that I try not to use too much of. Then last year, I had an order for red velvet cupcakes and realized: Hey! These are pretty tasty! and wondered how they'd turn out without the dye.



A bit of history ... the "red" in red velvet occurs as a reaction between the cocoa powder and acidic vinegar and buttermilk, that would naturally turn the batter a reddish hue. "Brown Velvet Chocolate Cake" was apparently popular back in the 1940's (I'll have to look up that recipe sometime!) It's unclear who eventually decided to pump up the color with lots of food dye.

Of course, they are just as tasty without any extra coloring. The cake is not as spectacular as traditional red velvet, and not the deep brown of chocolate, but nice looking just the same! A nice in-between cupcake ... not super chocolatey, but not plain vanilla!

Baking Monday – Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

My birthday fell on a very busy weekday this year. Our evening was filled with homework, cub scouts, and curriculum night at school. Mr. Hotcakes and I wrapped up the evening with takeout from Chipotle on the couch, watching shows. Friends wanted to know who bakes my birthday dessert … this year, I did! Even though the evening was busy, my day was very peaceful and relaxing, and part of that day was spent baking. 

I'm always up for a new chocolate/peanut butter dessert combo, and these cookies were great … a perfect birthday treat!