Reflecting on a Year

What? My time is up?

... you mean to tell me that my challenge is OVER?! 

I don't know HOW it snuck up on me, but I realized that as of today, my baking blog is DONE! 

And I didn't meet my goal. Not even close. If I were to put on my teacher hat and actually SCORE myself on my goal, I would receive a solid 68%... we're talkin' a D+ at best people. 

I have a pile of excuses, but I'll spare you the details. What I can tell you is, I LEARNED TO BAKE. And I learned to bake well. Not every recipe was one for the ages, but I found some real winners. I have a new goal of creating a family cookbook out of some of the recipes featured in the blog... when I've got the time... someday...

Reflecting back on this year, I can tell you, my life has CHANGED. Some for the better, some for the worse... 

1) I've made friends in all different states

2) I've visited cities I'd never dreamed I'd see (shout out to Phoenix)

3) I've acquired a taste for sushi

4) I've dropped the pounds

5) The gym has become my anti-drug

6) I've lived in Utah... and LIKED IT

7) I've stopped drinking

8) I've been to IKEA

9) I've been attacked by a raccoon

10) I've shot a hole in one at mini golf

11) I've been tricked into going on a roller coaster

12) I've jumped in a two foot deep rain puddle (thank you Provo flash floods!)

13) I've had a surprise party

14) I became engaged to the love of my life

15) I've planned a wedding in Hawaii

16) I received a proper kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve

17) I learned how to walk in heels

18) I've watched the snow fall with the one I love

19) I've developed a nail polish addiction

20) I've suddenly become a "science/social studies specialist"

I've also realized: a whole new chapter of my life starts soon. Very soon. I am soon to be a wife, a companion to a man whom I love more than anything. I'm going to be the start of a whole new family... talk about pressure. And potential for being the BEST blog ever!

Will I continue to blog about my baking treats? OF COURSE! I'm no failure, I've got to hit 100 recipes EVENTUALLY. I will, however, be taking a new twist on things. 

Get ready: I'll be bringing you the triumphs and challenges from the NEW Bairds. Our lives are about to go through some BIG changes... so why not write about them?

... love you guys. Thanks for caring about my misadventures. 

- Kristen

Love and Birthdays: #67 and #68

Meet my fiance.

He's the most wonderful person I have ever met, and I don't think I tell him that often enough.

His birthday falls during my spring break, and I always try to devote a good weekend or so to trying to make him feel as loved as he always makes me feel. I kind of hate feeling like I'll never be able to "repay" him for how much he has changed my life for the good, but I can certainly try... with pastry. That's what I do, right?

... I actually feel kind of tacky seguing this particular blog entry into a recipe list. I feel like I should instead just try to put into words my feelings for this man. How I can't wait to spend Christmas mornings with him and our little family, make Sunday breakfasts and read the paper, go to bed at 9 and be that 'old, married couple' we get teased for being, raise children with, and grow old and gray with. How he can change my day with just a phone call (or sometimes, with a hug). How he still is as exciting to me as a "high school crush" after nearly two years of dating. How everyone always has such wonderful things to say about him (yeeeeeeah, he's mine).

There is no one I would rather drive down the highway screaming Katy Perry with. Eat "experimental" sushi with. Cry with. Laugh with. People watch with. Awkwardly slow dance in a living room with. Cook with. Smile stupidly with while he plays his guitar (love guitar players).

There is no one more patient. How many times have you held me while I've cried, listened while I've complained, and feigned interest with while I've tried to explain which of Nicki Minaj's alter-egos is singing during a particular song?

There is no one more loving. Caring. Giving.

I love ya, Stephen. And I always will.

And now I have to share your recipes I made for you, okay? <3

#67: Lemon Raspberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (AKA Stephen's 25th birthday cake. Best served following dinner with friends at P.F. Chang's, and finished with a spoon and a frown following my departure back to Washington)

As found on http://angieriver.com

Ingredients:

Cake Bar Ingredients
1 lemon cake mix
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. frozen raspberries or fresh raspberries

Frosting Ingredients
2 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (whipped)
1/2 tsp lemon extract or fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1) Mix together cake mix, milk, whipping cream, vanilla and egg.

2) Fold in raspberries until just combined.

     -Like this:

3) Bake in 8x8 greased.baking pan for 25-30 minutes minutes at 350º.

   Yeah, that easy. So good though. Seriously, it took everything in me not to just eat the batter prior to baking... but I suppose I am always pretty guilty of that. One thing to note, I had to keep my cake in the oven for 45 minutes, because the center wasn't rising the way it should have. It still never did, but I had to take it out after 45 because the top was browning too much. And then of course, the middle sunk after I took it out of the oven. I just spread the frosting evenly over the cake, so it wasn't AS noticeable. 

Frosting Instructions:

1) In a small bowl whip heavy whipping cream with an electric mixer for a couple minutes until it thickens.

2) In a separate bowl mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar.

3) Add heavy whipping cream to cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth and thick. Place in refrigerator until bars cool completely.

     -Notice she also forgot to mention the lemon juice? I didn't add it either. The cake itself is pretty lemony, so I didn't feel like it needed it.

4) Frost bars and serve (or refrigerate until serving).

I also woke up early on Friday and popped this in the oven for breakfast. 

#68: Overnight Blueberry French Toast (as found on http://www.sixsistersstuff.com)

Following the success of my first overnight french toast casserole, and per Stephen's request, I made this bad boy. I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the delicious, cinnamony one I made a week earlier for his family, but he really enjoyed this.

Ingredients: 

French Toast: 
12 slices bread, cut into cubes (french or Texas toast work well)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut in cubes
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
12 large eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk (I use 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream)

Syrup: 
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 Tablespoon butter 

Directions:

1. Arrange 1/2 of the bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle cream cheese cubes and blueberries evenly over the bread cubes.Top with remaining bread cubes.

2. Mix together eggs, milk, and syrup. Pour over bread cubes and cover pan with foil. Let chill in refrigerator overnight.

     - This, ladies and gentlemen, is what 12 eggs looks like. Cracked. And it all went in this recipe. Bleck.

3. Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until fluffy and golden. Top with sauce. Serves 8. 

     - Yeah, we didn't have any foil, so I opted without it. I wish I wouldn't have. Since the top browned pretty quickly, I had to take the pan out of the oven so the bread wouldn't burn, but the bottom was still pretty eggy. Definitely could've been prevented if I had followed the recipe. I think I was only able to keep it in for about 40 minutes uncovered. Lesson learned.

4. Syrup: Cook water, sugar, and cornstarch until thickened. Stir in blueberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted. Serve over the french toast.

There you go. Make this for someone you love. From us, to you.

The Most Important Meal of the Day: #65 and #66

Anyone who knows me well knows my love for breakfast. Seriously. I could eat waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, muffins, smoothies, sausage links, and french toast for every meal for days on end and never tire of it. I also love when an opportunity arises for me to SHARE breakfast with someone, because let's be honest- breakfast most mornings means grabbing a bowl of oatmeal, cold cereal, or a Slim Fast bar on your way out the door... and that is a shame. A CRYING SHAME. Food this delicious is meant to be shared, and there it nothing I love more than getting to show up at a friend's door, still in my sweats, hair a mess, holding onto a delicious breakfast baked good we're going to share over cocoa and gossip. Ugh, SQUEAL! I die.

This blog contains not one, but TWO delish treats I made a couple of weekends ago (My friends and family are spoiled). The first was a cupcake my friend recommended to me about two months prior to me actually making them. I had been struggling trying to find something fun to bring to Nichelle's house, and had settled on a sticky bun recipe in a cookbook she had bought me as a gift (http://www.ourbestbites.com/... that is their website. I'd type the name of the actual book, but I wouldn't want any of you jumping down my throat for the wrong reasons). ANYWAYS, long story short, upon heading to the grocery store I quickly realized that in order to obtain 18 of the Rhodes rolls mentioned in the sticky bun recipe, I'd either have to buy 3 6-packs of rolls... which was RIDICULOUSLY expensive... or one 36 roll pack... which was unnecessary. Cut to me rolling my eyes, and quickly pulling up my Pinterest, where I had remembered my friend Gabby had found a recipe for a, GET THIS

*CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH CUPCAKE*

... YEAH, so mind-blowing it got center billing.

Okay, so... maybe cupcakes aren't traditional breakfast fare, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch is, and considering this particular weekend was also Gabby's last at a certain coffee conglomerate (... which shall remain nameless; however, I myself used to wear their GREEN, UNFLATTERING apron), I knew her recipe would be a perfect excuse to visit her, drop off some num-nums, and congratulate her on a job well done. Yes. Perfect recipe.

#65: Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes (as found on http://www.yourcupofcake.com... apparently my fiance knows the woman running this blog, so shout-out to Lizzy!)

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Cake:

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

¾ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup sour cream

Vanilla Cake Mix (not white cake mix)

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch powder

(Crush the cereal in a bag and then sift out 2/3 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with 20-22 cupcake liners. In a large bowl, gently combine eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix in sour cream.

     - I know what you're thinking, and yes, I had a minor panic attack putting both buttermilk and sour cream in this batter. Two of my greatest baking fears, COMBINED. They are completely necessary though- I have NEVER had such a fluffy, soft homemade cupcake before.

2. Add cake mix and cinnamon and mix until smooth. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

3. While the cupcakes are baking, make the buttercream frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add Cinnamon Toast Crunch powder. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Adjust the consistency using milk if it is too thick.

     - I usually stray from putting as much powdered sugar as called for in my frosting recipes, just because I prefer the other flavors in the frosting to shine, but this recipe has JUST ENOUGH cream cheese that you can still taste it even with all that sugar. The scary part, however, was putting the cereal in the frosting. I hadn't noticed it said to SIFT the cereal after crushing (WHOOPS), so my frosting ended up having chunks of cereal in it. Weird at first, but delicious once the cupcakes had sat in the freezer for the night. The cereal softened up just enough to where it wasn't crunchy- I don't know HOW, but it just worked!

8. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with cinnamon sugar and Cinnamon Toast Crunch squares.

     - I actually DID the piping using a plastic bag technique I learned off of Pinterest, and it worked WONDERFULLY! And my cupcakes actually didn't look half bad- of course, I forgot to take pictures, but here is the picture from Lizzy's site:

The next project was for, who else, the BAIRDS! I was heading over to their house early Sunday morning for some brunch, and I thought I'd bring over a little treat, because I.LOVE.FRENCH.TOAST.

#66: Overnight French Toast Casserole (as found on http://quick-dish.tablespoon.com)

Whoever invented overnight casseroles deserve a big-old-medal for it. Seriously, genius! ... I am becoming such a housewife...

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 loaf Texas Toast bread (the blog recommended brioche or challah, but people, I AM FROM THE TRI-CITIES. We don't have that kind of selection at Albertson's... French bread would also work well)

8 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/8 teaspoon salt

maple syrup and powdered sugar for topping

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter and pour on the bottom on a 9x13 baking dish.

     - Pour? Huh... my mixture was super thick, and I ended up spreading it all over the bottom of the pan with a spoon, and it had a texture similar to that sugar scrub you put on your skin to exfoliate it. I guess I didn't melt the butter enough?

2. Arrange pieces of bread in the baking dish, overlapping if necessary.

3. Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices. Sprinkle chopped pecans over bread slices. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4-12 hours.

     - Sprinkle? Shoot, I pulled back the bread and STUFFED those pecans between the slices. Every bite had a little nut... that's how we do! OH, and a side note: when I made this, our fridge was stuffed, so I ended up putting the casserole dish in the freezer. I thought it was a genius move at the time, but looking back on it, I think the dish cooled so rapidly that the egg wasn't able to completely soak into the bread, and instead just kind of stayed at the bottom of the pan.

4. In the morning, take the casserole out of the fridge for at least 10 minutes while you are preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Bake casserole for 30-35 minutes. If it starts browning too quickly, place a foil loosely over the top of the casserole for the last 10 minutes or so. 

     - Good advice on the last part. My bread browned really nicely during the first 35 minutes, but the bottom was still eggy... so I covered it and set it back in the over for another 10 minutes and it worked beautifully.

5. Remove casserole from oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. 

This was good. Too good. I may never make traditional french toast again. The best part was the brown sugar at the bottom of the pan that got all crusty and warm at the bottom of the toast. Ugh. SO GOOD!

... I forgot pictures again. So here is this to tide you over:

Cray-cray for Nutella: #63 and #64

So, this is more or less a blog I've been "guilt-stricken" into writing, if that makes any sense. My diet hasn't been good, at all. Thankfully, my gym habits have been keeping off the weight (I LOVE FREE WEIGHTS!). I just haven't felt compelled to do anything... pretty much everything in my responsibility has fallen to the wayside, whether it be blogging, correcting papers, or genuinely wanting to be at school. But due to the fact that I realized the end of my one year challenge is drawing upon us (Spring already??), the necessity of this post really kind of smacked me upside the head.

Much like life itself is doing these days. Sigh.

ANYWAYS, long story short, last week I needed to bake. NEEDED TO. And I knew I NEEDED to bake with Nutella. I had found a great Nutella cookie recipe that I hadn't used yet, and I was just chomping at the bit to try it, especially considering the people I was baking for had no known peanut allergies (sorry little A, Auntie Kristen will make it up to you!). Now, the trouble began when I went to the store to pick up the necessary ingredients. Albertson's evidently was having a sale on Nutella, which should be a total *WOOT! SCORE ONE FOR KRISTEN!* kind of moment, but what it really meant was the store was out of the typical sized Nutella jars. What I had to purchase instead? I'd like to introduce you to...

*La avellana grande!*


... which evidently translates to THE BIG HAZELNUT in English, via Google Translator

Actually, this picture DOESN'T do the jar justice. This baby was big. Upon seeing the aforementioned jar, my mother pointed at it and yelled "YOU GET THAT THING AWAY FROM  ME!" because she understands the power of Nutella spread and the damages it can cause to an Ideal Protein Diet. 

Anyways, long story short, I had enough Nutella to feed a small army, so I decided to do what any other normal human being would do with it- bake not ONE, but TWO treats. And here they be:

#63: Peanut Butter and Nutella Swirl Cookies (as found on http://delightfulbitefuls.blogspot.com)

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Approx. 1/4 cup Nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Mix until well blended.

3. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Drizzle Nutella on top of the dough then swirl it through the dough with a butter knife. 

4. Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls by hand. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Using a fork, press down the balls to flatten slightly. Bake until edges are very lightly browned (about 7 to 10 minutes). 

That's it! Easy, and actually pretty good. Although to be forewarned, working with the Nutella in this batter was kind of a pain in the rear. It didn't want to blend very well with the peanut butter dough, so I ended up making these nice round balls with smears of Nutella almost hanging off of them. Definitely not a pretty cookie, but delicious all the same.

Now, the next cookies were obviously a result of my panicked, "What am I going to do with all of this Nutella?" state of mind. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and the recipe SOUNDED better than it actually was... I tempted to write the owner of that blog to let them know they should rename these cookies "Cowpie cookies," because that's what they look like. 

#64: Nutella Cookies (AKA: Kristen's Cowpies... as found on http://tastykitchen.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup Nutella

½ cups Sugar

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1 whole Egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Blend all ingredients together well. Form into 1″ balls. 

3. Place on a cookie sheet. Press down firmly with the bottom of a glass. Bake 7-8 minutes or until set. Cool.

Okay, I'm sorry, but my cookies, when smushed onto the cookie sheet using the bottom of the glass, didn't turn out like the perfectly round ones shown on the websites picture. Instead, mine literally looked like smashed cow pies... not exactly appetizing. They also had a really gritty texture, so needless to say, I am Nutella-ed out!

What did I tell you? NOT very pretty.

#62... and a little diet update...

Well, I did it. I've managed to hit my lowest weight thus far. I don't know HOW I did it? My diet, again, took a major backseat this week. Having come down with strep throat last weekend, I took a solid 8 days off from my workout regime, and was forced instead to take a truly awful antibiotic that ruined me. TRULY RUINED ME. Evidently, I have a much more sensitive tummy than I thought because that pill tore me up... I literally couldn't 1) swallow solid food, much less liquid for a solid two days thanks to my strep throat and 2) couldn't keep solid food DOWN for the following two days thanks to the vomiting the antibiotic induced (awesome discussion for a food blog, yeah?).

ANYWAYS, long story short, you think with my lack of food I would've LOST a ton of weight, right? WRONG, I actually gained enough to be back up to about 136.6 over the course of being sick, which was cruel and unusual punishment on top of everything else. Thankfully after discovering my issues with the first antibiotic, the doctor put me on something a little less strong, and I celebrated being able to eat like a normal person by not only getting DELICIOUS sushi on Wednesday night with Jenna, but also helping myself to both a pineapple mango smoothie and a sausage McMuffin at McDonald's on Thursday morning before parent/teacher conferences because I deserved it. Conferences are HORRIBLE so I NEEDED a treat, and how often are you up early enough to get McDonald's for breakfast, honestly?

So after all of that... I lost weight. I don't understand my body, I probably never will.

Weight on 12/29/2011- 146.6 pounds
Weight as of 3/10/2012- 133.6 pounds
Total weight loss- 13 pounds
Weight to go until goal #2- 3.6 pounds (if I want to hit 130... gosh, who knows anymore, LOL)

The biggest reason I wanted to write this blog though was because I baked. For no real good reason. Well, maybe there was a reason. I came across the most girly, pink cookies, and I needed to make them. NEEDED TO. I have been doing so much chocolate lately, I needed a little break, plus pink is just so springy, it's exactly what we need on this dreary, rainy, windy Sunday morning in the Tri-Cities. Plus, I am hoping it influences some of my future sister-in-laws to make me some more nieces, because this world needs more adorable little girls... or that's what I've decided after seeing WAY TOO MANY adorable little girl items on Pinterest lately. It wouldn't be too premature for me to create a board on Pinterest for baby items, would it? Yes? Dang...

#62: Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting (as found on http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com)

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
1/2 cup of butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
One 18.25 oz. box of strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury, because I've found it's the cheapest usually, and it makes the fluffiest baked goods. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it)

For the frosting:
1/2 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:

Just a heads up, I improvised a lot because I saw the recipe turning out badly if I followed it verbatim, so if you check the original recipe, you'll see many tweaks!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease cookie sheet with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl combine the softened butter, eggs, vanilla and stir by hand or with a mixer until combined.  Add the cake mix and stir until smooth.  If the dough seems too wet to be cookie dough, add a bit more cake mix, one tablespoon at a time, until it’s less wet. Conversely, if the dough seems dry and it’s not combining, add a tablespoon or two of water.
     - Blah, blah, blah- yeah, I went ahead and just dumped all the ingredients into a bowl, mixed them with my hand mixer until the batter was nice and smooth. I didn't need to add and additional cake mix or water, promise.
     * PS- love her use of the word "conversely" in a food blog. Big-ups to SAT words!


2. Chill dough in freezer for 15-20 minutes, as chilled dough seems to spread less while baking. 
     - Just do it, trust me.


3. Take the dough out of the freezer, and roll into 1-inch round balls (I just used a tablespoon measure, scooped out my batter, rolled it in my hands, and plopped it on the cookie sheet. BOOM! Perfect). Stick cookies in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are just turning brown along the edges. They may look a bit loose and jiggly after only 8 to 10 minutes, but they will continue to cook on the sheets after you remove the from the oven and will firm up as they cool.  Do not over bake.  Allow the cookies to cool well (on the cookie sheets is fine) before attempting to move them.
     - I actually kept mine in for 12 minutes, and it worked out beautifully. Check these bad boys out.

So cute, and pink, and tasty!... just don't tell anyone I was eating raw dough again...

4. While the cookies are baking, combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl. Once this mixture is smooth, add the three cups of powdered sugar until the frosting is smooth and forms stiff peaks.

     - I used a hand mixer for the wet stuff, and then a spoon to mix in the sugar, because if there is one thing I have learned, powdered sugar will fly EVERYWHERE if you let it! Here's my AWESOME stiff peaks. Seriously, this is the best luck I have ever had with homemade frosting.

5. Allow the cookies to cool completely prior to frosting. Cover with sprinkles as desired.

    - And desired I did.

So adorably delicious! I know, I know, I know... I have gotten pretty lazy with the cake mix cookies. I promise the next treat I make will require a little more work, scout's honor!

#60 and #61...

Is it bad my diet has taken a back seat? I still watch what I eat, limit my intake of dairy and grains, and exercise on a very regular basis, but I'm just not letting it control my life anymore. I don't constantly crave the horrible foods I used to miss because I'm not constantly thinking about when my next meal is, nor am I not allowing myself certain foods. I just don't eat a lot of junk, but when I do, I don't feel bad about it because I feel much healthier than I used to.

My weight fluctuates slightly these days: I'm usually hanging in the balance between 134 and 136, which isn't bad. It's actually a weight I hope to maintain until the wedding and then some. What I'm focusing on more or less these days is just my work outs- I want to build muscle, and tone! Plus, going to my gym 3,4,5 times a week is doing WONDERS for my stress levels. I feel MUCH more calm this year than I did last year around this time. My clothes fit much more loosely, I just feel like a happier person.

That is, UNTIL I came down with strep throat this weekend. Which is giving me ample time in bed, and therefore lots of time to blog. Hmph.

Oh well. Here's my last two recipes...

The first came to be because I was finding all of these awesome cake mix cookie recipes that only require like, four to five ingredients each AND they are super easy to whip up. I really wanted an excuse to try one of these recipes, and usually I would unleash them on the Bairds, but since Ava is allergic to peanuts, I've been trying to find other people who'd be willing to try my treats. Who better than my kiddos at school? I'd already done the research- there are NO fourth graders with known peanut allergies, PLUS I had just promised a few groups of them lunch with me one Wednesday since they had earned the most group points for good behavior.

#60: Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies (or as I call them "Kiddo Silencers"- honestly, I gave each of the kids who had lunch with me that afternoon two of these, turned on an episode of Scooby Doo, and they were quiet the entire time- as found on http://cookiesandcups.com)

Ingredients:


1 (18.25 oz) box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 8 oz bag Reese's Minis


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350°. With your mixer, beat together cake mix, oil and eggs until combined. Pour in entire bag of Reese's Minis. Mix on low until Reese's are evenly incorporated.
     - All right, a couple of things to note: I went ahead and mixed up the dough a couple of hours prior to baking it off and kept it in the freezer until AFTER Zumba (priorities people!). On top of that, I couldn't find a bag of the mini Reese's, so I went ahead and bought a 12 oz bag of those Reese's miniature cups that you have to unwrap out of the foil. I just had to slice them in half, and then incorporate them into the batter, and it worked out great.

2. Roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls and place n a parchment lined baking sheet about 2" apart. Cookies will spread. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
      - Naturally, no parchment paper for this girl, so I lightly greased my cookie sheets with a little PAM prior to baking them. Worked out just fine!


These were delicious, and dangerous. Highly addictive. I ate quite a few more than I meant to, SO WORTH IT though!

The next recipe, I devoted hours to really scouring Pinterest for the PERFECT recipe- it was NICHELLE'S birthday! Considering I hadn't spent time with her for about TWO MONTHS prior to this last Friday, I really wanted to bake something fun in honor of her favorite day! It was a toss up between the following recipe, and another one called "Slutty Brownies," because to be honest, I knew Nichelle was one of the only people in my inner circle who could appreciate the names of either of these treats. Instead, I baked something called "Knock You Naked Brownies"... prepare to start a'drooling, peeps.


#61: Knock You Naked Brownies (which could also be called "Knock You Silent Brownies," since they had the same affect, and it might be a little strange if I had kicked off my pants at Nichelle's place, if you know what I mean?- as found on thepioneerwoman.com)


Ingredients:


1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)1/2 cup Butter, Melted
60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick

      - They aren't kidding. This mixture was literally like Play-doh. Clay you can EAT!! Oh, and I opted out of using the chopped pecans because Nichelle believes desserts are NO place for nuts. 

2. Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

3. In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

     - Don't be dumb like me and stick the spoon with scalding caramel immediately into your mouth. You will get a major burn on your tongue. You think I'd learn my lesson- isn't this the third time I've severely burnt my tongue in this blog?

4. Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

     - I TRIED doing this. I got impatient and instead ended up just spreading the rest of the dough over the top of the caramel and chocolate chip mixture. It ended up becoming like a crumble you might put on top of a cobbler though... delicious, but kind of weird.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

     - Several hours? Try ten minutes, tee hee. Nichelle and I spooned this out (which held up like a crumble, not a brownie) into a bowl, and then topped it with this AWESOME caramel cheesecake ice cream I found on sale at Albertson's. Be forewarned though, this is SUPER rich. We turned on Modern Family, and I couldn't finish the small portion I put into my bowl... it was WAY TOO rich. Good, but holy cow. Make sure you have milk on hand, a lot of it.

Check out these pictures from the Pioneer Woman herself... because I was too busy eating and catching up to take pictures (tee hee).