What We Ate {Coconut Cream Cupcakes}

I'm pretty sure that I was supposed to have been born somewhere tropical.  I love sun, sand, fresh fish and seafood, the concept of 'island time'.....and coconut. 

I LOVE coconut.

So it's no surprise that I love these cupcakes....I think you will too!

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix

3 egg whites, beaten

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 bag (8 oz.) shredded coconut

15 oz. can cream of coconut

1 2/3 cup milk

1 container Cool Whip

1 box Cream of Coconut Jello Pudding Mix

Mix cake mix with egg whites, oil, 1 1/3 cup milk, and 4 oz. coconut.  Pour mixture into cupcake pan lined with 12 cupcake wrappers.  Bake approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and poke holes in each cupcake using a fork.  Stir cream of coconut well, and then spoon over top of each hot cucake.  Place cupcake pans in the refrigerator to allow cupcakes to cool and cream of coconut to soak into each cupcake.  

Combine Cool Whip with pudding mix using a mixer, adding 1 tablespoon of milk at a time, using as much as needed to reach allow pudding mix to blend and reach desired consistency. Frost cooled cupcakes, and sprinkle with remaining 4 oz. of shredded coconut. 

I'll admit that these cupcakes are kind of messy, but OMG they are so delicious!

Hope you love them!

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What We Ate {Oreo Truffles}

You may remember back in December when I told you about our annual Cookie Exchange party at Christmas. Well, hosting this tradition for the past few years has left me with a TON of delicious cookie recipes. Unfortunately I don't bake very often, so most of them go into my recipe box and never see the light of day again.  

But recently, I found myself searching for a recipe that tasted great and looked impressive to take to an event...but I didn't have a lot of time to spend making something that took a lot of work.  Luckily, I remembered that one of my co-workers had shared her recipe for Oreo Truffles at one of our cookie exchange parties.  

They are to-die-for, and I knew they didn't require a lot of time or ingredients.

Sold!

Ingredients

1 package Oreo cookies

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 package chocolate melting wafers

1 tablespoon shortening

Using a food processor, grind cookies into fine crumbs. Reserve 1/4 cup cookie crumbs.  Add cream cheese to the remaining crumbs, and beat cookie crumbs and cream cheese until thoroughly combined.

Roll mixture into approximately 48 one inch balls.

Melt chocolate wafers and shortening using a double boiler.  Or if you don't have a double boiler, just put them in a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water, like I did.

Dip each ball into chocolate, using a toothpick.  Place chocolate-coated balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  

Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs, which is helpful in concealing the holes left by the toothpicks.  Place cookie sheet in refrigerator for one hour to allow chocolate to set.  

I made two batches--one with white chocolate coating and the other with a milk chocolate coating.  They looked so cute arranged on a serving tray, and tasted every bit as good as I remembered. 

Needless to say, there weren't any left to bring back home, which was probably a good thing.  

I'm not sure I could be trusted with them in the house!

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What We Ate {Mashed Potato Puffs}

I'll be perfectly honest.  I make mashed potatoes from scratch exactly one time each year:  New Year's Day. They're a must to pair with our traditional pork and sauerkraut, and year after year, I tell myself 'If I'm going to go to all the work to make these suckers, then I'm going to make a big batch.

One problem.  I'm not really a big fan of leftover mashed potatoes.  So this year, I combined my leftover potatoes with some other yummy ingredients and baked them in single-sized portions, creating hot and crispy mashed potato puffs.  They were so good!!

Mashed Potato Puffs

4 cups mashed potatoes

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

3 Tbs. Parmesan cheese

3 Tbs. chives

1/2 cup sour cream

Salt

Pepper

Combine eggs, sour cream and cheeses.  Stir mixture into leftover mashed potatoes. Stir in chives and salt/pepper to taste.  

Spoon mixture into greased cupcake pan, filling each spot about 3/4 full.  

Bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  Let cool for 5-10 minutes and turn puffs out of pan.  Serve hot.

I froze the leftover puffs and am going to try to reheat them for quick weeknight sides.  Hopefully they freeze well!!

What We Ate {Banana Pecan Pancakes with Maple Butter}

Can't you see that it's just raining snowing?  There ain't no need to go outside.

I had a little Jack Johnson moment on Friday when school was closed for a snow day.  Inspired by some intriguing pancake varieties encountered during our trip to Erie last week, (which is currently the snowiest city in America.  Lovely.)  I used my unexpectedly free morning to create a fabulous batch of banana pancakes using pancake mix and some other yummy additions.  

They were SO GOOD.  Which is saying a lot coming from me, because I don't even like bananas very much. I'm all about the texture of foods, and bananas have a texture that is just not for me. In fact, I wanted to recreate a version of the pumpkin pancakes that Mr. M. ordered one day at breakfast. But, alas, we did not have any pumpkin. So inspired by my man Jack, I went with banana pancakes instead.  

I may not be crazy about bananas on their own, but mixed into some fluffy pancakes with banana-bread-like spices, sprinkled with pecans and topped with some yummy maple-butter?  Yum.  Count me in.  Every time. 

Banana Pecan Pancakes with Maple Butter

For Pancakes

2 bananas, mashed

1 banana sliced

 1/2 cup crushed pecans

1 1/2 cups complete pancake mix

1 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk, but I think any kind would be fine)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus some for sprinkling

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For Maple Butter

1/4 cup butter (or margarine, which is what I used)

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Preheat griddle while mixing up pancake mix.  A very hot griddle is key to a fluffy pancake. 

Mash two bananas in a mixing bowl,  and then add in pancake mix, milk, beaten egg and spices. Stir until combined.  

Ladle pancake mix onto hot griddle, sprinkle with banana slices and crushed pecans.

Cook until the pancake has bubbles throughout the entire cake and has firmed up enough to flip.  Flip and cook other side to golden brown.  Remove from griddle and serve with maple butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon. 

To make maple butter, whip butter and maple syrup together with a fork.

Devour.  I found them to be really filling, and couldn't finish the two I put on my plate.  

I can't wait to try the pumpkin variety next!

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The Yummy Dozen

No matter what your holiday traditions are, it's pretty much guaranteed that Christmas morning is nuts. Exchanging gifts, putting together new contraptions, traveling to see loved ones....it's a busy morning.

But it's also a special morning, one where my typical breakfast of coffee and a Fiber One bar just doesn't seem quite celebratory enough.  And while its just Mr. M. and I at home on Christmas morning and, if I'm being honest, our Christmas morning breakfast usually consists of coffee and cookies (hey, it's a special day),  I've always thought that having something delicious to pop in the oven while we open gifts would be nice.

Maybe this year is the year that it will happen.  So just in case, I've put together a list of one dozen make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast ideas that sound divine!

And if I decide to just eat a bunch of cookies before noon instead of a formal breakfast.....well, that's OK too!

(All images via Pinterest)

Cranberry Almond French Toast Casserole by Kristen at Capturing Joy.

Christmas Breakfast Skillet Casserole shared over at Crunchy Creamy Sweet.

Cinnamon Baked French Toast by Lovin' From the Oven.

Make-Ahead Breakfast Braid shared at Cooking Club.

Make-Ahead Breakfast Strata from Steeltown Delicious.

Overnight Caramel Apple Rolls shared at Tablespoon. 

Christmas Morning Monkey Bread shared at Tablespoon.

Overnight Eggnog French Toast Casserole from Five Heart Home.

Pull-Apart Sticky Buns from The Yummy Life.

Overnight Egg-Sausage Bake from Betty Crocker.

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Bake from Making Life Delicious.

Gingerbread Coffee Cake with Cranberry Pecan Streusel from Willow Bird Baking.

YUM.  I don't even know how to decide which one to (maybe) try!  

Which recipe sounds good to you?

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Friday Favs 22

Happy Friday!  It's my last day of work before Christmas break!!  

Ahhh!  I don't know what I'll do with all of that free time!  I'm hopeful to get started on some fabulous projects for all of you!

As I shared in yesterday's post, last night I hosted a Christmas Cookie Exchange for 14 of my co-workers.  It was a blast!  I now have SO many delicious new cookie recipes....and the makings of a fantastic cookie tray for Christmas morning!

So for this week's favorites, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite cookie recipes from last night.  There were so many delicious recipes, that it was REALLY hard to choose only five, so I tried to select recipes that were a little different than the cookies I already have in my arsenal.  It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!

Pin, bake, share away!!

Fav #1

Salted Caramel Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 box (17.5 oz) sugar cookie mix

3/4 cup crushed pretzels

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. coarse salt

For cookies: Beat butter, egg, and vanilla until creamy.  Stir in cookie mix and pretzels.  Form into balls, place on un-greased cookie sheet.  Flatten with bottom of floured glass. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

For icing:  Microwave condensed milk in large glass bowl on high for 3 minutes.  Microwave on medium-low (30%) 12-16 minutes, whisking occasionally until thick and caramel colored.  Spread on top of cookies and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. 

Fav #2

Haystacks

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips

1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy)

1/2 cup of miniature marshmallows

2 cups Chow Mein noodles

Wax paper

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chips and peanut butter for 3-5 minutes at 50% power.  Stir marshmallows and Chow Mein noodles into the mix.  Combine ingredients thoroughly.  Drop mixture b teaspoon onto waxed paper. Put in refrigerator for faster set. 

Fav #3

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Ingredients for Cake

1 box lemon cake mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Ingredients for Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

lemon zest, for garnish

Instructions for Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Mix together cake mix, oil, and eggs until well combined.  Stir in poppy seeds.  Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.  Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and glaze cookies while still warm.  Cool on wire racks until glaze is set. 

Instructions for Glaze

Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Spread about 1 tsp. on each cookie.  Garnish with lemon zest. 

Fav #4

Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 cups Oreo crumbles

6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup miniature dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, which helps keep the cookies from spreading.  On medium speed, cream butter and cream cheese until thoroughly combined. Add sugar and vanilla, mix well.  Add flour one cup at a time and mix on low just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.  Pour Oreo crumbles in a bowl.  Scoop dough out into roughly 1/5 inch balls, then roll in cookie crumbles, coating thoroughly.  Be sure to cover the dough balls very well in crumbs, as this is what holds the cookie together while baking.  Bake 14-15 minutes and allow to cool on sheet for several minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Fav #5

Baby Ruth Bars

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup peanut butter

4 cups crisped rice cereal

6 oz. chocolate chips

1 heaping Tbsp. peanut butter

Bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Take off heat and add 1 /2 cup peanut butter and crisped rice cereal.  Press into cake pan. Melt 6 oz chocolate chips and one heaping tablespoon of peanut butter.  Spread mixture on top.  

Yum!  Just typing all of that makes me feel like I should go work out!  Enjoy!

What We Ate {Lemon Fingers}

Good morning!

I'll make it short and sweet today, since I have a busy day ahead of me.  Tonight, I have the pleasure of hosting several of the ladies from work in our annual Christmas Cookie Exchange.  I inherited the party from a co-worker who retired a few years ago, and look forward to hosting it each year!!

It only seemed natural to share my cookie recipe with all of you!

Lemon Fingers

1/2 cup plus 4 tsp. butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 jar Dickinson's Lemon Curd

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and grated lemon peel.  Fold in flour and baking powder, working it into a dough ball.

Divide the dough in half and shape into strips each about 1 1/2 inches wide (will spread out during baking).  Place on a greased cookie sheet. 

Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a deep groove along the center of each strip, leaving the ends intact in order to contain the curd.  Fill groove with curd, making sure that the curd doesn't go over the top of the groove.  Using a sandwich bag with one corner cut off as a make-shift pastry bag works well.  

Bake 10-15 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into 'fingers' about 3/4 inch wide. 

YUM!  They are so good!  I love that they aren't super sweet!  

Enjoy!

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What We Ate {16 Minute Dinner}

Some nights it seems like I have no time between when I get home from work and when I need to leave again for an exercise class or an evening walking date with my mom and aunt. The reasons for this vary, but it seems like at least once a month or so, I get home less than 45 minutes before I need to leave again.

Which wouldn't be a big deal, except I pretty much have to eat dinner before I workout.  Or else I'm a grumpy, irritable nightmare.  It's not pretty. In my defense, I eat lunch at 11AM, so by 5:00 or so I. am. starving. And I'm definitely a grumpy-when- hungry girl!!

So for these occasions, I have a fabulous go-to dinner plan that needs no prep, is super quick, and requires almost no clean up.  Plus, it's SOOO yummy!

Obviously, any dinner that goes from having nothing prepped to a meal on the table in 16 minutes is going to get some help from packaged products.  BUT, I find this to be a cheap and healthy meal, which is really all that I ask for from a weeknight dinner.  Prepped from scratch is nice, but on such a short amount of time, most anything I prep from scratch will be barely past the conceptualizing stage in just 16 minutes.

So.....my go-to Meal on crazy nights is some sort of frozen tilapia or salmon fillet, parmesan couscous and the steam-able veggie of my choice (aka whatever happens to be in the freezer). All of these items can go from the pantry or freezer to done in just a few minutes.


You can see that I started dinner at 4:54PM. Tonight's selection was chipotle-lime tortilla crusted Tilapia and green beans.  I also love tortilla crusted salmon!

Part of the beauty in this meal is that it creates almost no dishes.  I simply bake the fish on a cookie sheet covered in foil (so it doesn't have to be washed) for about 14 minutes.  While that bakes,  I heat water and a few teaspoons of olive oil in a small saucepan (the measuring cup doesn't even need washed, because all it measures is the water!), along with the couscous seasoning.  Once the water boils, I stir in the couscous, cover the pot, and remove from the heat for 5 minutes. I also microwave the steam-able veggies while the fish bakes (right in the bag, so no dishes there!).  I time it so all three items are done cooking at the same time, so all I have to do when the bell ring is give the coucous a stir and plate it all up!

I generally eat 1 1/2 fish fillets, 3/4 cup couscous and as many veggies as I want.  The calorie total is right around 500.  But the best part is that it's so good and ready so fast! 

Dinner plated and ready to go at 5:10!!  YUM.

And like I said, the dishes are totally minimal.  I mean, I'm going to throw it all in the dishwasher anyway, but it's STILL exciting that there's not even much to rinse and put in there. 



That's it. Awesome.



Excluding takeout, can you get dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes?  I'm sort of proud of the fact that I have it down to such a science.  What's YOUR go-to dinner on nights where you don't have much time and have nothing prepped?

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