Birthday Oreo Pudding "Cake"

Woe is me.

I meant to post this recipe way back when I was freaking out about the introduction of Birthday Cake Oreos...Perhaps the excitement caused me to go temporarily insane.

If there are still boxes of those Birthday Cake Oreos to be found, or you still have a box waiting in your pantry (btw you must be crazy) then pay attention!

I love Oreo desserts. Love them. When those Oreos came out I knew I had to come up with something. Since they taste kind of like cake batter I went that route...naturally.

Anyway, who doesn't love Oreo/dirt pudding?

Exactly. Well this version has cream cheese, cake batter and sprinkles.

You're welcome.

No, seriously. When I made this I could not get it in my mouth fast enough. I'm typically a slow eater but this little dessert made me abandon all reason and manners. I grabbed the biggest spoon I could find and went to town with a "pudding-eating-grin" on my face.

I really want some now. Why did I have to eat all my oreos?!

(BTW you can obviously still make this with regular Oreos, the bday ones just bump it up a notch)

Birthday Oreo Pudding "Cake"

Dame Good

Ingredients:

1 (10.5 ounce) package birthday cake oreos (or regular if you cant find them)
1/4 cup  light butter
1 (16 ounce) container fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 (8 ounce) packages neaufchatel cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups skim milk
1 (3.5 ounce) package fat-free sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1/4 cup yellow cake mix (dry)
1/2 cup sprinkles

Directions:

Crush cookies into bite size pieces. Reserve 3/4 cup for top. Melt butter and mix with rest of cookies. Press into 8x8 (or 9x9) pan. Put in freezer for 5 minutes.

Blend 1/2 of the whipped topping, all of the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Spread over crust and place cake back in freezer.

Prepare instant pudding with the milk according to package directions. Add cake mix and 1/4 cup sprinkles to the pudding. Spread the pudding over top of cake. Spread the remaining whipped topping on top of the pudding then sprinkle with the remaining cookie and sprinkles. Keep cake refrigerated.

Cut-Out Cookies

As of about 15 minutes ago I finished reading my latest book "The Help". Already the grieving process has started (if you read my last post, you'll understand).

Now I am just incredibly eager for the movie to come out...2 months from now...perhaps I should have waited to read the book...

But who am I kidding? Patience is not a trait I am familiar with.

You people who are patient are lucky...just saying.

I'm the kind of person who gets antsy when a person is 5 minutes late. By the 6th minute I have convinced myself that something horrible has happened to them...

I often check my school's web site shortly after I take an exam as I am dying to know how horrible I did so I have an excuse to indulge in chocolate gelato....

I paint my nails only to have them ruined in a matter of minutes because I decide that 17 seconds to dry is more than enough time....

And yes, I even watch a pot of lukewarm water and pray to the cooking God's to "hurry it up already! water should be boiling after 2 minutes! easily!"

I could learn a thing or two from you patient people.

This post may come as a shock to you all. Cut-out cookies are not for impatient people. And yes, I know this. But they make such darned good gifts that I can't help myself.

Another thing about me...I tend to think that I can somehow cheat the "time" system by holding my breath and squinting my eyes when I try to complete these tasks in which patience is vital. Such as cut-out cookies.

My cut-out cookies don't come out as pretty as the cake decorator at work (her patience baffles me!) While I find detail important, I also find it impossible to pay attention to.

A little tip for those of you who, like me, curse at the hairdryer every morning you are drying your hair (because "OH MY GOD" it takes too darn long)...if you pair your panic-inducing, time-consuming, detail-oriented activity with a freshly lit candle and a glass of riesling or sweet red wine, your experience shall consists of a little less jaw-clenching and a little more breathing (I can't imagine holding your breath is that good for you)...

And word on the street is a little red wine is. And some dark chocolate. Always allow for some dark chocolate.

Cut-Out Cookies

From Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Royal Icing:
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons meringue powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Food coloring, optional

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and almond extract until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until smooth. Wrap dough in heavy-duty plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with assorted snowflake cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Chill dough 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Paint cookies with Edible Paint Icing. Garnish with silver dragees, sugar pearls and sparkling sugar, if desired.

Royal Icing:
In a medium bowl, combine water and meringue powder; whisk until foamy. Whisk in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired. Use immediately.

NOTE: If you can't find meringue powder you can easily make royal icing by whipping egg whites, a touch of vanilla extract, and powdered sugar together until you get the right consistency (it should be thick, white and glossy). Just thin out that icing with a touch of water.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

I recently said "so long" to Winter in one of my posts. Sorry Winter, I will not miss you, I will miss the holidays and having a "bug-less" apartment...but that's about it...

Peace out girl scout!

Seriously though, yesterday I was minding my own business when I spotted a huge black spider scurry across my floor...I shrieked so loud Kirby started barking...whoops! I shudder at the thought of spiders...

Gross.

I also said "so long" to winter by making these hot cocoa cookies. During the last couple weeks of that dreadful season I made these for Shawn and I as we cuddled up on the couch to watch some movies...since that is all I ever want to do in the winter...

Eat+cuddle+movies= :)

Let me tell you about where I found these cookies. Guys, I have a blog idol. I stumbled across this brilliant woman's blog on accident and am so glad I did. Everytime I visit How Sweet Eats my jaw drops. Not only do we have very similar cooking likes and dislikes and styles (we have made a lot of the same things, hers being much better but I accept that) but she is pure genious.

Her ideas leave me smacking myself wondering why the heck I didn't think of that! Like these cookies for instance! Genius. Also, her pictures are always so beautiful...One day, I hope mine look that good...once I find a good camera and a place to steal natural light...I'm telling you...go to her blog now. You may never come back to mine, but like I said, I idolize her blog...so it's okay....

Of course, her cookies look much better than mine. I used one of those tiny cookie scoops to make little bite-size cookies and didn't flatten them at all so they're not as flat and spread out. But they are fun because you can just pop them right in your mouth. This is also dangerous because by the 6th pop, you realize what you've done...whoopsie.

I also wanted to add marshmallows to the top because my favorite thing about hot cocoa are the marshmallows that float around the top. Had I made bigger cookies, I could have used more marshmallows but oh well...

Hot Cocoa Cookies
From Howsweeteats.com

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup marshmallow fluff
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Stir in marshmallow fluff.

Fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove, and roll into 1 1/2-inch balls.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Make sure cookies are fully cooked, because they will be very sticky from the marshmallows. Allow cookies to cool completely, even sticking them in the fridge for 15 minutes before removing from the baking sheet with a spatula. Be patient and gently remove cookies – let sit another 30 minutes.

Blog Birthday! Funfetti Cake Balls

Today is my blogs birthday! One year ago today I reluctantly started this blog looking for a creative outlet for all my crazy baking and cooking shenanagans (thats the best I can do with the spelling of that). I may not have 698+ blog followers and fancy pictures like many of the great blogs out there but I am still pretty darned proud of this thing and very thankful for the 108 of you that do follow...it makes me :) lots!

In the future, I am really really really hoping to get a nice camera. Sure I still wont really have the extensive knowledge on food photography and proper lighting but a reliable camera that actually works would be a great start!

Here's to another year of doing something that really makes me happy...getting fat and telling people how I did it ;)

I actually made these cake balls on thursday for a girl I had become friends with in the interpreting program. She definitely deserved something for her birthday so I stayed up all night doing these...trust me, this is a big deal with how impatient I am.

I thought these were the perfect little gifts to post on my blogs birthday...funfetti is my favorite favorite favorite! I know most cake ball recipes out there have you using one box of cake and one can of frosting. Funfetti is one of the few boxed cake I say "go for it" for, but that frosting? Blegh! Hate it...

So I made a frosting from scratch and played around with it and made cake balls a little different from your average cake balls...and thse are oh so good!

Funfetti Cake Balls
Dame Good

Ingredients:

1 (18.9 oz) box funfetti cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
32 ounces white chocolate
non-pariels (sprinkles)

Directions:

Follow directions on box to bake cake in a 9x13 in cake pan. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes after baking. Crumble cake into a large mixing bowl.

Cream 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla exract. Slowly add the powdered sugar until incorporated. Add another teaspoon of vanilla. Add the milk and whip frosting for about a minute.

Mix the frosting with the cake until fully mixed. Put the mixture in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop 1-1 1/2 inch balls of cake. Roll into the shape of balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. When all the balls are rolled out, place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

While the balls are cooling, melt the white chocolate in a double broiler over medium heat or in a microwave-safe bowl for about 1 min 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds.

Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and work on a few balls at a time. Using a toothpick and a spoon, dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate, using the spoon to spoon chocolate over any uncovered parts of the ball. Once the ball is covered, remove the ball from the chocolate and tap any excess chocolate off the ball with the spoon. Place ball on a baking sheet lined with waxing paper by letting the ball slide off the toothpick...smooth the hole over with the spoon and sprinkle the top of the ball with non-pariels. Repeat until all balls are covered.

Store balls in an airtight container in the refrigerator (for several days), or zip lock bag in the freezer (for a couple weeks). Enjoy!

Ps. You can also attatch popsicle sticks to the balls and make cake-pops for a fun gift :)

Buckeyes

Here in Ohio we have something that is totally amazingly wonderfully awesome. I don't know who came up with these but its genious and one of the things that I'm proud to claim as "Ohio's" and that is buckeyes. Not only does this include the Ohio State football team but the peanut butter chocolate candy...they are easily one of my favorite things ever.

I know football season has quickly passed before I had a chance to post this recipe but the Buckeyes ARE #1 in Basketball right now so I still deem it appropriate to show my pride and love of all things Buckeye. I make these any chance I get and anytime I go up to Minnesota to visit family because they are always requested.

If you haven't heard of or tried these...you haven't lived...get on it ASAP!

Buckeyes
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar, or as needed
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons Shortening

Directions:

Combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended. Beat in additional powdered sugar until mixture, when shaped into a ball, will stay on a toothpick. Shape into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until mixture is smooth. Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter balls.

Insert toothpick in peanut butter ball. Dip 3/4 of ball into chocolate, leaving top uncovered to resemble a buckeye. Remove excess. Place on wax paper-lined tray. Smooth over holes with finger or butter knife. Refrigerate until firm.

Funfetti Bark

Yep, I'm still on a bark craze. Well actually I made this when I made the Cupcake Bark because I wanted to play around with the idea. Not only am I now obsessed with bark but I have always been obsessed with cake batter. Yep, I'm a bowl licker. Many times I prefer the batter over the baked good...and I am well aware that that sounds just a tad bit crazy but I'll accept that.

Cake batter ice cream also happens to be my faaaavorite ice cream. Give me a pint of Edy's Light Take the Cake Ice Cream and call it a day. And...believe it or not...funfetti cake is my alltime favorite cake. Yeah, I realize it comes out of a box and I'm not a fan of using a boxed cake. I did find a pretty good homemade funfetti recipe that does the trick but every now and then...a girl needs a box of funfetti.

Yeah, this is what I call funfetti bark...proceed to drool.

Funfetti Bark
Dame Good

Ingredients:

3 cups white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons funfetti cake mix (dry)
sprinkles (nonpariels)

Directions:

Melt 3 cups of white chocolate in the microwave for 45 seconds at a time, stirring each time. It will take about 2-4 minutes. Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in 3 tablespoons of the cake mix. When that is completely mixed in, stir in desired amount of sprinkles. Pour the chocolate on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Top the bark with additional sprinkles. Put the chocolate in the fridge until it hardens, about 30-45 minutes. Once cool, break into uneven shards and store in airtight containers. Enjoy!

Cupcake Bark

So far my 2011 has been a decent year :) I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year! I'm not typically one to make new years resolutions. I try to set goals for myself year round but this year there is one thing I want to do and that is make more time for my girlfriends. I miss them all the time since I graduated but I am so exhausted from school and work that by the time I get home, I just want to lay on the couch and do nothing. The fact that I tend to be quite lazy probably doesn't help either. With Shawn only being in town a very limited amount of days (mostly only on the weekends), its gotten hard to prioritize my time with my friends. So this year, I am going to improve on this and give them the effort they deserve. I don't want them to think I take them for granted or that they are not a priority in my life because they are...those girls mean the world to me...

Anyhoo....

I rang in the new year with pork and sauerkraut. My family always did the sauerkraut on new years. It's a German tradition that is supposed to bring good luck. Because pork is a fat pig, it is supposed to symbolize an abundant year ahead and sauerkraut is made with cabbage and the green in cabbage symbolizes wealth and money. I went over to Shawns and his roomates and I filled 2 large crockpots with our "good luck" and had a nice hungover feast. Crossing my fingers!

So I think my first blog post of the year should be kind of epic. That's how I feel about this bark. Bark is fun because you can throw whatever you want into melted chocolate and hope for the best. I've been on a abit of a bark craze for the holidays so I was inspired to say the least...

I had a couple of boxed cake mix in my pantry that my dad had sent me and they have been sitting there collecting dust because I prefer to bake from scratch. I absolutely cannot waste any food so I decided to play with them and see what I can do with cake mix other than cupcakes. I made cake mix cookies sandwiches and a couple kinds of bark...

This first one is what I call a "cupcake" bark because I made it in 2 layers. The first layer has yellow cake mix and is colored yellow and the top layer is colored pink to resemble frosting and is topped with sprinkles. This would make a great little diy birthday gift because it's so cute!

Cupcake Bark
Dame Good

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons yellow cake mix (dry)
yellow food coloring (use an oil-based coloring, a water base will shock the chocolate, or use colored melting chocolate)
pink food coloring (use an oil-based coloring, a water base will shock the chocolate, or use colored melting chocolate)
sprinkles

Directions:

Melt 3 cups of white chocolate in the microwave for 45 seconds at a time, stirring each time. It will take about 2-4 minutes. Once the chocolate is completely melted, stir in 3 tablespoons of the cake mix. When that is completely mixed in, stir in desired amount of yellow food coloring. Try not to add too much, you just want a light yellow. Pour the chocolate on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Put the chocolate in the fridge until it hardens, about 30-45 minutes.

While the first layer is cooling, melt the remainging 1 1/2 cups of chocolate in the microwave. When it is completely melted, stir in desired amount of pink food coloring. Pour pink layer over the yellow layer and top the pink layer with sprinkles. Put the bark in the refrigerator until cool. Once cool, break into uneven shards and store in airtight containers. Enjoy!

Homemade Reeses

As I said in my last post, Saturday was Shawn and I's 1 year anniversary and I made him the candies that he got me a year ago. I made ginormous Whatchamacallits and Reese trees. Whenenver there is a special occasion or a birthday, we normally throw one of each in along with our gift. It's a little weird but thats how we role. I used leftover ingredients to make Whatchamacallit bites and mini reese cups.

He got us tickets to go to the Funny Bone, which I am estatic about! I had mentioned before how I really love comedy clubs and want to go see stand-up with him. He actually listened and got me a really thoughtful gift for our anniversary. We are going January 2nd and I can't wait! You have to go on special/fun/different dates when you are in a relationship to hold on to the excitement and avoid getting to comfortable and into a routine. See? This is that effort thing I was talking about :) He makes me sigh...

Homemade Reese Trees and Reese Cups
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, or as needed
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon All-Vegetable Shortening
1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended. Add cream until desired creaminess is reached. It shouldn't be sticky. If you are making trees, refrigerate dough for 10 minutes. When cool and firm, roll out to desired thickness and cut out trees using a tree cookie cutter. Then, refrigerate the trees for about 10-15 minutes again to firm up the peanut butter.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until mixture is smooth. Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter.

To make trees, cover one side in chocolate, refrigerate until firm. Then repeat the process on the opposite side. To make reese cups, put mini cupcake liners in a mini muffin pan. Fill up each liner with chocolate about 1/4 of the way up. Then shape peanut butter into small balls (size them about the same size around as the tip of your index finger). Flatten the top a little bit and place on the chocolate already poured in the liners. Cover the peanut butter with chocolate completely until no longer visible. Refrigerate until firm.

Enjoy!

Homemade Whatchamacallits

Yesterday was Shawn and I's one year anniversary :). With it being so close to Christmas, it was hard to think of what to get him. I am poor and stumped enough when it comes to getting Christmas gifts. I then remembered that the day we became an "official" couple he brought me a Christmas present. In a pretty shiny Victorias Secret bag was a Victorias Secret gift card, Reese trees and king-size Whatchamacallits. I had never had a Whatchamacallit, but being that I am obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate, Shawn insisted I try one. Yeah, they rocked. Between the two of us we ate like 64789 calories worth of candy that night.

I thought it might be a cute/fun idea to try to homemake Whatchamacallits and Reese trees for him. I figured it was a little personal thing I could do that was special to us. It took me forever but I finally put something together that I thought was the closest homemade take on a Whatchamacallit. The recipe made a ton, so I think he was quite overwhelmed when I handed over the 10 lbs worth of homemade candy after a big meal at a fancy restaraunt in German Village. Our meal was finished off with a creme brule trio, so I think sweets was the last thing on his mind. Oops!

1 year ago

Today (well yesterday) :)

This is so cheesy and I know it but this past year has been amazing. I graduated college, I got my pug that I have wanted for as long as I can remember, I got my own apartment in a neighborhood I am absolutely in love with, I got a job at a cupcake bakery and I got to spend it with a man whose existence is beyond my wildest dreams. Seriously, he is everything I could ever ask for and more. With him being away and traveling all the time for work it is hard. But because of that we don't take the time we have for granted and we spend quality time together rather than worrying about the quantity of time. Our relationship needs a lot of effort because of the distance and he actually puts in that effort. I have never had this before; what I have with him. I am the luckiest girl :) really.

Okay that's enough cheese. Candy anyone?

Homemade Whatchamacallits
Dame Good adapted from Allrecipes.com/Peanut_Butter_Treats and Allrecipes.com/Chewy_Caramel

Ingredients:

For peanut butter treats:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 (10 ounce) package regular marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups Crisp Rice cereal

For the caramel:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 pound (1 cup) light brown sugar
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 pinch salt
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate:
2 12oz bag (about 3 cups) milk chocolate chips
1/2 tablespoon shortening

Directions:

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted.

Add Crisp Rice cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Cook for 2 minutes at that temperature. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.

When the caramel is ready, pour on top of the rice crispys. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.

Over a double broiler, melt the chocolate chips and shortening stirring constantly. When the caramel has cooled. Cut into desired sized bars. Move the bars to a cooling rack with something underneath to catch the chocolate (baking sheet, parchment paper etc...). Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel side first. Transfer to fridge for 10 minutes to cool. When chocolate has hardened, remove bars from fridge. Flip each bar over carefully. Cover the peanut butter treat side with the melted chocolate and move to fridge to cool again until chocolate has completely hardened on both sides. Enjoy! :)