Coconut Poke Cupcakes

August 16, 2012 by 4 Comments

I want to preface this post today with a warning to my sister. If you are reading….STOP right here.

And for everyone else, you might wonder why I say this to my sister. It’s because I’m going to expose a little family secret today. One that in her undisclosed amount of years on this earth, she has never found out. My grandmother has always made this incredible coconut cake almost every year around the holidays. It usually marks a special occasion. My sister always requests it and it just makes her day when she gets a piece.

To my surprise, I was told this family “recipe” around her birthday this year. My mom shared it with a coworker who made one of these cakes just for my sister’s birthday. She thought it tasted exactly like my grandmother’s coconut cake. No wonder, it’s actually very simple to make.  I realize that many people don’t like coconut, but if you are one of the few that do, you’ll want to learn about this cake. It’s soooo yummy and soft and will definitely put a smile on your face. My grandmother usually makes this in cake form, but to narrow the portion sizes (I can’t help myself), I made them into cupcakes this time around.

It starts with your favorite white cake mix. Yes, that’s right. Save yourself the hassle and let Betty Crocker help you out for once. I actually used the Coconut Supreme version this time around to give it more coconut flavor. Bake the cupcakes according to the package and while they are still warm, use a wooden spoon to poke 3 holes in the middle of each.

Pop open a can of sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free) and drizzle some down in each of the holes in each cupcake. As you drizzle, it will absorb and will seem to disappear. Don’t go overboard though or you can cause the cupcake to get extremely mushy.

Place a dollop of whipped topping on each cupcake and even it out just a bit.

It’s time for the cupcake to take a coconut bath….

Dip that baby into the coconut and let it settle into the whipped topping. Don’t push too hard, it doesn’t take much for the coconut to catch on.

Oh my heavens, that’s it! From the outside you can’t even tell that it’s got a gooey and yummy center. But the fluffy, white coconut top is enough to get me to dive in.

And when you do, you’ll see how moist the inside is. It’s like a fluffy cloud of coconut heaven y’all.

To my sister if you did continue to read on, I’m very sorry to have spilled the beans on this beloved cake. But I thought it necessary to share it’s simpleness with the world. It’ll be a blessing to coconut lovers like us everywhere. 🙂

Coconut Poke Cupcakes
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Grandma Johnson
This simple method creates a fluffy coconut cupcake made in heaven!
Ingredients
  • 1 Box White Cake Mix (Or Coconut Supreme if you’re feeling frisky)
  • 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • 1 8oz Tub Whipped Topping
  • 1-2 Cups Coconut Flakes
Instructions
  1. Cook cupcakes according to package directions. DO NOT LET COOL.
  2. While cupcakes are still warm, poke each about 3 times most of the way down. Drizzle some sweetened condensed milk equally among them all being careful not to overdo it. The sweetened condensed milk will be absorbed so it may not look like it’s going in, but it is.
  3. Place a dollop of cool whip on top of each cupcake spreading it out a bit.
  4. Place the coconut flakes in a bowl and dip each whipped topping covered cupcake in the coconut flakes to coat.
  5. Serve! And keep refrigerated.

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Cake Mix Pudding Cookies

August 8, 2012 by 2 Comments

I’ve been on one of those simple kicks lately. You know, when you just want to make things involving little ingredients (and little money) that don’t take much time or effort? Yeah, those dishes make life so much easier. I posted some yummy Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies a while back. They are oh so incredibly yummy I must say.

Not to take away from their tastiness, but I decided to fiddle with that recipe a bit. I omitted the cool whip, egg, and powdered sugar. Then I replaced the egg and cool whip with cream cheese, and the powdered sugar with pudding mix! Much less time to prepare and the possibilities are endless.

I think my favorite part was that I could put it all in one bowl, pop them on a baking sheet and bake. You simply mix softened cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat one) with the pudding of your choice (I used sugar-free french vanilla). Just THINK of those possibilities. I’m so excited to try different flavors. Then slowly blend in the cake mix of your choice.

I went the strawberry route. I thought that the cream cheese and strawberry thing would make them like strawberry cheesecake. But I should have used cheesecake pudding mix. Will do that next time for sure!

The one tip that I will give you to make your life easier when making these, is to flatten them into cookie form before placing them on the cookie sheet. Treat this more like a sugar cookie. They will not rise or go far from how you place them on the cookie sheet. You could flatten the dough out on the counter and then cut perfect little circles out.

If you make a flavor of these, will you share it with me? I’d love new ideas for other kinds!

Cake Mix Pudding Cookies
Recipe Type: Cookies, Dessert
Author: Pennywise Cook
Serves: About 24 Cookies
3 Ingredients and 12 minutes later you have the best cookies with little effort!
Ingredients
  • 1 Box Cake Mix (Your Choice)
  • 1 Box Instant Pudding Mix (Your Choice- Even Sugar Free!)
  • 1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese, Softened
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together the cream cheese and pudding mix. Slowly mix in the cake mix.
  2. Form into balls and then into 2 inch flat cookies and place on greased cookie sheet.
  3. Bake 12 minutes or until they begin to brown.
  4. Let cool and serve!

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3-Ingredient Lady Fingers

August 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

Y’all know I’m a big fan of my sweets. Did you see yesterday’s recipe? I especially love recipes that don’t include many ingredients. In most cases that means that it will cost less to make and it will take less time. Cheaper and I can eat it sooner? My kinda recipe.

I can’t take credit for these sweeties today. I found this one inside the Fite for Your Life II cookbook by Janis Forbes Fite, RN. It’s a really good cookbook for low-fat and simple recipes. And she’s from my home town!

These are SO simple and perfect for a brunch, baby shower, or tea. Very light and airy and made out of things you probably have on-hand. It starts with day old white bread. Now I’m not going to lie. My bread wasn’t old. In fact, I bought it the day that I made these. So I just popped them into the toaster for a taddy bit to get them a little “stale”. Worked like a charm, but had me considering the need for a 4-piece toaster. It took a while to toast up all that bread.

So, start by cutting the crust off every piece. This will leave you with a lot of leftover crusts. You can simply eat them as you cut them off as I did. Or consider some of the options below:

  • Pop them into the food processor to make your own bread crumbs.
  • Dip them in melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, then bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Tasty sweet treat!
  • Use them to make stuffing (or dressing as we call it in the south)
  • Use them to make bread pudding.
  • Freeze for later to make any of the above!

Cut each piece into 3 “fingers”. I used my kitchen shears and that worked really well to get straight pieces. Nobody wants a crooked finger! 😉

Enter, sweetened condensed milk. The fat-free kind that is. Using a pastry brush or whatever kinda brush you’d like, spread a generous amount onto each piece. This is what gives it that yummy sweetness.

Sprinkle on some brown sugah too…

Oh yeah. Pop those loves into the oven and let them get all brown and crusty.

And if you’re like me, you’ll sprinkle on a little powdered sugar just because. They are so good! Maybe not exactly like other Lady Fingers that you’ve had. But hey, with plain old (literally) white bread and a couple other simple ingredients, you just can’t beat it.

3-Ingredient Lady Fingers
Recipe Type: Dessert, Snack
Author: Fite for Your Life II Cookbook- Janis Forbes Fite, RN
Using day old white bread, sweetened condensed milk, and brown sugar you can create Lady Fingers in no time flat.
Ingredients
  • Day Old White Bread
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk (Fat-Free)
  • Brown Sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the crust off bread. Cut each piece into 3 fingers.
  2. Brush each generously with sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle each with brown sugar.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes or so until golden and bubbly.
Notes

The reason there are no specifics amounts listed on this recipe is because it is completely up to you how many you make. I didn’t use an entire loaf of bread or an entire can of sweetened condensed milk. 1 can will go a very long way. You can probably make 50- 100 with 1 can.

Store in an air-tight container or bag.


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Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Pizza

August 1, 2012 by 2 Comments

There are two things that you’ll notice right off the bat about the picture above. 1) That it’s pizza and 2) there are strawberries on that pizza! But the one thing you won’t exactly pick up from that picture is that crust isn’t just any crust.

It’s COOKIE.

Yes, we’re talking a soft and sweet tasty cookie to make the base for this incredible dessert pizza. And who needs tomato sauce when you can have a vanilla cream cheese sauce on top of your cookie crust? And instead of anchovies or ridiculous pepperoni, let’s top it with strawberries and then drizzle those with creamy chocolate ganache shall we?

And the next step is to make sure to alert the others in your household that it’s there. Otherwise you might find yourself eating this entire pizza yourself.

It all starts with something extremely easy, (dare I say) store-bought sugar cookie dough. I got lazy and this whole idea came to me when I was staring at the cookie dough section at the store. So feel free to make yours from scratch if you wish. I’m sure it will make it all that much tastier.

Simply place it onto a pizza pan and flatten away. Bake it according to the directions on the package or your recipe, you overachiever. 😉 I left mine just a tad bit soft so that it would still have some give similar to breaded crust.

Then using a spoon that you’ve clearly been licking, spread the yummy vanilla cream cheese onto your crust.

After making up your strawberry sauce, spoon it onto your cream cheese and get ready for the chocolate baby.

This chocolate ganache is as simple as it gets. Cream and semi-sweet chocolate chips are a match made in heaven. Drizzled over strawberries on this pizza, they are heavenly for sure.

Do you see what I’m talking about? It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Well maybe it does. If you had a piece like this in your hand! Check out Aldi and their strawberry deals. They always have them cheap!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Pizza
Recipe Type: Dessert, Pizza
Author: Pennywise Cook
Pizza isn’t just dinner anymore, it’s dessert too!
Ingredients
  • 1 Package Sugar Cookie Dough
  • 2 Cups Capped, Hulled, and Chopped Stawberries
  • 1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese (I use 1/3 less fat kind)- Softened
  • 1/2 Cup Splenda + 1 and 1/2 Tbsp Splenda
  • 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 1/4 Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 2 Tbsp Water
  • 1 Tsp Cornstarch
  • 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
  1. Prepare cookie dough according to directions, but place on pizza pan to cook. Let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, whip cream cheese, vanilla, and 1/2 c. Splenda together. Spread onto cooled cookie crust.
  3. In a small saucepan, combine 1 and 1/2 tbsp Splenda, strawberries, water, and cornstarch. Bring to boil, then simmer for 5-6 minutes. Let cool.
  4. Pour over cream cheese taking care to not cover the entire cream cheese area.
  5. In a microwave safe dish, heat cream for 1 minute or until boiling. Place chocolate chips in cream and let sit for 2 minutes. Begin to shake the bowl allowing the chips to begin to melt. Don’t stir just yet. Microwave another minute, then stir together. Allow to cool for a bit.
  6. Drizzle chocolate over pizza. Cut into slices and serve!
  7. Keep refrigerated.

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The Best White Chocolate Chip Cookies

July 25, 2012 by 4 Comments

It takes a lot to make a cookie worth the title The BEST White Chocolate Chip Cookies. Believe me, I’ve tried my share of them. I can’t tell you that these are the best in the world, but I can tell you that they are the best that I’ve made and I’ve been working on my recipe for a little while now. I am head over heels in love with white chocolate, but it doesn’t love me back. I cannot cook with it for anything so the fact that I was able to accomplish these cookies is a feat in itself. Therefore, they have been dubbed The BEST White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

…and because they also happen to be absolutely fabulous as well.

It starts with what you would expect from a cookie recipe, flour. Sift it together with some baking soda and a little salt. It would be good to use a sifter, but seeing as how mine is a piece of crap and the top won’t release itself from the bottom, I opted to use a wisk in a bowl.

Here comes the yumminess. In your mixing bowl you’re going to add 2 different kinds of sugar (brown and white) along with some melted butter. I always use the Blue Bonnet Light because it makes me feel less guilty for using butter. Hey, whatever it takes right?

Oh look, there’s the brown sugar!

We’re going to fast forward just a bit. After you’ve mixed the sugars and the butter with the flour mixture, some eggs, and a secret ingredient- applesauce, this is what it will look like. It’s quite runny for cookie dough, but understand that this is normal. It’s going to be soft and cakey and that’s why.

Then comes the star of our dough, the white chocolate baby! At this point, it takes everything I have not to just grab a spoon and inhale all of those white chocolate chips.

Then, I use my little cookie dough scooper to make perfect little dough balls on the baking sheet.

Within about 13 minutes, they will have made your home smell heavenly and your tummy rumble for their white chocolatey goodness. Always best when eaten a little warm, of course.

Tah dah! Enjoy 🙂

The Best White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Type: Dessert, Cookies
Author: Pennywise Cook
Yep. These are the BEST White Chocolate Cookies.
Ingredients
  • 2 c. All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 6 Tbsp Butter, Melted
  • 1/2 c. Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 c. Sugar
  • 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/3 c. Applesauce
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 2 c. White Chocolate Chips (1 bag)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets.
  2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugars and butter together. Add in the egg whites, vanilla, and applesauce and combine well.
  4. Add the sifted flour mixture slowly to the sugar mixture until just combined.
  5. With a spoon, stir in the white chocolate chips.
  6. Drop 1/8 cup or so of the dough around 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
  7. Bake for about 13 minutes or until they have begun to brown around the edges.
  8. Cool on wire rack.
Notes

The timing for these has been 13 minutes for me each and every time. Your oven may be different so I would watch to see how done they are around 12 minutes and add more time if needed.

The last time I made these, I counted them and was going to make a point to know how many servings this recipe makes. Of course my crazy brain forgot to write it down and now I have no idea. It’s a lot though! Maybe 2 dozen or so.


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3-Ingredient Reese’s Truffles

July 24, 2012 by 11 Comments

It was a really great weekend around here. I actually got a girl’s night out with some friends and we had a blast. Isn’t it funny how silly us moms can act when you put a few of us in a room together without our children? We need that time every now and then to just be silly.

I was on a mission to create a Reese’s Truffle over the weekend as well and after a failure, I finally got it right. That’s usually how my creations usually work. I have to fail a few times before I get it right. But that’s what we call trial and error. But let me just tell you, these truffles are no error. They are so yummy! And they are so incredibly easy, it’s insane.

I think one of my favorite things about them is that you can get all the ingredients that you need anywhere, including a convenience store! You know sometimes, it’s just not possible to make it to the grocery store. Whether it’s because you’re on vacation and have no idea where a grocery store is or because you don’t want to fight the crowd, a convenience store is always around the corner and you can get all of the ingredients in this particular recipe from one!

You start out by taking 6 packs of 2 Reese’s cups and 3 slices of pound cake and putting them through the food processor (or blender). It makes a crumby mixture that is really soft and easily formed into a ball. Make them as big or as little as you want.

Although trust me, you’ll want them smaller so you can eat more…

Pop your little balls into the freezer for a little bit. Around 15 minutes or so to get them good and firm so you can dip them in the Hershey goodness.

This is the Hershey goodness. Try to refrain from reaching through the picture to eat one. This is just a picture, I promise.

Melt it in the microwave for a bit to get it so nice and gooey. Then it’s time to get your peanut buttery balls out of the freezer for their chocolate bath.

I would never object to a chocolate bath, would you?

When you’re done dipping them, put them back in the freezer for another little bit to help the chocolate firm a bit quicker and then you can put them in a tupperware or in cute little mini cupcake wrappers like these for serving.

This is what the inside looks like. Once again, this is just a picture. I hate to make you sad, but this truffle ended up in my belly. It was really good. 🙂

Here’s the recipe so you can make your own!

3-Ingredient Reese’s Truffles
Recipe Type: Dessert, Snack
Author: Pennywise Cook
3 Ingredients come together to create a peanut buttery truffle made of Reese’s cups.
Ingredients
  • 3 Packs of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (6 total)
  • 3 Standard Size Hershey Bars
  • 3 Slices of Regular Flavor Pound Cake
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, combine and process the pound cake and Reese’s cups until crumby.
  2. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on a pan and freeze for around 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile place Hershey bars in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds on 50% power. Continue microwaving in 10 seconds increments until completely melted, stirring after each time.
  4. Remove balls from freezer and dip each into the chocolate. Place on dish covered in wax paper and place back into freezer for around 15 minutes to firm.
  5. Serve and try not to consume them all yourself!
Notes

You could also make these with chocolate pound cake and that would be very delicious as well!

 

This experience has been part of a study with Murphy USA and The Smarter Driver. See more Convenience Store Cuisine at The Smarter Driver or at Murphy USA on Pinterest. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.


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Banana Cream Cheesecake

July 20, 2012 by 4 Comments

Happy FRIDAY pennywise cooks! May your day be filled with productivity and a little bit of fun, too. 🙂

It’s been just a little while since I shared a cheesecake recipe with you. I’m fond of cheesecakes to say the least. I’m not sure if it’s their creaminess or the fact that you can pair them with practically any sweet flavor that makes them so appealing to me. I’d eat them plain too.

There used to be this cheesecake shop where I used to live. Leonelle’s Cheesecakes. A slice was $2 and it was HUGE! A large cheesecake was $28 and the smaller versions were $19 and worth every single penny. They were low carb without any added preservatives or artificial gunk. He even used a natural sugar. Those were the best cheesecakes we’ve ever eaten. When we moved from that city and came back to visit, we found that his shop was closed. It made me sad. My husband and I would always grab one and eat the entire cheesecake in one night while watching a movie.

I guess it’s best that it’s no longer there…

I was talking to someone the other day and they told me about a banana cream cheesecake they had eaten recently. They raved about this cheesecake. My gears started turning and I knew I had to make one. You know me and my love of bananas.

I made a few changes to Kraft Foods’ recipe for Banana Cream Cheesecake. I adapted it to healthify it a bit. But believe me, it’s still incredible.

It starts off with white cake mix, egg, oil, and sugar made into this crumbled mixture. This is the crust. Never thought of using white cake mix as a crust before, but this was a great idea. It wasn’t cakey at all and tasted really good.

You press the crumbled mixture down into a springform pan to form the crust. Pardon my rippling fingerprints. You can make yours a little prettier I’m sure.

Next comes the nanners. This is really the only point in the entire cheesecake that bananas are involved. To be honest with you, I don’t really care for bananas being in there. I know, kinda weird huh? I have never liked real bananas being in my banana pudding. It’s a texture thing and it bothers me when the bananas get brown.

If you aren’t a banana person, I promise that this cheesecake would be just as amazing without them.

Then its time for the cream cheese mixture. It’s a little runny, even after reducing the amount of milk from the original recipe. But that doesn’t matter because it still bakes up correctly.

Here is it out of the oven! I could just dive right in with my fork right now. It could have cooked another 5-10 minutes I’m convinced, but it was practically done. I’ll add the additional time to the recipe for you.

I’m in love. With a cheesecake.

*cue the teasing “so why don’t you marry it”*

I will, thank you.

Banana Cream Cheesecake
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Adapted from Kraft Foods’s Recipe
Ingredients
  • 1 White Cake Mix
  • 2 Egg Whites
  • 2 Whole Eggs
  • 3 Tbsp Oil
  • 2/3 c. Packed Splenda Brown Sugar, divided
  • 2 Bananas, Sliced
  • 1 Package (8 oz) Fat Free Cream Cheese
  • 1 Package (8 oz) 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese
  • 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 c. Skim Milk
  • 1 and 1/2 c. Thawed Whipped Topping
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Reserve a cup of cake mix. Mix the remaining cake mix with 1 egg, oil, and 1/3 Splenda brown sugar with a mixer. (will be crumbly) Press into a greased round springform pan or 9×13 baking dish to form the crust. Top with bananas.
  2. Beat cream cheeses and remaining sugar with mixer. Add the reserved cake mix, 2 egg whites, last whole egg, and lemon juice. Beat for about a minute, then add the cup of milk. Batter with be thin. Pour onto crust and smooth top.
  3. Bake 45-60 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool and then refrigerate at least 4 hours.
  4. Top with whipped topping and refrigerate leftovers.

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Peanut Butter Choco-Banana Ice Cream

July 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

I am an absolute ice cream fanatic. There, I said it. It’s in my top favorite sweets out there. I have issues practicing portion control when a tub is placed in front of me. So as you can imagine, I try not to get into that position very often.

A while back, I shared a recipe for 1-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream over at Saving with Amy. For ice cream lovers like myself, this is quite a discovery that makes eating ice cream a little less guilt-stricken. You see, all it takes to make a batch of creamy and smooth no-add sugar banana ice cream is to freeze a few sliced bananas and then pop them into a food processor!  I know, right?

I can just feel you saying SHUT UP!


But around here, where there’s banana you’ll almost always find peanut butter. They go together like milk and cookies or Lucy and Ethel……..

….or perhaps me and ice cream.

I have a history of pairing peanut butter and banana together.

Exhibit A:

If you’re a fan of the duo, those are some recipes you could try.

Not only did I add in some peanut butter, I also added in another fave of mine…chocolate! There is nothing better than the combination of those three in harmony taking a dip in my ice cream cone. So soft and creamy.

That’s the stuff! And I just love that this is available whenever I’m ready. The bananas can be frozen for weeks or sometimes even months in the freezer and then popped out to be made into ice cream when you have a craving. And of course, you probably have a little powdered cocoa in the pantry along with some peanut butter.

3- Ingredient Peanut Butter Choco-Banana Ice Cream
Recipe Type: Dessert, Ice Cream
Author: Pennywise Cook
The base of this natural ice cream is simply frozen bananas. Add in some yummy touches like peanut butter and cocoa for an extra treat!
Ingredients
  • 2 Cups Frozen Banana Slices
  • 1 Heaping Tbsp Peanut Butter (creamy)
  • 2 Tsp Cocoa Powder
Instructions
  1. Place the bananas in a food processor and pulse until the bananas start to break up. Add in the peanut butter and cocoa.
  2. Process until small beads are created then scoop into bowl and ice cream and serve!
Notes

I must admit that these are complete estimates for the peanut butter and cocoa. I did not measure exactly but I don’t see how you could really mess this one up. 🙂

 


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Marshmallow Glazed Oatmeal Muffins

July 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

It’s Friday the 13th! Who is up for a Jason marathon? Not me, but the thought sounded fun anyways. 🙂

I always have good intentions, don’t you? It’s funny how things can sometimes work out completely different than you really intend them to. For instance, some days I plan my entire day around cleaning the house. The perfect example of a good intention. And then some unforeseen, crazy, busyness takes over and the dishes pile up while the laundry remains unfolded. But I take comfort in knowing that I really did plan on making my house spotless…. That is, until I can’t see my floor because it’s covered in toys.

My first intention for this recipe today was to make homemade oatmeal cream pies. And then my second intention was to make oatmeal cream pie cupcakes. They eventually turned into more of a muffin and instead of the everyday marshmallow cream filling, I decided to glaze them. Though they ended up completely different than what I had intended, I must say that they are fabulous just the same!

It might just be impossible to dislike oatmeal muffins. Even those who don’t like oatmeal usually like oatmeal muffins. And if they don’t then they are really missing out my friends. They are dense (the muffins, not the people who dislike them) and yet still so cakey and muffiny. You like those words there don’t you?

Believe it or not, these are actually not that bad calorie-wise. I did what I could to create them with low calorie ingredients, including the glaze. So you won’t have to feel too bad for inhaling a few. The glaze firms up a bit and starts to get back to it’s marshmallow form after they have sat for a bit. My Addie kept laughing because she would get a marshmallow mustache after taking bites.

Just perfect for breakfast or perhaps a brunch, they do have a certain oatmeal cream pie-esqe taste to them. They definitely satisfy my sweet tooth and yet are so filling that I don’t need anything else for breakfast. Except for MILK. You will need milk for sure.

So how do you think my intentions turned out?

Question of the day: Can you count how many times I used any variation of the word intention in this post?

Marshmallow Glazed Oatmeal Muffins
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author: Pennywise Cook
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 13 mins
Total time: 23 mins
Serves: 11
This muffin recipe intended to mimic oatmeal cream pies takes the famous snack to a whole new level.
Ingredients
  • For the Oatmeal Muffins
  • 6 tbsp butter (I use Blue Bonnet Light)
  • 1/4 c. Unsweetened Applesauce
  • 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 c. Granulated Sugar
  • 3 Egg Whites
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 and 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tsp Baking Soda
  • 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 2 Cups Oats (Quick Cooking)
  • For the Marshmallow Glaze
  • 2 c. Marshmallows (big or little)
  • 2 Tbsp Skim Milk
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 c. Powdered Sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter, sugars, and applesauce. Add in egg whites and vanilla.
  2. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Slowly add to sugar mixture and beat until combined.
  3. Stir in the oats. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop equal amounts into greased muffin tin.
  4. Bake 13 minutes or until golden brown.
  5. Meanwhile, in a saucepan place the butter, skim milk and marshmallows and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. Once the marshmallows are completely melted and smooth, stir in the powdered sugar.
  6. Remove muffins from oven and place on cooling rack with wax paper underneath. Carefully glaze each muffin and allow to cool.
Notes

This recipe will make about 11 muffins, maybe 12 if you make your batter go further.


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Caramel Apple Salad

July 10, 2012 by 5 Comments

Did you ever eat caramel apples as a kid? Heck when I find them, I like to eat them now! They are kinda healthy aren’t they? Big juicy apples covered in gooey caramel and crunchy nuts. Mainly apples, so I think that’s worthy of calling “healthy”.

And of course, the fact that they are on sticks makes them that much more appealing. It’s amazing what putting something on a stick will do to it’s allure. I watched an entire show dedicated to bacon on a stick the other day. There’s a huge market for that you know.

Whether you like your caramel apples on a stick or not, this salad is very similar to that tasty treat. It’s got it all, plus a little extra like marshmallows and crushed pineapple. I will have to admit that when I was making this, I wasn’t sure about adding those things into it. I thought it might take away from the theme. It turned out that those things just enhanced it a bit.

This salad would be perfect for a summer get together. Just don’t set it next to the potato salad. There might be a little confusion…

I made this one morning and by the following day, it was completely gone. Between my little one who loves apples and us big kids who love the caramel and marshmallows, it was the perfect treat on a hot day.

Caramel Apple Salad
Recipe Type: Side dish, Dessert
Author: MTEMC Gifts of Christmas Company Cookbook
Ingredients
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 Tbsp Flour
  • 1/2 c. Chopped Peanuts
  • 1 (8 oz) Container Cool Whip
  • 1 Can (20 oz) Crushed Pineapple, Drained
  • 2 and 1/2 c. Mini Marshmallows
  • 2 Red Apples, Unpeeled and diced
  • 2 Green Apples, Unpeeled and diced
  • 1 Pkg Caramels, Cut into fourths
Instructions
  1. Mix sugar, eggs, flour, and peanuts into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until thick. Let cool and then fold into cool whip. Set aside.
  2. Combine crushed pineapple, marshmallows, apples, and caramels and stir in cool whip mixture.
  3. Serve chilled and store covered in refrigerator.
Notes

You will most likely want to make this close to the time that you intend on serving it. The apples can begin to brown after a couple days.


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Filed Under: Desserts, Kid-Friendly, Sides and Vegetables
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