Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes


Recipe compliments of my cousin Andrea! We all helped make these over Christmas Break for a baked-goods-exchange her work was doing, and they were delicious, so of course I had to grab the recipe and try making them!!

Ingredients

18 foil baking cups
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup light cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 package fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup candy coated peanut butter candies (otherwise known as Reese’s Cups)



1. Preheat oven to 350. Beat peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar and egg in bowl with electric mixer; set aside.



2. Prepare brownie mix following package directions; set aside.


3. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of peanut butter mixture in center of each baking cup.


4. Fill baking cups half full with brownie batter, on top of peanut butter mixture.


5. Chop up Reese's if necessary. I just unwrapped them, threw 'em on the cutting board, and went at it with my Chef's knife. Sprinkle each cupcake with Reese’s Cup pieces.


6. Bake 25 minutes; do not overbake.


ENJOY!

Monday, February 22, 2010

BlogLovin'


Just set up a BlogLovin' account, so those of you who use that instead of a google account can follow that way as well!!!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Mom's Pizza Dip

Another, somewhat belated, Super Bowl recipe!!!

Ingredients
8 Oz. Cream Cheese
1 Can Pizza Sauce
Shredded Mozzarella
Pepperoni and/or any other desired pizza toppings.

1. Soften Cream Cheese and spread evenly in a 9” pie or quiche dish.



2. Top with pizza sauce.


3. Cover with Cheese.


4. Add desired pizza toppings, and sprinkle with more cheese if necessary.




Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Serve with Fritos or Nacho Chips.


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

"Better Than Sex Cake"


Super Bowl Recipe #1: "Better Than Sex Cake", or as someone at the party said it should be called... "Better Than Sex But Not Quite As Good As a Threesome Cake". Haha. I suppose that's all up to your own opinion, but it is pretty damn good!!!

INGREDIENTS

•1 German chocolate or other chocolate cake, baked, 13x9x2-inch
•3/4 cup caramel topping
•3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
•6 chocolate covered toffee bars
•1 (12oz) tub of frozen whipped topping, thawed

I've used German Chocolate cake mix before, but this time I tried this Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix and it was AMAZINGLY good with the recipe, and I'd definitely recommend it!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Herb Roasted Potatoes

One of the great things about this recipe is that it can be majorly customized to your specific tastes, from the type of potato to the type of herbs used, and even the amount you want to make!

I think I do these differently everytime I make them, depending on where I am (My apartment or my parents) and what we've got on the spice rack. The best potatoes to use for this recipe are Red Potatoes or Fingerling Potatoes, but as long as you cut the chunks small enough really any potato will do.



1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and start with however many potatoes you want, depending on how many people you're cooking for, and dice them into small bite sized chunks.

2. Place the potatoes into a bowl and add enough olive oil to coat them... there's really no right or wrong here, a little bit too much isn't going to ruin it, just make sure they're coated all around so the herbs will stick to them and they won't dry out baking.


3. Add the herbs. I usually stick with Rosemary, Oregano, Fennel, Parsley, Salt, Pepper, and Minced Garlic, and you can use any combination or even all of these, or add something else if there's a specific herb you really like. I usually do about a tablespoon of minced garlic, and from there just throw in about a teaspoon of everything else. You can use more or less depending on the level of flavor you're wanting to reach. And again, the amount you use really isn't going to kill the recipe as long as you don't over-do it TOO much, and it really just depends on how much flavor you're wanting!

4. Spread the potatoes evenly onto a pan (cookie sheet, smaller pan, whatever you have!), and toss them in the oven for about 15 minutes.


5. At 15 minutes, take the pan out and toss the potatoes around with a spatula, then put them back in for another 15 minutes.


6. After a total baking time of 30 minutes, the potatoes should be done. They should look a little browned/golden, depending on the potato used. At this point, they will be cooked through, but may need to be cooked for another 5 or 10 minutes if you want them to get a little bit more crispy.


These go great with any kind of grilled meat, and we've also done them with various roasts, etc before. They're pretty simple and really flexible, and you can easily make as many as you need for larger dinner parties without much extra effort!! Enjoy!




New Cooking Blogger!!!

My friend Lauryn just made her own cooking blog, LaLa's College Cuisine, and has started it off with some Pita Pizza recipes... so you should all jump on over there and follow her!!!

I will hopefully be back later today with a Herb Roasted Potato recipe, and then again tomorrow or Monday with some SUPER BOWL foods, including mini-pigs in blankets, PIZZA DIP, and best of all: BETTER THAN SEX CAKE. So keep an eye out for those!