4th of July Berry Trifles

Let`s talk about the word legit.

In other words, the word that always makes me look like an idiot.

BTW, legit actually means real,  if you need a defination like me.

Unfortunatly though for my reputation, I always use it as I would actually,

or really.

Like. "Do you legit think I`m going to go get that for you?"

Or, "Are you legit going to the Bahamas without me?"

Not like it`s supposed to be used, all archeologist-like; "I do sir believe that this is a legit

bone."

So I am constatly looking for correct ways to say it, cuz really people, you have to admit, it is

a fun word, right?

Wait! I have one!

The fact that I made these parfaits in 10 minatues and ate them even faster is legit.

Whhooo-hooo! 5 points for me lol :)

But seriously, these berry parfaits have amazing patriotic spirit and colors, and everyone will

LOVE them.

But they don`t have to know that you made them in like 10 minutes.

Easy, no-bake dessserts unite!

Patriotic Berry Trifles

makes 2 small trifles, or 1 large one

• About 15 fresh rasberries (or strawberries)
• About 25 fresh blueberries
• 2/3 cup of heavy cream, whipped
• 1 tablespoon sugar and a splash of vanilla to sweeten the cream
• Adittional whipped cream and festive sprinkles for garnish (optinal)

1. Whip your cream until soft peaks form, and add your sugar and vanilla.
2. Wash your berries, and add a layer of each, topping every layer with whipped cream, until you reach the top of your glass.
3. Top with an extra dollop of whipped cream, and additional sprinkles for garnish

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought.


             Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

<3 Blondie

Birthday Cake Oreo Truffles

                                           

 

 

So this weekend I went hiking.

 

Yes. You heard me right. HIKING. In the woods. Up a mountain.

 

And I slept up there in hut.

 

Now tell me, WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

 

 I`m not sure I was in the correct mental state of mind when I agreed to this trip.

 

BTW, did you know how many scrapes and bruises you get on a hiking trip?

 

And man, I was COVERED in dirt!

 

The worst part was how stupid and clumsy I looked.

 

I fell like every two seconds. Super embarrassing!

 

But there was a gorgeous view...

 

 

Nice, right?

 

Now let's talk about birthday cake oreos.

 

I love those things.

 

Plus, they make great truffles with only 2 ingredients;

 

 

Gotta love those 2 ingredient recipes. (Not including dipping materials)

 

Best of all, it's no-bake, great for summer when you don't want to turn the oven on.

   Birthday Cake Oreo Truffles

   Makes about 15 truffles

           Ingredients:

• About 20 birthday cake Oreos
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla frosting (Add more or less depending on consistency.) 
• 1 1/2 cups candy melts in a color of your choice. (I used white) 
• Sprinkles or other decorations if desired

 Directions:

1. Mash up your Oreos in a food processor until they are reduced to crumbles
2. Put your Oreos in a bowl, and add the frosting, until you have a slightly doughy mixture
3. Roll your dough into quarter-sized ball shapes, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
4. Continue until all the dough is used, then place baking sheet in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or until firm.
5. Melt your candy melts, and dip truffles into mix one by one until all balls are covered, decorating immediately after dipping.

 

 Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought!

Bubble Gum Cupcakes

              
               I had a little girl's party to go to recently, and I offered to make the cupcakes.

So I asked her what flavor she wanted, thinking it would be like, ya know, vanilla or

something.  Clearly I do not know little girls.

She looked up at me, and yelled "Bubble Gum!"

"Uh, OK" I responded all stupidly, thinking, 'How am I going to make bubblegum cupcakes?"

The answer presented itself to me smack-dab in the middle of the baking aisle in Market

Basket.

          




I couldn't believe I had forgotten about this stuff!

Tell me you've heard of the Duncan Hines frosting creations.

This stuff has been all over the Internet, and I can't believe I had forgotten about it!

They have soo many flavor choices, my favorites being Cotton candy, cinnamon roll, and

mint chocolate. I can't wait to try them all!

And of course, they also had bubble gum!

 

Isn't it purdy?

Also, I had to make these gluten-free to accommodate everyone at the party, and this week

was too busy to make my own cake from scratch, so  I did some searching and found this:

Stonewall Kitchen Vanilla Cupcake mix!

I would have preferred a white cupcake for these particular cupcakes, but I had to make do

with what I had.

The cupcakes worked perfectly with the frosting!

I personally loved the frosting. It tasted just like bubblegum!

 

  Bubble Gum Cupcakes

Items needed:

• 1 box white or vanilla cake mix
• Items called for on the box
• 1 can of Duncan Hines frosting starters
• 1 packet of Duncan Hines bubble gum flavoring
• Mini gumballs (I bought mine The Paper Store)
 

1. Prepare your cupcakes as directed on the box.
2. Mix your flavoring packet with your can of frosting. 
3. Put your frosting in a piping bag, or just spread it with a knife.
4. Frost your cupcakes.
5. Decorate your cupcakes with your gumballs.
 
 
* FTC disclosure: Duncan Hines and Stonewall Kitchen did not provide me with anything, I bought it all myself, and all opinions are my own.
 
Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought!
 
 

 

 

 

                

1.  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

  


   
OK, just puttin' it out there, these brownies are seriously good. Like, really good.

I'm not going to lie, I have made these brownies 3 times. (heh. heh.)

Think about this.

Cookie dough+(fantastic enough on it`s own)+brownies+chocolate drizzle= HEAVEN!!

You are free to do a happy dance now. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Adapted from recipegirl.com

Yield: 16 brownies

Prep Time: 30 min + chill time

Cook Time: 25 min

Ingredients:

BROWNIE LAYER:
( I used a box brownie mix, but I've made these before and they are excellent as well)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

COOKIE DOUGH:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature or almost melted
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
additional miniature chocolate chips, if desired (to garnish the top)

Directions:

For the brownie layer-
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x9-inch pan with nonstick spray, then line

with a strip of parchment paper so that it covers the bottom and comes up two sides of the

pan. Spray the parchment with nonstick spray too.

2. In a microwave safe bowl (or in the top of a double boiler or pan set on top of a pan of

simmering water), microwave in 30 second bursts to melt butter and chocolate chips

together until all is melted and smooth. Whisk in the sugars, then whisk in the eggs, vanilla

and salt. Sift flour into the bowl and stir that in too. Scrape the brownie batter into the

prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie layer is cooked through

(toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Place the pan of brownies in the

refrigerator to speed up the cooling process (or cool at room temperature and add the

cookie dough layer


For the cookie dough layer:
3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, sugars and salt until soft and

creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Mix in the milk and vanilla. Sprinkle in the flour and mix in until

combined. Stir in the 1 cup of chocolate chips. Scoop the cookie dough onto the top of the

brownies and spread onto the brownie layer. I find that it's easiest to do this if the brownie

layer is chilled and firm. Wet your hands or spray them with nonstick spray and pat the

cookie dough on top in a even layer. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top to create a

nicer, visual appearance. For easy, clean cutting, chill the brownies (wrap the brownies with

plastic wrap and chill until firm- 1 to 2 hours or up to 2 days).
4. Cut the brownies: Run a knife along the sides of the brownie pan and then use the

parchment paper to lift the brownies from the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice the

brownies with a sharp knife, wiping the knife with a paper towel between cuts. If you'd like

all of your slices of brownies to look clean-cut without edges, use the knife to cut the sides

of the brownies off before cutting pieces. Keep brownies slices covered and chilled until

ready to serve.

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought!

Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Yeah!! Summer is almost here!

 And summer= Beach,lazy days, and trying endlessly to get a tan.

Ugghhh. Every summer I try sooo hard to just get a little tan. Just a little. That's all I ask.

Yeah umm pale Irish skin... Not the greatest thing in the world.

BUT fortunatly Bath amd Body Works just came out with this great new line of self-tanning

prouducts. Heaven in a bottle.

Now onto that beach body. These cheesecake bars aren`t exactly going to help with that.

Unfortunatly for you, these are crazy good. Forget about saturated fat. Just make them.

These are super easy too.
                       

                     All you do is mix up your dough... good stuff on there people.

                      Knead it into a ball-like shape, and press it into your pan.

Begin your cheesecake. (nom nom)

Here`s where we`re getting serious. We are going to pour the cheesecake on top of the dough, and bake. Bake now I say! 

And eat. :) 

Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Adapted from Cookies and Cups

Ingredients

• 1 (17.5 oz) pouch sugar cookie mix
• 1 (4 serving size) box French Vanilla Instant Pudding
• 2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 2 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks
• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• *optional ~ 2/3 cup toffee bits, pulverized in blender or food processor

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl mix cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 whole egg with a spoon...when dough started coming together I used my hands to knead it.
4. Press the cookie dough into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared pan.
5. In a large bowl, using hand or stand mixer, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, sour cream, the remaining whole egg and three yolks and 2 tsp vanilla until smooth and creamy.
6. Spread the cream cheese mixture over top the cookie base.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until center is set.
8. While bars are baking pulverize your toffee bits in blender or food processor.
9. Sprinkle on bars immediately upon removing from oven.
10. Let cool on wire rack 30-45 minutes and then cover and transfer to refrigerator to continue cooling for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Store in refridgerator.

Caramel Pretzel Brownies

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. It has been a hectic past two weeks, and I haven't been able to do any baking. It was wicked painful. But now I`m back and I have a super good recipe for you. And guess what... I made it up!! Yes, I made up my own recipe again. I know, I know, I'm totally on a roll! I had wanted to make a salted caramel dessert, and that led me to thinking about flavor combos, and I thought: Pretzel+Caramel+Chocolate=LOVE!  I just whipped up a quick batch of brownies, using a box mix, for convenience and time.

                             And I added a few chocolate chips for good measure lol.

    Do a nice layer of caramel, and a layer of pretzels. You are going to want to mash up     the pretzels wayyy more than I did. The pieces were way too large. But believe me, everyone at the party LOVED these. You won't be disappointed.

Caramel Pretzel Brownies

Approximately 10-12 bars

• 1 box brownie mix
• Ingredients called for on box
• 10 oz. Caramel sauce
• About 20 pretzels

1. Bake your brownies as instructed on box, and let cool
2. Dump your caramel sauce on your brownies so it covers everything evenly.
3. Chop your pretzels up until they become almost a dust, not quite.
4. Chill your brownies for 45 min. or so, to give the caramel a little time to set.
5. Cut into bars and serve.

Hope you enjoyed!! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought!!

                                   Check back next week for Cheesecake!!

Ice Cream Cake

Hey everyone, big news from me!

I made my up my own recipe! Yes no more taking from other people`s websites.

But uh. The convenience of that. You just sit in your kitchen, go on your favorite

dessert blog, and there the recipe is, all perfect and good. But this recipe practically hit me

like a vision. I was thinking of food, as I often do, and boom! This awesome idea comes into my

head, and boy was I glad it did. And for all you lazy folks out there, this one is for you!

Omg, I am such a crummy photographer. Usually I am just baking, and I realize, "Crud! I forgot to 

take photos!" And then I run around like a mad women, trying to find my camera, and I take a bunch

photos, and they all turn out horrible, and I get upset. Sorry for that story of my life lol.

So as I was saying , this is super easy. Only 3 ingredients!!

                                                           

                                                           Another too-late photo.


P.S. This is 1/3 Cake, 1/3 Ice cream, and 1/3 cool whip. Great for kid`s party's.




Ice Cream Cake

• 1 Box cake mix ( I used devil`s food)
• Ingredients called for on box of cake
• 1.5 qt of ice cream, ( preferably a coordinating flavor to your cake. ( i used choc. chip)
• 12 oz. Container of Cool Whip
• Optional: Sprinkles

1. Bake cake as directed in a 13x9 in. pan
2. Let cake cool.
3. Take your slightly thawed container of ice cream, and make a layer over the cake
4. Slather a generous layer of Cool Whip over your cake.
5. Top with sprinkles if desired.
6. Chill until ready to serve.

                                           Hope You Enjoyed!!!!!