Sweet Fix

Are you hooked? Pumpkin spice is all the rage and we’re not immune to it. We’re skipping the coffee shop drive thru this morning and getting our fix from the oven instead. Our doctored up Pumpkin Spice Latte Mini Loaves with definitely satisfy our sweet tooth and caffeine cravings all in one!

Bread Ingredients

• 1 box Libby’s Pumpkin Bread Mix, plus ingredients on the back of the box
• 2 Starbucks Vias
• Follow the directions on the back of the box. Stir in Vias.
• Fill a greased mini loaf pan 3/4 full. Tip each loaf with streusel topping. Directions below.

Streusel Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup light brown, dark brown

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1 Place the butter in a small pot over medium-low heat, until melted.

2 Stir in the remaining ingredients with a fork, until evenly distributed.

Bake the loaves for 18 min at 350 or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool then top with cream cheese frosting.

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Sweet Spice & Everything Nice

Isn’t it nice when opposites collide and create something magical? We have proof that it is! Toffee Snickerdoodle Blondies have the perfect amount of sugar and cinnamon to guarantee you’ll be back for seconds!

Toffee Snickerdoodle Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup Crisco

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup Heath Bits

2 tablespoons granulated sugar (for topping)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (for topping)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl cream the Crisco and the 2 cups brown sugar and continue beating for 1 minute, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl.

Add 2 egg whites and vanilla extract. Beat well.

Add the flour on top of the mixture but don’t mix it in.

Use a small spoon to stir the baking powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into the flour.

Beat the flour mixture in until barely combined. Once the flour streaks are gone you’re done. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom.

Use a spatula to scrape the dough (it’s a very sticky dough) into the prepared pan. Use a spatula with nonstick spray to press it. Smooth the surface.

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar with2 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the top of the pan. Add Heath to top. Pat it down with your hands a little bit.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center with no batter stuck to it.



Sweet Inside A Sweet

It’s our favorite month of the year (only because it’s our birthday month)! We couldn’t let September slide by us without our annual trip to the apple orchard for some apple picking fun. Let’s be straight here – there’s always an ulterior motive for an outing when it happens on a Saturday! With treats on the brain and baskets in our hands we loaded up on tons of deliciousness. As health fanatics, we realize we should save some apples for nutritious snacks and lunch boxes, so good thing we planned ahead and picked enough to create our weekly sweet. Apple Crisp Inside An Apple is treat in a treat and that’s certainly worth the cheat! 

Apple Crisp In An Apple

  
Ingredients

3 whole Large Apples 

1-¼ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

2 teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice

5 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar

4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter 

4 Tablespoons Flour

¼ cups Rolled Oats

2 whole Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream

Caramel Sauce for topping

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Peel, core and dice 1 apple. Place it in a small skillet with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, lemon juice, ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter. Turn the heat to medium high, stir, and cook until the apple start to soften and release their juices, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, and then stir in 2 tablespoon flour until dissolved. Let cool.
Meanwhile, slice the tops off the remaining 2 apples and core them, but do not go all the way through the bottom. Remove most of the inside of the apple but leave enough intact so that the apple still stands up on its own. Stop about 1″ above the bottom of the apple.
Fill the apples with the cooled apple mixture.
In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, flour, and oats. Pinch the butter into the mixture to form a crumble. Divide the mixture between the 2 apples and pack firmly on top.
Place the apples in a small baking dish, add a splash of water to the bottom to prevent sticking, and bake for 25–30 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream and caramel sauce. 
*recipe from Tasty Kitchen

A New Favorite Sweet

Is your recipe box, or more realistically, your Pinterest account cluttered with recipes you view as either will take too much time to make or may not turn out as well as you hope? We drool over lots of recipes that fall into both of these categories. But, this rainy and gloomy Saturday was the perfect opportunity to tackle Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Pretzels. We carved out a good chunk of the afternoon and went for it. And you know what, they turned out wonderfully. A new fave for sure!

Cookie Dough Stuffed Pretzels

 

 

Ingredients

1 package of Fleishmann’s Simply Homemade Pretzel Baking Mix

1 batch of Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

• 3/4 cup Butter Flavored Crisco Stick
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2  cup semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate M&Ms
• 1/2 cup Heath bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together Crisco, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla using an electric mixer. Beat in egg until well combined.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together into a separate mixing bowl. With mixer on low speed, carefully add flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Add chocolate chips, Heath, and M&Ms to dough, stirring by hand.

Directions

1. Make the pretzel dough according to the directions on the back of the package.
2. Make the cookie dough.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
4. Divide the pretzel dough into 8 equal balls and roll each out into a rectangle (about 11×3 inches). Spread a little cookie dough along the length of each piece. Starting with the opposite side, roll the dough up into a log, enclosing the toppings inside. Pinch the seams together and then very gently roll the dough with your hands to form an even cylinder and fully enclose the filling. It is ok if some of the chocolate chips peak through, but try to avoid any large tears in the dough.
5. Take the two ends of each rope and form into a circle that is overlapped by a couple of inches of dough on either side, twist the ends and lay over the opposite side to form a pretzel shape. Press the ends under the pretzel to seal.
6. Grab a bowl and fill it with warm water and 2 teaspoons baking soda. Dunk each pretzel in water and then place on a parchment (no more than four pretzels per sheet). Brush the tops with the beaten egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until pretzels are very lightly golden and the cookies that have oozed out are golden. You do not want to over cook the pretzels. Eat warm!

*recipe modified from Half Baked Harvest

Stingy Sweet

We know it’s nice to share. Heck we probably reinforce this idea several times a day with our children. However, this Saturday we are making a single serving double chocolate chip cookie. (It is the Sister Sweetly serving size, mind you. We have been known to double it! :)) This is the perfect recipe to make just a small goodie and still have room to dive head first into your kids’ leftover Halloween candy. This is where that sharing lessons applies!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter flavored Crisco
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar (or dark brown)
• 2 Tablespoons Egg Beaters
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup  all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium size bowl, mix Crisco and sugars together with a spoon or fork until creamed. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
4. Place the dough in the center of the baking sheet and mold into a tall ball using a spoon. Dot the top of the cookie with 1 Tablespoon of chocolate chips. Bake for 14-15 minutes, or up to 16 minutes. The cookie will appear very soft, but will firm up as it cools. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet.

*recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Spooktacularly Sweet

Halloween is one of our most favorite times of the year. Why, you ask? Sweet treats galore, we answer! This Saturday we are baking up a treat with a little trick. It’s a simple one, but  guaranteed to give you the EEK factor. Spider Infested Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect snack to feed all of your hungry little ghosts and goblins.

Spider Infested Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 Ingredients

3/4 cup Butter Flavored Crisco Stick
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream together Crisco, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla using an electric mixer. Beat in egg until well combined.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together into a separate mixing bowl. With mixer on low speed, carefully add flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Add 1/2 cup of both kinds ofchocolate chips, stirring by hand.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Place some of the reserved chocolate chips on top of each cookie just to be sure you have chips with which you can make your spiders.

Remember to keep about 1/2 cup of the dark chocolate chips for the spiders.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet after removing from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to allow cookies to cool completely.

Place 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl. Heat for 20 seconds, stir, then for 15 seconds, stir. Allow the chocolate to sit for 1 minute, then stir again. If you need to, heat it for 10 more seconds, then repeat until melted. Pour into a squeeze-it mold painter bottle fitted with a #2 round pastry tip, or a disposable pastry bag or zip top bag with the tip snipped off.

Pipe on spider heads and legs around some of the larger chocolate chips. Allow to dry.

*Recipe adapted from Hungry Happening

*Chocolate chip cookie recipe adapted from Crisco Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Our Newest Sweet Sensation

Oh how we adore fall…mostly for the yummy treats associated with this season: crisps, cobblers, pumpkin everything and our newest love…maple!  This Saturday we are trying out brown sugar maple cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting and Heath bits.  Bake up a batch, and maybe your love for fall will be even sweeter too!

Maple Brown Sugar Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box of Pillsbury Maple Brown Sugar Cake Mix
• 1 can of cream cheese frosting
• Heath Bits

Directions

Make the cupcakes according to the directions on the back of the box. Allow cupcakes to cool completely. Once cool frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with Heath bits.  Savor!

 

Sweet Times Remembered

Do you remember where you were at this time in 1985? If so, it’s happening all over again! We have to admit that we can clearly remember what we were doing back then, but our memories have little recollection of the significance that surrounds all of the excitement around our city. You see, our local major league baseball team, the Kansas City Royals, have not been in the playoffs for the World Series in 29 years and this year they made it in and are doing spectacular! . We may not remember the baseball hype of the 80’s, but we definitely remember the snack bar! We thought this was the perfect time to make a popcorn treat. And what could be sweeter than one that tastes like grown up Cracker Jacks (prizes optional). This Saturday calls for munching on Vanilla Toffee Popcorn while being loyal and rooting for the Royals! Go KC!

Vanilla Toffee Popcorn

Ingredients

8 cups of popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 300F

Place 8 cups of popcorn in a large deep bowl.  Make sure that no unpopped kernels fall into the bowl!

Add the vanilla extract to the brown sugar and mix it in with your fingers, to break-up the clumps of vanilla.

Cook over a medium heat while stirring:

1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of light corn syrup in a pot over medium heat.

* Hold the baking soda until later…

Bring the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup to a boil. Keep stirring!

Let it sit for 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring.

Remove from the heat and add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

Stir until you get a creamy looking color.

Pour that heavenly stuff onto your popcorn. Stir until the popcorn is evenly coated.

Place the popcorn on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 30 minutes at 300F.

After 30 minutes, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool.

The toffee should harden in 5-10 minutes.

Once it has cooled off, break the popcorn into bite-size pieces and enjoy!

*recipe found on A Bit of Bees Knees

 

 

Sweets Reimagined

Holy apples! Our fridge looks like Johnny Appleseed came for a visit! We have so many apples from our apple picking trip last weekend that it is necessary we apple treat again. Good thing there are so many yummy apple desserts. Apple crisp is #1 in our opinion. But we discovered a recipe that can top it, Cookie Butter Apple Crisp baked in cute little jars. Individual servings, we’ll take two please!

Cookie Butter Apple Crisp

 

Ingredients (2 servings)

For the apple filling:

• 1 large apple (or 2 smaller apples), peeled, cored, and chopped
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 dashes of nutmeg
• For the cookie butter crisp
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chilled butter, cubed
• 2 tbsp cookie butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the apples through the nutmeg for the apple filling. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the crisp topping. Cut in the chilled butter until the mixture is crumbly. Now mix in the cookie butter. Set aside.

Spray the insides of two 12 oz glass jars with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the apple filling between the two jars. Now top each jar with the cookie butter crisp dough.

Place both filled jars in a baking pan and fill with about an inch of water.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the apples are bubbly and the crisp topping is golden brown.

All to cool to warm before serving.

Top with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.

*recipe found on The Frugal Foodie Mama

Magically Sweet Time of Year

It’s that time of year again. You know the one…when the kids head back to school! There’s something magical about the smell of pencil shavings, fresh paper in notebooks, and new school clothes.  At our homes there’s also the smell of warm Magic Bar Cookies baking in the oven.  After school they’ll do just the trick and are sure to vanish before our eyes.

Magic Bar Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) Crisco butter flavored sticks
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup graham crackers and crumbs
1 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the Crisco, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy.
2. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
3. Add the graham crackers), chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and beat momentarily to incorporate, less than 1 minute, or fold in by hand.
4. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
5. Preheat oven to 350F,  spray with cooking spray. Make 2 inch mounds of dough and place on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart  Bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

* recipe adapted from Averie Cooks