Mom’s Are The Sweetest

There’s nothing much sweeter than a mother’s love. And she deserves nothing less a sweet treat full of all her favorite sweets. That’s why this Mother’s Day, we’re hosting a Make Your Own Brownie Trifle Bar. Brownies, ice cream, whip cream, pink frosting, and a variety of chocolates and toppings layered up just the way she wants in a cute little mason jar. May your Mother’s Day be the sweetest one yet!

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Sweet Birthday Cake Sundaes

When someone extra special has a birthday, you make sure to have an extra special birthday treat. Not only are we making birthday cake, we’re topping it with all the yumminess that of an ice cream sundae. Ice cream, whip cream, sprinkles, frosting, caramel, hot fudge, sprinkled with bits of Heath, Rolos, and M&Ms. Extra special for the win!

Directions

Make a yellow cake according to the recipe on the back of the box.

Later a jar with cake, then frosting, ice cream, whip cream in any order. Top with Rolos, Heath, and M&Ms. Celebrate!

Apples Sweet Apples

It’s Saturday! To the apple orchard we go. We’re off to pick a bushel of sweet, delicious apples to bring home for baking up a pan of Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars. Oven and aprons ready! Can’t wait!

INGREDIENTS

Shortbread Base:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached flour

Apple Filling:

• 3 large fresh orchard picked
• apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons unbleached flour
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping:

• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter – melted or room temp to cut in.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F and line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. Be sure to bring the parchment up the sides as it makes it easier to lift out later.
2. Shortbread Base:
3. Place butter into your mixer and turn on high for 5 minutes or until the butter turns white rather than yellow, that’s how you’ll know it’s creamed. Next mix in the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Once combined, add in the flour and stir well. Press the mixture into the parchment lined pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
4. Apple Filling:
5. In a bowl, combine the apples, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until the apples are well coated.
6. Topping:
7. Mix flour, ¾ up brown sugar. Cut in the butter and knead together.
8. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle one half of the Topping over the short bread, then layer the apples on top. You will have multiple layers so try to keep it level. Once this is finished, sprinkle the remainder of the Topping evenly on top and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before placing in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. Once it’s set, remove from the baking dish by lifting out the parchment paper and cut into bars. Top with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

*recipe inspired by Life Straight Up

A Sweet “Pear”ing

We’ve had a pear tree in our backyard for the past 12 years and have never ever once used them for baking. We decided this was the year we were going to change that. Thanks to Google, we educated ourselves on when best to pick our pears and how to ripen them off the tree to make them even sweeter. After a couple of weeks, our bushel of pears is finally ready. Time to get our bake on! Harvest Pear Crisp, here we come. A pair of twins sharing a pear crisp…what a sweet “pear”ing!

Ingredients

• 6 cups pears, cored and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• Vanilla ice cream
• Caramel sauce

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°.

Step 2

Combine pears and lemon juice in a 2-quart baking dish; toss gently to coat. Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture to pear mixture; toss well to coat.

Step 3

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add oats and walnuts; pulse 2 times. Sprinkle flour mixture evenly over pear mixture.

Step 4

Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until pears are tender and topping is golden brown. Cool 20 minutes on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature. A la mode with caramel sauce of course!

Sweet Sixteen

Sixteenth birthdays rank way up there on the greatest birthdays list and one to definitely go all out for (not unlike every birthday we celebrate around here If we’re being honest!). It’s coined Sweet 16, ya know! If you’ve been following for awhile then you know creating a birthday cake is a labor of love. This one is a little different. You see this teen doesn’t like traditional cake much – who’s kid is he! So making one with all of Mack’s favorite candies and soda pop seemed the obvious choice. A special cake for a super special sweet sixteen year old! Happy Birthday Mack!!!

Oh Sweet Summer- You’re Just Peachy!

When your neighbors have a peach tree and are willing to share it would be a shame not to take advantage of the in-season yumminess! And it seems we’re really back into cookie butter, so we are blending both and making a Peach Skillet Crisp with Cookie Butter Crumble. Fresh, sweet, delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

Filling:

4 peaches, sliced

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Cookie Butter Crumble:

1 Cup all purpose flour

1/2 Cup brown sugar

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 Cup cookie butter

1/2 Teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and slice the peaches. Add them to a large bowl and toss with the sugar,flour, cinnamon and salt.

In a separate bowl, make the crumble by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, melted butter, cookie butter and salt. Use your hands to stick it together into clumps.

Pour the peach mixture in the bottom of a cast iron skillet and crumble the topping over it.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the crumble is a light golden brown.

*recipe inspired by Hungry Couple NYC

Dads Sweet Screams

I scream, you scream, Dads scream for ice cream! Need a fun way to celebrate Father’s Day? How about DIY Dipped Waffle Cones? Do you agree that ice cream just tastes better in a waffle cone? And not just a plain old waffle cone. Nope! The ones dipped in all kinds of yummy chocolate glory are a must! We’re dippin and scoopin our way straight to these special dad’s hearts (and tummies)! Happy Father’s Day!

Directions:

Buy a box of large waffle cones from your grocery store. Melt white almond bark in the microwave according to the directions on the back of the package. While the almond bark is still melted sprinkle with Heath, M&Ms, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and anything else that your heart desires! Once the almond bark and chocolate cools and hardens fill with your favorite ice cream. Top with whipped cream, hot fudge, and caramel sauce.

Take Me Along Sweetie # tbt

Chances are you’ve got a fiesta, soirée, or picnic to attend this summer. Call it what you want, but, a party isn’t truly a party without dessert! Problem is that often the goodies don’t travel well. Fortunately for you we’ve got a sweet that will survive almost any weather or terrain. Save time and worry with our Berry Crisp in a Jar. It’s the perfect take-along treat for your next get-together!

Ingredients

2 bags frozen mixed berries

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 cup salted butter, melted

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread out frozen berries in the bottom of the dish.

In a mixing bowl, combine yellow cake mix (DO NOT prepare), melted butter, oats, and walnuts. Stir together until thick crumbles form.

Sprinkle evenly over the frozen berries.

Cook for 50-55 minutes. Crisp topping will be a golden brown and the berries will be bubbling.

Scoop crisp into jars. Layer with ice cream and whipped cream. Top with pecans.

Sweet Find

We used to hate it when we’d ask our mom what we were having for dinner and she would reply, “Whatever you can find.” We renamed this dinner WYCF. And wouldn’t you know it -we still have it, but this time were the moms saying it! We’re applying this approach to our treat this week, except there’s no dislike involved. Our baking kitchens are full of all kinds of goodies and nothing is off limits. We’re loving every bite of our WYCF Brownie Parfaits!

Directions:

Bake 1 box of brownies according to directions on the back of the box. Once cool slice into bite size squares.

Layer baked brownies with your favorite toppings in a jar and eat up! Yum!

Annual Sweet Outing

It’s that time of year again…time for our annual trip to the apple orchard. This has easily become one of our favorite fall outings. There’s a little something for everyone: apple cider donuts and coffee for the dads, hayrack rides and apple pie smoothies for the kids, and fresh picked apples that are perfect for baking for us! This time we’re bringing home a stash of apples to make Apple Pie Dump Cake.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of cardamom

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups freshly picked, roughly chopped apples (peeled and cored, about 2 apples)

vanilla ice cream

caramel

pecan pieces

Heath Bits

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 8×11 inch baking dish.

2 In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. Set aside.

3 In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix the brown sugar, white sugar and melted butter together. Add the beaten egg and vanilla extract and mix until sugar mixture is wet. Slowly add the set aside dry ingredients and mix until just wet. Fold in the apples.

4 Pour the apple mixture into the set aside baking dish and put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven when the top is brown. Let cool for 10 minutes.

5 To prepare an apple cake sundae, place 2 spoonfuls of apple cake in a bowl. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle caramel, and handful of pecan pieces on top.

* recipe inspired by Honey And Birch