Slow Cooker Chocolate Chip Brownie-Cake

Delicious and crazy easy...that is how I will describe this recipe.  My mom's birthday was a few weeks ago and we were having her over for dinner.  I was more focused on the main course, so I knew I needed something without a lot of prep work for dessert.  My mom loves anything chocolate, so I looked through my Pinterest recipe board and found this buried VERY far down.  I am so glad I didn't keep scrolling because this will be made OFTEN!!  The best part was that you make it in the crock-pot.  I haven't ever made a dessert in the crock-pot before, but I am officially sold on it.  Thanks My Favorite Things for this fantastic recipe...it will be made again!  :)

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Chip Brownie-Cake

1 box fudge brownie mix

1 pouch chocolate chip cookie mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

4 eggs

Vanilla ice cream, as desired (You know you desire it!)

Spray your slow cooker with baking spray with flour.  In a large bowl, mix brownie mix with 1/4 cup butter and 2 eggs.  In another large bowl, mix cookie mix with 1/4 cup butter and 2 eggs.

 Drop alternate spoonfuls of each mixture into your slow cooker.

 Cover, and cook on high 2-3 hours until cake is set in center.  It took mine 2 hours exactly to be done.  I strongly recommend checking it at 2 hours if not a little before.  I tested the center with a toothpick, and this is what it looked like when it was done:

SO, SO GOOD!!!!  You could even serve it with some hot fudge if you wanted to just go crazy. Enjoy!  :)

Andes Sugar Cookies!

I don't remember where I heard about this recipe (if you can even call it that!)...but I know it was YEARS ago!  I had a tube of sugar dough in my refrigerator and remembered these fun, CRAZY EASY cookies and thought I would make them for my son.  OK, and me too!  There are two ingredients and a few minutes until a yummy treat is served!!

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Andes Sugar Cookies

1 tube of sugar cookie dough

1 package of Andes Mint Candy

Cut your dough into circles and lay on cookie sheet.  Place one Andes Candy on each circle and top with another circle.  Press the edges to seal.  Bake according to sugar cookie dough instructions.  (Pull them out a minute or so early if you like soft cookies...that is my favorite way to eat these!)

These are so good!!  Enjoy!  :)

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grinch Cookies)

When I asked my son what kind of cookies he wanted to make for Santa this year, he immediately said Grinch cookies.  (I had pinned this recipe from The Hungry Dudes a while ago and told him about them.)  I thought these were appropriate because his favorite Christmas movie is How the Grinch Stole Christmas...and because I LOVE chocolate and mint together.  I mean, I REALLY love chocolate and mint...Junior Mints, York Peppermint Patties, Andes Mints, Mint Chocolate chip ice cream...Mmm, Mmm! If you love any of those, then you are going to LOVE these cookies too!!  They are super easy and taste delicious!!  You could make them for Christmas, or just make them because they are fantastic!! We will definitely be making these BEFORE next Christmas!

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grinch Cookies)

1 pouch sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract

6 to 8 drops green food color

1 egg

1 package Andes Mints

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color, and egg until soft dough forms.

 Sorry, had to include a picture of my son making his best Grinch face!

 He was my little helper that day!

 Stir in chopped Andes Mints (they recommended using a huge knife and I would recommend this too...took no time at all to chop!) and chocolate chips.

 Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool for about 3 minutes before moving cookies to a wire rack.  Store tightly covered at room temperature...before they disappear! :)

 Our elf, Haddy couldn't even stay away from these yummy cookies!!  Enjoy!  :)

Peppermint Bark

If you need an EASY, DELICIOUS treat to take to a holiday party this year (or just a yummy treat to have at home!), then this recipe is for you!  With only 2 ingredients, you can't go wrong!!  

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Peppermint Bark

2 bags (12 oz each) white chocolate chips

1 cup peppermint candies (I used 11 candy canes)

Place candy canes in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a meat mallet or heavy saucepan.  The meat mallet worked GREAT!

 Line a 15X10X1 inch baking pan with foil.  Coat with nonstick cooking spray.  Place chips in a large glass bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Stir.  Repeat, stirring until smooth.  It only took 2 total minutes to melt mine.  Fold half the crushed candies into the melted chocolate.

 Pour onto prepared pan, spreading almost to edge of pan.

 Sprinkle top with remaining crushed candy canes.  Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

 Break into pieces to serve...that is IT!!

This is seriously yummy stuff...and I will warn you, a little bit addicting!  Enjoy!  :)

Halloween Treats!

My son's class Halloween party was today and I was in charge of the treats.  I had fun looking through Pinterest (where else??) to find some cute, different ideas that were a little healthier to fit with the school policies.  I came up with these fun treats that took no time at all to prepare and the kids LOVED them!! 

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First up, banana ghosts.  Too cute!!  All I did was slice the bananas in half, put a Popsicle stick in the flat end, roll in melted vanilla almond bark, and put chocolate chip eyes on them.  Then, I put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet and froze them overnight.  Love them!!

 Jack-o-lantern faces on little cuties!  :)

 A jack-o-lantern and a ghost.  Fun, fun!

 Last, but not least were the witch hands.  HILARIOUS!!  I just peeled carrots and put sliced almonds on the tips with a little bit of cream cheese to make them stick.  Then, I just poured some ranch in the bowl and ta-da!  

It doesn't get easier than that!  Happy Halloween!!  Enjoy!  :)

Fudgy Brownie Cookies

I was looking through some recipes to make some cookies for my mom's birthday and came across these from TastyKitchen.  They are WONDERFUL!!  They are super easy and are a cross between a brownie and a cookie...they are truly the best of both worlds!

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Fudgy Brownie Cookies

1 package Fudge Brownie Mix

1-1/4 cup All-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp water, or more as needed

1 cup dark chocolate chunks (I used chocolate chips)

Whisk together brownie mix, flour, and sugar.  Using a heavy spoon, stir in the eggs one at a time, followed by butter and 2 tbsp water.  If the batter appears like there is too much flour, add 1 more tbsp of water.  Batter will be very thick.  Fold in chocolate chunks.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.  

 Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a cookie sheet.  Drop heaping tbsp of dough on the cookie sheet.  You want pretty thick cookies here to get the brownie feel, about 3 inches apart.  Press down slightly.  Don't flatten completely.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  (I found baking them 7-8 minutes left them more gooey, and fudgy!)

Remove from oven, allow to cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet.  Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Mmm...these are so good!  Again, don't overcook them...if you look at the picture above and see the ones that are darker on top, they are the gooey ones and definitely the best ones!!  Enjoy!  :)

Monkey Bread Rolls

I got this recipe out of a magazine a few weeks ago and was so excited to try it!  I LOVE monkey bread and thought this would be a fun take on it.  It was!!  These were so easy to make and so good!!  Definitely give them a try.

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Monkey Bread Rolls

1/2 of a 34.5 ounce package frozen cinnamon sweet roll dough (6 rolls) - I could not find this in our frozen food section, so I just used a can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls and they worked perfectly

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup caramel-flavor ice cream topping

1 tablespoon maple-flavor syrup

Place frozen rolls about 2 inches apart on a large greased baking sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight to let dough thaw and begin to rise.  (I didn't do any of this because I used the refrigerated cinnamon rolls...MUCH easier!)

Preheat oven to 350.  Generously grease twelve muffin cups.  Divide pecans evenly among muffin cups; set aside.  Cut each roll into four pieces.  Dip each roll piece in melted butter, then roll in sugar.  Place two dough pieces into each muffin cup.  Drizzle rolls with any remaining butter; sprinkle with any remaining sugar.  In a small bowl stir together ice cream topping and syrup; drizzle over rolls.  (If you use the canned rolls, you will have some leftover.  I think I will buy two cans next time and put 3 pieces in each muffin cup...there is definitely room and I think it would have made for a more gooey center.)

 Bake for about 20 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.  (Check them early...I think mine could have been taken out before 20 minutes was up.) Cool in muffin cups for 1 minute.  Invert onto a large platter.  Cool slightly.  Serve Warm.

YUMMY!!  How good do these look??  They were delish!  Please don't let the directions scare you...these are really easy...it just takes a bit of explaining!  Enjoy!  :)

Easter Goodies

Last week I posted these precious Easter treats:

Don't you just love them? :)

This past week I also made several other Easter treats that I got off of Pinterest of course. I thought I would just do one quick post to show them all. Now all of the fun treats are in one place!

First up, cinna-bunnies! These were a huge hit with my little one. They were SO EASY too! All you need is a roll of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (8 count), some raisins, and some slivered almonds. (Mine don't have the almonds because my son wanted no part of them!)

Spread 4 of the rolls out and unroll the other 4, cutting them in half. Form into ears...the bottom right one was made by my son. :) Use raisins for the eyes and nose and slivered almonds for the teeth. Mine look a little like puppy dogs without the teeth. Oh well...they tasted great!

See...how cute! :)
For our Easter dinner, I couldn't resist coloring my deviled eggs!! After you boil and remove the yolk, place the egg halves in a cup of water with food coloring. Just let them sit until you get the color you want. Fun, fun!! (My mom sprinkled them with paprika before I could tell her not to...I think they would have been cuter without!)

Finally, resurrection rolls. Here's the recipe for these:

8 crescent rolls

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

8 large marshmallows

1/4 cup butter, melted

Separate rolls into 8 triangles. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Dip each marshmallow into butter, roll in cinnamon-sugar, and place on a triangle. Pinch dough (TIGHTLY) around marshmallow, sealing all edges. Dip tops of dough into remaining butter and cinnamon-sugar and place with sugar side up in greased mufin cups. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes.
(The items represent: cresent rolls-cloth used to cover Jesus, marshmallow-Jesus, butter-oils used to anoint the body, cinnamon/sugar-spices used to prepare body for burial, oven-tomb)

It is empty when you bite into it. Such a fun lesson for kids!

These taste wonderful too...like an inside out cinnamon roll! I hope you enjoy all of these Easter goodies! :)

Easter Rice Krispies Treats

I needed an Easter treat to take to my son's class Easter party, so I turned to Pinterest of course! These came from About.com and they turned out DARLING! If you need a cute little treat for Easter this week, make these!!

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Easter Rice Krispies Treats

1/4 tsp water

2-4 drops green food coloring

1/2 cup flaked coconut

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 10 oz. package (about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

jelly beans

Spray two regular size muffin tins or one large muffin tin with cooking spray. (The recipe says you will need 16 2 1/2 inch muffin cups, but I was able to stretch it to make more than that.) In a small bowl stir together water and green food coloring. Add coconut. Stir until coconut is tinted. Spread on a baking sheet to dry.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated. Divide warm mixture into prepared muffin tins. Shape mixture into individual cups. (A trick to help with this...I sprayed two spoons with cooking spray to prevent them from sticking while placing in the muffin tins.) Cool. Remove from pans.
Fill cooled nests with coconut, marshmallows, and jelly beans.

How cute are these?!? I think the kids in my son's class are going to love them! Enjoy! :)

Gorilla Bread...yum, yum!

I was going through my pictures and realized I never posted this WONDERFUL Paula Deen recipe! I made this over Christmas and honestly, my mouth is watering just looking at the pictures. I just might have to make this recipe this weekend! It is THAT GOOD!!

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Paula Deen's Gorilla Bread

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count) (I accidentally bought the Grands, 8 count...a few of them ended up a little too gooey, so definitely get the 10 count!)

1 1/2 cups coursely chopped walnuts (I forgot this part...oops!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside.
Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar.

Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing dough around the cream cheese.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cook for 5 minutes. (Please excuse the well loved bundt pan...it is my moms and is one of the old, heavy ones...it is awesome!)

Place a plate on top and invert.

Seriously, how delicious does that look?!? It was AWESOME...I LOVED the cream cheese filling when you bit into it. Pure heaven! Enjoy! :)

Sopapilla Cheesecake

You may have had this yumminess before, but I just had to take pictures when I made this over Christmas just in case you haven't. Not only is it super easy, but my oh my is it GOOD!

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Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened (don't use low fat or fat free)

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly press seams together on 1 can of crescent rolls into bottom om 9X13 inch pan.

Mix cream cheese, 1-1/2 cups sugar and vanilla until creamy. Spread over rolls in pan.
Cover with other can of rolls, lightly press seams together.

Melt butter and pour over top. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, sprinkle over top. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool, cut and serve. It is best to bake it on the day you want to serve it. (Refrigerate leftovers.)

I completely forgot to take pictures of what these look like once they are cut up. Just trust me that they are delicious!! Enjoy! :)

Spider Krispies

OK, so this recipe is a little late...as in, made it for my son's class Halloween party and you won't be able to use it until next year kind of late. Oops! Well, you can bookmark it and have it ready for next year! :) I had to come up with a gluten free, peanut free snack for his party and my friend Melissa told me about this super fun, super yummy treat. I got it from CookiesandCups and WOW...there is some super cute stuff on there! I paired the snack with a fun little idea I saw on Pinterest of course...a jack-o-lantern drawn on a little orange. Seriously, isn't that precious?!? LOVE!

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Spider Krispies

6 cups Cocoa Pebbles (they are gluten free!)

1-10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmallows + additional marshmallows for eyes

1/4 cup butter

Chocolate chips

Pretzels

Spray a 9X9 inch pan lightly with cooking spray. Melt butter in sauce pan and add in marshmallows until melted. Remove from heat and stir in Cocoa Pebbles. Spread into your 9X9 inch pan and cool for 15 minutes. Cut out krispies with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Flatten additional marshmallows with a rolling pin for eyes and press into the krispies. The recipe called for the black spot on the eyes to be made with a food marker, but I didn't have one, so I stuck chocolate chips upside down in the marshmallows. The kids LOVED them! Then, stick pretzel sticks into the side for legs. (Can use gluten free pretzel sticks!)

Ta-da! How cute is that?? I thought they turned out so cute and the kids gobbled them up! In the original recipe, she also made teeth for the spider and even shows how to use this to make a precious owl. Definitely check it out! Hope your kids enjoy! :)

Pumpkin Muffins

OK, so I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there that I might have a small addiction to Pinterest these days. If you are on there, you have probably seen this next recipe...although I'm not even sure you can call it a recipe when it consists of 2 ingredients! I needed a baked good item to take to my son's school for their Pumpkin Carnival and I immediately thought of the pumpkin muffins that I had pinned. Easy is a complete understatement!! They took all of 2 seconds (OK, maybe a little longer) to prepare and they were YUMMY! Yes, they didn't all make it to his school. :)

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Pumpkin Muffins

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin

Drop both items in a bowl.
Mix it up. Yep, it's that easy! I will say that the batter is really thick, so be prepared for that. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes.

I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar.

Another idea from Pinterest...I put ribbon around a paper plate to dress it up a little since the items were going to be going home with people. These were so moist...VERY GOOD! Enjoy! :)