Easter Bunny Butt Cake

Okay, so maybe from the title, you may be a little confused about this recipe. But I made it for Easter last weekend and I have to say that it both looked and tasted pretty good. I got the recipe from Betty Crocker's site. The cake is designed to look like a bunny that's digging into the ground for carrots, so you just see his behind. I was really worried that his tail was going to fall off the cake, but it managed to hold itself together pretty well. Thank goodness for toothpicks and a wooden skewer! Just take a look at how it turned out!

Bunny Butt Cake

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® dark chocolate or devil’s food cake mix

 

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

 

Tray or cardboard covered with wrapping paper and plastic food wrap or foil

1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting

Red food color

1 large marshmallow, cut in half lengthwise

2 cups shredded coconut 2 cups coarsely crushed chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 40 cookies, I just used Oreos)

2 strawberry or cherry stretchy and tangy taffy candies (from 6-oz bag)  (I bought Laffy Taffy but didn't end up using them because they didn't work well... I'm not sure what kind of candy this was supposed to be)

1 roll Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® punch berry chewy fruit snack (from 5-oz box) (I used strawberry)

3 green-colored sour candies, separated into strips (I used Sour Patch Kids)

Construction paper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Grease 1 1/2-quart ovenproof bowl (8 inches across top) with shortening; coat with flour (do not use cooking spray). Lightly grease 3 muffin cups in regular-size muffin pan.

2. Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour cake batter in 3 muffin cups, filling two-thirds full. Pour remaining batter into 1 1/2-quart bowl.

3. Bake cupcakes 17 to 21 minutes, bowl 47 to 53 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from muffin cups and bowl; place rounded sides up on cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. If necessary, cut off rounded tops of cakes.

4. Spoon all but 2 tablespoons of the frosting into large bowl. Add red food color to the bowl to make desired pink color. Place bowl cake on tray cut side down; spread 1/3 cup frosting over cake. Use frosting to adhere cupcakes to bowl cake for feet and bunny tail. Use toothpicks if necessary. Place marshmallow halves, cut sides down, on tops of 2 cupcakes to make heels of feet. Spread thin layer of frosting over side and top of cake to seal in crumbs. Freeze cake 30 to 45 minutes to set frosting.

(I personally didn't do this whole freezing step. I frosted the cake and it pretty much used all of my frosting, and step 5 tells you to frost the cake more after it's frozen, but I didn't have enough frosting to do a second coat, so I didn't freeze it and left it as is. It still turned out fine!)

5. Spread remaining frosting over cake, using reserved 2 tablespoons white frosting to frost the bunny tail. Sprinkle with coconut; press gently to adhere. Surround bunny with crushed chocolate cookies. Use rolling pin to press strawberry candies into 2 large rectangles. (I used the fruit roll up so no pressing was needed.)Cut 2 large ovals and 6 small circles out of candy. Press onto bottoms of bunny feet, using frosting if needed.

6. Roll up fruit snack to make carrot shapes. (I used my orange Sour Patch Kids since the Laffy Taffy didn't work.) Cut green sour candies in half crosswise; press into large end of each carrot to make greens on carrot. Cut ears from construction paper; wrap ends that will be inserted into cake with plastic food wrap. Insert into cake. Remove ears, plastic wrap and toothpicks before serving. Store loosely covered.



I definitely had to change a few things to make this recipe work, especially since I didn't find the exact candies that the recipe called for, but I made it work and it still tasted delicious!

Bailey's Irish Cream Brownies

Okay, so after making dinner last night, our sweet tooth cravings kicked in. I had wanted to make these brownies this past weekend for St. Paddy's Day but didn't end up having the time for it. Therefore, I found the time to make them tonight! I have to say that they were delicious enough that I had to have two before they were even finished cooling down! Hopefully you all have better patience and will power than me! I got the recipe here.

Bailey's Irish Cream Brownies

Ingredients:

Brownie Batter:

• 1 cup butter
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 16 ounces cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur

For the brownies:

Place the butter and chocolate into a medium saucepan and melt gently over low heat while stirring frequently. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 13×9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Coat the foil lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

 

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until light and fluffy (this took about 3-4 minutes with my mixer). Sift the flour and salt together; add to the sugar mixture in three half-cup increments. Add in the chocolate mixture by folding it into the sugar mixture.

 

For the cream cheese filling:

In another medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until creamy. Continue to beat while adding the egg and liqueur.

 

To assemble the brownies:

Pour half of the brownie batter into the pan. Spread all of the the cream cheese layer over the brownie layer. Pour the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer and using an offset spatula, smooth the batter. To create a marbled effect, swirl the layers together with a knife. Bake for 40 minutes; cool completely before cutting.

 

Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki

So lately, I feel like I've been having recipe fails. Finally, today I had a win! I marinaded this steak overnight and they turned out deliciously tender! This is just another reason I'm glad that grilling weather is finally here! I found the recipe here. I think I will definitely be trying this marinade on burgers like the recipe suggested!

Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can pineapple chunks with juice (I used two 8 oz. cans)
1 c. soy sauce
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. minced ginger (This was my first time working with ginger root - I'm no longer afraid of it!)
1 Lb. skirt steak, sliced very thin

Directions:
1. Mix together all ingredients, excluding beef. Set aside about 1/2 c. of the sauce, cover and refrigerate.
2. Place beef in a Ziploc bag and pour marinade over. Press out all the air, seal, and marinate for at least 6 hours. (I marinaded it over night)
3. Thread the marinated beef onto skewers. Over prepared grill on medium-high heat, grill steak a minute or two on each size until cooked to your desired doneness (with the steak being so thin, you don’t have to grill it for too long). Place beef in a large bowl, pour remaining sauce over the cooked beef and stir until well covered. Serve with rice or grilled fresh pineapple.



Crispy Pecan Chicken // Baked Ziti

I never seem to be able to find enough ways to make chicken. This week I found a pretty easy weeknight chicken recipe that turned out to be delicious! It's called Crunchy Pecan Chicken. The crunch of the pecans added some nice texture to the chicken, which was good since the chicken itself turned out super tender and soft.

Crunchy Pecan Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

1 cup Bisquick

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I used the pecan bits they sell in the baking aisle)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Creole seasoning
2 lbs chicken tenders
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. 

3. Dip chicken in buttermilk, dredge in pecan mixture.  Place chicken in an ungreased 9x13-inch pan.  Drizzle butter over chicken.  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until chicken is done.

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I had off from work yesterday, and when I have more time on my hands, I love to use it to cook or bake, so yesterday I decided to make a nice dinner for DJ. I was in the mood for Italian and so I asked what kind of pasta he would like me to make and he chose ziti. I went online to try and find a good recipe and I landed on one from the Food Network's site. It involved making my own marinara sauce which seemed a little intimidating to me at first, but it actually ended up being very easy. The whole recipe called for a lot of fresh ingredients which made all the difference in how the ziti tasted. It was also the first time that I shopped around in the "fancy cheese section" of the grocery store. I have no Italian in my blood that I know of, but buying fresh mozzarella and romano cheese and making my own pasta sauce made me feel just about as close as I ever could be to an Italian. I'm going to share the simple marinara sauce recipe first and then the baked ziti recipe that I used it with...

Baked Ziti

[ Simple Marinara Sauce ]

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 1/2 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree, (one 28-ounce can), roughly chopped

Sprig of fresh thyme

Sprig of fresh basil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

3. Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper to taste. Use now, or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Yield: about 3 1/2 cups.


[ Baked Ziti ]

Ingredients:

1 pound dried ziti pasta

Kosher salt

3 1/2 cups Simple Marinara Sauce, recipe above

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided

1/4 cup grated pecorino romano

1 pound fresh mozzarella, half cut into 1/2-inch cubes and half thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of crushed red pepper, or to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously, and boil the pasta until al dente, tender but still slightly firm. Drain.

2. In a large bowl, toss the cooked pasta with the marinara sauce, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the pecorino, and the cubed mozzarella pieces. Season with the black pepper and red pepper to taste, and mix until well combined.

3. Transfer the pasta to an oiled 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Cover the top of the pasta with the sliced mozzarella, and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan. Bake until lightly browned and hot, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Of course, after making DJ a yummy dinner, I knew that it wouldn't be complete without a yummy dessert. I found this recipe for "Sopapilla Cheesecake" which was easy enough that I knew I would have time to make it even after slaving over the pasta dish. I have a weakness for cinnamon and sugar put together, so this recipe did not disappoint me! We ate some right after it came out of the oven so it was a little gooey and messy but still yummy. I'm going to try it chilled today at some point, whenever it decides to call my name from the fridge.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Ingredients:
2 cans pillsbury flaky butter crescent rolls
2  8oz packages cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter (melted)
Cinnamon & sugar

Directions:
1. Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. (I used a casserole dish a little smaller than a 9x13 pan).
2. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls.
3. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.



slacking!

So I've definitely been slacking on posting my new recipe experiments on here, but I really have still been trying new things! One of the most recent things I've tried to make was tortilla shells. I didn't actually intend to make homemade tortillas though. The only reason I did was because the tortilla shells that I had at home were expired and not too soft anymore. So I immediately went to google to try and find the quickest and easiest ways to make some tortillas with stuff that I already had on hand. This is what I found, and I must say that they were pretty delicious:

Soft Tortilla Shells

Ingerdients:

3 cups all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Pinch of sugar (optional) 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (more for softer tortillas) 1 cup water

Instructions: Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and oil. Add water and mix with hands. Divide into 10 small balls. Roll each flat with rolling pin and cook on very hot ungreased griddle until lightly brown on each side. Makes 10 tortillas. I think next time, I will try rolling them thinner though because these turned out a little thick and heavy. ---------------------------------------------------------------- On Saturday, DJ left for Orlando for a few days, so since I had the house to myself, I decided to have a little girls night. Danielle sugggested that we have breakfast food for dinner so I decided to try and find some new breakfast recipes to try out. I've been wanting to try a french toast casserole since I knew those could be made ahead of time which helps me out a lot when cooking for company. I found this recipe and it turned out really yummy! Overnight French Toast Casserole 

Ingredients:

1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm)
8 eggs
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1.  Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.  Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.
2.  Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour evenly over bread.  Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours (You can do this overnight, but mine was probably only in the fridge for about 6 hours)

3.  In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender (I just used two knives) until it all looks nice and crumbly.  Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.
4.  When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge.  Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).

You can serve this with syrup a powdered sugar and milk glaze, which I'm definitely going to try next time!

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To go with the casserole, I also decided to try making a hashbrown casserole. The recipe I found was good, but I think I will use less hash browns next time. The recipe calls for two pounds of hashbrowns but I think a one pound bag may work better with the recipe since it didn't seem like there was a lot of cheesy goodness for all of the potatoes. Here is the original recipe though:

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients:
1 2 lb. pkg. frozen Hash Browns
8 oz. Sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stick butter
1/2 C. Chopped onion
2 C. grated Cheddar Cheese

 

Directions:

1. Place potatoes in a greased 9×13 inch pan. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Melt butter in the microwave. In a bowl add minced onions, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup, and melted butter. Mix these items together.
3. Pour soup mixture over potatoes; sprinkle with Cheddar Cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until all is completely warm, and the cheese begins to melt.

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Although I didn't take a picture of them, I did make a little "breakfast appetizer" that I loved because it had one of my favorite combinations: cinnamon and sugar! These little cinnamon sugar bites were pretty easy to make. The picture and recipe is from here.

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Bites

 

Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup crisp rice cereal, coarsely crushed
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. Mix flour, crushed cereal, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.

2. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and stir just until moistened.
3. Roll dough into approximately 2 1/2 dozen 1 inch balls.

4. Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar in a small bowl. Drop balls into melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.

5. Place balls onto greased 8 or 9 inch round pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in pan on wire rack before removing.

Honey-Dijon Chicken ////////// Oreo Stuffed Cookies

So I've been trying several new recipes recently, but not all of them have turned out well. There was a broccoli gratin recipe that I tried that ended up being a soupy mess. So needless to say, I will not be posting that one, even though I'm sure it was just something that I didn't do right.

But I do have a few recipes that did turn out pretty well, so here are those ones at least. After making my cookies and cream cookies the other week, I decided to try making the Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have to say that they were delicious, but they turned out HUGE! I've never made cookies this big before! The whole batch ended up just being twelve cookies! It got super messy trying to make these cookies, so honestly I'm surprised they turned out decent, but I suppose all that matters is that they were delicious.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. To help keep the dough from spreading too much during baking, put the dough in the refrigerator for a few minutes first. It also makes it easier to shape them into cookies.
3. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Just look at these monsters!

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Tonight for dinner, I actually tried two different things: Honey-Dijon Chicken Tenders and Zucchini Rice. It turned out delicious other than the fact that my rice didn't completely absorb all of the water when it was cooking. The rice and the chicken still went together really well and was surprisingly easy to make. Here are the recipes for both.

Honey-Dijon Chicken

Ingredients:

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. paprika
3 tbsp. butter, melted
heaping 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. honey
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced vertically into strips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, Dijon mustard and honey; whisk until well combined.
3. Place the chicken strips into the mustard-butter mixture, then into the breadcrumbs. Coat evenly. Place onto the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the zucchini rice...

Zucchini Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
3 tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions. Remove from heat, add butter and sprinkle zucchini over the rice. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork. Salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Serve immediately with the chicken tenders, or with your own favorite main course.

Cookies and Cream Cookies!

We ended up having a "date night" over at Shawn and Leslie's house on Friday, so I was trying to pick a dessert for it that I would have time to make after work before I headed over to their house. I had found this recipe that seemed like the perfect cookie hybrid: oreos and chocolate chip cookies. I figured I couldn't go wrong with them, and they turned out delicious! The recipe didn't make a huge batch of cookies, so we actually ended up (shamefully) finishing the whole batch though. They had a subtle crunch to them with the crushed oreo pieces and the gooeyness that makes chocolate chip cookies so good. It's hard to top a chocolate chip cookie, but I think they may have topped the classic by taking them to the next level. My next recipe that I want to try out now is the oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookie though, so I'm excited to try those as well.

Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick softened butter

6 Tablespoons sugar
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.

2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in oreos and chocolate chips until just combined.

3. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.