Triple Chocolate Cake

So remember how I admitted I love box cake? Here is a recipe that takes box cake to the next level and will trick people into thinking that you made it from scratch. I have actually made this one before so I knew how delicious it was. Sometimes I like experimenting with healthy alternative recipes because I like to have my cake and eat it too. As in, I want to be skinny but still eat cake. This is unfortunately not one of those recipes. No matter which way you spin it…greek yogurt will never produce the same dense,thick, and fudgy chocolate cake that I want. (PS I don’t know how to spell fudgy.Fudgey? MS Word keeps telling me they are both wrong. I hate misspelled words and that squiggly red line is really ruining my day but I can’t use any other word to describe it!)

This cake is best made in a bundt pan but I could also see this being made in a bread loaf pan. I suggest this only because there is so much flavor to the cake, you will not want to frost it. Bundt pans make pretty cakes and I feel professional when I have good presentation instead of just taking bites out of the pan with a plastic fork. This is a very rich and heavy cakes so don’t be surprised when you take it out of the oven and it feels like you are picking up a small child. Speaking of children…if you do want to add something sweet to the cake, I suggest using warm raspberry jelly. I actually learned this trick from my friend who had a cholic baby so she could not have dairy. She used to use heated jelly instead of frosting on cakes and breads and it was surprisingly tasty. Except eating dairy free food all the time is certainly not tasty. Remind me again to never have kids please!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) box devil's food cake mix 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix 1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs 1/2 cup warm water 2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2.	In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3.	Bake for 40 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake thoroughly before removing from the pan.

Easy Chili

Git in my mouthhhh

So not much to say about this but it was the lowest maintenance thing I could make in a rush. I feel like I never have the time of day to actually cook and bake as much as I would really like to. I’m pretty much a single mom over here – I cook and clean. Because of that, I like cooking things that produce big portions so I can eat them for 3 days straight. It gets a little unrefined when I eat things like chili for breakfast but when in Rome…

Anyways, this is the simplest chili recipe in the world. It is pretty mild for a chili and that is how I like it but obviously you can doctor it up with more heat if needed. I also use cannellini beans instead of red kidney beans out of preference but really any variety of beans would do.  It is  also the most basic chili could ever be but I appreciate simple so please don’t judge me for using a packet of spice mix from CVS. What's a Barbie to do? You could really take this recipe to the next level by adding chopped onions, peppers, sausage, and a variety of beans...but why fix what isn't broken?

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef 1 large can crushed tomatoes 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1 cup water 1 packet of chili seasoning 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large saucepan cook ground beef completely. Add 1 cup of water and packet of chili seasoning. Simmer until the sauce thickens.
2. 3.	In a separate saucepan on low heat mix the tomatoes, rinsed beans, and garlic. Add the ground beef to the saucepan. Simmer on low for 30 minutes with a cover on the pan.

Spinach Bacon Stuffed Chicken

Got hungry and ate a potato

So this is not baking but I did make it from scratch and itis my blog so I will do what I want. Hmmph. As much as I love to bake, I realized I can only do so many baking blogentries a week before I have a whole bakery sitting on my counter. Even thoughI started this blog for baking, I decided I would throw some home cooked mealsin there too to keep it interesting and also to keep me from turning diabetic.

I also enjoy cooking but not nearly as much as baking. Ioften shy away from cooking with meat because I am freak who is unnecessarily paranoidof food-borne illnesses. I think I have taken one too many serve-safe coursesin my restaurant days and think I am going to get trichinosis every time I trya pork chop.  (*Please let me clarifythat I have no problem with eating raw cookie dough though)

I made this dish for Anthony for Valentine’s Day since itseemed easy enough to throw together quickly after  work but pretty and fancy enough to trick himinto thinking I am Cat Cora from Iron Chef.

The whole thing really came out delicious! I alwaysexperiment with new ideas not knowing what to expect. I appreciate theversatility of this dish. I really could have stuffed the chicken withanything. The original recipe did not have bacon inside but I thought it addedflavor to the strong spinach filling. I think a cheesey broccoli bacon fillingwould have been just as delish. I also used Monterey jack cheese in my pieceand pepper jack in Anthony’s piece because I am a baby and he is not.

My only recommendations are that I would have probablyenjoyed breading the chicken in a parmesan /bread crumb crust a little morethan the plain chicken to give it a little extra something. Also- I wish I hadpulled a Paula Deen and cut up a stick of butter for the fingerling potatoes tobrown in.  The dish was not by any meansbland, but there is always room for improvement and that usually entails addingsome caloric intake.

Spinach Bacon Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fingerling Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup shredded pepperjack cheese 4 cloves garlic, minced

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness 1 pinch ground black pepper 8 slices precooked bacon Fingerling Potatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2.	Place spinach in a large glass bowl, and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring every minute or so, or until unfrozen. Squeeze out the water. Stir in sour cream, pepperjack cheese, and garlic.
3.	Lay the chicken breasts out on a clean surface, and spoon some of the spinach mixture onto each one. Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach mix  and arrange in a shallow baking dish. Surround chicken with fingerling potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.
4.	Bake uncovered for 35 minutes in the preheated oven

Fudgy M&M Cookies

Can I just say that these cookies are the bomb? I have been trying to replicate an M&M cookie like those from my favorite bakery for-ev-er (Sandlot style) and I have finally found it! These are thick and fudgy and perfect! The original recipe just had these as dough for sugar cookies, but I am glad I added M&Ms because the dark crunchy M&Ms perfectly complement the rich, heavy, and sugary dough.   The secret to the fudgy dough is in the cream cheese. I have never really used cream cheese in a cookie before so I was pleasantly surprised to see the difference it made in the overall taste and texture. It is weird because you only use 2 oz though which I thought was a mistake because 2 oz is only a quarter of a bar of cream cheese. I neurotically searched the internet to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I read all the comments to the recipe for this and everyone else agreed that it seemed weird too.  I was apprehensive and ended up adding a little extra cream cheese anyways though. It was like that feeling of  having 6 questions in a row on a test have the letter “C”, but going back and changing an answer because there is NO WAY someone would ever put 6 Cs in a row…right??? RIGHT???

It was really hard choice to actually bake the cookies and not just eat all this


Anyways, take my word for it. These cookies are perfect. 

Fudgy M&M Sugar Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus a little extra for rolling

2 oz cream cheese, cut into chunks (room temperature or it will be chunky)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1 1/4 cups M&M's

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl (no need to stir them together yet).

Pour the warm butter over the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine - the mixture won't be completely smooth yet, that's fine.

Whisk in the oil then the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

4. Use a rubber spatula to start folding the dry ingredients into the wet. When the dry ingredients are

partially incorporated, add 3/4 cup of the M&M's to the dough. Continue mixing until a soft dough

comes together. (Don't wait to add the M&M's until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated

- you'll end up over mixing.)

5. Use a batter scoop (aka a tiny ice cream scoop) to get perfectly portioned cookies. Roll the dough balls in sugar.  You can also place extra M&Ms on top of the cookies when they come out of the oven. If you put them on top before baking, they will crack in the oven!

6. Bake the cookies for approximately 9 minutes. The cookies should not brown at all or they will be crispy. You will know when they are done when they have cracked around the edges.

Gooey Butter Cookies

I found this recipe from another food blogger and immediately had to try it. You are going to be hard pressed to find me passing up a recipe with the word gooey in the title, so I obviously immediately dropped everything I was doing to drive to the store in the blizzard and get the ingredients. The recipe is actually super simple and uses a box of cake as the base.


While I was heating up the oven, Anthony was baking takeout food in a Target bag. He thinks its appropriate to leave leftover food like pizza in the oven.  This is why we can't have nice things.

 

The cookies actually came out pretty good considering the extra ingredient of toxic plastic fumes. They are VERY rich and buttery and do not taste like a typical chocolate chip cookie. I would definitely make these again but I would play around with the flavor of cake mix. Next time I would probably try chocolate cake mix with white chocolate chips. Overall, it is an easy recipe to throw together and the cookies are still gooey the next day. I would know because I ate them for breakfast. Wooops!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Butter Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 stick  butter, softened 1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (18.25 ounce) package golden butter cake mix 2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.	In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Add cake mix, and stir until well blended. Add chocolate chips. Use a batter scoop to make small balls. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
3.	Bake for 10  minutes in the preheated oven. Be careful not to overcook...the top should be soft and the batter should still look raw when you take them out!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I had leftover cream cheese frosting from a baking disaster earlier in the week so I wanted to use it up.I tried a lemon blueberry muffin recipe and it came out terribly. I blame the recipe because it obviously could not have been my baking skills. Duh. Regardless, I refused to waste a whole bowl of home made cream cheese frosting so I just kind of threw these together.

I admit as much as I love baking, I am a sucker for boxed cake mixes. I have made regular cakes before but for the effort and time it takes to do it from scratch, the quality is really not that much better especially if you are doing a basic chocolate or vanilla cake. I wouldn't dare try to make a boxed carrot cake or banana cake though. No chance you are going to find a Betty Crocker mix that produces a rich carrot cake.

ANYWAYS...my point is these are just boxed devil's food cake cupcakes and I am embarrassed to admit it. I think there is a certain amount of pride it kills when someone likes something I bake but it isn't a unique recipe I started from scratch. Like anyone can add two eggs and some oil and bake these and it will be the same.

Whatever. At least the frosting is real.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

1 Box Devil's Food Cake mix - follow the recipe and make cupcakes
1 Box Oreos - (I split an oreo in half and placed the side with the creme face up on the bottom of the cupcake tin before baking for a surprise...crush the rest up and dip the frosted cupcakes in them)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.