Camouflage Cupcakes

Not only do I live in a house with two young boys but my husband is in the military.  Needless to say I am surrounded by various forms of camouflage.  The kiddos were asking for cupcakes and I was trying to come up with some fun thing I could do for St. Patrick's Day.  (Yes this post is way late!) Since I was the world's most boring Mom and just gave my boys cereal for breakfast, not even Lucky Charms or anything, I thought this would be something fun and still green to celebrate and make up for my lousy holiday spirit!  Needless to say I had happy pinch free kids.

Camouflage Cupcakes

15.25 oz Yellow Cake Mix

1/3 cup Oil

3 whole Eggs

1 1/4 cup Water

Cupcake liners
Piping bags or Ziplock bags with a chip clip or twist tie

Food Coloring: black, brown, green

*for brown you can add cocoa powder to the batter instead of the food coloring, my youngest doesn't like chocolate so we used food coloring so he could enjoy them too.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Follow the directions on the back of the cake mix: Beat the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large bowl on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.  

Fill two muffin tins with 21 cupcake liners. Divide the batter into three medium bowls.  Don't use small ones like me and make a mess!

(I grabbed one of my hubby's old uniforms to try to get somewhat close to the colors.)

Add several drops of food coloring to each bowl of batter and mix well to make an even color. 

(Ok, so the colors aren't close at all but we are going to pretend ;) )

After I made these and struggled getting good proportions with a spoon, I thought it would have been so much easier to have used a piping bag like I do for my frosting. (See picture below.  I always cheat and use a gallon ziplock bag. Fill one corner then twist it up and use a chip clip to seal the bag and snip the end.)

Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls into the cupcake liners. Try to alternate where you drop the different colors making a speckled pattern with the batter.

Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan then remove to cool completely.

Frosting

1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks), softened
8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup warm water (or milk)
4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a mixing bowl add butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Beat with an electric mixer until blended.  Add in another cup of powdered sugar, the vanilla extract, salt, and 1-2 Tbsp of warm water.  Beat with the mixer until well blended.  Add another cup of powdered sugar with 1 Tbsp of water and beat.  Then repeat with the remaining ingredients.  Beat an additional minute until the frosting is fluffy and all of the sugar is incorporated.  At this point feel free to add any food coloring you want. Since my cupcakes had lots of color, I left the frosting white.  Transfer the frosting into a piping bag.  Decorate cooled cupcakes.

Yeah!!! Happy boys! My favorite thing :)

Glad I got a picture of these, they sure didn't last long!

"I can't believe they're not Brownie's" Cookies

I originally made these cookies to participate with the Behind the Curtain monthly Dessert Challenge, but since I was out of town and didn't get my post ready before I left, I didn't participate in the hop this time. However, I still wanted to share with you these yummy cookies!  I had tried making brownie cookies before and I was not happy with the results so I did some more tweaking and came up with these! These are the best of both worlds.  The have a fabulous rich chocolatey flavor with my favorite chewy and easy to grab form of a cookie. I hope you give these a try and let me know what you think!

"I can't believe they're not Brownie's" Cookies

1/2 cup butter, cubed
Scant 2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup marshmallow bits
1/4 cup chopped pecans (next time I will double the pecans, yummo!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Bring a pot with about an inch of water in it to boil.  In a double boiler add the chocolate chips and the cubed butter.  Reduce the heat on the water to medium low and place the double boiler over the pan of water.  Stir occasionally until the butter and chocolate are melted.

Meanwhile in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the 3 eggs, oil, sugars, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. 

Beat for 2-4 minutes. 

When the chocolate is completely melted remove the double boiler from a pan with a hot pad.  Be sure to wipe the bottom with a towel to remove any condensed water.  

Carefully add the chocolate to the sugar mixture in a slow stream while the mixer is on.  When most of the chocolate has been added turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to transfer the rest into the bowl.  Mix until the chocolate is completely combined.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add the flour to the chocolate in two additions, mixing just until combined.  Add the mini marshmallow bits and the pecans and mix until evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and using a medium scoop drop the dough about 2" apart.  

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are set and do not look doughy in the middle.  

Remove the pan from the oven to a cooling rack.  

Cool for 3 minutes or so on the pan then remove to the cooling rack to cool completely or devour warm!

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Green Jello Cake

This is one of my husband's favorite recipes passed on to me from my Mother-in-Law.  It looks great, tastes great, and as far as dessert goes, actually not too bad for you.  You can substitute any Jello flavor you want, we used green to celebrate St. Patty's day coming up, but you will want to use a strong flavor.  Cherry or raspberry work better than strawberry... Mix and match and come up with your own favorite combination. Although this does take awhile to set up, it does make this a great make ahead recipe!

Green Jello Cake

1 16.25 oz White Cake Mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 whole eggs
1 3 oz green Jello (or favorite flavor:  cherry, raspberry work well)
2/3 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water, ice
1 3.4 oz Vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
2 cups milk
1 8 oz cool whip

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Assemble the ingredients and follow the directions for a 9x13 cake. Adjust the water, oil and eggs according to the directions on your cake mix.  I use the whole egg recipe. Bake as directed for 30-35 minutes.

Remove the baked cake from the oven to a cooling rack.  

Using a straw or a chop stick, poke holes over the entire surface of the cake about 1/2" -1" apart.

Boil 2/3 cup of water.  Meanwhile add a few ice cubes to a liquid measuring cup and add enough water to almost measure 1/2 cup.  Add the jello powder to the boiling water and stir until dissolved about 2 minutes. Add the ice water and mix well until all the ice is melted. Set aside for 5 minutes.  

*note: (I used the same small batter bowl that I measured the water and oil in, that's why there are little oil droplets on the surface of the jello in this picture)

Gently pour the jello evenly over the top of the cake.  If the cake starts pulling apart you can pour the jello slowly over the back of a spoon and it will land more softly.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.

In a mixing bowl combine the vanilla pudding powder and 2 cups of cold milk and beat for 2 minutes until thick.  Remove the cake from the refrigerator and evenly spread the pudding over the top.  

Let set for 5-10 minutes.

(Like where my son snuck a piece? So much for pretty pictures...)

Spoon the cool whip on top of the cake.  Then using an offset spatula or knife, spread the cool whip as the final layer over the cake.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Chill any leftovers.

I love how you can see the layers all the way to the bottom.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Cherry Cheesecake Coca Cola Brownies

This post is for the February Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge! Every month Miss Sheryl @ The Lady Behind the Curtain hosts this amazing challenge.  We are given two new ingredients every month to work with and then we must create a new dessert recipe using those ingredients.  For Valentine's Day we were given Cherry and Coke. Since I've already made Cherry Coca Cola Cupcakes I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with something new.  After a few baking fails I did find a winner! Enter the Cherry Cheesecake Coca Cola Brownies.

Cherry Cheesecake Coca Cola Brownies

Brownie
18.4 oz Supreme Original Brownie Mix with Hershey's in a pouch
1/4 cup Coca Cola
1/2 cup oil
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten

Cheesecake
8 oz cream cheese, softened
6 Tbsp (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 extra large egg

1/2 recipe for Easy Homemade Cherry Pie Filling or 1 15 oz can of Cherry Pie Filling.

Preheat oven to 375˚ F. If making your own cherry pie filling follow these directions now. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the brownie mix.  Snip the end of the Hershey's syrup and add to the dry ingredients along with the Coca Cola, oil, and lightly beaten egg.  With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon mix until all the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. But don't over-mix.

Spray a 8x10" baking dish and pour in the brownie batter, spreading evenly with the spatula.

In a separate bowl beat the softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Beat for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.

Carefully spoon the cheesecake mixture on top of the brownie batter already in the pan.

Using a knife, swirl the batters together using a figure 8 motion.

Spoon the cherry pie filling over the top of the cheesecake and brownie mixture.  Repeat the figure 8 pattern using the knife again over the mixture creating a marbled pattern with all three layers.

Bake in your preheated oven for 40-50 minutes until the top is set completely but not cracked. Remove to a cooling rack.

Cool completely.

Cut and serve. This is fabulous topped with whipped cream.

Refrigerate any leftovers! 

This tastes even better the next day which makes it the perfect make ahead dessert.