Sweets are Good For the Soul: Part Two

Yesterday, I blogged about my past life with Paula Dean and my unconditional love for sweets. My love doesn't stop just at sweets. Nope, I'm a lover of many food related items. One of them being Nutella. Wait, you haven't heard of Nutella? Really? Let me explain. Nutella is a delicious hazelnut spread. Pair it with a banana or a piece of toast and you've got yourself a little snacky-snack.

This weekend I wanted to bring something sweet in addition to my something salty to our tailgate. When I found a Nutella recipe that ALSO included Funfetti - ugh, my heart melted and my brain filled with hazelnuts. I knew that I was destined to make this treat for my tailgaters. Side note: my unconditional food love is also given to Funfetti. 

Nutella Marshmallow Bars from Inside BruCrew Life

• 1 box Funfetti cake mix
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup Nutella
• 1 cup marshmallow fluff

Click here to follow BruCrew's step by step directions. Thank goodness there are brilliant chefs on the interent willing to share their recipes with gals like me. Also thankfully, my bf was in my kitchen to help with the marshmallow fluff. Whew!

Let's just say the Nutella Marshmallow Cookies were enjoyed by many at the tailgate. Including my lovely bloggy models, Tyler and Elyse!

Bloggy debut. 

Many Nutella cookies made it to the tailgate, but not many made it home... (hehe, see what I did there?)

Cheering for Mizzou

The gooey texture of the cake mix combined with the Nutella and fluff was absolutely delightful. I chopped them up into little bite size squares and we munched on them all day long. So bloggy friends, what Nutella recipes have you tested lately? Do share!

Scrumptious x2 Tuesday

Lucky Post #100!

Brace yourself! I've got two deliciously easy treats for you to try. Which are conveniently two of my favorite characteristics of baking: delicious and easy. More emphasis on the delicious of course.

Side note: I'm rocking the clothing version of a mullet right now. I'm partially dressed in sweat pants and my dress and pearls from school today. I'm ready for business on top and slumber on the bottom. Which reminds me of this:

Musings

Back on track.. Once again brace yourself.


Apple Dumplings (with a splash of 'Dew!)

Warning: These have not been baked, YET!

Where did I find this recipe you ask? Well, Pinterest of course. Can I think of anything on my own anymore or simply crack open a cook book? Ha! That's nonsense. Or so she says... is a great blog full of great recipes. Check it out!

Apple Dumplings

from The Pioneer Woman

2 sticks butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tubes crescent rolls

2 granny smith apples

12 ounces of Mountain Dew

Cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

Directions: 

• Peel and slice your apples.  (I skipped this step)
• Wrap each slice in a crescent dough triangle and place in sprayed (greased) pan.  
• In a bowl, melt your butter and stir in sugar and vanilla.  
• Pour over top of the wrapped apples....or spread on top with a spoon.  
• Pour the Mt. Dew all around and sprinkle with Cinnamon. 
• Place in 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes.  
• Serve hot with ice cream!

I've never baked with Mountain Dew (or any pop for that matter), so my hand was a tad shaky pouring the dew all over my beautifully wrapped apples (of course, I'm exaggerating. They weren't beautiful). The final product was delish. I've got a few leftovers in my fridge.. head on over!

She Says Photo

I'm a lover of all things Funfetti. Ever since my BFF Ali (click here for her blog!) discovered the magical recipe of Funfetti cookies. I've even blogged about a Funfetti adventure here and here. See? I'm borderline obsessed. So, anytime I see something Funfetti related on Pinterest it's an automatic repin. Introducing recipe numero dos:

Funfetti Cake Batter Fudge from Pursuit of Happiness (I'm a new follower!)

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

3.5 cups white chocolate chips

3 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Almond Extract

Rainbow Sprinkles

Pour milk and white chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2-3 minutes, or until white chocolate is almost completely melted. DO NOT OVERHEAT. Stir until completely blended, melted, and smooth.

Immediately add vanilla and almond and combine thoroughly. Add a handful or so of rainbow sprinkles and fold in quickly, because they will melt (and if they are stirred for too long they’ll turn the fudge an ugly muddy color)

Transfer to an aluminum-foil lined 8×8 inch baking pan for very thick fudge, or a 11X7 pan (recommended). Let set at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

MIZ Fudge Style

I think I went a little crazy with the almond flavoring, but overall my fudge was/is pretty delish. I'll be sure to let you know what my book club thinks of it tonight.

Before I go, I'm sure you've seen the adorable photo of snowman door decor floating around Pinterest and bloggy land. I decided to bring a little snow into my classroom before the holidays! Hopefully it doesn't bring a blizzard like last year. Oops!

Thumpity Thump Thump

Linking up here!

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby!

Warning: Several cake pops were harmed in the making of this post. Including this poor little guy:

Yes, that is the floor. Carpet to be exact. He didn't make it from the fridge to my chocolate pot. Let's try and move past this...

CAKE POPS! I thought these little gems only existed at Starbucks. Apparently, I was waaay-off. They'e all the rage. If you're not eating or making cake pops.. something is wrong with you! Okay, I'm lying. But, they're cute!

See?

Save the Date For Cupcakes

Veronica's Cornucopia

Skip to My Lou

In honor of a friend's bacherlorette party, I decided to embark on a cake pop journey. It seemed like an easy one. The recipe was simple.

Of course, I ran into a few mishaps.

Ready.. Set.. Go!

Funfetti strikes AGAIN! These little cake pops were my first treat using my brand new KitchenAid that I blogged about earlier. I got so excited using the mixer hands free.. I took a few pictures.

Mix, sweet mixer! MIX!

Then, I dropped my cracked egg inside the mixer. While going for the "off" switch, I turned the mixer to HIGH and had to make a mad dash to remove all egg shell from my poor cake. Lesson learned! Be careful with eggs around the mixer. Or maybe the lesson should be... crack the egg and then drop it inside the mixer? Whatever the lesson was (is) ... my mixer is awesome and I'm in love.

My guidance for this post comes straight from Love From the Oven. She gives a fantastic picture-friendly tutorial for creating this poppers. After the egg incident, it was smooth sailing for a few hours. That's only because I had to let me box cake cool for two of them. Then, I destroyed my cake.

Putting the FUN in Funfetti

Next, I added the icing and starting rolling the cake into little balls. I began melting the almond bark and started dipping. This was complicated. Wait, let me rephrase that.. this was frustrating. I lost several poppers to this almond barking. The poppers would crumble and fall apart inside my sprinkles bowl. Errg!

I found my groove with the cake pops and started crankin' more out. I think I made 9. I started getting sleepy and decided I would finish the rest in the morning. My bed, FRIENDS, and my blog were calling my name.

Don't judge, but these are the ugliest cake pops ever. This isn't me fishing for compliments either! They're actually quite funny to see. This little guy has a little bit of a swagger, don't ya think?

Poppin'

Love From the Oven's pops look like rockstars compared to mine!

Love From the Oven

Cake pops... we will meet again. Next time, I will be victorious. 

Etsy

Snap, Crackle, POP!

All day long I thought it was Tuesday. At 3:00, I figured out that it is actually Wednesday. Which means tomorrow is Thursday, but to me it will feel like Wednesday. Huh?

I can't even think of what's going on in my brain right now. It's all mush. Mush-mushy-mush.

I'll stop rambling and get to it! Feast your eyes on this:

Lovin' From the Oven

I know what you're thinking...

"C'mon Jordon! A rice krispy treat? LAME."

"I learned that recipe from SNAP, CRACKLE, and POP!"

This rice krispy treat is more than meets the eye. Thanks to the creative genius behind Lovin' From the Oven, we have the "Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treat".

Yum.

Cake Batter Krispy Treats:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 10-ounce bag of mini marshmallows (4 cups mini marshmallows)
• 3/4 cup Funfetti cake mix
• 6 cups rice krispies cereal
• 6 heaping tablespoons of sprinkles

1. Completely melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
3. Next, stir in the cake mix until dissolved. 
4. Stir in the cereal until it is evenly coated with marshmallow. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix and continue stirring. 
5. Press the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with remaining sprinkles. Cut and enjoy!

If you're like me and you love all things Funfetti.. this one is sure to be a hit. Lucky for friends at my school tomorrow, I'll be coming to school with treat in hand.

I should go to bed. I am wearing sweatpants and a huge sweatshirt (commonly known as the gray monster). I have on a lot of clothing for 80 degree weather. I feel like Joey....

Could I be wearing anymore clothes?