Cake batter blondies

I saw several variations on this recipe before I found this one - one I preferred because it seemed to be the easiest and for the most part, I had the ingredients readily available.

These blondies are just as good as you would imagine them to be. Mine didn't turn out gooey in the middle like I imagined - next time I make them I'll take them out of the oven a few minutes sooner. But they were extremely delicious and super easy to make. I think the white chocolate chips really make this dessert.

The only variation I made to the recipe was to use a Funfetti cake mix instead of a yellow cake mix, and since it has sprinkles in it I reduced the amount of extra sprinkles.

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 egg

1/4 -1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sprinkles

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Add the milk slowly. You want to cake batter to be as dense & thick as possible.
   
   

   
4. Mix in the sprinkles and white chocolate chips.
5. Pour into 8 x 8inch baking pan, sprinkle a few more sprinkles on top, and bake for 25-30 minutes until edges are just turning brown. The blondies will still be gooey in the middle just out of the oven but after they've completely cooled they will be perfectly chewy and soft.
   
   

   
6. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes so the center sets, before cutting into squares.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Cake Batter Bark

I saw this recipe at the beginning of the year. I didn't make it until this month, though, and I'm posting it today because it's my birthday (eek, I'm 30!). What better recipe for a birthday than one involving cake batter?!

I vowed to my coworker I would make it and share with the department. I had been waiting for a special occasion, thinking it was fancy and involved. But then we had a rough patch at work last month - one of my coworkers had her gall bladder removed (she was admitted to the hospital on her birthday!), I unexpectedly missed a few days of work for the funeral of my grandmother, and our boss took a new job and moved away. This was all during our busiest month of the year, so to say we were stressed is a bit of an understatement.

This bark was just the thing to bring a little light back to our downtrodden souls. It was amazingly easy, very quick and was an absolute hit in the office. The only downsides? It's a tad expensive after you buy the bars of chocolate. It melts quickly - for our purposes at work, presentation was sacrificed for taste as we kept the bark in a bag in the fridge. And to be honest, maybe my "heaping 1.5 teaspoons of cake batter" wasn't heaping enough - the cake batter taste really didn't come through to me. But the sprinkles? Those were cute. And I'm a sucker for white chocolate, so this was a winner for me.

Ingredients:
7 ounces good dark chocolate
12 ounces good white chocolate
1.5 heaping tsp.  yellow cake mix
Colored sprinkles

Directions:
1. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave, over a double burner, or over low flame. Spread thinly over parchment paper of a silpat. (I just used parchment paper on a cookie sheet.)

2. Cool in the freezer for 20 minutes.

3. Melt the white chocolate. Add the cake mix, stir well. Spread over the dark. (Do a little bit at a time because it will melt the chocolate and it won't look as pretty.)

4. Top with rainbow sprinkles. Freeze for 20 more minutes.

5. Break into pieces and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat it.

P.S. I'll share what I did with the remainder of my cake mix in an upcoming post!

Source: Stephanie Cooks

A visit from a friend (and more things pumpkin-related)

My friend Lesley came to visit me recently for several days. We shopped, we got pedicures, we watched football and we had some wine at a local wine bar. It was a fun time. Here we are, on our "ladies night."


Being one of my oldest and best friends, she knows (and shares in) my love of all things pumpkin. That is why she, being the awesomely amazing person she is, brought me pumpkin spice coffee. And it's why when we happened past Sprinkles one afternoon, we knew we had to stop in on a whim, in case -- please God -- they would happen to have pumpkin cupcakes that day.

Have you ever had a Sprinkles cupcake? If not, you must. They are stupidly expensive ($3.50 for a cupcake? Wha?) and worth every darn cent.

And they had them. Bless them. I think I used up a large chunk of my good karma on that one.

So we went back home, brewed some pumpkin spice coffee, lit a Mexican Pumpkin candle, ate our pumpkin cupcakes and pretended like it wasn't 102 outside in the middle of October. What a great afternoon.

Sprinkles, Sprinkles, Everywhere!

I have a problem.
Or maybe I should say, my Mom has a problem. A Sprinkles Problem.
There's a store out in the Amish country of Ohio that sells every type of sprinkle in any shape you can imagine.
And she likes to buy them for me.
She's trying to cut back. But sometimes... she just can't help herself, and I find myself making room in my baking cabinet for another plastic container.
I've got all kinds: cows, black cats, pink breast cancer ribbons, candy canes, an assortment of barnyard animals, dinosaurs. Yes, I said dinosaurs.
I used to cover the education beat as a reporter. Therefore, I have school bus and ABC sprinkles:

My parents love all things Disney. So naturally, I have Mickey head sprinkles:

I have to admit. When I frost up some cupcakes or cookies, it is really fun to pull them all out and try to decide which container to dive into. In fact, I am thinking about baking something this weekend just so I can use my pastel star sprinkles.
When I evaluated my collection the other day, I noticed which sprinkles in particular I seem to be drawn to. Particularly, anything fall or halloween related, and anything with hearts or a Valentine's Day theme. But apparently I don't frost many Easter-related baked goods, cuz I have an abundance of Easter egg sprinkles.
Dare I tell her that I'm running low on football helmet sprinkles?

Or would that just encourage her?