Dessert

Cookie Dough Brownies

2 · Mar 27, 2015 · 7 Comments

+ This Cookie Dough Brownies post is brought to you by the Pillsbury Baking +

Have you ever had one of those nights when the sweet monster attacks? I know you have…

You’re standing in the kitchen rummaging through to the pantry, the fridge & the freezer and you just want something quick, sinful and sweet! You start dreaming of crazy concoctions and then it hits you…

Cookie Dough Brownies!!

What… that hasn’t ever happened to you?

Ok, well… it’s happened at our house and these little bites of goodness couldn’t be easier to make.

All you need to do is stock up on these two goodies from the folks at Pillsbury Baking…

Purely Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix & Family Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix from Pillsbury. It’s really quite amazing how far these box mixes have come. The folks at Pillsbury Baking have been tirelessly working on creating box mixes that are just as good as homemade. What I love about them is how quick they are to mix-up, especially on those days when you have a monster craving or when you need a treat to take to an event. All you have to do is keep your pantry stocked with a few boxes and you’re all set.

I’m especially LOVING the new Purely Simple line of goodies from Pillsbury. These mixes are lovely and they don’t have any of those troublesome preservatives and artificial colors or flavors. I love’em!

Now these Cookie Dough Brownies couldn’t be any easier to make.

First, bake-up your brownies, mixing according to package directions. I like my brownies nice and thick, so I baked mine in a smaller baking dish like a 8×8 or 9×9 pan. While the brownies are cooling, mix up your cookie dough. The only change that I make with the cookie dough is that I leave out the eggs. Since we are not baking the cookies, I don’t want to mess around with possible food illness issues with the raw eggs.

Mix-up the cookie dough and then spread it on top of the brownies, carefully, while they are still slightly warm. It’s it’s just as if you are frosting your brownies. You want to have a lighter hand so you don’t tear up the brownies underneath…

Voliá… Cookie Dough Brownies!

Let the brownies fully cool and give the cookie dough time to set and then you can cut them into bite sized pieces…

This is the best of both world… It’s a chance for brownie lovers and cookie dough lovers to unite!

What’s not to celebrate about that? Sometimes you need to take a quick moment and celebrate the little things and this quick recipe is the perfect way to do that!

Visit Pillsbury Baking for all kinds of fun recipe ideas. Don’t forget to follow them on Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest for even more baking fun!

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Pillsbury Baking. I received product and payment for this post, however… I will only post about products that I truly love and use in my everyday life.

Nana Nog // Almond Banana Shake Recipe

1 · Jan 23, 2015 · 1 Comment

+ This Nana Nog // Banana Shake Recipe Post brought to you by the folks at Silk Almond Milk +

When I was a kid, one of my favorite treats was a banana shake that my Mom would make every once in a while, we called it a Nana Nog.

No relation to Egg Nog, plus you can drink it year-round!

It was a simple mixture, but it was always so heavenly. She would always pull it out of her hat, right at the perfect time.

You know, that moment when you’re craving a little sweet refreshing treat?!

Secretly I’m sure, she made them right when the bananas were heading south and she didn’t have time to make banana bread.

I however, would like to think she was so in tune with my every desire and knew just when the time was right to pull out her famous Nana Nog!

The name of the drink has a two fold meaning now. Of course it was originally named after the key ingredient, bananas. Now, since we call my Mom Nana, the drink is named after her the creator! It’s perfect!!

We have another drink called Magical Monkey Milk, I’ll have to share that sometime too! It’s yummy!!

Nana Nogs are simply a mixture of Silk Almond Milk, bananas, ice, a little bit of sugar and a dash of nutmeg. Boy I tell ya, it really hits the spot sometimes! I choose to use Almond Milk rather than traditional milk for several reasons. First, it’s obviously dairy-free so even friends with dairy issues can have this sweet treat. Plus, check out all these added benefits…

90 calories per serving
50% more calcium than dairy milk
Excellent source of vitamin E
Absolutely no cholesterol or saturated fat
Free of dairy, soy, lactose, gluten, casein, egg and MSG
Verified by the Non-GMO Project’s product verification program
No artificial colors, flavors or funny business

Yea, it’s pretty good stuff. Silk’s plant protein truly helps you BLOOM, plus it tastes GREAT!!

You should check out the Silk Site for all kinds of great ideas and coupons for all the Silk products.

Nana Nog Recipe

2 ripe bananas

2 cups of Silk Vanilla Sweetened Almond Milk

1 cup of ice

1/4 teaspoon of sugar

a pinch of nutmeg

Really truly, your bananas should look more like this…

In the jar of your blender, add all of your ingredients.

And Blend, that’s it!

This makes roughly three to four child size servings. Perfect to share with some friends.

My little guy Gage thinks it’s just the bees knees! Grab some Silk Almond Milk and surprise your kiddos with this fun treat!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Orange Honey Butter Spread with Melt Organic

5 · Jan 14, 2015 ·

+ Orange Honey Butter Spread Recipe brought to you by Melt® Organic +

This is one of my favorite culinary times of year… Citrus Season! I don’t know about you, but I love the oranges this time of year. They are like candy and I just can’t get enough of them. Which is probably good since we all seem to be fighting the cold and flu war this time of year, a little extra vitamin C is perfect! I thought a lovely Orange Honey Butter would be a great addition to a brunch table.

Recently, I was invited to try a new product out on the market called Melt® Organic. It’s this really cool “butter like” spread that has all the stuff we love about butter, but it’s packed full of healthier fats and it’s dairy and soy free. I would have to say I was a little skeptical at first. Can this product made out of a blend of organic coconut, flaxseed, canola, palm fruit & sunflower oils really have the taste and creamy texture of butter? I decided to put it to the test.

First test, compound butter… Last Christmas, for my neighbor gifts, I made some lovely compound butters. I whipped together some honey, garlic & berry butters, packaged them up and gave them to my friends and neighbors for holiday gifts. They were a hit.

I wanted to give this idea a go with this new Melt® Organic product. I whipped it up the very same way, I place roughly 6 oz. basically half a container of Melt® Organic into my mixer with roughly 1 heaping tablespoon of orange marmalade.

Then whip the two together really well. Place in a small jar and serve immediately or store in the refrigerator and use as needed. It turned out beautifully!

I whipped up some black cherry butter spread with the other half of my container and I was all set for a lovely brunch.

What I LOVE about the Melt® Organic is that it is GMO-free and it’s helping get my healthy fats in the right way. Here’s the skinny about Melt® Organic…

Ideal balance of Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids – 2:1
Good daily source of Omega 3 ALA’s at 425 mg – 26% RDA per serving
Good daily source of Vitamin E – 15% RDA per serving
Certified USDA Organic and OU Kosher Pareve
Verified non-GMO by the Non-GMO Project
Absolutely no hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
Trans Fat Free
Gluten Free
Soy Free
Dairy Free
Vegan
No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives

Not bad if you ask me!

The next test… Baking Cookies.

I mixed up a batch of our favorite Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Cookies with Melt® Organic rather than butter. They mixed up beautifully and baked even better. My family didn’t even notice the difference.

I noticed a difference knowing that even though cookies aren’t exactly health food, and fat is still fat, I felt better knowing that the cookies they were eating were made from healthier fats. You can grab this recipe HERE, just substitute the Melt® Organic for the butter.

The next test… I sautéd some corn with Melt® Organic and I really liked that much better than butter. You still have the butter flavor without all the yucky fats. My family loved this test too.

All in all, my experience with Melt® Organic has been super positive and we have been converted for sure!

Click HERE to find a store near you that carries Melt® Organic. You can generally find it in the organic dairy section of your local super market. If not, you can always order it online. Grab some and give it a spin, tell me what you think!

MELT® Organic is a line of luscious, organic spreads made from healthy oils for butter lovers seeking a much healthier alternative, available in Rich & Creamy (original), Honey, and NEW Chocolate.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of MELT Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.

English Toffee Cinnamon Bun Sweet Cake + Easy Neighbor Gift

15 · Dec 17, 2014 · 3 Comments

+ English Toffee Cinnamon Bun Sweet Cake post brought to you by Pillsbury Baking +

We’re hitting crunch time friends! Christmas is about a week away. Have you figured out what you are giving your neighbors and friends this Christmas season? I have a super easy and super sweet gift idea for you… English Toffee Cinnamon Bun Sweet Cakes!

Uh yes… YUM!!

This is just a simple and scrumptious box cake mix and prepared frosting from my favorite folks at Pillsbury Baking. They have done all the hard work of making it perfect… All you have to do is bake it and make it look amazing!

Here is what you need…

Yep, that’s it. Well… You will need eggs and oil for the cake, but other than that, this is it.

I also found these great baking cups at Target that come with a clear lid. Super Cute and easy to use. You can find it in the baking section at Target.

Mix up your cake according to the package directions and fill you baking cups 1/2 way.

Place in a 350˚ oven for 19-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool. If you would like a flat top to decorate, carefully cut-off the dome with a serrated knife.

Using a Jumbo Closed Star Decorating Tip, and a pastry bag… Pipe some simple stars on the top of your little sweet cakes.

Next, in a Ziplock bag, add some English Toffee. Using something heavy item like a rolling pin or meat tenderizer, take out some aggression and crush your toffee. Sprinkle on top of the sweet cakes and you’re finished!

All you need to do now is package your sweet treats.

I place the lid on the sweet cakes and then wrap with a ribbon. Then I add a fun gift tag that I created for this Holiday Season.

You can download the gift tag HERE

I’ve printed the tag on kraft paper, but you can use whatever you like. All I did was tie it onto a stack of sweet cakes and we were ready for delivery!

It can’t get any easier than that. The cool thing is you can customize it for each family.

One box of cake mix will make 10 little sweet cakes. You will need two cans of frosting for that application. Stack them in 2’s and 3’s and it’s a fun new way to share some Christmas Cheer!

For a Savory gift tag option… Check-out this post.

How fun will it be to combine the two?!

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Pillsbury Baking. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own. However, I want you all to know that I will never promote a product or company that I do not love and use in my normal day to day life.

Dessert

Cookie Dough Brownies!!

Nana Nog Recipe

You can download the gift tag HERE

Footer