Sugar Bean Bakers

{ Cookie Dough Bites }

2012-05-26T23:17:00.003-04:00

Cookie Dough Bites? I'm not even joking right now!!

The Bean is a cookie dough freak. Freak, I'm tellin ya.

As I eluded to in this post, there would be more cookie dough goings on on this blog.

So, here it is.

The Cookie Dough Cupcakes are Bean's favorite favorite apparently.

He begs lil a wee pup when I'm making cookies for a bite of dough. Or steals it when I'm not looking, the dirty rotten scoundrel!

So, when I found the cookie dough recipe for the cupcakes, and realized it was eggless, it seemed like the perfect fix for his obsession.

What you do, is make the exact recipe as in the cupcakes.

Egg-less Cookie Dough

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
4 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup miniature chocolate chips

(original recipe by Recipe Girl)

Beat the butter and the sugars together, add the salt, soda, and vanilla. Then add the flour. Add the milk and beat until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Roll into balls. Should make about 24.

I used the Pampered Chef small scoop.

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.

(I didn't use parchment here, and you don't HAVE to, but you'll have to pry the lil suckers off)

After freezing, melt up some chocolate. A few at a time (placing the rest back in the fridge or freezer), dip in the chocolate. Fully coat. Using a fork, remove from chocolate and tap off excess. Place on foil/parchment to dry.

If you wish, throw on a few sprinkles, or swirl on some white chocolate.

AS SOON AS THEY ARE DRIED, EAT THEM.

Go on, you know you want to!

Kidding (sort of).

Store in an air tight container in the fridge. Should stay fresh for about 3 days.

So, once again, I thought I invented something, and once again, I was SO wrong.

After a little Google consultation, I came to find that many people have made these long before me.

One day I WILL invent something. Darn googledwellers beating me to everything!

In the meantime, enjoy these!

Tina

shared at:
Six Sisters' Stuff

{ "Ice Cream" Cupcakes }

2012-05-23T16:02:00.005-04:00

The Bean has 2 days of 9th grade left. TWO DAYS? Two days left as a High School Freshman.

That's just not right. Sophomore seems SO much older than a Freshman.

Plus I don't get to call him names like Freshy, Freshbait, and Freshmeat.

Sophomore is just no fun.

At the end of the year, he likes to give his teachers a little gift. We've done Ice Cream Cone Cake Balls and Giant Cookies from this recipe (which we dipped 1/2 way in melted chocolate & covered in sprinkles). They are also quite fond of these Caramel Apples,that we gave them as Christmas gifts.

Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

If you give an Elementary School Teacher a gift, they will be very appreciative and thankful. If you give a Jr. High/High School Teacher a gift, they will loose their minds.

See, something happens between Elementary School and Jr. High School. The gifts, they stop. I assume it's because, instead of 1 teacher, the kids have several, but I'm not sure. It's an interesting phenomenon. While an Elementary Teacher's desk at Christmas is loaded with gifts, a Jr High/High School Teacher's is empty.

Now, I totally understand, gifts are expensive, that is why we started making gifts from the oven.
They love it.

This year, we found this cool cupcake originally posted at Living Locurto by Kristan of Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.

Now, how dang cute are those?

Here's our take on them...

It's just a cupcake in an ice cream container (I got these at Bake it Pretty) with a holy ton of icing.

Our icing was scooped with an actual ice cream scoop.

Top that with melted chocolate (chocolate bark), then sprinkles, and a red gumball, or, as we used, a red Peanut M&M (M side down, of course!).

You can also buy little domed lids for the containers, or you can package them as Kristan did.

We added a note, taped a spoon to the top, and bam, done.

The Bean made the icing, did the sprinkles, and added the cherry. He wanted me to spoon the chocolate on, however.

I'm clearly more gifted in chocolate plopping.

It's a life skill.

How great would these be for a birthday party?

Great for a summertime party too!

And yes, as always, the teachers were thrilled.

2 more days. I can't believe my lil Bean is nearly a Sophomoron.

Ok, that's a little mean, but I've got a few months to work on it.

Happy Summer!!

Tina

{ Rainbow Slush }

2012-05-18T11:14:00.002-04:00

Tonight is the Bean's 15th birthday party. If you keep up, you'll know his birthday was actually over a month ago.

However, this is Ohio, and outside birthday parties in April are iffy at best!

For the last few years we've had in in May. The weather today is 82 and sunny!

YUS!!

I showed you pics of our backyard fire pit, well, that is where approximately 20 teenagers (I just typed teenangers. Freudian slip?) will gather tonight for 4 hours.

Am I crazy? Probably.

Here's what it looks like after my lovely hubster added the lighting though

We'll have hot dogs, chips, Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores, S'mores, and this...

Rainbow Slush

I'm pretty dang sure this will be a huge hit with the kids.

I found this on the Ramblings From the Sunshine State blog.

It's so so so so easy.

Now, go check out how to make it on Ramblings From the Sunshine State!

I gotta go, I've got SO much to do in the next few hours, yet here I sit.

Internets are evil.

Have a great day!

Tina

{ Strawberry Pie }

2012-05-15T20:05:00.007-04:00

The husband loves strawberry pie.

Like, super duper loves.

Specifically, his Grammy's strawberry pie.

I love his Grammy's strawberry pie too, ya know why?

Because it's quick. It's easy. It's inexpensive.

What could be better?

Here's whatcha need:

Grammy's Strawberry Pie

1 Baked Pie Shell (store bought, or this is a great recipe)

1 Container of Strawberries, washed and fully dry *

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Water

3 Tablespoons Corn Starch

3 Tablespoons Strawberry Jello (powder)**

*you can use more berries, if you like. For this pie, I used 2 containers.

**store the rest in a ziploc baggie for making this again!

On the stovetop, add all ingredients into a heavy saucepan. Stir together. Heat over medium heat.

It will be kind of a milky red

Allow to boil and thicken, stirring constantly. As it begins to thicken, it will turn a clear, bright red.

When thickened, remove from heat.

Thicken. There, I felt the need to say it four times in a row.

I feel better now.

Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes.

While cooling, assemble your berries in your baked crust.
You may choose to cut them, or use them whole.

I like using whole berries.

Pour the gel over your berries.

(You can see the consistency of the gel in this photo)

Then, put into refrigerator until set. This will take several hours.

This is the hardest part of the whole recipe.

The waiting.

Oh my gersh, it's so dang prettttttttttttty!

And tasty too!

When set, cut, add whipped topping and... devour!

This is SO much better than the red, gooshy bagged stuff you find in the store.

If given the chance, my hubster would eat a whole recipe of this.

WITHOUT berries.

This is the same gel I used here, in Aunt Rosie's Strawberry Delight.

You should totally make that too.

Man, I LOVE strawberry season!

Tina

shared at:
Michelle's Tasty Creations
Something Swanky

{ Mozzy Cheese Sticks }

2012-05-03T17:07:00.008-04:00

As I hinted at in this post, the Bean is a cheese stick fiend.

He squishy heart loves the fried gooey goodness that is THE CHEESE STICK.

Last week, after his orthodontist appointment, we stopped for lunch at a chain restaurant. He spied cheese sticks on the menu and wanted them UNTIL he noticed the price. $7.95.

He thought that was far too high, and people, he's 15, and spending his parent's money.

Maybe there's hope for this one's spending habits after all, eh?

I told him we'd pop over to the grocery and grab up the ingredients and make them ourselves, and so we did.

Here's what you need:

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Mozzarella String Cheese (or block, cut into fat strips)

Italian Bread Crumbs

Flour

Eggs

Spices
(garlic, Lawry's Season Salt, dried parsley, other spices if you wish)

Oil for frying

We only did 4 cheese sticks, so we used:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg (well beaten)

1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon garlic

1/2 teaspoon Lawry's
(use seasonings to your personal liking)

First, season your crumbs & mix well

Then cut your cheese (refraining from immature joke here)

Then we do a basic coating, what I do when I fry anything, eggs and flour.
In this case, we do it a wee differently. First flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs.

Confused? Just watch as the Bean demonstrates.

Roll in flour to coat all sides (including ends!)

Dip in egg

Then roll in breadcrumbs (I just realized I don't have a photo of this step. omgosh, I'm a failure ;)

Then repeat the egg & breadcrumb process.

WARNING: your fingers will get gloppily coated in this stuff. Kinda weird. Kinda gross.)

As you finish, place them on a cookie sheet. When you are done coating, put them into the freezer for about 30 minutes.

This step keeps the cheese from exploding out when we fry.

After the 30 mins, heat your oil to about 350. This will cook them a BIT more slowly, but it will still only take 2 minutes MAX to finish.

Place them into the oil 2-3 at a time. Cook until golden on one side, then CAREFULLY flip them and cook the other side til golden.

WATCH CLOSELY!
they will burn quickly.

Remove to paper towels to soak up the oil.

If you are making a large batch you can put them into a 200 degree F oven to keep them warm and gooey until you finish.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (you know the shaky container kind), and serve with marinara sauce.

Dive in!

Delicious.

Cheap.

Easy.

The End.

Tina

Shared at:
Oopsey Daisy
Michelle's Tasty Creations

{ Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores }

2012-04-27T20:34:00.008-04:00

Shut yer mouth!

Yeah, I'm serious!

We've been doing this for years, and there are mostly likely some of you out there that have as well, but for others, you may have never really thought of it, so...

I'm posting this.

First of all though, lemme tell you about our firepit.

(Firefox doesn't like that word. Is it firepit? or fire pit?. Oh grammar, you are so full of riddles.)

Late last Spring, we threw together a firepit with scrap lumber, cinder blocks, and a very sad old picnic table for the Bean's 14th birthday party.

We used it so much, that the Hubs decided to fix it up this year. He's still going to add lighting, but I'm going to show you the after.

Our house sits on a hill, we have a small backyard, and then a huge expanse (about an acre) down the hill about 40 feet. Hubs built retaining walls and a staircase down to that part of the yard. It's cool. I have no photos taken, and it's dark now, so... you'll have to, as John Lennon said, imagine.

We call it the 'back back yard' or 'down in the dip' (which is not exactly a romantic name for it, and it makes me sad, because it's very pretty and park like, however... habits are habits are habits).

Long story short, or long story long, in this case, that is where the firepit is.
I love it down there because there's no smoke billowing into the house, like with the one we had prior to this one. It was right outside the backdoor.

Smokey. Robinson. Yes it was.

Here is the result of his handiwork this year

Huge improvement!

(Please ignore the tree across the creek that washed up with the flooding rains last year. Um...yeah.)

So, tonight was our initiation of the new firepit area.

I love my big tables for sitting out all the food. It will be great for parties!

We have a house cat who likes to come outside when he can. The Bean brought him down tonight.

Meet Fairley Bueller. Yes, for real.

He was not a huge fan of the smoke.

AT ALL.

He soon wandered off to a less eye watering area.

Oh, yeah, I'm getting to the s'mores.

In this post, you'll read about how the Bean is a big fan of the Reese's S'more, and you can see in the photo above, he again chose the peanut butter goodness.

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores here, we start out with baking up the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Evah. (I made mine last night.) Then toast up your marshmallows and top...

with the traditional chocolate...

or, like the Bean, with Reeese's Cups, plop on the mallow, and cover with a second cookie and...

you'll get a big ole bite of delight!

Chewy, gooey, melty goodness.

It's so worth the sticky fingers.

By the way, I would just like to thank the Bean for being such a lovely hand model.

He has real talent, no?

I think so too.

In case you were wondering, we found the cat. Finally.

Tina

Shared at:
Oopsey Daisy
Michelle's Tasty Creations
Six Sisters' Stuff
Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

{Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes & Clever Ideas from Bakingdom}

2012-04-22T18:42:00.006-04:00

There's this blogger, who, I swear, if we lived closer, we'd totes be BFFs.

She'd come over, we'd pop in Harry Potter, plop down, munch on yummy deliciousness that we'd prepared, compare and contrast the books vs. the movies, and braid each others hair.

Ok, braiding the hair would be weird, but we'd laugh and enjoy each others geeky company.

Or we'd watch reruns of Downton Abbey and sigh over the tragic love stories and shake our fists at the evil doers in the house.

Alas, she lives on the wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy other side of the country. Literally. I'm in Ohio, she's in Oregon. That's like way.far.

Like me, she loves, obviously, Harry Potter, and Dr. Who, The Walking Dead, and Star Trek. Like me, she's a baker and a blogger.

However, her creatively far eclipses me. Far. And, not to be weird or cocky, but I think I'm pretty dang creative.

Not even close to Darla. Her site, Bakingdom, is so chock full of ideas, my head may implode.

See, she comes up with things like this April Showers cake that she just posted today


photo property of Bakingdom

Then there are things like these

Homemade Salted Caramel Mocha Latte, Frappuccino, and CUPCAKES!

photo property of Bakingdom

and Rainbow Heart Layer Cake


photo property of Bakingdom

or these Star Trek Cookies

photo property of Bakingdom

There are things like these adorable Cinnamon Caramel Apple Pumpkins

photo property of Bakingdom

And these lil baybee Pie Cakes

photo property of Bakingdom

Next on my 'to try from Bakingdom' list are these

French Toast Cupcakes!

photo property of Bakingdom

And DON'T EVEN get me started on her Harry Potter Treats!! Um. Yeah.

Hogwarts Cake

photo property of Bakingdom

Rice Krispy Treat Ombre Snitch Cake

photo property of Bakingdom

Honeyduke's Candy Floss Cupcakes

photo property of Bakingdom

My FAVORITE! ZOMG!!

Fanciful Phoenix Cake


photo property of Bakingdom

And that, my friends, is just a SMALL sampling.

To say she is soopa doopa talented is a vast understatement.

Hang on a second. I think I'm fangirling here!

Ok. I'm fine now.

One of the very first things I found of Darla's (via Pinterest) was this Cinnamon Roll Cupcake recipe.

It. Is. Amazing.

UH-MAZE-ING.

If you like Cinnamon Rolls, check.it.out!

Deliciousness.

I'm just pointing you in her general direction. Nothing here to see except the one photo that I will post again.

Now, here's Darla's recipe. Go.Make.Be Happy.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes by Darla of Bakingdom

By the by, Darla, if you are reading this, are you also a Firefly fan? If so, we should talk, sister!

Tina

{Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes}

2012-04-20T12:36:00.002-04:00

The Bean loves cookie dough. Like, crazy loves. The fact that it has raw eggs in it does nothing to stop him begging like a stray dog.

I first made these a couple years ago, and they were met with lukewarm reception, so I'd never made them again.

My BPIC (Baking Partner in Crime, Lori) and I were doing a bake sale at our kid's high school to raise money for a new, and sorely needed, mascot costume, I thought I'd try them again.

Kids, they like cookie dough.

Lori made her Oreo Cupcakes, which are quite like these, but she uses more cookies in the batter, and then, after they are cooled, fills them with a plain buttercream, then tops with an Oreo buttercream (lots of finely crushed cookies in buttercream). They sold like holy friggin hotcakes! I did my Cream Filled Cuppies along with a few downsized Double Trouble Cookies (because the ones in the recipe are HUGE). We nearly sold out and made a nice little bit for our mascot fund.

Lemme tell you about the mascot.

You know how they make fun of mascot costumes on TV/Movies, because they smell bad and no one wants to wear them? That.Is.Ours. It's super gross. Like SUPER GROSS. ALL CAPS. It's the same one that was at the school 20, ahem, a FEW years ago when I was in high school (that sounded convincing, right? RIGHT???!). So, it stays in the closet. No one wears it. We are mascotless. It's sad. Mascot costumes are SPENDY. Like, WOW, spendy. We are working on it though. We'll have a non vomit smell radiating suit before you know it. We're determined.

Maybe I shouldn't have said vomit in a food post.

Hmm...

Oh, well.

Now, cookie dough.

So, here's the dealio. I followed, for the most part, this recipe by Recipe Girl.

You'll need to make a cookie dough batter, I love hers, it's egg-less. The Bean was quite certain I should just sell balls of cookie dough at the Bake Sale.

Uh, that didn't happen, but it DID, however, give me a devious plan for later on this blog.

Shyeah, it did!

So, here's her batter, except I doubled it for 24 cupcakes.

Cookie Dough Filling
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

4 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
4 Tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Beat the butter and the sugars together, add the salt, soda, and vanilla. Then add the flour. Add the milk and beat until well mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Roll into balls.

I used the Pampered Chef small scoop.

Place them on a baking sheet and freeze for an hour. I froze mine in the deep freezer rather than the refrigerator freezer. I knew they were good and solidly frozen.

Don't skip this step! If you don't freeze them, the cookie dough will bake & you'll just have a cookie in your cupcake.

Not that a cookie in your cupcake is a BAD thing, just that it kinda make it a chocolate chip cookie cupcake and not a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake.

I think.

I'm officially confusing myself and that is never good.

Now, I took a shortcut. I used a box cake mix.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh...................don't tell.

Actually, as you'll see, I did this using both a yellow cake and a chocolate cake.

The chocolate were the more popular, FYI.

After prepping your mix, according to the box, and filling your cupcake papers, add 1 ball of cookie dough to each cupcake. Press it down to touch the bottom.

Bake according to box. I, personally, baked mine for 19 minutes.

While cooling, make your Cookie Dough Buttercream.

This recipe is one I tweaked. The original is from Tidy Mom.

Cooke Dough Buttercream

3 sticks butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
3 tbsp. milk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Yeah, I said flour. Totally sounds weird, but it gives it that cookie dough taste.

Beat together the butter & brown sugar. Add the vanilla. Mix in the flour. Then slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat in the milk. Mix until amazing.

Top your cooled cuppys with this & a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips!

What? OH! You want to see the INSIDE?

Ok, sure.......... it's... gooey, and chocolatey, and cookiey (cookiey??)

Yeah Bayyybee... there it is!

The Bean has now declared these his new favorite cupcakes in all the land.

Apparently this recipe is MUCH better than the one I used before.

So, thanks Recipe Girl & Tidy Mom! You make me look like a Soopa Stah!

Tina

Shared at:

Oopsey Daisy

Six Sisters' Stuff

{ Happy Birthday, Bean & Cookie Crumble Trifle }

2012-04-09T15:52:00.004-04:00

Today is my baby Bean's birthday!

He's 15.

That can't be right. *counts on fingers*

FIFTEEN?? What the Holy Romans is that about???

His birthday always falls close to Easter, this year being the day after.

Since everyone is here already anyway, we just have his family party on Easter.

His friend party is later. No one wants 20 extra teenagers on Easter, now do they?

The Bean's cake of choice for the last several years has been this one, from Pioneer Woman.

He asked, very sweetly (no seriously), if I could make him something else to go along with it.

Cookie Crumble Trifle

Looks pretty right?

Yeah, that's my awesome punch bowl from this recipe.

So here's the dealio:

   1/2 cup butter, softened
    1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
    1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
    2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
    3 1/2 cups milk

    1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
    16-32 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling*

*depending on preference-I used 32 yesterday and it seemed like too many.

Also I like to use a mixture of golden cookies & chocolate instead of just chocolate.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and butter together. Add vanilla. Set aside

mix together the milk and puddings. Stir in whipped topping.

Mix the cream cheese and pudding mixtures together.

Finely crush the cookies- as fine as possible. A food processor does a great job.

Then layer into a large glass bowl.

Cookies/pudding/cookies/pudding/cookies

Hmmm... You guys are smart. You've figured this out.

YES, it's just Dirt.

Which is so common for jokes and kid's parties, but when you put it together like this it becomes a pretty & delicious dessert.

And people love, gummy worms or no!

So, there you have it, make this for your next gathering and when someone asks what it is, say,

"Oh, well, my it's Cookie Crumble Trifle, of course!".

And they'll be none the wiser.

Tina

And, Happy Birthday, Bean, Momma loves you. 5, 15, or 50, you'll always be my little boy.

Shared at
Oopsey Daisy

{ Chocolate Frogs }

2012-04-07T18:18:00.001-04:00

Yes, I realize it's the day before Easter.

Yes, I realize that I'm posting a Harry Potter recipe.

The day before Easter.

Does that make me a bad person?

Or does that make me eccentric?

I like the sounds of that.

All my people love Harry Potter. My niece (18 yr old) and I were the first. She started reading them at the ripe old age of 8. Then I started to read them to the Bean. Somewhere along the lines, my younger (16) niece took a liking.

Probably peer pressure.

You know, from family.

My brother, who is older, need I say more, refused to read them. Or watch the movies.

He, being an older brother, liked to make fun of me for my nerdlike tendencies.

He called poor Harry names.

So rude.

Then he was down for a few months with his (I'm not sure at this rate, he's had so many) 4th back surgery.

And he was bored.

Harry Potter books, well, they are fatties. They'll keep you entertained for weeks.

Or days, if you read fassst.

Long story short- he's joined the ranks. Potter Geeks RULE!

I decided to make Chocolate Frogs to give the fam for Easter.

I saw Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen do a guest post on Bakingdom's blog a couple weeks ago.

Bakingdom is one of my favorite interwebs sites to stalk, Darla is a geek too, and a majorly talented one & you cannot read one of Kristan's posts without cracking up and having your mouth water!

I squishy hearted her frog mold, and I ran to the Amazons a bought it up, quick like a fox.

I can be quick like a fox on the internet. In real life? Um... yeah, not so much.

She did hers with a fluffy (green!) marshmallow filling, and while, I'm sure that is good (and I will be trying it), the Bean's fav is chocolate and peanut butter. If you could see his Easter Basket, you'd recommend I buy stock in Reeses.

So here's what I did.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Frogs

Recipe by Tina @Sugar Bean Bakers

Makes approx 12 filled Frogs

6 squares of Chocolate Bark for dipping

(or equivalent in other dipping chocolate)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 Tablespoons brown sugar*

4 Tablespoons water

*I used Skippy Natural Peanut Butter, which I believe has less sugar to start with. You may want to start with 3 Tablespoons brown sugar and taste from there.

In a bowl, mix the sugar into the peanut butter. Add in the water.

Microwave for about 30 seconds. Then stir well.

It should be slightly runny.

Now, I learned recently that I'm sadly not as creative as I think I am with this post ,

so, I'm taking the lame route and telling you to follow Kristan's instructions.

And why not, they are good directions.

'Cept here's the tricky part...

Where she says fill with the marshmallow filling, fill with the peanut butter mix we just made.

Whew.

This is what you get:

I like how my salsa dish looks like a lil cauldron.

And the middle?

I would like to thank the Bean for being such a wonderful hand model. He's super talented.

Since last night, he's eaten three.

And BEGGED for more.

It's possible that he likes them.

I like to give the nieces and nephew a little something when they come over, but I know that they've got loaded baskets at home, so, just a wee little treat from me.

In honor of my Manga/Anime obsessed nieces, they are getting little Take Out boxes.

The baggie in the back is the chocolate frog.

I bagged them all up quicklike to keep the Bean's grubby paws off.

It had to be done.

Happy Easter! May you be blessed with good food, good company, and good candy.

Amen.

Tina

{ Carrot Strawberries? }

2012-04-04T12:00:00.021-04:00

Yeah, that's what I said.

Carrot. Strawberries.

Now, Dear Internets, let me tell you a story.

I'm sad.

You see, I thought I'd invented these! I was standing at the kitchen counter washing berries while contemplating if I was smarts enough to come up with a new Easter post, when WHAMO, idea.

I don't know if you know this, but strawberries have the little green leafies at the top. (That's the scientific name, look it up). Carrots? Well, by golly gosh darn, THEY have the little leafies at the top.

Hmmmmmm.... If I had some orange tinted chocolate, I'd be in bizzznezz.

Guess what! I did. Well, I had white chocolate and candy coloring, but folks, semantics.

I set to work, thinking, alas, my readers will think I'm SO clever!

They will oooooh and ahhhhhh.. and they will reply and email me, and share my blog, and Pin my things to Pinterest!

And my life will be changed....

By Carrot Berries!!!!!!!!!!!

YUS.

Ok, maybe I didn't think all that.

Or maybe I did. You'll never know.

So, I berried away.

They are cute, yes. I am proud.

Clever Tina.

After finishing, I sit down to post, and think... I should consult the Google Machine.

Google says to me, "Bahahahaha... Tina, you LOSE! Someone smarter than you, prettier than you, skinnier than you, and all together better than you has already made these".

Google, I thought you were my friend, why you be so mean?

I found them in a few places, not many, but a few, this was the first Google return.

After I wiped my tears, I pulled up my big girl panties and soldiered on.

I realized, mine have sprinkles. Sprinkles always make things better, right?

I win.

So here we go.

These are very, very easy.

Carrot Berries for Easter

You'll need:

Strawberries, washed and totally dry

Orange Candy Melts Or White Chocolate tinted with Candy Coloring*

Orange sprinkles

*this must be specific for candy, like this from Wilton, regular food coloring will ruin the chocolate.

Melt your chocolate in 30 second intervals. You may need to use a bit of oil or shortening to thin.

Dip your dried berries all the way up to the stem, add the sprinkles immediately, the chocolate will dry quickly.

Allow to fully dry.

Stand back and wait for applause.

What, am I the only one that does that??

You can also have fun with just the white chocolate and sprinkles.

After all, isn't Easter the perfect time to dye berries?

No?

Package some of these babies up. Who wouldn't want this treat in their Easter Basket?

HOPPY EASTER!!!

(sorry, I'm lame like that)

Tina

Need more Easter ideas? Well, then I've got a treat for you!

Check out my friends at

The Ladies @ Crock Pot Ladies
who have whipped up Crock Pot Au Gratin Potatoes

Kristen @ Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
who made Strawberry Rhubarb Pie In a Jar

Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl
who created Coconut Caramel Pie in a Jar

Gotta love those pies in a jar!

And potatoes of ANY nature are my favorite thing in the worlds.

YUM, RIGHT?

and post up your own ideas below

If you link up, be sure to link back to myself & my co-hosts.

And follow me on Facebook, eh?

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{ Toffee Cupcakes: Happy Birthday Fred & George }

2012-04-01T17:33:00.004-04:00

So, today, April 1st, is to many, a day of tomfoolery.

Silly jests, practical jokes, and such.

You can read some of the lore of April Fool's Day in my post from last year.

April Fool's Day, however, is also something else. A day to celebrate my favorite jokesters...

Yep, Fred & George Weasley (they are Harry Potter characters if you are confused) were 'born', fittingly, on this day!

Happy Birthday Gred & Forge!

I had to think for a while what I would make for their birthday.

I've done Butterbeer, Caludron Cakes, Pumpkin Juice, Dark & Light Cake, Apple Pie Cupcakes, and Cocoa all previously for my Harry Potter friends.

What to do, what to do...

Well, Fred and George, as you know, if you've read the books or watched the movies, started up a joke shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. In Goblet of Fire, while not shown in the movie, they 'dropped' a sweet that Dudley quickly snapped up. It was a Ton Tongue Toffee. It made Dudley's tongue swell to 4 feet long before Vernon and Petunia would allow Arthur to shrink it.

I promise these won't make your tongue swell, but the Ton Tongue Toffees were definitely the inspiration behind this cupcake.

~~Ton Tongue~~

Toffee Cupcakes

by Tina @Sugar Bean Bakers

You'll need some yellow cupcakes, cooled & cored
2 Skor or Heath bars, chopped- set aside

For the Toffee Buttercream filling:

1 stick of butter (butter only)

1 stick of butter, softened (butter only)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons Caramel Ice Cream Topping

in a saucepan or skillet, melt one stick of butter, whisk while melting.

Allow to brown to an amber color.

Remove from heat & allow to cool

Once cool, place in mixing bowl. Add the 2nd stick of butter, whip until creamy.

Then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and the milk, a little at a time.

Lastly, whip in the caramel topping.

You may need to add a little more powdered sugar OR milk, depending.

Squeeze this into cored cupcakes.

Next, we will top with a chocolate glaze.

You can find the step by step photos here .

Chocolate Fudge Glaze

You’ll need:

4 Tablespoons of Butter

1 Square unsweetened chocolate

(or 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder)

1 Cup Confectioners Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 Tablespoons HOT water

Melt the butter & chocolate (unless using cocoa)

Then add the sugar and vanilla.

Add 2 TBS water. If it’s not enough, add the 3rd.

This should be slightly runny, but thick enough to fully coat your spoon.

Spoon on to your cupcakes.

Top with the chopped toffee bar.

I love, love, love toffee. The sweet but salty bite.

Skor Bars are my favorite. Yurm.

I hope you like toffee too.

Fred & George are big fans.

Big.

Tina

{ April Fool's Fun }

2012-03-27T10:48:00.001-04:00

The post I'm about to link you to is disgusting.

If you are a queasy weasy, I recommend not clicking.

If you are dark and twisty, go on.... be like me. You know you wanna click it.

This is my variation of the Kitty Litter Cake, which is so, so, SO perfect for April Fool's Day.

I made it for my nieces last year. The oldest refused to eat it.

The younger ate it, along with her boyfriend who I was meeting for the very first time.

First impressions are fun!

The Bean ate it, but closed his eyes when it came to the kitty 'treat'.

Haha.. I love it.

Too.much.fun.

Try it. Go on now, tryyyyyyyyyyy it.

CLICK HERE, c'mon CLICK!

You know you wanna!

Your family may never be the same.

Oh, and the boyfriend? He's still around. Good news, eh?

I guess her family didn't scare him.

How odd!

Tina

{ Peach Banana Smoothie }

2012-03-24T23:23:00.006-04:00

The Bean loves smoothies, as I mentioned in this post.

I was buying them at restaurants and coffee shops until I realized how EASY they were to make.

I make them for him nearly every day. I know he's getting all his fruits that way.

Hand him a bowl of fruit, you'll come back to a full bowl of fruit.

Hand him a smoothie, you'll come back to a, HEY MOM, IS THERE ANYMORE? shout.

The original recipe I posted it good for a host of fruits.

The norm that I make for him is Strawberry Banana or Strawberry Banana Blueberry.

I've also thrown in grapes.

For this one, I went way outside his normal box and made it with peaches & honey.

It made for a tasty change.

Here's what you need:

Peach Banana Smoothie
Recipe by Tina @Sugar Bean Bakers

1 peach (or nectarine)- peeled, pit removed & sliced

1 banana (also peeled ;)

1/3 cup yogurt*

1/3 cup of milk**

1 Tablespoon honey

splash of vanilla

4 ice cubes
(mine are the 1/2 moon size from my ice maker)

In a blender/processor that can chop ice:

blend until you stop hearing the ice clink around. Usually about 1-2 minutes.

Taste, you can add more honey if you need.

*for this recipe you can use plain yogurt, peach, vanilla, or honey
also note if you use Greek Yogurt, you may need a little more milk as it is thicker

**use any milk you like, Fat Free, Skim, 2%, Whole, soy, etc.
I actually used Almond Milk for the one in the photo.

You can adjust the ratio of milk/yogurt for the consistency you like, this is how
the Bean prefers his. It's not too thick, not too thin.

This makes one large smoothie or 2 small smoothies.

The Bean drinks it all.

ALL.

Tina

{ Cookies for Katniss }

2012-03-21T15:58:00.009-04:00

So, imma nerd.

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you'll realize this.

I'm totally about to geek out over the upcoming Hunger Games movie.

photo from The Hunger Games Wiki

I held off on reading the books for so long because of the subject matter. Kids killing kids?

Yeah, not my cuppa.

But it was.

It is totally disturbing, but it's also awesome.

And that trailer? Amazing on a plate? YES.

Katniss is from District 12, the poorest of the 12 Districts.


Katniss photo from The Hunger Games Wiki

She's from The Seam, which is like the poor area of the poor.

She hunts for most of their food, but still the pickins' are slim.

After the Reaping, Katniss has visitors come and see her before she is shipped off to The Capitol.

One of the visitors is Mr. Mellark. Mr. Mellark owns a bakery in the town square. His son, Peeta,

Peeta photo from The Hunger Games Wiki

is the other Tribute from District 12. Mr. Mellark comes in & wishes Katniss luck, says he'll keep an eye on her little sister, Prim, and hands her a white package full of cookies.

Katniss has never eaten cookies in her life. She's taken aback by the gesture, but, in true Katniss fashion, throws the cookies out the train window.

Knowing what she was about to go through, she was wary of a kind Peeta. Well, she's wary of everyone. And wouldn't you be too if everyone's goal was to kill you? Yeah.

While Peeta didn't grow up really wanting for much, he didn't have the best childhood. His mother, was anything but kind, and he worked hard in the bakery every day. However, he was considered upper class in the District.

While only the upper class of District 12 would be able to purchase cookies at all, I still imagine that they would be made of basic ingredients. The "rich" of District 12 are anything but rich. No fancy schmancy expensive chocolates or high shelf ingredients. I didn't want this to be a truly oatmeal cookie though either. I imagine that the wheat flour (which you may easily substitute for all white flour if you wish) and the oats are inexpensive fillers, since white flour costs more.

Whole wheat flour, oats, white flour, eggs, vanilla, soda, sugars, salt, and butter.

That's it.

Nutty, buttery, and oaty.

Still yummy, but rustic.

This is what I imagine Mr. Mellark gave Katniss.

Cookies for Katniss

by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup oats

1 cup white flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Beat the sugars into the melted butter, add in the eggs, salt, soda, and vanilla. When well blended, pour in the flour & oats a little at a time.

I used my large Pampered Chef cookie scoop, this makes about 3 inch cookies. I got 18 from this recipe.

I recommend using parchment, but otherwise, grease your cookie sheets.

Bake for about 13 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

Allow to cool a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

I almost didn't post this, because I've seen a couple other bloggers post Mr. Mellark's cookies,

but I'd put so much thought into what they should be (in my imagination), that I went ahead and

made these up.

I made my own Mellark Bakery bag as well.

Should you like to use it, I've linked it here.

Right click>Save as

for the full resolution file.

The file is only 203KB

Fold in on the dotted lines, then fold them in once more, fold in half, and you'll have a bag.

Tape the sides with scotch tape.

I started to use staples, then wondered if they'd have staples in District 12.

Then I wondered if they'd have scotch tape in District 12.
Well, that's just silliness. How could you go with out scotch tape, apocalypse or not.

I cannot wait for this movie on Friday!

And very looking forward to the production of Catching Fire & Mockingjay.

Wanna read the books? Check them out here:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Tina

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{ Luck O the Irish Pop }

2012-03-17T14:30:00.005-04:00

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I really wanted to call this Erin Go Braughopcorn, but was afraid I was the only one who would find the humor in that.

Get it?

No?

That's exactly why I changed the name.

This is another super quicky for St. Patrick's Day.

Just takes a few minutes (plus drying time) and a few ingredients.

You'll need:

2 bags of popcorn
(a variety that is light on butter)

6 squares of Almond Bark

2 Mint Cookies (Mint Oreos/Grasshoppers/Thin Mints, etc), finely crushed

Andes Mints (I used 6 you can use more), chopped

Assorted Green Sprinkles

Oil

Pop the popcorn.

I used 1 bag of Pop Secret's Homestyle & 1 bag of 94% fat free (affectionately known in this house as "cardboard corn"). The Homestyle has just a little butter flavor and a little salt, so it gives this mix a buttery/sweet/salty combo.

You can use whatever popcorn you choose, but the heavy butter/movie theater style is not recommended.

Melt your Almond Bark, 30 seconds at a time, in the microwave. Mine took about 1 1/2 minutes to fully melt. Add about 1 Tablespoon of oil and stir until very well blended.

Pour/Spoon over the popcorn. Stir to mix well.

Sprinkle on the Andes, the cookie crumbs (I used Mint Oreos), and the sprinkles.

You can also use more cookie crumbs than I did, if you wish.

And allow to dry before storing or bagging for gift giving.

You could also throw in chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, green M&Ms, other small candies.

I didn't have nearly the amount of sprinkles I would have liked, but, it still tastes good!

*note to self, buy green sprinkles

I also whipped up these treat toppers to use, and thought maybe someone out there might like them too.

Right Click, Save as for the full resolution file (should be approx 1MB).

I hope you enjoy this recipe, which, in my heart will always be Erin Go Braughopcorn.

Have a lucky day!

Tina

{ Leprechaun Cakes }

2012-03-16T20:33:00.006-04:00

These leprechaun cakes will be a purfect advencha fer yew and yur wee ones to make on St. Paddy's Day!

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Ok, I can't type in an Irish accent.

It's not easy, man. You try. Seriously.
Go on now...

This is just another quicky recipe that would be big fun to make while wearin' the green tomorrow.

Like the Mint Oreo Brownie Truffles, these went in to school today for a bake sale.

Someday I will make something that actually stays in this house.

Maybe.

Easy to make- you use the same idea as the Rainbow Cake
(which would also be awesome-as a cake or as cupcakes- to celebrate St. Patrick's! Top with "Gold" (yellow) icing for the gold at the end of the rainbow).

Just whip up a white cake, then divide it out into how many shades of green you want (I only did two), leaving white as well.

Then layer into your cupcake liners, as shown in the Rainbow Cake post.

Bake according to the box, and top with some yummy green tinted buttercream icing. You can find that recipe here.

Then, take a bite... the fun is inside!

Each one is a little different, but they are all pretty!

An easy activity or a special treat for St. Pat's!

And if you are eating these, pinching is totally illegal.

Seriously.

Tina

{ Mint Oreo Brownie Truffles }

2012-03-15T20:15:00.010-04:00

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Remember how I said the Pie Pops were for school?

Well, guess where these little gems are headed?

Yeah... the same place. Only not math class this time.

A bake sale for the Drama Club.

The Bean? Yes, yes, he's a complete and total Drama Llama.

He loves to act. He acts at school, at church, he does summer productions in a local college's kid's theater, and he goes to their drama camp as well.

Where did he get this passion for drama?

Me? dramatic??????????? NEVAH!

*faints away like Scarlett O'Hara*

More likely even, it's that only child LOOK AT ME! syndrome.

Yeah.

But, yes, the Drama Club at school is having a bake sale.

Which much like the message I got the other day means: MOM.SCHOOL.BAKE.NEED.

I'm a lucky girl!

Since Saturday is St. Patrick's, I decided to go with the chocolate mint theme.

The Chocolate Mint Cupcakes I posted a couple weeks ago are now officially the most popular post on my site.

Ever.

Seems like a winning combo then, eh?

Mint Oreo Truffles

recipe by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers*

For these, you'll need:

Brownie Mix for a 13x9 pan
(and ingredients to make them according to box)

Cool Mint Oreos

Dipping Chocolate

Andes Mints

Mix brownies according to box, then pulverize one row of Cool Mint Oreos.

I used my Ninja. You can use a food processor, blender, or manual labor, if you so choose.

Then stir into your mixed brownie batter

Mix well, then pour into prepared pan

My box said to bake 28-32 minutes. Bake these about 25 minutes.

I always under bake mine. It makes them gooey and fudgey and amazing.

For this recipe, it makes them easier to roll.

(and gooey and fudgey and amazing)

When cooled, cut off the hard edges. We are only using the (gooey, fudgey, amazing) center.

I'm sure if you throw the edges at some children, they will eat them up.
Waste not, want not and all.

I use a small Pampered Chef scoop, which is probably a teaspoon/teaspoon and a half.
However, you can make these bigger or smaller, up to you.

Then roll until smooth...ish.

This is a good time to get kids involved. The Bean normally loves to roll cake balls, buckeyes, etc, but he is currently nursing a bad knee, so I didn't make him stand and help me.

Melt up some chocolate. I used 6 blocks of Chocolate Almond Bark for these, plus 12 Andes Mints.

I've already sung praises of my Wilton Pot, but... in case you missed that post, read it here.

(Spoiler: I LOVE IT)

Yes, we've already established that I am messy, I know.

I added about a Tablespoon of vegetable oil to my chocolate. When melted smooth, you can start to dip.

use a fork, as I suggested here, to remove the truffles, it allows the chocolate to fall through the tines. Tap, tap, tap off the excess as you remove.

I squished up 2 extra Oreos and sprinkled them, along with green sugar crystals on top when finished. Dip a few at a time, then sprinkle or the chocolate will harden and your toppings won't stick.

And that would be sad.

So sad.

These are super sweet with a cool, minty after bite.

Wee Leprechauns, they love 'em, and regular sized people do too!

Tina

*I'm claiming this recipe as my own, because I made it up! There might be other people out there that have had the same idea at some point, but this came out of the scary, confused place that is my brain, not from anyone else's site or recipe. :)

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{ Pie Pops }

2012-03-13T20:39:00.003-04:00

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Tomorrow?

Major holiday.

Do you all have your plans in order?

SUCH AN EXCITING DAY!!!!!!!!!

OH EM GEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's finally that time of year. 3.14 day!

It's Pi day!

WOO! I'll let the excitement wash over you for a second.

I'll wait here.

*cue Jeopardy music*

Did you know if you flipped 314 it kinda looks like PIE? (CAN'T TYPE BACKWARDS!)

Write it down. I just blew your mind, didn't I? Yeah. That happened.

Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's the skinny.

Can a day associated with pie be correctly termed skinny?

Probabbbbbbbbbbbbbly not.

However, the Bean came home telling me that if he took pie into math class tomorrow he'd get extra credit.

*read: MOM.PIE.MAKE.SCHOOL.

Even thought the boy carries an A in the class at the current moment, I've said "When extra is offered no matter when, no matter where, TAKE IT".

Look where that got me.

*Dramatic Sigh*

He did help. For like 5 minutes. And then I got annoyed. And sent him to play in traffic.

Or to play with video games.

Something like that.

Bakerella made the most adorable wee baby pies on a steeeek.

I'm sorry, I can't say on a stick without thinking of Jose Jalapeno and Jeff Dunham.

Actually, I can't SAY on a stick. It comes out on a steeeek. Every. Time.

I can't help it.

Wait. Pie? Yes. Pie.

These little pies by Bakerella are so stinkin adorable, I had to try them.

I didn't take step by step photos because Bakerella already has gorgeous pics on her site.

I made Apple Pies on a Steeek.

I'm sorry. Really, I am.

I finished mine up with a sprinkle of cinnamon & sugar.

They are cute, tasty lil morsels.

Is good.

Happy Pi Day to all, party hardy, my friends for this day comes but once a year.

And it's not like you can eat pie ANY OTHER DAY of the year!

Wait.. you can?

*faints*

Oh, the calendar? Yes, it's totally Angry Birds.

Tina

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{ Reese's Cupcakes }

2012-03-05T09:44:00.005-05:00

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I'm a youth leader at church.

Please tell me that you aren't shocked. If you are shocked, I'm probably doing something wrong here ;)

I work with the teenagers, who I adore! I know so many people complain about today's teens, but those bad ones? They are the exception, not the rule. Teenagers are generally quite awesome.

This has been my experience both with my kids at church & the groups I've worked with at the Bean's High School.

And they like me, so there's a bonus!

Anyway, one of our lovely ladies turned 18 yesterday! I let her decide what type of cupcake I would bring to Youth Group last night.

I'd given her some ideas and she was intrigued by mention of Peanut Butter Buttercream.

So, chocolate with PB Buttercream it was.

I've mentioned this before, and you've probably noticed, but I can never leave well enough alone.

At the grocery yesterday, I thought, what if I top them with the teeny tiny mini Reese Cups.

Which led me to, what if I plop a miniature into the batter?

So, I did both.

This was never intended as a blog post since I'd just made the Buckeye Cupcakes, but they were so good, I had to share!

I'm not a huge sweets eater, I think I've said that before too. I like to bake for people I love & I like seeing how happy it makes them, but this cupcake? Yeah, I could totes eat more than one.

Oh, and Snickerdoodles are another exception.

But that's a different story.

Mmmmm... Snickerdoodles.

Since I wasn't going to post this, there is no step by step, <insert sad face>, but it's super simple.

Put your cupcakes in the oven as usual, but after baking 5 mins, pull them out and pop a Reeses Miniature (the gold foil wrapped size, you know, with the foil and paper removed!) into each one. Then continue baking as usual. This way, the Reese's Cup will still sink to the bottom, but it will not harden.

Once cooled, ice with Peanut Butter Buttercream & then pop a Reeses Mini (the tiny size that comes in the bags at the checkout line) on top if desired. You can also sprinkle with chocolate jimmies or add other finishing touches.

Here's what you get:

It's hard to see, but it's in there!

A little shout out to my newly minted 18 year old youth grouper:

Happy Birthday, Tiff! I love you! :)

I'm going to miss her so much when she goes off to college. *tear*

Maybe I should eat another cupcake. You know... for comfort.

Tina

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{ Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! }

2012-03-02T12:12:00.004-05:00

Today you are You,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is Youer than You.

-Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka, Dr. Seuss

It's an exciting week of birthdays for me.

Yesterday, Ron Weasley, today, Dr. Seuss.

At least Dr. Seuss was a real person, so I'm making progress.

There's probably lots you didn't know about him, so you can read up here.

Like, did you know a lot of his books are filled with imagery from Springfield, Mass, where he grew up?
Did you know he attended Dartmouth College, was editor in chief of the Dartmouth magazine, The Jack O Lantern, until he and his friends got caught drinking (it was prohibition and against school rules). He kept working on the magazine, but under a different name. Can you guess what? Yes! Seuss- his middle name (and his mother's maiden name).

I didn't know any of that either. Until I visited the link above.

Also, the honors he has been given over the years include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Whoa.

He passed away in 1991, but his legacy will live on, in vivid color.

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Being Dr. Seuss, you can not do dull. You must do BRIGHT and HAPPY.

And so I did.

These cupcakes are made with a white cake mix. You could do yellow, but your colors might be off a bit.

I recommend white.

Mix up as many colors as you like:

If you want SUPER BRIGHT colors, you can use gel coloring. I used regular in these.

Then spoon into your pans. I used a baby spoon to make sure I had enough of each color for every cupcake. If you have leftover, you can always go back and add more. Way easier to add to the cupcake papers rather than remove.

Ask me how I know.

Yes I'm messy.

Yes my pan is stained.

It's how I roll.

After baking, you'll have this!

Pretty tie dye!

I've done these cupcakes for several different occasions, using as many as 7 colors and as few as 3.

Here I used 5. I think it's a nice number.

Then I just whipped up some buttercream that I colored orange, in honor of The Lorax, and topped with lots of different colors of sanding sugar.

Done-ya!

Wanna see the inside? 'kay.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Can I call you Ted?
I hope cupcakes make you smile

Or did you want ice cream instead?
I really hope you don't

I haven't any here

I'm afraid that cupcakes

are all you are getting this year.

Impressive, right? I just made that up, right here on the spot.

*bows*

My wording skills are endless.

or not.

Tina

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{ Cocoa for Ron and You! }

2012-03-01T16:18:00.007-05:00

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I've often professed how much I love Harry Potter.

Love is an understatement. I'm slightly obsessed. Ok, not slightly.

I've made something for both Hermione & Snape's birthdays.

I've made licorice wands, butterbeer & cauldron cakes.

There's been chocolate frogs, and tons of other Honeyduke's treats.

The Bean's 8th birthday was a huge Potter celebration that included House Sorting, Wand Choosing, Potions, Charms, House Cup and more!

Many of things will be repeated this July when I host a birthday party for Harry himself.

He'll be 32 this year. Thought you needed to know.

So today, March 1, is Ron's birthday (he's 32 today as well).
Happy Birthday Ronald Bilius Weasley!

Now Ron, he loves food.

Period.

All food. Tons of food. Food. Food. Food.

I heard Hermione was making him a cake, so I decided just to make him some cocoa.

Cocoa is mentioned several times in the Potter series.

The Harry Potter Lexicon has listed these times:

served at the Burrow (Chamber of Secrets Chapter 4)

and on the Knight Bus (Prisoner of Azkaban 3)

Dumbledore came down in the middle of the night for some cocoa, but found the Petrified Colin Creevey instead (Chambers of Secrets10)

when Ginny Weasley was sent to the hospital wing after her ordeal in the Chamber of Secrets

Dumbledore suggested that she be given a cup of hot chocolate (Chamber of Secrets Chapter 18)

Homemade Cocoa

this is for one LARGE cup or 2 small ones

1 1/2 cups of whole milk*

1 Heaping Tablespoon Unsweeted Cocoa Powder

1/2 Tablespoon chocolate chips (semi sweet)

2 Tablespoons White Sugar**

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Whipped Cream

*To make richer and creamier, you can sub in some half and half or heavy cream for a bit of the milk.

**note, this is very sweet, you may want to start with 1 Tablespoon of sugar, then add more as you like

In a heavy saucepan, whisk milk over medium heat. Whisk vigorously to make frothy.

Add in all of the other ingredients, except whipped cream, and whisk until smooth. Heat until very hot, but do not bring to a boil.

Pour into mug & top with mounds of whipped cream, chocolate chips, caramel syrup, marshmallows, or whatever you wish.

Oh and leave some for Ron.

This should get his sweet fix in for a while.

If you are feelin' spicy, throw in a dash of cinnamon.

Ron approves.

Tina

{ Chocolate Mint Cupcakes }

2012-02-29T10:00:00.010-05:00

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I think I've mentioned this in the past, but my husband likes canned icing.

Yeah, right? This baffles me.

The Bean, however, likes homemade icing.

I've done a fine job raising this human being, haven't I?

Go me!

Back to the icing:

Quandry? Nah, normally I frost a sheet cake in 1/2 canned (chocolate) 1/2 homemade (buttercream).

Since it's 1/2 dark & 1/2 light, I always call it a Yin Yang cake.

The Yin Yang symbol (simplistically) means that the 2 sides are interdependent and that one is no better than the other.

This is SO not true here.

Buttercream is clearly superior to canned icing.

Clearly.

Last night, when baking the hubs a cake, however, I decided to do something different.

I poured out enough for a 9" square cake, and then made the rest into cupcakes for the Bean.

The other day, while at the dollar store, I fell victim to little $1 bags of Andes Chocolate Mints.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Andes. Chocolatey, minty goodness.

There are 12 Andes in each pack.

I kept wondering what to do with these, you know, besides inhale them.

Should I chop them up and throw them in cookies? Should I put them in brownie batter?

These cupcakes presented the perfect solution.

A Chocolate Mint Glaze.

yes.

This is enough glaze for 12 cupcakes. If you are doing 24, you will need to double this.

Use your favorite chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate Mint Glaze
recipe by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

12 Andes Mints

1/4 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

3-4 Tablespoons HOT Water

Dash of Vanilla

At 15 second intervals, melt the Andes with the butter. Stir after every 15 seconds (only took 1 minute total in my microwave), whisk until glossy. Add powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons of Water, and again, whisk until glossy. If not thin enough, add the 4th Tablespoon and whisk. Lastly, whisk in the vanilla.

Next, dunk your cooled cupcakes into the glaze

As you remove them, turn them slowly to try and get off all excess glaze.

They will be gorgeous and glossy when wet.

I dipped mine a second time as well.

The glaze will dry, and while it won't be as glossy, it will still be quite pretty.

Sweet, fudgey, with a cool minty finish.

That's what I'm talking about.

And delicious.

Let's not forget delicious.

This ain't no canned icing.

I can't believe I just typed that.

I'm so ashamed.

Tina

This post is part of a St. Patty's Day blog carnival!

If you've arrived via 20Something Saver Hi! Yes, you've taken the correct train!

Your next stop is here over to see my friends at Hot Coupon World where they've baked us up some nomalicious Double Chocolate Mint Cookies!

Chocolate & Mint for the win!

No shoving! There's plenty for everyone!

Shared at

It's A Keeper Thursday Linky Party!

2012-02-23T00:00:00.004-05:00

Have you been to It's A Keeper yet?

If not, what are you waiting for? Christina has tons of recipes and tips on her site!
As you may have guessed, she only posts them, if they are, in fact, keepers!
I can't wait to try the 2 Bite Apple Pies & Strawberry Refrigerator Cake!

Every week, Christina hosts It's A Keeper Thursday. This week I'm co-hosting with her!

Be sure to link up your favorite recipes, but before you do, here are just a few little guidelines…

Follow It’s a Keeper and and Sugar Bean Bakers via email, Facebook and/or Twitter.

It's A Keeper Facebook
Sugar Bean Bakers Facebook

Your link should be a food or craft/project related item. Link up as many as you’d like!

Add the It's A Keeper Button to your sidebar or blog post – help spread the word!

Here's the It's a Keeper Button:

Here is mine if you'd like to add it as well:

Happy linking & have a great Thursday!

Tina

{ Buckeye Cupcakes }

2012-02-17T15:38:00.003-05:00

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I'm from Ohio.

We love all things Buckeye.

However, I always wonder about naming things "Buckeye" on my blog because most people outside Ohio say, "Buck...WHAT?".

A buckeye is a nut.

And yes, it is poisonous.

At some point in time a highly intelligent Ohioan decided, poison or not, that since a Buckeye is brown and tan, it made perfect sense to call all things chocolate and peanut butter "Buckeye".

Yeah, believe me, I'm as confused as you are.

Here's my original post on Buckeyes.

Huh.

Anyway, for this recipe you'll need chocolate cupcakes.

As I've said before, this is a great cake, but you can also use any darn box mix or recipe of your choosing.

It's all about the icing people!

This is actually a combination of 2 icings that I have already posted.

They come together deliciously on this one cupcake!

First, make up some Peanut Butter Buttercream.

Then drizzle with this decadent Chocolate Glaze shown at the bottom of this post.

And... that's it!

Doesn't matter if you call it a Buckeye Cupcake or a Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Buttercream and Chocolate Glaze.

Wait, Buckeye Cupcake is MUCH easier.

You might wanna stick with that.

Tina

Shared at:
Oopsey Daisy
Six Sisters' Stuff
Skip To My Lou
Somewhat Simple

Sugar Bean Bakers

{ Cookie Dough Bites }

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Homemade Salted Caramel Mocha Latte, Frappuccino, and CUPCAKES!

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shared at: Oopsey Daisy

Tip Junkie

Sweetology 101

Skip To My Lou

It's A Keeper

Our Best Bites

Six Sisters' Stuff

{ Toffee Cupcakes: Happy Birthday Fred & George }

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{ Chocolate Mint Cupcakes }

It's A Keeper Thursday Linky Party!

{ Buckeye Cupcakes }

shared at:
Oopsey Daisy