Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I was awake very early this morning with a sick child. What do you do when your child falls back asleep but your are too worried about them to fall asleep yourself? Bake these amazing muffins from Two Maids a Milking. Seriously, they are delicious.

You can find the original recipe here. I doubled the recipe, used 1 15 ounce can of pumpkin, and used about 1 3/4 cup chocolate chips.

These are so yummy! Make them today!

S'mores Bars

I am definitely a summer gal and I love everything that comes with summer. I especially like summer foods. Nothing beats a juicy burger off the grill with a tall glass of lemonade and fresh sweet corn. I even like cooking hot dogs over the campfire. And I LOVE s'mores over the campfire! I recently found a recipe for s'mores bars on Pinterest that I thought I would try and they were delish! I can now have s'mores year round, even during a blizzard (given I have electricity)! If you like s'mores as much as I do, you need to make these! You can find the original recipe here.

You need:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (I used 4 regular sized bars because that is what I had)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Add in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide the dough in half and press one half into the bottom of your pan. I used my handy Baker's Roller. It made it real easy and left a nice ridge on the edge.

Put your chocolate bars on top. The original recipe says that two king size bars will fit about perfectly in the pan. I had regular bars so that is what I used.

Spread the marshmallow cream on top of the chocolate.

Spread the other half of the dough on top. I flattened pieces with my hands and pieced them together to make a top crust. It worked for me best this way.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Cool before cutting, if you can wait! Don't these just look fabulous?

Linking up my new favorite remind me of summer treat to Made From Scratch Tuesdays with From Mess Hall to Bistro!

Homemade Pizza

Pizza is one of our favorites around here. Holly devours it. Hubby will eat half of it. Remember how much I loved Gino's in Chicago? I seriously could eat it everyday! My homemade pizza probably isn't as good as Gino's (I guess it depends on who you ask!), but it is still delicious with its homemade crust and mounds of toppings. I baked one of these up last night for supper and it was a hit!

Homemade Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
2 TBSP sugar
1 package quick rise yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP melted butter
2/3 cup warm water

First, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a small bowl.

Add the melted butter and the warm water. I use tap water that has been running on the hottest setting for about a minute.

Mix with a fork to form a soft, sticky dough. Sometimes I add more flour.

Cover and let rise until double.

Roll out on a greased and floured surface. I love my Pampered Chef Baker's Roller. It is the best!

Roll the ends and press down to make a crust.You could stuff the crust at this point with cheese. We've done it before and it is scrumptious! Just use string cheese cut in half.

Prick the crust all over so it doesn't bubble up too bad. The Baker's Roller has a prick in the handle to use.

Bake for about 5-10 minutes at 425 degrees until it starts to brown. You want to see little brown spots like this.

Add your favorite toppings! We love pepperoni!

And our homemade Italian sausage! I usually add mushrooms too but didn't have any.

First add the sauce. Add as much or as little as you like.

Then the pepperoni.

Then the sausage. Mmm.......

And don't forget the cheese! I love the mix of mozzarella and cheddar!

Bake until the cheese starts to brown like this. Maybe about 20 minutes. It depends on how many toppings you have.

Once it is out of the oven, let is cool for about 10 minutes before you eat. We ate ours with salad topped with homemade ranch dressing!

The best thing about pizza is that you can adjust the toppings to your taste and experiment with different kinds of toppings. The possibilities are endless!


Linking up to these great parties today!

Hunk of Meat Monday at Beyer Beware

2 Maids a Baking at Two Maids a Milking













Made From Scratch Tuesday at From Mess Hall to Bistro

Chocolate Coca Cola Cake

Is there anything better than chocolate and coca cola? Probably this chocolate coca cola cake! It is super moist, super chocolately, and super yummy! I found this recipe on pinterest and I just had to try it because it looked so good! You can find the original recipe here at Confessions of a Chocoholic. I think I like chocolate just as much as this chocoholic so I will be checking out more of the recipes there!


First, I mixed my dry ingredients together. I added 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Then I put the other ingredients in a saucepan. I added 1 cup butter, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup coca cola, and 1/2 cup buttermilk.

 Heat in the saucepan until it boils. Then add it to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Put in in a greased 9X13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Be sure not to overbake it!

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Now for the frosting! Every cake needs a good frosting! In another saucepan, boil 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup coca cola. 

Remove from heat and add about 4 cups powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost your cake!

Enjoy!

This cake tastes a lot like the Texas sheet cake recipe that I have. The only difference is that this cake calls for coca cola. Both are delicious!

Linking up to Made From Scratch Tuesdays with From Mess Hall to Bistro!

Also linking up to Tasty Tuesdays with For The Love Of Blogs!

Also check out 2 Maids a Baking at Two Maids a Milking!

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Have I got a treat for you! It is so good that I had it for breakfast! While I was stalking Pinterest one night, I found a recipe for a single serving of chocolate chip cookie dough that is safe to eat because it contains no eggs. That's right. I said it. Safe to eat chocolate chip cookie dough. I have heard that you can make this but I have never looked for a recipe. Since I stumbled upon this one, I decided to try it. You can find the original recipe here.

First, I mashed my butter. You need 1 1/2 TBSP of it.

Then, you add the dry ingredients. You need 3 TBSP flour and 2 TBSP sugar. I used 1 TBSP white sugar and 1 TBSP brown sugar.

Then, mix everything until it is crumbly.

Next, add a splash vanilla and the milk, a little bit at a time. Add enough to make it a cookie dough consistency. You will need a little less than 1 TBSP milk. (The original recipe doesn't call for vanilla. But I had to have it.)

Add the desired amount of chocolate chips and enjoy! I stuck mine in the fridge for a few minutes because I like it cold.

I'm linking up to Made From Scratch Tuesdays with From Mess Hall to Bistro! Enjoy!

Also linking up to Tasty Tuesday over at For the Love of Blogs!