Friday 31 October 2014

Rice Krispies treats; two ways!

One treat I always remember my mom making when I was a child was Rice Krispie squares topped with peanut butter chocolate. I remember her using her giant green Tupperware bowl and they would appear out of nowhere. I thought they were complicated until my mom showed me how easy and fast they can be made in the microwave. Yes, I said microwave! If you have 5 minutes you have time to whip these up!
I place the 40 marshmallows with 1/4 cup of butter and a splash of vanilla. I cook this for 1 minute and 45 Seconds  in my microwave but this is what you're looking for.  I stir this up to make sure all of the butter is melted.
I then pour 6 cups of per measured Rice Krispies in and mix fast and thoroughly. You need to work fast!

Once it's mixed well, pour it into any dish and with wet clean hands you spread it evenly flat.
At this point they are good to serve but i love the toppings!!!

Now for the two ways:

The Martin Classic peanut butter chocolate topping!
Put one cup of chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of butter and a generous heaping of peanut butter in a microwaveable bowl. I heat this for one minute and then stir. I then heat this for an additional 30 seconds until smooth making sure to stir between intervals.
I spread this evenly and then put it in the fridge for an hour to set up before cutting it into whatever shapes you prefer.

These are always a hit!
Pumpkin carving break!

Our flower princess pumpkin!

Now for a non peanut butter option:
I had a toasted coconut and candied ginger mix that I had used for a carrot cake topping. In thinking about it; those flavours go great with chocolate so I decided to melt 1 cup of chocolate with two tablespoons of butter. I spread the mixture on the Rice Krispie cake and then sprinkled generously with the coconut and ginger mixture.

I put this in the fridge for an hour before cutting it into triangles.
We packaged these up to send to grandmas coworkers.
We sealed these with a cute sticker!
All ready for grandma!
This little monkey slept through that whole process; that was helpful!

What a couple of fun family projects. I always love doing homemade but realize for Halloween in this day and age that is unrealistic but you can always do homemade for the people you know well enough. That's what we did and it added a thoughtful personalized touch.
Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Happy Halloween cookie lollipops


I asked Aubrey if she'd like to take something to her dance classmates for Halloween. I then suggested we whip something up; She thought this was a great idea!
Well first things first; wash our hands!  
Then we got out the trusty cookie recipe and what better; sticks to bake the cookies on.  Cookie lollipops it is!

We rolled heaping tablespoon size dough balls and I stuck the lollipop sticks all the way through. Aubrey then flattened the dough balls. I have put the sticks in after baking the cookies before but baking them with the sticks in really secures the lollipops.
We baked these for 13 minutes on 350F.
We cooled them completely before packaging them.
Aubrey cut the tape and I folded the bags. We then used pretty labels to make sure they were completely sealed. 
This was such a fun project. It's great too because all of the kids can learn her name and hopefully in time she'll learn theirs!
All ready for dance class cookies in tow!


Saturday 25 October 2014

Birthday carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

This past week I celebrated my 31st birthday. What a great day I spent with my family.

October brings several birthdays; one is my mother in laws. This year we celebrate her 70th; with that you definitly deserve a party! What party is complete without cake?  I decided to make carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing. I thought this would be a welcomed change from chocolate as well it would look quite festive. My husband gave me the idea of adding candied ginger to the cake and icing; he had seen this on the barefoot contessa cooking show.  We thought it would be a nice addition to the classic flavour profile of carrot cake.
I also add nutmeg and Chinese five spice to my batter.
I used these cupcake liners that I found at superstore. 

These two people cheerfully offered to taste test a cupcake before the party. You know; just to make sure they were edible!
I decorated these with toasted unsweetened coconut and finely sliced candied ginger.
 
They turned out great and I loved the parchment cups; they came off very easily but we're also sturdy enough for baking. They are definitly worth the extra cost.
This little man joined us at the party; he finally fell asleep as dessert was served!
Happy birthday nana we love you!