Lemon Granita

A little bit of tang and a little bit of tart come together in this light, refreshing and icy dessert! Super easy to make!  Enjoy!

1 cup lemon juice (about 6 sm/med size lemons)
Lemon rine from one lemon (shaved)
3/4 c sugar
Fresh rosemary (one stem)
2 cups water

In a pot, add all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool.  Strain and pour into a 9x9 glass pan.  Freeze for 3 hours.  Stir every 30 minutes after the first hour.  Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3           
Prep Time: 5 minutes         
Cook Time: 20 minutes          
Freeze Time: 3 hours

Butterfinger Chunk Cookies

These cookies are delicious!  The melted chocolate and butter from the candy bars give the cookies a toffee-like taste. Recipe courtesy of RecipeGirl.com. 

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c (packed) dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c, plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c crushed Butterfingers (about 4 regular-sized bars)

Yield: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 20 min + chill time

Cook Time: 9-11 min

Directions:

1. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until well-blended. 

2. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Beat in flour, salt and baking soda.

 

3. Stir in butterfingers (dough will be moist). 

4. Chill cookie dough at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

6.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

7. Using a tablespoon of dough for each cookie, drop cookie dough in mounds onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart (about 8 cookies per sheet; cookies will spread). 

8. Bake cookies until golden brown, about 9-11 minutes.

9. Transfer parchment with cookies to rack and cool completely.

 

 Recipe Source: RecipeGirl.com

Easy and Delicious Tres Leches Cake

Tomorrow is a good friend's birthday.  She and her kiddos came over tonight to bring over their items for the garage sale we are having this coming weekend, so I made dinner and cake to have a little celebration.  Since we had enchiladas for dinner, I opted for a complimenting dessert...hens... Tres Leches.  This is such an easy recipe and sooooo yummy. 

Cake:
  8 egg whites
  2 cup sugar
  2 cup flour
  1 tsp vanilla
  2 tsp baking powder
  1/2 cup milk

Milk Mixture:
   2 cans evaporated milk
   2 cans condensed milk
   1/2 cup sour cream
   1/2 cup milk

Makes 8 Servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Chill time: 2 hours

For the cake:

 Whisk egg whites and sugar together until somewhat firm. Add flour, vanilla, baking powder and milk and mix well.  Pour into greased dish/pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

Milk Mixture:

 While waiting for the cake to bake, whisk all milk mixture ingredients together.  Chill until cake is ready.

Once the cake is done, check the middle with a toothpick to make sure no cake sticks to the stick.  If it is ready, take it out and let the cake cool.  

Once the cake is cool, using a toothpick, make holes all over the cake that go all the way to the bottom of the pan

Poor milk mixture over the cake.  It may seem like there is a lot of liquid, but that's ok.  It will soak in.

Chill for 2 hours to allow the milk mixture to soak into the cake.  Serve and enjoy!

Nutella Cupcakes

Derek and I both LOVE Nutella.  If you have never tried it, it's a must! Nutella originated in Italy and is kind of a sweetened hazelnut version of peanut butter. I found this recipe at Your Cup of Cake.  It is absolutely delicious!  I'm a big fan of that blog, so if you get a chance, check it out!

Photo also from Your Cup of Cake

My photo is not quite as pretty.  I need to work on my frosting skills :) But they sure were yummy!

Ingredients:

Cake:

Devil’s Food Cake Mix

3 eggs

½ cup oil

¼ cup milk

½ cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

24 teaspoons Nutella (1 per cupcake) 

Nutella Buttercream:

¾ cup Nutella

¼ cup butter, softened

1 ½ -2 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

 3-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffins tins.

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, oil, milk, water and vanilla.

3. Sift in cake mix and stir in sour cream.

4. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and then place a teaspoon of Nutella on top of each one. Using a toothpick, swirl the Nutella into the batter.

5. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the sides spring back. (The tops will stay gooey because of the Nutella.)

6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place directly into airtight containers so seal in moisture.

7. Buttercream: Beat the Nutella and butter for 5 minutes. Add vanilla, then alternate between adding powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream. Taste the buttercream until you reach your desired sweetness. You may need to refrigerate the buttercream before piping it onto cooled cupcakes. 

Ohhhh So Yummy Oreo Cupcakes

WARNING:  These babies are dangerously delicious!  I'm a sucker for anything with Oreos so when I saw this recipe, I just had to try it out. These are definitely some of the best cupcakes I've had.  The secret Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake is a sweet surprise for newbies!
Recipe from Your Cup of Cake.

Ingredients:

Cake:

Devils food cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup sour cream

24 Oreos

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Separate Oreo sandwiches and place one in each cupcake liner cream side up

Cake:

3. Mix eggs, oil, buttermilk and sour cream.

4. Add to cake mix.

5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3-3/4 full over Oreos.  Make sure to gently shake the pan side to side to allow the batter to settle. 

6. Bake according to back of cake mix box.  It usually won't take the full baking time.

Frosting:

7. Whip cream cheese and butter until light and smooth.  Add vanilla and powdered sugar to desired taste.

8. Pipe or spread frosting on cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with crushed Oreo shells and top with half of Oreo sandwich.