Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Today I threw one of my best friends a bridal shower. It went great! I made these cupcakes and they turned out GREAT! I randomly found some blogger that made me those cupcake toppers. How cute are they!? I love love love them! These cupcakes kind of taste like a sugar cookie. Amazing.

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes
How Sweet It Is

makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup assorted brightly colored sprinkles + more for top of frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in assorted sprinkles.

Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool, then frost.

Giant Rainbow Cookies

Giant Rainbow Cookies
How Sweet it is

makes 18 large or 36 small cookies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) of salted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup mini m&m’s (or something else that you love)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and sugars until they are combined (and look like the first picture above). Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold in the m&m’s.

Divide the dough how you choose (1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tablespoon portions for 36 smaller cookies). Shape each portion into a ball with your hands then pull each ball into two equal pieces. Turn each half so that the rough side of the half (what used to be the inside of the ball) faces upwards and then squish both halves together. Place the dough rough-side up on a baking sheets. If you’re doing large cookies, I’d leave about 2 inches in between each.

Bake for 12-15 minutes (large cookies) or 8-12 minutes (small cookies) or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be
soft and puffy. Do not over bake. Let cool completely then dig in!

Note: to melt the butter I simply microwaved it, and to let it cool I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes.

Cheerio Treats

Cheerio Treats

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 5 cups Cherrios

1. In a large sauce pan, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil over medium heat.
2. Allow mixture to boil for one minute and remove from heat.
3. Add peanut butter and vanilla to mixture and mix until smooth.
4. Add Cheerios and mix until all coated.
5. Drop mixture by spoonful onto waxed paper and allow to cool. Enjoy. (I get about 2 dozen from this recipe. It all just depends on how big you make them.)

Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls

Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls
Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Note: if you need/want to use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, change the amount of yeast to 2 tablespoons active dry and dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let the yeast mixture activate and foam (approximately 5 minutes) before adding it to the cornmeal mixture with the butter and 1/3 cup sugar.

Also, as with all yeast doughs, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast doughs, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe.

*Makes 2 dozen rolls

2 cups milk
2/3 cup yellow corn meal
1 ½ tablespoons instant yeast
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
5 ½ – 6 cups flour

Heat the milk to just below a boil so bubbles are just appearing around the edges (this is called scalding milk). Add the cornmeal and cook and stir until thickened, lowering the temperature if needed so the mixture doesn’t boil (see picture below the recipe for an idea of what the consistency should be). Pour the cornmeal/milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl and let cool until lukewarm. Add the yeast, butter and sugar (if you dissolved active dry yeast with a bit of water and sugar until it foamed, add it now). Mix. Add the salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms. Knead for 5-8 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl covered with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.

Divide the dough into three portions and roll each into about an 8-10 inch circle. Brush the top lightly with butter. Cut into 8 wedges and roll each wedge up starting from the wide end so it forms a crescent roll shape. Place each roll on a lightly greased or silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing about 1-2 inches apart to allow for rising. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Brush with butter while still warm.

Here is a picture of what the consistency of the cornmeal/milk mixture should look like when it is done cooking and thickening.

Jello Cake

JELLO CAKE

Shayla's Kitchen

1 box yellow cake mix
6 oz box strawberry jello
3.4 oz box vanilla instant pudding
1 – 16 oz. container cool whip

Bake cake mix in 13x9 inch baking dish according to box directions. Pull out of oven and poke holes into the top of the cake. Combine strawberry jello with 2 cups BOILING water. Mix well, then pour over hot cake. Refrigerate over night. (I only refrigerated for about 4 hours and it was fine). Mix packet of instant pudding with container of cool whip and spread over cake. Enjoy!

Macaroni Grill Focaccia Bread

I've actually only been to Macaroni Grill once... Was NOT a fan of what I got or my husband had, but we did fall in love with that bread. I found this recipe today and just HAD to have it for dinner tonight. Such an easy easy bread to make and it's simply delicious. At the restaurant they give you olive oil with freshly ground pepper and you can dip your bread in it. However, this bread is amazing as is. Goes great with any Italian meal. YUM!

Macaroni Grill Focaccia Bread


What You’ll Need:

• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 c. warm water
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp rosemary
• 1 Tbsp butter

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast, sugar, and water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add butter, salt, and 2 c. flour. Mix together.
2. Add rosemary and rest of the flour. Mix for 5 minutes. Then cover up the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
3. Split the dough in half and put on a cookie sheet. Let it rise for another 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Brush with some melted butter and enjoy!

Mulligatawny Soup

Mmmmm! Best soup I've had in a while! My mom actually made this for my husband and I last night. My husband doesn't like soup because he claims it doesn't ever fill him up. So my mom made the soup a little thicker (by not putting so much broth in) so that he could put it on top of even more rice. I love this!

Mulligatawny Soup

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Note: this recipe makes use of already cooked rice and chicken so plan accordingly!

*Serves 6-8

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots, about 3 large carrots, peeled
1 cup thinly chopped celery, about 3 stalks
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons curry powder or 1 tablespoon hot curry powder
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth ½ Granny Smith or other tart apple, cored, peeled and chopped
2 cups cooked rice, white or brown
2 cups cooked, diced chicken, about 2 chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon black pepper
¾ cup whipping cream

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until rippling and hot. Add the onion, carrots and celery, and cook, stirring often, until they are slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the flour and curry and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the broth until well combined and bring the soup to a simmer. Cook at a low simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Add the chopped apple, rice, chicken, salt, thyme, and pepper. Simmer 8-10 minutes longer, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking, until the vegetables are tender. Add the cream, warm the soup through, and serve.