strawberry lemonade cupcakes

Ingredients:

cake
1/2 packet Jell-O vanilla pudding mix
2 tsp strawberry Kool-Aid drink mix

frosting
12oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened (1 1/2 packages)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 packet lemonade Kool-Aid drink mix (you won't be using the whole packet, start with about 1/2 tsp and adjust from there after tasting)
Yellow food coloring, optional
16 oz. Cool Whip frozen topping, thawed
Fresh strawberries, sliced, for decoration
Lemon rind, for decoration
Strawberry licorice twist, cut into 3" sections, for decoration
Yellow decorating sugar, optional, for decoration


Directions:

Look at your cake mix box and preheat to suggested temperature written in the directions.

Add the dry mix to the bowl of a stand mixer, then follow instructions on the cake mix box (remembering to substitute milk or buttermilk for the water, and adding an extra egg). Pour in the vanilla pudding mix and strawberry Kool-Aid mix. Beat until combined.

Prepare muffin tin by lining with cupcake liners. Fill liners about 2/3 of the way full and bake, according to package directions, or until a toothpick inserted in the cupcake comes out clean.


for frosting
To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat until well combined. Add in a bit of the lemonade Kool-Aid mix and beat to combine.


Spoon in the cool whip and mix until light and fluffy. Taste, and add more lemonade Kool-Aid mix if desired.


Add frosting to a large piping bag (or large zip top bag with a corner snipped off) and use any decorating tip you desire. I used a large closed star tip.

Box of strawberry cake mix (plus milk, eggs and oil, as indicated on the box)

no-bake grasshopper pies

These turned out to be quite easy to make. The recipe I used said it would only fill five jars, but I managed to have it fill all dozen of my Ball jars. I did use the smaller ones since that was closer to the serving size, so if you use bigger ones you may need to double the recipe. They turned out great and were a big hit at the lunch I made them for! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1½ cups coarsely chopped oreo cookies (remove the icing centers first) See instructions.

3 cups mini marshmallows

½ cup milk

¼ cup Creme de Menthe (see notes)

1½ cups whipping cream

chocolate shavings

5 mini mason jars

Directions:

• First, remove all the icing centers of your Oreo cookies (about ½ a package), and using a food processor, coarsely grind the chocolate cookie parts up. Or if you are feeling really adventurous, keep the icing in! It will just make your dessert more sweet...maybe too sweet? (is that even possible?!

• In a saucepan, melt the marshmallows with the milk over low heat. Then chill the mixture, stirring it occasionally, until mixture begins to set.

• Once the marshmallow mix has cooled and set, stir in the Creme de Menthe. Set aside.

• Using a mixer, whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form. Then fold the whipped cream into the mint mixture. Set aside.

Now it's time to put the pies together!

• For the crust, evenly spread the cookie mixture into the bottoms of your mason jars, then pack it down. 

• Add the mint mixture on top of the cookie mixture, evenly spreading it out between the 5 jars.

• If you like, top the mini pies with a little dollop of whip cream, and some chocolate shavings. I just grated some semi-sweet chocolate, and sprinkled it on.

• Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

mini cheesecakes- easter edition

I made these miniature cheesecakes a while back- Easter weekend to be exact- and thought I had posted the recipe to share. Clearly I forgot to post about these little desserts so now is my chance. They were fairly easy to make since I have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. Below is a photo of the finished product and the recipe to go along with it. 

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

3 pkg (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

2 tbsp.  BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

54 speckled malted milk eggs (about 9 oz.)

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 325˚

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 2 tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottoms of 18 paper-lined muffin cups

3. Beat cream cheese, vanilla and remaining sugar with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.

4. Spoon over crusts

5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until center are almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 2 hours.

6. Top each cheesecake with 1 tbsp. coconut; shape to resemble bird’s nest. Fill with malted milk eggs.