Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Brownies

     

       A few Mondays ago we had a day off school,but my sister still had to go to school. She came home that night announcing she had a bake sale the next day and, me being the one who enjoys to bake so much, my mother told me to think up something to make. I had seen these brownies I wanted to try. I found the recipe and made up a batch. They were so easy. My sister said they were all gone within the first 5 minutes they put them on the table!

Preheat your oven to 350. Smoosh 1.5 squares of break-apart refrigerated cookie dough into the bottom of each well. Place Reese cup upside down on top of cookie dough (or an Oreo!). Top with prepared box brownie mix, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes.

I don't own a pan like the one in this picture (yet) so I just used a muffin pan. Next time I make these I will be putting the cookie dough in and and the peanut butter cup before I even mix the brownies. The cookies dough part was the only part that was remotely difficult, it may just have to do with the fact that I'm so impatient......

I baggied them up real pretty with labels from here. Let me know if you try these and how they turn out! Thanks for reading my posts!

Orange Pushup Smoothie

So I'm crusin around in blog world, not doing anything productive, and I find this blog MOMS CRAZY COOKING. I found there was a linky party so I signed up! The 7th of every month is a new cooking challenge. This month is Smoothie month. I found this recipe at Averie Cooks, made it and now I'm going to share it.

                                                       Orange Push-up Smoothie                 

1 can of Orange Juice Concentrate, slightly thawed

1 cup of milk (I used half n half, you could use nut milk, cream, soy milk, etc.)

1/2 cup of sugar (I added sugar and ended up putting in a whole cup because it wasn't sweet enough for me)                                                       
                                                                               
3 tablespoons of vanilla (the recipe calls for 1/2 a    teaspoon but I couldn't taste enough vanilla so I      added a lot  haha)                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                    2 cups of ice or to taste                                         
                                                                                                                                                                

1.  Put all the ingredients except the ice into your blender and liquefy.
2. Add the ice. Blend.

S'mores!!!

     

Its summer and s'mores are perfect summer food! However not every person has the space or time to build a fire in their backyard to make this amazing treat... I HAVE A SOLUTION! I'm going to tell you how to make s'mores in the oven :) this is the perfect snack after school, right before you throw the kids in the car for ball games, birthday parties, or even just good ole family time.

What you will need:

Hershy's chocolate bars
Graham Crackers
and marshmallows

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

 

2. Prepare your cookie sheet. Place parchment paper onto your cookie sheet so you won't  have to clean up as much of a mess later.

3. Break the crackers in half so they are squares. Place them onto the pan like so:

4. Put a marshmallow onto each square facing up like so:

5. Place pan in oven for 5 minutes.

6. When they come out of the oven the marshmallows should be puffy. Using a butter knife push the marshmallow down. Put 3chocolate squares on each marshmallow.

7. Place the top cracker onto each s'more. Place back in oven with the oven door slightly opened. Be sure to watch your s'mores. This is just to melt the chocolate. 

Take the pan out and you can eat your s'mores! Enjoy!

I haven't posted in so long! I have so many ideas I need to post. You will have to wait for me to get around to taking pictures (should be next week). Here is one that I want to try: Microwave meatloaf in a mug! I can't wait to see if this is any good if you try it before I get a chance to update this post, please, do share!

You probably noticed I made some layout changes. The lovely pink tittles to the right ---> are a special thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block. They have free (yes really actually completely free) blog layouts and cute buttons for your blog. 

Thanks a million for reading my posts.

xox,

Madeline

Blueberry-Sour Cream Pie

      My cousins, Cali and Jeremy, just had a baby girl in November so I rode the train with my great Aunt and great Uncle (Uncle Paul and Aunt Amy) to visit them and the baby, Lucy. We had a bit of an adventure with a small gas leak but they turned off the furnace and we are currently heating the house with the fire place until someone can look at the furnace to fix it on Monday. Cali received cookbook titled Pie by Ken Haedrich for Christmas. The book has 300 recipes. So they are baking every recipe in the book. This weekend Jeremy and I made Blueberry-Sour Cream Pie. Here is the recipe to make this pie :)

Before the pie is cut.

(The recipe says if you have fresh blueberries to squish them into between the cooked blue berries after you put the cooked blueberry mixture into the pie crust "because fresh berries and cooked berries have a divine taste when together" )

Crust

1 Graham Cracker Crumb Crust (we used a regular pie crust that my Aunt Amy made)

Filling

One 1-pound bag individually frozen blueberries (not packed in syrup)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

A slice of the delicious pie!

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Topping

One 8-ounce package full-fat cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup full-fat sour cream

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish

Handful of fresh blueberries or threads of lemon zest (optional)

1. Prepare the crust and press it into the bottom and up the side of a 9 1/2-inch deep dish pie pan. Refrigerate, prebake, and let cool. if you are using a store-bought crust, prebake as directed on the package and let cool.

2. Combine the frozen blueberries and lemon juice in a medium-size nonreactive saucepan. Cover, and cook over medium to low heat until the blueberries are almost simmering in their own liquid. Mix the granulated sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the blueberries. Bring the fruit to a boil, stirring nonstop, for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Scrape the fruit into a shallow bowl and let cook for 15 minutes.

3.  Spoon the partially cooled filling into the cooled pie shell and smooth with a spoon. If you're using fresh berries, scatter them over the fruit and press them into the cooked berries. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese sugars, and lemon zest together in a medium-size bowl until smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and blend briefly until smooth. Spoon the filling over the chilled pie and smooth the top with a spoon. Cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

5. Just before serving, garnish with the blueberries or lemon zest, if desired.

Then ENJOY!

Tip for success:

When you're spooning the creamy topping over the fruit, take care that all of the topping is in place before you start to smooth it out. That way, you're more likely to avoid dipping the back of your spoon into the fruit filling and smearing blue streaks across the otherwise perfectly white surface. If that does happen and you're bothered by the streaks, you can always crush some vanilla wafers in a food processor or by hand and sprinkle them over the top to hide your booboo. Or you can garnish the pie with fresh berries. :)