Image: BHG.com’s 100 Days of Holidays

Today, let’s take a look at one of their fabulous cookie recipes. The Red Velvet Whoopie Pies pair velvet cookies with a luscious cream cheese-based filling.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Prep: 45 minutes
Bake: 8 minutes per batch

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1-oz. bottle red food coloring (2 Tbsp.)
• 1 recipe Whoopie Pie Filling, recipe below

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment; set aside. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.

3. Spoon batter in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds, about 1/2-inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set. Cool completely on baking sheets on rack. Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets.

5. To fill, dollop Whoopie Pie Filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Makes 60 one-inch or 42 two-inch cookies.

6. Whoopie Pie Filling: In medium mixing bowl beat 1/4 cup softened butter and half an 8-ounce package softened cream cheese until smooth. Fold in one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme.

7. To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 70, Total Fat (g) 3, Saturated Fat (g) 2, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 0, Cholesterol (mg) 12, Sodium (mg) 49, Carbohydrate (g) 10, Total Sugar (g) 5, Fiber (g) 0, Protein (g) 1, Vitamin C (DV%) 0, Calcium (DV%) 1, Iron (DV%) 2, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

And don’t forget to vote!

Image and recipe credit: BHG.com’s 100 Days of Holidays

Post from: Blisstree

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

All of the recipes are kid-inspired and have been tried and tested by kids and were only included if children loved baking and eating them!  Not only are the recipes sure to brighten up the faces and fill the tummies of your kids, but Mushet and Sur La Table have created a great way for families to reconnect and spend time together.

Here is one recipe out of Baking Kids Love that your kids are sure to love.  Try this out with your family!

MERINGUE CRISPIES

Baking Kids Love

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Colored sugar or candy-coated almonds, for decorating

Tools

• Measuring cups and spoons
• 2 baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• Large bowl
• Electric mixer
• 14-inch pastry bag and a 3/8-inch round plain tip

1. Before you begin
Position 1 oven rack in the top 1/3 of the oven and 1 oven rack in the bottom 1/3 of the oven, and preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Line the baking sheets with the parchment paper.

2. Make the meringue
Be sure your bowl and beaters are very clean and there is not a speck of yolk in the egg whites. Any dirt or grease will prevent the whites from whipping. Put the egg whites in the large bowl. Using the mixer, beat on medium speed until they look like whipped cream and form soft peaks. To check, turn off the mixer, lift the beaters straight out, and then turn them upside down. The slope leading to the tip should be soft and barely holding its shape.

With the mixer on medium speed, add the sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, shaking it gently over the bowl and letting it blend in slowly. Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to high speed and continue to beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is very fluffy and shiny and forms firm peaks. This is a meringue. Turn off the mixer and check the peaks again. At this point, the slope should be nearly vertical.

3. Pipe the cookies
Put the tip into the pastry bag. Spoon the meringue into the bag until it is half full. Grasp the bag just above the mound of meringue and twist it 3 times (this prevents the mixture from coming out the wrong end of the bag).

Squeeze from the twisted part of the bag, while guiding the bag with a couple of fingers near the tip. Pipe the meringue onto the prepared baking sheets into any shape you like: letters of the alphabet, rounds, or zigzags, for example. Keep the tip of the bag about 1 inch from the surface of the pan, and let the meringue fall out of the bag onto the pan in a thick rope (see photos).

Once the bag is empty, untwist, open the top, and fill with the remaining meringue. Re-twist and continue piping until you have used all the meringue. If you like, sprinkle the cookies with colored sugar.

4. Bake the cookies
Place 1 baking sheet on each oven rack. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the pans inside overnight to finish drying the meringues. Tape a note to the oven door reminding your family not to turn on the oven!

In the morning, remove the cookies from the oven and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 8 weeks, as long as they are kept dry.

Playing Around – Rattling meringue bones and fingers
For bones: Pipe the meringue into a stretched version of dog-bone treats.
For fingers: Pipe a straight line with a knobby center for the knuckle and a tapered end for the fingernail. Just before baking, set a colored candy almond or an almond slice into the meringue at the tapered end for a fingernail. Once the “fingers” have dried, dip the end opposite the fingernail into melted red coating chocolate for blood. Pipe a fancy ring on the finger with melted colored coating chocolate, and embellish it with “jewels” of colored sugars, dragées, or candy pearls.

So there you have it!  Did you kids enjoy baking them?  Did you enjoy baking them?  But, most importantly, how did it taste?

Let us know!

Post from: Blisstree

Meringue Crispies

TruWhip is the only all natural whipped topping with no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup and no GMO’s, it’s 70% organic, and it’s gluten-free. It has the convenience of CoolWhip, but without any of the questionable ingredients.

TruWhip sent me a container of their whipped topping to try out. My son’s a big fan of all things dessert, so he was excited when he saw the container. He’s been bugging me to give it a try.

So did it pass the taste test? It definitely did at our house. My son loves whipped topping, so I usually whip up my own, once in a while we’ll use CoolWhip. I gave him a dollop of the TruWhip on top of his pumpkin pie, and asked him what he thought of it. He said it was yummy. His answer for anything he likes.

I thought the TruWhip was very good too, of course there’s nothing better than whipping up your own batch of whipped topping the old fashioned way. If you are short on time, and don’t want to make your own, I would say TruWhip is a great alternative.

Image (c) L Gerlach

Post from: Blisstree

TruWhip~ A Greener Topping For Your Dessert

Except today when I suddenly had a craving for peanut butter. But I didn’t want to just dig a spoon into a jar of peanut butter. I wanted something I could make with it. It’s been a while (a couple of weeks maybe) since I made cupcakes so I figured why not.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes (Image © Dexie J Wharton)

INGREDIENTS:
4 tbsp of butter, softened
1 1/8 cups of light brown sugar
1/3 (or more) cup of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup of milk

Preheat over the to 350°, Line the muffin pans with the paper cases.

Put butter, sugar and peanut butter into a mixer bowl and beat together for about 2 minutes. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after addition. Add the vanilla extract.

Combine flour and baking soda in a separate bowl. Using a metal spoon, fold the flour into the mixture, alternating with the milk.

Spoon batter into the paper cases. Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes W/ Chocolate Frosting (Image © Dexie J Wharton)

Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

To make the frosting: Beat together 1 stick of butter, 3 cups of confectionery sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. If the frosting is slightly runny just add more confectionery sugar.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes W/ Chocolate Frosting (Image © Dexie J Wharton)

Frost the cupcakes and enjoy.

Post from: Blisstree

Peanut Butter Cupcakes & Chocolate Frosting

So I’m going through and doing my annual “fall cleaning” with my recipe folder, and the one section that I pay a little more attention to is my desserts. I have a habit of printing off pretty much any recipe that catches my eye, or ripping out a magazine article of something that looks good one day, and a week or so later leaves me wondering what I was thinking. The purge is satisfying, especially when I’m able to thin the folder down a bit. At the same time, though, seeing so many of my autumn favorites gets me in a mood to fire up the mixer!

That being said, and because September 21st happens to be Pecan Cookie Day, I’ve added the ingredients to make my favorite Pecan Shortbread Cookies to this week’s grocery list. I’m really in the mood to not only start baking, but to start filling the house with yummy fall scents, too!

~ Pecan Shortbread Cookies
~ Mini Pecan Pumpkin Pies
~ White Chocolate Pecan Cranberry Cookies
~ Butter Pecan Cookies
~ Orange Pecan Cookies
~ Buttered Rum Pecan Cookies
~ Organic Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies (video)
~ Gluten-free Butter Pecan Cookies

What are your favorite pecan cookies?

Post from: Blisstree

Pecan Cookie Day

Apple Crisp (Image © Dexie J Wharton)

INGREDIENTS :
8 apples, peel, core and slice
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 315°. Peel, core and slice the apples.

In bowl, combine brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder and beaten egg. Stir everything together until it’s coarse.

Take 1 spoonful of the flour mixture sprinkle over the sliced apples. Sprinkle the cinnamon as well. Gently toss the whole thing together.

Transfer the apples into a baking dish. Spread the rest of the flour mixture on top. Drizzle the melted butter on top.

Bake it in the oven for an hour.

Apple Crisp (Image © Dexie J Wharton)

Serve a warm slice of the apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. What a nice way to prepare for Fall .

Post from: Blisstree

Apple Crisp With Vanilla Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS :
2 sheets of foil, about a cookie sheet long
3/4 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of mini-chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325°. Fold a sheet of foil in1 inch pleats to create the accordion look. Place on a cookie sheet pan. Do the same thing wiht the other foil.

Beat margarine, and sugar until light and fluffy, Add vanilla and eggs to beat.

Add the flour and salt and keep beating until everything is well-blended. Stir in the chocolate chips using a spatula.

Drop 1 rounded teaspoon of the dough into each pleats of the foil. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. The dough will spread to look get the shape. Remove them from the foil and cool completely.

Turn the pleated foil sheets for the following batch. Then turn it back again for the next batch.

You can substitute the chocolate chips with chopped walnuts.

I adapted this accordion treats recipe from a Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook year 1996.

(Images : Dexie J Wharton)

Post from: Blisstree

Chocolate Chips Accordion Treats

A cheesecake with different flavors. Buying this already made cheesecake is very convenient for parties where you have no time to make dessert anymore. It’s even more convenient because the different flavors will sure please anyone at the table. They can either have triple chocolate, strawberry swirl, caramel swirl or NY cheesecake flavors.

This is good to bring to potlucks also. Everyone will appreciate the different flavors and how pretty the whole cheesecake is. I know that nothing beats homemade goodies. I believe in that practice myself but once in a while it’s ok if you buy an apple pie, or cake or in this scenario, a cheesecake for dessert.

Like I always say, I’m not Martha Stewart after all. This cheesecake with multiple flavors is $13 at Wal-Mart Supercenter Bakery.

(Images : Dexie J Wharton)

Post from: Blisstree

Multi-Flavor Cheesecake

Cupcakes With Butterscotch Frosting (Image © Dexie Wharton)

My recipe for the cupcake is just the basic recipe for yellow cupcakes as well as the buttercream frosting. But the latter gets a twist in the end.

INGREDIENTS :
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup of flour1 tsp of baking powder

Frosting :
1 stick of butter
3 cups of Confectionery sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
half a bag of butterscotch chips, melted

Preheat the over to 350°. Line a muffin/cupcake pan with muffin paper cups.

Mix butter and sugar until creamy consistency. Add the eggs one by one,then beat everything together. Add the flour and baking powder. Beat until smooth.Spoon the batter into the paper cups. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, put the butterscotch chips on a pot. Add 2 tbsp of butter, then let the whole thing melt.

Meanwhile, mix together 1 stick of butter, confectionery sugar and vanilla extract until first yet still in creamy texture. Add the melted butterscotch and beat until everything is incorporated.

Cupcakes With Butterscotch Frosting (Image © Dexie Wharton)

Because of the melted chips the frosting might be a bit runny. Solve this by adding 1 tsp of cream of tartar powder. Frost the cupcakes to your hearts content.

Post from: Blisstree

Cupcakes With Butterscotch Frosting

Red Velvet Cake W/ Cream Cheese Frosting (Image © Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS : (Cake Recipe Inspired by AllRecipes)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp of cocoa
4 tbsp of red food coloring
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2 round (9 inch) pans with butter.

Cream shortening with the sugar. Add in the eggs and beat.

Combine the cocoa and red food coloring top make a paste. Add it to the shortening, sugar and eggs mixture.

Combine salt, vanilla and the buttermilk. Add flour into the buttermilk mixture then into the creamed mixture.

Mix the baking soda and vinegar. Fold it into the cake batter. No stirring or beating necessary.

Pour the cake mixture onto the round pans. Make sure to have equal amounts on each pan.

Bake the cakes for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Mix together softened 1 stick of butter, 1 brick of cream cheese, 4 cups of confectionery sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla extract.

Frost the cooled cakes and decorate however you want.

Red Velvet Cake W/ Cream Cheese Frosting (Image © Dexie Wharton)

I only made it for the family as a dessert after dinner so my cake is a little uneven and I didn’t bother making any artsy fancy decor. It’s still good.

Post from: Blisstree

Red Velvet Cake W/ Cream Cheese Frosting