Gingerbread Cookies

I made gingerbread cookies last month and went to town icing designs on them with my mom! Some of the designs came out really bad and we were laughing at the gingerbread "deformities". I used cookie cutters to shape them and included shapes like stars, candy canes, teddy bears, and other holiday shapes.

Chocolate Chip Xmas Cookies

Peppermint Cookies

I recently went to a Holiday Cookie Exchange and because I had to make so many dozens of cookies, I went for the easiest option- a premade cookie mix that only required rolling the dough into a ball and then baking!

Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Icing

Red velvet cake is a favorite in my house... and what really makes red velvet cake good is the cream cheese frosting! Using vanilla or something else just isn't the same, am I right? I even bought brandie new baking pans for this because I needed new round pans. However, this concoction somehow tasted weird. And I made this with a box mix and packaged icing... nothing from scratch- so where did I go wrong? I wound up throwing out most of this cake. At least we could still eat the leftover icing ha!

Marble Cake

I used baking pans but also cooking pots! Sometimes you just want a mini cake. The best part about this marble cake was marbling the fudge through the batter. I just used a knife and zig-zagged everywhere to make a design I thought was cool. Easy!

Mini Confetti Bundt Cakes

I decided to make mini-bundt cakes (can you tell I like minis better?)! But, I iced half of them upside down because I thought both views of the bundt cakes were neat. One looks almost like a cupcake, while the other looks like a traditional bundt cake! I used Confetti Cake mix by Duncan Hines along with vanilla icing and chocolate sprinkles. These are super sweet and I've been microwaving them before eating! Please forgive the photo quality, as I had to use my camera phone!

Why do fun shapes taste better? ;)

 

PB & Dolce de Leche Chewy Fudge Brownies

I wanted to make some brownies but decided to try mixing things up! I used Chewy Fudge Brownie mix by Duncan Hines, but then mixed in Creamy Peanut Butter by Skippy and Sugar-Free Dolce De Leche Jell-O Pudding.


First, I simply followed the Duncan Hines directions to mix together the brownie mix and ingredients. Then, I took about 3 spoonfuls of Creamy peanut butter and added it to the mix. Tip: add more! I couldn't really even taste the peanut butter once the brownies were done.

Once the peanut butter and the brownie mix was mixed together, I placed it into the baking pan.

I also used one pudding-pack of Dolce de Leche by Jello. Dolce de Leche is one of my favorite flavors- EVER. I love dolce de leche ice-cream too! I first was introduced to the flavor by some special lemon-sugar dolce de leche cookies in Peru. I've been hooked ever since!

I first mixed up the pudding-pack so that the two layers were mixed together. Then, I just put the Dolce de Leche on top of the brownie mix, so that it served as a top layer. I swiveled the pudding over the top layer with a spoon in order to make a fun design, almost like marbling. Once I was happy with the appearance, I put the whole concoction in the oven!

Close-up marbling

I tried this fun combo and enjoyed it. I just wish I had used more PB! What weird combos have you tried to make baking more exciting?

Baked brownies 

Strawberry Vanilla Cake and Cupcakes

I baked up a sweet combo dessert. I used Pillsbury Strawberry Moist Supreme cake mix with Vanilla icing. First, I baked the mix into mini-cupcake shapes. To make a mini-cake I used a small cooking pot!  This cake mix actually comes with pudding in it, so I must say it was very thick.

Mini-cupcakes and Cooking-pot Cake once Baked

Once the cakes cooled off, I iced them with the Vanilla icing.  In the meanwhile, I put aside any cupcakes that did not hold a full shape or that got messed up when I was taking them out of the baking pan.  Once iced, I took the leftover cake and moved the pieces between my fingers to create crumbs. Then, I sprinkled the crumbs over top the cake and cupcakes for a cute pink decoration!

I added Strawberry Twizzler's strings on top of a few of the cupcakes.

Sooo good! Loved the strawberry taste. I recommend this combo of baking products for sure!

Hot Vanilla

I was feeling lazy but still wanted a bite of a special sugar cookie. I made simple sugar cookies from a pre-mix. Easy enough, right? Then, I took vanilla icing from a plastic can and stuck the can in the microwave. Now, the icing became wet and melted. I took a soup spoon and dipped drabs of icing onto each cookie. By melting the icing, it makes it really easy to apply and it spreads quickly.  Then, the only old sprinkles I had were used to add some color to the top.

The icing was so good! It really made the difference in a boring sugar cookie.

Chocolate on Chocolate

This has got to be the most basic baking moment ever! But really, there can be a lot to enjoy in something simple. When is the last time you tried an old classic dessert?

I made mini-cupcakes with devil's food cake mix plus your regular old chocolate icing. You'll also see I made a flat piece of cake to put underneath the cupcakes too!

Yummy in my Tummy

I tried baking together a weird combo that turned into a delicious dessert! I used a lemon frosting + confetti cake mix, baked in mini-sized cupcake molds.