Cranberry Bliss Bars

Apparently Cranberry Bliss Bars are an amazing dessert you can buy at Starbucks. I've never eaten one so I can't say if this copycat recipe taste anything like the real thing. However, I can tell you that these Cranberry Bliss Bars are out of this world! Blondies, cream cheese frosting, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries . . . Eric can't stay away from them. They just might be new annual dessert we make.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Blondies
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup dried cranberries (homemade or store-bought)
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
Blondies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter and allow to cool to room temperature (so it doesn't cook the eggs). Add eggs and vanilla and beat with electric mixer.

In a medium bowl, combine together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and combine. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Pour batter evenly into baking dish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the center of the blondies have set. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Frosting
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until well-combined. Pour in half of the melted white chocolate and beat until well combined. Frost the cooled blondies then sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle the top of the blondies with the melted white chocoalte. Place the cookie bars in the fridge to allow the set then cut into bars.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Dessert Recipes:
Michigan Cranberry Brownies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies
Caramelitas
Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars (Twix Bars) 
Congo Bars, Blondies, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?
Blueberry Chocolate Chip Brunetties 

Pumpkin Mug Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The great thing about mug cakes is that are a generous single serving which means two things: you can't over indulge and you don't have to share. And this pumpkin mug cake is the most moist mug cake I have ever made. It really hits the spot on a chilly autumn day.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Cake
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
2 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Frosting

1 ounce cream cheese, softened

1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:
Cake
Spray the inside of a mug with cooking spray. Add all the ingredients in the mug and mix until well combined. Microwave for 50 to 60 seconds or until the cake is set in the middle. Each microwave works a little different so start at 50 seconds and slowly increase from there.

While cake cools, make the frosting.

Frosting
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and powder sugar. Place on top of pumpkin mug cake.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Mug Recipes:
3-Ingredient Gluten-Free Mug Cake
Brownie in a Mug
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Mug
Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mug Cake
Chocolate-Hazelnut Mug Cake
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake
Fluffernutter Mug Cake
French Toast in a Mug
Quiche in a Mug

Cinnamon Glazed Apple Muffins

This was the third year in a row we missed out on picking apples. The first year it was a bad crop and no one had apples. Last year our favorite orchard closed the weekend before we planned on going at the end of October. This year, we went in early October so not to miss out again. Well, we did. There was a rush of people the weekend before we planned on going and they picked the orchard clean. But they did have some pre-picked apples we could buy. So I've been going apple crazy. Some were sucesses like these muffins and my apple pie salsa. The apple and sausage mac and cheese, not so much.

Next time, I'm going to give these muffins a crumb topping and drizzle them with a cinnamon glaze. A muffin just isn't a muffin without a crumb topping.

Recipe adapted from here.
Makes approximately 2 dozen muffins.

Ingredients:
Muffins
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups diced apples, peeled and cored (about 3 apples--I used Mutsu)

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffan pan with paper cups.

In a large bowl, cream sguar, eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. In a second bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ones and mix until well combined. Fold in diced apples.

Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until muffins are set in the middle. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Glaze
In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until well combined. Dip the tops of the muffins in the glaze.

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Breakfast Recipes:
Basic Homemade Bagels  
Blueberry Muffins
French Toast in a Mug  
Homemade Hash Browns 
 Individual Bacon and Cheese Quiches
Monkey Bread Muffins  
Only the Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls 
Pancakes with Raspberry Sauce
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes  
Pumpkin Oatmeal
Quiche in a Mug
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Cadbury Egg Bark (with homemade Cadbury Egg Recipe)

Eric licked his plate. That was how much he loved this Cadbury Egg Bark.

Easter candy is my all time favorite candy. Jelly beans, robin eggs, Cadbury eggs . . . I could eat my weight in the sugary goodness. So of course I bought us some Cadbury eggs, and I was kind of shocked by how expensive they had gotten. However, that only inspired me to make my own--which is surprisingly and remarkably easy! But I was too lazy to make them into eggs so I made them into bark. But this recipe will work to make eggs (see links at bottom of post).

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Yellow food coloring
12 ounces Cadbury milk chocolate (you can use other chocolate--I used Nestle, but I wished I would
     have used Cadbury), divided

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.

Place 6 ounces of the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour the melted chocolate on the waxed paper. Using a rubber spatula, spread the chocolate out to an 8x8 square (approximately--mine turned out more rectangle than square). Refrigerator for about 1 hour or until chocolate is hard.

While chocolate hardens, make creme. With an electric mixer, cream the corn syrup, butter, and vanilla together in a medium bowl. Sift the powdered sugar and beat until well combined.

Place half of the creme in a second bowl. Add yellow food coloring (I used 5 drops) and combine.


Spread white creme over the hardened chocolate using a rubber spatula. Spread yellow creme over white creme using a rubber spatula. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.


Place the remaining 6 ounces of the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread melted chocolate over the creme. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

With a knife, cut bark into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

This link uses the same recipe to make Cadbury eggs using a mold.
This link uses the same recipe and doesn't require a mold.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Easter Recipes:
How to Dye Easter Eggs with Kool Aid
Cupcakes Baked Inside An Easter Egg
Chocolate Bunnies Made with Edible Clay

Puppy Chow

I had never even heard of puppy chow until I met Eric. Man, had I been missing out! Crunchy, sweet, peanut butter, chocolate . . . it is so addicting. Well, for our autumn wedding I decided to make the favors. Treat or trick bags filled with puzzle books and desserts--homemade sea salt caramels, pumpkin fudge, and you guessed it: puppy chow!

I made the caramels and fudge and Eric made the puppy chow. I can't tell you how hard it was not to eat it all ourselves!

Ingredients:

9 cups crispy rice cereal squares (like Chex)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar  

Directions:
In a large sauce pan, met the chocolate over low heat. Stir in the peanut butter and mix until smooth. Remove from heat, add cereal to the pan, and stir until all the cereal is coated. Pour the powdered sugar into a large ziploc bag, add cereal, and shake well until the cereal is well coated. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

~Krissy