dessert

Lemon Bread with a Lavender Vanilla Glaze

April 18, 2017 by jcrain320 3 Comments

Whether you are looking for a spring treat or a Mother’s Day dessert, this Lemon Bread with Lavender-Vanilla Glaze will curb any spring craving and wow your guests!

It’s hard to believe but I haven’t always been on Team Lemon. In fact, I’ve only started enjoying lemon desserts in the last few years and I’ve fallen hard lemon. I’m all about the lemon bread, lemon cookies, lemon bars, etc. It really is amazing how our tastes change over the years.

So here’s another obsession: floral flavors. I’m loving lavender, lilac, rose, and edible flowers. I’ve started incorporating them in a bunch of recipes that I’ll be sharing over the next few months. The key to incorporating these flavors is to do it with a light touch. If you put too much of the floral flavor, it will taste like a bouquet of flowers.

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Gluten Free Double Chocolate M&M’s Cookies

September 27, 2016 by jcrain320 Leave a Comment

These Gluten Free Double Chocolate M&M’s Cookies are so delicious, fudgy and chewy that you’d never know they were made with gluten free flour!

This weekend, I hung out with my 8-year-old niece. She’s amazing…and she loves to cook and bake. Every time I make a meal (or anyone does), she wants to help or she wants to do it herself and doesn’t want anyone else to help. So, when we had a weekend wide open, I decided to have a big baking weekend. We made pie crust from scratch, pureed pumpkin, made tacos, and baked these Gluten Free Double Chocolate M&M’s Cookies. Now, I didn’t tell her that they were gluten free until she ate one and loved them…. And I’m not sure she understands what it actually is. Do any of us?

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Easy Skillet Blackberry Cobbler

July 21, 2016 by jcrain320 1 Comment

In the height of summer and blackberry season, there’s nothing better than a blackberry cobbler. This Easy Skillet Blackberry Cobbler has fresh blackberries and shortcake biscuits that create a delicious summer dessert.

I’ve been waiting for blackberry season for months. I couldn’t wait for them to be here. See, I froze some blackberries so I would have some in the off-season but didn’t save back nearly enough. And, honestly, although they were great, eating fresh berries right off the vine is where it’s at. Essential summer right there.

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Homemade Bubblegum Ice Cream

July 1, 2016 by jcrain320 1 Comment

Steeping ice cream to make exciting new flavors is fun. Homemade Bubblegum Ice Cream is so easy to make and absolutely delicious. Your party guests or family will love every bit of this ice cream!

I absolutely love birthdays. It’s a chance to celebrate another year of your loved one or friend. One of things I’ve really got into doing lately is making a special treat for birthdays. I like to take birthday girl and guy’s favorite flavors and come up with a dessert. Well, lucky you, my 8 year old niece loves bubble gum. I mean seriously loves gum. So I thought that it would be super fun to make a bubblegum ice cream for her birthday party.

Having never made a candy based ice cream before, I sought advice from a chef friend who has a lot of ice cream experience. Turns out, its pretty simple. The bubble gum actually mostly melts into the base. But, what doesn’t melt, is simply strained out. The same goes with candy. You can steep any candy you want–licorice or jolly ranchers–whatever you can think of. Now, I can’t promise you that it will taste good but I bet at least those two candy based ice creams would be delicious!

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Turtle Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

May 3, 2016 by jcrain320 24 Comments

These Turtle Cupcakes are absolutely delicious. The chocolate cake is light and moist and the salted caramel buttercream is rich and so unbelievably delicious. Top it with toasted pecans, caramel and chocolate for the ultimate turtle dessert!

I love birthdays. Like, really love them. Not to get too philosophical or anything but why wouldn’t we want to celebrate another year of a friend/family/loved one’s time on this earth?

Birthdays deserve balloons, flowers, cake, and being surrounded by the people you care about doing the stuff you love to do. I love making birthday cakes/cupcakes for people. I mean I love to feed people in general but birthday cakes make people feel special (and they are so why not make them feel that way!?).

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Strawberry Breakfast Pastries with Rosewater Glaze

March 31, 2016 by jcrain320 31 Comments

These Strawberry Breakfast Pastries are absolutely delicious with a Rosewater Glaze. With only 7 ingredients, these pastries are super easy to make and so much better than store-bought pastries.

Baking is like therapy for me. It ‘s always been that way. In fact, my best girl friends in college gained weight after one particular cruddy period of time. Sorry, not sorry. They never turned it away so I feel like everyone really benefited.

Getting into the kitchen to make the final batch of these is exactly what I needed—and the end result is absolutely amazing. I’m usually more of a savory breakfast person but every once in a while I really have to have something sweet. I also love to make fun surprises like this when I have guests—and these breakfast pastries will surely impress your guests. They will think you are the best pastry chef but you actually only spent 30 minutes in the kitchen with seven ingredients!…

The Best Homemade Hot Chocolate with Vanilla Sugar Cookie Whipped Cream

December 31, 2015 by jcrain320 12 Comments

One of the best things about the holidays and this time at the end of the year is that I get to spend time with my niece. She is out of school for winter break and my workload is always a little lighter between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We get to play games, watch our favorites movies and television shows, and get in the kitchen.

This seven year old is going to be a rocking cook. In fact, she already is. I’ve already begun teaching her how to make Grandma’s Pumpkin Bread and she can make cookies/brownies and other fun stuff completely on her own. When I was 7, I certainly didn’t have those skills. Heck, I didn’t have them at 17.

Well, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, I had to keep her busy…as I’m told you have to do with kids or else they are terrors. So, I called in the big guns: my homemade hot chocolate. It’s rich but not too rich and full of chocolate—as hot chocolate should be. It also has a touch of vanilla, which is delicious in hot chocolate. I’ve made this recipe for years but what’s new is the whipped cream.

I’ve started making my own whipped cream because it is so, dang, good. I’ve added in some of BAILEYS Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookie Coffee Creamer to the heavy cream and sugar. Let me tell you: it is so creamy and delicious and when mixed into hot chocolate, it is certainly kid and adult approved!

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Double Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies (+ The Annual Food Blogger Cookie Exchange)

December 7, 2015 by jcrain320 Leave a Comment

Cookies are an essential part of the holiday season. Once Thanksgiving is over, it’s cookie time! I can’t miss my typical cookies: chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies but I also love to try out new cookies. I use this batter from Baker by Nature as a solid base for my chocolate cookies but I always mix it up. I add in mint chips, peppermint, chocolate cherry chips, and now, caramel chips. I love the flavor of these cookies mixed in with other holiday flavors!

Well these Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies were baked up as part of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap that brings cookies to bloggers everywhere but more importantly raises money and awareness for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the U.S. than any other disease.

I’ll certainly dunk a cookie to combat kids’ cancer. There’s a young boy from my hometown, who also is the same age as my 7 year old niece, currently battling cancer. The entire town and many folks across the country are cheering him on as he fights cancer and it’s remarkable just how strong he is. He, and so many kids, has gone through so much in his life in such a short time and his strength is so inspirational.

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The Best Grape Salad Ever

November 30, 2015 by jcrain320 Leave a Comment

This grape salad is seriously the best recipe ever—and I’m not saying this lightly! I used to make this recipe all of the time. It is so addicting, creamy, and rich. When I say addicting, I really mean it. You can’t just eat a couple of grapes. In fact, the last time I ate this grape salad was about 8 years ago. See, a friend and I were coming back from NYC and were craving it. So, we make a quick detour to pick up the ingredients and hurried home to make this dessert. It was so addicting that we ate about a pound of grapes each. We ended up having bellyaches like children at Christmastime. I decided then and there sprawled out that I had no self control with this grape salad and wasn’t allowed to make it.

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Chocolate and Vanilla Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bars

November 19, 2015 by jcrain320 2 Comments

Two weeks ago, I was at the BlogHer Food Conference. I had an amazing time and I can’t wait to share some of the things that I’ve learned but that’s going to have to wait. Why? Because I have to tell you about these Cheesecake Bars. I’ve been dreaming about these bars since I met Jocelyn from Grandbaby Cakes at the BAILEYS^®Coffee Creamer booth. She was tasked with creating a dessert using their new holiday flavor: Frosted Vanilla Cookie. She did an amazing job because this dessert is addicting.

I had two of these awesome bars while I was at the conference. Honestly, I wanted more but it was impolite to eat all of them. So, then, I put the creamer in some hot chocolate. And, then I came back and got a second cup. I would say that I came back for another but there was this whole incident at the table that caused me to never be able to show my face again. If you know me in real life, you know that I’m an absolute clutz.

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