I love The Pioneer Woman. Simple as that. She has some of the most delicious recipes out there! The other day, I noticed a recipe that I simply had to try. Why? Mainly because I had a huge container of blueberries in my refrigerator that we screaming "use me by Saturday!" So, Pioneer Woman's Blueberry Crumb Cake was the answer. And oh boy, was it a winner. Moist, fluffy, sugary-sweet (but not too sweet), filled with blueberry goodness... all with a little crunch on top. Make it today - trust me. You won't be disappointed!

I don't know about you, but nothing says "good morning!" to me better than a hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll. Sure, coffee-shop cinnamon rolls would work, but who wants that when you can have these guys?! Stuffed full of brown-sugar, butter, and cinnamon and baked just until soft and slightly doughy in the middle, these "from scratch" cinnamon rolls fit the bill. Coffee shop, schmoffee shop, I say.   :)

What You Need:

1. 1 tube refrigerated breadsticks (I used Pillsbury, but any brand will do)
2. 1/2 cup brown sugar
3. 5 tbsp. white sugar or sugar in the raw
4. 3 tsp. cinnamon
5. 1/2 stick butter (melted)
6. 12 toothpicks

To Make Them:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Pop open your can of breadsticks and lay each of them out on a cookie sheet (or a clean kitchen counter if you don't mind cleaning up the mess later!)
3. Brush some of the melted butter onto each stick (I bought a cheap basting brush - one of the smartest buys EVER! I use it constantly.)
4. Combine brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until well mixed.
5. Load sugar mixture onto each stick - don't be afraid to pack it on! The more, the better!
6. Roll each breadstick and secure with a toothpick so that it can't unroll itself while baking.
7. Place cinnamon rolls in an ungreased round cake pan and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly, then cover with a powdered sugar glaze (if you want).
9. Eat, eat, eat! And don't forget the coffee.   

Until next time, happy eating!

There's not much that I could say that this picture doesn't. Whoa. Fudgy crusts, sweet, cakey middles, and ooey-gooey chocolately tops??!!?? Yup. Purely amazing. And that's exactly what these were. Thanks to Laurie of simplyscratch.com for sharing her wonderful recipe!

1. 4 ounces, weight Semi-sweet Chocolate Baking Squares
2. 1 cup Shortening
3. 1-½ cup Unbleached All-purpose Flour
4. 2 cups White Sugar
5. 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
6. 1 teaspoon Salt
7. 4 whole Eggs
8. 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

How to Make It:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9×13 glass baking dish.
2. Chop the chocolate into chunks and add it along with the shortening to a small sauce pan heated over low heat. Stir often until all the chocolate is melted. Remove off of the heat and let it cool slightly.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. Whisk together the eggs and the vanilla, then pour in the cooled melted chocolate/shortening into the eggs. Stir until combined and then pour it into the dry ingredients. This is not a thin batter—it’s more like fudge. Pour it into the buttered 9×13 baking dish, spread out evenly and bake it in a preheated oven for 25 minutes.
4. Let cool and serve, or top with Homemade Chocolate Frosting and serve!

1. 1/4 cup butter (softened but not melted)
2. 1/4 cup canola oil
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1/2 cup brown sugar
5. 2 eggs
6. 1.5 tsp baking powder
7. 1/2 tsp baking soda
8. 3/4 tsp nutmeg (you can use cinnamon instead if you want a little less spice)
9. 3/4 tsp salt
10. 2 tsp vanilla
11. 2 and 2/3 cups flour
12. 1 cup heavy whipping cream
13. 2 cups (or a little less) of your favorite cream cheese icing (store-bought or homemade)
14. Powdered sugar for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and grease the sides and bottom of a 13x9 pan.
2. Combine ingredients 1-12 in a large bowl and beat until well-mixed.
3. Pour batter into pan and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (or until golden brown and set).
4. After the batter has baked, remove it from the pan and crumble into a large mixing bowl. Let cool.
5. Combine cake mixture with cream cheese icing and mix (with hands, preferably - it's just easier) until well-combined and smooth. Mixture will look like dough.
6. Separate dough and roll into balls with hands (approx. 1 inch in diameter).
7. Roll balls in powdered sugar until completely covered, and store in refrigerator.

Who doesn't like no-bake cookies, right?! The melty, gooey, sugary goodness... but many of us are not so excited about all the carbs and sugars they bring to the table. Sound like you? You're in for a treat! These no bakes are slightly re-done - getting rid of most of the carbs and virtually all of the sugars! These no-bakes are a bit more gooey and rich because we've replaced the traditional milk with heavy cream, and the xylitol tends to be a bit sweeter than sugar. Other than that, you'll never know the difference, and the coconut adds a wonderful variation. Just try not to eat the whole batch at once!

What You'll Need:
1 stick butter
1 and 1/3 cups xylitol
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (don't use reduced fat - it has more sugar)
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup whole-grain oats
1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes


Now, to make it:

1. Combine butter, xylitol, whipping cream, and cocoa powder in a saucepan and heat to a rolling boil.
2. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Refrigerate mixture for approximately 20 minutes or until a bit more firm.
4. Scoop into balls onto wax paper, and refrigerate until set and ready to serve. That's it!

Enjoy with less guilt!

This whipped pie can be served frozen or refrigerated as the perfect complement to a hot summer day.  Or night.  Or anytime you want to eat it.  Heck, this pie is great even at 3:00 in the morning! Not that I would do that.



What You Need:
8 oz. tub of cool whip (You may substitute 2.5 cups heavy whipping cream for a creamier pie)
2 boxes (4-serving size each) sugar-free strawberry jello
1 and 3/4 cups water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
3 tbsp. xylitol (if you don't mind using sugar, you may substitute equal parts)
18-20 Oreo cookies (crushed)
3 tbsp. melted butter


Now, to make it...

1. Mix melted butter and crushed cookies together until crumbly mixture forms. Press onto bottom of pie pan and set aside.
2. Heat heavy whipping cream to a simmer, and pour over the top of chocolate. Whisk together until melted, adding xylitol.
3. Refrigerate chocolate mixture for 15-20 minutes or until relatively firm (but still able to pour).
4. Boil 1 and 3/4 cups water, and pour over the top of jello mix. Stir rapidly (fork or whisk works best) until completely dissolved.
5. Add jello to Cool Whip, and mix until smooth. Set aside - do not refrigerate.
6. Pour chocolate mixture over crust and freeze for approximately 20 minutes until firm.
7. Pour Cool Whip mixture over chocolate layer.
8. Refrigerate (or freeze, if preferred) until set.
9. Optional: garnish with chopped strawberries and drizzled chocolate.

Looking for summer snacks that don't come with all the guilt? Around here, we've undertaken the low-carb lifestyle, so we've been trying out some new recipes for healthier eating - you know, all the flavor without all the carbs? We've discovered some delish summer treats that fall into this category:

Try topping some cottage cheese with sliced peaches and cinnamon. This makes for a refreshing, yet filling low-carb treat!



Like yogurt, but hate the carbs? Try Kroger's Carb Master yogurt topped with fresh berries!


...and now - the mother of all low-carb summer desserts. At least for now. Low Carb Whipped Key Lime Pie. What a mouthful, literally! This pie is creamy, tangy, and filled with flavor - have a slice! ...or two. ...or three! Our recipe can be found here on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen!

We've had a lot of celebrations around here lately. Our son is officially the big "0-4", and one of our very best friends recently asked me to cater cakes to her super-adorable, chic bridal shower. For the cakes, I used amazing recipes from both Bakerella and Picky Palate.   ...and the rest? Well, that was.... just me!

Now, these next two were some of the fastest, most visually-appealing cakes I've made to date. For the cake, I used Picky Palate's recipe for Chocolate Crumb-topped Cupcakes (minus the crumb topping), and I filled them with my very own recipe for Candied Cream Cheese Icing (featured here on Tasty Kitchen!). Both cakes were a hit, and very nice to look at, if I may say so myself!




Some very tasty low-carb recipes to follow soon - I'm on a mission for healthy, low-carb, delicious eats (save for the cakes and sweets, of course...)!

I don't know about you, but breakfast seems to be our family's favorite meal of the day. In fact, we often have special nights of the week when we do "breakfast for dinner." Here are some of our favorites:

Stuffed French Toast, courtesy of Alice from Savory Sweet Life, an amazing cooking and baking blog that I follow religiously!

Cream scones, also courtesy of Savory Sweet Life

Fruit pizza with a sugar cookie crust, courtesy of yours truly (that's me!)

Baked French Toast, courtesy of Ree Drummond, the infamous Pioneer Woman (love her.)

The links to the recipes are provided, and here's mine for the fruit pizza, just in case you need a little cookie with your fruit in the mornin':

2 rolls of sugar cookie dough
1/2 bag of sweetened coconut flakes
4-5 fruits of your choice (I used strawberries, kiwis, pineapples, and blackberries)
1 tub Cool Whip (defrosted)
16 oz. cream cheese (Philadelphia has the best flavor) (room temperature)
2 tbsp. of your favorite jam or fudge sauce (I used fudge sauce - yum!)

To assemble to pizza:

1. Lightly spray your pizza pan.
2. Gather the sugar cookie dough into one large dough ball, and spread evenly in the bottom of the pizza pan with your hands until fully covered. This will serve as your crust.
3. Bake crust at 350 until golden brown and slightly puffy. Remove and let cool.
4. In a medium sized bowl, combine cream cheese with cool whip and jam/hot fudge. Mix well, and spread on top of crust. This serves as your pizza sauce.
5. Arrange fruit on top of sauce as you wish, and sprinkle with coconut flakes. Eat immediately if you just can't stand it, or refrigerate for later. 

Happy Thursday morning, everyone! I am particularly excited that this day here - Thursdays serve as my Fridays! I thought I'd share a recent Mother's Day recipe with you; my mother's all-time favorite sweet treat is the Almond Joy candy bar. But, I couldn't just get her a bag of candy bars... how unoriginal of me! Especially when these babies are an option!

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup shaved almonds
1 package sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
8 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Baking instructions can be found here under the "Make It" section.




Enjoy, and have a delicious weekend!

Kimora Lee Simmons, one of my favorite reality moms and moguls, often talks about the concept of "fabulosity": the art of self-belief and self-confidence (I can do this, and I can do it well), among other things. I love that. I try to live that. I think most of us should try to live that. Easier said than done, I know.

There's my soap box for the day. A motivational soap box, mind you! On to the good stuff: deliciosity! Desserts can be fabulous, right?!

It has clearly been too long. Things have been crazy around the Relph house - graduations, school applications, summer activity planning, travel... but rest assured. There has also been plenty of baking! Check it out for yourself; "the proof is in the puddin'" (as my grandmother always said)... or the German Chocolate Cheesecake, in this instance.

1. Crush the cookies and mint patties in a food processor (or by hand), then combine and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the instant pudding and milk. Set aside for approximately 10 min.
3. In another bowl, combine tub of Cool Whip with 2-4 drops food coloring until well-mixed.
4. Layer pudding, Cool Whip, and 1/2 cookie mixture, then repeat.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

This superbowl weekend, instead of watching the game, I got a little creative in the kitchen. The result were these adorable (and delish) snickers babycakes. Melted Snickers bars enveloped by fluffy yellow cake, topped with caramel and chocolate (and your choice of other goodies)... definitely more satisfying than watching football!

1. 
   
   Mix all ingredients except Snickers bars in a large mixing bowl
2. 
   
   Pour into greased cupcake tins
3. 
   
   Cut each fun-size Snickers bar in half
4. 
   
   Press half of candy into center of each babycake-to-be
5. 
   
   Bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees

1. 
   
   Beat butter and vanilla until well-mixed
2. 
   
   Add peanut butter and beat
3. 
   
   Add in powdered sugar at intervals, beating consistently until well-mixed and relatively stiff (if icing becomes to stiff to beat, add whole or 2% milk by the tablespoon until it reaches desired consistency)
4. 
   
   Eat some before you ice your babycakes
5. 
   
   Eat more after you've iced your babycakes (Don't resist. It's futile.)