Apple Pie and Brown Sugar Cupcakes

I did a lot of baking this weekend. It was the first time I attempted to make pie crust from scratch, and was pleased to find that it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I paired a pie crust recipe with the filling from an apple pie recipe on Allrecipes.com.

My second project was Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes from MarthaStewart.com. They were easy to make and got rave reviews at work. These cupcakes smelled amazing too - like warm brown sugar.

Martha Stewart's Tiramisu Cupcakes

Martha Stewart is promoting a new book about cupcakes. I caught the recipe for her Tiramisu Cupcakes on her show the other day and decided to give them a try. I had a difficult time finding a vanilla bean at the grocery, so I used a teaspoon of vanilla instead. When piercing the top of the cooled cupcakes with a fork, be sure to press the fork down as far as possible. The coffee syrup will not reach all the way through the cupcake. They turned out well!

Baby Food Dog Treats

I wanted a recipe for dog treats that had beef flavor without using boullion. I had seen a recipe for cupcakes that used fruit-flavored baby food. I figured that I could incorporate a meat-flavored baby food into a dog treat. It worked out very well and the dogs love them.

Ingredients:

6 oz. jar baby food - beef flavored
2 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the baby food, eggs and olive oil. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking powder and seasoning salt; add to the wet ingredients until well blended. Pour in the oats and mix by hand. Spoon by the rounded tablespoon onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool completely before serving. Makes 24 treats.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

This past Christmas, I signed up to receive a cookie-of-the-day email from Martha Stewart's website. So far I have tried three of the recipes and they have all been great. Yesterday I was craving a cinnamon roll and just happened to find this cinnamon roll-inspired cookie recipe that I had saved in my inbox. They weren't too difficult to make. The dough is buttery and the filling is made with brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I got this recipe from the Food Network website. It's a Paula Deen recipe. It makes a very red and fairly moist cupcake with awesome cream cheese frosting. I toasted some chopped pecans and sprinkled them on top. Just put them on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for six minutes.

For the big heart garnish, I melted some candy coating in the microwave and spooned it into a Wilton plastic squeeze bottle. I drew some hearts on a piece of paper and placed a sheet of waxed paper over top. I then traced the outline of the hearts with the melted candy coating and filled then filled them in. They only took 10-15 minutes to harden and were easy to lift off the waxed paper.

I also added some Valentine's Day sprinkles on top of the cupcakes. Target always seems to have holiday-themed sprinkles for every holiday. They can be found in their dollar section at the front of the store.

It's Groundhog's Day!

I've been wanting to do a treat for Groundhog's Day for a few years now and finally got around to it. I built up their snouts with three mini-marshmallows in a triangle pattern and then iced over top of them. The eyes are one black jelly bean cut in half lengthwise. The noses are one half of a jelly bean cut horizontally.

Mexi-Mac

I've been trying out some new variations on traditional macaroni and cheese. My latest is an ode to the Taco Bell Mexi-Melt in macaroni and cheese form. It's not really a baked-good, but it is baked! It does taste amazingly like Taco Bell, but hopefully a little healthier.

l lb. ground beef or turkey
1 packet dried taco seasoning
2 cups macaroni, boiled and drained
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cubed Velveeta
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 (3 oz.) small can of sliced green chiles
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil macaroni and drain. Brown ground beef or turkey in skillet and add taco seasoning per directions on packet. Be sure to drain any grease. Set aside.

In saucepan, melt butter on low heat. Stir in flour and salt. Slowly add milk and sour cream, and heat through. Add Velveeta and shredded cheese, stirring constantly until melted and smooth.

Add diced tomatoes, green chilis and macaroni to cheese mixture and stir. Then add ground beef or turkey and mix through. Pour into a casserole dish coated in non-stick cooking spray.

Melt remaining butter and pour over the macaroni mixture. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top. Place in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool at least five minutes before serving.