Red, White and Blueberry Tart

I took this Fourth of July treat out of the fridge, and it was gone in approximately 3 minutes. Literally. On a hot day in my parents' backyard, a cold tart with fresh fruit was gold. The graham cracker crust came out great, and the blueberry jam was sweet and delicious. NOTE: Make at least two of these when you take them to cookouts...you'll need the extra.

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

Now this is a brownie - moist, chewy and densely chocolate. I was in the mood to bake last night, and decided I'd use what I had in my pantry (or, you know, the tiny cabinet in my tiny kitchen) instead of going to the store. This is exactly what I wanted...plus, I added some mini marshmallows to keep things interesting.

Golden Grahams Cookies

This was a random find on my favorite site - Baking Bites. I never really had Golden Grahams as a kid (we were a Life and Cheerios family), but I was interested in how they would taste in a cookie. Um, they taste really good. I just finished dunking my second "test cookie" in a glass of cold milk and am wondering if I need a third just to be safe. My one change for future batches - I'd keep the cereal crumbs a bit larger.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

So what does a pacifist hippie bring to a UFC fight on a Saturday night you ask? Pineapple upside down cake - perfect choice. I was surprised at how easy it was to make - and was quite pleased that the texture of the brown sugar and butter topping came out so well. As I was making this I kept thinking how delicious some sort of peach upside down cake would be. Stay tuned - I'm about to turn all the summer fruit upside down.

S'mores bread pudding

Um, this is insane. Insane. Bread pudding is my new favorite food - this is a dangerous discovery because it is so easy to make. I know you can throw whatever you want into a basic recipe, but something about the mini marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate and crunchy graham crackers makes me want to eat this for dinner every night. It was a big hit with my guinea pigs as well.

Blueberry Banana Bread

I had this overpowering craving for banana bread last week and ran across a recipe that includes blueberries. After being on the receiving end of baked goodness recently that included blueberries (thank you S), I was in the mood for more and excited to try this combo. It was the perfect match of sweet fruit and the bread itself was moist and perfectly done. I typically do smaller bread pans when making any kind of banana bread to ensure an even bake. This recipe turned out four mini loaves that were perfect for sharing.

Pineapple Coconut Cake

I have the best mom in the world. This cake was just a small tribute to the millions of amazing things she's done for me over the years. She's always been exactly what I need, and for that I am grateful. Oh, and this cake rocks.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

I promised V these ice cream...er, frozen yogurt sandwiches as payment for a recent Friday night cat feeding. She's the bomb and just so happens to be my neighbor. I whipped up some cookies, which were chewy and oatmealy and delicious, and threw in a little frozen yogurt. Perfection.

Lime Coconut Crumbles

These lime crumbles are requested on the regular....they're a favorite for two of my best fans. The sweet coconut combines with the tart lime to create a dangerously addictive treat. Once the limes are zested and juiced, this recipe literally takes about five minutes to put together. I recommend cooling, cutting and refrigerating the bars before serving. Y.u.m.

Peeps Cupcakes

I'm pretty certain these are the cutest things I have ever made. Peeps don't actually do it for me as a treat, but they sure do sweeten up a cupcake. What better way to celebrate Easter than biting the heads off of marshmallow animals? The vanilla cake is light and delicious and I had fun using my sprinkles to decorate the white frosting. I'm a fan of the old school yellow chicks, but did branch out and used some bunnies...because I love bunnies. They're fun.

Easter Eggs!

So this isn't exactly a recipe...more like me showing off my mad skills with the dye. My good friend (see egg above and picture below) invited me over to color eggs the Friday before Easter. We had a blast, and with a little help from his sister (ok, and his mom and dad), two dozen eggs were beautified.

Hazelnut Blondies

Nutella, check. Hazelnuts, check. These blondies are moist and chewy and oh so yummy. Next time, I'll throw in a handful or two of chocolate chips for good measure.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Yey rhubarb! The first house my parents owned had a mess of rhubarb that grew in the backyard. I remember running around as a little girl chewing on raw stalks with my baby brother. While this crumble is a little bit sweeter and a little bit more grown-up, rhubarb will forever remind me of the feeling of bare feet in grass and summertime fun.

Lime Coconut Sugar Cookies

Holy cookies - these ended up perfectly chewy and sugary. The lime flavor wasn't too overpowering, and the bits of zest were quite festive. They were a big hit and crazy easy to make. All in all, a great success. Also - lesson learned: cats love sugar cookies. Or, cats just love to lick things with sugar on them.

Egg Custard Tartlets

For some reason, the idea of making custard always made me really nervous. Something about all that egg yolk... I wanted to make cute little tartlets for a ladies' Italian feast, and found this recipe on my favorite blog - Baking Bites. I have to say adding the almond extract made this flavor for me, and I threw a few almond slices on top before baking for good measure. So if you're scared of egg yolks, make this. My fear of custard has left the building.

Banana Chocolate Upside Down Cake

The other day at work I was complaining about all these bananas I had to use asap. It was a serious problem. Seriously. I thought I'd make some banana cupcakes, but this yummy little treat was suggested instead. I've tried apple and pineapple upside down cakes, but never banana. Don't let the ease of this recipe fool you - this is a taste to die for. Side note - this cake is the perfect match for a little 'we can't wait for summer' sangria.

Chocolate Whoopie

Opening note - these whoopie pies are meant to be blue...promise. They were made to celebrate the upcoming birth of the new Lewis boy. Mama Lewis loves these cakey sandwiches and we've consumed approximately 267,842 together in the past two years. This recipe is crazy easy, and the results are yum. I suggest making your whoopie as soon as the cookies cool. I stored mine for a night and they were almost too sticky to fill.

Maple Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

To celebrate my officemate's birthday, and her love of my baked goodness, I made these little beauties. Maple cake is how syrup should be done. Not overly sweet, it is a perfect backdrop for my favorite thing ever - cream cheese frosting.

Magic

A little of this, a little of that....and voila, magic.

*again, I know this picture is bad news. I promise to get a real camera soon. xoxo sprinkles

VDay Cupcakes (booze included)

To celebrate vday, frosting, and dinner with my family, I decided to make yummy heart-shaped cupcakes this past weekend. To celebrate vday, drinking, and dinner with my family, I made them with Guinness. Chocolate and Guinness are soul mates. (NOTE: I am aware that these pictures are horrible. Sorry. I couldn't manage a good shot, and really just wanted to eat a cupcake....so I did.)

Funfetti!

I firmly believe that everyone should have a homemade cake (or cupcake!) to celebrate a birthday. This holds true starting in kindergarten when moms bake late night treats for entire classrooms, and should continue through grown up responsibilities. These funfetti cupcakes were made in honor of my boss's birthday and to celebrate my love of sprinkles!

Cute Blond(ies)

So I'm eating my last little blondie as I write...yum. This was a special order for the recent Mexicana Monday extravaganza - so much fun! The recipe I used is amazingly easy - and you can experiment with different additions as the mood strikes. I highly recommend using almond extract and white chocolate chips...holy hell yeah.

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

I decided on peanut butter Oreos after an agonizing 15 minutes in the cookie aisle. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. These are: 1) super duper easy, 2) so amazingly good I am actually proud of myself, and 3) gone.

Cornflake Macaroons

I know, I know. Coconut and cornflakes? Really? Yes, really. These macaroons are extremely easy and have a satisfyingly sweet crunch.

Sugar! (oh, and lavender bread...)

So the handsome lavender holder above is my new kitten Sugar....he's the sweetest thing around. Sugar spends his days jumping on every surface in my apartment, carrying around a green fuzzy mouse, and trying to nurse my 3 year old male cat. Sugar is cute, but oh so dumb.

Anyway, my dried lavender was making eyes at me the other night, so I decided to make a little lavender bread for my co-workers. I found a super easy recipe, and followed it pretty much word for word. You really can't mess up a basic tea bread. It was a little on the dry side, but a thin layer of yogurt butter fixed it up nicely.

Cookie Swap!

For the annual cookie swap at work, I really wanted to make gingerbread cookies. I found a yummy butterscotch gingerbread recipe and gave it a whirl.The flavors worked really well together and put me in the christmas spirit big time. My cookies were stars - both in shape and in the swap. :)

Orange Cranberry Cookies

This is my new favorite cookie recipe...and it doesn't even call for chocolate! It is super easy and will forever remind me of the first snow of 2009 (shout out v!). I meant to add walnuts to the yummy sweetness of the fruit, but completely forgot. I plan on making these over and over again so it'll happen. Orange cranberry cookies might turn out to be a common holiday gift from me to you (and you, and you, and you).

Sweet Potato Pie

For my second of three Thanksgiving dinners, I wanted to make a yummy, familiar pie. I had a bunch of sweet potatoes that needed to be used ASAP, so my fate was sealed. I looked at a few recipes and mixed and matched the slight variations of spices. I’ve never made a sweet potato pie and I have to say it was delicious. What made this pie even better, though, was sharing it with my fantastic family. They rock my world and remind me what I’m really thankful for this holiday season.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches

What's better than eating a yum cookie? Eating two yum cookies. What's better than that? Eating two yum cookies stuck together with chocolate. This is the best invention ever. Enough said.

Lavender Birthday Cookies

I recently celebrated my birthday and received a gift of dried lavender from one of my lovely ladies. I’ve wanted to get my hands on this beautifully delicious flower for a while now and spent hours searching for my first lavender recipe. I decided on a basic sugar cookie recipe that called for lemon juice – yum. Several things were learned during this process: 1) baking with lavender makes your apartment smell like heaven (like, an expansive field of wildflowers heaven with weeping willows and puppies), 2) you don’t need a rolling pin to make sugar cookies, and 3) I LOVE LAVENDER.

Pie!

This past weekend I had a fun fall day full of apple picking and farm animal ogling with friends at Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow. While there were no cows or sheep, we still had a great day and came home with a ton of apples. I had way more apples that one human should have in a 150 sq. ft. apartment, so I decided to make a pie for our weekly dinner date. I used a basic crust recipe and improvised for the filling. One of my goals this season is to perfect my crust making skills… not wholly accomplished in this instance, but I think I’m close. I wasn’t too adventurous with this one. I want to experiment by using butter in addition to shortening in the crust, adding a bit of sugar, crystallizing the top of the pie, taking over the world, etc.

Sprinkles Does Florida

Even on a family vacation in Florida I cannot give up baking. Luckily, it was my kick-ass sister-in-law’s birthday while we were there so I had a valid excuse to turn on the oven. I told her to pick the cake and I would bake it – she sent me a recipe that (gasp!) called for a box of cake mix. I was hesitant, but decided birthday girls should get whatever they want. (HINT – my birthday is next weekend.) The recipe included eggnog, and I could not for the life of me find any. So I improvised – I am not proud, but it worked and was completely yum. I made a brown butter frosting to round out the flavors.

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

As a baker I get over the top excited with the change of seasons…especially fall. So when v suggested a night of pumpkin cooking, I was a happy girl. To accompany her delicious pumpkin enchiladas (also known as the pumpkin naco), I decided to make pumpkin chocolate chip whoopie pies. Making these adorable little treats was a blast – for both me and Lucy (my shiny, pretty standing mixer). Any time I open a can of pumpkin (One Pie brand - represent) I am immediately in a fantastic mood. The combination of the cream cheese, chocolate chips and pumpkin in this recipe is perfection. I will repeat: perfection. WARNING: Do not make these unless you have plans to share them immediately. Being home alone with the finished product can lead to consuming all of these cuties in one sitting.