Pancake Muffins

Some of you may have seen these before, as they have been all over the blog-o-sphere recently. Bakerella first posted this as a featured sweet, but the recipe I used was a modification I found on Baked Bree . Here they are:

Absolutely hands down magically delicious! I made mine regular muffin size, but they still turned out great and made the perfect addition to our "breakfast for dinner" dinner the other night.

Here's a quick recap of the recipe:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes (mini) or 12-14 minutes (reg. muffins)

This recipe is technically for mini muffins, but as you can see I made them regular muffin size and cooked them a bit longer and they tasted great. I also love the added powdered sugar that Baked Bree chose for the glaze (the muffin in my photo was pre-glaze). I also used mini chocolate chips instead of regular. Either way, this recipe is easy to tweak and modify and will taste great. You can eat them for breakfast or dinner, or a party, or anytime!! I love them and will continue to make them :)

It's a Rainbow Party!

This February my daughter celebrated her First Birthday, and in my family that means a HUGE celebration with family and friends!

This party was near and dear to my heart, not only because Lucy is my only little girl, but because this birthday party was going to be the first party that I have planned and created from start to finish! I actually picked a theme and started planning what I would make when Lucy was only 4 months old. I was a little nervous and wanted to make sure everything turned out! So let me give you a quick photo tour of all the crafty things I made for this special little lady's day:

The party theme was Rainbows! So here you can see I utilized felt and tacky glue to make a door hanging greeting guests at the door.

photo courtesy of Jo Brock Photography

I found a genius idea on what to do for the cake, I found these on Spearmint Baby last summer and decided it would be perfect to make rainbow cupcakes for a party where there are lots of kids! I used the gel food coloring to get the colors so bright.

photo courtesy of Jo Brock Photography

Now for the very special guest I had planned to order a cute little tulle tutu in rainbow colors, but the budget didn't quite allow, so I took a plain white onesie, some of my scrap fabric, Heat n Bond, and sewed a rainbow-type applique! I also made the little baby leg warmers she is wearing (see previous blog I posted on how to make those). And what you can't see is that I also used ribbon to make her a rainbow hairclip. I will post an upcoming blog on how to make those!

photo courtesy of Jo Brock Photography

Here's my sweet girl enjoying her delish rainbow treat! She loved it!

photo courtesy of Jo Brock Photography

For the table I just bought paper goods from Party City in different colors, and used vases/bowls/containers I had in different colors. On the menu: marshmallow pops, fruity pebble treats, rainbow jello, chips, bananas, blueberries, apples, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, with some snack/display containers with Trix cereal, Fruity Cheerios, M&Ms, Skittles, and Gummy Bears! And of course, the rainbow cupcakes!

As another fun addition to my rainbow theme I used some old ice cube trays, food coloring drops, and made some rainbow ice cubes to plop into the Sprite and water we were serving for drinks!

photo courtesy of Jo Brock Photography

The party was so much fun, and it was just as much fun to plan! We also had an extra table with coloring books for an extra activity for the kids, and I would have had a game or two, but for a first birthday it was more practical to keep it short and sweet. It was great to celebrate with our friends and family, and I know Lucy enjoyed it!

A close friend of mine took some of the pictures above, and has a photography business. Check out her blog at Jo Brock Photography.

Happy Valentine's Day!

So it's Valentine's Day today, and I thought I would share with you a simple and lovely dessert that anyone could fall in love with:

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

The recipe I found the other day while browsing Bakerella's site and thought it would be the perfect addition to our family Valentine's meal that we had last night. Here's a breakdown of the super easy recipe:

2 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix.

vanilla wafers

2″ aluminum mini baking cups

Cherry Pie Filling

Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each mini baking cup.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, cool and then top with cherry pie filling.

Tips:

-When the recipe calls for "room temperature" cream cheese, you might want to slowly warm it in the microwave at 50% power, or let it sit out for awhile to make sure it's extra creamy and soft or your cheesecake mixture won't mix very well and be chunky.

-I just used whatever foil baking cups the store had, they fit my muffin tins, but this recipe is actually for "mini" cheesecakes, but I just cooked mine a little closer to 20min, and it made 24 instead of this recipe's intended 48. But who really wants 48 of these devilish things just hanging out at your house!!

So go ahead and try this recipe sometime! If you are a cheesecake lover like me, you will find any excuse or holiday to make/eat/devoureverysinglemorsel.......

Okay, you get the point, happy baking!