Red Velvet M&M Bars

Adapted from Yellow Bliss Road
INGREDIENTS
1 Box of Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup of of Valentine M&Ms

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a 9x13 pan, with cooking spray.
In a kitchenaid with the paddle attachment, mix cake mix, egg, butter and vanilla until blended.
Carefully fold in half of the M&Ms. This will be a pain in the butt.
Press batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining M&Ms, pressing them into the batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to completely cool before cutting into bars.

I hate red velvet cake. I will admit that it looks beautiful, because red is bae. However, I think it tastes like poop. It's just not my favorite, but I always find myself pinning recipes for it. So, I figured that I could bring a recipe to one of my ward's FHEs… cause that's how Mormon girls get a husband. They turned out to be super pretty, and pretty dang good. Not my favorite, but definitely a crowd pleaser.

Ultimate Brownies

recipe by Tessa of Handle the Heat
INGREDIENTS
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, butter, and unsweetened chocolate. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute then stir. Continue heating in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the mixture is melted and smooth but not scorched. Remove from the microwave and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until light and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and salt, folding gently until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake until a tester comes out with moist crumbs still attached, 35 to 40. Do not overbake. Let cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

I'm in love! I'm in love! and I don't care who knows it! Unfortunately for my family, I am in love with these brownies and not a tall, dark and handsome man that could potentially marry me and take me away. They'll just have to accept my offering of these brownies, and be content with having me single as a dollar and not looking for change. I think they'll be cool with it as long as I keep making these brownies.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Cheesy Croutons

adapted from Kitchen Confidence by Kelsey Nixon

INGREDIENTS
SOUP
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 ounce) can San Marzano whole plum tomatoes
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons basil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
CROUTONS
1 loaf of day old french bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS
SOUP
In a large sauce pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent and fragrant. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, basil, and sugar. Use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Purée soup with either an immersion blender or in batches using a blender. Stir in the cream. Bring soup to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

CROUTONS
Preheat oven to 325ºF.

Toss bread cubes in a large bowl with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Spread evenly onto a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until croutons start to become light golden brown.

After ten minutes, sprinkle cheese over croutons, and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven.

Serve soup with croutons, and enjoy!

Cinnamon Candied Almonds

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp water
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300ºF.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with coconut oil; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy, about 2 minutes; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine almonds and the egg white mixture until well combined. Stir in brown sugar mixture until evenly coated.

Spread almond mixture evenly onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring at halftime.

Let cool completely before serving.

Okay guys, Christmas time is my favorite time of the year because of candied nuts. The mall always smells like what I imagine heaven smells like, and candied nuts are the reason for the season! And they are one of the best thing about BYU football games. Unfortunately, eating candied nuts has become a challenge for me. My jaw always kills me after eating a handful or two. So that, and the fact that my sister had a giant bag of sliced almonds inspired me to make these.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from martha stewart

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
vanilla bean seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean pod

DIRECTIONS

Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a KitchenAid. Using a the whisk attachment, on medium speed, beat the heck out of the ingredients until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and beans, and stir to combine.

Okay guys, I am secretly a #basicwhitegirl, and I was CRAVING pumpkin anything somethin' fierce. So when I signed up to bring a dessert to my ward's linger longer, I knew that pumpkin was going to be the star of the show. But I also needed to add a new recipe to the blog, so I decided to top my Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake with this delectable Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting. Equal parts butter, cream cheese, with homemade vanilla extract and the seeds from a vanilla bean? I dare say that nothing in this world could be a better combination. I LOVED seeing the little flecks of black from the vanilla bean seeds, and it was big on vanilla flavor thanks to my new found love for making homemade vanilla.

S'mores Bars

adapted from A Beautiful Bite

INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
10oz graham crackers, broken into large pieces
1 10oz bag of marshmallows
8 Hershey bars, broken into small pieces

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a 17x12 sheet pan.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix over low-medium speed just until incorporated.
Add vanilla and mix over low-medium speed for another minute.
Add flour mixture slowly and mix just until incorporated.
By hand, fold in graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.
Press into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow bars to cool before serving.

We had a ward campout, and it was really bugging me that we did not eat any s'mores during this campout. Then I realized that I didn't have a s'more ALL  summer. So, since I was in charge of this week's FHE activity, and I am a different kind of lazy, I decided to make these s'mores bars instead of putting on pants (and let's be honest, a bra) and going to the store to buy some edible but not homemade baked goods. I changed the recipe just a little bit, I used mini marshmallows, and I used a half sheet pan instead of a 9x13, because I wanted more of a bar, and less of a tall gooey mess. I also decreased the amount of baking soda from the original recipe, because I am not a fan of cleaning oven messes. I honestly think these turned out pretty dang good.

Cowgirl Cookies

adapted from Bakerella

INGREDIENTS
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, m&ms, chocolate chips, pecans, coconut, brown and white sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend well to break up any chunks of brown sugar. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, butter and vanilla together.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix together.

Scoop out 1 1/2 inch balls of dough, and place on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on cookie sheet before transferring to wire cooling rack.

Serve to that special cowboy or cowgirl in your life.

I first found this recipe during Erica Ellen's Cookie Extravaganza in Honor of Black History Month… and then I forgot about them. The other night my niece found out that I have a crap ton of cookbooks. Cookbooks are her new favorite books. So we were looking through my homemade one, and found this recipe and declared, "We HAVE to make these right now." I shot her down because it was 10:00 pm, and I am a grown up with a job. When I came home early from work the next day, we made them. I want to rename them because I added coconut, and have decided that they are even better, so I wanna rename them "Reverse Cowgirl Cookies" but I don't want you all to think I am super disgusting. Just know that they are that good, and easy soooo you need to make them yourself.