Unlike real tennis balls that are empty, these cupcakes are filled with vanilla buttercream. Besides using a golden yellow frosting on top, I dipped each cupcake in yellow sugar so that it would have a “fuzzy” appearance like a real tennis ball. It was fun baking these for my son’s tennis team, but nothing is better than playing tennis with my kids.
Should desserts that center around a holiday be limited to those dates? Is that what makes the dessert special – the fact that you know you will only get the dessert once a year? Do the desserts add to the nostalgia of the holiday, creating memories for years to come? Would you want to eat Xmas shaped cookies in May? What if it were your absolute most favorite cookie? Would you make an exception in that case?
As I’ve mentioned before, I am equal opportunity celebrator of holidays if they include fun and tasty desserts. My daughter’s favorite springtime dessert are these jello eggs that I make for Easter. Unfortunately, these jello eggs require that I am at home for 7 hours straight. Each layer must be added precisely one hour after the preceding layer. If not, the layers will not adhere to each other and will fall apart when separating the molds. This year, I just couldn’t manage my time to make these on Easter. Is it wrong to be serving/eating these weeks after Easter has past? It doesn’t seem to bother my daughter at all. In fact, I’m grateful that she was understanding that I couldn’t get these done on Easter.
Holy Cow Freaking-Amazing Frosting! I’m not even a fan of Nutella and I couldn’t stop licking the bowl. I think that this frosting would pair perfectly with a banana cupcake. However, I have to admit the cupcake recipe I used on this one fell short of fabulous, which is why I did not include it in this post. Next time (maybe tomorrow) I’ll try it on a vanilla or chocolate cupcake. Note, this frosting tastes better when the frosted cupcakes are stored in the refrigerator.
Here’s the recipe for the frosting, enjoy!
Who doesn’t want a little dessert without the guilt? Yes, it tastes good, too. I promise. I was joking on someone else’s blog the other day about healthy cake. Really, cake doesn’t need to be healthy, it just needs to taste spectacular. But if you prefer to start you day with something a bit healthier, this is a great choice. The main ingredient is almond flour, which is high in protein and gluten free. The second ingredient is oats, which is also gluten free and is healthier than white flour. And, NO SUGAR. It is sweetened with 3 ripe bananas and 2 TBLS of honey. A few dark chocolate chips is also a perk. Some say, a little dark chocolate each day is healthy. All in all, it is a no guilt, no gluten, very good muffin.
Recipe at
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Blueberry Cheesecake, the antioxidants make it healthy, yes? This is an incredibly light cheesecake. It bakes perfectly ever time. I’ve never had a problem with the top cracking. If you never had blueberry cheesecake, you’re missing out. I like this a lot more than strawberry or raspberry cheesecake. The only problem with this recipe is that it is baked in a 9×13 pan and I don’t like serving it directly out of the pan. I usually pre-cut the pieces and either display them on a large tray or set each individual piece in a aluminum foil muffin paper. Any way you cut it, it is delicious.
Easiest recipe ever – only 2 ingredients (4 eggs and 1 cup of Nutella, plus powdered sugar for garnish).
I used the recipe at www.highheelsandgrills.com.
However, I found the last step in the directions to be comical. It says “Can be stored in airtight container in refrigerator for up to one week.” First of all, these hardly lasted one hour in my house. Second, any dessert recipe that says how to store it for a week I find puzzling. If it is a good recipe, why would it hang around that long? And if it isn’t any good and might last that long, perhaps it isn’t worth making. If you decide to make these, ignore the last step and enjoy the brownies!
Looking for a semi-healthy snack/cookie where no baking is involved? Peanut Butter and Oatmeal make a great combination. I’ve been combining these two ingredients for years. I started by melting 1/3 c honey and 1/2 c peanut butter in a sauce pan on the stove. I removed from the heat and immediately added, 1 c oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1/4 c coconut flakes. I waited 12 minutes for mixture to cool and added 1/2 c chocolate chips. I used a cookie scoop to divide the batter into cookie-sized portions and placed the scoops in a covered container in the freezer for 30 minutes. I removed the container from the freezer and rolled the scoops into balls and placed the balls in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Eat and Enjoy!
The recipe is easily adaptable to ingredients that you have on hand. Chopped nuts or raisins would make great additions, too.
I had to bake today. It was just one of those days and I had to bake. However, I’m living with a chocolate chip thief. Once again, my stash of chocolate chips was gone. Luckily I found this recipe that required very few ingredients, little effort, and more importantly didn’t require chocolate chips. So when life swipes your chocolate chips, make these cookies.
Absolutely intense chocolate flavor. Great for those that are gluten free. And, only 5 ingredients: 2 1/4 c powered sugar; 1 c cocoa powder; pinch salt, 3 egg whites, & 2 tsp vanilla. Bake on greased sheets at 350 for 8 min.
No, I didn’t say March Madness. This is not a post about NCAA basketball. I may not be crazy about basketball, but I definitely can get behind the idea of macaroons. I decided to bust out all my favorite macaroon recipes for a little comparison baking.
French Macarons (It is spelled with only one “o”). This is a little variation I did to coincide with spring. Most French macarons that I have seen have a similar color creme filling that matches the cookie part. Instead, I decided to make a yellow cookie with a pale blue, green, and pink buttercream in each sandwich cookie.
This is a very basic macaroon. Because it was St. Patrick’s Day, I dyed half the batch green. These were outstanding the first day I baked them. They seemed a little too moist the second day.
This was an older macaroon recipe that I adapted by adding 3/4 cup of melted chocolate. These tasted okay the first day, but after they rested one day they were absolutely fabulous. These were all eaten before the vanilla ones.
Bailey’s Chocolate Macaroon. Like the standard macaroons it is spelled with 2 O’s. The texture of the cookie portion reminds me of an italian cookie. If you like Bailey’s and chocolate ganache, you’ll love the filling.
Here are links to the recipes that I used:
1 egg white, 1 c. sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, & 16 oz shredded coconut; Bake in preheated oven on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 325 for 15-20 minutes (until golden brown). Allow to cool on pan for at least 10 minutes before removing.
3/4 sugar, 2 1/2 c shredded coconut, 2 large egg whites, 1 tsp vanilla, 3/4 c melted chocolate chips; Bake in preheated oven on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 350 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool long enough that the macaroons can be removed by hand and not with a spatula.
BANOFFEE – A combination of Bananas and Toffee and topped with a brown-sugar whipped cream
IT’S PIE DAY 3/14/15 or 3.1415
And, it was the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Chicago (when they dye the river green).
There was no other choice for dessert today, I had to make Banoffe pie. When I originally found this recipe, I was looking for a good Irish dessert and I came upon this one. For this post, I did a little further research and there seems to be a lot of conflicting information about whether or not this is an English or Irish dessert. Either way, it tastes great!
Making the toffee filling: I read a number of recipes on how to do this. Some actually sound a little dangerous. I opted for the easy and safe way. I filled a pie pan with about 24 oz of sweetened condensed milked and mixed in a generous pinch of kosher salt. I covered the pan with aluminum foil and put the pie pan in a roasting pan. I added water to create a water bath. I baked it at 400 for about 2 hours, occasionally replenishing the water bath. Upon removing it from the oven, I transferred the cooked sweetened condensed milk to another bowl and placed it uncovered in the refrigerator for one hour.
I bet this filling would taste great in other desserts as well. That’s something to consider for another day.
Indulge in Life's Guilty Pleasures 