Cream Cheese Brownie Cupcakes

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIE CUPCAKES

Make brownie mix according to directions (or homemade brownie recipe works great too!). Fill each cupcake liner about 1/2 full (makes about 24).

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp milk

Whip all ingredients together until fluffy. Add 1-2 Tbsp to each brownie. Drag a knife through each cupcake to mix a little.

Bake according to brownie directions or until knife comes out clean.
Put a few mini marshmallows on top and put under the broiler until gold brown. Let cool.
*We didn't broil the marshmallows and they were still great, but the cupcakes do sink down in the middle so this would probably help them to keep a great cupcake shape!*'

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup margarine
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 Tbsp milk

Mix together until creamy and desired consistency. Spread onto cooled cupcakes.

*I've only made this recipe in a cupcake form and they were amazing! I think they'd also be just as good in a brownie bar form. I'm planning on trying it like that soon!*

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES

Make a milk chocolate cake mix according to directions except add peanut butter chips to the batter. (I sprinkled them on top of each cupcake so that they wouldn't just sink to the bottom). Bake as directed. Let cool.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons milk, or as needed

2 cups powdered sugar

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar. When it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for AT LEAST 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Top cupcakes with chopped peanut butter cups or mini Reese's pieces.

Enjoy!

Caramel Popcorn

Best caramel popcorn recipe. I'd have a picture but we ate it all before we could take one. This recipe makes quite a bit so be sure to share it with family or friends!

CARAMEL POPCORN

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup light corn syrup

pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook until small ball stage.

Pour over 5-6 bags of popped popcorn. (Or just pop a whole bunch if you don't want to use the bag microwave popcorn. We popped our own and filled a huge bowl. I think it was about 2 1/2 cups unpopped popcorn. And it was just right)

Enjoy!

French Crepes with Strawberry-n-Cream filling

This recipe comes from the cookbook "Cooking for Two" by Debbie Harman.

FRENCH CREPES

2 eggs

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Beat eggs. Melt butter in microwave. Stir milk, melted butter, vanilla, and salt into eggs. Add flour and beat until creamy. Heat and lightly butter or oil small skillet. Use a measuring cup to pour 1/4 cup of batter into skillet. Quickly swirl pan to spread batter. Cook until edges are brown. Flip crepe and cook other side. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and roll up.

STRAWBERRY AND CREME FILLING

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

Slice strawberries and sprinkle with sugar. Meanwhile, beat softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until soft and creamy. Spread cheese mixture and fresh strawberries on crepes and roll up. Spread more strawberries on top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

CRUNCHY CARAMEL APPLE PIE

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

5 1/2 cup peeled and thinly sliced apples

Pastry for one 9 inch pie.

In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix apples with mixture. Pour into pie crust. Combine crumb topping (listed below) and sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375 fro 20 to 30 mins. Then cover with foil and bake for another 20 mins, until apples are tender. Remove from over and sprinkle with 1/2 cup chopped pecans and drizzle with 1/3 cup butterscotch caramel ice cream sauce (Mrs. Richardson's is excellent)

Crumb topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup butter

Blend ingredients together with a pastry blender until crumbly.

Pomegranate Salsa

Photos courtesy of Russell Jack

This recipe comes from Gayle Broadhead. She brought it to work one day and it is AMAZING. This is definitely my kind of salsa.

POMEGRANATE SALSA

2-3 ripe avocados, coarsely chopped

1 tomato, chopped

4 tbsp. finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp cayenne (I used chili powder and it was good)

Seeds of one ripe pomegranate

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with large Fritos corn chips or tortilla chips (i love tortilla chips).

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Dip

Tis the season! This recipe comes from Kelsey's Kitchen that I got from a Relief Society Meeting my sophomore year at BYU.

PUMPKIN DIP

8 oz. cream cheese (room temp)

2 Cups powdered sugar

1-2 cups pumpkin puree (to taste. one recipe i have calls for 1, another calls for 2, so maybe 1 1/2 should be right?)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp orange extract (optional)

Chocolate chips (optional 1/2 to 1 cup)

Gingersnaps (or any other good dippers--pretzels, animal crackers, Nilla wafers, etc)

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Blend on medium speed until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree along with the cinnamon and orange extract. Blend until smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place several gingersnap cookies in a plastic bag and crumble them using a rolling pin. Sprinkle the gingersnaps over the pumpkin dip. Serve with remaining dippers.

Enjoy!