Category Archives: Treats

by | July 2, 2010 · 10:24 am

Red, White and Blueberry Bomb Pop

One of my favorite memories of summer is eating a big juicy, sugary bomb pop (always from our own freezer and not from the ice cream man, but that is another story for another time). And while I still like to indulge in a cavity provoking treat every now and again, I’ve put together a great alternative to the bomb pop. This is a great idea for a fun, Fourth of July BBQ treat! It is kid-friendly and adult-friendly and waistline-friendly as well.

First you will need a popsicle mold (I bought mine at Target for $4). For the first layer, blend 1 C. blueberries and 1 tsp. of sugar or Splenda. Layer the mixture one-third of the way in each popsicle holder. Freeze for three or more hours. Add a layer of fat-free vanilla yogurt. Lastly, blend a 1 C. strawberries with a dash of orange juice and layer on the top. Insert popsicle holder and freeze for five or more hours.

To remove popsicle holders, run warm water over the outside of the plastic containers to loosen up the popsicle. Pull it out and enjoy!

Happy 4th to everyone!

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by | May 26, 2010 · 8:26 am

Yogurt Cake

This past weekend I was invited to a dinner party at fellow HAP blogger Stef’s house.  I was asked to bring a dessert which is not an easy task when the hostess does not like chocolate.  Actually I am the only HAP blogger who likes chocolate, both Stef and Katie refuse to eat it.  (Most people gasp when they hear this.)  So, I scrambled to find a non-chocolate recipe to bring to the party.

I came up with this perfectly simple and delicious Yogurt Cake.  It is a vanilla cake that is dense and has a very rich texture.  Sprinkle it with powdered sugar and you have a sweet and simple spring dessert.

Yogurt Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain whole milk or lowfat yogurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a round 9 inch cake pan.

Whisk together the dry ingredient in a large bowl.

In another bowl, mix together the yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla. Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool the cake for 5-10 minutes and turn out on a wire rack to remove the cake. Turn it right side up and allow it to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, slice and serve.

But don’t worry, chocolate lovers, I promise to post more recipes like this so we can get our chocolate fix.

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by | March 17, 2010 · 6:43 am

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies

Yes, you read that right.  All 3 cookies put into one.

This recipe is probably the best cookie recipe I have.  It makes the most divine cookies with just a hint of peanut butter and oatmeal and the perfect amount of chocolate chips. I dare you to make these cookies and not eat at least 3 right out of the oven.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

Next cream the butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla together on low speed for about 3 minutes. Then add the egg and and beat until well combined. Slowly mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Scoop dough out using a large cookie scoop. (2-3 tablespoons per cookie) Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Next time you want to make cookies and can’t decide what kind to make, just make these!  I promise you will not be disappointed.

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by | March 15, 2010 · 8:27 am

Irish Car Bomb Ice Cream

I have a special place in my heart for Ireland, having spent a semester in college (and a St. Patrick’s Day) in Galway. However, since most Irish cuisine leaves something to be desired, I prefer to enjoy Irish drinks instead. This year I got experimental and made Irish Car Bomb Ice Cream, which tastes like the popular St. Paddy’s Day shot but results in fewer shenanigans! Slainte!
Irish Car Bomb Ice Cream

Bailey’s Ice Cream
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C half and half
2/3 C Bailey’s
8 egg yolks
3/4 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Guinness-Jameson Sauce
1 C brown sugar
1/4 C butter
1/2 C half and half
1/2 C Guinness
2 tsp Jameson whiskey
1 Tbsp corn starch

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar and salt until light yellow and smooth. In a large saucepan, heat half and half, cream and Bailey’s until just beginning to simmer. Extract a cup of the cream mixture and whisk it into the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan of cream, whisking constantly until mixed. Prepare a large bowl with an ice bath and have a medium glass bowl ready to place in it. Monitor and stir custard mix until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon without separating. At that time, pour it into your glass bowl and place it in the ice bath. Cool in freezer for 30 minutes and transfer to an ice cream maker.

While ice cream is chilling, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy in a small bowl. Whisk in half and half and set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine Guinness and Jameson and heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. Working in thirds, whisk in the sugar mixture, cooking on a simmer for about 10 minutes between each batch. Whisk in corn starch. Sauce should be about the consistency of warm caramel. Chill in freezer until cool.

Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker to blend ice cream, swirling in half of the sauce. Freeze for 3-4 hours or overnight if possible. Top with remaining sauce to serve.

NOTE: Don’t like Jameson or Guinness? Don’t worry, the whiskey bite cooks off and you get a rich caramel-y sauce. Since you don’t need much, I like to get a single airplane bottle, which is much cheaper.

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by | March 12, 2010 · 10:41 am

Oatmeal Cherry Bars

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I found myself with quite a sweet tooth. To attempt to curb that sweet tooth and stay (somewhat) healthy in the meantime, I made these oatmeal cherry bars which work great as  dessert or even better as a breakfast bar!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 C. old-fashioned rolled oats – finely grounded in a food processor
  • 1/4 C. whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 C. old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 C. light brown sugar 
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 C. of walnuts
  • 1 C. dried cherries
  • non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Stir together ground oats, flour, 1 cup of whole oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl. Set aside. 

Beat brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add oat mixture. Mix until combined. Mix in walnuts and cherries. 

Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Spread batter evenly across the pan. Scatter remaining oats across the top. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. 

You can also substitute dried cherries for dried cranberries, dates or even chocolate chips!

Happy eating!

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by | March 10, 2010 · 7:44 am

Red and Gold Oscar Party

I love being a hostess and can always seem to find an excuse to throw a party.  This year I decided to host an Oscar party for some of my girl friends.  We ate, drank, filled out our ballots and, most importantly, took in the fashion!

The invitations were made to look like Oscar envelopes.

The girls were greeted with ballots to fill out before the Oscars started.

We snacked on a spread of food that was all made using Wildtree products.

For Dessert, we ate red velvet cake iced with cream cheese frosting and topped with the hollywood sign!

Popcorn and movie theater candy were also available for guests to snack on.

What will be your next excuse to throw a party?

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by | March 8, 2010 · 9:19 am

Cupcakes On Demand!

I’ve received several requests for the recipes for some of the cupcakes I’ve featured lately so today I thought I’d share them! The Vanilla Bean & Chai Cupcake recipe is from the Lions, Tigers & Bears, Oh My baby shower and the Baby Got Bock Cupcake is the recipe I created for the Iron Cupcake: Beer competition. Baby Got Bock is a chocolate cake made with home-brewed dopplebock beer, caramel cream frosting and Heath bits – unfortunately I don’t have a real picture – so use your imaginations 🙂

Vanilla Bean and Chai Cupcake

Vanilla Bean & Chai Cupcakes
Chai Cupcakes
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C self-rising flour
1 C butter, room temp
2 C sugar
4 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 C milk (not skim)
2/3 C chai concentrate
1 1/2 Tbsp chai spice powder OR approx. 1/2 tsp each: cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, ginger, cardamom

Vanilla Bean Frosting
2 sticks butter, room temp
6-8 C powdered sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 vanilla beans
splash half & half

Sugar Cookie Leaves
1/2 tube frozen sugar cookie dough
3 C powdered sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 egg white, room temp
food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and beat in vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flours with a whisk and in a large measuring cup combine chai and milk.  Alternately work in about 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the liquid, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are beaten in. Beat in chai powder or spices and adjust with additional spice as needed to taste.  Batter should be both sweet and slightly spicy. Pour batter into standard muffin tins, approximately 3/4 full and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool completely.

For frosting, beat butter until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding vanilla and half & half slowly for moisture to achieve desired consistency. Frosting should be thick and creamy. Slit vanilla beans length-wise and use a knife to scrape out the inside and seeds, adding to frosting. Beat well and pipe onto cupcakes.

Use a leaf cookie cutter (or a small circle and pinch the ends to form leaves) on rolled out sugar cookie dough. Bake 5-7 minutes. In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Use a whisk to whip in powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Add green food coloring and frost cooled cookies. Frosting hardens quickly so work fast!

Chocolate Dopplebock Beer Cupcakes

“Baby Got Bock” Chocolate Caramel Beer Cupcakes
3/4 C cocoa powder
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 C flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1 C dopplebock beer (stout or porter works too)
1 stick butter
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 C sour cream

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pkg cream cheese, room temp
1 stick butter, room temp
3 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
splash half & half
1/2 jar caramel ice cream topping
Heath bits

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and beat in vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Alternately work in about 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the beer, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all ingredients are beaten in. Pour batter into standard muffin tins, approximately 3/4 full and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cool completely.

For frosting, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding vanilla and half & half slowly. Beat in caramel and pipe onto cupcakes. Top with Heath bits.

Cupcake Tips:
Over time I’ve found that there are a few things I didn’t believe would make a difference but they do:
1. Mixing your dry and wet ingredients separately is worth the extra effort.  You get a better batter consistency and more even flavor.
2. Overbaking is the fastest way to kill your cupcakes. When in doubt, always set a timer for a little less time than the recipe calls for and test with a toothpick. You may have to monitor them for the next few minutes on your first batch but you’ll be able to pull them right away when the toothpick comes clean. Even a few extra minutes can dry them out.
3. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are both at room temp before you make cream cheese frosting. If you try to melt your butter (or something else) and beat it into cool cream cheese, it will get clumpy and gross.
4. Let your cupcakes cool completely before you frost. I’m talking a few hours or even over night. Otherwise you risk crumbly cake, melty frosting and a lot of frustration.

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by | February 10, 2010 · 8:18 am

Molten Chocolate Cake

A couple years ago, my husband and I went on cruise with some friends and discovered something called Molten Chocolate Cake.  We ate it every day for a week, sometimes requesting seconds.   It is a moist, souffle-like cake that is served in a ramekin.  When you put your spoon into the cake, the center is warm, gooey and all chocolate.

I had spent the past 3 years trying to find a recipe for this delicious cake and am happy to say that I have finally found one that rivals  the cake we had on the cruise.   I think it is the perfect treat to share with your special someone on valentines day.  It is rich, chocolaty and oh so good.

Molten Chocolate Cake

Ingredients for Cake Centers:
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup heavy cream

Ingredients for Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
2 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup cake flour

Directions for centers:
Melt chocolate and cream together in double boiler and mix together until well combined. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until firm. Then, scoop out the chocolate and form it into 6 equal sized balls and refrigerate until needed.

Directions for cakes:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray six 4-5 ounce ramekins with cooking spray.

Melt chocolate and butter together in double boiler until well blended.  Using an electric mixer, mix eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla extract on high speed for about 5 minutes or until thick and light.

Fold the melted chocolate mixture and flour into the egg mixture until just combined and divide batter evenly into greased ramekins.  Then, place a chocolate ball in the middle of each ramekin.

Bake about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Top with powdered sugar or berries and whipped cream.

One bite and you will be in chocolate heaven!

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by | January 8, 2010 · 8:35 am

Healthy Yogurt Smoothies

All the healthy new year’s resolutions may be leaving your sweet tooth a bit unsatisfied. I love ice cream probably more than the average person, that is why I’ve played with different yogurt smoothie recipes over the years to quench the sweet cravings.

The Orange Julius and Jamba Juice concoctions we pass by at the mall may taste great, but many of them are packed with 350 to over 500 calories and lots of unnecessary sugars. I find that these homemade smoothies taste just as good and keep my body away from the sugar highs and lows.

Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients:
1/2 C. non-fat vanilla yogurt
1 whole banana
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
A splash (or 2) of vanilla soy milk
5-8 ice cubes

Blend first four ingredients together. Add ice cubes. Blend until smooth.

This smoothie is great for breakfast with a piece of 100% whole wheat toast. If you are looking for more of a dessert smoothie and that chocolate fix, add a small swirl of Hershey’s chocolate sauce.

Orange Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:
1/2 C. non-fat vanilla yogurt
1 whole banana
1/2 C. fresh or frozen strawberries
A splash (or 2) of orange juice (I love Simply Orange with Pineapple or Mango)
5-8 ice cubes

Blend first four ingredients together. Add ice cubes. Blend until smooth.

Berry Berry Pomegranate Smoothie

Ingredients:
1/2 C. non-fat vanilla yogurt
1 C. fresh or frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries and/or blackberries)
1/4 C. 100% pomegranate juice
5-8 ice cubes

Blend first three ingredients together. Add ice cubes. Blend until smooth.

Cheers to a happy and healthy new year!

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by | January 6, 2010 · 8:00 am

Quick and Healthy Snacks

I am a girl who loves to snack. I often need to have something to munch on in between every meal in order to feel full all day. As you can imagine, this can add a lot of extra calories into my diet.

Over the years, I have developed a couple go-to snacks that curb my hunger but don’t necessarily kill my diet. All of these things are easy to keep on hand year round and can be made in a hurry. Here are my no fail healthy snacks.

-Apple slices dipped in 1 tablespoon of almond butter
-2 slices of deli turkey with a hand full of grapes
-One inch cube of hard cheese and 5 dried apricot halves
-Whole wheat crackers with low fat cream cheese sprinkled with dried cranberries
-Raw almonds mixed with dried fruit
-one whole grain toaster waffle spread with 1 tablespoon of nutella
-3 cups of air popped popcorn sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings

If you are feeling hungry throughout the day, reach for these healthy options instead of prepackaged 100 calorie packs or vending machine goodies and I promise you will have more energy and maybe even a smaller waistline!

Happy snacking!

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