No Bake Cookies

I can cook up a storm when it comes to baking cookies.  I've never been able to make a  No Bake Cookie.  Not even to save my life.  Seriously, if someone told me I had to make a no bake cookie or die, I'd be as good as gone. . .  until . . . I found this recipe!  I conquered the No Bake!

I don't even like No Bakes.  The texture is unpleasant to me (I'm finicky about the texture of my food).  That probably has something to do with my inability to make them.  I did try one of these cookies after I made them.  It tasted pleasant, but I still couldn't get over that texture. 

The people who I shared them with (read: the poor souls who are kind enough to eat the results of my never ending recipe experiment) reported that the No Bake Cookies were really good.  And these are the kind of folks who are not gonna blow smoke for me.  So, you're just gonna have to rely on their opinions and give it a shot yourself!

Slightly adapted from: Indecisive Baker

Here's what I used:

1/2 Stick of Butter
1/2 Cup of Milk
2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Salt
3 Heaping Tbsps Cocoa
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 3/4 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
 
Here's what I did:

In a saucepan I melted the Butter and then added the Milk, Sugar, Vanilla, Salt and Cocoa.  I let that mixture boil for 90 seconds (don't let it boil longer than that!).   

After the 90 seconds, I removed the pan from the heat and immediately added the Peanut Butter.  After I mixed the Peanut Butter in completely, I added the Oats.  (You may use slightly more or less oats than I did -- somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 cups) 

After the Oats were mixed in, I added the Miniature Marshmallows and stirred just until it was well combined.  

Finally, I dropped the cookies by heaping Teaspoon full onto waxed paper.  Let them cool completely before you eat them.

Enjoy!  

Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes

For Father's Day I made my dad a delicious Carrot Cake that I owed him.  But, since I don't like vegetables with my dessert, I had to make something else, cause I'm not going without dessert.  I saw a recipe for Hot Fudge Sundae Cupcakes and thought they looked adorable, so I decided to give them a try.  I simplified the recipe and they ended up being not only adorable, but delicious too.  I was really surprised at how much they actually tasted like a hot fudge sundae.  And they really are quite easy to make.

Adapted from: Joy the Baker

Here's what I used for the cupcakes:
1 White cake mix and the ingredients needed to make the cake according to the box
3 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Here's what I did to make the cupcakes:
I prepared the cake mix according to the directions. I also added 3 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract.  I baked the cupcakes according to the box, removing them from the oven when they were golden brown.  I put them on a cooling rack upside down until they were cool.



Here's what I used for the chocolate ganache:
2 1/4 Cups Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (a little more than a 12 oz bag)
3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Here's what I did to make the chocolate ganache:
I poured the chocolate chips into a bowl.  I put the cream in a pan and simmered it on the stove until it was very warm (but I did not let it boil).  Once the cream was warm, I poured it over the chocolate chips.  I let that sit for about a minute.  Then I stirred the mixture together, letting the cream melt the chocolate, until the mixture was completely smooth. 

     Hint:  If you didn't get the cream warm enough to melt the chocolate chips all the
      way, just put the bowl in the microwave and heat it up for 10 seconds at a time. 
      Stir after you heat it up each time to see if the chocolate chips are melted -- you
      only want to heat it enough to melt the chocolate chips.



Here's what I used to assemble the cupcakes:
Caramel
Whipped Cream
Maraschino Cherries
Chocolate Sprinkles

Here's what I did to assemble the cupcakes:
I wanted to try stuffing the cupcakes, so the first thing I did was use an apple corer to remove the center of each cupcake (Bonus!  I get to eat all the centers!).  Then I filled about half of the center of each cupcake up with whipped cream.  I filled the other half of the center up with caramel.  (The caramel was a last minute idea.  I was at my mom's house and she happened to have those little cups of caramel for dipping apples in, so I used those.  I just heated each one up a bit in the microwave to make the caramel easy to work with.)

Then I iced the cupcakes with the ganache.  I made sure to put a little extra ganache over the center of each cupcake so that the ganache would seep into the center of each cupcake as well.

After I let the ganache cool until it was firm, I put whipped cream, a cherry, and chocolate sprinkles on each cupcake.  

Enjoy!