Oct 9 2012

Pinterest Tested: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

Posted on October 9, 2012 by thepoli3

A few months back, I pinned this delicious looking recipe and I’ve been eyeballing it every time I peruse my Pinterest “Recipes” Board since… finally, I caved in and whipped it up last weekend.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie

This recipe originated from AKM designs and delights and I’m so glad she shared it on her blog and that it somehow landed on our Pinterest page.

Here’s our Real Best Recipe “Pinterest Tested” Results…

Overall rating: 9

Cost: $ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Thoughts: First of all, if you cook and bake a lot like I do, the cost is pretty low because you usually have the basics on hand (flour, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, etc.) but if you are new to baking, this could be a little more expensive because you do have a lot of things to purchase, which you will use again if you keep baking! I have to say- this is DELICIOUS. -But- This would have been soooo much better as a cookie, rather than a pie. The pretzel crust was okay but this recipe could have totally done without it. Next time I make these again, because I will, I will nix the whole pie/crust thing and just make a ton of cookies. After all, that is what it is… a cookie in a pie crust. And that was the best part. Something else I want to note that I always do when baking cookies (and of course did here) is I underbake them by about 2 minutes. That way they are gooey right out of the oven and stay soft after cooling down. With the Reese’s peanut butter cups in this, it took gooey to a whole new level. After we had our initial slices, I stuck this pie in the fridge to keep, and when going back for more in the following days, I heated each piece up for 30 seconds in the microwave and OMG it was so gooey, peanut buttery, chocolatey and delicious!

In any case, get over to AKM’s site now and print this recipe so you too can enjoy this amazing recipe!

Jul 31 2012

The “Real Best” Red Velvet Cupcakes

Posted on July 31, 2012 by thepoli3

Who doesn’t love a delicious red velvet cake? Whats more, who doesn’t love any cake turned cupcake? They’re cute, handy, and perfectly portioned! We’ve tested the three “best” red velvet cupcake recipes out there and come up with a winner to set you up with red velvet cupcake baking success! These are perfect for any occasion! Enjoy!

The contenders:

The nitty-gritty:

Each cupcake was scored on a scale of 1-10 (where 1= that’s food? and 10= the best red velvet cupcake that has ever entered my mouth) for overall score, the boyfriend/husband test, and the leftover test. We also provide other comments.

Allrecipes Red Velvet Cupcakes

Overall score: 7.5

The boyfriend/husband test: 5

The leftover test: 6.5

Comments: I definitely agree with the Allrecipes commenter who said these were somewhat bland and dry. One plus is that they weren’t overly sweet like many other red velvet cupcakes I’ve had. However, I’ll probably continue my search for a good red velvet recipe. The frosting was pretty good, though!

*NOTE: I used much less food coloring than recommended (about .13 oz instead of 1oz).

Paula Deen’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

Overall score: 9

The boyfriend/husband test: 8

The leftover test: 9

Comments: These I have a mixed opinion on. The cake was AWESOME. The frosting was just ok. In true Paula Deen style, the frosting was very buttery. I could literally taste the butter in each bite of the frosting. However, the cake was delicious, perfectly moist and full of flavor. If I were to make red velvet cupcakes again I would definitely use this recipe for the cake part with a plain old can of pre-made cream cheese frosting. Thanks Paula!!!

Brown Eyed Baker’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

Overall score: 8

The boyfriend/husband test: 8

The leftover test: 8

Comments: This was really moist but didnt have much flavor. The cream cheese frosting was just okay. Sadly, I wouldn’t make these again.

The winner:

Paula Deen’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

Special Diets:

While we can’t guarantee the results, here are some ideas you can use to customize the winning cupcakes to your dietary needs:

Gluten-free: Use a gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour.
Vegetarian: They already are!
Vegan: You can switch out the butter, buttermilk, egg, and cream cheese with vegan substitutes.
Lower fat: Skip making the frosting. These are really good on their own anyway. In any case, find a low fat cream cheese frosting recipe to substitute or purchase a pre-made low fat version at the store!
Lower sugar/calories: Same as the lower fat recommendation. Find a pre-made frosting that is also low sugar. There are many varieties out there!

Jul 25 2012

Leftovers: Caramel Pretzel Crusted Strawberry Cheesecake

Posted on July 25, 2012 by thepoli3

As you might recall, we recently posted a Pinterest Tested recipe for Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark, where we had a ton of leftover pretzel-caramel pieces leftover since the chocolate didn’t adhere very well and separated from it. Now I am not one to waste food or time so I scooped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge for a rainy day. Then it dawned on me- these would make a delicious cheesecake crust! I pulled up my favorite cheesecake recipe on AllRecipes for the filling and got to work! These were so yummy! I made them cupcake size just for fun.

Jen’s Caramel Pretzel Crusted Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

I started by crushing up the leftover pretzel-caramel pieces from our Pinterest Tested: Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark recipe, mixing the finely crushed crust with some melted butter, and then pressed down firmly into cupcake liners.

Then, I whipped up a batch of my favorite cheesecake filling, poured into the individual cupcakes, and baked according to the cheesecake filling recipe.

Almost done! You can eat these plain or add a topping- I added some canned strawberry pie filling.

Voila! Let these settle and cool overnight (or a least for a few hours), and enjoy!

Do it yourself:

*Makes 12 cheesecakes in a regular cupcake tin

Make the pretzel caramel bark (don’t add any chocolate or sea salt) – half the recipe for just 12 cheesecakes like mine -, let cool overnight, remove from pan, and crush in a plastic bag until finely ground. Add a few tablespoons of melted butter (I used about 2) to the mixture, stir until well coated, and then firmly press crust into lined cupcake pans.

Whip up Chantal’s New York Cheesecake filling (skip the crust part) – I quartered the recipe because I didn’t need so much filling for just 12 cupcakes – and pour onto individual crusts in cupcake pan.

After baking, let cool for about an hour in fridge, then spoon canned strawberry pie filling onto the top of each cheesecake-cupcake. Be careful not to put too much- it can get messy!

Let cool overnight (ideally) and enjoy!

- J

Jul 19 2012

Pinterest Tested: Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

Posted on July 19, 2012 by thepoli3

Salty & sweet perfectly describes the tastes in our household. Hubs craves all things salty and I love me some sweets, especially chocolate. When I came across this recipe on Pinterest, I knew had to “pin it” to make sometime in the future.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

By: The Legume Loyalist

Photo & Recipe Credit: http://legumeloyalist.com

Mine did not come out nearly as pretty but the taste definitely made up for it… so salty and sweet that even hubby loved it. He is not a sweets guy by any means but when he bit into one of these he said “mmm… salty!”. Go figure.

Here is what it looked like after baking the “caramel” and pretzels (I used straight pretzels and tried to break them up before pouring caramel over it, so that way these would cut easier).

I think I put a little extra chocolate than neccessary… oh well

Here it is after cooling in the fridge for a few hours:

The finished product!

Here’s how they rank:

Overall Rating: 9

Cost: $ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

Ok so these tasted AWESOME but they did not come out perfectly. In the recipe, it says to let the sugar-butter mixture “brown” for about 3 minutes. I’m not sure 3 minutes is long enough for it to thicken. This is why:

You see, the caramel didn’t seem to adhere very well to the chocolate layer, even after cooling for a few hours in the fridge. Some pieces had barely any pretzel/caramel mixture on them. After reading through some of the comments on the recipe site, it seems as though many people suggested to let the caramel “browning” process take a little longer. I would also next time attempt to just melt pre-wrapped caramels and pour over the pretzels instead. I think this may help things stay together a bit better and also enhance the caramel flavor.

In any case, and in order not to waste anything, I saved all the pretzel/caramel remnants and put them in a plastic bag to use for a future recipe… which will be posted very soon!

Again, these are definitely very easy and delicious so I would totally recommend making them! Thanks Pinterest and The Legume Loyalist for the great recipe find!

Leftovers:

For a creative idea, consider using your extra bark as a cheesecake crust:

Caramel pretzel crusted strawberry cheesecake

- J

Jul 3 2012

Pinterest Tested: Pupcakes

Posted on July 3, 2012 by thepoli3

We recently celebrated a very special birthday in our home…

The birthday of our now 4-year-old beagle mix, Riley!

We adopted Riley from a beagle rescue organization here in Tampa when he was just a puppy. They found his very-pregnant beagle mother in a mail drop somewhere in rural Alabama and transported her down to Florida where she gave birth shortly after to 3 puppies. Luckily, the entire family had a happy ending and they each found their “furever homes”. Riley came home with us after 8 weeks of being in a foster home and has been the most spoiled, cutest, little guy ever since. I love my pups like they’re really my own children and I could not simply let a birthday go by without a special treat. I tried to think of ideas and then recalled I had pinned these cute Carrot-Carob Pupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting by The Culinary Chronicles on Pinterest a few months back, and decided it was a perfect time to give them a try.

The pups LOVED them.

They weren’t that hard to make, I made them in mini-muffin tins, rather than the full size ones, to ensure they would not upset any overindulgent puppy tummies, and so they would last a little bit longer.

The frosting was simple to make as well.

They were so cute and had all dog friendly ingredients.

They looked so good that hubs came home from a day of golf and almost ate one! I suspect he finally noticed the shredded carrot on top right before popping it in his mouth and realized they were for the dogs. Secretly, I was hoping he would eat one, just so I could make fun of him about it.

Here’s how these puppies (get it? oh… was that not funny?) ranked:

Overall Rating: 10… I think. The pups got very excited every time I gave these to them. (scale: 1-10)

Cost: $$ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

The only trouble I had was finding the Carob Chips. They are like chocolate chips but without the ingredients in chocolate that make dogs sick. Eventually, I found them at a health food store. They cost about $5 for a normal size bag. I suspect I will use them again in other dog-birthday-recipes. Don’t judge me.

-J