Pam's my girl! If she has flour...

If you are looking for all chocolate and nothing but the chocolate - this bundt cake is for you. Two mixes - a chocolate cake and a brownie mix make this one really simple, but also very heavy! I made this cake for a church dinner. Bundt cakes are great for feeding a crowd, easy to serve and eat. The frosting is an easy ganache, you could use canned frosting too if you wanted to go even easier.
Use one big bowl to mix up the cake batter and use Pam with Flour to very well coat the bundt pan. I use Pam with flour when I bake for my pans, the baked goods always come out easier than just regular Pam/spray. Pam's my girl! Ok that's weird. But legit... worthwhile... just don't use it for and gluten free baking! That would be dumb. But make this cake! Share with lots of people! They'll love it.

Chocolate Brownie Bundt Cake
For the cake
1 15.25 oz. chocolate cake mix
1 18.3 oz. brownie mix
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup oil
1 cup mini chocolate chips
For the ganache
1 cup heavy cream
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan.
In a large bowl, beat both mixes, eggs, oil and water until mostly smooth. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before inverted the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache, place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it just begins to boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Let stand for a few minutes, then whisk until ganache is smooth and shiny.
Pour ganache over cake and serve.

Even cheap parm gets stinky

I've been wanting to make this Pizza Monkey Bread for a while, and my life doesn't really have an appetizer section in it... I thought I needed one to have this. If someone had told me as a kid that for the rest of my adult life, I'm responsible for planning, preparing, purchasing, making every meal I'd have for the rest of my natural life, I might have said no thanks. Trust me... it gets REALLY old. I decided this was dinner last Saturday. Nicholas and I were outside building a trellis in the cold wind, and I knew I needed to be somewhere at a certain time, so I abandoned my kid, ran in and tossed this together quickly. I'd found an older bottle of grated parmesan in the cabinet since we ran out... opened it - whoa... that stuff ages stinkily. Even a little was TOO much... Wow... note to self... pick up a new one! But I tossed that baby in the oven and ran back out. It came out of the pan with some coaxing, but we got it! Dipped it in marinara and it was great! Everyone really liked it, maybe less stinky parm next time, but it was a great snacky dinner.

Pizza Monkey Bread
32 oz refrigerated canned biscuit dough, quartered
6 oz pepperoni, sliced (cut in halves)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup melted butter
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon garlic salt
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Fresh parsley, for garnish
Marinara sauce, for dipping

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease a Bundt pan thoroughly to prevent sticking.
Cut biscuits into quarters
Slice pepperoni into halves
Smaller pieces ensure even baking and distribution.
In a large bowl, combine:
Biscuit pieces, Pepperoni, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Melted butter, Italian seasoning, Garlic powder, Garlic salt, Red pepper flakes (if using)
Toss until everything is evenly coated.
Spoon mixture into the prepared pan.
Lightly press down—but do not pack tightly. Airflow helps it bake properly.
Bake for 35–40 minutes.
If the top browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil during the last 10 minutes.
The internal dough should be fully cooked and no longer doughy in the center.
Let rest for 5–10 minutes.
Carefully invert onto a serving plate.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Serve warm with marinara for dipping.

Sleep or Cinnamon? I'd pick cinnamon

If there's a recipe and it says cinnamon swirl, I'm there. This quick bread is wonderful - it's soft and moist, and best of all - lots of cinnamon. I love that it comes together without softening butter which I often forget to do. it was perfect for a Sunday morning breakfast where we all ate around the same time... well... one of us didn't eat, she never really eats breakfast. Why do that when there's more time for sleep? The rest of us enjoyed it, quite a bit in fact!

Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread
Ingredients
Bread Batter:
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Sugar + Topping:
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon melted butter

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2-X4 1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Optional: line pan with parchment and grease parchment.
For the batter, in a large bowl, add the sugar (3/4 cup), milk, sour cream, oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix well.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until no dry streaks remain (don't over mix).
For the cinnamon and sugar, in a small bowl, mix the granulated sugar (6 tablespoons) and cinnamon together until well-combined.
To assemble, spread half of the batter in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the batter.
In large spoonfuls, dollop the remaining batter over the cinnamon and sugar. Spread evenly.
Sprinkle remaining cinnamon and sugar (about 2 1/2 tablespoons) evenly over the top of the batter.
Draw a butter knife through the batter in three diagonal lines starting from one corner in a down-up-down pattern and then repeat the pattern one more from an opposite corner so the lines cross each other (see the pictures in the post for a visual). Don't over swirl the batter. It just needs a few slashes for optimal cinnamon and sugar swirling.
Drizzle the melted butter across the top of the bread.
Optional: the batter fills an 8 1/2-X4 1/2-inch pan about 2/3 full. If you live at high elevation or are worried about any of the cinnamon topping dripping into your oven while baking, place the loaf pan on a sheet pan to bake. FYI: I live at 2,500 feet elevation, and the bread doesn't overflow/drip in my oven.
Bake the bread for 50 to 55 minutes. The bread won't dome as much as other quick breads and may be relatively flat across the top, but a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with moist crumbs. Add additional time, if needed.
Let the bread cool for a few minutes in the pan and then gently turn out (or lift parchment paper to remove) and let cool completely on a cooling rack.
Because the top of the bread will have some crunch to it, for neat slices, use a sharp serrated knife and gently slice the corner edge of the bread before drawing the knife across to cut all the way through each slice.

Getting out of a rut

My brain has been feeling a bit on overload lately... with the holidays ending and being sick for most of that month, then January in our house being... weird for LOTS of reasons, it just feels like we are in autopilot and doing what we can do and somehow new recipes haven't entered the picture. I have been doing the known and going with it because known is known... Known is predictable and we know we like them. Well it was time to change things up, Spring is coming and let's do some shaking up. I've been helping with church dinners and with that comes dessert. I don't ask people to bring desserts then not bring them myself - unless I'm in Florida and physically can't... and honestly I thought about making one and tossing it in the freezer at church and letting folks know... don't worry I didn't. But I did make this amazing dessert. This Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake is a lot like my old standby of Eclair Cake, but it's with chocolate chips cookies! It's amazing, like honestly amazing. It was so good. I forgot to drizzle some chocolate syrup on the top and honestly my picture is of my serving I had at church on a paper plate. But I was hearing people all over talking about it and it was really that good. This could easily be made with gluten free cookies for an easy gluten free dessert too. Lots of options here - just don't use raisin cookies - that seems... mean.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake
2 (13 ounce) package chocolate chip cookies (not chewy)
2 (3.4-ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
2 1/4 cups whole milk
2 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, divided,

Instructions
Remove 1 1/2 heaping cups of whipped topping and set it aside as well.
In a large bowl, combine both pudding mixes and milk and briskly whisk together for about 1 minute or until smooth. Take the remaining whipped topping and gently fold it into the pudding mixture until completely incorporated.
Place down an even layer of cookies in a 9 x 13 pan, breaking them apart as needed to fit the pan. Top with half the pudding mixture and use the back of a large spoon to gently spread into an even layer. Top with one more layer of cookies. Add the rest of the pudding, again spreading it into an even layer. Add the last layer of cookies. Finally, spread on the reserved cup of whipped topping in an even layer. Cover the cake and refrigerate for 8 hours.
When ready to serve, crumble a few reserved cookies on top as a garnish. Add some mini chocolate chips and maybe chocolate syrup to the top.

11 years of adventure, many more to come.

Somewhere along the line our family became one of those National Park Families... where we plan trips all through the year to go see the beautiful places our country. Climb all the mountains, see all the views, eat snacks in the most beautiful places. When it came to a birthday day for our new 11-year-old - he said "National Park Cake!" What does that mean? Mountains! Trees! A Sign! Oof... we looked online and found some pallet painted cakes and I decided I could probably give that a try. Then we saw an ad for a cake topper that looked like a national park sign. Well for sure I could make that happen on my new laser cutter!
The day before the party I had the birthday boy help me draw mountains with a toothpick and he helped design it. We added some grass to the top and added the sign the day of. It turned out amazing. Pair that with green and blue tablecloths, blue and white balloons taped to my ceiling for clouds and sky (I told them I just didn't want tape on the ceiling - we had tape on the ceiling), and bear plates with tree napkins... it was quite the adventure birthday! I love it went a plan works. The kid requested yellow cake, which I made and added a vanilla pudding mix to it, strawberry buttercream frosting, and vanilla for the rest of the frosting. This may have been the first year he actually ate some of the cake and enjoyed it! We win! Happy 11th Birthday Nicholas Warren! I can't wait to have more adventures.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz Freeze Dried Strawberries - ground into powder
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, strawberry powder, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature (3 sticks)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle or whisk attachment whip butter on medium-high speed (if using whisk attachment whip on high speed) until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.