Category Archives: Dessert

Applesauce

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Applesauce

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Every week at the grocery store I find myself buying two boxes of those applesauce squeeze things for my son. Only four come in a box, and they’re freakin expensive for what they are! So today I decided enough is enough – I can start making my own applesauce! My son loves it and I just bought a homemade baby food kit that lets you put baby food into squeeze pouches. This recipe made 16 pouches for me (roughly 8 cups of applesauce).

Ingredients:
8 apples (I used honeycrisp)
1 c apple juice (if you don’t have this, you can use water)
2 lemons
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c brown sugar

1. Peel your apples. I like to use an actual peeler instead of a knife because you keep more apple that way.

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2. Dump your apple juice into a pot or Dutch oven. I used a juice box!

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3. Slice your apples into the same size so they’ll cook evenly and at the same time. Then dump into your pot.

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4. Squeeze your two lemons in there.

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5. Bring to a boil for one minute, put the lid on, and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Stir halfway through.

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6. Once it’s done cooking, add both sugars, cinnamon, and stir together.

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7. Now take your pot over to your food processor or blender and work in batches to purée into a perfectly delicious consistency. It took me two batches.

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8. Now you’re done! You can put it into these squeeze thingies like I did, or save in a container with a top. I’m freezing my squeeze packs and pulling out a few each week so they’ll be defrosted and ready to eat in the fridge whenever!

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The Best Hot Chocolate Mix Ever

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The Best Hot Chocolate Mix Ever

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I know that’s a pretty ballsy claim, but it’s true! My husband likes to put a scoop of hot chocolate in his coffee every morning and we were going through Swiss Miss like no one’s business! Then I took a look at the ingredients and things like “corn syrup solids” and “hydrogenated oil” weren’t making me feel too great about him drinking it daily. So I tried a few recipes online and still wasn’t too happy with the taste of the mixes. I found plenty of delicious recipes for stovetop hot chocolate, but I needed something in a dry mix for his coffee, so I came up with my own recipe and to me, it’s absolutely perfect. Also, I’m sorry I don’t have any awesome pictures of my hot chocolate in a neat mug with marshmallows on top, so I’ll let you feast your eyes on this “mug shot” instead.

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My sister got this for me for Christmas and it’s absolutely perfect! Ok, let’s get down to business.

Ingredients:
1 c MILK CHOCOLATE chips (notice I said milk chocolate, not semi-sweet)
1 c powdered sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)
3 c powdered milk (instant non-fat)

1. Put the chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Then add the rest of your ingredients and blend until it’s a smooth powder. That’s it! You can store in a Tupperware with a snap top for delicious hot chocolate anytime!

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Two ways to enjoy this hot chocolate mix:
1. Add 1/3 c to 1 c hot water or milk, stir, and enjoy.
2. This is the best way and definitely decadent… Add 1/3 c to 1 c hot half and half with a splash of vanilla. Omg it’s out of this world!

Dutch Apple Pie

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Dutch Apple Pie

Dutch Apple Pie

This cooler weather is so perfect for baking something delicious in your kitchen and making your whole house smell amazing! This Dutch Apple Pie is so good and is made with my absolute favorite apples: Honey Crisp. You can make this pie with a mix of different apples or just pick your favorite, but I highly suggest Honey Crisp! Also, I’ve made this without the pie crust many times and just made it in a baking dish as a crisp and it’s perfect too! 

 Ingredients: 

 (Filling) 

  • 5-6 peeled and sliced thin apples 
  • 3 T flour 
  • Juice of 1 lemon 
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1/4 c brown sugar packed 
  • 1/2 c white sugar 
  • Your favorite pie crust

 (Topping) 

  • 3/4 c flour
  •  1/4 c brown sugar
  •  1/4 c white sugar
  •  1/2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1/3 c butter cut into cubes

 1. Stir all filling ingredients in a large bowl and dump into pie crust. I used a frozen pie crust because ain’t nobody got time to make a homemade crust!
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2. Combine your topping ingredients in a bowl and using either a pastry cutter or two forks stir together until butter is well incorporated and is roughly the size of peas.
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3. Place pie on a foil lined cookie sheet to prevent spills and bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Allow to cool on cooling rack before eating. It’s perfection, trust me!
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Snickerdoodle-Like Cinnamon And White Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Snickerdoodle-Like Cinnamon And White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snickerdoodle-Like Cinnamon And White Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are hands down the best cookies you’ll ever eat in your life!!! If a cinnamon roll and white chocolate chip cookie had a baby, this cookie would be that delicious little offspring. The original recipe is posted on Picky Palate, but this one uses a different type of pudding in the recipe. My mom made this tasty substitution and took these cookies from a 9 to a 10! Also, if you aren’t familiar with cinnamon chips (I hadn’t even heard of them before this recipe), don’t be scared to try them! They are like tiny meltable cinnamon rolls and are amazing! They can be hard to find, so if you can’t find them in your grocery store, you can get them off of Amazon. I like the Hershey’s brand.

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
3 tablespoons instant cheesecake pudding mix
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 c cinnamon chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a stand mixer, cream your butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla beating to combine. Slowly add your flour, pudding mix, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add chips and mix until combined.

3. Using a medium cookie scoop, place dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until baked through. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Soooo good!