September 11, 2018 by Krista

The Most Delicious 20 Minute Prep Apple Crisp

There is nothing I love more than a yummy, warm dessert on these cold wintery nights. The scent of cinnamon and warm apples is almost as tantalizing as the sweet treat melting across your taste buds. This apple crisp is easy to make, it’s delicious, it’s packed with fiber and has 100% of your day’s whole grains! When was the last time your dessert had all that?!

20 MINUTE PREP APPLE CRISP

Apple Crisp is one of our family traditions. That’s my favorite thing about the last half of the year: all the traditions. Because, to me, THAT is what is important in life. The traditions, the memories, the friends and family. And good food.

20 MINUTE PREP APPLE CRISP

My favorite thing about this recipe is that it is so very simple to make, which is just what I need as things get busy around this time of year, and it only gets crazier until the end of the year.

My second favorite thing is that you can make it ahead of time. Just put it in the freezer and save it until you need it. Take it out, let it thaw, add the Grape Nuts topping and then bake. So easy! And you’ll be lucky if there are leftovers.

Let’s get bakin’!

Yield: 8-10 Servings

The Most Delicious 20 Minute Prep Apple Crisp

Name: The Most Delicious 20 Minute Prep Apple Crisp
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 8-10 Servings
Ingredients: 1/2 cup Grape Nuts Original; 1/2 cup butter; 6 Tbsp milk; 6 Tbsp brown sugar; 2 tsp vanilla; 2 tsp lemon juice; 1 tsp cinnamon; 2 apples; 1/2 cup Grape Nuts, for topping

This yummy, warm dessert will hit just the spot on these cold wintery nights. This apple crisp is sweet and savory and easy to make with only 20 minutes of prep time!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup Grape Nuts Original
1/2 cup butter
6 Tbsp milk
6 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 apples
1/2 cup Grape Nuts, for topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Peel and slice the apples. Lay the apple slices in the bottom of a 7x11" pan. You can also use an 8x8" pan.

In a medium saucepan pan, melt the butter on medium low heat.
Add 1/2 cup Grape Nuts and milk. Stir until evenly combined. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes, until the Grape Nuts have softened a little. Don't scald the milk!
Add brown sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and cinnamon. Combine well.
Continue mixing over heat until sugar is dissolved and the consistency thickens into a thick sauce.

Pour the sauce over the apples in the pan. Use a spatula to smooth and evenly distribute across the entire pan.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup Grape Nuts on top of the sauce.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, until apples are tender.
Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

3/4 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 219 Total Fat: 12.1g Saturated Fat: 7.4g Cholesterol: 31mg Sodium: 160mg Carbohydrates: 26.7g Fiber: 3.3g Sugar: 14.3g Protein: 2.4g

Simple, hearty, and warm is just what these frosty nights need. Warm up from the inside with this tasty treat the whole family will enjoy. Relax with your favorite people and make some memories this fall and holiday season. And all memories are better when good food is involved!

Ready to make your own? Let’s do it! And it’s okay to make a couple at a time! Freeze the second for a no-prep (or make-ahead!) dessert that will simplify your busy holidays without sacrificing the good stuff.

May 31, 2016 by Krista

Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CelebrateWithM #CollectiveBias

Hey, I’m thrilled you’ve stopped by today! So… I have a question for you… Do you have a sweet tooth?

Did you say yes? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Especially if you have a thing for chocolate and caramel. Or sweet and salty. This will tickle your taste buds into ecstasy.

Here’s one more question… Have you ever made your own caramel? I used to help my grandma when I was little and what I remember most are the arm cramps I got from stirring the pot. I really had no desire to make caramel without my grandma…

… Until this barely-stir recipe entered my life. It’s absolutely amazing and super simple. It takes a little bit of time, but you can totally just set it and check on it every so often. There’s no heavy arm work!

If you’re in a rush and don’t have time for homemade from scratch, that’s ok! I’ve got a quick and easy version for you too. Check that recipe out down below.

HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE

Print This Recipe

Chocolate Cake

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: Approx 20 servings

A not-too-sweet chocolate cake that is moist, light and fluffy and perfect for poke cakes.

Ingredients

1 c. white sugar
3 eggs
2 c white flour
1 c milk
¼ c butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
6 tbs cocoa

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13" glass pan.
In a large mixing bowl cream together sugar and butter.
Beat in eggs.
Add vanilla.
Combine flour and baking powder. Mix well.
Stir in milk until batter is smooth.
Pour into pan. Lower oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 28-32 mins.
(This is the perfect time to get your caramel started. See recipe below.)
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 mins.
Use a butter knife to poke holes in the cake. The more holes you make, the more caramel will soak down inside. Poke your knife into the cake and give it a little twist to make the holes bigger. The caramel will soak in better.

CARAMEL SAUCE RECIPE
(I originally found this recipe on leafytreetopspot.blogspot.com a few years ago and I LOVE it. I tweaked it slightly to fit my needs for this recipe. You can see the original recipe at the link above.)

Print This Recipe

Caramel Chocolate Poke Cake

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: Approx 20 servings

The perfect sweet and salty dessert that will leave your taste buds wanting more!

Ingredients

- ¼ Cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 Cup light corn syrup
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Cup whipping or heavy cream
- 2½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

** If you're in a hurry or don't want to mess with making your own caramel sauce, just use a jar of your favorite caramel sauce from the store and skip to step 11.
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat on the stove.
Increase heat to medium-high. Add sugar and corn syrup and mix until well blended.
Add the salt and combine with a spatula.
Slowly stir the mixture until it comes to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium low and let boil 4 minutes without stirring.
Remove from heat and slowly stir in the whipping cream. Be careful and don't pour too much in too quickly. It might spatter and could burn. Stirring nice and slow will help get the cream mixed in smoothly as well.
Return to medium low heat and continue cooking without stirring until mixture is 245°F on a candy thermometer.
*Note: This makes the caramel a firm chewy candy. You'll probably have to cut the caramel on the cake with kitchen shears, but I love the chewy texture. For most people, a caramel sauce will be more to your liking. There's lots of recipes, but I've never tried any and don't have a favorite to point you to. You can even add sea salt to the sauce and make it salted caramel sauce if you'd like.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour caramel over the cake (recipe above). If your cake is domed after you bake it, you can use a spatula to pull the caramel back to the middle as it soaks in and cools down.
If desired, sprinkle caramel with sea salt before it cools too much. If the top has already started to firm up, you can gently press the salt into the caramel with the palm of your hand. Be careful, the caramel will still be hot!
Allow to cool completely (2-3 hours). Slice and serve topped with whipped cream, pretzel sticks and M&M's® Red, White & Blue Milk Chocolate for the perfect sweet and salty ode to America.

This cake is super moist, not too sweet and the perfect blend of sweet and salty. I wanted to add some patriotic love to this cake and the M&M’s® Red, White, & Blue Milk Chocolate were perfect. They also have M&M’s® Red, White, & Blue Peanut that compliment the sweet and salty of the cake just right.

Maybe you’re more a Skittles® fan? Well, there’s Skittles® Red, White, & Blue too! I’m not sure I’d eat them with the chocolate caramel cake, but they are pretty tasty little treats.

Right now MARS/Wrigley is showing appreciation of our troops by donating M&M’s® to the troops for every bag purchased at Walmart. Select stores will have representatives sharing more information about the “1 For You, 1 For the Troops” campaign exclusively at Walmart.

Did you know that M&M’s® were originally created for the troops? Keep the tradition going and buy M&M’s® at Walmart or Walmart.com.

Supporting the troops is definitely something I can get behind. America has always held a special place in my heart. I truly love this country, despite any flaws she may have.

When I met my husband, he was a soldier. We have lived the life of a military family and I had a love-hate relationship with the military, for many reasons. But, I will be forever grateful for and to the courageous and selfless men and women who defend our freedom. The brave people who leave their families to stand against and protect our rights and privileges. I admire and respect the families that are left behind, the single parents who hold their homes and families together while the one they love most is thousands of miles away, often in mortal danger.

The men, women and families who make up our armed forces are some of the strongest, bravest, courageous and selfless people I have ever had the privilege to know. I am so grateful for the time we had among those heroes. I will always respect, admire, and love those who have, who do and those who willingly sacrifice holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, time with their families, their health and even their lives to protect this country and all those within her borders.

If purchasing a bag of M&M’s® or Skittles® can help lift a service member’s day with a small treat, it’s the least I can do. Help support our troops and grab a bag (or two!) at Walmart today. And check out more fun patriotic recipes for your celebrations this summer!

I hinted at the quick and easy version earlier; but, as promised, here’s the recipe. This is a little different consistency and flavor, but still really yummy.

QUICK AND EASY
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

Print This Recipe

Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: One 9x13" pan

Quick & easy chocolate caramel poke cake ready to serve in 45 minutes!

Ingredients

1 Family-sized Chocolate cake mix box (should bake in a 9x13" pan)
12 oz bottle Caramel ice cream topping
Sea salt to garnish (optional)
Whipped cream
Pretzel sticks
M&M's® Red, White, & Blue Peanut

Instructions

Mix and bake the cake according to the directions on the back of the box.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 mins.
Use a butter knife to poke holes in the cake. The more holes there are, the more caramel will soak in. You can give the knife a twist after you poke it in the cake to make the holes a bit bigger.
Pour half the caramel over the cake and let it sit and soak in for 10 minutes.
Pour the other half of the caramel on top and let it soak in.
Slice and served topped with whipped cream, pretzel pieces and M&M's® candies.

March 16, 2016 by Krista

24 Favorite Easter Recipes

One of my favorite things about Easter… the food! It’s almost as good as Christmas! Here are 24 awesome recipes that will rock your Easter Sunday Dinner! That’s right, 24 Easter recipes – main dish, side dish and desserts are all included! Just try to make it through this list without your mouth watering, I dare you.

Easter is nearly here and that means it is time to start thinking about your menu. The Easter weekend gives us plenty of opportunities for feasting whether it’s appetizers before the big Easter Sunday meal or family brunches during the weekend. Several bloggers have gotten together to bring you our Favorite Easter Recipes. From delicious brunch, dinner and, of course dessert recipes you’ll be sure to find something to add to your Easter menus.

24 Favorite Easter Recipes Round-Up!

Ukrainian Babka Bread (Easter Bread) from Blogghetti

Breakfast Casserole for the Crockpot from To Work With My Hands

Peaches and Cream Dessert from Katherine’s Corner

Crockpot Easter Spiral Ham Recipe from The Lady Prefers 2 Save

No-Bake Birds Nest Cookies from Love My Messy Messy Mess

Cheddar Biscuits from Ducks ‘n a Row

Cadbury Creme Egg Pies from Upstate Ramblings

Peepsicles – Chocolate Covered Frozen Peeps Pops from Upstate Ramblings

Ham and Asparagus Roll-Ups from Blogghetti

Grilled Leg of Lamb from That Recipe

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake from The Painted Hinge

Amazingly Flaky Cresent Rolls That are to Die For from While He Was Napping

No Bake Bird Nest Cookies from While He Was Napping

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts from Blogghetti

Easter Candy Cones from The Lady Prefers 2 Save

Coconut Curried Eggs from That Recipe

Easter Mini Cheesecakes from Eclectic Red Barn

Crockpot Fresh Green Beans, Taters, and Bacon

Easy White Cake from Ducks ‘n a Row

Savory Roasted Potato Disks from To Work With My Hands

Birds Nest Cheesecakes from A Labour of Life

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Ham from The Magical Slow Cooker

Fresh Herb Whole Wheat Bread from To Work With My Hands

Easter Whoopie Pies from Katherine’s Corner

What’s on your Easter Menu this year?

February 9, 2016 by Krista

Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Sugar Cookies

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SendSweetness #CollectiveBias

Valentine’s Day has never been a holiday just about romantic love for me. Growing up, my mom always made sure we knew that we were loved and that, in later years, relationship status didn’t matter on Valentine’s Day. It was a day to express your love and gratitude for everyone who was special to you. And that’s something I fully intend on passing on to my kids. We are tightening the budget around here and so that means homemade Valentines this year. Since Valentine’s Day falls on Sunday and we will be going to church, Big J asked if we could make something for his Primary teacher. He’s had the same teacher for the last three years and he adores her. I headed out to Walmart and picked up the new M&M’s® Strawberry and decided to make some Dipped Strawberry Sugar Cookies to show his teacher that we are so thankful for the time and effort she puts into teaching our hooligan son every week and that he really does love her.

DIPPED STRAWBERRY SUGAR COOKIES

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Dipped Strawberry Sugar Cookies

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 3 dozen cookies

Kick up your favorite sugar cookies with a fun chocolate-strawberry twist.

Ingredients

1½ cups sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
4½ tbsp milk
¼ tsp salt
3½ tsp baking powder
4½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp strawberry extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Mix the sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add the eggs, butter and milk. Mix until smooth.
Add the flour, one cup at a time, and mix until dough is formed.
This dough can be rolled into 1-inch balls and placed 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
If you want to cut shapes from the dough, lightly sprinkle the counter top with flour and roll the dough out until it's approximately ¼" think. Then, cut it with cookie cutters and place the dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Depending on the size of the cookie, bake for 5-10 minutes. If you want a chewy cookie, your cookies should NOT be golden anywhere - even the bottoms. See the photo below. If you like a crispy cookie, bake until the tops are lightly golden.
Cool cookies 3-5 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

This is my go-to sugar cookie recipe. The cookies are soft and chewy and just perfect. But, what does every great sugar cookie have? A great topping, right? Well, I wanted something easy and delicious. And what goes better with strawberry than chocolate?! So, I dipped those cookies in some chocolate and they were amazing. It was super easy, but they turned out great!

I started out melting the chocolate as it directed on the package in a glass in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. When the chocolate was melted, I just hand dipped my cookies, set them on wax paper to dry and then decorated them before the chocolate hardened to hold the candies on. Quick tip: use a fork to help spread the chocolate around where you want it when it starts to cool enough that it doesn’t move around very easily anymore. You won’t have to reheat as often – which can make the chocolate crystallize.

I crushed up a few of the M&M’s® Strawberry to top the cookies with. They were a little bigger than I had hoped they would be so I crushed them up a bit with a meat tenderizer. I tried some with whole M&M’s® Strawberry too and they were fun, but it was kinda hard to eat them by the time I got my whole mouth around the cookie and the candy.

While I was at Walmart, I found these awesome DOVE® chocolate tins and some super cute American Greetings® cards. There was a great card for Big J’s teacher and one for Mr Napping that was just perfect… A dad of three boys is definitely a superhero! And the way to my man’s heart is definitely through his stomach… and my sweet tooth won out on this one. He will be getting (and sharing!) the DOVE® chocolate tin this weekend. Walmart became my one-stop shop for Valentine’s Day, which was super nice! I loved all the awesome options all in one place.

You can check out even more amazing ideas with M&M’s® Strawberry, DOVE® and American Greetings®! What will you make this Valentine’s Day?

December 30, 2015 by Krista

Spread Cheer with Simple Surprises

How was your Christmas celebration? Or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, how was your past week? It was busy, busy, busy around here. We have had some fun adventures, a busy Christmas full of family and are getting ready for the new year to bring some more fun. Have you been busy too? Hopefully your hectic holidays are winding down, but don’t stop spreading cheer just yet! Spread cheer with simple surprises this winter season.

SPREAD CHEER WITH SIMPLE SURPRISES

The kids are out of school and I am trying to find a balance of attention for them and not letting my other responsibilities get left behind or completely overwhelm me. We have been looking for lots of fun activities that aren’t too time consuming or involve a lot of preparation or supplies. We’re working with little attention spans and all. That also lets me spend time with my boys and still not have too much mom guilt when I tell them I need to do some work or a few chores.

Betty Crocker® cookie mixes have come to our rescue more than once this past week! We love cookies… because, who doesn’t? We used Betty Crocker® mixes to make our cookies for Santa and he loved them. He told me so. We’ve shared cookies with lots of family and friends this past week too. It’s been fun to spread some cheer with simple surprises, like a plate of cookies.

I knew that Christmas Eve would be a busy day and we had quite a bit of baking we needed to do. Among the pies, rolls and waffle dough we needed to make we also needed to make cookies for Santa. I knew we weren’t going to have a lot of time so I went with one of my favorite flavor combinations. Peanut butter and chocolate!

I picked up the Betty Crocker® peanut butter cookie mix at Walmart. I grabbed a sugar cookie one too because I knew my kids would be home for the next three weeks and we might need a project to do. We haven’t made the sugar cookies yet, but there’s still two weeks of Winter Break so I’m not tucking it away into the cupboard just yet.

We made peanut butter blossoms for Santa on Christmas Eve and it was perfect. My boys love to help mix things up in the mixer and Betty Crocker® cookie mixes are perfect. They are quick and there’s just enough ingredients that my boys stay interested. We rolled the dough so my boys even got to help with getting it ready to bake, which they usually don’t get to do.

While the cookies baked, my boys helped me unwrap the chocolates to top the cookies with. They did really well and didn’t even eat that many of the chocolates, although that was their favorite part, of course.

We will be making some more cookies while we wait for New Year’s tomorrow, although I’m not sure what kind of Betty Crocker® mix we’ll use yet. There are so many to choose from. I love being able to get my kids in the kitchen in a low-stress, fun project that we can do together. It’s something we all enjoy. And the end result is pretty great too. Another simple surprise we can all enjoy.

If you want some fun cookie ideas, check out the Betty Crocker® Homepage. How would you like a coupon to save on some delicious Betty Crocker® cookie mix? You can do just that with any Betty Crocker® cookie mix and this coupon on Ibotta. How are you going to bake with Betty this winter?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Betty Crocker. The opinions and text are all mine.

20 MINUTE PREP APPLE CRISP

20 MINUTE PREP APPLE CRISP

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

QUICK AND EASY CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

24 Favorite Easter Recipes Round-Up!

What’s on your Easter Menu this year?

DIPPED STRAWBERRY SUGAR COOKIES

SPREAD CHEER WITH SIMPLE SURPRISES

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QUICK AND EASY
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE