Triple Chip Blondies

I love the "Our Best Bites" blog and check it regularly. I saw this the day it went up and immediately printed it out and stuck it in my purse so that it could be made when I got home. It didn't disappoint; the blondies were rich and just the right texture and none of the chips overpowered any of the others. All in all a win. Thank you Our Best Bites for making me a hero!!

Triple Chip Blondies
Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into a measuring cup and leveled with the back of a knife
2/3 cup chocolate chips, plus 1/3 cup for drizzling on top
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup peanut butter chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil or shortening

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt the butter in microwave. Combine in a large mixing bowl with the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and the eggs and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour and mix until just combined (don't overdo it). Add the chocolate chips (excluding the 1/3 cup reserved chips), white chocolate chips, and peanut butter and mix until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool completely. When cool, combine the reserved chips and the coconut oil or shortening in a small freezer zip-top bag, seal it, and heat it in the microwave in 15-second increments, smooshing the bag with your hands until the chocolate and oil are smooth (repeat as long as necessary). Cut a small corner out of the bag and squeeze the melted chocolate over the baked blondies. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Chicken Fajita Pasta Salad

We've been having weekly (ish) neighborhood block parties in my backyard this summer so I've been putting together salads on the regular. This salad was thrown together on a night that I actually forgot that the party was taking place and didn't prepare in advance. Then, 30 minutes before people started to arrive I was standing in front of my pantry and refrigerator trying to think of how things I already had would go together. I'd made fajita chicken for a pot luck at work for lunch and there was just enough left over to use for a salad. The rest of the ingredients were staples that I already had.

Overall it was a good salad, maybe not my favorite but still good. If you had some cilantro that would be good in it as well. Avocado would be good too but I never have those just laying around.

Chicken Fajita Pasta Salad
Servings 12-16

1 lb cooked chicken
1 pkg fajita seasoning
1 lb bow tie pasta
1/4 (ish) c. olive oil
6 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 c. corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 c. green salsa
1 1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese

Cook chicken chunks with fajita seasoning, let cool.
Cook pasta according to directions, drain. Toss pasta with olive oil.
Mix chicken, pasta, tomatoes, corn, and beans together. Pour salsa over salad and gently mix.
Just before serving add shredded cheese and stir.

Peach Cupcakes with Spiced Peach Buttercream

Jeff and I went to the farmer's market on Saturday and brought home a half bushel of peaches. We ate a bunch just cut up, made some jam and made these fabulous cupcakes. These were a definite do again. Like maybe this Saturday. The cake had just a hint of peach but anything more would have been overpowering. The frosting was really the star. The brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg pushed the peach flavor into something other than just peach frosting that was AWESOME! Eat with a spoon awesome! I did do a batch using a spice cake mix but the white was received better by all who taste tasted. Just an FYI :)

Peach Cupcakes
2 doz.

1 white cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. water
1 box peach Jello
1/2-3/4 c. pureed peaches
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix cake mix with eggs, oil, water and cinnamon. Add Jello and mix well. Add peaches and mix gently together. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full (1/4 c.). Bake at 350 for 18-21 minutes.

Spiced Peach Buttercream Frosting
(enough to frost 4 doz cupcakes)

3/4 c. softened butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. pureed peaches
2 lbs powdered sugar

Cream butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Alternate adding peaches and powdered sugar until frosting is piping consistency. Add vanilla. If you want to tint the frosting a little bit peach colored add 2 drops yellow and 1 drop of red food coloring.

Mounds Cupcakes

It's true. All I cook lately is treats and my clothes are definitely starting to feel a little snug. I didn't even take a picture of the Neapolitan birthday cake from last week! Tomorrow is a birthday at work and the request I got was something with chocolate and coconut. Okkkayyy...

These are quick and easy, a doctored up cake mix and coconut cream cheese frosting with some toasted coconut on top. I toyed with a chocolate drizzle but decided that might be too much and left them on the simple side. I think it works. This is the chocolate cake doctored up combination that I think I like the best. I've fiddled with several different things and this one works consistently awesome.

Mounds Cupcakes
2 doz cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 box Devil's Food Cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
3/4 c. buttermilk or cream
2/3 c. sweetened coconut

Mix all ingredients except coconut together. Beat for 2 minutes on medium until batter is a little bit fluffy. Fold coconut into batter.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full (1/4 c. is about perfect.) Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 stick butter (1/2 c. room temp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut extract
2-3 T. heavy cream
4-5 c. powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add extracts and mix well. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time alternating with the cream until frosting is the right consistency. Pipe onto cupcakes.

Roll frosted cupcakes in toasted coconut.

*(You can also use regular untoasted coconut but my test panel preferred the toasted.)