Homemade Oreos

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Birthday party preparations are under way for my soon to be 3 year old daughter.

{Where did the last 3 years go??}

Payton is a typical 3 year old girl... it's no surprise she loves pink, so she is having a very pink birthday party with a few of her closest friends.

My sister-in-law makes some absolutely delish homemade oreos and I knew I wanted to make some "pink" ones for Payton's party.

{along with many other treats..might have gone a little overboard on the party treats!}

These are so easy to make!

Here's the recipe I stole from her. These don't have the real taste or texture of oreos, but they taste awesome. It's a very soft cookie!

Homemade Oreos

Chocolate Cookie Part:

1 Box Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients and roll into 1" round balls.
Bake on greased cookie sheet for 5-6 minutes.

Cream Center:

8 oz cream cheese- softened
2.5 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
*Food coloring optional

I added a couple drops of red food coloring to make them cream pink. My SIL divides the mixture and makes red and green cream centers for Christmas.

Build sandwiches with 2 cookies and cream in the middle. Don't go stingy on the cream!

Do you have a favorite holiday treat?

Layered Strawberry Gelatin Cheesecake

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I've had strawberry pretzel jello salad at several of my hubby's family functions and yum, I love it.
I've never made it myself before, but decided to give it a try in a pie version for Sunday night.

It reminds me a little of strawberry cheesecake...


Want to give it a try? Here's how I made it...
Layered Strawberry Gelatin Cheesecake

For the whole pie you need:
1- ready made graham cracker crust pie shell
4 oz cream cheese
8 oz cool whip topping, divided
1/2 sugar
3 oz strawberry gelatin pack
1 cup water
2 cups frozen strawberries

{Cheesecake layer}

4 oz cream cheese
4 oz cool whip topping, divided
1/2 c white sugar

Cream together cream cheese, 4 oz of cool whip and sugar, fill pie shell half way with mixture. Smooth up evenly along all sides of shell to cover all of the shell. Cover and Chill in freezer for 10-15 minutes until firm.

{Strawberry Gelatin Layer}

3 oz pack of strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2- 2 cups of frozen strawberries

Directions: Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add frozen strawberries and stir until thawed. I used whole strawberries, so after this step I put it all in the blender and hit the chop button for a few seconds. Let cool for a few minutes.

Once your cream cheese filled pie shell is chilled, fill the rest of the pie with your gelatin mixture. Cover and *carefully* transfer to fridge to let set over night. Top with your remaining cool whip before serving and garnish with strawberries {optional}. I used thawed frozen strawberries to garnish the top and they worked just fine!

Eat. Enjoy.



{Pumpkin Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting}

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I got my camera just in time to show you some goodies I made for a little pre-Thanksgiving turkey dinner we had with some friends yesterday. I was expecting my camera on Saturday. fail. I got it this morning though and luckily I had just enough leftover treats to play test my new camera on today.

 

I've said before that I am not a food photographer...

or any photographer really, but I'm especially no bueno at food pictures.

This is the first time I've made these cupcakes and I thought they were pretty darn tasty.

{love pumpkin}

Here's the recipes I used:

Pumpkin Cupcakes:

{Makes 12 cupcakes}2 eggs

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 teaspoons pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl, then add to wet. Line cupcake pan with liners, fill each liner about 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz room temp cream cheese*

3/4 c powdered sugar

8 oz cool whip

Directions: Cream sugar and cream cheese together. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate 1-2 hours before using. Lightly mix frosting before using.

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*Make sure you cream cheese is completely room temp. I set mine out in the morning and made the frosting in the afternoon. I've heard some leaving it out over night. It won't cream well if its chilled at all.

I frosted the cupcakes pretty generously and still had plenty of frosting left, you might be able to frost 24 cupcakes with this amount of frosting depending on how much frosting you like!

Hubby really liked these cupcakes and he is pretty picky when it comes to cake/cupcakes.

{Perfect taste of fall}

I also made a Layered Strawberry Gelatin Cheesecake. Mmm.
Check back for that recipe tomorrow!