Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Recipe & Mix-in-a-Mug Gift Idea

Do you ever get a craving for chocolate that won't go away until you've broken down and had some?  I have.  If you're like me, you like things that are quick and easy and require little clean up. Here's my 5 minute fix-

I got this idea more than a decade ago from my Mom.  I was addicted to making them for myself for a while.  They make great gifts for co-workers, teachers, college students, anyone that loves chocolate.  We call them cake babies.  I have no idea why, but I hope you try a little cake baby for yourself.  They're so fluffy and chocolaty.  Yummy to the max!

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

4 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp chocolate chips or shavings

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

12-16 oz. mug that is not plastic or metal, and is microwave and food safe.

Wet Ingredients

3 Tbsp milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp melted butter or oil

1/4 tsp vanilla (or peppermint) extract

To enjoy this yummy mini cake now, simply mix well the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add the milk, egg, butter or oil and mix thoroughly.  Add in the chocolate chips or shavings, vanilla or peppermint and mix again well.  Stir til smooth.  Spoon the batter into the mug.  Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.  Let cake stand for a few minutes. Serve immediately. You can even top it with vanilla ice cream, fresh berries, chocolate sauce, powdered sugar, whipped cream or topping of your choice.  Enjoy!

C&H Sugar cane image

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Mix-in-a-Mug Gift Instructions:  

In a food safe plastic bag (I use ziplocks) pour in the dry ingredients listed above, adding the chocolate chips last.  Seal and decorate with ribbon, raffia, or something else pretty like the example above which is wrapped in a fabric square.  Then, type or write up a cute little gift tag with the following instructions (or use the C & H tags HERE, the instructions are the same!):

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby:

3 Tbsp milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp melted butter or oil

1/4 tsp vanilla (or peppermint) extract

Whisk together milk, egg, butter or oil and vanilla or mint in a medium bowl.  Add cake mix and stir until batter is smooth.  Spoon batter into mug.  Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.  Let cake stand for a few minutes. Serve immediately topped with toppings of your choice, if desired.  (You can list a few recommendations) Enjoy!  Attach gift tags and gift away!

UPDATE!!!   After searching for my old recipe and typing this post, I made an AWESOME discovery.  The folks at C & H Sugar now have a webpage full of many different "cake baby" mug recipes and the ever popular mix-in-a-jar recipes too!  They've even made cute tags you can download and print so you don't have to type and prepare them, saving you time.  Here's their link: http://www.chsugar.com/giftideas/gift-mixes/.  Check it out.  

AND- I have found a gluten free recipe that's almost the same linked HERE.

 Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas!

Handmade Gifts From the Heart Blog Hop!

   
ATTENTION CRAFTERS, BUILDERS, CHEFS, AND MOMS! This post is for you.  When my hubby and I were just starting out, we used to make nearly all of the gifts we gave to family and friends for birthdays and Christmas.  We had to, we didn't have any extra money.  I have to confess, those Christmases were my favorites.  It was so much fun.  I enjoyed the whole creation process. Planning gifts, picking colors, textures, paint, and designing and making everything was a blast.  Our family enjoyed those days so much more too. The look on my Mom's face when Jerry unveiled her new cabinets, or a bench seat would bring tears to everybody's eyes.  There is nothing more satisfying than giving someone you love, something they really want. Likewise, who wouldn't rather have a gift made by your loved one's own hands.  My favorite all-time gifts  came from my husband, my Grandma, and my son Jon; and they were all homemade.
     Homemade gifts are meaningful in so many ways.  My hubby Jerry and I talked about it recently and decided that we will be going "old school" this year.  We are going to make as many gifts as we can.  It's a selfish plan really, I know.  We love making things, our family enjoys homemade gifts, and making things keeps me busy and helps burn some of those excess calories, so it all works out in the end.
     We've made dolls, rockers, quilts, clothes, food-in-jar mixes, painted decorations, garden boxes, and so many other gadgets and goodies over the years, and we like finding new, practical, interesting gift ideas.        
     That's where the blog comes in.  I am going to post and share some of the ideas, directions, and instructions for a few of my gift giving plans and I'd really appreciate it if YOU would link up and share a few of your homemade, handmade, gift giving ideas with all of us here too.  That way, we build a sort of instant "ebook" on this blog hop linky that we can all refer back to for good ideas all season long.

Share as many homemade gift and craft ideas as you like, the more the merrier.  

I have just a few requests, please oblige me.

1. It would be wonderful if you would place the button for this linky party on your blog. (You can cut n' paste the HTML code from the side of this page.)

2. If you get the chance, write a post about our hop so more people can hear about it.  The more people participating, the more ideas we get, thus- the bigger our bag of tricks will be for Christmas gifts.

     That's it, It's time to get brainstorming.  I know we will all be busy this next week, so I don't expect many posts yet, but think about ideas.  That's what I will be doing alot of (as I cook) thinking up ideas. Get back here and post when you have a chance and check in every few days to see what's new.

I have linked up this Blog Hop to Deborah Jean's Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Prairie Homestead's Barn Hop

and Ladybug Blessings' Handmade Tuesdays

Thanks for visiting, I hope you stop by again.

Bean Soup Mix-in-a-Jar

     I love making mix-in-a-jar recipes for gifts and for my own kitchen.  I usually make up a dozen at a time.  They store well, and are attractive, practical gifts or time-savers for your own kitchen.  This is one of my favorite recipes.  I have mixed them up and cooked them several times.  The following combination of beans is just a suggestion, you can use more varieties or completely different beans than those described.  I often mix 6 or more varieties in layers, just be sure to maintain the proportion of beans so they all fit in your jar.  Lima beans taste wonderful with the ham option, while kidney and red beans go better with the italian sausage option.  It's up to you. Be as creative as you like or use just what you like and have on hand.  Have fun!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried navy beans
1/4 cup dried black beans
1/4 cup dried pinto or pink beans
1/4 cup split peas
2 Tbsp. whole wheat berries
3 Tbsp. minced dried onions
2 Tbsp. pearl barley
2 Tbsp. dried celery flakes
2 tsp. instant beef bouillon granules or 2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1 bay leaf

Layer ingredients into a clean pint canning jar.  You could also mix everything up and pour it in. Your choice.  I like the way it looks layered.  Then, prepare cute gift tags with the following instructions and attach them to your covered jar.

Combine bean soup mix and 7 cups water in a 4 quart saucepan.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover and let stand for an hour.  return to heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender.  Add 1 cup diced ham or 1 pound cooked and crumbled Italian sausage.  Remove bay leaf.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve and enjoy!

Cranberry Bread Mix-in-a-Jar

joyofbaking.com

In a 1 quart mason jar, layer the following ingredients in order listed below:
1/2 cup dried orange slices, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 & 1/2 cups Bisquick mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

I gently pack each layer before pouring in the next with a wooden tamper.

Then, write or type up and attach a decorative Tag with the following directions and additional ingredients:

Cranberry Bread
1 jar Cranberry Bread Mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 & 1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Pour Cranberry Bread jar mix into a separate large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry mix pour wet ingredients into it.  Stir well.  Pour batter into a large loaf pan that is well greased and lined by parchment paper on the bottom.  bake for an hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before removing.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie mix-in-a-jar Recipe

     When my son was small, we made lots of homemade gifts for teachers and friends.  Mix-in-a-jar gifts are still a favorite of mine.  They're quick and easy to make and everybody loves time saving gifts.  Here's my son Jonnie's favorite recipe. It's adapted from my Mrs. Field's Cookie Book recipe.

Mix-In-A-Jar ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

     In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt together well.  Layer flour mixture, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and chocolate chips.  It looks best when the flour mixture is separated from the chocolate chips because the flour particles are so small they cover up the chips, obscuring the layers. (You can see the difference in the image above.) I usually start with half of the flour mixture on the bottom, followed by half of the brown sugar, then chips, the rest of the brown sugar or white sugar and finish with the last half of the flour mixture.
     Then, type up and attach cute tags with directions and additional fresh ingredients as follows:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Pour contents of jar into a large bowl and mix thoroughly. In another bowl, cream 1 cup softened, salted butter, 2 eggs, and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.  Mix in cookie mix.  Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack. Yield 4 dozen.

     That's it.  A yummy gift for teachers, friends, family, anyone with a chocolate craving. I tie the tags on with colored raffia bows or pearl cotton and use pinking shears to cut circles of fabric to cover jar lids. I'll post more pics with completed tags and gussied up jars soon.  I am working in an assembly line, one thing at a time. This recipe is LINKED UP to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop my Thanksgiving Recipe Challenge and Esther's Our Simple Country Living Christmas Cookie Swap!