dessert Archives - Look What Mom Found

Cheesecake Pastry Pockets #kidsinthekitchen

November 6, 2014 by Melissa

Now that Halloween is over we’re emerging from our candy coma and enjoying some simple baking again. This past week we’ve had homemade carrot cake, mini peanut butter cookies and these Cheesecake Pasty Pockets. Shae of course took the reins on this dish and made it her own.

If it were up to me I would’ve added chopped frozen strawberries to the cheesecake filling, or served with a fruity dipping sauce OR dipped them in a melted chocolate sauce.

Making these was easy but even easier when you use premade pastry dough. These Goya discs are a great size, don’t need cutting, rolling or any prep.

Cheesecake Pastry Pockets

Ingredients

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup plus 2 tbls of sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
pastry dough, thawed

Directions

In the bowl of a mixer beat cream cheese & 1/3 cup sugar till combined. Add egg yolk, vanilla and salt and blend till smooth.

Add a heaping spoonful of cream cheese mixture to each pastry dough and fold and pinch closed.

Top with additional sugar sprinkle and bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes till golden brown.

Serve room temperature, topped with powdered sugar, fruit or caramel sauce.

Shae had a little trouble with speed. She knew she had to be quick after adding the cheesecake filling so she could fold the dough. I helped reinforce the pinch when she was done so we didn’t have any major catastrophes.

She’s really good at working the mixer lately. She’s learning how to lower the mixing head more gently and click the speed toggle one notch at a time. She’s so cute as she’s counting and measuring.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers, Sara at Sensibly Sara, Kate of Busy Bee Kate & Jeannette of EcoIncognito each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find these and many more ideas for healthful and unique food fun on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Halloween Whoopie Pies Acme Markets #StockUpSale

October 1, 2014 by Melissa

It’s the special time of year again. Time for Acme Markets Stock Up Sale. Cool weather and the upcoming holidays bring great prices on soups and comfort foods and needs for entertaining friends and family.

Acme Markets, part of the Albertson’s family, is our neighborhood grocery store. That means it’s were we trust to get great deals, high quality and a wide selection on everything our family needs to eat 3 meals a day, sometimes 4 if you include dessert.

Deals on flour, sugar, coconut milk, evaporated milk, eggs and yogurt are just begging for something to be baked up.

Black Velvet Whoopie Pies

Servings: 24
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

Dive into the spirit of the season with a tempting new take on red velvet cake. These mini cake sandwiches pop with Jack-O-Lantern Orange, Frankenstein Green and Phantom Purple fillings that can be customized to your taste with flavors like Orange, Lemon and Raspberry.

Ingredients

1 package German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbs McCormick® Black Food Color
3 eggs
1 Tbs McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 jar marshmallow creme
1/2 tsp McCormick® Pure Orange Extract
1/2 tsp McCormick® Red Food Color
1/2 tsp McCormick® Yellow Food Color

Directions
For the Cookies, preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cake mix, water, cocoa powder, oil, food color, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter, 2 inches apart, onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. (Cookies will spread so avoid crowding them on baking sheet.) .

Bake 8 minutes or until cookies are puffed and spring back when touched, turning baking sheets halfway through baking. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

For the Orange Filling, beat all ingredients in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. To assemble the Whoopie Pies, place 1 tablespoon filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, pressing gently to spread the filling. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store whoopie pies between layers of wax paper in airtight container in refrigerator up to 5 days.

recipe can be found here

With deals like this there is no need to clip coupons. Unless that is if you find coupons on your MyMixx account. This week get $5.00 Off when you purchase $50 or more in a single transaction. Signing up is free and easy and can be done right at home. AND there is no loyalty card to carry around.

What’s on your #StockUpSale list this season?

Connect with ACME Markets:
Facebook: facebook.com/AcmeMarkets
Pinterest: pinterest.com/AcmeMarkets
Twitter: twitter.com/AcmeMarkets
YouTube: youtube.com/Acme
Instagram: instagram.com/AcmeMarkets

Cinnamon Apple Crisp #recipe #kidsinthekitchen

July 3, 2014 by Melissa

I love having a helper in the kitchen. Especially one that can read, measure (for the most part) and mix without getting most of the ingredients on the counter. Shae is gonna be one hell of cook and baker when she grows up because she’s always wanting to make something. This week’s Cinnamon Apple Crisp went through a few phases starting with blueberry peach to just peach to strawberry then to apple because we knew that is something that everyone would eat. We both love peaches but we weren’t too sure about Rob and Sabreena.

Apples are a hot commodity in our house so I had to make a special trip to the store to get more. Our apple drawer had some supply but not enough for a cobbler recipe and for the kids to eat one a day like they usually do.

Shae was definitely my sous chef for this one. The peeling and slicing of apples I did as well as the chopping of the nuts. Otherwise she mixed and assembled and mixed some more to get this cobbler put together and in the oven in time for dessert. This is a keeper for sure and what’s more patriotic than APPLES.

Ingredients

6-8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
juice from 1/2 lemon, about 1 tsp
1 TBLS cinnamon
3/4 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup of flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove butter from fridge

In a large mixing bowl add apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, salt and cornstarch. Toss till apples are evenly coated.

Pour mixture into a 9×12 baking dish, set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl add flour, brown sugar, salt, butter and chopped nuts and blend till mixture comes together .

Scatter pieces of your brown sugar mixture evenly on top of apples till covered.

Bake for 40-44 minutes till apples are bubbly and topping is crisp.

Let set for 10 minutes, serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

I think next time I might make add brown sugar to the apples to get a more caramel-y sauce.

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

A Classic Apple Crisp with a boost of spice sweet cinnamon. Served with ice cream or whipped cream this is a crowd pleaser either warm or room temperature.

Ingredients

6-8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
juice from 1/2 lemon, about 1 tsp
1 TBLS cinnamon
3/4 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup of flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove butter from fridge
In a large mixing bowl add apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, salt and cornstarch. Toss till apples are evenly coated.
Pour mixture into a 9x12 baking dish.
In a separate mixing bowl add flour, brown sugar, salt, butter and chopped nuts and blend till mixture comes together.
Scatter pieces of your brown sugar mixture evenly on top of apples till covered.
Bake for 40-44 minutes till apples are bubbly and topping is crisp.
Let set for 10 minutes, serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2014/07/cinnamon-apple-crisp-recipe-kidsinthekitchen.html

Come join me and my co-hosts, Sarah of Play to Learn with Sarah, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find so many more ideas on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe #kidsinthekitchen

May 29, 2014 by Melissa

Baking is one of the easiest and most fun ways to get your kids involved in the kitchen. It’s especially awesome when the child asks to make a particular dish. This Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is something I’ve been making for 12 years and everyone loves it. I’ve made little modifications over the years but it’s pretty perfect the way it is. We make it so much that Shae can do most of the prep, mixing and measuring on her own.

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

3-4 ripe bananas, peeled and broken into large pieces
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350° and butter a loaf pan.
In a large bowl cream together butter and brown sugar till creamy.
Add eggs one at a time and vanilla, blend well till combined.
Add in flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and combine till smooth.
Drop in banana, nuts and chocolate and blend till combined but bits of banana are still visible.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan (or muffin tins).
Bake for 60-70 minutes, a toothpick should come out clean.
Let cool in loaf pan for 15 minutes, slice and serve.

Substitute the chocolate chips and nuts for whatever else you may like, such as cinnamon chips, dried cranberries, sliced almonds or JUST banana.

As you can see Shae did most of the work. I pulled ingredients out of cabinets, told her the measurements and let work the mixer. I love this time together. I hope she holds onto these memories as she gets older and starts memories with her own children.

Enjoy the time you have today and spend time doing small things. Making a sandwich together, mixing up chocolate milk or even enjoying a shared bowl of ice cream all count for making memories and getting your kids in the kitchen.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find so many more ideas on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Do You Want To Build A Snowman from Marshmallows #kidsinthekitchen

March 27, 2014 by Melissa

I’ve said it before. I am not creative when it comes to making food into art. There are sites out there that transform everyday food into mini masterpieces like these Lego Movie pancakes from Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons or these Animal Pretzel shapes from Stop Looking Get Cookin. That didn’t stop Shae from making these Marshmallow Snowman based on her new obsession with Frozen. Do You Want To Build a Snowman is my favorite song from the movie so there was no way I could say no.

The ingredient list is easy

Marshmallows, big and small
Pretzel Sticks or black licorice if you’re going for authentic Olaf
Orange Tootsie Roll
Chocolate chips
White Chocolate or Candy Melts
Ipod playing Do You Want To Build A Snowman on repeat for inspiration

Using a large bowl of VERY HOT water melt your chocolate chips or candy melts in a baggie or piping bag. I just placed the bottom of the bag in the water and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Shae arranged and picked out what she wanted to use to build her snowman.

Microwave the tootsie roll (or starburst) for 8 seconds to soften. Shape a nose. I think Shae’s came out perfect.

Using the melted white chocolate as glue start building your snowman. It dries quick and hard.

Adding spots of white chocolate works as glue to hold the carrot shaped nose & chocolate chip eyes in place.

Stab the pretzel into the body and add feet with a couple more dabs of “glue”.

With the dark or milk chocolate make the buttons down your snowman’s body.

When he’s just the way you like him BITE OFF HIS HEAD and enjoy.

That’s what Shae did. It may not have looked just like Olaf but that didn’t matter.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

You’ll find so many more ideas on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.

Follow Melinda Babiak’s board #KidsintheKitchen on Pinterest.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Nutella Graham Treats #kidsinthekitchen

October 31, 2013 by Melissa

I was in the mood for a new sweet treat this week so Shae and I worked on a spin of something that we made over a year ago. Using graham crackers as a base we decided to combine some of our FAVORITE flavors into a “bark” kinda dessert.

Shae was definitely main chef for this project. She laid out all the graham crackers, scooped peanut butter and nutella and spread the mixtures all over.

A quick set in the fridge and they are ready to eat.

Ingredients

graham crackers
peanut butter
Nutella
vanilla candy wafers

Directions

Cover a large baking dish in foil (reduces mess).

Spread graham crackers in an even layer.

Microwave a cup of peanut butter to a spreadable consistency, about 20 seconds.

Add a large spoonful of Nutella to the peanut butter and gently mix but don’t blend completely. You should still have a marbled look.

Pour this mixture over the graham crackers and spread evenly. Place in fridge to set.

Microwave 1 cup of vanilla candy wafers till melted. Pour this over your set peanut butter mixture and spread evenly.

Set aside in fridge again for 15 minutes. Break apart and enjoy.

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Sarah of Play to Learn with Sarah Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins #recipe

July 25, 2013 by Melissa

In the beginning of the season Shae was so excited about her Blueberry Bush growing and giving off fruit, she talked about the food she would make and couldn’t wait each morning to go out and eat right from the branches. That all ended when the birds found where I had moved it. That was the end of the berries for us. Fortunately Rob has been able to pass a produce stand everyday coming home from work and picked up this HUGE container of blueberries for just $3.

I knew what I was making, Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Brown Sugar and Almond Streusel. The recipe was adapted from a few I found online; tweaked, edited and made my own.

I’ve made these twice and everyone LOVES them. The best part is the burst of fresh lemon flavor from the juice and zest.

Muffin Batter

4 cups flour
2 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
12 tbls cubed cold butter
1 1/3 cup milk
4 eggs (3 whole, 1 yolk)
2 tsp vanilla
juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)

Muffin Topping

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
4 tbls melted butter
4 tbls flour
5 tbls brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.

In a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer blend the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar for a few seconds. Then add the cold butter and mix till butter resembles small pebbles. In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk and beat till combined then add to the flour mixture.

Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix. Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don’t want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.

Fill your muffin cups almost full.

For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix till crumbly. Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.

Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.

Remove muffins from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Serving Size: 24 regular size muffins

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

Batter
4 cups flour
2 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
12 tbls cubed cold butter
1 1/3 cup milk
4 eggs (3 whole, 1 yolk)
2 tsp vanilla
juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tbls)
zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tsp)
2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen)
Topping
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds (optional)
4 tbls melted butter
4 tbls flour
5 tbls brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 and thoroughly grease 24 muffin tins.
In a large mixing bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
Add the cold butter and beat till butter resembles small pebbles.
In a small separate bowl add lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs and milk.
Beat till combined and add to flour mixture.
Mix till batter comes together but do not over mix.
Add blueberries and gently mix for a few seconds. You don't want to break up the blueberries, that will make your batter purple.
Fill your muffin cups almost full.
For the streusel topping start with melting your butter then adding in the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Mix till crumbly.
Sprinkle on top of each muffin along with the almonds.
Bake for 19-22 minutes till golden brown.
Remove from tins and allow to cool slightly before enjoying.

https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/07/lemon-blueberry-muffins-recipe.html

Tips while baking

zest the lemon before juicing, it’s much easier this way
don’t make the lemon and milk mixture ahead of time, you’ll end up with curdled milk if it sits too long
omit almonds if desired
batter should be thick, much thicker than pancake mix

These make a great snack, breakfast or even dessert. Switching out ingredients is simple to come up with new recipes such as Cranberry Orange Muffins or Lemon Strawberry Cake. I would rehydrate dried fruit that was already in our pantry for these pairings.

Dessert Quesadillas #kidsinthekitchen

July 11, 2013 by Melissa

The kids like elaborate desserts at home. Make your own sundaes and homemade strawberry shortcakes usually top their list. This are delicious but I sometimes crave something a little different. Quesadillas are a regular lunch for us so I asked Shae and Shaun to come up with some Dessert Quesadilla ideas.

I pulled out ingredients that I thought would fit well into a dessert theme and let them create their own treats.

Shaun was first. He loves chocolate covered strawberries so he went with sliced strawberries and chocolate chips. He made it almost all by himself. I helped with flipping the quesadilla and moving it to a plate but he manned the stove pretty well.

Shae went with my favorite combination, S’mores. She wasn’t as confident at the stove but was able to help quite a bit.

The final one was made for dad; bananas, chocolate chips and crushed salted cashews. He loved it. This is something we are going to keep experimenting with, coming up with new combinations and ingredient ideas.

Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your littlest ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen.

Come join me and my co-hosts, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.

preparing healthy snacks
having a tea party
counting skills with m&ms
pouring from measuring cups
discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
creating new family friendly recipes

Don’t have a blog? Share an instagram photo or Facebook update.

Wet Walnuts Ice Cream Topping #Recipe

January 23, 2013 by Melissa

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved Smuckers Walnuts in Syrup on ice cream. Those teeny jars were like heaven to me and often I would pass on ice cream for dessert if we didn’t have any.

Recently I’ve been splurging and buying it but I could literally eat the whole jar in one sitting. The cost close to $4 per jar so it hurt my wallet with every delicious spoonful. This weekend I decided I was going to figure out how to make it myself. I researched a ton of recipes but most were so fancy adding ginger, cinnamon and other spices. What I wanted was simple and straightforward so I came up with this recipe.

Wet Walnuts Ice Cream Topping #Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

A sticky, sweet concoction for ice cream, pancakes, cinnamon rolls and more.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and cooled
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Add the water, sugar and corn syrup to a small saucepan over medium low heat.
Dissolve the sugar.
Turn up heat to medium and bring mixture to boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Set aside to cool for several minutes before adding nuts.
Let cool to room temperature before adding to ice cream.

https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/01/wet-walnuts-ice-cream-topping-recipe.html

This would be soooo good on pancakes, cinnamon roll casserole, sliced bananas or apple pie. Double the recipe to have on hand for get togethers or a dessert bar.

Chewy Coconut Macaroons Recipe

October 24, 2012 by Melissa

Coconut is one of those ingredients that people either love or hate. I personally LOVE it. I love coconut cream pie, coconut custard pie, coconut candies and even coconut sorbet. My family on the other hand is divided. Sabreena hates it, Rob is “eh” about it, Shaun will eat anything disguised as dessert and Shae was just introduced to an Almond Joy the other day and loved it. My father in law loves coconut so each year I make him these Coconut Macaroons. They are very simple, require only 5 ingredients and travel well.

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment. Lightly spray with cooking spray to avoid sticking.

Ingredients:

2-3 cup of all purpose flour
5 cups of shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In large bowl gently mix together flour, coconut and salt. Make a well in the middle of the coconut mixture and add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula fold all ingredients together until you no longer see dry flour.

Using a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon (sprayed with cooking spray) drop golf ball size balls of dough onto your cookie sheets. Do not pack the coconut mixture too tight.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until, edges are toasted and crisp. Let cool on tray for 10 minutes so they set. Enjoy

Black Velvet Whoopie Pies

Prep:

Ingredients:

Directions:

Read Something

Kids in the Kitchen Linky Party

Find it Here

How To Cancel?

What’s Mom Found Now?