Carrot Cake Blondies

Recipe challenge, week twelve.

I'm getting worse and worse at having posts typed up early and ready to go.  I'm typing this on Sunday evening whereas, a month ago, I would've had the post ready to go a week ago.  

I've been feeling that I'm in a blogging rut lately because things are so stagnant around here.  No big projects are happening with the house*, I'm not packing up a classroom because we're not moving, and that brings up a bigger point:  this is the first spring in 3 years that we're not moving.  I did the math recently, and I'm not sure why I didn't do this before, but we moved in April 2013 and again in May 2014.  That's 3 states in 13 months.  3 jobs in 13 months for Scott and, because of summer vacation, 3 jobs in 15 months for me.  Plus two new puppies in 13 months (fun fact: Jett and Scout are totally Irish twins).

*Another fun fact: the kitchen/dining room is actually 98% done but you haven't seen pictures because I'm...lazy? That's probably the right word.

Maybe I'm not getting posts typed up and scheduled early because I keep all of these facts in the forefront of my brain and I get overwhelmed thinking of all the things.

I do feel that I don't have a lot of fun or new changes to blog about because things are indeed stagnant.  I can't make a whole lot of changes while Scott is gone anyway.

But some things will never change: I will make brownies or blondies, I will eat half the batch of frosting with a spoon, and then I will take the finished blondies to the staff lounge because I need to get them out of the house as quickly as possible.

This is the perfect Easter dessert.  That's all I have to say about it.

Carrot Cake Blondies

makes an 8x8 pan (double recipe for 9x13, but the frosting will make enough for a 9x13)

Wet ingredients:

4 T. butter, softened

1/4 cup applesauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 t. vanilla

1 cup finely shredded carrot

Dry ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)

1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a large bowl, cream the butter, applesauce, and sugars.  After the mixture is fluffy, add in the egg and vanilla until well-incorporated.  Stir in the carrot.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  Add in batches to the wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the coconut, white chocolate chips, and nuts.  Spread the batter into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Frost immediately and store in the refrigerator. 

Cream Cheese Frosting 

For this recipe, halve the frosting...Or don't. It'd be good for breakfast too, I'm sure.  Just be sure to store it in the refrigerator. I halved it and still had extra.

1 tub of whipped cream cheese (8 oz.)
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 t. vanilla
about 3 cups powdered sugar (I don't like giving exact numbers on the sugar.  You know the consistency you want.)
1 T. meringue powder (Optional, but will help the frosting harden.  Found in the wedding aisle at Wal-Mart)

Cream the butter and cream cheese together, using a hand mixer or the whisk on a stand mixer.  Add the vanilla.  Then, add the sugar until you reach the consistency you want.  Add the meringue powder last.

Cookie Butter Blondies and #52WeeksofKindness

*First, yesterday's post may have made it seem like I'm some sort of Grammar Nazi.  I'm not.  I let multiple grammar mistakes go everyday...in my classroom.  It's not worth the battle.  The "yea/yeah" thing had just been bugging me for years because, in my experience, everyone thought I was the one with the problem.  I needed to get it off my chest.  

Also, I wrote that post in 20 minutes, proofread it thrice, published, re-read...and still saw mistakes.  Clearly we all have our strengths and writing on a whim is not mine.*

Anyway...

These blondies are an oxymoron.

There's a lot of "treats" out there that use healthy ingredients but usually the blogger baker insists it "doesn't taste healthy at all!"

That's nice, I always think.  They always taste healthy.

These blondies taste like they could be healthy....but they're not.

So I have no tagline to pull you in.  I was looking for something to do with a jar of Cookie Butter.  This  is what happened.

Easy? Yes. Tasty? Sure. Healthy? Eh. There's no added sugar or oil, so I suppose that's a plus.

Actually, yes, they are healthy.  They have eggs in them.  Protein.  We can call them healthy.

Cookie Butter Blondies
inspired by Nutella Brownies (Not a Nutella fan, so I used Cookie Butter.)

1 cup cookie butter
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
10 T. all-purpose flour

In a bowl, whisk together the cookie butter, vanilla, and eggs.  You can warm the cookie butter first to make it easier, but not too hot or the eggs will "cook".

Slowly incorporate the flour until well-combined.

Spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until browned on top.

Makes about 18 mini-blondies.

I'm early this week.  Kindness is kindness, no matter the day you publish it, right??

Speaking of baked goods, this week I took something to school for my co-workers.  Someone asked me last week if I was ever going to bring anything in to share again.  I took the hint.

Apple Butter Banana Bread went to school with me to be shared.  Because I buy bananas with the intention of consumption.  And then that doesn't happen. So I freeze them or bake with them.

Along with that, I made what I'll call Cookie Butter Fudge.  It was an experiment and turned out quite well (how can sweetened-condensed milk go wrong?).

Also, I gave away a Target gift card on Mrs. K's blog last week.  Abbey won and I was more than happy to send it her way.  Congrats Abbey!

Also, I need to start sharing some inspiring blog posts.  Kelly and Greg's paleo story was an awesome read.  Totally inspiring.  Check it out!

Did you do anything randomly kind this week?  This 52 Weeks project is changing my way of thinking, but it's not making me happier on a daily basis.  You'd think I'd be more willing NOT to curse the cold/snow/darkness or NOT to yell at the person driving 15 mph in an attempt to show my inner happiness and gratitude.  But that's not happening.

I think this is more than a mindset change.  Maybe I'll figure things out when I'm 51 weeks in.

Funfetti Ice Cream

'Twas only a matter of time.

FUNFETTI ice cream.  It's scrumptious.

You know what else was "only a matter of time"???

Freakin' fall.  It's here.  We've got 2 months.  I give it 1 more month of "Kristin-suitable" weather.  Then 1 more of "ugly".  Then freakin' snow.

That's what was lying beyond my ice cream photoshoot.  Leaves.  On the stupid ground.

Whatever.

I'm indifferent to the idea of winter at this point.  


Wait.  Does "indifferent" mean "against"?  Oh.  Then, never mind.  I'm against it.

Funfetti Ice Cream

1 batch of Cake Mix Blondies, baked, cooled, frozen, and cut into bite-size chunks
1/4 cup dry cake mix (I used yellow cake mix.)
2 cups whole milk
1 T. + 1 t. cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

I recommend baking the blondies one night, cutting them up and sticking them in the fridge or freezer, and making the ice cream the next night.

In a large saucepan, combine the milk (all but 1 tablespoon), the salt, and the sugar.  Allow it to come to a boil and then let it boil (a rolling boil) for 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
In a small bowl, whisk together that extra tablespoon (or so) of milk with the cornstarch.  Remove the milk mixture from the heat and whisk in the cornstarch/milk.  Return the pot to medium heat and let it come back to a boil, stirring constantly, for another minute (or until it's thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon).
Remove from heat stir in the dry cake mix and heavy cream.  Whisk well.  Pour through a mesh sieve to catch any undissolved lumps.  Refrigerate the mixture for a few hours until cooled*.

Following the manufacturer's instructions, pour your cooled mixture into an ice cream maker.  Once its consistency is nearing that of soft ice cream, stir in the chunks of Cake Mix Blondies and let it stir to combine.
Pour into a freezer safe container and store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks (I would say 2 weeks.  I ate my batch in one week.)

*I let this mixture cool in the fridge for well over 24 hours because I was busy and didn't have time to mess with it.  However, I let another batch of Peppermint Patty ice cream chill for less than 2 hours and it turned out wonderfully.  I think as long as it's not hot it'll work out just fine.

Sharing at:
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Friday Food
Weekend Wrap-up Party
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Back for Seconds Social

Healthy Blondies

First.  Alexis Bledel on Mad Men.  Yes, please.
There was a day when she was considered for Bella Swan, and I thought she'd be a good fit (truly; change the cast and Twilight could be good).  Thankfully, she was smart enough not to get involved in that debauchery and chose to be an adult instead.

Good for you KStew.  You really won this one.  
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This is the freakiest piece of plastic I've ever met.

le SD card of the devil

I'm not even kidding.  I HATE it.  Back in March, I lost my SD card.  I tore the house apart.  I eventually gave up (27 minutes is a long time to search).  I went to Wal-Mart and paid $10 for a new one.  Later that night, as I was crawling into bed, I found it.  On top of my quilt.  "WTF?? Of course this is where it is", I thought.  I vaguely remembered maybe having it upstairs because I was downloading pictures that morning in bed.  Maybe.  It was pretty fuzzy.  But it was possible.  Whatever.  Now I had two so it ended up just being convenient.

Then, weeks later, I lost it again.  I wouldn't have cared so much, except for the fact that I had the pictures of THESE blondies on it and I needed them for a guest post to send to E at Adventures of E and, crap, how the heck was I supposed to make them AGAIN that week and I had already gotten rid of the first batch via the teachers' lounge and geez this was getting to be annoying.

I'm the ONLY person who lives in my house.  I didn't even have anyone to blame.

I tore the couch cushions apart again, and I'm not sure why because that wasn't where it was the first time anyway.

Hesitantly, I did shake out the quilt on my bed because, you know, just in case and all....

It wasn't there.

I made the blondies again, emailed the guest post, and accepted the fact that I had lost my mind.

Then, one morning a week later, there it freaking was.

UNDERNEATH my bed.  But just poking out enough that I could easily have seen it at any given time.

...yet...I hadn't seen it all week.  And that's the side of the bed I get in and out of!

What.  the.   hell.

The really creepy part is I don't know how it traveled upstairs.  My laptop hadn't been upstairs in weeks.  The iPad travels back and forth with me (my first world problem is that my house is too big), but the SD card never goes in the iPad.

Also, as I was washing a dirty pot that same morning, I realized that I couldn't remember what I had cooked in it.  That's how long it had been sitting on the counter.

No wonder I can't keep track of my SD card.

Healthy Blondies
Clearly these aren't natural, vegan, or sugar-free.  But they are so much better for you than a regular version of blondies!

2 T. butter, melted
3 T. peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup to 1 cup brown sugar (depending on your tastes; it won't alter the consistency)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 cup flour (I usually use whole wheat.)
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 cup mini M&Ms (I mix up chocolate, white, pb, or butterscotch chips some times.  Use whatever you want!)

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter.  stir in the peanut butter and applesauce until combined.  Turn the heat OFF.  Add the sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Mix WELL with a wooden spoon.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  They'll start to melt a little, but that's okay.

Spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan or an 8x8 pan.  Bake at 375* for 7 minutes.  If a toothpick doesn't come out clean, bake for another few minutes, but watch them closely.

Linking up to Mingle Monday!Mix it Up MondayMelt in Your Mouth MondayCrazy Sweet Tuesday

Peanut Butter Marble Blondies

Hello 2012..let's hope you move yourself along rather quickly...

I don't have any real resolutions. My GOALS for the next year are to be the most productive person I can based on the fact that my husband is deployed.  You military wives know what I'm talking about.  Real clothes, make-up, socializing, a clean house, real food for dinner..sometimes it's all you can do.  I just resolve to stay above water and not fall into a pajama-and-candy-coma each evening and weekend. Best of luck to me!

Waaaaaayyy back in 2011, I made a version of a blondie.  It came out much like marble cake.  I used a mini-muffin pan to make them.  I adapted that version of blondies to come up with this recipe.  I like it much better.  So much so that I'm going to get rid of that other recipe and its revolting photo*.  If you want it, you better get it now...

Anyway, this peanut butter version is much better, and the reasons are two-fold:
1.  The peanut butter acts as a fat and replaces some of the whole stick of the butter that went into these 20 little mini muffins.  Oh, and old habits die hard...I added unsweetened applesauce in place of some more of that whole stick of butter.
2.  Peanut butter and chocolate are combined and can then go into your mouth.  Period.

Peanut Butter Marble Blondies
makes 20 mini-muffin size blondies

2 T. butter, melted
3 T. peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup to 1 cup brown sugar (depending on your tastes, it won't alter the consistency)
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter.  stir in the peanut butter and applesauce until combined.  Turn the heat OFF.  Add the sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Mix WELL with a wooden spoon.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  They'll start to melt a little, but that's okay.

Spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan.  Bake at 375* for 7 minutes.  If a toothpick doesn't come out clean, bake for another 2 minutes, but watch them closely.

*I realize that these photos aren't exactly prize-worthy either.  Since these make a healthy treat, I'll re-create them one of these Saturdays, when I am given the gift of 4 hours of daylight.  Daylight situation explained here.

Shared at:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Savory Sunday 
Tuesday Talent Show
Creative Monday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Cast Party Wednesday
The Stuff of Success
These Chicks Cooked

Candy Corn Blondies

This.


Was going to go one of two ways.


Either it's a genius idea: candy corn in moist cake-like deliciousness.

Or the sugar content would send the consumer into diabetic shock.  The same sugar content would caramelize, stick to the pan, and become impossibly chewy.  With the ability to break one's tooth. 

I bought some candy corn last week.  By "some", I mean two large bags.

Then, after eating handfuls per day of pure sugar, I knew I had to get rid of it.

Candy corn, in case you haven't noticed, has a delightful buttery texture.  Very smooth.  Almost chewy.  It's amazing how such a thing can be done with just sugar.

I thought that it might do well in cake mix blondies, which are my new favorite thing.

It was definitely good.  They were moist and chewy and candy-ish.  Because I wanted to make them pretty (and because I was feeling ambitious on a Thursday night), I topped them with some orange buttercream.

'Tis the season for such embellishment, after all.

Candy Corn Blondies
makes an 8x8 pan

1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
up to 1/2 cup of milk (however much you need to make it into a thick batter)
1 cup of candy corn

Stir everything together in a mixing bowl.  Spray an 8x8 pan with nonstick spray.  Spread the batter into the pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  A little more, a little less depending on when the top gets golden brown.

Let cool completely (even refrigerate overnight), and then spread the top with 1 1/2 cups of buttercream.

After I frosted the blondies, I stored them in the fridge.  


Buttercream
Makes 2 1/2 cups

5 T. softened butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2-3 T. milk

Cream the butter, vanilla, and milk together.  Slowly incorporate the sugar.  If you need more or less, feel free to adjust.  Your desired consistency is what you're going for here.  Refrigerate any leftovers. 

After these had been eaten by people who were not me (I'm serious), and after I had eaten four three more handfuls of candy corn, I threw away the rest of the bag.  It's better that way.

Shared at:
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Sweet Tooth Friday
Coffee and Conversation
Sweet Treats Thursday
A Well-Seasoned Life 
Strut Your Stuff Saturday
Mingle Monday at Add a Pinch
Makin' You Crave Monday 
Tuesday Talent Show
Tea Party Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Cake Batter Blondies

I'm sorry to do this to you.

These are far too easy to make far too often.  Do not make them when you are home alone.  That was my second mistake.  The first was making them, period.

I didn't even measure the ingredients.  I'm not kidding.  Just poured everything into a bowl and mixed well.  The 30 minutes of baking was too long for my patience.  However, wait I did.  And then I ate 2 and a half, boxed up the rest, and dropped them off in the staff lounge.  Sorry, co-workers.

Omg.  I just had an idea:  Freeze them.  Chop them up.  Stir them into softened vanilla (or, oh geez, cake batter-flavored) ice cream. Re-freeze.  Eat out of the carton. 

My stomach expands a bit just thinking about it.

And I didn't even put the frosting on.  They totally don't need it.  But hey..who am I to stop you?

Cake Batter Blondies
makes an 8x8 pan
from Six Sister's Stuff


1 box white cake mix
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
about 1/3 cup of milk (just enough to make it come together into a thick batter)

Stir it allllllll together in a mixing bowl.  It will be thicker than regular brownie batter.  Spread into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  They cut a little easier if they cool first but, once again, who am I to stop you?

Shared at:
Mingle Monday
Cast Party Wednesday
This Chick Cooks
Sweet Treats Thursday 
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for Saturday

Cake Mix 3-Chip Blondies

*I lied.  You're getting blondies today.  You'll get the Steak and Caramelized Onion French Bread Pizzas in a couple of days.  I would tell you to "check back if you want something good to eat for dinner" but that seems a little too much like blackmail. 

I've always been more of a vanilla person than a chocolate person.  Or, at least, when I was younger I was.  I wouldn't go near chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake.  I thought it had a weird aftertaste.  (I'm pretty odd, really.) 

Hey, I also wouldn't go near a cupcake of any flavor until I was in college.  So the chocolate thing doesn't sound as weird as it might have at first, now does it? 

I'd still choose vanilla or caramel-flavored desserts over the chocolate ones.  I don't know why.  I know this probably befuddles many of you.

I've always been a fan of brownies though.  But not plain brownies.  They have to have chips of some variety, peanut butter, caramel sauce, or nuts in them.

I saw these blondies on Six Sister's Stuff and they looked so moist and dense.  Almost like a cake-y fudge or petit four.  (Wow, do I love petit fours...).  Unfortunately, the only chip I didn't have in my pantry was the white chocolate variety.  So as awesome as cake batter flavored blondies sounded, I needed to go in a different direction. 

I added peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and, because I no longer live with my parents who despised it when I would do this, butterscotch chips. 

Holy. Cow.

Please make them.

I baked them until they were barely done.  I'm talking i'm-surprised-i-didn't-get-food-poisoning kind of barely done.  They were yummy.

Cake Mix 3-Chip Blondies
makes an 8x8 pan

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Mix the dry cake mix, oil, and egg together well.  Stir in the chips.  Spoon into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  It takes a bit of time for them to set up, and they are delicious frozen. (Don't ask me how I know this.  I may or may not have eaten half a pan frozen.)

I look forward to investing in white chocolate chips and sprinkles and trying the original recipe!

Shared at:
Delightful Order Thursday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for Saturday 
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Tuesday Talent Show 
Crazy Sweet Tuesday 
Totally Tasty Tuesdays
Sweetology:  Tea Party Tuesday