Happy Fall Y'all {Free Printable}

The weather has been cooler lately. For Texas that means we get to a high of 85-90 degrees, but the mornings are delightful. We always play outside first thing to get in as much cool weather as we can. The other day I stocked up on some pumpkin and we made pumpkin snickerdoodles.

 Today, after riding bikes in the cool shade, we decided it was time again for some fall baking. This time it was zucchini bread with some excess pumpkin added to the batter. I made extra so that we could have enough to bring to our neighbors. Then of course I had to make a quick card to attach. 

So here's a free printable just for you. Just click on the image to get your free printable.

A Happy Fall to Y'all too!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

These days, a chocolate craving isn't just a craving. It's a non-stop need for something rich and chocolatey. We don't keep many treats around the house, so one day when the NEED came, I decided to figure out something yummy with the ingredients I had on hand. 

I found a recipe for Chewy Chocolate Cookies, but decided I was going to alter it to use to make sandwich cookies with a peanut butter filling. I followed the recipe except I omitted the chocolate chips. When they were cooled I made some peanut butter filling by simply mixing creamy peanut butter and powdered sugar until it was a frosting consistency. Spread it on and put another cookie on top and your ready to devour.

We immediately sat down to enjoy some. A cold glass of milk are these cookies' perfect dunking companion. YUM!

Cars 2 Cake

My little boy is obsessed with anything Cars 2 related. He likes Lightening McQueen okay, but he loves Finn McMissile. As his birthday approached, he constantly reminded me that he wanted a Cars 2 birthday party. 

Here's the cake I made for him:

I used a car forms cake pan, and chose the ones that were shaped most like Mater and Finn. I frosted Finn with blue buttercream, and left Mater as just cake, because it looked more rusty than frosting would have. I added the eyes, mouths, and wheels with more colored frosting.

The cake was just a plain vanilla cake, but I added chopped Oreos into the batter before baking. It has three layers, is frosted in cream cheese frosting and has crushed Oreos all over it- kind of looks like dirt . . .

The birthday boy loved it, and devoured Finn while sharing Mater with his big sister.

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

Almost every time I go to the store, I can resist buying lemons and limes. They seems to go with so many things, and even when a recipe doesn't call for it, I like to add a little bit of zest to lighten things up. So, I had some lemons sitting in the fridge calling my name. Sitting next to the lemons were some blueberries. I was secretly wishing the blueberries were raspberries, because lemon and raspberry are one of my favorite combos. I pulled everything out to get baking some Blueberry Lemon Cookies- let's see if they turn out. By the time I had all the ingredients out including a few white chocolate chips, my boy had devoured the blueberries . . . so I replaced the fresh for some frozen and my idea still turned out delish!

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup blueberries or raspberries (fresh or frozen & semi-thawed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in lemon zest and gently fold in white chocolate chips and berries.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Cool for 3 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container. 

Ombre Pony Cake

My little daughter is in love with My Little Ponies. She requested a My Little Pony cake for her party, and I was excited to figure out my design and make it for her. The day before her party I made and baked the cake, and after she went to bed I made tons of frosting and decorated it. It took a while, but I love how it turned out! I only took a few pics on Instagram of the process:

pink cake batter!

lots of colorful frosting

When my little 5-year-old woke up, I was so excited to show her. She squealed when she saw all the pink, and then she saw the pony and was thrilled! It was so fun to cut into it and see the layers of pink- I love me some ombré!

This pretty much proves that I'd do anything to see my daughter smile!

P.S. I used the tutorial HERE to make the pony on top of the cake.

Carmel Apple Chex

Thanks so couponing, I had several boxes of Chex sitting in my pantry. When I got the boxes, I figured I could use it for making Chex mix of all varieties. Pinterest has several Chex Mix/Buddies recipes out there- one of my favorites being Lemon Buddies- so good! Today as I walked into the pantry, I saw those boxes staring at me. Though I've already done my share of baking this holiday season, I decided it was time to whip up a batch of Chex something-or-other. However, this time I was going to create my own recipe.

Introducing:

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Butter

2 Packets Apple Cider drink mix

3 Tbsp Sugar

4 Cups Chex (I used rice variety)

1/3 cup Caramel bits

3 tsp water

Directions:

1. Put first three ingredients in sauce pan. Melt butter over medium-high heat and simmer 1 minute after melted, stirring constantly to combine.
2. Pour over Chex and stir gently to coat evenly.
3. Using same sauce pan, add caramel bits and water. Melt down until smooth. Drizzle over coated Chex. 
4. Cool and enjoy!