Biscoff Gooey Butter Cake

On Mondays a few girlfriends come over to my house to watch The Bachelor.  It's so much fun watching the show with other people and following all the live tweets during the show.  To add to the fun, I like to have a dessert for the viewing...nothing goes better with a hot guy and gossip than a good dessert.  This time I decided to try Biscoff gooey butter cake.  I love Biscoff by itself and when you add butter and sugar, you can't go wrong!

You start with one yellow cake mix, one egg and eight tablespoons of butter melted.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.

Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

For the filling you need: 8-ounce package cream cheese(soften) 1 cup Biscoff spread, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 8 tablespoons butter(melted) and 16-ounces of powdered sugar.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and Biscoff until smooth.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together.

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. 

Spread Biscoff mixture over cake batter and bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes.

Biscoff Gooey Butter Cake

Cake:

1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 egg

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup Biscoff spread

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electricmixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch bakingpan.

 To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese andBiscoff until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together.Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread Biscoff mixture over cakebatter and bake for approximately 40 minutes. **Make sure not to overbake asthe center should be a little gooey.**

Homemade pizza

My friend's mom offered me her bread machine and I of course said yes. I love love love bread and especially homemade bread! One of the first things I wanted to make was pizza dough. Every time I go home I always request one of these three meals: steaks, my dad's burgers and homemade pizza. Now I can make my own pizza :)

At lunch I put all the ingredients in my bread machine and set the dough cycle. When I came home from work that evening the pizza dough was ready!

Put the dough on a pizza stone and spread out.

Top with pizza sauce.

I like to add hamburger meat, ham, onion and green pepper. I add the onion and bell pepper to the hamburger meat while it's browning.

Top with cheese and cook at 400 for 15 minutes.

For the first time, it turned out wonderful!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I had some girls over this morning for a Mary Kay party and decided it was the perfect time to try homemade cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe online for copy cat version of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls and figured I would give it shot. They were amazing!!!

I used my bread machine to make the dough.  Once the dough is ready, gently punch down the dough and knead for a minute or two, to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 17 inches.

Melt the butter and spread over rolled out dough.  

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Spread over dough, covering as much of the surface as possible. Sprinkle nuts and raisins over dough if using.

Starting with the widest end, roll dough into a tight log. Pinch edges to seal. 

With a thin sharp knife (I use a serrated knife), cut log into 12 equal slices. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm location to rise until nearly double in size, about 30-45 minutes.

Yield: 

12 large cinnamon rolls (a FULL 9x13 dish!)

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 box (3.4 ounces) instant (no-cook) vanilla pudding mix
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant active dry yeast

Filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1/4 cup raisins, optional

Frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
~1-2 teaspoons milk

Instructions: 

1. To make these cinnamon rolls using a bread machine, place the ingredients in the bread machine in this order: Boiling water, cold milk, melted butter, sugar, salt, egg, 1 cup of the flour, the pudding mix, 2 1/2 more cups of flour, and the dry yeast.
2. Start the DOUGH cycle with the lid open, and watch to see how sticky the dough is. Add another 1/2 cup of flour as the dough cycle runs, or as much flour as needed to make a soft, smooth dough.
3. Close the lid for the rest of the dough cycle, and when cycle is complete
4. Gently punch down dough ad knead for a minute or two, to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 17 inches.
5. Combine the first three filling ingredients and mix well. Heat in microwave 10 seconds to make spreadable. (It's okay if it's fairly thick.) Spread over rolled dough, covering as much of the surface as possible. Sprinkle nuts and raisins over dough if using.
6. Starting with the widest end, roll dough into a tight log. Pinch edges to seal. With a thin sharp knife (I use a serrated knife), cut log into 12 equal slices. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a clean towel and place in a warm location to rise until nearly double in size, about 30-45 minutes.
7. Bake rolls in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes. After about 20 minutes of baking, check on rolls and cover loosely with foil if they are getting too dark. Rolls can stay in the dish after baking; set the dish on a wire rack and cover with a clean towel to let it cool.
8. To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup and beat. Add enough milk to make a spreadable consistency, about 1-2 teaspoons.
9. Frost rolls while they are still warm for a drizzly melty look! Enjoy!

Grilled cheese party

My goal for 2013 is to have a party/get together every month. For January I decided to have a grilled cheese bar, who doesn't like grilled cheese :)

I had three different types of cheese: cheddar, Gouda and pepper jack. For some protein I had turkey, ham and bacon.

For the bread I bought the everything French loaf from Walmart, this bread is so good.

For dessert, we had s'mores

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Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

I was craving something sweet tonight, so I decided to make Nutella Rice Krispie Treats. Mainly because I had all the ingredients at my house and they are quick, easy and so good!  All you need is marshmallows, butter, Rice Krispies and butter.

To start melt two tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  

Add four cups of marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of Nutella until melted.

Add six cups of cereal. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated. (I like to add half the cereal and stir and then add the remaining cereal, to make sure the marshmallows and cereal are evenly coated)

Evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. 

Cool and cut into 2-inch squares and enjoy.  It's hard to go back to regular rice krispie treats after having these!

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

4 cups miniature marshmallows

1/4 cup Nutella

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella until melted.

Add cereal. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until well coated.  It helps to spray a little nonstick cooking spray on the spoon to keep it from sticking.

Using a sheet of wax paper, evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cool and cut into 2-inch squares.

Tomato-Basil Soup

Today was definitely soup weather. Saturday it was 70, today 35...gotta love Louisiana weather. Since it was cold and rainy, I decided to make tomato-basil soup. I found this recipe in cooking light last year and think its the perfect combination of creaminess and tomato.

Start with two cans of diced tomatoes, I use fire roasted because I like my soup with a little kick. Put the tomatoes, four cups of tomato juice and basil in a food processor. The recipe calls for fresh basil, but i just sprinkle in some. 

Blend until smooth.

Next, transfer the tomato mixture into a pot and add one cup of milk, salt and pepper. Stir and heat on medium heat. 

Add the cream cheese and whisk until the soup thickens up. And that's it. 

I love a grilled cheese sandwich with my tomato soup, so I made one while the soup was getting hot.

Tomato-Basil Soup

4 cups chopped seeded peeled tomato (about 4 large)

4 cups low-sodium tomato juice

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

1 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened 

Preparation

1. Bring tomato and juice to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes.
2. Place tomato mixture and basil in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan; stir in milk, salt, and pepper. Add cream cheese, stirring well with a whisk, and cook over medium heat until thick (about 5 minutes). Ladle soup into individual bowls; garnish with sliced basil, if desired. Serve with bread.

Chill in the hills

Saturday my dad and I ran a 10k in Vicksburg, Ms. There was a chance of rain, but the weather held off and it turned out to be a perfect day for a run, minus the humidity! The course was really tough, super hilly, but we made it and faster than our time last year. We are one step closer to the New Orleans half in February.

Gooey Butter Cake

I've seen this recipe from Paula Deen for awhile, but I have never made it. I knew it would be good, since it's a Paula recipe and it called for two sticks of butter!  There are a few different variations you can make, but I wanted to make the original one to start with.  Since my friend's Meredith's birthday was this week, I decided I would make this for her birthday treat!

You start with a yellow cake mix, one egg and one stick of melted butter. 

Combine and mix well with an electric mixer. 

Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

Next you will need 8 ounces cream cheese, one teaspoon of vanilla, two eggs, another stick of melted butter and 16 ounces of powdered sugar. 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  

Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well.  

Spread over cake batter and bake on 350 for 40 to 50 minutes.  You don't want to over bake it, you want the center to be gooey, hint the gooey part ;)

Happy Birthday Meredith!!

Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients 

Cake:

1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix

1 egg

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

8 tablespoons butter, melted 

1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer.  Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 

Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well.  Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.  Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.