Cherry Chocolate Cake

My husband and I are lucky to have both our parents living close by. We get to spend our holidays with both of them every year and go to both of their houses. Father’s Day was no different this year. (Have I mentioned that we have awesome dads?) We went to Tyson’s parents’ house first, where we were also celebrating his mom’s birthday (it’s on the 20th of June). Two of his siblings and their families were also joining us. I was asked to bring the dessert, which would also serve as my mother-in-law’s birthday cake. (No pressure!) I wanted to make something delicious that wasn’t like other birthday cakes. Surprisingly enough I found this recipe for Cherry Chocolate Cake over at Jamie Cooks It Up! and it turned out to be a major crowd pleaser. For the adults, that is. The kids either picked around the cherries or they just didn’t eat it. It was the cherries. They were intimidating and a little scary, I guess. No worries, I wasn’t offended. I should have known better with kiddos! Besides the kids, this cake was really loved by all.

Ingredients (The ingredients pictured above are the odd things you might not already have in your pantry.)

• 1 devil’s food cake mix
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 container of Cool Whip (12 oz.) OR 1 pint of whipping cream (I started with a half pint and didn’t have enough. It could have been a catastrophe. My husband saved the day!)
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• 1 c. sliced almonds, toasted (I bought the pre-sliced almonds in the baking aisle at Walmart.)

Directions

1. Put your cake mix, pudding, and flour in you’re a large mixing bowl or your stand mixer. Stir it around to get it nice and incorporated.

 

2. Add the eggs and the water.

 

3. Then add the oil…

 

…and the almond extract.

4. Beat the mixture for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the dry ingredients are getting mixed in. Beat on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes or until the batter is glossy.

 

5.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Spread a knife around to make sure the batter lies even on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

 

6. While the cake is baking toss the almonds into a medium sized skillet (no greasing necessary). Toast them over medium heat, stirring frequently until golden brown. These can burn easily so make sure you stir them frequently. Set aside to cool.

 

7. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately poke holes in it with the handle of a wooden spoon.

 

8. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk all over the cake. Be sure to fill all the holes! Let the cake cool to room temperature.

 

9. Once the cake has cooled spread the cherries on top.

 

10. Then spread the Cool Whip or the prepared whipping cream over the cherries. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and almonds. Cover and chill at least an hour before serving.

 

Don’t all those layers look lovely? Enjoy!

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos / Lime-Cilantro Dressing

During the giveaway for the Our Best Bites cookbook I had a LOT of comments referring to their recipe for Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. I had never heard of them, but I couldn’t believe how many of you love them enough to mention them! I just had to try them. So I did, and here they are, for the rest of us who have never heard of them! You’ll also find the recipe for the dressing with this post.

I love the idea of having something that is normally fried, oily, and chewy turned into something baked, crispy, and awesome.

These are great for a party snack, appetizer, or dinner. We had them for dinner tonight and my husband loved them. The dressing was also a real treat to have at home without having to go to Costa Vida for a pork salad to have it. Of course I ask for extra when I'm there. This is a good copycat recipe for that yummy ranch they have Costa Vida. And it doesn’t even take very many ingredients. In fact, you can buy the ingredients for the taquitos and you end up using a few of them for the dressing. Works out pretty great!

These would also be good dipped in sour cream, salsa, or guacamole.

Ingredients (makes 12 to 16 taquitos)

• 1/3 c. (3 oz.) cream cheese
• 1/4 c. green salsa
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic, or garlic powder
• 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. sliced green onions
• 2 c. cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 c. grated pepper jack cheese
• 12 to 16 small corn tortillas (I hear that flour tortillas are delicious with this too!)
• kosher salt (or the gourmet salt on your spice rack)
• cooking spray

Directions

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to make it soft and easy to stir. Add the green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic. Stir to combine then add cilantro and green onion. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

Heat a few tortillas at a time in the microwave till they are warm and can roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels then heated for 20-30 seconds. Place 2-3 Tbsp. of chicken mixture on the lower third of the tortilla. Be sure to keep it about half an inch away from the edges on the sides. (PS I put 2 Tbsp. of mixture on each one and ended up with 12 total. And some of the chicken oozed out the side. So depending on what you want, you may want to do just a little less.)

Roll them up as tightly as you can. Place them seam side down on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Make sure you lightly spray the foil with cooking spray, and when you place the taquitos on the sheet they shouldn’t touch each other.

Spray the tops with cooking spray then sprinkle some of the kosher salt or gourmet salt on top.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to turn brown.

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 pack (1 oz.) Hidden Valley Dressing Mix (ignore the directions on the pack)
• 1 c. mayo
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 lime
• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c. green salsa
• hot sauce

Directions

Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender or food processer. Juice the lime right into that (ends up being about 2 Tbsp.). Toss in the garlic, green salsa, and cilantro. Blend everything together. Taste it and add a bit of hot sauce if you feel like it needs more of a kick. Up to you! Make this up a few hours in advance so it can thicken up.

Magic in the Middle Cookies and the Cookbook Winner

Thank you to everyone who came over and entered to win this awesome cookbook! I just loved reading all your comments. They were so fun to read and I found myself laughing out loud with all the humor that went into them. I love it! Thanks, everybody!

Now without further ado, the lucky winner of an autographed copy of the Our Best Bites cookbook (chosen by random.org) is:

#34 - MeganandClaudy who said: “I love to bake. However, my favorite recipe is a NEW recipe. I get so excited to try something fresh.”

Congratulations! Please send me an e-mail with your mailing address within 48 hours to cupcakediaries1(at)hotmail(dot)com.

One of my most favorite things to do on a day where I have NOTHING going on is try a new recipe. I love how relaxing it is to get out all the ingredients and turn my iHome on to “Glee Presents: The Warblers.” Or anything from Glee rather!

I recently found myself surfing one of my new favorite websites, Just a Pinch, when I came across this blue ribbon winner. The title alone caught my attention. And when I read that the middle of these delicious cookies was a layer of sweet peanut butter filling…I was sold. I guess you could say it was one of those, “You had me at hello” moments. There really is magic in the middle of these babies.

I quickly found out that if I made these cookies by myself plus take pictures it would take me the whole day. These cookies are already a process. So I’d like to give credit to my hand models:

My twin sister, Amber, and my mom, Rhonda

Thanks for all your help, you two!

Ingredients (makes 2 dozen cookies)

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar, plus a little extra for rolling
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1 stick butter butter, softened
• 1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 c. peanut butter (for filling)
• 3/4 c. powdered sugar (for filling)

Directions

In your mixing bowl, throw in both sugars, the butter, and 1/4 c. of peanut butter. (I’m just now noticing that I didn’t take the picture with the brown sugar in the bowl. Oops!)

Mix all of that together till it’s nice and creamy and fluffy.

Then add the vanilla…

..and the egg and egg yolk. (We made a double batch, that’s why there are more eggs pictured.)

Beat the mixture to get everything nice and combined.

Time for the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add the dry mixture to the other mixture so the dry stuff doesn’t go everywhere. Get that all mixed together.

It will look like this when you’re done. I know what you’re thinking right now.

And I agree with you! That dough is seriously amazing so just go for it. Grab a taste or two then set the dough aside.

Now it’s time to make the filling. In a small bowl, stir together the 3/4 c. of peanut butter and the powdered sugar until nice and smooth. You’ll be tempted to try this too! You know I did.

The faces behind the hands. And yes, she’s my twin! We don’t look much alike. She got the nice dark hair, eyes, and skin. You know what the opposite of that is? Me.

With floured hands or a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 24 balls. (My hand models found it was easiest to flour their hands and roll them that way.)

Don’t you want to take one of those and pop it in your mouth? I did that too. A couple of times. Ok, a few times. We did a double batch and made a lot.

To shape the cookies, use a tablespoon-size scoop. You won’t want to make a heaping scoop if you want to get all 24 cookies out of the dough. (Don’t have a tablespoon cookie scoop? You can use the tablespoon measuring spoon.)

Turn the scoop or the measuring spoon around and make an indentation.

Place a peanut butter ball in the middle of the indentation.

Bring the cookie dough up and over the peanut butter filling.

Press the edges together over the center so the peanut butter is nice and covered.

Roll it in your hand to get it nice and round. Then dip it in a little bowl of white sugar (NOT powdered sugar).

Place the ball on a greased cookie sheet, or a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. I would be totally ok if this were the end of this recipe. I don’t need that thing to be baked! Looks delicious. But I guess for health reasons we should probably bake it. Repeat the whole process with the rest of the dough, leaving about 2 inches between each dough ball on the sheet.

Now it’s time to flatten all the cookie dough balls. Grease the bottom of a glass and flatten to about 1/2-inch thick.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes. (We ended up baking them for the full 9 minutes.) Just watch them and make sure they’re set.

Remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Unlike chocolate chip and other cookies, you can take these cookies off the pan and onto the cooling rack as soon as they get out of the oven.

Doesn’t that look fabulous? Magic in the middle indeed.

So you say you’d rather have the cookies look crinkly and like snicker doodles? We thought the same thing. Actually we just forgot to smash the balls down before putting one of the pans in the oven so we had to do it after they got out. Here’s what I suggest if you want them to look crinkly like this:

Bake them for the allotted time in ball form. After taking them out of the oven, smash them down with the greased glass then put them back in the oven for two more minutes.

{Review} Walgreens Soothe

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the perks about having a recipe blog is all the delicious food being made. Sometime there are days where I make more than one or two dishes to share on the blog. And it's so great having all that food to eat, right? Right. Right until you eat so much you're sick to your stomach. Enter Walgreens Sugar Free Soothe.

This Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Product hasn't just helped me in my times of over eating. My little family and I have had our fair share of sickness this year and we've relied on this bottle of pink miracle juice. And believe it or not, I once vowed never to take it because of the color and it freaked me out a bit. But during a case of the stomach flu this year I decided to cave. And I have never felt better so fast. It was seriously amazing, and now the Walgreens Sugar Free Soothe and I are best friends. As an added perk, it sure was nice being able to drive over to my 24-hour Walgreens right down the street at 1 am.

I had never tried Walgreens Soothe before our family's last run with the flu. We've decided that we have no need to go back to using the name brand Pepto Bismol. Not only have we found it to work well for us, the price difference is amazing. A 16 oz. bottle of Pepto Bismol runs for $6.49, while a 16 oz. bottle of Walgreens Sugar Free Soothe goes for $4.99. I'll take it! I save money and I get the same, if not better, results by using the Walgreens brand.

So when our family has a bug we reach for Walgreens Sugar Free Soothe. It works every time!

Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are a great value, allowing families and individuals to save money without sacrificing quality or trust. With the rising cost of health care, saving money on over-the-counter medications can really benefit a family’s budget. In addition to being an exceptional value, Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are Walgreens pharmacist recommended. And most contain the same active ingredients as other national brands. They all have a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  You can visit http://www.walgreens.com/walgr… to learn more about Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products.

There are several blooggers giving away some Walgreens Gift Cards! Follow the link to view all the blogs and enter to win!

giveaways

 

Other Links:

Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products

Walgreens Way to Well Fund™

 

{Crock Pot} Creamy Chicken Tacos

I first want to say how awesome the last couple of days have been here at Cupcake Diaries! I have had a LOT of e-mails and comments from people all over the world, and I’ve just loved hearing from you all! It’s amazing how one little mention on Our Best Bites could turn into something so cool for me. I’m impressed by how many people visit their blog everyday! You go, girls! They’re quite popular, those two. Anyway, I’d just like to say thank you to all of you for making the last couple of days so memorable. And for all the new followers, welcome to Cupcake Diaries! I’m so happy to have you!

And if you haven’t already, head on over here to enter to win an autographed copy of the Our Best Bites cookbook!

Just when you think it’s time for a break from the busyness of school and extracurricular activities, summer hits. And then starts the t-ball and pitching machine games and practices, soccer, swimming lessons, piano lessons, etc. It’s just as crazy as when they were in school!

It’s days like these where you really just want dinner to be waiting for you in the crockpot. Thank goodness for crockpots.

You can’t go wrong with the creamy goodness of these Creamy Chicken Tacos in the crockpot! I love how there’s just the right amount of sauce and they’re not too spicy. Enough of the chit chat, let’s get to it!

Thanks to Jamie Cooks it Up! for this delicious and easy recipe!

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

• 5 frozen chicken breasts (Yes!! Makes it that much easier.)
• 1 1/2 c. salsa
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup (Gives it just the right amount of sweetness. Yum!)
• 1 tsp. lime juice, fresh or bottled
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. sour cream

Serve over tortilla chips or in a tortilla shell. Top with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, etc. I also want to add that even though it says this makes 6 servings, I was able to get even more out of it. It all depends on how much meat you want to put in the tortilla shell.

Directions

1. Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray and place the frozen chicken breasts inside.
2. In a small mixing bowl stir together all other ingredients but the butter and sour cream.
3. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
4. Take the chicken out of the crockpot and onto a plate. Shred it up with a fork and throw it back in.
5. Add the butter and sour cream; stir till nice and mixed in. Cook the chicken for another 30 minutes to an hour so the meat can get even more of that delicious flavored soaked up.

{Giveaway} Our Best Bites Signed Cookbook

I have a fabulous treat for one of you today!

Yes, this is THE Our Best Bites Cookbook and it’s ready to find a permanent home.

And did I mention it is signed by the authors, Kate and Sara? Indeed it is. I went to the cookbook signing in Rexburg, ID, at the Desert Book with my mom and twin sister. All three of us were able to get a cookbook {or two} signed and meet Kate and Sara. These girls are so fun and friendly. They’re also very genuine and have super fun senses of humor. It truly was a pleasure to meet them in person!

The fact that a lot of you are coming from Our Best Bites seriously boggles my mind. I just love everything about Our Best Bites and the foodies behind it all. Big thanks again to Kate and Sara at Our Best Bites for helping me spread the word about this giveaway!

...

Here’s what you need to do to win this little gem:

As always, you must be a public follower of Cupcake Diaries to win a giveaway.

1. Leave a comment telling what you most like to cook, whether it be cupcakes, brownies, chicken dishes, fun appetizers, etc. Or is there something that you really want to learn to make?

2. Run over to the Our Best Bites blog and give them a hello. Tell them you came from Cupcake Diaries!

And that’s it, my friends! This giveaway goes till Friday morning, 8:00 mountain time, when a winner will be announced !

{Copycat Recipe} Chipotle’s Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa

Chipotle fans, raise your hands if you wait in long lines for Chipotle’s made-to-order salads and burritos. That’s what I thought. Good for you! I don’t think you’re alone on that one. Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle, came up with all of his recipes himself. and of course he keeps the original recipes locked up nice and safely. So that’s why Food Network Magazine came up with this copycat recipe. Now you can enjoy it at home with chips or on a burrito!

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 1/2 small poblano chile pepper, seeded
• 3 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 1 c. fresh corn kernels (from 2 ears) or 1 c. frozen corn, thawed
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. chopped red onion
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar

Directions

1. Preheat a grill to medium high. Brush the poblano with 1 tsp. olive oil and grill, skin-side down, until charred but still firm, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly; peel and finely chop.
2. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes; drain. (This step to be used only if using fresh corn.)
3. Mix the corn (if using frozen, and it here), poblano, jalapeno, cilantro and red onion in a bowl. Stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, the lime juice, sugar, and 1/2 tsp. salt.

S’more Cookies

Due to the fact that this recipe features the s’more, a classic campfire treat, it is necessary that I add the following dialogue from that totally awesome movie from the 90’s, The Sandlot:

• Ham Porter: Hey Smalls, you wanna s’more?
• Smalls: Some more of what?
• Ham Porter: No, do you wanna s’more?
• Smalls: I haven’t had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?
• Ham Porter: You're killing me, Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alright now pay attention. First you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

Now that we have that bit of awesomeness out of the way, we can get on with today’s wonderful recipe! I think two of the most delicious treats are s’mores and chocolate chip cookies. So why not put those two together into one, big, amazing cookie? I think that’s a great idea.

Enter s’more cookies.

Thanks to Ice Cream Before Dinner for introducing me to this addicting new treat to bring to all those summer parties! Believe me, everybody will be asking you for the recipe when you bring a batch of these by. I brought these to a neighborhood bbq last week and that’s exactly what happened. I told everyone who asked to watch for them on Cupcake Diaries sometime in the next week. So here they are!

Ingredients

• 11 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. mini marshmallows
• 4 regular sized Hershey bars, broken into pieces
• 2 packages graham crackers, broken into square (Not to be confused with two boxes of graham crackers.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar till light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed till combined.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Cover the dough and put it in the fridge. The original recipe says to put it in the fridge for one hour to overnight, but I used it about 30 minutes later and it was fine.

7. While the dough is chilling, place the graham cracker squares on the pan with the parchment paper. Put them close enough together that they’re touching. You’ll have more graham crackers and more dough so be prepared to make another pan of these!

8. Place about a tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough on each graham cracker. A standard cookie scoop full will work great. Press down slightly with your fingertips on each dough ball. Bake for 5 minutes.

9. After the cookies bake for 5 minutes, take them out of the oven and press a piece of Hershey bar on each one. You can place as many or as little pieces of chocolate as you’d like on each. I liked how one piece per cookie looked and tasted.

Bake for 5-7 more minutes or until the dough begins to turn light brown. The dough will have run together over the tops of the other crackers. For clean cutting, cut them when they’re completely cool. Otherwise there’s marshmallow all over.

Enjoy! And good luck having leftovers to take home from your next party!