Oatmeal Berry Bars

These are great for a quick breakfast treat or any time of the day. They're super easy to make and you can play around with the different flavors of jelly's you like until you find one that you like. Since I'm on a diet...which seems like an oxymoron really... I mean what kind of baker puts themselves on a diet? Anyway.... since I'm on a diet I decided to make this one with grape jelly because I don't like grape jelly and figured I'd stay away from them! Then I got to thinking about it and thought what kind of baker would I be if I didn't sample them first, just to make sure they're OK to give away. So I made a tiny section of them with raspberry jelly. :O) And did in fact enjoy it very much.

Here's what you need:
1 yellow cake mix
2 1/2 Cups of Oatmeal
3/4 Cup of Butter melted
1 Cup of jelly
1 T of water

In a large bowl, mix yellow cake mix, oatmeal and butter until moistened. Spray 13x9 pan and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dump half the mixture into the pan. In a small bowl combine the jelly and the water and mix well. Pour that over the mixture and spread evenly. Then sprinkle remaining mixture on top. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Enjoy!!

Happy 4th of July!

What better way to celebrate 4th of July than with red, white, and blue cupcakes!!! YUMMY!

Hostess Cupcakes!

I decided to do a special cake for my step son who is arriving from Florida today. I thought about it for a while and wanted to make something that would "WOW" him. Then it hit me... Why not make a HUGE Hostess Cupcake!! So for the next few hours this is what I worked on!
Three 8" round cakes - and enough batter left over to make 16 cupcakes.
The yummy Hostess cupcake filling
The chocolate ganache for the top
And of course no Hostess cupcake would be complete with out that swirly white design!

The end result.... ONE SUPERSIZED HOSTESS CUPCAKE and a batch of regular ones too!
I sure hope he enjoys it!! And you do too!

Cheesecake Squares

This recipe was given to me by my friend after we had a get together. It is really good and really easy to make. What you'll need:
2 packages of crescent rolls
2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 C sugar
1 t vanilla
A splash of milk

Cream the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla - add the milk if needed (I did not have to use any) Unroll one crescent roll in greased dish, top with the cheese mixture, unroll the second crescent rolls top the cheese mixture, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if you'd like.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let it cool for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with some fresh fruit!! YUMMY!

Dump Cake

This is the easiest cake and it's so good! It turns out to be the consistancy of a cobbler. I chose to make peach, but you can really use any kind of fruit - cherry, blueberry, pineapple... the list is endless.
The things you will need:
One yellow box cake mix
2 - 16 oz cans of fruit
1 stick of butter - melted

Spray the 13x9 inch baking pan well. Preheat oven to 375. You dump the fruit in the pan and spread it out evenly. Then dump the DRY cake mix over that evenly. Pour melted butter on top of that. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Scoop it out and serve it with vanilla ice cream or cool whip. Thiss dessert went so fast that I wasn't able to get a photo of it served up all nice and pretty with it's cool whip! But I guess that means it was a huge hit! Enjoy!

Dessert for one!

Ever have those days when you just want a little dessert for yourself. Something more then just a cookie, or just a cupcake? Well I keep ready made cookie dough on hand most of the time for dessert emergencies just like this!
You'll need ready made cookie dough, a small ramekin, and your topping of choice - today I used vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate syrup and a few slivered almonds.
Preheat your oven to 350. Fill your ramekin about 2/3 with the cookie dough and place in oven for 15-18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then top with your choice of toppings and MMMMMMMMMMM enjoy!

Hannah Montana Guitar Cake

When my niece turned 4 she decided that she was going to have a Hannah Montana birthday theme and what would be any rock star party without a guitar cake? This one was actually really easy to make and turned out sooo cute!!! And really tasty! It was gone within minutes of blowing out the candles!