yummies

A month or so ago I had a little get together at my house for some girls. I found some great desserts that I wanted to try out. Thought I'd share the recipes.

Red Velvet Cake Balls:





These made a mess. My chocolate didn't melt like I'd hoped it would so the finished product was kind of sloppy and not smooth like all the pictures you usually see online. Oh well. They tasted good. These were also pretty labor intensive. I don't know that I'll be making these often.

18.25-ounce box cake mix
16-ounce container ready-made frosting
32 ounces (2 pounds) candy coating

1. Bake the cake as directed on the box, using a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Let cool completely.
2. Once the cake is cooled, get organized and set aside plenty of time (at least an hour) to crumble, roll, and dip 4 dozen cake balls.
3. Crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing. (The best technique is to use your hands! Cut the baked cake into 4 pieces. Remove a section from the pan, break it in half, and rub the two pieces together over the bowl until both pieces are crumbled.) You should not see any large pieces of cake. Add three-quarters of the container of frosting. (You will not need the remaining frosting.) Mix it into the crumbled cake, using a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. If you use the entire container, the cake balls will be too moist.
4. The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 1 1/2-inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on a wax paper-covered baking sheet.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours in the refrigerator, or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.

Indoor Smores:



These were amazing!! So so good. Ha Patrick swore there had to be sweet potatoes in them (because with the toasted marshmallows on top it somewhat resembles sweet potato casserole that we have around Thanksgiving).

2 Sticks Unsalted Butter Melted
18 Plain Graham Crackers
1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Fine Sea Salt
3 Cups Milk Chocolate Chips
3 1/2 Cups Mini Marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Line the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper. You want to leave about 4 inches of overhang on the 2 opposite sides. These are going to serve as your handles to remove the bars from the pan in 1 piece, so make sure that there is enough of the overhang for you to have a solid grip. Grease the foil/parchment well with softened butter. 

Grind the graham crackers into a fine meal (you need 2 cups).  Melt your butter in the microwave. In a large bowl, combine your crumbs with the sugar, sea salt and melted butter. The mixture should look and feel like wet sand.

Set aside a heaping 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Evenly press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom the lined pan. Pop your crust into the oven and bake until it is golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool.

Melt the milk chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continuously until fully melted. (I do this a really simple way and I never burn my chocolate because of it.  I don't have a double boiler so I fill a saucepan with water, bring it to a boil, put my chocolate chips in a large glass bowl that is wider then the saucepan and put the glass bowl on top.  I slowly stir until all the chocolate is melted.  It's my "cheap" version of a double boiler) Do not turn up the heat to hurry this process, you must keep it on low.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled graham cracker crust. Spread the chocolate evenly over the crust with a butter knife. Sprinkle the marshmallows over the chocolate and press them lightly into the chocolate. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over and in between the marshmallows so that you cannot see the chocolate peaking through the marshmallows.  Refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened a bit.  About 20-25min.

Preheat the Broiler.

Broil the bars 6 inches from the flame until the marshmallows are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

Refrigerate the bars until the chocolate is completely hard, 2 hours or so.

To serve, grab the ends of the liner and lift the bars out of the pan in 1 piece. Move to a cutting board and cut into 24 pieces, or 12, however big you want your Smore.

Peanut Butter M&M Chex Bars:



These were yummy. Also kind of messy. I didn't follow the recipe to a T but they turned out fine. I think I cut back on the amount of chex and M&Ms. Still turned out good and were a treat for my gluten free buddies.

6 cups Rice Chex

1 (10.5 oz) bag mini marshmallows, divided

3 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 (11.4 oz) bag of peanut butter M&Ms ~ approx 2 cups

2 oz semi sweet chocolate to drizzle

 

Spray a 9×9 pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

In a large pot over low heat melt butter.

When the butter is melted add 4 cups of your mini marshmallows.

Stir until marshmallows are melted.

Remove from heat.

Stir in you peanut butter until incorporated.  Add your Rice Chex.

Stir until evenly coated.

The mixture should be cool enough now to stir in the remaining marshmallows and M&Ms without them melting.

Now transfer to your 9×9 pan.

Press mixture evenly in your pan.

Melt the 2 oz of chocolate in the microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes (or until melted), stirring after each minute.

Drizzle the chocolate on top of the Chex mix.

Let cool until chocolate is set.

Cut into squares and serve.