Loaded M&M Cookie Pie

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The spring holidays are officially over but (if you're like me) the sweet tooth is here to stay. All of the left over Reese's, M&M's, Cadbury eggs and so on are beginning to get tiresome, so I found a quick and easy way to use up unnecessary candy. This Loaded M&M Cookie Pie is the perfect answer to my/your "problem."

This recipe is great for any left over holiday candy - not just Easter - but Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day as well! The best thing about it is that it only takes 30 minutes to make (including prep AND bake time!). It's very quick and easy and was (as usual) a huge hit. 

Adapted from: Averiecooks.com
Yield: One Pie - about 8 slices
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (1 stick), melted
1 Egg, room temperature
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 1/3 Cups Flour
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1/2 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips - I used mini chocolate chips
1/2- 1 Cup M&Ms, divided (I used peanut and peanut butter but all flavors are ok!)
6 or more individually wrapped small Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (or whatever candy you have laying around)
6 or more Rolo (or other mini/bite-size candy bar) - I didn't add these

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9-inch pie dish very well with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
3. Wait about 5 minutes before adding the egg so you don't cook it. Add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and whisk until smooth.
4. Add the flour, optional salt, and stir until just combined; do not overmix.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Add about 1/4 cup M&Ms and stir to combine; reserve remainder.
7. Turn batter out into prepared pie dish, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
8. Evenly add the remaining M&Ms to the top of the batter, pushing them down slightly to anchor.
9. Evenly insert the peanut butter cups and Rolos (or candy of your choice) into the batter, pushing them down so the top is almost flush with the surface of the dough.
10. Bake for about 24 to 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. If your pie has risen in the center, it will deflate as it cools. Allow pie to cool in dish for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Pie is meant to be on the soft and under baked side in the center while edges are crisper.  In general, if you prefer more well-done cookies, bake a few minutes longer. Pie will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.
11. Enjoy!

Crunchy Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

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Easter is only a few days away and I am sure if you are like me you are trying to plan out a menu.  I am not hosting Easter but I am responsible for desserts.  I made these cookies last week for a test run and they were a huge hit.  They are a soft cookie but have a nice crunch from the peanuts and M&M's.  The peanut butter flavor really comes through and I liked having the mix of peanut and peanut butter M&M's in the cookie.  I will be making these again if I can keep my hands out of the M&M bag for a few more days!  Hope you all have a great Easter.

Happy Easter!

Adapted from: Cant Stay Out Of The Kitchen

Yield: About 3-4 Dozen Large Cookies

Ingredients:
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter - I used smooth Skippy and added the chopped nuts for the crunch
¾ Cup Butter - Unsalted and room temperature
2 Eggs - room temperature
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1-2 Tablespoon Hot Water (I used one)
2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Chopped Peanuts - I used dry roasted and unsalted
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter M&M's
1/2 Cup Peanut M&M's

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the peanut butter, butter and eggs until smooth.
3. Add vanilla, salt, baking soda and hot water and mix again until well blended.
4. Stir in flour just until combined. Add the peanuts and M&M's.
5. Drop with an ice cream scoop or a cookie scoop onto prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake at 375° about 10-12 minutes or more depending on size.
7. Enjoy! 

DIY Distressed Mason Jars

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Goddess of Baking has been exclusively a baking blog for almost four years. In these four years, we've come a long way! I'd like to introduce my first crafting post.

With a new house and my wedding coming up, I am trying to stay away from the sweets (I need to fit in my dress) and focus on decorating my new house. I made these distressed Mason Jars yesterday and was completely thrilled with how they came out! Since I was so proud of myself, I wanted to share them with all of you so you can be as thrilled as I am.  They are very easy to make and only require a few affordable items.

Materials:
Mason Jars - Ball or Kerr ($1 each)
Acrylic Paint - NOT shiny or glossy or satin ($.50 each)
Paint Brushes
Sandpaper - course or fine, course is just a little quicker ($3 for a variety pack)
Acrylic Sealer/Finisher - I like the matte look so I bought the Americana kind from Michaels ($6)
Flowers - real or fake is up to you - mine are fake ($6 on sale for a bunch)

Directions:

1. Clean your jars and dry them well.
2. Paint your jars.  I would recommend two coats.  Let them dry overnight.
3. Take a piece of sandpaper and start to distress the jar.  When finished, clean off all the dust.
4. Spray 2 light coats of the sealer/finisher over the mason jars but be sure to let it dry in between the coats.  If you buy the quick drying its only about 5-10 minutes in between coats!
5. Once dry, add flowers or use for whatever you would like.  I think they would look good as a pen holder in an office, or you could use them in the bathroom too.  I made these for Easter/Spring decoration.
6. Enjoy!

Easter Basket Cupcakes

Easter is approaching fast and I really wanted to do at least one Easter themed post.  I was debating for days of what to make until yesterday when I got a very important text message.  It was from my boyfriend and it said, "Tomorrow is my treat day, you need to bake something!"  I love it when it is his treat day at work because I get to bake and send it all off!  I went into action the second I got home looking for ideas and recipes.  I decided I wanted to make cupcakes and of course they had to be Easter themed, and easy to decorate.  I found a picture of ones that I wanted to make.  They were a vanilla cupcake with green piped grass icing with eggs in the basket and a handle.   I found a recipe I wanted to use and went to work!  The cupcake alone was amazing! It was very moist but also light and delicate.  This will be my go to recipe from now on.  It has the perfect amount of vanilla and its just as easy to whip up as a boxed cake mix.  I love it! Then on to the vanilla buttercream, I found a recipe on Sweet and Saucy.  I got to meet Melody at my school a few weeks ago and I have been wanted to try some of her recipes ever since.  She started blogging and got bigger and bigger and now runs a very successful bakery in LA making cakes for people like Tori Spelling and Miley Cyrus.  Pretty nuts considering her bakery is only like 2 miles away.  So cool.  Anyway I made her Vanilla buttercream and added some green food coloring.  At this point I realized I didn't have the correct tip to make the frosting look like grass, but I did have unsweetened shredding coconut.  So I piped on the frosting and dyed the coconut green and add that to the top of the cupcake.  Then I also bought Mini Robins Eggs and SweetTart Jelly Beans and made those the eggs.  Lastly for the handle, I bought the fruit flavor Twizzlers that come in all different colors and cut them in half.  That was the perfect size and I used toothpicks to hold them in.  All in all, the cupcakes came out amazing and I hope Lakeshore loves them!  Happy Friday and Happy Easter to all my readers! 

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe - Adapted from Lick My Spoon

Yield: 30 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour

2 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Butter, room temperature and unsalted

2 Cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 Cup Whole Milk, room temperature

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a cupcake tray with liners. 
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream with the butter for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy). 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and alternatively, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed. 
4. Add vanilla until just mixed. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full.  I used a cookie scooper which was the perfect amount to fill 1 cupcake. 
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean, about 12-15 minutes. 
6. Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack.  Frost with your choice of icing!

Vanilla Buttercream - Adapted from My Sweet and Saucy

Yield: About 4 Cups, just enough to frost the 30 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter, unsalted and room temperature

5 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Salt - only if you want to help with over sweetness

4 Teaspoons Milk

1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice - only if you want to help with over sweetness

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter & salt for about 30 seconds and then add half of the powdered sugar and the milk to the butter and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl.  
2. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the lemon juice and beat until combined.  Scrape down the bowl again.  
3. Beat on high speed for 5-6 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy.  She says that she prefers to use it the same day, but that it can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days if tightly wrapped.  I have also left it out at room temperature overnight (if I was going to use it in the morning) and it was just fine.  
4. Make sure and stir the buttercream well though before using to get the air bubbles out of the frosting. 
5. Frost your cake or cupcakes, then ENJOY! 

For the decoration on the cupcake, you can either pipe the icing to look like grass if you have the #133 or #233 tip, or add the green coconut like I did.  You can use whatever candy you want for the eggs and then I used twizzlers for the handles.   This is a perfect activity for kids to help with!  

Happy Easter!