Bacon Jalapeno Bites

These are great to help balance out all of the sugar we have been eating this Valentine's season! These make a wonderful appetizer or snack on a movie night.


I found this recipe on thepioneerwoman.com; once again she has produced something amazing!

These only require 3 simple ingredients, and come together very quickly.  We served them at our New Year's party, and they were gone in no time at all.


Bacon Jalapeno Bites

• 10 whole jalapenos
• 1 pack of bacon, cut in half (you will only use about half a pack)
• 1 block of cream cheese, room temperature
• toothpicks

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F and cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
2. Cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds and membrane with a spoon (If you want some spice, leave some of the seeds and membrane behind)
3. Fill each jalapeno with the cream cheese
4. Wrap a half-slice of bacon around each jalapeno, and secure the bacon slices with a toothpick
5. Place the cookie sheet on the bottom rack
6. Place the jalapenos (cream cheese side up) on the upper rack above the cookie sheet (the cookie sheet will catch any bacon grease)
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bacon is fully cooked
8. Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles for Valentine's Day

Here is a quick and easy treat to give to someone special this Valentine's day :) I originally found these over on bakerella.com, but I think they originally came from the Kraft website.  These can actually be found all over the internet; they are so fun and easy to make!

All you need is a package of Oreos, a package of cream cheese, white chocolate candy melts (or white chocolate chips), and sprinkles!  I decorated mine with sprinkles, cinnamon hearts, and red candy melts.

If you don't have a food processor, you can throw the Oreos into a freezer bag and beat them with a rolling pin until they are fine crumbs.

If you need a quick and cute treat, make these soon! 

Oreo Truffles

• 1 package of Oreos
• 1 block cream cheese, room temperature (250 g)
• 1/2 to 1 cup white chocolate candy melts (or white chocolate bark or chips)
• sprinkles or decorations of your choice!

1. Throw about 3/4 of the Oreos (the whole cookie!) into a food processor and pulse until they are fine crumbs (or beat place them in a freezer bag and crush the life out of them)
2. Mix together the crushed Oreos and the cream cheese 
3. Roll the mixture into small balls (about 1" in diameter) and place them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper
4. When all of the mixture is rolled, place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes
5. While the truffles are cooling, melt the white chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each time to ensure it melts evenly
1. If the melted chocolate seems too thick to dip the truffles, you can mix some shortening into it to thin it out, about 1 tsp at a time
6. Remove the set truffles from the freezer and roll them one at a time in the white chocolate
7. Shake off the excess chocolate, and set the truffle back onto the parchment paper
8. Sprinkle or decorate as desired before the chocolate coating dries
9. Repeat until all truffles are done and let set before packing them up
10. Enjoy!

Mini Valentine's Day Cupcakes

Yesterday I decided to make some mini cupcakes. The primary reason? I felt my mini muffin pans were getting left out lately and as a result they needed some love.


Plus, who doesn't like mini cupcakes? You can eat 4 in a row, and not even feel guilty because they are 'mini'!

I used Martha's Mint Chocolate Cupcake recipe for these cupcakes, but made some changes based on what I had in my house.  I used vanilla extract instead of mint (also, I just wanted some tasty classic chocolate cupcakes sans mint), 1 cup of plain yogurt instead of buttermilk (I had an abundance of yogurt, and a lack of buttermilk in the fridge), and olive oil instead of vegetable oil (again, due to a lack of an ingredient in my pantry). 

Despite the changes, these were wonderful!  I actually think I will stick with the yogurt instead of the buttermilk because they had the perfect cupcake texture. The recipe makes about 18 regular cupcakes, and I made about 6 dozen mini cupcakes with it.

I topped these with a simple vanilla buttercream, and then decorated them with heart sprinkles, sanding sugar, and cinnamon hearts :)

2 dozen of this were sent home with my sister, 2 dozen were brought to work, and the remaining 2 dozen? Those are disappearing very quickly from my counter!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Valentine's Day on Monday!

Strawberry Buttercream

This is easily my new favourite icing to use when frosting cupcakes or cakes.  The fresh strawberry flavour is amazing, and it is really easy to make too :)


I used about half a pound (half a container) of strawberries to make this icing. If you are making this when strawberries are out of season (and therefore not as flavourful as they are in the summer), you can add a tablespoon or so of strawberry jam to help amp up the flavour.

This is amazing! It goes so well with almost all flavours of cupcakes.


Strawberry Buttercream

• 1 cup shortening or butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp butter flavour (if you don't have this, you can add a second tsp of vanilla)
• 1/2 cup strawberry puree (from about 1/2 lb of strawberries)
• 4 cups icing sugar
• extra milk or cream

1. Cream together the shortening (or butter) and the extracts
2. Add the icing sugar about 1 cup at a time, mixing well
3. Add the strawberry puree, and beat the icing until it is fluffy
4. If the icing is too thick, you can add some milk or cream a couple of teaspoons at a time until the desired consistency is reached
5. Spread or pipe onto your favourite cupcake or cake
6. Enjoy!

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

This past Sunday a beautiful little girl turned 1-year old! Her birthday party had a pink Hello Kitty theme which was a lot of fun to work with!

For the cupcakes I made Devil's Food Cupcakes, and Vanilla Cupcakes.  For the icing I made a vanilla buttercream and a tasty strawberry buttercream frosting.  The strawberries were so red and juicy, I didn't even need to use any food colouring to make the icing pink!

For the Hello Kitty shapes, I used a marshmallow fondant.  This was my first time making and working with marshmallow fondant, and it was really fun to work with!  I used Food Writer pens to colour on the faces, and I think they came together really well.

I hope the birthday girl enjoyed her cupcakes!