Stolen Kisses Cake Balls

I decided to name these cake balls that because that was the name of the nail polish I was wearing when I made them, and I didn't follow a Pinterest recipe this time, so I can name them whatever I want. They are a pretty pink so I thought kisses should be involved in the name.

These are the cheaters version of cake balls, no making from scratch here. I basically just used what I had in my cabinet to make them. I was being cheap and didn't want to go out and buy ingredients. You could make these with any store bought cake mixes and icings, and wither chocolate or almond bark on the outside. Then you could put sprinkles on them or drizzle white chocolate on the chocolate.

Stolen Kisses Cake Ball

1 box store-bought strawberry cake mix

1 can store-bought strawberry icing

1 bag bittersweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon Crisco

1. Bake the cake according to the package directions in whatever size pan you see fit.

2. Let the cake cool and then put it in a large bowl and start to crumble it up.

3. Mix in the icing until all of the crumbs have been coated.

4. Roll the mixture into balls with your hands, or you can use a melon baller to do this.

5. Set them on baking sheets that are covered in aluminum foil and stick them in the refrigerator. If they don't harden they will be impossibly to put chocolate or almond butter over. Leave them in for about an hour or over night if you want.

6. When you are ready to take them out, melt your chocolate in a bowl in the microwave along with a tablespoon full of Crisco. Stir until it's smooth.

7. Put your cake balls into the chocolate use a spoon and be careful not to burn your fingers on the chocolate, it'll be pretty hot.

8. When they are covered put them back into the refrigerator to set. They should stay in there for at least an hour, or overnight.

Then, enjoy! They are delicious!

Mizzou Game Day Cookies

In honor of our last game against kU in Mizzou Arena, I made some cookies to bring to a little watch gathering down here in Alabama. I really didn't have much time to prepare anything and I didn't want to spend any money (I was planning on using the money to buy Jason Wu clothes...that turned out to be a bust. Target apologized to me online though.) So, I remembered that I had yellow cake mix in the pantry, and I made those red velvet cookies from cake mix once, so I figured the yellow color would be good for Mizzou. As we're black and gold and all. I mean, you could make these if you're an Iowa fan, Steelers fan, Alabama State University fan and so on.

Here's the recipe, it's the easiest thing ever.

Yellow Cake Cookies

1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 c. Crisco oil
1/2 c. sugar

Mix all ingredients. Roll out small amounts on pastry sheets. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 5-10 minutes.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter, but I think round would've been cute, too. Maybe pennant shaped if you're going to a tailgate. Basically you could shape them like anything. I had some bitter sweet chocolate chips hanging around so I melted those in the microwave, put the melted chocolate into a little plastic sandwich bag and snipped a hole in the corner. I used this to decorate the cookies with different phrases. See? they kind of turned out black and gold! Essentially, they were the cutest things I've ever made and apparently delicious. I ended up giving them all away at the end of the party because the dough made quite a few.

Gumbo

I totally cheated on this recipe. Seriously, it was the easiest and most delicious, possibly most fattening thing I've made so far. All you need to get is smoked sausage, I use Conecuh sausage that's made in Alabama, and it is unbelievably good. Then you just buy a box of gumbo mix by Zatarain's and read the instructions. For real, this is perfect. I actually had frozen okra hanging out in my fridge so I made that and put that in the mix.

I didn't actually realize that okra is slimy when you cook it, but really, slimy as in slime comes off of it. You can see the slime. It's like in the Princess and the Frog when she complains because she's slimy, but really she's secreting mucous. You know what I'm talking about? If you don't, go watch the movie, it's amazing. Actually, she makes gumbo in the movie now that I think about it...

The finished product was so so so good. I'm thinking of adding corn or peas next time with the okra, it just added so much to it. Try it out, you won't regret it.

Bacon Crescent Wraps

This recipe, found on The "Unworking" Mother blog, produces really delicious bacon-y treats. Unfortunately for me, mine turned out looking nothing like pinwheels. They actually were described at work as "bacon cookies." Which sounds gross, but considering they were always supposed to be savory it actually ended up being decent.

For the Alabama v. LSU game all my coworkers that worked late brought something and these were my contribution.

If you want them to look pretty, I'd recommend putting the rolled dough with filling in the refrigerator before you try slicing it. I just think my dough got too warm and I was too lazy to wait for it to cool off.

Bacon Crescent Wraps

Ingredients:
1 3 oz package of cream cheese, softened (or just just 1/2 a block - 4 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup real bacon pieces
1 8 ounce package crescent rolls
2 tablespoons chopped onion

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream cheese, bacon, onion and pepper. Separate crescent rolls into 2 rectangles. Pinch seams together. Spread cheese mixture on each rectangle. Roll up, starting at the longest side and seal. Cut each roll into 16 slices. Place on baking sheet with cut side down. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes:
For parties - I always double this recipe, sometimes I triple it - they go fast.
I usually buy bacon pieces in the jar (for salads). This saves time and mess from having to cook bacon.

Cookie Dough Bites

Made these little little guys last night. They are very delicious except that I'm pretty sure you can feel your thighs expanding every time you pop one in your mouth. I'm planning on bringing some to the Christmas Tea tomorrow held by the alumnae association of my sorority. Actually, I'm really supposed to make brownies, so guess I'll be bringing two things. Whatever, who doesn't like cookie dough? The answer is, unless it will kill you, everyone likes it. And this recipe won't make you sick because no raw eggs. I guess it could make you sick because of the amount of butter and sugar but if we try not to OD then I think it'll be OK.

Cookies Dough Bites

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour
Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, softened
1½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
6 ounces miniature chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well -- use your hands to get it together the best.
3. Roll into 1-inch balls.
4. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Dip in chocolate, drizzle with chocolate or eat as is -- equally delicious no matter what!
5. Let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
6. Store in the refrigerator.

Red Velvet Cookies

For this recipe I kind of cheated a little by using a box of cake mix. I found a recipe from scratch on a blog, but all of the reviews said it was lacking, and since I had a box of red velvet cake mix in my cabinet already, I figured I'd try to use it.

They really are delicious and a pretty dark red color, observe.

I obviously put Christmas colored sprinkles on the white half of the cookies so they look pretty festive. The one thing I would say about them, is that I waited the hour after I rolled the dough into a log and put it into the refrigerator. It didn't set as well as I think it should have. I'm sure it would've been fine if I had left it in over night, but I'm impatient. So, I ended up just cutting the log and then rolling it "slice" into a ball and pressing it down into a round shape. So the edges were a little ragged and some of the cookies are different sizes, but that doesn't really bother me.

Red and White Velvet Cookies from Duncanhines.com

Cake:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 box Duncan Hines® Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Dip:

• 2 bars (6 oz. each) white chocolate premium baking bars, broken into pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

1. Melt butter; set aside to cool. Place cake mix, egg, cooled butter and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until well blended and dough is formed.
2. Form dough into a smooth 12-inch log on wax paper or parchment making sure it is even in thickness end to end. Wrap in wax paper; seal in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets. Unwrap dough log and set on wax paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into 48 slices about 1/4-inch thick. Place on cool baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
4. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in center of oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
5. Make dip by placing pieces of baking bar in small, DRY, microwave-safe bowl along with shortening. Microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir to blend. If needed, continue to microwave in 30-second intervals. Blend each time. Avoid overheating.
6. Dip each cookie into chocolate to coat half of cookie. Place on wax paper or parchment-lined sheets and refrigerate about 15 minutes or until dip is set. Store in airtight container with wax paper or parchment separating layers.

7. Tips:

1. For best results, bake only one sheet of cookies at a time. If two are baked at time, rotate sheets midway through baking.
2. For variation, top white chocolate with chopped pistachios or pecans, crushed peppermint candies, crushed pretzels, praline crunch, colored sugar or other cookie decorations before it is set.
3. Do NOT thin white chocolate with butter, margarine or water. Moisture will cause the chocolate to seize or tighten.
4. Place melted white chocolate in a freezer-weight zippered plastic bag. Snip a very small hole from bottom corner and drizzle white chocolate over top of cookie in place of dipping half of cookie.