Guava Bread Oven-Baked French Toast

After buying some Guava Bread from La Tour Bakehouse at the local farmers market, I decided it would be the perfect color for Valentine's Day French Toast!

The aroma was amazing, and the kids absolutely loved this special breakfast treat (since usually they just eat cereal or toast).

The best part is that you can prep it ahead of time, and in the morning you just bake it!

You can use any type of sliced bread, but the guava bread really adds a nice flavor (and color!).

Guava Bread Oven-Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c butter, melted
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 8 slices La Tour Bakehouse Guava Bread (or 12 slices regular sandwich bread)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 c milk

Directions

• Spread melted butter on 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan.
• Arrange bread in two layers over brown sugar mixture (cut slices as necessary to fit).
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Pour mixture over bread. 
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
• Bake in the 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for approximately 30 minutes.  

You can find the original recipe here on Allrecipes.com.

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No-Bake Valentine's Day Chex Mix

No-bake recipes are the best - they usually involve a low number of ingredients, they normally call for staple ingredients that any recreational baker should have on hand, and once you combine the ingredients, you're done!

I found an easy and delicious no-bake Valentine's Day-themed recipe that's sure to WOW the special someone in your life tomorrow on Valentine's Day on Livingwellmom.com.

What you'll need:
1  family size box of Rice Chex cereal (or about 9-10 cups)
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup of white chocolate chips
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup of milk chocolate M&Ms
1/4 cup sprinkles

Melt butter, white chocolate chips and peanut butter in the microwave or stovetop

Pour mixture into bowl of chex mix. Gently stir until evenly coated.

Put half of the chex mix into a zip lock bag. Add powdered sugar, seal bag and gently shake.

Remove chex mix from ziplock, place on lined baking pan and allow to dry.

Add M&Ms and sprinkles to the remaining half of the chex mix

Then combine both batches of chex mix together.  And you're done! 

There are many ways to package up your chex mix to give away as a gift(s).  I decided to use mason jars that I saw at Target. A pack of 10 jars was only $9!

 I used baker's twine to tie a Valentine's Day card to each one.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Bark

I bought a huge jar of cookie butter from a local warehouse club store, and I've been searching for cookie butter recipes.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Bark, and since it looked so simple, I decided to make some.

Spreading the cookie butter filling onto the chocolate was a bit more difficult than I had expected (I had to use my hands), but the end result was divine!

I even had some Pinot Noir Sea Salt that was gifted to me at a California Pizza Kitchen event, so I sprinkled some on for color.  This would make a fabulous Valentine's Day treat!

My husband said it was one of the best treats I've made recently.

Salted Chocolate Cookie Butter Bark

Ingredients:

• 3 c chocolate chips, divided
• 1 c cookie butter
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 2 T butter, softened
• 1 t Hawaiian Sea Salt

Directions:

• In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 1/2 c of chocolate chips in microwave on high for 90 seconds
• Spread evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 
• Place in freezer for 30 minutes.  
• Meanwhile, mix together the cookie butter, powdered sugar, and butter.
• Spread the cookie butter mixture over the frozen chocolate.
• Melt remaining 1 1/2 c of chocolate chips in microwave on high for 90 seconds, then pour over cookie butter mixture.  
• Sprinkle on sea salt.
• Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes before breaking into pieces.

Original recipe can be found here on Wine & Glue.

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Chocolate Heart Sugar Cookies Recipe

Over the weekend I bought way too much Valentine's candy, so to make sure I didn't eat all the candy up by myself, I decided to make Chocolate Heart Sugar Cookies.

They're basically sugar cookies (I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com) with a heart candy stuck in the middle.

Easy!

 I also made some rolled in sprinkles in the spirit of Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Heart Sugar Cookies Recipe (sugar cookie recipe credit Allrecipes)

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 c butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla extract 
• 48 chocolate heart candies, unwrapped
• sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 
• In a separate medium bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. 
• Beat in egg and vanilla. 
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients. 
• Roll dough into balls (approximately two teaspoons worth), and then sprinkles (optional), then place dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
• Immediately place chocolate heart in center of each cookie.
• Cool on wire racks.

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Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies Recipe

These Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies are perfect for Valentine's Day!  I found the recipe on a box of Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix - they are super duper easy to make!

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies (recipe credit Duncan Hines)

Ingredients: 

• 1 package Duncan Hines® Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 6 T butter, melted
• 1 t  lemon zest
• ½ c confectioner's sugar
• ½ t cornstarch

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. 
• Combine all ingredients except sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl.
• In a separate small blow, blend sugar and cornstarch,
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar mixture. 
• Bake 8 to 9 minutes on parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Cool for a minute on pan before transferring to a wire rack.

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How To Make Sweetheart Cupcakes

I enjoyed the fun dessert ideas in the book Custom Confections Delicious Desserts You Can Create and Enjoy by Jen Besel so much that I had to try another one.  Her step by step instructions take out the guesswork and also don't require any fancy equipment.

Her recipe for Sweetheart Cupcakes uses two cake mixes, but I decided to use one and add food coloring.  I followed the instruction on the cake mix box and then separated 1 1/2 cups batter.  I added food coloring and then baked in a 8 inch square pan.  Because the layer is pretty thin, it didn't take long to bake.  

I let the cake cool and then cut out my hearts.  I was able to cut out about 12 hearts. 

     

Add about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner.  Then place a heart in the center and cover with more cupcake batter.    

Bake at 350 degrees.  The recipe said 24-26 minutes, but this was too long for my oven.  I just checked the cupcakes with a toothpick making sure it came out of the cake clean.  Top the cupcakes with a nice buttercream and enjoy!  Make sure you cut the cupcakes along the heart so the heart can be seen.  Otherwise, the center won't resemble a heart.  Super cute cupcakes just in time for Valentine's Day!

 

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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so why not make these Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies?

I found the recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction.

It's a cake mix recipe, so it's super easy!

You do have to be sure to not over bake the cookies or they will start turning brown.  A few of my cookies did start to turn brown, but they still tasted great!  I enjoyed the strawberry flavor.  My kids loved the cookies as well, but my husband thought they were too sweet.

These cookies definitely make a great treat for Valentine's Day, or any day!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe slightly adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction)

Ingredients:

• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 1 t baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 c vegetable oil
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F. 
• In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. 
• In a separate small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla.
• Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to form a dough.
• Mix in the chocolate chips.
• Drop rounded balls of dough (approximately 2 tablespoons) onto parchment-lined baking sheet. 
• Bake for 10 minutes. 
• Let set for two minutes on baking sheet then transfer to cooling rack.

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