Chocolate Cake w/ Cream Cheese Egg Nog Frosting

I took my One Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe and tweaked it a bit. Instead of milk I used light Egg Nog and added about a 1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg to the batter. The batter smelled delicious and I added it to a well greased tube pan. It baked for about 45 minutes.

For the frosting, I used a block of fat free cream cheese, a cup of icing sugar, and a few teaspoons of Egg Nog. I spooned it all over the cake once it had cooled then added some snowflake sprinkles and some nutmeg. I love this chocolate cake recipe because it gives a nice fudgy moist cake.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate 'Candy Cane' Brownies

Christmas flavours are starting to appear. Here is an easy way to jazz up some brownies by turning them into candy cane flavoured brownies. All you need is a box brownie (or your own recipe) and PC (President's Choice) Candy Cane Cookies (or mint flavoured Oreos if you live in the states). Chop up about 10 cookies and add to the batter. Bake in the oven as directed on the box. Once they've cooled you can make a mint drizzle by taking about a cup of icing sugar and a few teaspoons of milk and green food coloring.

Tuna Casserole

Tuna Casserole

Here is an easy meal to throw together with just a few simple ingredients but it packs lots of flavour! All you need is some pasta, can of tuna, can of cream of mushroom, a few seasonings like parsley, thyme, onion powder, pepper, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Boil your pasta (I used egg noodles), season with salt, drain, rinse and return to the pot. Add cream of mushroom soup, tuna, and seasonings and mix well. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the mix to a glass baking dish (I used a glass pie dish for a family of 4). For the topping add some Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. If you don't have bread crumbs you can always crush up some croutons which is what I did. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. This is a great recipe to improvise and make your own!

Now, I have to say my husband is not a lover of mushrooms let alone cream of mushroom soup, but after eating this he didn't even know there was a mushroom in it and kept raving how tasty it was... until I told him I made it with cream of mushroom. Haha. I'm a sneaky wife like that. ;) \

Lemon Garlic Chicken Drumsticks & Potatoes

Lemon Garlic Chicken

In the mood for some lemon? Get your taste buds jumping with some lemon garlic chicken and potatoes. Really easy to put together too! Make your own marinade by adding about 1/4 of olive oil to a 1/4 or more of lemon juice with a few minced up garlic cloves and some dried rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper to a zip lock bag filled with chicken drumsticks or thighs (or both). Marinate overnight for more flavour. Grab a 9" x 13" glass baking dish and add sliced potatoes and pour the chicken from the bag over the potatoes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put some tin foil over the baking dish. This dish will take an hour to cook so at the 30 minute mark, take out the chicken and turn the pieces around. The scent of these delicious lemony soaked potatoes and chicken will fill your kitchen! Enjoy!

Before going in the oven. 

Stuffed Brownies

Stuffed Brownie 

I've started my Christmas baking and was very excited to try these little beauties out. These are simple and easy when you use a box brownie mix and the drizzle of peppermint icing brings out the candy cane flavour of the cookie in the middle. These can also be made in muffin tins with or without paper liners (be sure to grease the pan if not using liners).

All you need is:
Brownie Mix
Oreos or President Choice "Eat the Middle First" candy cane flavoured cookies

Directions: 
Follow directions on the brownie box (or use your own recipe) and cover the bottom of the tin or paper liner with some mix then add a cookie and cover with more mix. Bake as directed on box.

Glaze: 
1 cup of icing sugar
2-3 tsp of milk (or more to get a good drizzling consistency)
1/4 tsp peppermint or mint extract
sprinkles

For more stuffed brownie ideas... you can look at these neat sites:

http://pursuitofhippieness.com/2011/09/02/double-cookie-stuffed-brownies/

http://danasfoodforthought.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/oreo-stuffed-brownies/

http://ahensnest.com/2011/03/oreo-stuffed-brownies.html

This recipe has also been linked up to http://cookiesxo.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-wonka-wednesday_16.html

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

So many fun things you can do with your leftover Halloween candy! I settled for stuffing pieces of O Henry and Peanut Butter Cups into the infamous chocolate chip cookie recipe created by Picky Palate. I find the batter a little thick so I've had to add an extra egg and it has always turned out great for me. Also, I used a tablespoon of cookie dough for the top and bottom. After using up the chocolate, I crushed up a bag of regular potato chips into the leftover dough and added some mini M&M's which created a sweet, salty, and crunchy texture. These cookies are even great straight from the freezer. Here is the recipe!

http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!