Yellow cupcakes

It's not every day that I get an American holiday off from work.  A day off where others have the day off, and make BBQs and have pool parties and general day-off fun shenanigans.  Sometimes I make it to the tail end of the festivities after my day of work.  But no, not this year!  This year the stars aligned, and not only did I get Labor Day off, I even got invited to B's friend's home and had a BBQ.

So what to do I do when I'm invited somewhere (just about anywhere?!)?  I bake.  And bake I did.  And it was exceptionally momentous because I christened my new Kitchen-Aid!!  It was sitting on the kitchen counter so lonely for over three months, since we got married, just begging to be used.  And today was it's lucky day!

I bought some super cute red, white, and blue star sprinkles for whatever treat I baked for our Labor Day BBQ, and I ultimately decided on cupcakes because, well, cupcakes are fun BBQ food, and I also haven't baked cupcakes in what seems like forever!  I was going to use my go-to yellow cake cupcake recipe but I couldn't, for the life of me, find my cake flour.  So I set off onto the internet to find a yellow cake recipe that didn't use cake flour.  I found it in the form of Brown Eyed Baker's yellow cake, which I turned into cupcakes.

One thing I'll say about these cupcakes is that they rise a lot, so filling them 2/3 of the way like I did with my first batch yielded cupcakes that overflowed a bit.  I filled them about 1/2 way for the second batch, and they didn't overflow.  I recommend filling them halfway -- with my first 18 cupcakes being filled 2/3 of the way and the rest being filled 1/2 way, I got 28 cupcakes.  My guess is you'll get closer to 33 to 3 dozen if you filled them all 1/2 way.

Yellow Cake Cupcakes
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, cupcake directions by me

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Set aside.

Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.
Beat in vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients all at once.
Beat on low speed until just combined.
Add the buttermilk and beat on low for 1 minute.
Increase speed to medium and beat for 3 additional minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.  I recommend filling them halfway....more than that and mine overflowed.  You may need to bake them in two batches.
If filled 1/2 way, as recommended, bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the came comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pans.
Remove, and place on wire racks.

Cool completely before icing.

Use the icing of your choice.  I went with this vanilla icing.  

Pipe icing onto cupcakes.
Top with sprinkles of your choice, if desired.

Sugar cookie bars with flower buttercream

I came across a sugar cookie bar I really wanted to make, but didn't have sour cream at home.  We won't talk about the fact that I was at Trader Joe's earlier today -- before I found this recipe -- and reminded myself I wanted to get sour cream in case I made chocolate cupcakes later.  Great reminder, since I left the store without it!

But I digress.

I couldn't make the original sugar cookie bars I wanted to make, but that didn't stop me.  A quick internet search yielded a few other bar recipes (one used cream cheese, which I also didn't have), and I ended up choosing one from Lauren's Latest (remember those recent to die for chocolate chip cookies?  Yeah, those were hers, too, so I knew these bars had to be good!).

I made one and a half times the recipe for the icing, though, because I bought myself a little birthday gift today.  Well, really a few.  I've been eyeing those Russian flower piping tips for a while, and today at the baking store I bought myself 2 sets of them!  I decided that these would be the perfect decoration for the sugar cookie bars, and after I made a HUGE amount of frosting, I divided it up and dyed it different colors, so that I could have a flower garden on top of my sugar cookie bars!  Now all I need to do is perfect my icing leaves!

Sugar Cookie Bars with Flower Buttercream
Recipe from Lauren's Latest, Icing decorations by me

Ingredients:

For the Cookie Bars:

1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour,
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

For the icing (remember, I 1.5 times'd the recipe, listed below is the original recipe):

1/2 cup softened butter
1 pound powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3-4 Tablespoons milk
Sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchement paper.
Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Stir in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
Whip until fluffy.
Scrape the sides and stir again briefly.
Stir in remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
It won't come together as a dough initially, but if you can grab a handful, it should hold it's shape.
Spread dough into prepared pan and press down evenly.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool completely.

Make the frosting.

Stir all ingredients together until smooth and fluffy, except for milk.
Start by adding 3 tablespoons of milk and work up from there until frosting is the desired consistency.
If making bars as I did, continue below at the *.
If making the bars as intended, Spread icing over cooled cookie bars.
Add sprinkles if using (if you can believe it, I didn't use sprinkles this time).
Cut into bars and serve.

Funfetti muddy buddies

Birthday treats are continuing with these funfetti muddy buddies.  Interestingly, this is the 3rd installment of my birthday treats, and it's also the third sprinkle-laden treat of my birthday treats (and the 4th birthday treat, if you include B's birthday galaxy vanilla fudge!).  I guess #sprinkles(reallydo)makeeverythingbetter -- even more so when they're fancy sprinkle blends!

Just be warned: These muddy buddies are HIGHLY addictive.  Like insanely can't-get-my-hand-out-of-the-bag, walk-back-into-the-kitchen-even-though-I-walked-out-because-I-needed-to-stop-eating-them addictive.

Go ahead and make them.  Just don't say I didn't warn you....

Funfetti Muddy Buddies
A JulieBakes original!

Ingredients:

6 cups chex (I used all rice chex, but any plain chex flavor, or a combination, would work)
12 oz vanilla candiquik
4 Tbsp sprinkles/sprinkle medley
3 Tbsp nonpareils, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Place cereal in a large bowl.

Melt CandiQuik in it's tray (or a microwave safe bowl) and microwave in 30 second increments.
Stir.
Continue microwaving and stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.

Pour melted CandiQuik over cereal.
Stir carefully to coat it.

Immediately 4 tablespoons of sprinkles and 2 tablespoons of nonpareils.
Toss/Stir to coat.
Next, toss on the powdered sugar and mix until coated.
Toss last tablespoon of nonpareils.

I placed mine on a wax paper lined baking sheet so that the CandiQuik could dry.

If you feel that yours need a little more powdered sugar, add 1 tablespoon at a time until all of the muddy buddies are coated in powdered sugar.

Funfetti sprinkle cookies

When something isn't broken, you really don't need to fix it.  But play around with it a little, make some modifications, and make something different-but-similar?  That's totally OK!

See, I loved the flavor and texture of those heavenly chocolate chip cookies I made a week or so ago (and also a few months ago...you can read about it here), but I wanted to make something a little more *festive* for my upcoming birthday (although I'm not so excited about the actual day...you can read about that here).  So I thought FUNFETTI!  But, although I've seen recipes for chocolate chip funfetti things, I didn't want chocolate chips to overpower the flavor or pretty colorful specks of sprinkles.  So I opted for a funfetti/sprinkle cookie, and left the chocolate chips out.

The only question?  How much many sprinkles should I use?  A cup seemed way excessive (but it's only half the volume of the chocolate chips), but I definitely wanted a pop of color!  So I started with 1/3 of a cup of sprinkles and went from there...eventually I ended up with 2/3 cup sprinkles.

Funfetti Cookies
modified from Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sprinkles

Directions:

Stir melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined.
Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Mix until light in color.
Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Scrape the sides of the bowl and the bottom really well to ensure the batter is well mixed.

Hand stir the sprinkles into the batter.
Let dough stand for 20 minutes to let the flour soak into the rest of the batter.

Preheat the oven to 325 while the dough is resting.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop cookie dough onto prepared pans using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop.

Bake 10-11 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking (I totally skip this step.....shhh!).
When you take the cookies out of the oven, they will look cooked around the edges and undercooked in the center.

Leave the cookies on the hot baking pans for 5-7 minutes or until you can remove them without falling apart.  I let mine completely cool on the baking trays.
Place onto cooling racks.
Cool to room temperature before storing in airtight containers.

Birthday Cake Fudge

I hate to admit it, but I'm a little bit depressed about disinterested in my birthday this year.  I don't know why; I can't put my finger on it, but I just am.  (And I know that I have so much to be thankful for.  I'm just not digging this birthday.)  You know what's making it a little bit more tolerable?  Baking.  So, despite being depressed about my birthday, I'm going to be making treats in the ten days leading up to my birthday.  And I'm actually going to post them on time (that's my birthday present to you!).

First up is this.  Birthday cake fudge.  Because I've been eyeing it for a while, and wanted to make it for B's birthday last week (I made him this galaxy vanilla white chocolate fudge instead, because vanilla fudge is his favorite kind of fudge).  Plus, I ordered a huge shipment of adorable Sweetapolita sprinkles for B's birthday and I've been dying to use them all (I used the galaxy ones for B's birthday fudge).  And because it's called birthday cake fudge, and it is, after all, almost my birthday.

I absolutely loved the way Sweetapolita made her fudge look, with the thicker white chocolate layer on top of the semisweet chocolate "crust" that I made it her way -- and posted the recipe that way, too.  If you want to make it the original way (even white chocolate and semisweet layers), go to the link below and follow that recipe as is.

Birthday Cake Fudge
from Sally's Candy Addiction by way of Sweetapolita

Note: even if you love nonpareils as much as I do, they aren't recommended to mix into the white chocolate layer as their color can bleed.  They are, however, perfectly acceptable to sprinkle on top of the fudge (in copious amounts, if you so choose....which you should.  Just saying.).

Ingredients:

Chocolate fudge layer:

1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 of a 14 oz can of full-fat sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp marshmallow creme

White fudge layer:

3 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup + 2 Tbsp (1 14 oz can) full-fat sweetened condensed milk
4 Tbsp marshmallow creme
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup (not nonpareils) + 2 Tbsp sprinkles (nonpareils are OK for this portion), rainbow or any color, divided

Directions:

Line an 8x8" square baking pan with aluminum foil (I used a 9x9 inch pan since I STILL don't own an 8x8" pan), leaving enough overhang on the sides to easily remove the fudge once it has set.
Set aside.

Make the chocolate fudge layer:

Combine the semisweet chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and marshmallow fluff/creme in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Stir constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon as the chocolate chips melt.
Once the mixture is smooth and the chips have melted, remove pan from the heat.
The mixture will be extremely thick.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Smooth down the top to make 1 even layer.
Set aside.

You can either wash, dry, and reuse the same saucepan for the next layer or use a new, similar-sized saucepan.

Make the white fudge layer:

Combine the white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, marshmallow fluff/creme in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat.
The mixture will be extremely thick.
Stir in the vanilla extract.
Once fully combined, very gently fold in 2/3 cup of the sprinkles (remember, no nonpareils here!).
Do not stir too much or the color of the sprinkles cold bleed.
Pour on top of the chocolate fudge layer.
Smooth down the top to make 1 even layer.
Decorate with the remaining 2 Tbsp sprinkles while the fudge is still warm and wet.

Cover pan with aluminum foil.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set -- or you can let the covered fudge sit out at room temperature overnight to set (I don't recommend this during the summer months in NYC....).

Once set, remove the fudge from the pan by lifting out the foil.
Invert the fudge from the pan and onto a cutting board, peel away foil, and turn the fudge back over (or you can just lift it out of the pan, and peel the foil back, like I did).
Using a large sharp knife, slice the fudge into 1 inch squares.  If the fudge is too firm, allow it to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before cutting.

Galaxy vanilla fudge

It's been a LONG time since I've posted anything on this blog, and I have no one to blame but myself.  I've even been baking (a little), I just haven't been posting.  There have been lots of reasons, and I can list them for you if you really want, but frankly I just need to be better about posting.  I mean we did get married 6 weeks ago, we had guests in from out of town, and we've been trying to get the apartment in order.  But today, I'm turning over a new leaf.  I'm going to be better about posting.  I'm even going to go back and post some of the treats I've made between my last post and today.  But first let's talk about this...

Let me tell you about this fudge.  I saw it posted as unicorn fudge.  I wanted to make unicorn fudge.  I even bought all of the ingredients for it a while ago.  And then they sat.  But see, my husband's birthday (I still can't get used to saying that, my husband!) is in 3 days, and I wanted to make a treat.  But my husband probably wouldn't want unicorn fudge, so I changed it up a little.  I used these awesome new sprinkles I just got -- which are aptly named Galaxy Twinkle Sprinkles -- which I figured were more "manly" than unicorn sprinkles.  I used the original purple color that they recommended, but any color would work.  I even thought about swirling a few colors, but figured I'd start off simple.  I'm pretty sure I'll be making this again, so I have time to test out all of my new theories!

The best part of this fudge?  It's vanilla white chocolate.  And B loves vanilla fudge!

It's also super easy to make.  Like one bowl, straight into the pan, and then chill.  Easy peasy.  And delicious, too!

Vanilla Fudge with Sprinkles
Recipe from Sprinkles for Breakfast

Ingredients:

24 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Purple food coloring (you can use any color, really.  I went with purple gel coloring, and used 4 drops to get the shade of purple I liked)
Sprinkles -- lots of sprinkles.  I didn't measure mine out, I just shook and shook until the entire top of the fudge was covered.

Directions:

Prepare an 8x8 inch pan with parchment (I used a 9x9 inch pan since that's what I had).

Place white chocolate, heavy cream, and vanilla extract into a microwave safe bowl.
Melt in 30 second intervals, stirring between, until smooth.

Add in a few drops of purple (or whatever color you choose) food coloring.
Keep adding until you get the desired color.

Pour into prepared pan.
Smooth with a knife or an offset spatula.

Add sprinkles.
Press lightly into the fudge.

Place into the fridge for at least an hour.
Cut into squares.  I recommend small squares -- it's super sweet!

Let fudge come to room temperature before serving.

Funfetti cookies

It's been a while since you've heard from me.  Like nearly two months.  I blame a lot of things.  There was the absence of me baking during the Whole30 (plus the 10 day reintroduction, which no one really seems to mention until you finish the Whole30 and then go "wait, what?!  I still can't eat most of those foods for the next. ten. days?!").  There are the full weekends devoted to wedding planning.  And there was Passover.  And a weekend away with my girlfriends for my bachelorette party, and one at a conference in Boston.  Oh, and I got strep somewhere in there, too.  Oh, and I have an actual full time job?  Right, there's that, too.  Anyway, I can blame a lot of things.  But the thing I need to blame the most.....is me.  I could've found the time to bake, and share the goodies with you, but I just didn't.  I have no one to blame but myself.

But....

Things are getting festive and celebratory around here in JulieBakes-land.  Like we're getting married in 38 days.  Thirty.  Eight.  Days!!  That's just over a month, people!  And because when things get exciting and festive, I like to bake.  And because I like to bake festive things for celebratory events, I decided to use sprinkles because, well, they're festive, and frankly #sprinklesmakeeverythingbetter.

Enter the funfetti cookie.  Chock full of not only sprinkles but also nonpareils (the recipe called for a total of 5 tablespoons....I rounded up), these cookies scream "PARTY!!!"  Because, we're getting married soon!!!!

** Update: I made these cookies three times.  The first time I was unimpressed with the way they looked, but they tasted great.  I made them a second time, but didn't refrigerate the dough as the recipe stated to.  The third time I made them was for guests we had coming over, three days after the wedding! **

Funfetti Cookies
Recipe from Sugar Spun Run

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 2/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sprinkles -- I used 4 Tbsp
2 Tbsp nonpareils -- I used 3 Tbsp

Directions:

Place the butter in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave in 15-second intervals (stirring between) until butter is completely melted.
If the butter is too hot, allow it to cool for a few minutes before the next step.

Stir in the sugar.
Add eggs and vanilla extract.
Stir well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet, until completely combined.
Stir in sprinkles and nonpareils.

Transfer bowl of dough to the fridge.
Allow dough to chill for at least 30 minutes.  Once, I skipped this step.  Another time, I chilled the dough but then let it come to room temperature before baking it.

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Once the dough has chilled, scoop in into 2 Tbsp-sized balls (I rolled them and then slightly flattened them, so they were like a thick disc).
Place at least 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 1 minutes (I took mine out after 11 minutes, so watch them).  The cookies will still seem slightly underdone; this is OK, they will continue to cook on the cookie sheet as they cool.

Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet before enjoying.

Cream cheese sugar cookies -- two ways!

The holidays are rapidly approaching (or at least it seems that way), and with Channukkah and Christmas falling at the exact same time this year (remember Thanksgivukkah, when Channukkah fell on Thanksgiving?  Just to jog your memory...), I have double baking duty: Channukkah treats for my family, and Christmas treats for my doormen and favorite baristas.

So I started early this year.  I was thinking of making my butter cookies or even cut-out sugar cookies, but then I came across this recipe for cream cheese sugar cookies, and I thought that they just sounded perfect (and they were).  But here's the thing -- this recipe makes a TON of dough.  So much so that I ended up freezing half of it and still got an insane amount of cookies.  Like, I shouldn't have been surprised -- the recipe called for over 5 cups of flour!

Knowing my antsy and unable-to-delay-gratification self, and not wanting to wait at least 2 hours for the dough to chill. I went ahead and used the soft, fresh dough to make spritz cookies - i just added a few nonpareils on top before baking.  They held their shape and they were delicious.  I packaged them up (after a little sample for each of us) for B to bring to work, since I knew I'd be making more of the dough later in the form of cut-out cookies.  After (not so) patiently waiting for the dough to chill (and baking another kind of cookie....don't worry, they'll be up soon), I went ahead and made adorable little cut-out cookies in hearts and stars.  These cookies would really be awesome decorated with royal icing, but I was pressed for time, so I drizzled these with white chocolate and then sprinkled a few more nonpareils on top.  But remember that dough that I froze for later?  Yeah, those'll be decorated with royal icing.

Those other cookies, you must be wondering...what are those?
Well, my friends, those will be up shortly.... :-)

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
From Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:

1 8oz brick of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups of butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
5 1/4 cups flour

Nonpareils for decorating

White chocolate, for drizzling

Directions:

If making spritz cookies, preheat oven to 350F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Scrape sides as necessary.

Add sugar and beat for an additional 3 minutes.
Mixture should be fluffy and pale in color.
Turn mixer to medium-low.
Add in egg yolks, vanilla, and salt.
Mix until combined.

Turn mixer to low.
Slowly add in flour.
Mix just until all flour is incorporated.

If making cut out cookies, wrap dough in disks in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Continue below at the *.

If making spritz cookies, transfer dough to a cookie press or a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.
Pipe dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
Sprinkle with nonpareils or sprinkles. 
Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

* If making cut-out cookies, remove dough from fridge.
In portions, roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness on a floured surface.
Using cookie cutters, cut the dough.
Place cut cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.  If making smaller cookies, like I did, start checking them at 7 minutes.  My mini cookies took 8 minutes to bake.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

If icing cookies, wait until completely cooled before icing cookies.
I'll post my royal icing recipe when I post the decorated cut out cookies later.  

Drizzle with white chocolate and sprinkle with nonpareils.  
NOTE: Cookies can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Yellow cupcakes with strawberry buttercream, and a ghoulish surprise

Do you ever have those times, when you go to the store to buy ingredients you always see there, and that one time that you actually need it, it's not there?  Such was the case for me with freeze dried strawberries.  Had I had the extra time, I would've gone to Trader Joe's, but I digress...Eventually, I got my hands on some just in time for these cupcakes!

But then in honor of Halloween, I went one step further, making a strawberry syrup to drizzle on top. I thought it would look spookily like blood!  You can skip the syrup entirely, and top them instead with a fresh or freeze dried strawberry slice for the other 11 months of the year.

Ghoulish Strawberry Halloween Cupcakes

I started these cupcakes with a half batch of the best yellow cupcakes ever.

Strawberry Buttercream
From Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

1 cup freeze dried strawberries
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Salt, to taste (I didn't feel that it was needed, so I skipped it)

Directions:

Using a blender or food processor, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder.
You should have about a 1/2 cup.
Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
With the mixer on low, add the confectioner's sugar, strawberry powder, cream, and vanilla.
Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes.
If it's too runny or thin, add an additional 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, and if too thick add 1 more Tbsp of cream.
Add a pinch of salt if the frosting is too sweet.
Frost cupcakes as desired.

Top with strawberry sauce (below) and bone sprinkles, if desired.

Strawberry Sauce
From The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

2 pounds of strawberries, hulled (I used frozen, unsweetened strawberries, since it's October, and they're super expensive right now)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 lemon, juiced (I didn't have lemon, so I used 1/4 cup water)
A couple drops of red food coloring (optional) -- I used it, since I wanted mine to look "bloody" for these cupcakes

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients (except the food coloring, if using) in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.
Bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.
Allow the strawberries to cook for a good 5 minutes, or until the strawberries are very soft (FYI, frozen strawberries take longer than 5 minutes).
Turn off the heat ans use a potato masher to completely smush them to a pureed consistency (I used an immersion blender -- super easy!).

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl.
Use a spoon to stir the mixture so the liquid is forced through.
Continue until most of the liquid is in the bowl.
Set aside the pulp, in case you want to add some back into the finished sauce (I skipped this part, since I wanted mine to be super thin for these cupcakes, but would add it in in the future for, say, an ice cream topping).

Skim as much foam off of the sauce as you can.
Pour the skimmed sauce back into the same saucepan and boil again for 3 minutes over medium-high heat.
This is where I added the food coloring.
Skim any more foam that has formed on the surface.
Allow the sauce to cool slightly before pouring it into a pitcher or jar.
Add back a little of the pulp into the sauce if you like the texture, or just leave it plain.

Serve warm over vanilla ice cream, or refrigerate it to thicken and serve it cold.  You can also reheat the sauce after refrigerating.

Or drizzle over strawberry cupcakes for a ghoulish looking treat!

Assemble the cupcakes

Allow the cupcakes to cool.

Pipe the strawberry icing onto the cupcakes.  I used a star-like tip (Ateco 885), since I wanted grooves for the sauce to run through.

Using a piping bag or squeeze bottle, apply the strawberry sauce to the tops of the cupcakes and allow it to run down the grooves in the icing.

Top with small bone sprinkles, if desired.

Additionally, if not Halloween, you can skip the bone sprinkles or the strawberry sauce (but really, why would you?  It's soooo goood!), and instead use a wedge or slice of fresh strawberry, a small strawberry, or a slice of freeze dried strawberry.  

Party popcorn

I'm off from work today, and as is true to form, it's raining.  I could be doing laundry, or cleaning for that matter, but I find myself in the kitchen.  The laundry and cleaning, I keep telling myself (and B!), will get done, eventually.  Yes, definitely in the near future...

But I digress.  See, after a quick trip to barre class and a Target run (they opened one in my neighborhood!), I came home and decided to start playing around with some ideas I had been saving.  Part of my Target trip was for Halloween candy because, well, they have such a good variety!  And while I had my eye on some yummy looking snack mix, I decided to start with something else.

Party popcorn.  Or Halloween party popcorn, as I'm calling this.

Here's the thing.  There are three ingredients.  Five, in my recipe, but frankly that's just because I used a combination of three different sprinkles.  Yes, I know.  Issues.  But still....three ingredients.  It comes together in seconds, and then you have the hard part -- waiting for the chocolate to set up.

And while I waited, I made a (half) second batch.  I swapped in orange candy melts for the white CandiQuik in the previous batch.  I thought about making a bunch of different colors, but I stopped at that, since I black candy melts on hand, as well as bright green.  Maybe later, but I thought the black candy melts could get a little messy.

And then?  Well, ladies and gentlemen, I went a little crazy!  I mixed the two batches together.  Yup, you read that right...And ended up with a perfect Halloween Party Popcorn Mix!

Enjoy!

Halloween Party Popcorn
From She Wears Many Hats

Ingredients:

6-7 ounces (by weight) white candy melts, melted (or sub in your favorite color, or chocolate) -- I used vanilla CandiQuik
8-9 cups popped popcorn, lightly salted
Sprinkles or nonpareils in your favorite color (I used Halloween colored nonpareils - I used a black/orange/white premix, a yellow/orange premix, and some additional white ones)

Directions:

In a large bowl or on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, gently mix the melted chocolate with the popcorn.
Don't be afraid to use your hands -- it worked the best for me!

Sprinkle the sprinkles on before the chocolate hardens.
Gently mix again -- don't be afraid to use those hands!! -- before the chocolate hardens.

I went a little crazy and added some more sprinkles and then remixed.  Because sprinkles make everything better, so more sprinkles make everything even better! :-)

Halloween nonpareils

I had so much fun making my rainbow nonpareils recently!  So when I decided to start working on some Halloween treats, I decided that Halloween colored nonpareils would be just the thing to get me into the holiday spirit!

You could have so much fun with these!  Mix up the colors of the sprinkles (I had wanted to use a combination of orange, yellow, and white nonpareils but had these instead...so, in true JulieBakes fashion, stay tuned for those soon!), or the chocolates themselves.   Why not try white chocolate or dark chocolate?  Have some leftover candy melts?  Black or orange would work!  And of course, you can always make different sizes, too!

The amounts listed below are rough estimates -- half it, double it, use a bigger tray -- but should just help guide you through the process of making them!

Halloween Nonpariels

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Halloween colored nonpareil sprinkles (mine were black, white, and orange.  Yellow, orange, and white would work nicely, too)

1/2 cup milk chocolate melting wafers

Directions:

Line an 8x8" or 9x9" pan with wax paper.
Gently pour the nonpareil sprinkles into a thin layer at the bottom of the pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each.
Make sure not to burn the chocolate.
Let the chocolate cool a little so it is not HOT to the touch.

Spoon half of the chocolate into a piping bag.
Cut a small hole at the opening.

Moving quickly but carefully -- be careful to not hit the pan and move the sprinkles -- pipe little (or larger, your call) dots of chocolate onto the sprinkles, leaving a small space between them.

When the entire layer or sprinkles is covered with chocolate dots, carefully place the tray into the fridge.
Let the chocolate harden.

In the mean time, remove all the chocolate from the piping back and place it back into the bowl.

Once the candies are hard, remove them from the sprinkles and place into a ziplock bag or airtight plastic container.
Redistribute the sprinkles into a thin layer, adding more if you need (the sprinkles go a looong way, and I always end up having extras without ever adding any).

Melt the chocolate again
Repeat the steps above until all the chocolate is used up (or, frankly, you get bored...).

Nonpareils

I had the day off.  The usual activities for me on my day off are an early morning (OK, 9 a.m., but still, it's my day off....) barre class followed by errands and a walk, and then some baking.  Today I made some hand-piped milk chocolate nonpareils.  Because, really, why not?  I was just playing around in the kitchen, so I don't have exact measurements for you, but I do promise the next time I make them, I'll be sure to give measurements.  I promise!

The thing I like about these is that you can make them in different sizes; large, small, mini (like the ones I made).  And also different colors!  How cute would pale pink and white be for a baby shower for a little girl?  Orange, black, and yellow for Halloween?  Pink, red, and white for Valentine's Day?  Green and gold for St. Patty's Day?  The list could go on....and on....and on!  Or, you could play around with the chocolates you use.  I went with milk this time.  White and dark would also be tasty.  Or what about a trio?  I'm thinking those would be super cute favors for said baby shower...Or even different colored "chocolates."

Rainbow Nonpareils

Ingredients:

Chocolate, either chocolate chips or wafers such as Mercken's or Wilton Candy Melts
Rainbow nonpareil sprinkles.

Directions:

Line an 8x8" or 9x9" pan with wax paper.
Put a thin layer of nonpareils on the bottom of the pan.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each.
Make sure not to burn the chocolate.
Let the chocolate cool a little so it is not HOT to the touch.

Spoon the chocolate into a piping bag.
Cut a small hole at the opening.

Moving quickly but carefully -- be careful not to hit the pan and move the nonpareils -- pipe little (or larger, your call) dots of chocolate onto the sprinkles, leaving a small space between them.  I made them about the size of chocolate chips.

When the entire layer of nonpareils is covered with chocolate dots, carefully place it into the fridge.
Let the chocolate harden.

In the mean time, remove all the chocolate from the piping bag and place it bag into the bowl.

Once the candies are hard, remove them from the sprinkles and place into a ziplock bag or airtight plastic container.
Redistribute the sprinkles into a thin layer.
Melt the chocolate again.

Repeat the steps above until all the chocolate is used up.
Add more sprinkles as needed.

Birthday chocolate lollipops

Festive treats are always fun, especially for birthdays.  And sprinkles?  They're definitely festive!

So, while scrolling through my (wayyyyyy too many) photos on my phone earlier today, I came across a screenshot from just over a year ago (I tend to take a screenshot when I see something interesting that I want to make or go back to at a later date).  It was for a chocolate and sprinkle lollipop that I just thought was adorable.  So when I had leftover chocolate and lollipop sticks in the apartment later on, I knew I had to test these out!  

I had so much fun making these.  I used about six different sprinkles (mostly sprinkle mixtures I had bought, plus some rainbow regular and nonpareil sprinkles). And when I had made them in milk chocolate but was having too much fun to stop there, I went on and made them in white chocolate, too!

These would be really fun to make for different holidays, using specific colors or themed sprinkles....looks like I may have my work cut out for me!

Chocolate and Sprinkle Lollipops
Adapted from a photo I saw from SugarHero

Ingredients:

Chocolate wafers, such as Wilton or Mercken's
A variety of sprinkles

Other tools needed:

Wax paper
Lollipop sticks
Piping bags

Directions:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, in 30 second increments, mixing between each.
Make sure not to burn the chocolate.
Let the chocolate cool slightly so it's not too hot to the touch.

Place wax paper onto a flat baking sheet with a lip.
Lay lollipop sticks on the wax paper about 4 inches apart.

Spoon the chocolate in to a piping bag.
Snip off the end so that only a very small hole is there.

Working quickly, start piping chocolate over the end of the lollipop stick.
Start making circles going away from the end of the stick, but making sure that when completing the circles you make it touch the chocolate you piped at the beginning.
Once you're done piping the lollipop, immediately sprinkle the sprinkles over the wet chocolate, before it cools.

Then, move on to the next lollipop.
Repeat the stages above before making the next lollipop.

Once all the lollipops are made, place the tray into the fridge and allow the chocolate to harden.

Unicorn bars

Sometimes a recipe just calls to me, and I feel compelled to make it, even if I don't have a reason/event to make it for. I saw these "unicorn bars" a while ago and wanted to make them.  Time got away from me, and the other day I received a shipment of sprinkles (gorgeous, stunning sprinkles that I ordered from the amazing sweetapolita!) and realized they'd look stunning on these bars!

So I set out to make them.  I realized that my new sprinkles (given their varying sizes, textures, and make-up (some have sixlets (chocolate-filled candies) in them) probably wouldn't mix into the bars well, so I used rainbow sprinkles for the bars themselves, and topped them with the fancy sprinkles.  (And I had fun playing around with my macro lens for my iPhone and took these close-ups of the sprinkles!)

Basically, they're a glorified funfetti cookie base covered in vanilla buttercream (in fun colors!!) and then topped generously with beautiful sprinkles (I used a combination of 4 different kinds of sprinkles -- some regular rainbow sprinkles and 3 different pretty sprinkles mixes that I had bought [in even amounts, because I'm OCD], minus the few sixlets that I picked out and ate while I was making the icing.....but shhhh, no one else needs to know that!). 

These really are gorgeous bars, and super tasty, too!  I made sure to package up a bunch for B to bring to work this weekend, and some others for drinks I have dinner plans with for tomorrow evening.

Unicorn Bars
from Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:

For the bars:

1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I recommend crushing it between your fingers as you add it)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sprinkles

For the frosting:

1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk
Blue food coloring
Pink/red food coloring (I ended up using some pink and then a drop of purple to get a richer purple)
Sprinkles for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a 9 x 13" pan with foil, and coat the foil with nonstick spray
Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar.
Add in the vanilla, eggs, and salt.
Whisk until smooth.
Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour until just combined.
Finally, stir in the sprinkles.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges are set. 
The bars might seem underdone, but allow them to cool completely.

Make the frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter for 1-2 minutes until it's smooth.
Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar.
Next, add in 2 tablespoons of milk.
Mix on medium speed until it's creamy, scraping the sides as necessary.
If the frosting is too stiff, add in 1 more tablespoon of milk until the desired consistency is reached.
Finally, add in 1-2 drops of blue food coloring.
Mix until a pale blue color is reached and evenly mixed.
Remove half of the frosting and place in a piping bag.  I chose not to use a piping tip on it, but you can use any tip that you'd like.
To the remaining frosting in the bowl, add 1-2 drops of pink/red food coloring or purple (if you have) and mix again until a pale purple/lavender color is reached and evenly mixed.
Add purple frosting to another piping bag.

Pipe or spread the frosting on top of the bars.
The original blogger piped rich swirls of frosting on the bars before cutting them  I was afraid that it would get too messy, so I cut them and then piped a little dallop of either the blue or purple frosting on top.

Garnish with more sprinkles, if desired.  Definitely, definitely liberally apply sprinkles!

Note: If you pipe the frosting on the uncut bars, with glorious swirls as the original blogger did, you will need to double the amount of frosting.  If you pipe it as I did, half the frosting recipe should be enough, but I'd make a full batch of frosting depending on how big you cut the bars (mine were quite small, about 1 x 1").

Valentine's Rice Krispie Treat Sticks

The toasted marshmallow Rice Krispie treats I made a few months ago almost instantly became my most favorite Rice Krispie treat ever.  I've made them a bunch of times since (although I've spared you, except for this one time, since it would be so repetitive to tell you "I made these super awesome Rice Krispie treats.....again!"), but this time I decided to dress them up for Valentine's Day.  And since my mom's birthday is the day before and B's mom will be in town for the weekend, I decided I'd bring them along to my mom's birthday dinner, along with her favorite brownies.

Instead of cutting them into the regular square or stubby rectangle shape, I cut them into long skinny Rice Krispie treat sticks, and then dipped them into some white chocolate and some festive Valentine's sprinkles for a cute and tasty treat!

Toasted Marshmallow Rice Krispie Treat Sticks

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows (for some reason all the bags I've been finding lately have been 10 oz)
5-6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

White chocolate chips (or milk or semisweet or dark -- your choice) -- about 1 cup
Sprinkles, of your choosing

Directions:

Grease a 9x9 inch pan lightly with cookie spray.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat.
Continue cooking butter, swirling pan until it becomes a nice brown color (it should take about 5 minutes)
Remove from the heat and set aside.

Turn the oven on to broil.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Evenly spread the marshmallows onto the lined sheet.
Place the marshmallows under the broiler for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until the marshmallow are puffed and deeply golden.
WATCH THEM CLOSELY, as they can burn very quickly!

Lightly grease a rubber spatula with cooking spray.
Immediately scrape the marshmallows into the bowl/pot with butter.
Stir to combine quickly.
Pour the Rice Krispies into the toasted marshmallow mixture.
Stir to combine.

Press evenly into the prepared pan.

Allow to cool before cutting into sticks.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, to make sure that chocolate doesn't burn.

Dip sticks halfway into the chocolate.
Lift sticks and let excess chocolate drip off back into the bowl.
Place onto the prepared sheet and quickly place the sprinkles on the wet chocolate.
Allow to cool.

Spritz cookies

This fall, I signed up for my second The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  In case you missed my post last year, here's a quick rundown: It's really a fantastic event -- a cookie swap of epic proportions, so to speak.  The premise is this: sign up.  Get 3 matches emailed to you.  Bake 3 dozen cookies.  Mail 1 dozen cookies to each match.  Receive 1 dozen cookies from 3 bloggers who received your name as their match.  Blog about your cookies.  And the best part (the other best part, the best part besides receiving 3 dozen cookies mailed.  to.  your.  door!)?  Your $4 admission fee goes to Cookies for Kids' Cancer -- which really helps combine two of my passions: baking and helping kids (I am a pediatric nurse practitioner, after all!).

So last year I made some killer cranberry shortbread cookies.  They were awesome.  I actually made them four different ways, and ended up deciding the cranberry ones were the best.  This year I went with a classic spritz cookie.  A delicious crumbly not-to-sweet butter cookie that I topped with just a sprinkling of colorful nonpareils for a pop of color.  b and his mom were more than happy to be my taste testers for these a few days before I made my cookie swap cookies.  His coworkers were huge fans, too!

Spritz Cookies 
From America's Test Kitchen Step by Step Holiday Baking

Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cps all-purpose flour

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position.
Heat oven to 375F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Set aside.

Whisk egg yolk, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl until combined.
Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Scrape down bowl as needed.
Reduce speed to medium.
Add egg yolk mixture.
Beat until incorporated.

Reduce speed to low.
Gradually beat in flour until combined, scraping down bowl as needed.
Give dough a final stir by hand.

If using cookie press, follow directions on the press.  If using pastry bag, insert star tip and fill bag halfway with dough.  (I used different tips to make different shapes.)
Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle about 1/2 inch above the prepared tray.
Pipe cookies, spacing them about 1.5 inches apart.
Refill cookie press/pastry bag as needed.
Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until light golden brown, 10-12 minutes.
Rotate sheet halfway through baking.

Let cookies cool on sheets for 10-15 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Let cool completely before serving (or packaging up to mail ;-)).

Sugar cookie donuts

With tonight being the first night of Channukkah, and preexisting plans for tonight, I wanted to make donuts but didn't have the patience to try deep frying for the first time.  A while ago I had seen someone make donut shaped cookies and thought they were adorable, but was saddened to read that people who made them were unhappy with the way they tasted.

So I went on a google search and found these cookies, which looked good and pretty tasty, too.  I went a little crazy with the decorations because, well, why not?

Sugar Cookie "Donuts"
From Lovely Little Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extrat
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt (I was out, so I used sour cream)
2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp half and half (I used cream, and I needed more than 6 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used Dutch press)
1/4 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla extract instead)
Food coloring, if using
Nonpareils, sprinkles, other decorations

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and mix.
Add vanilla and almond extracts, and Greek yogurt.
Beat until smooth and creamy.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the batter and mix until combined.

Place tablespoon sized balls of dough into each section of a mini donut baking pan.
Press the dough around the donut mold, making sure to push it into the mold and to make sure that the center piece is visible.

Bake for 7-8 minutes.
All to cool for another 7-8 minutes in the pan before removing.
To remove, gently twist the donut to loosen the edges.
Turn the pan upside down and the cookies should come right out, if not, then give the pan a firm whack on the counter.

Make the glaze.
I wanted some chocolate glazed and some vanilla, so I did the following:
Place 1 cup of powdered sugar in 1 bowl with 1 Tbsp cocoa powder.
Add in 3 Tbsp of half and half or cream.
Mix well until you get a glaze-like consistency.
If too thick, add cream/half and half 1 tsp at a time to thin it out until you get the desired consistency.

In another bowl, add 1 cup of powdered sugar.
Add in 3 Tbsp of half and half or cream and the 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract.
Mix well until you get a glaze-like consistency.
If too thick, add cream/half and half 1 tsp at a time to thin it out until you get the desired consistency.

Dip the top of the cooled cookies into the glaze of your choice.
Allow the excess to drip back into the bowl before placing them on a cooling rack.
Sprinkle with nonpareils/sprinkles/decorations while the glaze is still wet.

You can also drizzle glaze on top of dipped cookies, as I did with some. 
Allow the dipped cookies to dry slightly.
Place contrasting colored glaze in a ziplock bag with a small corner cut off .
Drizzle icing onto cookies.

Salted browned butter Rice Krispie treat white chocolate cones

Remember when I made those poppable Rice Krispie Treats?  Well as soon as I made them, I had two simultaneous ideas.  One was that I should make them with browned butter, because it just makes everything better, and then other idea was "why not put them on mini ice cream cones?" because I thought they'd make super cute treats!

I'd say I was right, no?  I made these fall themed because it's pretty darn coool out today, and also because I had picked up these adorable mini leave sprinkles that I just had to use.  I chose white chocolate because I thought it would contrast with the fall colors of the leaves, but dark or milk chocolate would work just as well.

Rice Krispie Treat Ice Cream Cones
Loosely adapted from the poppable Rice Krispie Treat recipe from Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:

1/3 cup nonpareil sprinkles, in your choice of color or combination
1/3 cup sprinkles of your choosing (I chose mini leaves for fall)
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups mini marshmallows
Pinch of salt
2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
1-1.5 cups chocolate or white chocolate chips
18-24 mini ice cream cones, depending on the size of your Rice Krispie Treat balls

Decorations for the top could include:
Melted dark or white chocolate
More sprinkles
Red M&Ms (to look like cherries!)

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Set aside.

Place nonpareil sprinkles in a bowl.
Place other sprinkles on a small shallow plate
Set both aside.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat.
Allow butter to brown, watching closely so it does not burn.
Add the mini marshmallows into the melted butter.
Stir frequently until the marshmallows are melted and smooth.
Immediately remove from the heat.

Stir in the cereal.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Lightly grease your hands and form the Krispie Treat mixture into 1 Tablespoon-sized balls.

If using nonpareils, immediately roll each ball into the sprinkles, coating evenly (I skipped this part this time).
Place each ball onto the lined baking sheet.
Repeat the process with the remainder of the Rice Krispie Treat mixture.
Allow balls to set before proceeding.

Set up a rack so that mini ice cream cones can stand upright.  I find the best way to do this is to cut little "x"s in the ice cream cone box.
Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl until smooth, mixing every 30 seconds to make sure it doesn't burn.
Fill the cone with melted chocolate (you can skip this step if you'd like).
Dip the top 1/4 to 1/2" of the ice cream cone in the chocolate (it's OK if some of the chocolate from the cone drips out) and then immediately into the sprinkles and then immediately stick the cooled Rice Krispie Treat ball on top (it should stick because the chocolate is still wet....if not, just dip the bottom of the Rice Krispie Treat Ball in the chocolate and then affix it to the cone).
Leave upright and allow chocolate to harden.

Decorate with melted chocolate and more sprinkles and/or an M&M "cherry."