About Me

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Colorado Springs, CO
Hey Everyone!! I'm Erika. I'm a 28 year old, fashion loving, food blogging, midwestern girl! I grew up on hearty meals and enjoying the simple life of South Dakota. Ever since leaving home I have found a love for baking and cooking. I started this blog for my family and friends so that they can see how food blog recipes REALLY turn out. When I'm not too busy running the fashion world and have time for the blogging world, I will try to update the blog weekly. I am not a professional and probably never will be, so don't expect too much from me. :) I just love to have fun, get messy and make the simple things. ENJOY!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Filled Cupcakes

Mouthful, isn't it? :) I was blessed with another excuse to bake something wonderful for another birthday at work!

We have a local bakery inside our mall and every single day my mouth waters from the aroma that comes out of that store! Vanilla Almond, Chocolate, Carrot..you name it, I smell it! This became my driving inspiration for this recipe. I hadn't made cupcakes in FOREVER and this recipe seemed pretty easy, I had most of the ingredients (BONUS!) and I wanted my house to smell of fresh baked goods.

The recipe will make 3 dozen cupcakes! Do not make this if you aren't planning on sharing! :)


Ingredients:




for the filling:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

for the cupcake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups water
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Step One:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, egg, sugar and salt until smooth. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Set aside.




Step Two:
In a large mixing bowl or stand alone mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and coca powder.



Step Three:
Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla to powder mix. Mix on medium for 3 mins. 




Step Four:
Prep cupcake pans with liners. Fill cupcakes 2/3 of the way. Add 1 (ish) teaspon of cream cheese to the center of the cupcakes. (The more cream cheese the better! But make sure to save enough for all the batter!!)



Step Five:
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 mins or until the cupcake part can be poked and the toothpick comes out clean.

Step Six:
Let cool, completely, and ENJOY!!!


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Nutter Butter No Bake Gooey Bars

Back to school, at work, is getting the best of me! I barely have time to cook...let alone post! My apologies!! However, this quick and super tasty recipe is perfect for those times in life when you no time at all!

I made it for one of my teammates birthday's, yes another one (2 down 19 to go!!) and it was a complete hit! This would sure to be a hit at home too! From start to messy finish, this took about 15 mins! BONUS!

Ingredients:
1 package of Nutter Butter's
5 Cups of Miniature Marshmallows
4 Tablespoons of butter
Step One:
In a food processor, blend/chop cookies. Place into medium size bowl and set aside. (Note: When I bit into chunks of cookie, I liked it more. I wouldn't process mine so finely next time and would leave more chunks of cookies! :) )


Step Two:
In a medium size bowl, melt butter and marshmallows in microwave. Make sure to stir every 30-45 seconds until butter and mallows are well mixed.

Step Three:
Grease 8x8 pan. Combine cookies into the marshmallow mixture. Stir (with a very sturdy spatula) and pour into pan. Let set until fully cooled. Cut, serve and ENJOY!!