chocolate buttermilk cupcakes*

These cupcakes are simply chocolate heaven! I haven't made cupcakes for the students for the longest time, so I decided to kick off getting out of cupcake retirement with a bang! Who doesn't like chocolate on chocolate on chocolate?? No one I know. Except my husband. Except him. It hurts my soul.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes

from Baker By Nature

chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes*

It's about time that I shared this recipe with you guys! I have a rule. I never make the same dessert twice for the students. Although I have not broken this rule, I have made these for parent conference, a family dinner, a girls night out, and for a couple of my new neighbors! I think it's safe to say that I am obsessed with this recipe!

The only change that I made from the original recipe was that I thought cookie dough in the middle as well as a cookie dough frosting may be a little overkill, so I didn't freeze my cookie dough balls. I formed them and put them straight into the batter. A couple of times I put them in the fridge for a few minutes just so they weren't so sticky. I LOVE the cooked cookie in the middle with the yummy frosting! I'm looking forward to making these yet again hopefully in my near future!

Chocolate Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes
from Java Cupcake

cookie dough egg rolls*

I have been an active participant in the Biggest Loser competition going on at my work. I have been going at it since about mid-January, but I started my healthier eating diet plan and workout regimen since the day after Christmas. Although I have been doing OK, I have not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I have a sweet tooth unlike any other, not to mention that food is literally my career. The competition only goes until the end of April, so I really need to kick it into gear, and stop eating things like these cookie dough egg rolls!

A couple of weekends ago I really splurged, and needed a yummy dessert to end my horrible day of eating. I asked the hubs what he was feeling like, and I showed him some options that I had saved on Pinterest. He picked these cookie dough egg rolls. He is on a cookie dough kick these days, so this came to no surprise to me. They were pretty good, but I must say that I was a little bit disappointed. I think it is because the sugar in the dough was still really gritty, and that is not my favorite thing. Which reminds me, my least favorite part about Easter is Peeps. Those things are the grossest! I will not be indulging in any Peeps this coming Easter Sunday! Anyway, so if I make these again, I will definitely be creaming the butter and sugar for quite a bit longer. However, my favorite part of this dessert is the presentation! I think they would be so cute for refreshments for an event or wedding!

Cookie Dough Egg Rolls
from Pennies on a Platter

no bake nutella cheesecake*

Hello friends!! Yes, I am still alive! I am sure you all were wondering, since I took a 66 day break. I cannot believe it has been that long. Man, time flies when you are having fun (a.k.a. being crazy). Here is a quick update of what I have been up to for the last couple of months.

*The hubby and I went decoration shopping crazy and pretty much revamped our whole living room! Our colors are a subtle lime green, turquoise blue and brown. We also got a new bed and some cute decor for our extra bedroom, and it is seriously a million times cuter than our master! We are still using the furniture my mother-in-law got for 50 bucks at a yard sell when Landon was like 20. We're pretty cool like that.

*The whole month of February I taught cooking classes to every home at work! We made some custom calzones and red velvet chocolate chip cupcakes! The students did SO awesome, and their baking skills were killer! Each and every batch of cupcakes came out PERFECT! Oh, and their calzones! Their calzones looked seriously pro and could easily be served in a legit Italian restaurant!

*My newest hobby kept me busy for the last month or so. My new favorite channel is HGTV and I am obsessed with House Hunters. I was introduced to this channel when my hubby discovered it on our channel lineup, and he is probably regretting that decision at this point. Why, you ask? Because we are MOVING! It inspired me to want my dream home, and when I looked up houses in our area I discovered that we can easily afford my dream home! I am so excited I could cry! It took the hubby some convincing, but once we went and looked at our options I got him on my side real quick :). We found a house that won our hearts, put in an offer, and they accepted! So we put our house up for sale on Monday, and had an offer in by Tuesday night! I am so excited to be buying a brand new, never been lived in house in Spanish Fork, which is where we currently live. We are hoping to close at the end of April, so this month is going to be crazy with packing again. It has only been 6 short months since we moved last.

Do you want to know the highlights of this house, all in which are things that I have never had the luxury of experiencing since my very own home ownership??

1. There is a PANTRY!  A pantry people! Like, the things you put your food in! My whole married life my food went in every last inch of every last cupboard.

2.  The kitchen has granite countertops! And an island topped with granite countertops! Oh, how I love granite countertops!

3.  The house has AC. AIR CONDITIONING my friends! No more swamp coolers for me! No way, jose!

4.  There is a master bathroom with a walk-in closet! Currently my clothes are in the extra bedroom, the other extra bedroom, and the coat closet. The hubs gets the closet in our room because I'm nice like that :).

5.  Last, but not least, there is a huge big yard for Tankers to run in! And there is a door to the backyard, which means we won't have to carry him out every single time! It doesn't currently have a fence, but that is the first thing we are doing. Other than a fence and putting grass in the backyard (the front is already landscaped), we don't have to do a thing! We have always bought project houses in the past, so this is going to be weird.

Anyway, I have been quite occupied and my blog has certainly suffered! I don't think I have put up one new recipe from my "new" menus, that we have already been using for 2 months! This is bad news. But I am going to get to every single one of those, plus some others. Although, I do have one confession. I was in such a non-blogging funk that I made lots and lots of things and didn't even document the process! I deeply apologize, but I promise there is still lots of things to come.

These no bake nutella cheesecakes are not only amazing, but perfect for pretty much any occasion, whether it be fancy or casual. I made them for Valentine's Day for the students, and I have had many requests for the recipe since then, so here you go all ya'll!!!

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake
from My Baking Addiction

red velvet chocolate chip cupcakes*

No better way to ring in the New Year (I know I'm a bit late) then with an absolutely divine dessert! These little babies were dessert for the students last week, and were an amazing little treat (a.k.a. the last amazing thing we are going to eat for 3 months) for me and my staff before we started in on the Biggest Loser. I was excited that there were a couple left the next day so that I could devour one just before the weigh-ins. You may call it cheating, but I call it just another part of my cupcake top - or as everyone else calls it "muffin top".

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
from Gingerbread Bagels

peppermint fudge cupcake jars*

Are you in need of a last-minute neighbor or co-worker Christmas gift? Well don't you fret, because I've got your back! Not only are these little jars adorable and look so festive, but they are amazingly delicious! I have given these jars away for gifts for two years straight! I just love their presentation, but even more I love knowing that they not only look great, but taste great, too.

Peppermint Fudge Cupcake Jars
from Our Best Bites

peppermint kiss brownie bites*

Happy December! I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! This year I think we are going to be scrooge's and not even put up a tree. Not because we don't love our Christmas tree, but because right now our front room is still bare, and it would practically be the only thing in the room. It seems like a lot of work for it to just sit there all by its lonesome, without even any furniture for us to sit in to admire its beauty. We are buying each other couches for Christmas, however, so our room will soon not be so bare and next year I will definitely be more festive!

And I swear this year I am going to buy new tree decorations after Christmas when they are on sale! I have told myself that I was going to do this the last 2 years, but I think the hard part is where you won't even get to use them for almost a year. Doesn't make the shopping as much fun as if it would if you were to buy them right before. But this year is the year.

I am in LOVE with these peppermint kiss brownie bites! Only mine didn't really turn out to be 'bites'. I didn't make mine in a mini muffin tin, but in a regular-sized muffin tin. I made these for dessert for the students, and dessert is a really big treat since they only get dessert about once a week, so I figured they were appreciate a bigger 'bite'. And man, they did not disappoint! I could eat one of these every single day, especially during the Christmas season! You must make these for your next Christmas party or family get-together, or maybe just because it's a Tuesday. Whatever your reason, it's a great one if you have one of these little guys in tow!

Peppermint Kiss Brownie Bites
adapted from Picky Palate

chocolate pretzel bites*

So - today is going to be Thanksgiving for my little family. We actually celebrated last Sunday with my in-laws, and then Landon and I went to Chuck-A-Rama for Thanksgiving since we both worked. It actually worked out really well, because we get Thanksgiving 3 times in one week! And I'm not even sick of it. So even though I'm a little late, I am going to post an amazing recipe for stuffing that we are going to have for dinner tonight!

Question. Why do they call stuffing 'dressing'? And Miracle Whip 'salad dressing'? I am confused by all of this, and when people call these things by their alternate names I am picturing Ranch for both items. Is anyone with me??

So, in case you are wondering where I have been for what seems like forever, well - I was kitchenless for the majority of this week and last. You see, my house was tore up from the floor up - literally! We went on "vacation" a couple of weeks back, and that started a whole slew of projects. The husband and I really have a hard time relaxing, so we spent the majority of our vacation painting our house. Which led to days of painting/2-toning/touching up. This led to us wanting to get our hardwood floors redone - which led to everything crammed into the kitchen while the 3-day floor refinishing project begun. This led to our house being unlivable there for a couple of days - man, that stain is STRONG! And the projects continue on. Today my hubs and father-in-law are putting up new baseboards, while my 'Thanksgiving' dinner is cooking away. Whew, it makes me tired just thinking of our last few weeks. I will post pics when the transformation is complete!

These cute little chocolate pretzel bites I found on Pinterest, and naturally was dying to try. *WARNING* do not leave in the oven for more than 1.5 minutes. I am being serious right now. The first batch I made I left in for about 3-4 minutes, and the chocolate hardened right up and fell all apart. It was a sad moment. Seriously, 1.5 minutes MAX and you are good to go!

On the picture on Pinterest they used round pretzels. I am probably just blind, but I couldn't find them anywhere. So I settled on normal pretzels, and although they didn't look as perfect, they still turned out cute, and most importantly YUMMY!

Chocolate Pretzel Bites
as seen on Pinterest

mini chocolate trifles*

Back in the day I would make a chocolate trifle in my trifle bowl with chocolate cake, pudding and whipped cream (not homemade at that point. I wasn't that fancy when I was 15). It was one of my favorites that I made on several occasions. Awhile back I needed a dessert for one of the sports banquets that was being held for the students, and I wanted something that looked fancy, tasted great, and wouldn't take me all day. I decided to try and make some little individual chocolate trifles!

I wanted to be able to cut a little circle into the cake to put in the bottom of my little glass, but just knew that any old chocolate cake would probably fall apart the minute I tried to take the circle out of the pan. Then it dawned on me. Sponge cake! Honestly, I had never made sponge cake in my life, but it just HAD to stay together. It's like sponge - right?? Well, the end of this story ends fabulously, and my sponge cake came right out of the pan just as expected! The day of the banquet was the day that I went to Taylor Swift, and I had to leave early and was so stressed that I was leaving everyone hanging that I didn't even remember to try a trifle for myself, but I heard that they were very delicious! And I just loved the presentation!

Mini Chocolate Trifles
Serves 6

chocolate chip cookie cheesecake*

If you are having a hankering for something sweet, this is it folks! I am absolutely in love with the presentation of this dessert, but it's the amazingness of it's sweet being that takes the cake - literally. It might even be too sweet for some, but even if you just take a bite or two, I promise you won't regret it.

If you would like to make it in one 9" springform pan, instead of 6 mini pans, the bake time will take about 20-25 minutes. It might even take longer, because I have made this twice (yes, twice in one week - get off my back) and it still was pretty doughy in the end - even after 25 minutes. So just a heads up, in case you are making this in a rush. Plan accordingly :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake
from In Katrina's Kitchen

strawberry cream puff marshmallow kabob*

Remember the strawberry cream puff kabobs that I made here? Well, these are exactly those kabobs, only with a yummy marshmallow added into the mix! Not only is it a delicious addition, but I love the contrast of colors that the marshmallows add.

All you need are some strawberries, cream puffs (I got mine from the frozen section), marshmallows, semi sweet chocolate chips. and some skewers.

Skewer the strawberries, cream puffs and marshmallows in any order your little heart desires. Over a double boiler (or in a microwave safe dish if you prefer that option), pour about 1 cup of chocolate chips and stir until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate over your skewer of delicious goodness.

Set aside for 5-10 minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened. Now eat your little heart out!

*as seen on Pinterest*

-alyssa*

s'more pops*

I am fresh from a mini vacation to St. George, and I must say that it was just what I needed! September was a CRAZY month, and I am so happy that we all made it through. But I have never been more excited to go somewhere where I didn't have to think about work and could truly relax. And relax we did. Both days we slept in until 11:00, and took a 2 hour nap on Friday. Then we went and saw The Help (SO GOOD!), and ate at our favorite breakfast spot, Bear Paw, twice! And that's it folks. That is all we did. A whole bunch of nothin. It was amazing!

And now we are back to the real world. Wish our mini vaca could have lasted a little longer, but work awaits us. Oh, and did I mention that Taylor was so fun?? This is the first concert I have ever been to with the hubs. He even liked it! She sang and played acoustic the song "Animal" from Neon Trees (since they are from Utah) and it was SO GOOD! My favorite song that she sang. But I loved how she learned to play that song so that she could sing it here and only here. That is so cool! LOVE her!

And again I continue with my s'mores obsession. I loved these s'more pops. And man, are they easy! Seriously. I wish cake pops were as easy to make as these little guys. And they are equally as delicious. We served these at our parent conferences last weekend, and they disappeared very quickly!

S'more Pops
from Gimme Some Oven

red velvet brownies*

Tomorrow I am going my first concert in about 6 years! Back in the day, I was a big fan of Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and of course - *NSYNC. Well, I am still a fan of all of them, but I went to Keith twice, Kenny three times, and *NSYNC only once, but that was my first concert and will forever be embedded in my memory. I hate to admit it, but I used to be absolutely obsessed with the teeny bopper boy band. Like - internet stalking, every-TV-show-that-mentions-the-group recording, book collecting, poster hanging, and truly thinking in my young brain that Justin Timberlake would fall in love and marry me one day - kind of obsession. However, I was 12 so I'm OK with it :).

Anyway, on to the concert that I am attending tomorrow. The hubby and I are going to Taylor Swift! Oops, don't tell him I told you. He said that he will go if no one finds out, but we all know I am not going by myself - so sorry honey! You are ratted out! I didn't used to like Taylor. I don't really know why. But then something happened. Now I just cannot get enough! I love that she writes her own music and says it like it is. She doesn't care if she just flat out calls someone out in a song. She just does her thing. LOVE her!

These brownies were another one of the goodies that I made for parent conference. They were a huge hit and I am getting requests for the recipe left and right! So here you are all ya'll!

Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Smells Like Home

peanut butter pretzel bites*

Boy oh boy, do I have a long list of recipes that I need to share with you all! We had our parent conferences this week and we got pretty creative making different snacking items, if I do say so myself! To give you an idea of what you have to look forward to, here is what I can think of off the top of my head.

*these amazing peanut butter pretzel bites - delish
*red velvet brownies
*orange creamsicle fruit dip
*veggie cups
*s'mores on a STICK
*caprese kabobs
*pumpkin pie dip

And more! We best start from the top. Although my picture isn't that fabulous and doesn't even begin to give these little guys the justice they deserve, they are pretty darn amazing! I had compliment after compliment, and everyone was dying to know the recipe! I did tweak the recipe slightly. The original recipe called for brown sugar, and I replaced it with graham cracker crumbs. I wanted them to have more of a Reese' peanut butter cup consistency. I think it was a good choice!

So, without further ado, I am pleased to announce the secret ingredients to the calorie-free and guilt-free (of course) peanut butter pretzel bites!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
adapted from Two Tiny Kitchens

s'more cookie bars*

I love making different versions of s'mores as much as I love Pinterest - which is where I found this yummy recipe! I have yet to have an official "over the fire" s'more, so I need to fill that void by making every s'more recipe possible! I think I am doing a pretty good job :)

S'more Cookie Bars
from Baked Perfection
as seen on Pinterest :)

dark chocolate cake*

We made this cake for one of the students' birthdays. They wanted a dark chocolate cake, with cream cheese frosting and topped with some Reese's and Oreo's. Luckily some of the cake got stuck to the bottom of the pan, so I got a little smidgen of a taste, and it was amazing! I was excited that this chocolate cake didn't call for coffee, because a lot of chocolate cake recipes do. I added some cocoa powder to the cream cheese frosting, then added some swirlies to the side and topped the cake with the candies. I think it turned out super cute!

Isn't it precious??

I saw the swirly idea somewhere, but I can't remember where. Probably Pinterest. I really cannot get enough of that site. I haven't ventured to anything but the food and drink section. I spend so long just looking at all the goodies that if I were to look at anything else my husband would probably trade me in for a more fun and exciting model :).


Dark Chocolate Cake
from allrecipes.com

2 cups boiling water

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

-alyssa*

cookie dough brownies*

I have been contemplating what to make for dessert for our parent conferences that are coming up next week, and DING DING DING - I think we have found a winner! I have seen cookie dough brownies on a few food blogs here and there and have always wanted to try them. However, I don't think I was prepared for the deliciousness that was about to enter my life. The cookie dough is really soft, and then having a fudgy chocolately brownie as the "crust" - BRILLIANT! If any of my readers are going to be around during parent coference - you absolutely must grab one of these!

Cookie Dough Brownies
from The Daily Herald

chocolate waffle iron cookies*

I'm back!! To blogging anyway. I really didn't go anywhere, but I have been SO busy! I have two new employees that joined our little kitchen family and I am looking for a third! We have had a few openings over the last couple of weeks, and it made work pretty crazy there for a minute.  But we already have some pretty awesome new additions, Katie and Ashley, and we already love them both! Welcome to Heritage, girls!

So - remember when I was talking about possibly buying a new house here?? Well-BIG NEWS! We are MOVING! We found this cute house in Spanish Fork to buy so that we could rent it out, and decided we liked it so much that we are going to live there! We have already rented out our house and we are moving at the end of the month. I don't know where we will find the time to pack up and move and work almost everyday, but somehow, someway, we are going to make it happen!

I made these cookies the other day because all of the directors were having a LONG meeting and I knew we would need something to get us through. They were a hit! The meeting started at 9:30 a.m., and we decided that since they were made in a waffle iron that they are basically meant for breakfast, so everyone dug in.

I don't even remember the first time I had these cookies. My mom has been making them for years, and then I took over when I was old enough to make them myself. They kind of remind me of a brownie or piece of cake, because they are just so chewy and chocolaty. And they look so fun since they are made in a waffle iron! Your kids/family will LOVE them!

Chocolate Waffle Iron Cookies
from Unknown

brooke's best bombshell brownies*

I am having dessert blogging withdrawals. I don't know if I have ever gone this long without posting a dessert, so even though I have a ton of "meals" to put up, I just NEED to put up a dessert :). I mean, who doesn't like dessert?

So, my hubby recently had a breakthrough. It is so great, yet so awful all at the same time. He LIKES dessert as of late. This is my dream come true! But then again, now we are making brownies and big cookies and eating ice cream. If you haven't noticed I have not mentioned my "healthier eating" lately. That's because, even though I try my hardest, I still end up eating something everyday that I really shouldn't. It has always been harder for me to eat good at work because there is everything there! And we are constantly making cupcakes and I'm surrounded by fruit roll-ups (my weakness) and other amazing things, but at home I never have anything around because if there is anything around I will "have" to eat it all by myself - and heaven forbid something sweet go to waste :). Now - not the case. Landon will eat it with me. Which means we have amazing desserts around because that's all I can think about until I make it and then we eat it and....AHHHHH!!!

So - Landon has been liking brownies lately. We have just gotten the boxes of brownies at the store a couple of times because I have been super lazy, but then one day I decided to make my own. I found this recipe on the internet and they looked pretty amazing, so I whipped them right up and topped them with ice cream! They are pretty yummy! They taste just like a box mix to me, which is fine because I think those are pretty good. However, when I ate a piece the next day I wasn't the biggest fan - even after I heated it up in the microwave. They were a little hard and not as gooey and amazing. So my suggestion would be to make sure you are going to finish them when they are fresh that same day. Other than that, I have no complaints. And of course, as you can see, I definitely made these at my house because the pictures are all shadowy and horrible! SORRY! Oh, and I halved this recipe because I did them in a 9x9 pan so that I didn't end up eating a whole cake pan of brownies mostly to myself!!!

Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies
from Allrecipes.com

1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gradually stir in the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick come out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Enjoy!*

-alyssa*

better than anything cake*

I am SO excited to have my first post as Croutons and Cupcakes!!!! Why the change, you ask? Well, Cundy's Culinary Creations is SO LONG, and just to rattle it off to someone that wants to look at it really turns into quite the ordeal. First of all, I always have to end up spelling it out because Cundy is not very common. Second of all, there is just so much going on in that title that some people have a hard time spelling it exactly right so that it will work when they type it in. So yesterday I came up with Croutons and Cupcakes!

For those of you that know me, croutons are my absolute FAVORITE food! Yes, that's right - I cannot get enough of that savory stale bread. In my earlier years when I lived with my parents, my mom would shop at Sams Club and would buy the jumbo bag of croutons. I literally ate them out of the bag like chips. Cannot get enough. And it should be pretty obvious where the cupcakes come in play. My blog posts are definitely not lacking in the cupcake area. I just LOVE the things!

So welcome everybody to Croutons and Cupcakes! I am also really digging the new layout! It is so stinkin' cute! Anyway, let's get to this amazing dessert.

So I wanted to start off my first post as Croutons and Cupcakes with none other than a dessert. Surprised? I didn't think so. If you have never tried better than anything cake (a.k.a. better than sex cake), you are surely missing out. It is one of my very favorites. I have been thinking that I need to make it into a cupcake at some point, so be on the lookout for that!

Better Than Anything Cake

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix + ingredients called for on the box
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups caramel topping
1 pkg. whipped topping (or make homemade - that's what we did :)
1 pkg. Heath toffee bits (you can find them by the chocolate chips at the store)

Mix and bake cake according to the directions. Set aside and let cool.

While the cake is cooling, mix sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping in a medium saucepan. Heat over low heat just until the two are well combined. Remove from heat and set aside.

With the end of a wooden spoon poke holes in the cooled cake. You don't have to be exact about your holes, but make sure there is a good amount so that the caramely milky goodness can seep through.

Pour the caramel/milk mixture over the cake so that it goes into the holes. After you have filled all of the holes, continue pouring over the rest of the cake so that it is well covered. Put the cake in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

After cake has completely cooled, spread the whipped topping evenly over the top. Then sprinkle on the Heath toffee bits.

EAT UP - and try not to eat the whole thing in one sitting!

So moist and sweet and chocolaty and crunchy and creamy - I just don't even know. This cake is the epitome of AMAZING! Oh, and by the way, my next post will mark my 100th recipe! Pretty big deal if you ask me :).

-alyssa*