Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

Happy St. Pat's day!!

I made some yummy treats to celebrate one of my favorite holidays.
These are super easy and sooo delicious.

Green velvet cake balls. Click on the pic...go ahead..I dare ya.























I took a white cake mix, added a lg pkg of vanilla pudding mix, and 1/4 C. chocolate powder and made the rest according to the package.
When it was cool I crumbled the cake in a bowl and added one container of cream cheese frosting and mixed it very well.
Then I formed balls and froze them
When they were cold enough I dipped them in chocolate and drizzled more chocolate on top.

So addicting.

You can do this any kind of cake/frosting mix or even oreo or nutter butter cookies. You don't have to add the pudding mix or the chocolate powder but I wanted to try it.

Cupcakes!

Mmmm, who doesn't love a good cupcake? Yesterday I spent two hours creating these for a contest. They all have various fillings and toppings.
I think I'm leaning toward the white cupcake with raspberry mousse filling and raspberry whipped cream frosting.
The kids all like the two with the cherries on top.

















Sorry for the horrible pic, I only had my phone. You can click on the pic to get a close up view.

We get to enter three since there are three Pastry Chefs at our location. Even if we don't win it was so fun creating such yummy cupcakes.

Sugar cookies

This is the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever tasted. I know because I make them every day. (wink, wink) these were published on G00d Thin@s Utah. They did a feature and there is a video showing how to make them.

The very best and biggest tip ever is...wait for it....roll out the dough between two cedar grilling planks. (One plank on each side of the dough). You never have to guess the thickness. They all roll out to be the perfect size no guessing and so fast. You might think they are too thick but trust me they are perfect.

For the recipe and video just click on the link. Oh, and I also put in almond instead of lemon flavoring in the frosting, but that is totally your call.

http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story/Kneaders-Sugar-Cookies/tE2aCurRMU6kN_GXt_f8Qw.cspx

Nutmeg is the secret ingredient in the dough. Just beware if you make them, I won't be responsible for how many you eat. They are amazing.

Banana cookies

This is the absolute BEST way to use old bananas. It's way easy and so much better than banana bread.


Banana drop cookies

1/2 C. softened butter
1 C. sugar
2 lg. Eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C. mashed bananas (2 med size)
2 C. flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 C. chopped nuts (optional)

Mix butter and sugar together and beat until fluffy, add eggs one at a time, add vanilla and beat well.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cloves.
Add to mixture alternately with the bananas.
Stir in nuts if you want them in.
Mixture will be slightly runny. Drop by teaspoons about 2 inches apart (they spread quite a bit) on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 10 min. Just until bottoms start to brown. They will look underdone on top. Remove immediately and frost when cool.
Banana frosting ( This is what makes them so good)

Stir together 2 C. powdered sugar, 1/4 C. mashed banana (1 small), 1 tsp. Vanilla, 2 T. softened butter. You can add more sugar to make the frost as firm as you like it. I like mine to be thin so it’s like a thick glaze.

I made mine a little big so I got about 2 1/2 dozen.