Chocolate Strawberry Earthquake Cake

Chocolate, strawberry & cream cheese baked into a delicious earthquake cake!

Chocolate and strawberry go together perfectly, so I thought I'd combine the two to make an earthquake cake for Valentine's Day!  Earthquake cakes are simple to make and one of our favorite types of cake.  We've made chocolate fudge, pumpkin, and red velvet too.  All of the combinations have been divine!  If you've never tried an earthquake cake, start with this Chocolate Strawberry one and treat your Valentine to something special.

Chocolate and Caramel-Cinnabon Skewers

One delicious way to top off Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls is to add caramel, chocolate and pecans!  These decadent Chocolate and Caramel-Cinnabon Skewers are the perfect way to indulge in a special treat.  All you have to do is bake the rolls, drizzle on some caramel, chocolate, icing, and then sprinkle on the pecans.  This makes for a quick, easy and delicious breakfast, dessert, or mid-night snack!

Wacky Cake (no butter, no eggs, no worries!) Made in the pan!

No butter, no eggs, no worries...Wacky Cake to the rescue!

In the mood for cake, but realize you're out of eggs or butter?  That happened to me the other day and then I remembered a recipe from my eighth grade home-ec class called Wacky Cake (or depression cake).  My daughter wanted to help bake this so we tried to make it as simple as possible; we changed a few ingredients and mixed it in the pan.  Believe me, you can't get any easier then this!  It uses ingredients found in your pantry and bakes up in half an hour.  I'm really surprised that I had forgotten about this for so many years, but no need to worry, it'll be on our dessert menu quite often and I hope it's on yours too!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Icebox Cake Recipe

Graham Crackers drizzled in chocolate then layered with fresh whipped cream and cream cheese; 

add sweet strawberries and repeat the layers for a simple and delicious icebox cake!

The warm weather is here and I love making no-bake desserts.  Strawberry Cream Cheese Icebox Cake is the perfect recipe for quick, easy and delicious!  It's put together in a matter of minutes, there's no baking necessary and it can be made ahead of time too.  It starts with graham crackers that are drizzled with chocolate syrup then fresh whipped cream, cream cheese and powdered sugar are mixed together and smothered onto the graham crackers.  I added some sweet strawberries and repeated the layers for the perfect icebox cake.  You have to let this sit for at least two hours, however the longer you do, the softer the graham crackers get. We tried ours after two hours and I liked that the crackers were still a little crunchy, however the kids liked it when they were softer.  Either way, it's delicious!

Peanut Butter Mousse & Brownie Tarts

Creamy peanut butter mousse on a rich brownie tart that's topped with a milk chocolate drizzle.

I love peanut butter and chocolate together; one of my favorite combinations!  The other day the kids wanted brownies, but I was in the mood for something with peanut butter.  I decided to make a peanut butter mousse then swirl it on top of rich, decadent brownies.  To top it off I took some milk chocolate, melted it down and drizzled it on top.  We made them into tarts so they are bite size and you can toss them right into your mouth!

Snickers Crack

Graham crackers, chocolate, toffee and nuts all swirled into one delicious no-bake dessert!

One of our favorite treats is homemade toffee and the other day I was getting ready to make some when I decided to add a few extra ingredients.  I'm happy to say that I ended up with this delicious Snickers Crack.  I started out with graham crackers, added a layer of toffee, added some nuts and covered it all with melted chocolate....the perfect combination!  I love how simple it is to make and all you have to do is break it apart and it's ready to enjoy. 

Chocolate Italian Love Cake

This delicious Chocolate Italian Love Cake is perfect for your loved one!

I love a good cake, and I also love when they look pretty too!  I've been wanting to make this Chocolate Italian Love Cake for quite awhile so I figured Valentine's Day would be the perfect time.  This cake is really simple to make, but the presentation looks like it took a lot of time and effort.  When you start out, you put the cake batter on the bottom of the pan with the cheese layer on top; while it's baking the layers magically switch!  Then you top it off with a rich mousse like frosting and it's pure heaven...simple, delicious and pretty!

Chocolate Fudge Earthquake Cake

Chocolate fudge, cream cheese, coconut and chocolate chips blended into one delicious cake!

I recently made my own version of Earthquake Cakes and I'm so happy how they turned out.  It started with a Red Velvet Earthquake Cake then a Pumpkin Earthquake Cake and now this Chocolate Fudge Earthquake Cake.  They are so simple to make and so delicious!  The combination of sweetened cream cheese, butter, chocolate chips and coconut go together perfectly then it's swirled into a rich chocolate fudge mix and baked into one beautiful cake!

Gooey Chocolate Toffee Butter Cake

Chocolate, toffee, cream cheese and butter all in one delicious cake!

When our life gets crazy I usually don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen so I'm always trying to come up with quick, simple & delicious recipes.  This Gooey Chocolate Toffee Butter Cake is one of them.  It starts with a cake mix then you swirl in some cream cheese, toffee bits, chocolate chips and butter.  While it bakes it mixes together and forms a gooey toffee ripple throughout the cake.  It's the perfect combination and you can whip it up in no time at all!

Easy Candy Bars

 

The holidays can be quite hectic and if you're like me, you have a lot of people to buy for.  I like to make sure that everyone knows how thankful I am for all that they do.  Every year I make a small homemade gift to show my appreciation; this year we're making personalized candy bars.  Even though it's a small token, I want it to be delicious so only a good quality chocolate will do!  One company I have come to love is Chocoley.

Chocolate Choc-Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

  

  

Has anyone told you they have the best cookie recipe?  I know I've said it and I think I do have some pretty delicious ones.  Well that all changed when my aunt made these Chocolate Choc-Chip Peanut Butter Cup Cookies for our family reunion.  I took one bite and fell in love!  I got the recipe, made a batch then another and another...they're addicting.  They start out with a chocolate and peanut butter dough, then you stir in peanut butter cups and chocolate chips.  They're soft on the outside, moist and kind of brownie like on the inside.  In my opinion, these are truly the best cookie I've ever made.  I'm so happy my aunt shared the recipe and now you'll get to enjoy them too!

Featuring You!

 

Spotlight of the Week!  

Welcome to featuring you!  Our Spotlight of the Week goes to Our Peaceful Planet for sharing Simple Halloween Clay Jewelry.  These are adorable and I know anyone would love wearing them this holiday season.  Our party this week was a huge success thanks to all of you!  Have a great day and I hope you enjoy the features.

Caramel & Chocolate Cracker Treats

 

 This post brought to you by Hershey’s®. All opinions are 100% mine.

Warm weather is here and that means more time outside.  I love finding recipes that don't keep me in the kitchen a long time because I'd rather be having fun with the kids!  One of my favorite recipes is taking simple ingredients and then turning them into something scrumptious without a lot of fuss.  These Caramel and Chocolate Cracker Treats are just that...simple, delicious and so simple to make.  You start out with the new LANCASTER Soft Crèmes.  They offer Caramel, Vanilla & Caramel, and Vanilla & Raspberry.... they are soft, creamy and melt in your mouth!   If you'd like to try them, now is the perfect time because they're offering a .75 off coupon on one bag.  These little caramels are delicious own their own, however I like to kick things up a notch so I turned them into a super simple dessert that can be made in a matter of minutes.  Plus you can make as many or as little as you'd like.  This is the time to reimagine your caramel! 

Chocolate Banana Nut Bread

 

Doesn't this bread look delicious?  My good friend Jane from Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms made it and she is graciously sharing it with us today.  If you don't know Jane you definitely need to stop over and take a look at her blog.  Jane and I met when I first started blogging and we've remained good friends ever since.  Her site is full of recipes, reviews, giveaways and she hosts a blog party every Monday: Melt in Your Mouth Monday.  She's one busy lady, and yet she's more then happy to help anytime you need it. 

Now let's see how she makes this beautiful bread...

Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

 

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream is a family favorite!  The bananas, chocolate and walnuts go together so well.  Since we love the ice cream and the flavor combination I decided to make a cupcake version.  I started with a banana cupcake and added in some chocolate chips and crushed walnuts.  To top it off I made a chocolate butter-cream frosting and sprinkled on a dash of walnuts to make it look pretty.  So the next time you're out of  Chunky Monkey ice cream, whip up a batch of these.  A delicious way to have that Chunky Monkey flavor any time you want!

Take 5 Brownie Bars

 

One of our favorite candy bars are Take 5, however where I live, they are impossible to find!  I have looked in every major store, the gas stations, little mom & pop shops, but nope...no candy bars! I looked on the internet and there are quite a few others who have this problem too.  If everyone loves them then why are they so hard to find?  So the other day I was craving one, and of course we didn't have any, so I decided to come up with something on my own and they sure did hit the spot!

Muddy Buddy Football Truffles

 

Our house loves Muddy Buddies!  When I make it, I do a great big bowl and usually it doesn't last the day...that's how it is when you have four kids; two of which are teenage boys!  With the game being this weekend I was trying to come up with snacks that were easy to make, didn't keep me in the kitchen long, and had to taste delicious.  So I decided to turn one of their favorite snacks into truffles, but not just any truffles...football truffles.  These were a breeze to make, they taste exactly like muddy buddies and they're perfect for your tailgating party...enjoy!

Featuring You!

Spotlight of the Week!

Welcome to Featuring You!  Our Spotlight of the Week goes to Turnips 2 Tangerines for sharing these delicious Peppermint Biscotti.  These would make a great addition to any cookie tray this year.  I hope you all got some ideas this week and enjoy the features!

Featuring You!

Spotlight of the Week!

Welcome to Featuring You! Our Spotlight of the Week goes to The Alchemist for sharing these adorable Dark Chocolate Cupcake Bites.  These look so cute and I love the addition of candy canes...so festive!  There were a lot of Christmas ideas shared this week so I hope everyone is getting lots of inspiration for the holidays.  

Chocolate (mayonnaise) Gobs with Peanut Butter Icing

 

I love a moist and delicious cake!  When I made these Gobs ( whoopie pies), I wanted them to be moist and delicious too.  So instead of oil or butter I decided to use mayonnaise.  Using mayonnaise keeps these very moist, however you can't taste it at all.  I never even told the kids until a week later and they had no clue!  I decided to pair these up with a creamy peanut butter icing and it was the perfect combination.  I don't like the icing to be too sweet, but you can add more sugar if you prefer.  This recipe comes together in a snap and you'll most likely have all the ingredients at home.