One Stitch Two Stitch

Sweet Treats - Apple Caramel Edition

The combination of apples and caramel is something that I've always loved. Whenever Halloween comes along, I always have the intention of making some caramel apples, but, sadly, I never get around to making them. Well, this year, there's no excuses! I've found a couple recipes (thank you Pinterest) that look really yummy. Here are several more caramel-apple-inspired recipes in case you'd like to skip the traditional candied apples this year.  This caramel apple recipe is simple and easy, and the end result looks sooo good! Another great option are these caramel apple cupcakes that uses fresh, diced apple folded into the batter.

  This caramel apple popcorn uses caramel apple milky way minis. Enough said.

They're pint-sized, use apple crumble, and are perfect for a party. Get your trifle on here.

  Skip Starbucks and make your own yummy Apple Spice drink!

Have you any desserts lined up for this month? I'd love to hear from you. Talk soon, Sue

March Faves - Dessert Edition

I've had dessert on mind throughout this month. Here's an inspiring collection of baked lovelies from Flickr land!
1.Meringues (365), 2. Bluberry Crumble, 3. Donuts, 4. peach cupcakes, 5. Untitled, 6. Chocolate Chip Tiramisu, 7. patterned cake roll, 8.Italian doughnut holes, 9. mother's day cupcakes

Sweet Finds

So between my Tumblr and Pinterest homes, I've been coming across some insane recipes inspired by girl scout cookies to oreos to reeses peanut butter cups. Here are some of my favorites:

I'd never heard of Slutty Brownies until today, but the name says it all. It has no shame, it's sinfully decadent and proud of it. I'd love to know who came up with mixing brownie, cookie dough and oreos together . . .thanks! Find the from-scratch recipe here or the made-from-box-mix recipe here.

These Reeses Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes with an oreo crust sound a-ma-zing! I love the idea of bite-sized desserts. These are perfect for a dinner gathering or one of those desert-tasting soirees. Get the recipe here.

I don't know about you, but I'm addicted to the girl scouts' samoas cookies. They're the only cookie I ever get when girl scout cookie season opens, so for the off season these Samoas Bars seem to be a great substitute! Find the recipe here.

Let's make dessert for breakfast . . . no, seriously. I so want to try this, at least once in my life. I know, not the healthiest way to start the day, but just once, right? Make this Oreo-stuffed French Toast here.

Okay, I've got to stop, but I have to leave you with this last one: S'mores Ice Cream Cake. The recipe only calls for 7 ingredients and the end result looks heavenly (did you catch that slightly charred marshmallow!?). Find it here.

Poor Gal's Monkey Bread

 So I made some monkey bread and it came out delish! Here's my revised version. I call it "Poor Gal's" because it's a super cheap recipe that can be altered based on what you have at home!

Ingredients: 1 can of refrigerated biscuits (any brand)

1/4 cup of melted butter

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2 packet of vanilla pudding mix (it may be substituted for french vanilla, butterscotch, or banana)

 1/4 cup of chopped pecans (or walnuts, or peanuts)

1 tablespoon of castor sugar

Steps: 1) Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 8" cake pan with cooking spray. Mix butter, brown sugar and nuts. Pour mixture into pan and spread until it covers the entire pan's surface. 2) Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces. Dump all the pieces into a large plastic container and sprinkle sugar and vanilla mix. Cover container and shake vigorously to coat. Arrange pieces evenly into pan 3) Bake 15 to 20 min. or until top is golden brown. Let cool for a minute or so. Place a serving plate upside down over pan; turn pan and plate over. Tap several times to make sure that bread releases itself from pan. Serve warm.

To make it even more decadent, add a dollop of whip cream and enjoy!

Eggnog Bread Pudding Recipe (1 for you & 1 for me version)

 This is by far the yummiest bread pudding I've ever had and, to boot, ever made. Plus super easy to prepare. The recipe yields enough to make one for yourself and one to share. Enjoy!

Servings per pan: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 cups of eggnog (either regular or low fat)

3 eggs

3/4 cup of castor sugar

10 slices of raisin/cinnamon swirled bread

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Steps: 1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 8x4 in. foil baking pans. Set aside.

2- Using and electric mixer, mix eggnog, eggs and sugar on medium speed for about a minute; then add in vanilla extract and nutmeg, and mix for another 30 seconds. 

3 - Cube the slices of bread and add them to the eggnog mixture. Mix on low-speed for 30 seconds. Let the bread/eggnog mixture sit for at least 10 minutes (this lets the bread absorb all that eggnog goodness!) 

4 - Pour bread mix evenly into prepared pans and bake for about 40 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool for at least 20 minutes.

You can either enjoy this scrumptious pudding on its own or with a dollop of whipped cream.

Happy Eating!! Sue

Skinny Tres Leches Cupcake Recipe

  I'm a die-hard fan of Tres Leches or Three Milks Cake. Here in Miami, it's a very popular Cuban dessert and can be found just about anywhere. The dessert consists of a 6 egg-based cake seeped in a sweetened milk syrup and topped with merengue . . . absolute heaven but calorie suicide!

  I started thinking of a way to make my own version while lowering the calorie intake and prep time. This recipe is quick, easy, and a yummy alternative!

Ingredients:

1 box of white cake mix/  3 eggs / 2 tablespoons of applesauce/ 1 teaspoon rum extract (optional)

 2 1/3 cups of milk (2% fat)/ 1 can of light condensed milk/ 1 can of evaporated milk (2% fat)/

 light or fat free whipped topping

Prep & Baking Time: 35 min.

Steps: 1-Preheat oven to 350 degress.  2- Blend cake mix, 1 1/3 cups of milk, eggs, applesauce, and rum extract. Just in case you're asking yourself why applesauce? Well the original recipe asks for lots of eggs but no butter however the applesauce will give your cake all the moisture it needs and has no fat! 3 - Beat at medium for 2-4 minutes and then pour the mixture into cupcake molds (pre-lined with baking cups)  4 - Bake your cuppies for aprox. 20-25 min., cool for 15 min., and remove cupcake liners. 5 - Make your milk syrup by mixing the condensed, evaporated, and remaining cup of milk together (hence the three milks!)  6 - Now the fun part, poke the top of your cupcakes several times with a fork. 7- Transfer your cupcakes to a deep dish and slowly pour the milk syrup over the cupcakes. Cover the dish and refrigerate for an hour. This dessert is meant to be served chilled, refrigerating your cuppies will also allow them to suck in all of that milky goodness.

Spoon milk syrup over your cuppie and top with whipped cream . . . enjoy this guiltless pleasure!

Sleep, Bake, Crochet

Not necessarily in that order, but I got a chance to do some of each through out Wednesday.

I added another repurposed jar to my little collection! This one has a crocheted flower pincushion on the jar lid.

Here's a peek at a new lap blanket I've been working on. So far, I have 2 squares made up of 4 tie-dyed suns (that 's what they look like to me!).

I've been working on and off for the last year and a half on this granny square blanket. I need about 300 squares. I've made about a 100, and I'm working on 45 new ones (just need to add the last round to these).

When I cut the 1st slice of my cake, I yelled, "And everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" (I'm a huge Elizabeth Bishop fan) because it was true, it was all rainbow and very yummy too! With school looming over my head (I go back next Monday), I feel like I'm racing against time to complete so many of my summer projects. I'll be working on a camera case today, so wish me luck! Are there any last minute projects you're working on? I'd love to see, so send me a link! Sue