Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

I think these are dessert tonight with Bacon Spaghetti and Salad

From: http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2010/04/mini-maple-chocolate-chip-pancake.html

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

More maple syrup for dipping

Preheat oven to 350.

Generously grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.

In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup, and melted butter until just combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on top of the muffins before placing in the oven. Fill cups about 2/3 full and sprinkle with reserved chips. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Let cool slightly and remove from pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.

Serve immediately with more warmed butter and/or a small bowl of maple syrup for dipping.

Warm Cinnamon Vanilla Bananas & Spiced Bananas

Here are two banana desserts that everyone but me can enjoy (I'm allergic but they sound good.)
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2011/02/25/warm-cinnamon-spiced-bananas-guest-post/

Warm Cinnamon Vanilla Bananas
These banana slices are perfect over creamy vanilla ice cream

as a topping for hot oatmeal, fresh granola or even as a stand alone treat.

They are quick to make and easy to serve.

All it takes is a few simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand:



Cinnamon, Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Butter and Bananas — chances are, if you’re reading Karly’s blog, you have 4 of the 5 in your house, right now.

Peel the bananas



Slice the bananas into coins and drizzle them with the mixture of brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Toss the bananas and spice mixture together until the bananas are fully coated, top the coated bananas with bits of butter



Cover the bananas with a paper towel; microwave for 45 seconds, remove paper towel, stir, re-cover and microwave for 1 minute.

You have several options at this point.

devour with a spoon
serve atop vanilla ice cream
serve over oatmeal
serve over cereal
be nice and share

Spiced Bananas
3 bananas, coin-sliced
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter

Slice bananas and place them in a microwave-able dish.

Mix together brown sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon; drizzle over banana slices and then toss until the banana slices are completely covered.

Top this mixture with bits of butter.

Cover with a paper towel and microwave for 45 seconds; remove the paper towel and stir. Re-cover the bananas and microwave for an additional minute.

Serve over frosty vanilla ice cream, fresh oatmeal, granola, greek yogurt or even just alone. If you’re feeling really nice, you could share.

Egg Casserole Cups

Egg Casserole Cups
Posted by Christine
From http://onceamonthmom.com/?p=11073


Breakfast time is crazy in my house. It’s hectic and we don’t have much time so there’s only about a 1% chance that I’ll make eggs. It’s not that I mind cooking the eggs. Really, that part isn’t that hard. But cracking the eggs and cleaning up get me every time!

Since eating protein in the morning helps prevent that mid-morning crash I love when there’s an egg casserole cup in the freezer. Popping it in the microwave is just about as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal. Plus, it provides a serving of vegetables. I’m pretty sure veggies wouldn’t make it into my breakfast any other way!

Author/Source:
Christine @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:
3 slices whole-wheat bread
1/2 cups red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms
8 large eggs (whole)
8 large egg whites
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
cooking spray
6 ramekins (or large cup muffin tins)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together eggs and egg whites. Stir in red bell peppers, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Spray each ramekin with non-stick cooking spray and place 1/2 slice of bread in the bottom. Pour in egg mixture and bake for 12 minutes, or until eggs are done. After taking eggs out of the oven, sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top and let melt.

Freezing Directions:

Once cool, remove egg casserole from ramekins and flash freeze. Place in pint size freezer bags to freeze. To serve, defrost in refrigerator overnight. Microwave at 50% power for 90 seconds.

Nutritional Information:

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 ramekin • Calories: 156 • Fat: 6.2
Protein: 14 • Carbs: 13 • Fiber: 1.7 • Weight Watchers Points Plus: 4

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
FamilyFun.com

Shirley Lambert of Tullahoma, Tennessee, takes strawberry cake seriously. So seriously that she adds only fresh strawberries to this dazzling pink cake, along with coconut and chopped pecans. Now, this type of cake has been around for some time. It's based on a white cake mix to which you add strawberry gelatin and berries. But of the countless cakes of this genre we have tasted, this is our favorite.
Serves 16
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 28 to 30 minutes
Assembly time: 20 minutes

Reprinted with permission from THE CAKE MIX DOCTOR by Anne Byrn (Workman Publishing, 1999)

Ingredients

CAKE
Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
Flour for dusting the pans
1 18.25-oz. pkg. plain white cake mix
1 3-oz. pkg. strawberry gelatin
1 cup mashed fresh strawberries with juice (1 1/2 cups whole berries)
1 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean or sunflower
1/2 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
1 cup frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, at room temperature
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 cup fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed, capped and mashed to make 1/2 cup, then drained well
1/2 cup frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease three 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, strawberry gelatin, mashed strawberries and juice, oil, milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The strawberries should be well blended into the batter. Fold in the coconut and pecans. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and place them in the oven; if your oven is not large enough, place two pans on the center rack and place the third pan in the center of the highest rack.

Bake the cakes until they are light brown and just start to pull away from the sides of the pan, 28 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the layer on the highest oven rack. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow them to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on low speed for about 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the sugar and drained strawberries. Blend the frosting on low until the sugar has been incorporated. Then raise the speed to medium and mix the frosting another minute or until the frosting lightens and is well combined. Fold in the coconut and pecans.

To assemble, place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Add another cake layer, right side up, and frost the top. Repeat this process with the third layer and frost the top. Use the remaining frosting to frost the sides, working with clean, smooth strokes. Serve at once or chill the cake for later serving.

Place this cake uncovered, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Cover the cake with waxed paper and store, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Cherry Cobbler Slow Cooker - Crockpot

Cherry Cobbler from http://fix-itandforget-it.com/blog/2011/01/06/cherry-cobbler/#more-566

This fruity dessert is good any time of the year. It tastes like a pie and a cake at the same time. It not only tastes delicious, it’s also easy to make.

Makes: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 ½ - 5 ½ hours

Ingredients:
16 oz. can cherry pie filling
1 egg
3 TBSP. evaporated milk
1 ¾ cups dry cake mix of your choice
½ tsp. cinnamon

Equipment:
3-qt. slow cooker
Cooking Spray
Safety can opener
Rubber spatula
Medium-sized mixing bowl
Measuring Spoon
Large wooden spoon
Potholder
Toothpick

1. Lightly spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Use a safety can opener to open the cherry pie filling. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the pie filling into the slow cooker.
3. Cover your slow cooker. Cook on High heat for 30 minutes.
4. While the pie filling is cooking, ask an adult to help you crack an egg into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
5. Use a safety can opener to open the can of evaporated milk. Measure the evaporated milk out and add it to the egg in the mixing bowl.
6. Add the cake mix and cinnamon to the egg mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is crumbly.
7. Using a potholder, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Then spoon the cake mixture on top of the hot pie filling. Do not stir it down into the cherries.
8. Use a potholder to cover the slow cooker. Turn the heat to Low and cook for 2-5 hours.
9. After 2 hours, use a potholder to remove the lid. Stick a toothpick into the center of the cake topping and pull it out. If the toothpick looks wet, the Cobbler needs to keep cooking. If it has some dry crumbs on it, it’s finished cooking.
10. If the Cobbler needs to cook longer, test it with a toothpick every 15 minutes until it’s done.
11. Allow to cool until the Cobbler is no longer hot. Serve warm or cooled.