Jar of Happiness for my Birthday. Tuesday is my thirty-something birthday and I wanted to make something fun for myself.
A little happiness in a jar for my happy day please! These are great because I know that in no way during the week could I make a cake for myself. I can just put the lid on these beauties and store in the fridge until my day. (okay so we all ate one tonight but there is still 4 left...) I have seen these fun little cupcakes baked right in the jar over at Babble and had to give it a try myself. DIY: cupcake in a jar. Going to the other side of the spectrum, from a vegetable garden to loaded with all things bad for you, but tastes so good cupcakes.
You won't think I am such a genius anymore once I tell you how these are done. It really is easy and makes for such a visually appealing way to dress up cupcakes, not that cupcakes need to be dressed up as the name itself is cute and enticing! I pretty much use Paula Deen's recipe, but with a few of my own tiny tweeks to the ingredients (see*) and then I pretty much follow the directions in Paula Deen'srecipe to make the batter and frosting, though I change it up a bit (time in the oven) when it comes to baking it.
Ingredients: Cheesy Garlic Biscuits a la Red Lobster – Step by Step Easy Recipe. I posted about these amazingly delicious biscuits in September, but the post isn’t very complete, I didn’t give you my actual recipe, and the picture is somewhat lacking. So I decided to take pictures when I made them last weekend and give you a play-by-play with photos. So here’s the copycat recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits (I think that’s what they’re called at Red Lobster, yes?) (One note, I doubled the recipe, so the pictures show twice as much stuff as what I’m telling you.) Set your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a cooking sheet with nonstick spray.
Dump into a bowl: 2 cups of buttermilk biscuit mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy mix), 1/2 a teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Stir everything together. Pour in about 2/3 cups of milk. It gets pretty thick, and you can add a little more milk if you need to. And get my hands a little dirty. OK, now wash your hands and use the two-spoon method to drop lumps of the dough onto your cookie sheet. Raspberry coconut macaroons. Every year around this time, behind the scenes, I go through my annual Macaroon Marathon, in which I decimate bags and bags of coconut in an effort to find a variation on the lowly macaroon worth noting, publicly.
As evidenced by the fact that my archives are virtually coconut macaroon-free, I hadn’t thus far succeeded. But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Two years ago, insistent on making something my coconut-loathing but chocolate-adoring husband would find palatable, I made multiple attempts at chocolate-coconut macaroons. They were… brown. And tangly. And here, they are. One year ago: SpaetzleTwo years ago: Hazelnut Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, Baked Kale Chip, Almond Macaroon TorteThree years ago: Homemade Chocolate Wafers + Icebox CupcakesFour years ago: Swiss Easter Rice Tart and Vegetarian CassouletFive years ago: Rich Buttermilk Waffles and Arugula Ravioli Raspberry Coconut Macaroons Makes 50ish 1 1/4-inch cookies Preheat oven to 325°F. Design Crush & Popsicles!
Not to sound full of myself, but I’m pretty sure this is the be all, end all of popsicle roundups.
There’s a little something for everyone: the foodies, the purists, the ones who prefer frozen yogurt, the ones who prefer a little alcohol, everyone. Tweny-five options to be exact. The post I did last summer on the cold guys was one of DC’s most viewed ever, so I thought you’d all be up for another round – was I right?
Click on the photo to be taken to the recipe. All photos and recipes copyright of their respective source unless otherwise noted.