fudge brownie cupcakes with mocha ganache

I originally had plans to post a healthy recipe this week. But seriously, something containing dates and nuts can step aside. I knew the first time I bit into these cuppy cakes, sharing these with you was urgent, because once you stuff your face with these, you'll be thanking God for all things in life that are chocolate covered. Amen. 

I don't make cupcakes often because a) I feel like they involve too much time for just a subpar sweet. and b) I've never found a cupcake recipe that has wowed me. I'm usually just let down with a cake that's too dry, crumbly, and blah. 

I was watching Barefoot Contessa a couple weeks ago- well I actually watch it more like everyday- but this particular episode had me, I kid you not, dreaming chocolate filled dreams night after night. Ina made plain chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache. They looked so simple, yet elegant and THAT is my kinda cake. She added instant coffee granules to the cake as well as the ganache to really bring out the chocolate flavor. 

I decided I didn't want any old chocolate cupcakes. I wanted something thick and fudgey, that you could really sink your teeth into. I turned to Sally's recipe for fudge brownie cupcakes and HOLY GOSH. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. I'm really picky when it comes to cupcakes, and Sally's recipe totally changed my mind about dry crumbly cakes. {Thanks, Sally!}

Ok, so let's talk about the ganache. At first, it seemed way too liquidy. I followed all the directions, and proceeded to cover the cupcakes and refrigerate them. After awhile it firmed up and all was well in the world. I left out the coffee granules in the cake, but didn't hesitate to add it to the ganache. I found the ganache to actually have a pretty strong coffee flavor, hence the "mocha ganache". If you're not a huge fan, feel free to halve the amount of instant coffee for a more subtle flavor. 

These were some of my favorite cupcakes I have EVER eaten! Thank goodness they made only 8 cupcakes, because if there had been more, I'm pretty sure I would have gained 5 pounds over 2 days. Yay for friends and family who are as crazy about chocolate as I am!

 fudge brownie cupcakes with mocha ganache 
cupcakes adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction 

cupcakes

makes 9-12 cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2  cup dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

Melt butter in the microwave in a large microwave safe bowl. Mix in the sugar until smooth and microwave for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture until smooth again. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake in the prepared muffin tin for about 8-10 minutes (mine took a little under 9 minutes). Allow to cool completely before topping with mocha ganache.

mocha Ganache

1 c. milk chocolate chips {you could use semi-sweet or dark as well}
1/2 c. full cream
1 tsp. instant coffee granules

Combine in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds stirring every 10 seconds until smooth.

Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Fudgey Milk Chocolate Frosting

While making these the other day, I realized something… 

Cupcakes? Yah, they're not my thing. 

I've tried them only a few times. And something ALWAYS seems to turn out wrong… 

the frosting gets messed up. {UHH look at the one to the right.} 

Or the cupcake butts get burnt… 

Or the centers cave in… 

GAHH it's usually a horrible experience that usually involves lots of tears. And screaming. And punching. 

Also… Is it even a legal thing to own a bakery and not be able to make cupcakes? Or at least ones that don't look like they were decorated by a 2 year old? 

Yah… I'll need to work on that.

Yellow Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Frosting

Cupcake recipe from here

Yellow Cupcakes

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a muffin tin with 12 baking cups and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the milk and vanilla and the dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before frosting. 

Fudgey Milk Chocolate Frosting

1 c. milk chocolate chunks/chips

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. milk

5 c. powdered sugar

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that there are still some chunks left. Stir until the chunks have melted. Add in the milk and powdered sugar. Frost cupcakes as desired. 

A little note about the frosting: This recipe made a LOT of frosting. I assume you could half the recipe and you'd still be good to go. Of course having some extra frosting in the fridge isn't a bad thing :)

The sprinkles missed out on the invite to the party… Whoops.

Banana Buttermilk Multigrain Pancakes

Boy oh boy do I have a story for you… One that scarred me for life. Ferrr realsies. 

On Wednesday, my family decided to step away from school and everything and go to a lodge about an hour away where we could spend the day at a pool, taking in the scenery, and relaxing. Sounds great right? Well… By the pool, there were dozens of baboons just walking around. And these things weren't little. They were HUMUNGO. In the words of my father, "The size of a small human." Gross right? They weren't really bugging us, UNTIL they walked by our stuff that was laying on a chair. They jumped up, started rummaging through it with their gross little hands, and ran off with 2 bananas. THEY TOOK OUR BANANAS! How could they do such a thing!

Anyways. I was totally grossed out and making some weird girly faces and noises. Hey, it's in my being. My dad was shooing them off and those stupid baboons were hissing {it actually sounded like barking} and showing their teeth. So this is where it gets crazy… As I was walking by one, getting ready to go into the pool, I stepped in onto these rocks that were in the middle. That made no sense, so let's get visual here. 

As I walked on the rock, going about my business, one of those dumb things CAME AFTER ME! Yes. I was totally attacked by a baboon. Like legit. It was on the same ROCK as me! So I flung myself into the water, because apparently they don't like to get wet. After my adrenaline slowed down, my mom noticed that I had a scratch on my upper thigh. I now have four scratches and it totally looks like its claw. Which REALLYYYYY grosses me out! Anyways. Luckily, it was only its nails. Because if it bit me, I would have had to get rabies shots and all that good stuff. And all I have to do now is put some ointment on it just to make sure it doesn't get infected or anything. 

Moral of the story: Baboons suck. And I now have an irrational fear of them. 

In other new, I made pancakes. Yesterday, I was blog-stalking Audra over at The Baker Chick. {If y'all haven't already, go check out her blog! It's so ADORABLE and her recipes totally had me drooling.} I found this yummy recipe for Mama's Multigrain Buttermilk Pancakes.  MY WORD! I knew instantly they would be my breakfast of choice the next morning. And so they were! Light, fluffy, pancakes that get some great texture due to the cornmeal, oats, and wheat flour. For some sweetness, I sliced bananas on top after they were in the pan for a couple minutes and then flipped them. The bananas got all soft and caramely and just down-right heavenly. 

Make these. NOW. 

Banana Buttermilk Multigrain Pancakes 

 slightly adapted from this recipe

1/2 cup oats 

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 cup buttermilk {1 1/2 c. milk + tsp. vinegar}

1 egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

butter for the pan

2 ripe bananas, sliced

Mix the dry ingredients until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk, egg and oil until well combined.

Heat your griddle/skillet over medium heat and coat the pan with butter. Using a 1/4 cup measurer, scoop batter onto heated griddle and wait for bubbles to form and pop on each pancake. Place the bananas slices on the side that is facing up. After a few minutes, lift edge slightly to make sure it's browned and then flip it. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Question of the day: Have you ever been attacked by an animal?

Weird question, I know. I think this was the first time for me other than just being jumped on my dogs. But seriously. Scariest moment of my life!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend! One that is free of baboon attacks. 

My Advice for New Food Bloggers! {Hey you asked for it!}

Ok so first of all. I feel really horrible. Horrible that I just left you guys sitting here. Staring blankly at your computer screen. With now yummy recipes. I'M SORRY IF YOU'RE LOSING WEIGHT, OK! But just to make up for it and such, I'm planning on baking up a storm soon. So please. Please don't leave me! I promise I'll feed you. :) 

Moving on. 

It's crazy to think that about… 9 months ago, I had about 20 followers. And 400 followers later, here I am! SO! One of the questions I get asked a lot {and I mean A LOT!} is how I started my blog and built my audience. Instead of sending out tons of emails, I thought I'd gather all my advice to your newbies in a blog post. While yes, it's only taken me like a million months to think of even posting this, and yes, it took months to put this post together, I have come to the conclusion to reveal these secret ninja tips to the world. Just kidding. GOOD NEWS! You don't need nunchucks for any of this. All you need is a brain, a spatula, some recipes, a computer, camera, and you're good to go! 

Hope this helps!

1. Stick with a theme…
When I first started my blog about 2 years ago, I didn't have one {or only a few} things I talked about. My posts were kinda all over the place and disorganized. Once I noticed that, I stuck to food and recipes. And VOILA! I think that a blog that focuses on one or a few things, it just comes off as being more organized. And organization is a big deal in blogging.

2. Social networking is your best friend… 
Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social networking sites are one of your main sources of traffic. Sharing your posts on your blogs page will increase views and hopefully you'll gain some new readers as well!

3. Make bloggy friends…
They're one of your keys to success! Getting to know other people who are interested in some of the same things as you are is rewarding in a million ways. You can trade advice and experience as well as help each other out with gaining readers by doing guest posts, sponsoring, and button swaps.

4. Link parties…
I remember when I got my first invite to a link party. If you don't know what a link party is, a lot of blogs have one weekly. You share your recent projects or recipes and others can see them. Usually, the blog author shares a few of their favorite links. Check out some of your favorite blogs, see if they have link parties, or maybe a list of the parties they link up to each week. It's a great way to get some publicity as well as meet some new bloggers and get some inspiration!

5. Communicate with your readers…
I have to remind myself of this constantly. Reply to sweet people's comments on your posts, email them back, ask questions, and comment on their blogs! Even though it may take time to go through pages of comments and emails, a later reply is better than no reply. Those sweets have taken a minute or two out of their day to encourage and inspire you. The least they deserve is a reply. Or a cupcake.

6. Pretty on the eyes… 
For me, one of the main things I look for in a blog, is a pretty, simple design and nice photography. Like they say "You eat with your eyes first!" If you're not personally into design, google some tutorials on how to do your OWN blog design, or check out some professional blog design sites that can custom-make a design that will fit your personality and needs.

7. Photography…
While I know not everyone has shnazzy camera, point and shoot cameras work well too! Letting light into your photography is really important, so I suggest taking pictures either outside or next to a window. If there's anything you'd like to adjust, mess around with the exposure on a photo-editing site {I use picmonkey.com} Just give it a try and know that it DOES take time! Please. Compare my first post to my present posts. It doesn't come overnight, that's fo sho!

{no-bake} homemade fruit & nut energy bars

Awhile ago, a recipe fro homemade Cliff Bars popped in my inbox from Brown Eyed Baker and I thought to myself "Genius. Just genius." I've been looking for some new, healthier recipes for breakfasts, snacks, and pre-run fuel. 

These energy bars fit the bill. They're loaded with grains, nuts, and fruit. They'll fill ya right up, boost your energy, and cure your case of the Sweet Tooth. There's so many different variations you could come up with, my mind is spinning. 

{no-bake} homemade fruit & nut energy bars

3 tbsp. dried cranberries

3 tbsp. chopped dried apricots

3 tbsp. chopped dried kiwi

3 tbsp. chopped pitted dates

2 tbsp. pumpkin seeds

1 c. puffy rice cereal {I used the African equivalent of Rice Krispies or Cheerios}

1 1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. honey

1 mashed banana

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cereal, oats, nuts, and dried frit. Add in the honey and mashed banana. Press the mixture into a 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Press another piece of parchment paper on top and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Once the bars have firmed up in the refrigerator, remove from the pan, cut into squares, and wrap individually with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator. 

Fudgey Brownies with Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Frosting

I know, I know, I know I haven't posted a recipe in a LONG time. But these fudgey brownies topped off with the gooiest cream cheese peanut butter frosting should make everything okay in the world. 

Yesterday afternoon, I had some friends over to play games, and then we ended up watching Tangled and drinking Coke Zero out of wine glasses. Good times :) The brownie recipe is one of my favorites on my blog. They're super quick and easy, and don't require very many ingredients. And the frosting is so stinking smooth and gooey and delicious. You guys will love these! Promise. 

Fudgey Brownies with Cream Cheese Peanut Butter Frosting 


For the brownies, I used this recipe. 

For the frosting:

1 c. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. milk
2 c. powdered sugar

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies.

Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake with Cookie Crust

Yesterday was my little brother's 10th birthday. Henry is my biggest critic when it comes to food... Or really anything for that matter. 

For Easter I made this White Chocolate Cheesecake and he told me then and there that I had to make something EXACTLY like it for his birthday… "but without all that white chocolate stuff and milk chocolate instead." 

I aim to please- chocolate chunk cheesecake it was! He was seriously reminding me every couple weeks about this cheesecake he dreamt of. 

Talk about pressure.

 

So When I was in the kitchen, I noticed we had a bunch of Chips Ahoy cookies in the cupboard... LIGHTBULB! I asked Hen if I could use the cookies for the crust and he was like "UMMMM YESSSSSS!!!" 

Alrighty then!

This cheesecake is all kinds of amazing. The crust is so soft and buttery with little bits of chocolate from the cookies. And the cheesecake part of it is as rich as all get out. 

This stuff is dangerous… Seriously if you look up the word dangerous in the dictionary I'm pretty sure a picture of this loverly cheesecake'll show up. 

But most importantly… The birthday boy was pleased! 

Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake with Cookie Crust

2 pkgs. Chips Ahoy cookies, finely crushed

1/2 c. butter

1/3 c. white sugar

2 {8 oz.} pkgs. plain cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. chocolate chunks {or chocolate chips}

Preheat oven to 375ºF. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the crushed cookies, butter, and sugar until it resembles a crumble. Press into a greased pie pan and set aside. In the same bowl combine the cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Stir until smooth. Add in the chocolate chunks. Pour the batter into the pie pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until middle has set. 

P.S. Wanna see who visited me yesterday? Click here!

Strawberry Almond Layered Cake with Almond Buttercream

 Alright peoples. This is THE surprise. In'it purty? I think so too. I've gotten better at making layered cakes so I feel more confident baking one… There's WAY a lot of good recipes out there and ideas that I'm so excited to try out!

THIS cake is amazing. Pretty, delicious, {pretty delicious.} moist, and fluffy. My mom said it tasted like her grandma's cake! Which is an awesome comment from what I hear. AAAANNNNDDDDDDDD! the best part? It's tinted pink. I'm sure you ALL know I'm obsessed with the color pink. Have you seen the new design? ha. It smells pretty dang delicious too. {the cake not the design} When it was baking in the oven, my house smelled like what I imagine Strawberry Shortcake's cute little strawberry house would smell like. YUM.

Since being in Africa, we've had trouble finding fresh berries. Part of it could be that we're actually in WINTER here {although it's totally getting Africanly hot now. YUCK}, so they're technically not in season. I'm REALLY hoping that when summer rolls around, there will be a better selection of berry-liciousness gracing the shelves. The strawberries at the store of gotten cheaper, bigger, and better lately. So when we were grocery shopping, I grabbed a container having nothing specific in mind.

I told you all last weekend, when we reached 300 followers {YEAH!}, I would umm… reward you I guess? I had a cake in mind. So it was no doubt I would man up and brave the layered cake this week. My mom said we had company coming today, so I would have someone to EAT it all up. WIN!

Today's been one of those days… One of those days where I didn't get dressed, shower, brush my teeth, ya da ya da ya da, until like 2:00. If company wasn't coming over, I probably wouldn't at all. Gross, I know. Forgive me! We're friends right? 

Good. Then go run to your kitchen. Make this. And thank me later. 

Strawberry Almond Layered Cake with Almond Buttercream 

Strawberry Almond Cake


1 cup {2 sticks} butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for pans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup low-fat strawberry yogurt
2 c. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and chopped

Almond Buttercream

1/2 c. butter, softened
6 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. almond extract
a drop of red food coloring {optional}

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time and add in the almond extract. Mix in the strawberry yogurt until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until combined.Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely. Place one cake, bottom side up, on a cake stand. Tuck strips of parchment paper underneath. Prepare the frosting by mixing all of the ingredients together until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or milk as needed. Spread around the frosting on the first layer of cake. Repeat the same process with the next layer.

P.S.
OMGOSHHHHHH!!! Have you seen the new Sponsor Page?
Email me if you're interested in sponsoring this month! I can't
wait to share some LOVE and increase the traffic on your blogs!

Peach Fro-Yo

I KNOW! It's been awhile since we last chatted and ate cookies together… 

This weird thing called Healthy Eating happened. 

I'm trying to lose a little weight, and since sadly, you can't eat pans of cookies, 

brownies, and cupcakes in order to do so, 

I haven't gotten around to baking much. 

Instead of snacking on Chips Ahoy and Coke Zero, I've been eating veggies

and GALLONS of water. Weird, I know. 

I'm going over to a friend's house for some Girl Time in a little bit. 

Yah, the same one I made banana bread for… 

We like food. And have the ability to eat a whole loaf of bread. TALENT, I tell you. 

No doubt, the tub of fro-yo will be fro-yo-less by the time I get home. 

So let's talk about it, shall we? It's amazing. 

I had INTENTIONS of making it healthy, BUT… 

my baking instincts kicked in and some how a whole cup 'a sugar made 

it's way into the bowl. WHOOPS. Don't know how that happened!

I'm pretty sure it's healthier than a huge ice cream sundae though… 

Of course, you could make it ACTUALLY healthy, and cut out the sugar and use honey

or some other low-cal sweetener. 

I just found it a little to… yogurty. And we were out of honey. Excuses, excuses. 

Peach Fro-Yo

4 c. plain fat-free yogurt

1 c. milk

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 can of peaches {juice too!}

In a bowl, mix the yogurt, milk, yogurt, vanilla, and juice from the canned peaches. 

Add in the sugar. Stir until smooth. 

Chop the peaches into chunks and add to the mixture. 

Pour into an airtight container, and put in the freezer until it's hard. 

{I had mine in the freezer overnight.}

Basic Granola

So. Let's be serious- WHY oh WHY must all the food that is good be… not so good for you? The good for you stuff usually tastes like you're eating a chunk of this God made earth. And then the stuff that tastes good adds on 10 pounds per bite. 

Enter brownies. I'm really wanting brownies right now. If you are too, check out this brownie in a cup. It's dangerous stuff, so use your wisdom wisely, young padawons. 

I actually made one last week{ishhh} and put… get ready for this. Butterscotch chips and pretzels in it topped with ice cream. And then it gets all melty and ooey gooey and you just want to stick your whole FACE in the mug. Wait, what? 

All brownies set aside, let's talk about granola. This stuff is good. I made some awhile ago. It was QUITE delicious, but it got a little overdone. Sophie mad. This afternoon I was thinking about making breakfast. I think about that a lot. Morning is SOOOO my favorite time of day. Waking up to the crisp cool air with my windows open, trudging out in my jam-jams and grabing a cup of coffee while doing my quiet time. And then the bad part when I make myself run. But let's talk about happy thoughts. 

I always love coming up with breakfasts. I pretty much eat something different every morning. Not always the healthiest but I say life is for living! I was wanting to have a quick, yummy, and healthy breakfast for tomorrow after my run. With some milk {just enough to moisten it up is how this lady likes it.} and some bananas on top. YUM. 

Today, I made it plain for two reasons. 1) I wanted it plain with not a lot of extra crunch. I'm a lame being I know. and 2) We didn't have much baking extras on hand other than like… peanuts. 

I'm really happy with how it turned out! I put a lot of honey so I could have some little chunkers of good stuff in every bite. Of course, granola is so stinkin' adaptable! Just add in some nuts or fruit, or even cocoa to add some chocolate. You know you wanna. 

Basic Granola

3 c. oats

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. shredded coconut {for some added yumminess. But feel free to leave it out.}

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 tbsp. oil

3/4 tsp. vanilla

4 tbsp. honey

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, salt, coconut, and cinnamon. Add in the oil, vanilla, and honey. Stir until oats are evenly coated. Evenly spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every few minutes so nothing burns. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to an airtight container. 

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Snickerdoodles are just one of those "Oldie But Goodie" things… Like neon colors and I Love Lucy.

There's nothing like takin' a batch out of the oven and a crisp fall day and dipping them in a cup of coffee. YUM!

But of course. Instead of cookies, I took the easy route with bars. Because bars are totally the lazy way out of taking pan after pan after pan of cookies out of the oven. Whatevs.

The other day we got a HUMUNGO care package from some dear friends and guess. what. was in there. Can't guess? Geeze fine. I'll tell you.

CRISCO!!! Yup. Crisco. The miracle that makes everything good in the world.

When I opened up the package I stuck my nose in it.  I was contemplating licking it, but that would have been taking it just a little far, yes?

It's amazing how much the butter makes a difference!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

1 c. butter {or… CRISCO!!!}, at room temp. 

2 eggs

1/2 tbsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

Topping:

2 tbsp. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. 

Cream the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir until combined. The mixture will be thick like cookie dough. Press it evenly into the prepared pan {I used a rubber spatula but you sure could use your hands} Combine the white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle onto of the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the middle has set. Cool slightly and cut into bars. 

Unique Sweets {Winner Love}

It all started with an innocent email from Sophie.

Now it's become a big ol' challenge with celebrity judges and hundred of dollars in prizes.

Today, we find out who the winners are!!

Each winner will receive their own prize pack valued from $100 to $180,

a spot on the radar of some of blog land's biggest baking names,

and the title of Unique Sweets master.  

Ok, maybe not the last one {officially}, but in our books you will be.

Here we go.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

3rd Place Entry

{after a 5-way tie breaker}

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Fudge

from Shugary Sweets

Prize Pack:

$25 gift card to Karen's Cookies

1 month Large Ad Space and full blog feature on White Lights on Wednesday

1 pack cupcake liners from Cupcake Essentials

Gourmet Peppers and Pepper Jelly from Uncle Gary's Gourmet Peppers

Shop credit to Lilly Things

$20 Shop Credit to The Trendy Owl

2nd Place Entry

Peanut Butter & Chocolate {not quite 7} Layer Bars

from Heather's French Press

Prize Pack:

$50 gift card to Karen's Cookies

1 month ad space and social network advertising on Something Swanky

2 large decorating tips and 1 pack cupcake liners from Cupcake Essentials

1 fondant stamp from Babyjewels Designs

Candy Sweet Shop Kawaii Birthday Printable DIY Party Kit from Stockberry Studio

1st Place Entry

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

from Life Made Simple

Prize Pack:

$100 gift card to Karen's Cookies

3 month 125x125 ad space on Crazy for Crust

2 large decorating tips and 1 pack cupcake liners from Cupcake Essentials

$35 gift certificate (toward printables ONLY) from Cupcake Express

Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit & rainbow pack of cupcake liners from Bake It Pretty

Congratulations to all the winners!!!

Just for fun, we're letting you all in on each judge's favorite 3 recipes too.

Shelly from Cookies & Cups

[ Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake ][ Brownie Bottom Coconut Chocolate Cream Cake ][ PB & Chocolate Layer Bars ]

Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction

[ Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake ][ Chipotle Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes ][ PB & Chocolate Layer Bars ]

Bridget from Bake at 350

[ Chocolate Pavlova ][ Mocha Cookie Crumble Cupcakes ][ Nutella Cheesecake Cellphones ]

Camille from Six Sister's Stuff

[ Pineapple Upside Down Cake Fudge ][ Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies ][ Nutella Monster Cookies ]

Heather from Sprinkle Bakes

[ Thai Ice Tea Ice Cream ][ Chocolate Pavlova ][ Mocha Cookie Crumble Cupcakes ]

Marian from Sweetopia

[ Aztec Mocha Cupcakes ][ Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake ][ Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Cupcakes ]

Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

[ Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake ][ Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream ][ Cotton Candy Vodka Cupcakes ]

Darla from Bakingdom

[ Pinapple Upside Down Cake Fudge ][ PB & Chocolate Layer Bars ][ Avocado Popsicles ]

Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod

[ Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cake ][ S'mores Cups ][ Nutella Monster Cookies ]

We'd like to say a big Huge GIANT thank you to everyone for entered, judged, and sponsored the Unique Sweets Dessert Challenge.

We had an amazing time checking out everyone's posts, geeking out over the judges, and getting to know the sponsors a who lot better.

We couldn't have done without each and everyone of you!

Check out all the Unique Sweets Dessert Challenge entries

HERE

------------------------

Winners please email Julie with your shipping address at:

whitelightsonwednesday {at} yahoo {dot} com