Monday, April 30, 2018

Victoria Sandwich Whoopie Pies

Anyone else addicted to all things The Great British Baking ShowI've been dying to make Mary Berry's Victoria sandwich cake and decided to turn it into a whoopie pie, 'cause, well, you know how I am. 😉

stacks of Victoria Sandwich Whoopie Pies sitting on a light green cake plate
Fancy something fancy? Try these gorgeous Victoria Sandwich Whoopie Pies.


I used a cake mix to bake up the cakes. I also subbed in my favorite vanilla frosting for the usual buttercream or whipped cream.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cake and ice cream. What's a birthday without cake and ice cream, right? Okay, okay. Some of us could totally do without the ice cream. Others of us could replace the whole shebang with a big ol' fat pie. But I digress.

Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches sitting on a cake plate next to two spoons
Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches take cake and ice cream to a whole new level!


These Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches are the whole package. The flavor of vanilla cake speckled with sprinkles, beautifully swirly ice cream sandwiched in the middle, and no utensils or plates required. They're also wonderfully fun and spectacularly celebratory. Oh, and they're super easy to make. That's a win, win, and triple win in my book!

Monday, April 16, 2018

M & M Granola Bars

My 6 year old is a little mister picky pants (don't tell him I said that). I completely understand where he's coming from though, because I was the same way when I was little. I confess that I indulge his pickiness a little - okay, maybe a lot. But I get it. I used to gag on foods I totally love now. So there must be hope for him too.

m & m granola bars cut into squares
These M & M Granola Bars hit just the right note with my picky eater.

As I'm trying to keep things more natural around these here parts I've been experimenting with homemade granola bars. Finding one that Ezra will accept is the challenging part. I often make a peanut butter version that he will only sometimes eat claiming he only likes peanut butter in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (sigh).

Monday, April 9, 2018

Homemade Chocolate Fondant

I just happen to be one of those people that likes fondant. I know not everybody is with me on that one, but this Homemade Chocolate Fondant is particularly yummy. It's also fairly easy to make and so fun to use. I whipped up a batch to make dinosaur footprints to decorate goodies for my 6 year old dinosaur lover.

Homemade Chocolate Fondant dinosaur footprint decorations sitting on a work surface
Dinosaur footprint decorations made out of Homemade Chocolate Fondant





Aren't they just adorable?

Monday, March 26, 2018

Blackberry Granola Mini Breakfast Pies

These Blackberry Granola Mini Breakfast Pies are simply adorable. I made them for Nora's second birthday and she absolutely loves them. They're semi-healthy and perfect for any special breakfast or brunch.

a close up of a Blackberry Granola Mini Breakfast Pie sitting in a muffin tin

baked Blackberry Granola Mini Breakfast Pies sitting in a muffin tin next to a floral cloth


So, like I said, these puppies are semi-healthy. Since I was making them for my baby girl I used pure maple syrup in the blackberry filling and in the granola topping to keep things natural and lower in sugar. Feel free to add more sweetener to the filling. Just mix and taste adding in more maple syrup until it's as sweet as you like.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Grain Free Granola

So I've been making a grain free version of my favorite granola recipe that I just had to share with y'all. We were playing around with the idea of going grain free for a while last year. While we didn't make the switch, we did fall in love with this mostly nut version of our favorite granola.

a bowl of grain free granola next to a jar full of granola on a pretty floral napkin
Try this grain free version of our favorite granola recipe!




This version is lower carb, higher protein, and we are in total nut heaven over here. The hubster eats this granola almost every day over plain whole milk yogurt. How he can eat the same thing every morning is beyond me, but at least it's a delicious and healthy meal.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Field Trip Scrapbooking

We're going through a homeschool metamorphosis this year. At some point I realized that we were spending a lot of time and energy just trying to get through the material without losing it and experiencing very little enjoyment and excitement over new information and acquired skills. Next year we'll be shifting what we do and how we do it and possibly switching over to year-round school (gasp). One of my goals/hopes is to get more joy out of learning for all of us. I've already made some attempts to shift the scales with some project focused learning.

a child using a glue stick at a craft table to glue pictures onto a scrapbook page


One of our new undertakings is scrapbooking our field trips. We usually come home with great pictures, brochures, free kid stuff, stickers, etc. What better way to put everything together than in a scrapbook. Thanks to Grandma, the boys already had scrapbooks ready to house their work.