{ Red Velvet Pancakes }

So, it happened. And it happened so fast. I don't think I even realize how fast it was happening, but it did, and it's here and there is nothing I can do about it. I knew it was going to happen and I knew it was going to happen quickly, but, I just don't know how it's here already.

My Bean is a Senior.

*momma wail*

I know I'm biased, but isn't he handsome?

Please note the Mr. Roger's tee shirt. That's just the kind of people we are.

For the first day of school I always like to make him something special for breakfast. It has been, very often, pancakes over the years. Since I made the Birthday Cake Pancakes for his 17th though, everything has changed. Normal pancakes won't do.

I considered making those again, which I've dubbed 'celebration pancakes' now, so he can have them more often, but I wanted this to be something even more special since it was his last first day of school (sans college).

Red Velvet it is.

He loves Red Velvet and the tang of cream cheese icing, so these were perfect. So easy to make too.
Like the Birthday Cake Pancakes, I mixed up the dry ingredients before I went to bed so they would be ready in the morning. I just measured everything into a lidded mixing bowl. I also made the glaze the night before. I refrigerated it, then sat it out as soon as I got up so it would get the chill off. Shaves a few minutes off the hectic before school routine. Then in the morning, I just measured in the wet ingredients and fried them up.

He said these are even BETTER than the Birthday Cake pancakes!

I think I just got an A+!

Happy School Year to all.

Tina



Red Velvet Pancakes
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

For the pancakes:

1/2 Cup Flour

1/2 cup red velvet cake mix*

1 1/2 Teaspoons Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Egg

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon Oil

Add all dry ingredients, into a mixing bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Slowly pour the wet into the dry and mix until combined. 
*cake mix is often lumpy, sift if needed

Pour a bit of oil into your pan and let heat. Drip a drop of the batter into the oil. When it begins to sizzle, add your pancakes.

When bubbles form on the cakes, carefully flip them over.
Test center by poking a small hole in it. If batter comes out, cook another minute or so.

Place on a paper towel just for a second to absorb any extra oil, then place on plate and serve!

This is a small recipe, it makes about 8 medium sized pancakes, easily doubled, tripled, etc.


Cream Cheese Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 oz cream cheese, softened 

1 Tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix softened cream cheese and powered sugar in a small bowl. Stir in milk a little at a time until well blended. Stir in vanilla.

Refrigerate any leftovers

You could also use my simple Vanilla Glaze instead

Vanilla Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

2  Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add powered sugar and milk to melted butter. Whisk until smooth and glossy. Add vanilla and stir until combined. 

{Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits}

Shrek: For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example... uh... ogres are like onions!
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes... No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave 'em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs...
Shrek: NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.
Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake!
Shrek: I don't care what everyone else likes! Ogres are not like cakes.
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!
Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.
Donkey: Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet! 

 So, Shrek is one of my very favorite movies on all of planet earth. Also, Shrek 2, which is veerd since most sequels kinda, well, let's not mince words here, suck.

Donkey is one of my all time favorite characters. Eveeer.

copyright Dreamworks

I luff him. I cannot, cannot, cannot make a parfait without thinking of the above conversation. Ever. Ever. Donkey resides in my brain and randomly quotes things, like, "we took a magic potion, and now, we're SEXY!". Yes. Donkey. In my brain. Which can be entertaining, but probably annoying to those closest to me. Quoting Shrek & Harry Potter lines all day long. There's nothing wrong with that, right? I know.

I wanted to make a quick and easy dessert for hubs for Father's Day. Two of his favorite treats are Aunt Rosie's Strawberry Delight and Grammy's Strawberry Pie. So, what I did today was kinda combine the two.

Funny story. The Bean took hubs to the movies today to see Man of Steel for Father's Day. While they were gone, I made this. I was editing the pictures when hubs saw them.

Hubs: WHAT'S THAT?
Me: a dessert
Hubs: Is there more?
Me: I ate it all.
Hubs: Those pictures are at our house!
WHERE IS IT?
Me: It's GONE.
Hubs: runs to fridge and proceeds to gobble it down.

So, I guess it was A-OK, huh?

Hope you've had a wonderful day celebrating all the special men in your life!

Tina



Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
serves 4 (photo above is a very large serving)

For the graham layer: 
3 full sheets of graham crackers
2 Tablespoons sugar

Add together in food processor and crush until very fine

For the cream cheese layer:
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat for a softer set)
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup sugar

Starting with 1 Tablespoon milk, beat together cheese and sugar in mixer until well combined. Should be the consistency of pudding. If too thick, add the other tablespoon of milk.

For the strawberry gel layer:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons strawberry jello powder (mix)*

*store the rest in a ziploc baggie for making this again! 
 

On the stovetop, add all ingredients into a heavy saucepan. Stir together. Heat over medium heat. 

It will be kind of a milky red. Allow to boil, stirring constantly. As it begins to thicken, it will turn a clear, bright red. When thickened, remove from heat. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before assembling parfaits.

 

For the strawberry layer:

sliced strawberries

Assemble:

Graham cracker layer, cream cheese layer, gel layer, strawberries. Repeat. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

{ Buckeye Cheese Ball }

I think I've mentioned in the past that I'm basically a child in adult clothing.

I have toys. I like dollies. I love stuffed animals. I play video games.

Like  Lego Harry Potter.

I recently, as in last week, discovered that you can play Lego HP ONLINE with a friend.

What, what? It didn't seem like an online game, so I never even really thought about it.

 Also, when I say *I* discovered it, I totally mean the Bean did, and I'm trying to steal his thunder.

Whatevs.

The discovery came about when Darla and I were iMessaging that we had both just booted up Lego HP to play.

I literally typed, "I wish we could play online together".

That was when the Bean flipped the case over and proclaimed that you could!

Wooty woot!

When Darla joined the game, I was in the boy's dorm in Gryffindor Tower.

What did we do? We both, immediately, started jumping on the beds.

So. Mature.

We also like to cast spells at each other, chase each other around, and knock each other down.

Really, folks, we are grown ups. I swear.

We now send each other texts that say things like, "Hey, wanna play Legos?", "I'm all done with my chores, so I can play Legos now!", etc.

It's like we are 5.  Maybe we are.  Adult clothing, remember?

In the words of Chili Davis:

"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."

Playtime is good.

Know what else is good? Buckeye Cheeseball.

Since I was playing Potter and had Potter on my mind, I first thought of Florean Fortescue and the sundaes he gave Harry. However, strawberry and peanut butter do not sound like the best combo. Strawberry and chocolate though? Yes. All yes.

I thought of this recipe after making my  Chocolate Chip Cheeseball.

The Bean has recently discovered that he LOVES it. However, he loves peanut butter and chocolate together even more. I started thinking about my Chocolate Frog filling & by combining it and the Chocolate Chip Cheeseball, this was born.

As I've said before, being from Ohio, anything chocolate and peanut butter gets the automatic BUCKEYE stamp. It's like a law or something I think.

So, Buckeye Cheeseball it is.

This is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar together for a couple mins. Throw in the rest (except chips) beat a little more. Stir in chips.

TA DONE.

 I took a batch to youth group. I came back with zero.

It was a massive hit.

Oh, gotta, go..

I think I hear a Lego shaped Hogwarts calling my name.

Tina

P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

Buckeye Cheeseball

recipe by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

1 stick butter, softened

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened*

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips**

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Add butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat for a couple minutes until well mixed. Add in the corn syrup, vanilla, peanut butter, & powered sugar. Mix until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill for 2 hours, then form into ball, or spoon into serving dish and chill.

Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, chocolate cookies, etc.

Promptly refrigerate leftovers.

*you can use fat free or Neufchâtel cream cheese

they will just result in a different consistancy. I used Neufchâtel for the recipe pictured.

Whole fat cream cheese would have resulted in something that you could shape into a ball better.

**mini chocolate chips are best, but I only had regular size and they work just fine too, cause... chocolate.

{ Gooey Cheesecake Squares }

Ever have one of those trippy moments as an adult where you are just like, "Wait... whattttttt?". You know, the ones that leave you feeling as confused as Bill and Ted on their Excellent Adventure?

"Whoa... duuuuuuude."

I had one of those a few weeks ago.

I was out to lunch with my friend Jackie. She was one of my best friends at church growing up. She recently moved back home and we try to get together about once a month for lunch. 20 years had passed since Jacks moved away & we lost contact, but when she moved back, it felt like yesterday.
We always have way too much fun together.

Jacks and I were sitting there talking about the good ole days of Sunday School. We LOVED our teacher. Kids could not wait to hit Jr. High so they could be in Joyce's class. Joyce was legendary. She was just generally great. We loved her parties and other all her other fun activities. Her Sunday School lessons were never boring. She made coming to church fun at an age when it, let's be honest here, often isn't. Grades 7-12 were the primo time to be a kid in Sunday School at our church, thanks to her.

I am now the Jr High/High School Youth Leader/Sunday School teacher (along with our Associate Minister, Robby). Now, I don't wanna sound big headed or anything, but the kids love me. The main difference, however, is my maturity level. Joyce was very mature. I'm a 3 year old. Ok, fine, I'm a 13 year old. I geek out over the same things the kids do. I listen to the same music. I watch the same shows. I read the same books.

And apparently... they like that.

Except Bieber. I'm sorry. That's where we part ways.

I'm still the adult, but I'm just cool like that. ;)

Plus, I bring them baked goods.

Surely, that's not why they love me though. 

Right? 

RIGHT??

Anyway, as we were sitting there talking, it all hit me.

"Jacks! I'm JOYCE!"

Jacks: "Yes, you are."

When did this happen? When did I become a grown up? Who let me be in charge of other humans? WHY did they let me be in charge of other humans?? Are they SURE they want me to be in charge of other humans???

It's all so... well... trippy.

What you need to know upfront here though, is that our youth grouppers are amazing. I'm not sure how we got lucky enough to get the group of kids we got, but we did. They are smart, witty, well behaved, and just generally phenomenal kids.

And since I promised them mention:

Eric, Gabby, Caitie, Jarrett, Emily, Danny, Seth, Alyssa, Lauren, Dare, Alex, Tate, PJ, and Katrina... and also to our newbies:

Robby and I love you guys. Thanks for being awesome.

Ugh. Mushy stuff. Grody.

Moving on.

What does that all have to do with this recipe?

Very little.

Except that I got this recipe from one of the Bean's old Sunday School Teachers.

This is a very rich and tasty little treat. It goes FAST whenever I make it. Even people who don't like cream cheese love this puppy.

It's fast. It's easy. You'll wanna make it.

Often.

So, thanks, Sharon!

Gooey Cheesecake Squares

Base:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

1 stick butter

1 egg

Topping:

1 package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, add the cake mix, melted butter, and 1 egg.  Beat until it forms a dough.

Press this into a lightly greased 9x13 pan or dish. This will be a play-doh consistency.

In mixing bowl again, add the cream cheese and eggs. Mix until well combined. Add the powered sugar, mix on low until incorporated.

Pour over the dough layer.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until the edges are brown.

Dust with powdered sugar.

Allow to cool & then cut into squares.

~Joyce

Wait. I mean Tina. Yes, yes, I'm Tina.

~Tina

{ Red Velvet Bûche de Noël }

Let me start off by saying, this is not how this is supposed to look.

Long about September, I asked my friend Darla (of Bakingdom), if she'd ever made a Bûche de Noël (also know as a Yule Log Cake). She'd made plenty of roulades (cake rolls), but never an actual Yule Log.

She suggested that we both do one in December & link to each others recipes.

Guess what... it's December.

Now, I've known this was coming up for over 3 months now, but, did I do anything about it? No.

The day before this recipe was supposed to go live, I'm running frantically around my kitchen trying to make sense of myself.

You'll remember I posted yesterday that I am currently sick.

So, yeah. Sick. Frazzled. Procrastinator.

That's me.

The recipe I chose to follow was also a little more complicated than I planned on. I mean, it wasn't hard, but man, dirty dishes everywhere! It was a bowlaplooza in here.

I finally got everything made, mixed, and in the oven though.

I thought then that it seemed a very small amount of batter for my jelly roll pan, but what can ya do? I followed the directions.

After the roll came out, I noticed how unevenly it had baked. My fault for not smoothing it good enough, I guess. 

And man! Was it thin. Most roulades are thicker, but, I'd followed the directions sooo... 

But, it doesn't look like the photo on the site.

.....

.....

What can I do but proceed though? So, I added my cream filling and let chill.

Then I took it out and man, was it whimpy.

Onward!

So, I frosted it.

Meh. Looks ok.

Not right, but ok.

It seriously was not until 2 hours after I'd finished it that I realized what had happened.

I have a large sheet pan. That is what I used.

Doh! 

It's about 2 inches longer AND wider than the standard jelly roll pan.

Yeah, that explains it, folks.

So, your first step is using the correct pan. Your roulade will work out much better than mine.

However, here is what I did.

Red Velvet Cake Roll

I followed this recipe from Hershey's

My filling was this one, that I use ALL the time

And my icing was Cream Cheese, get that here. 

I wanted my log to look like Birch, so after I drug a fork through it to get the bark look, I added a bit of chocolate glaze ( or a bit melted from a can will do, you only need a teensy bit). I barely dipped the ends of the tines in, then I drug it through the icing.

My decorations are Marshmallow Fondant,

it is too, too, too much fun to play with. It's totally grown up, edible play doh.

(The Bean is obsessed with it (eating it, that is).

When he asked what it was made of, I said, "Well, marshmallows- so, sugar. Then you mix in sugar, then you knead in sugar, and for good measure, you dust it with sugar!"

Is there any wonder he loves it? Pure sugar, folks.)

Lastly, I dusted everything with powered sugar and pure cane sugar for a bit of sparkle.

You can definitely fill roulades with a multitude of different things. 

Or, you can fill it and not frost it.

Just make sure you use the right pan.

Here's the thing though. Still tasted good.

Still looked pretty.

That works for me.

Next time, I wanna make a Pink Velvet Roll though!

You know who DID use the right size pan though?

Darla! And you HAVE TO SEE her gorgeous PINK Bûche de Noël.

GOR.GEOUS. 

For assembly instructions for the Yule Logs, check out her Ghoul Log.

 
Now, I need to go nap. For like, 12 hours.

Happy Christmas!

Tina

P.S., I'm super glad the world didn't end today at 6:11am Eastern Time.

I just don't have time for that in my schedule!  

{ Ranch Cheese Ball }

I mentioned in my Cocoa Cupcakes recipe that we were headed out on Black Friday to buy a new tree. We successfully waited long enough to avoid the crush of mad shoppers AND I got my tree at 60% off. 

Score!

Here it is. Better photos to come.

Hmmm... my topper is crooked. Must fix that.

My topper is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself, however, it caused a bit of controversy here in the house. See, the Bean is VERY set in his ways. We've been using the same tree topper, made of craft foam and buttons, since he was 2 1/2 years old. I cut it out and he glued on the buttons. He's 15 1/2 now, and it's getting a bit tattered, losing buttons, etc. I have a fresh new tree, with fresh new ornaments (plus all of his yearly Hallmark ornaments), and I just wanted something new. He felt otherwise. So, I was set to put Ole Buttons on top of the tree when he said not to. I didn't know how to feel about that one. I wanted to for HIM. He insisted that a new one go up. By this time, I wanted nothing to do with the new topper, but he wouldn't hear otherwise (he's 15 1/2, remember). So, new topper it was. Ole Buttons is now sitting on my little tree in my living room. Hey, it's a Harry Potter tree. Ole Buttons should be honored. But still.. my momma guilt is working over time on me.

Anyway...

New Topper

It's just a bow I made with an owl ornament inside, but I love it :)

 Ole Buttons in his place of honor. Hey, I'd be happy to retire with Harry Potter.
Just sayin'...

 (yes, that is a collage of my adorable Baby Bean behind the tree)

Harry Potter tree with Ole Buttons

Le Sigh....

There was a point to this post & it totally wasn't to ramble on about momma guilt. 

It was, however, about something ranch. And something ranch is always good.

Last year, around this time, I posted my super complicated 1. 2. 3. Cheese Ball recipe. 

1. 2. 3. Cheese Ball

I had a reader, Donna, who commented on the recipe. She told me about one she makes, which is just as complicated. It too, has 3 whole steps! I adapted my version by using less ranch.

Are you ready?

You'll need:

Ranch Cheese Ball

1 package of cream cheese, softened

1-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 envelope of Ranch Dressing Mix

Beat the cream cheese til fluffy, add in the dressing mix, beat until combined, finally, add the cheddar, 1 cup at a time, and mix until distributed.

Roll into a ball and serve.

My photos show tortilla chips, that's what the recipe originally called for. Donna mentioned that was a typo, she'd posted something right below it calling for tortilla chips, but I had the photos already taken. People actually ate them at my party on tortillas, but you had to spread it on. I also served it with crackers. 

You can customize this recipe in any way you wish. Add some green onion, some bacon bits, use Italian Dressing mix instead of Ranch, stir in some nuts (nooooooo) if you are the nutty type, etc.

 For my party, I made this, along with the 1.2.3. Cheese Ball & the Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

Now, I've made the chocolate chip cheese ball for YEARS. My non-food adventurous son, however, had never tried it. His response? "WHO MADE THIS, IT'S AMAZING!"

"um, I did, child. I've made it for years!"

"WHAT? YOU HAVE??"

Never noticed the cheese ball in 15 years, but holds tight to a craft foam star.

That's my boy.

Happy Christmas~

Tina

{ Striped Delight Dessert }

Years and years and.. uh.. years ago, when I was first married, I had the brilliant idea of putting together a Family Cookbook. Both sides of my family submitted recipes, which we then typed together, printed, copied, and then bound put into inexpensive folders & handed out. My mother in law and mom did most of the typing. I didn't have a computer then or even a typewriter! GASP. I can't find the date anywhere in my book, (it's since been put in a nicer binder)  but I believe it was 1994 or 1995. Holy moley.. time, it flies.

This book, while time consuming, really has come in handy over the years. I've often gone to it for family favorites, like, Grammy's Pancakes, Aunt Diana's Corn Casserole, Mom's Homemade Noodles,

Grammy's Strawberry Pie, and much more. The recipe I'm sharing today, and my next, also came from this book.

So, if you are looking for a unique and inexpensive Christmas gift, think of doing something like this. It'd be much easier with today's technology. I wish we'd had the ability to have them printed up in actual hardbound books like they sell at Winkflash, Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc. That'd be an AWESOME gift.

This recipe is from my Sister in Law, Dorothy. She always called it Striped Delight. I've heard it called several things like "Better Than Robert Redford", Eclair Dessert", but most prominent on the internet is the name "Better Than S#x". Yes, I'm a grown up. Yes, I just bleeped out that word. I do not want to show up in any questionable web-searches. LOL. For that reason, I'm sticking with Dorothy's name for it... Striped Delight.

I've never found her EXACT recipe though, but ones very close.

Now, let me tell you a little story. I made this to have tonight when my mother-in-law & grandmother-in-law came over for a little weenie roast (it's somethin' we country folk do, ya know). We'd just gotten everything down to our fire pit, when Luna, our 4 year old Jack Russell decided to go on the lam. 

We searched, yelled, posted to neighbors on Facebook, drove around, yelled, searched more. For over an hour. We'd finally given up and decided if she was going to come back, she'd come back, but there was no way we could find her in the acres and acres and acres of 8 foot tall corn that surround us.

And then, just when we'd given up.. there she was. 

Guess who's never allowed outside the fence again? Yeah, this girl:

So, sorry if the finished dessert photos aren't quite up to par. This little mutt had us all in a tizzy!

Back to the dessert, eh?

Here's what you'll need:

Striped Delight Dessert

Crust:

1 sleeve of Graham Crackers

1/3 Cup Butter, melted

1/4 Cup Sugar

2nd Layer:

1- 8oz Block of Cream Cheese (1/3 less fat & fat free will work, but will result in a softer set)

1 Cup Cool Whip (thawed)

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 Tablespoons Milk

3rd Layer:

2 Small Boxes (4 serving size) Chocolate Pudding, Instant

3 Cups Milk (2% or Vitamin D)

4th Layer:

Remaining Cool Whip

Finely crush graham crackers

Add sugar

Then add melted butter. Mix throughly, and press into a 9x13 dish.

 Chill the crust for 15 minutes.

Prep the 2nd layer by adding cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar & 2 Tablespoons milk to the mixer. Beat until well mixed. Then fold in 1 cup of thawed Cool Whip.

When this is done, it will be thick and delicious. Seriously, try not to eat it ALL.

Spread over chilled crust. Be careful, because your crust may want to peel up a bit.

You'll see crumbs in my layer.

 The third layer is 2 small boxes of instant chocolate pudding & 3 cups of 2% or vitamin D milk.

Beat together until thick (should be a bit thicker than regular 'quick set' method puddings due to using less milk), then spread over the cream cheese layer.

 Just before serving, add the rest of the cool whip to the top. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, toffee bits, drizzled caramel topping, coconut flakes, grated chocolate... the sky is the limit! My guys are kinda boring, so I just did chocolate chips.

Some people can do perfect lovely layers... I am not one of those. Here are my messy  layers

Messy, but delicious.

Did I mention delicious?

Great dessert for a crowd, so perfect for get togethers, pot lucks (do y'all call them pot lucks or carry in dinners?), Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, picnics, etc!

Easy, quick, cheap. Yay.

Enjoy!

Tina

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