Chai Brownie Cupcakes wtih Creamy Froth

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - entered by Chris Caston

This recipe has the prettiest picture on the Pillsbury site. The Creamy Froth icing looks great in their professional photo, it just made me want to make this. I am not really a Chai drinker and I did not have high hopes for this recipe, but was pleasantly surprised, it is pretty good. It is a heavy cupcake since you use brownie mix. I ate one right out of the oven without the icing and it was almost like a molten lava cake. Makes me think maybe I should experiment with brownie mix to see if a good little gooey cake can't be made. Hmmmm.

This adventure of trying the winning recipes has been great! I am learning so much and really enjoying the recipes. I am often doubtful of the recipes when I read them, but then am more often surprised by the results. Creativity does not always have to be about crazy ingredients but can easily be in how you use sponsors products. There are of course some crazy flavor combos out there, things that might make you say yuck until you try it. I bet these people have made some really awful things while experimenting to get to the final winner. I am still stuck at awful, hoping to graduate to ok then possibly winner someday. Made a jambalaya tonight that was a miss. Again, the picture of this recipe will be posted later, once we find the camera cord.

Chai Brownie Cupcakes with Creamy Froth

INGREDIENTS

10	tea bags spiced chai-flavored black tea
1	cup boiling water
1	box (19.5 oz) Pillsbury® Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
3/4	cup Crisco® Pure Canola Oil
3	EGGLAND’S BEST eggs
3/4	cup frozen (thawed) extra-creamy whipped topping
3/4	cup marshmallow creme
1/8	teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
2.	In 2-cup glass measuring cup, steep tea bags in boiling water 5 minutes. Using back of spoon, press tea bags against side of cup to make 3/4 cup tea. Discard tea bags. If necessary, add enough water so tea measures 3/4 cup.
3.	In large bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, eggs and tea with wooden spoon until well blended. Divide batter evenly among cups (cups will be almost full).
4.	Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 45 minutes.
5.	Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat whipped topping and marshmallow creme on medium speed about 3 minutes or until fluffy. Refrigerate while cupcakes cool. Generously frost cupcakes with topping mixture; sprinkle with cinnamon.

I had to get the pretty flowers in the picture. Tanya, from Sell This House, made that arrangement. I bet she has learned plenty of "Martha" type skills as host of this show.

Cup o'Joe Chocolate Coookies

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - entered by Helen Fields

I am back! I have been pretty much without a kitchen for a week. We tore up our kitchen last weekend to have granite installed last Monday, then on Tuesday the A&E team from Sell This House moved in. What a crazy-fun week! I'll do a whole separate post on the Sell This House experience. It was lots of fun and our house looks incredible. I will post pictures of today's recipes later, can't find the cord to the camera. The "redesign" was a bit of a whirlwind and there are lots of things that we still have not found, like our coffee pot. We designated the pantry as our safe zone, that is were we hid our car keys, mail, cell phones or anything the we didn't want to get packed up. Now I am finding weird things in the pantry, but not the camera cord. Needless to say, the last week has been insane around here and while it was very exciting and a great experience, we are happy to return to our normal life and routine this week. Ahhhh... big sigh of relief.

I was so excited to be cooking again that I made two Pillsbury 100 deserts today. I have been wanting to make the Cup O'Joe Cookies for awhile, they sounded so easy and good. Definitely an easy recipe, but not the most impressive. My husband's exact words were "this is not a treat, but a punishment". He just isn't a coffee/desert person. That is way too harsh a statement for this cookie, but I do agree it is not a million dollar cookie. I made these cookies as a thank you gift. I owe the guys at my local fire station a thank you for getting me a Woburn Fire shirt on the fly. Turns out Roger likes to wear local shirts on Sell This House, just wish we had more advance notice, it was a tall order finding Woburn shirts. Since the cookies are only so-so and didn't make a lot, I think I'll whip up a batch of good ol'Toll House Cookies tomorrow. Together it will make an impressive cookie gift for the Fire Station. My oldest boy is so excited to visit the firemen. Glad to have the excuse!

Cup o'Joe Chocolate Cookies by Helen Fields

INGREDIENTS

1	roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1/3	cup Hershey’s® baking cocoa
1 1/2	tablespoons instant espresso coffee powder or granules
1/4	cup whipping cream
1/3	cup Hershey’s® mini chips semi-sweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1.	Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F.
2.	In large bowl, mix cocoa, espresso powder and cream with wooden spoon until well blended. Crumble cookie dough into cocoa mixture; stir until well blended.
3.	Shape dough into 30 balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using bottom of drinking glass, flatten balls into 1 1/2-inch rounds. Press thumb into center of each round to make indentation. Fill each indention with 1/2 teaspoon of the chocolate chips.
4.	Bake 9 to 13 minutes or until edges of cookies are set. Cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes; remove to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.

Fake Baked Crab Cakes

Contest: Better with Bisquick - submitted by me

I got an email this week that I did not win the Gorton's Fish contest. Boo! They did list the top 30 recipes and I think there is an on-line voting period until they announce the grand price winner. I have a few packages of their product left in the freezer, I'll try some of the finalist in the next few weeks. I am sort of disappointed. I thought my Focaccia Fish Cakes were good.

The following is another seafood inspiration. I entered this in the Better with Bisquick contest last month. I don't think I'll hear about winning or losing on this utill mid April. I feel like this is a creative dish. I'm pretty proud of the silly name. Hope it get's a chance!

Fake Baked Crab Cakes

1 1/2 Cups Imitation Crab Meat

1/4 Cup Fresh Red Bell Pepper, chopped small

1 Shallot chopped small

1/4 Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley chopped

1 1/2 Teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 Cup Bisquick

1 1/2 Cups Milk

3 Eggs

Sauce

3/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a standard muffin pan (12 muffins). In bowl mix crab, red bell pepper, shallot, parsley and Old Bay seasoning. Divide this mix equally between all 12 spots in the muffin pan. In a separate bowl mix Bisquick, milk and egg till smooth. Top each muffin spot with 1/4 cup of the Bisquick mix. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and solid through. Let cool a few minutes in pan then transfer each crab cake to a cooling rack.

Sauce

Mix mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and lemon juice till smooth.

Serve crab cakes topped with sauce. Enjoy!

A&E show Sell This House!

We won something! Our family and our house is being featured on A&E's show Sell This House! They are filming this coming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Crazy!!! I didn't even enter this contest, our real estate agent entered us, the producer came and met us and we got picked! It all happened very fast. I have been cleaning the house for their visits and getting ready for the filming next week, so I have slowed down on my posting and cooking adventures. I do hope to make some goodies for the crew and our friends that participate in the show. I'll share.

Not sure if I should feel honored that they picked us, they usually pick houses that are tacky or decorated in poor taste. I like to think that isn't why they picked our house, I think it is stylish. Our house is over crowded with furniture, furniture that is too big for our tiny little rooms. That what I am telling myself is the reason they are coming here. I can't clean up my clutter, they want that for the before pictures, but I can clean my house. This place will be cluttered but spic-spank'n clean! I will die if someone says on national television that my house smells bad or is dirty, they can call everything ugly, but not dirty and smelly. I'll blog my experience with the show. It should be interesting and fun. Our show airs on June 26th.

Buffalo Chicken Crescent Puffs

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off T0p 100 Finalist - entered by Beth Dumell

Saturday night was my friend Tammi's birthday party. Everyone was asked to bring something, I took these things and they were a huge hit! HUGE! I dare to say they may have been the best thing there, rivaled only by the Rolo Turtle Pretzels. I have to take moment to discuss the Rolo Pretzel. It is so stupid, but sooo good! Take square snack pretzels, the ones that look like little square tennis rackets, then put a Rolo on top and a pecan on top of that. Bake them long enough to melt, about 3 minutes. The Rolo melts into the little squares in the tennis racket and make a perfect salty, sweet, bite size snack. Ridiculously addictive.

I think this recipe has a pretty good shot and if the party guests from Saturday night were voting Ms. Dumell would be a millionaire today. I felt like it was creative use of the Pillsbury product. Dipping the balls in butter and Panko is key to making these bites more than just an average app. It was a bit hard to wrap the dough around the little cheese balls, but otherwise an easy recipe. I'll make these again. Good luck Beth, I think you have a good chance!

Buffalo Chicken Crescent Puffs by Beth Dumell

INGREDIENTS

12	oz cream cheese (from two 8-oz packages), softened
2	tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce or other red pepper sauce
1/3	cup crumbled blue cheese (1 1/2 oz)
1/4	cup finely chopped celery
1	cup finely chopped cooked chicken breast
2	cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Place ’N Bake® refrigerated crescent rounds (16 rounds) or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/3	cup LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter, melted
1	cup plain or chicken-flavored panko-style bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1.	Line cookie sheet with sides with waxed paper or cooking parchment paper. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and pepper sauce. Stir in blue cheese and celery. Stir in chicken until well blended. Shape mixture by tablespoonfuls into 32 (1 1/2-inch) balls; place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. If using crescent rounds, remove from package, but do not separate rounds. If using crescent rolls, remove from package, but do not unroll. Using serrated knife, cut each roll evenly into 16 rounds; carefully separate rounds. Press each round to 3 inches in diameter. Place chilled chicken mixture ball on center of each dough round; shape dough around ball to cover completely.
3.	In shallow dish, place melted butter. In another shallow dish, place bread crumbs. Dip dough balls into butter, then roll in bread crumbs. Place 2 inches apart on large ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Serve warm. It was hard to close the dough around the balls completely, but the good news is - it doesn't matter! The cheese does not ooze out. Makes a tiny window to peek inside.

Hot Fudge-Marshmallow Monkey Bread

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - Bebe Williams

So excited about this recipe! At first glance of the Top 100, I was immediately drawn to this one and thought, there is my vote for a million. I know that totally contradicts my very critical review of recipes that I called "unoriginal" in their use of the Pillsbury product . Seriously, it is Monkey Bread which is possibly one of the most popular Pillsbury recipes, so how original is a new Monkey Bread recipe? As someone that has tried to change the original Monkey Bread recipe, I can say it is hard to improve an already perfect dish. I spent about a month experimenting with Monkey Bread as I tried to create a banana monkey bread. It was all disaster. Every way I put fresh bananas into the recipe ended up turning the whole thing to mush. I forced my mushy banana monkey bread on everyone I know until I finally just gave up. I also had some problems with too much stuff in the pan, I have been waiting to share this "kitchen disaster" picture for a while.

It is almost artistic! I thought it was actually really pretty. :-)

As you can see, my Monkey Bread creations did not work out, but this Hot Fudge-Marshmallow Monkey Bread did turn out great! Looking at the picture on Pillsbury.com you would never guess that this recipe still creates the crunchy and gooey crust on each piece of bread just like the original. It must be the marshmallows that help create the caramel like coating. I really loved this recipe. The only thing that could hold this recipe back is that it is a classic recipe, but a classic so very improved! I would not be surprised if this is the million dollar recipe. Love it!

Hot Fudge-Marshmallow Monkey Bread by Bebe Williams

INGREDIENTS

1	tablespoon LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1	can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits)
1	can (10.2 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (5 biscuits)
13	large marshmallows
1/2	cup LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter
1/2	cup Smucker's® Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	cup sugar
1	tablespoon Hershey’s® Special Dark® baking cocoa

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with 1 tablespoon butter. Cut all 13 biscuits into quarters; set aside.
2.	In large microwavable bowl, place marshmallows, 1/2 cup butter, hot fudge topping and vanilla. Microwave uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring once, until melted. Using wire whisk, stir until smooth.
3.	In medium bowl, stir sugar and cocoa until blended.
4.	Carefully place 1/4 of the biscuit pieces into hot chocolate mixture, gently folding in to coat. Add another 1/4 of the biscuits, gently folding in to coat. Using tongs, remove biscuits from chocolate, letting excess chocolate drip off. Drop 1 biscuit piece at a time into sugar mixture; spoon sugar over biscuit to coat. Layer biscuits in cake pan. Repeat with remaining biscuits. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over biscuits.
5.	Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; carefully turn plate and pan over. Remove pan; immediately scrape any remaining topping in pan onto bread. Pull apart warm bread to serve.

There was a pool of chocolate goodness that gathers under the whole thing. Perfect for dipping!

Skip!

I set crazy and unnecessary goals and deadlines on myself. I wanted to post something everyday this month on my little blog, but today I need a nap. I will just share a short update of my working contests.

I am about to start working on a new contest: Good Housekeeping's Cook Your Heart Out! So ready for this contest. I think I have put on 10 pounds already with my Pillsbury month. In this contest, all recipes must meet standards set by the American Heart Association. I am not traditionally a "healthy cook", but I like the challenge in it and figure it couldn't hurt our family. I hope to post some flavorful heart healthy recipes in the coming months. There is also a baby food contest that is actually very timely as I am dealing with food allergies with the one year old. Creating healthy, non processed foods for babies and toddlers is a big part of my life already. So there should be some fun tests in my kitchen!

I have 3 more Pillsbury recipes I will be making and sharing this weekend, still searching for the million dollar winner. Ok, nap time now! :-)