St. Patrick's Funfetti Blondie Bites

St. Patrick's is almost here! Only a few more days to make as many green and Irish things as possible. This weekend I went to the Green Beer Races which is quickly becoming a tradition. This is the third year I've gone and it only gets better every year. It's green beer though so I don't know who would be able to resist that. Since I was in such an Irish mood I wanted to make some St. Patty's treats. My favorite cake is funfetti and I've been obsessed lately with blondies so I bring you the St. Patrick's Funfetti Blondie Bites! OK, so maybe they should really be called Greenie bites? Leprechaundie Bites? They aren't so blond once you add in that green food coloring. Andddddd you should really wait until they are completely cooled so yours turn out in perfect squares versus my oddly shaped ones. They just tasted so good I couldn't stop cutting/eating them immediately after they came out of the oven.

St. Patrick's Funfetti Blondie Bites
Yield ~25

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
green food coloring
1/4 cup sprinkles

Candy melts (whichever color you prefer, I used green for St. Patrick's)
Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and mix in with brown sugar, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Next add in the baking powder, salt, powdered sugar, and flour. Last mix in the green food coloring (if you'd like them to be green, omit if you want plain funfetti) and the sprinkles. Pour into a small baking dish. I used a small 6x6 but you could easily double the recipe for a 9x9 baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes, check on blondies and bake a few more minutes or as needed until firm. Let blondies cool, then cut them into 1 inch squares. Place them on a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes. Once they have hardened up some, melt the candy melts in a bowl microwaving for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted. Place a square onto a fork and dip into chocolate shaking excess off. Then place the blondie on a sheet of wax paper to harden and add sprinkles if desired. 

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Pralines

Pralines. Some will yell at you if you say it like I do. PRAY-leens. Last night I was told it was PRAH-leens. Either way, they still taste the same which is heavenly. Thank God I know how to make them now so I don't have to go back to New Orleans just to get some. This will save me a lot of money but it will not save me any room in my jeans. These things are pure sugar with a little bit of extra stuff added in. They are truly a New Orleans treat though so you should try them out.

They were a hit at my party last night except for the one person who said he might become diabetic from them. Really?! First of all, if someone invites you to a party with tons of food they made themselves don't criticize the goods. Second of all, if I haven't gone diabetic yet I'm pretty sure he won't considering I'm the biggest sugar freak ever. I had 3 of them last night... along with 5 mini cupcakes. Weekends are for overindulgence. At least that's what I tell myself so I feel better when I do this kind of thing. 

They had their own little setup with the King Cake cupcakes and Muffuletta pizza which are coming later this week! Side note: Diet Coke has nothing to do with Mardi Gras but I'm slightly addicted to it so it's everywhere in my house. It slips into pictures occasionally.

 

Pralines

Yield ~20

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup light cream

2 tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pecans (whole or chopped)

Place sugar, brown sugar, and light cream in a pot on medium heat. Whisk occasionally until sugar starts dissolving. Turn heat up to bring mixture to a boil, the temperature needs to reach 235 degrees (soft ball stage). Once it does, take it off the heat and add in the butter and vanilla. Do not mix, but let it sit for a few minutes. After that, pour in the pecans and whisk the mixture together. Quickly, take spoonfuls of the mixture and place them on a sheet of wax paper so they can spread out and cool. You want to make sure that you do this as speedy as possible though so that the candy doesn't start crystallizing. Within 5 minutes mine had started to do so. Once finished, let cool then EAT. It's so good, the sugar just melts in your mouth.

Here is what your mixture will look like right around the time it's reaching 235 degrees.

 

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Red Velvet Cookie Dough Truffles

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are all having a great start so far to your day. Mine is starting with these! They're kind of addicting. Last week I was trying to think what I wanted to make for Valentine's Day and I felt like I really wanted to do something with red velvet. I started thinking hard and decided on red velvet cookie dough truffles. I had heard of chocolate chip cookie dough truffles so I figured this could work and oh man, did it. 

On Sunday morning I woke up and went to the gym. When I came back this was sitting on the counter for me, along with a boyfriend making me brunch. I wasn't complaining, although it did make for an interesting "baking" session which resulted in a much messier kitchen than normal and me eating more of my truffles than I had really planned on.

Red Velvet Cookie Dough Truffles

Yield ~34 truffles

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
6 tbs powdered buttermilk
2 tbs cocoa powder (may want to do 1-1 1/2 if you want it to be more red)
1 tbs vanilla
1 tsp red food coloring

chocolate candy melts/wafers

Melt butter, then mix it with brown sugar, sugar, oil, water, and vanilla. Next mix in the powdered buttermilk (this gives the red velvet flavor), cocoa powder, and flour. Last add in the red food coloring. You can add more or less depending on the red color you want. Roll the dough into balls that are about 1.5 inches in diameter and place them on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for about an hour.

Melt chocolate candy wafers in a double boiler or just place a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Stir around until wafers are completely melted. Stick a toothpick in a ball of dough and then swirl it around in the melted chocolate, then place it back on the wax paper. Repeat until you've covered all your cookie dough balls. If you would like to add anything to the top of your truffles (coconut or anything else) do it as soon as you take them off the toothpick since the chocolate will harden quickly.

Lastly, since no Valentine's is complete without a little heart action this awesome picture is being brought to you by NOAA. Even the earth loves you.
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