This has one special ingredient that makes it so so special. Butter extract gives cookie vibes or you could skip it and just call this churro muddy buddies! These go nicely with some dessert wine, or an afternoon pick-me-up, as anytime treats.
I didn’t do my greatest job mixing, so don’t be like me. The kids happily pick out the melted chocolate chunks so they’re OK with it, but I like it more even. Next time!
Snickerdoodle Muddy Buddy Ingredients: 6 cups rice chex 12 oz bag white chocolate chips 1/2 teaspoon butter extract 2/3 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Directions: Melt the chocolate (microwaved at 20 second intervals and stirred, and returned to the micro, or, over a double boiler). Add in the butter extract and stir well. Add the chex to a zip-top bag, pour the chocolate into it and shake/stir and quickly add in the sugars and cinnamon.
Spread it out onto a tray to cool/dry.
Enjoy!
I plan to use some butter extract for a coffee syrup. It is a warm flavor that feels like it could easily sub for vanilla in many dishes too.
Heat like this calls for no-cook treats- plus all the AC/pool trips/popsicles you can find. This cheeseball dip is all the flavors of s’mores that you love, without sitting by a hot fire while it is 90-something degrees around here.
S’mores Dip Ingredients: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 5 graham crackers crushed into crumbs + ~8-10 graham crackers broken into quarters 1 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips 1 cup mini marshmallow bits
Directions: When cream cheese is softened, add in confectioners sugar, vanilla, most of the graham cracker crumbs, and 1/3 of the mini chocolate chips.
Mix well together with a spatula or hand mixer. Spoon onto plastic wrap and wrap it up to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. Before serving, cover the outside in the remaining graham cracker crumbles, remaining mini chips, and the marshmallows.
Use a spoon to pack the “crust” around the cheeseball. Serve with graham crackers to dip. Enjoy!
This was fun – and addicting. The dip is soft and creamy with a tang of the cream cheese but with the sweet and crunch. Mix it up and bring out a cool dessert that appeals to all ages.
These mini freeze-dried marshmallows are perfect here, BUT, skip the marshmallows and swap the cream cheese with ricotta and poof! You’ve got cannoli dip! We used the mini marshmallows in hot chocolate bombs and in some trail mix and in Hot Chocolate Muddy Buddies.
I love a Valentine’s Day treat! At the same time, I admittedly unfollowed an IG influencer who spouted “small” Valentine’s Day gifts for her kids – then the next thing we saw was coloring kits, playdoh sets, puzzles, stuffed animals, candy, play jewelry, and matching pjs. It is their job to get people to buy stuff – but none of us need the expectation out there that we’re showering the kiddos with so much stuff every single holiday. Cookies are the right answer – everyone can enjoy a soft pink cookie.
Strawberry Crinkle Cookies Ingredients: 1 box strawberry cake mix 2 tablespoons flour 2 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Directions: Mix the cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and extract together.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Let cookie dough cool at least 10 minutes in the fridge. Roll golf-ball sized balls (~1.5-2 inches) and gently roll in powdered sugar. Place onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or with a silicone mat each one about 2 inches apart. Bake 9-10 minutes and let sit on the baking sheet 1 minute out of the oven then carefully let cool on cooling rack.
Enjoy!
I love these. They are delightfully soft and almost gooey. The strawberry flavor brings some summertime feelings to mid-February.
I baked! I had this idea churning and we were having cheesecake for Christmas day so I left some space after just having it – then I just went for it without an occasion. This has pretzel & graham cracker crumb crust with cheesecake topped with apple and salted caramel.
The cheesecake is super fluffy and has a great balance of crumb to cheesecake to topping ratios – I pretty much want each in every bite.
Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Apple Topping Ingredients: (for graham cracker & pretzel crust) 1 packet of graham crackers 1/2 cup of pretzels 1 stick of butter, melted 1/4 cup sugar (for cheesecake) 16 oz cream cheese 2/3 cup sugar 8 oz sour cream 4 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half (for salted caramel apple topping) 3 large cortland apples 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup caramel sauce 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a food processor, blend together the graham crackers, pretzels, butter, and sugar and press into a springform pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 8 minutes then reduce heat to 325 degrees. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and heavy cream. Bake for 60-minutes until the edges are set and the middle is barely giggly.
Let the cheesecake fully cool out of the oven, in the pan. Peal and chop the apples to cook over medium-low heat in the butter. Add in the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for ~5 minutes until they soften but aren’t mush. Add in a teaspoon of the caramel apple sauce and some salt. Taste and add in more of the kosher salt as you like. Refrigerate until serving.
When serving, spoon apple topping over the cheesecake and drizzle with remaining caramel and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Enjoy!
I loooved this. I started with apple topping from just 2 apples then made more wanting there to be PLENTY. I love the little salt bits in the crust and on the topping. Cheesecake is so convenient to prep ahead of time and I liked the salted caramel apple topping even better when it was cool – just like the cheesecake.
So addicting! Muddy Buddies are fool-proof and great to make quickly – and to be ready to gift! Sweet chex-mix with 2 flavors is the best. I made mint & chocolate for Saint Patrick’s Day and I made raspberry white chocolate muddy buddies for Valentine’s Day.
Read through before making – I have you make one kind, then the other since the chocolate shouldn’t cool/harden before you’re ready to mix it all up. These are delightfully wintry – not holiday-ish so make whenever!
Hot Chocolate Muddy Buddies: Ingredients: 1 cup white chocolate chips 6 cups rice chex cereal (that’s 2/3 of a box) 2/3 cup hot chocolate mix 1 cup chocolate chips 2/3 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup mini dehydrated marshmallows
Directions: Melt white chocolate chips – stirring every 20-seconds in the microwave for ~1 minute OR over a double boiler. Then gently stir into half the chex, carefully to not break the cereal. Then transfer into a zip-top bag and pour in the hot chocolate mix.
Shake shake shake to cover evenly. Then pour onto wax paper and spread out evenly to “dry” (hot tip: place on baking sheets to be able to move them.) Let it sit for ~30 minutes – an hour.
Melt the chocolate chips – stirring every 20-seconds in the microwave for ~1 minute OR over a double boiler. Then gently stir into half the chex, carefully to not break the cereal. Then transfer into a zip-top bag (use the same one!) and pour in the powdered sugar. Shake shake shake to cover evenly. Then pour onto wax paper and spread out evenly to “dry” (hot tip: place on baking sheets to be able to move them. Sound familiar?) Sprinkle the dehydrated marshmallows so some will stick to the chex clusters. Let it sit for ~30 minutes – an hour.
Enjoy!
The dehydrated marshmallows are so so fun and a big bag was half the price than the little tub by ice cream toppings or by hot chocolate in the stores. I’ll totally put on top of ice cream, on yogurt, add to trail mix, drop into hot chocolate, and into hot chocolate bombs and I definitely want to try in ebilskiver pancakes!
