Most Viewed Recipes of 2012

Even though this blog is relatively new, I thought I would make a "Most Viewed" list. It's the most viewed of 2012...and of all time! The five recipes here are actually some of my favourites that I made , so I hope you enjoy!

5. S'mores Pie

This one was a big hit with my family! It's a delicious chocolate pie in a graham cracker crust with toasted marshmallows on top. YUM!

4. Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

I made these on a whim one Sunday morning and I was surprised that they turned out to be such a hit! They are pretty delicious though! 

3. Zebra Cupcakes

Anyone who knows my sister knows that she is OBSESSED with zebras. We made these for her class on her birthday - she said that they loved them!

2. Funfetti Ice Cream Sandwiches

These were one of the first recipes I posted, and I thought they were really cute. They're super fun, and kids are guaranteed to love them because what kid doesn't like sprinkles?

Aaaand (drumroll please...) the number one most viewed post of 2012 is...

1. Kit Kat Cake

This cake was so fun to make, and very impressive. It looks fantastic, but it's actually so easy to make! Give it a try!


Well, those are the top recipes this year! Hopefully there will be lots more yummy recipes coming your way in the New Year! 

Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie (& Some Holiday Veggies!)

One of the great things about turkey dinners is getting to eat all the things that you really only eat with turkey. Like stuffing...and cranberry sauce. I've always loved cranberry sauce, but I really only eat it on Christmas and Thanksgiving. 

I made this recipe on Christmas, but I think it would be great anytime in the holiday season...or any other time for that matter! Cranberries and brie go really well together, and the pecans give it a little something different. It's a great appetizer, and is sure to be popular at your next party!

Cranberry Baked Brie

• 1 wheel brie cheese
• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce (adjust accordingly if your cheese is bigger or smaller)
• 1/2 tsp. orange zest
• 1/3 cup pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place brie in an oven safe dish, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, top with cranberry sauce and pecans, and return to oven to bake 5 more minutes, until cheese is melty. 

Serve in oven-safe dish, or carefully transfer to a different plate. Serve with crackers.

On a related note, another appetizer I made for Christmas was this veggie tray. I thought it was too cute not to share. There's not really a recipe...just arrange the veggies in a Christmas tree shape!

Rosemary Clover Rolls

Don't you love it when you go to a restaurant and you're absolutely STARVING, and then the waiter brings a basket of warm rolls to your table? Sure, sometimes it's disappointing because it's not the tastiest piece of bread in the world, but usually, I'm too hungry to tell.

You're not going to have that disappointment with these rolls, though.

They're absolutely fantastic. They're soft, fluffy and taste great just fresh out of the oven. We had them with turkey, and the rosemary complements turkey perfectly. It made me think that these would be great to serve for Thanksgiving!

Another thing that's great about them is that you don't need any special ingredients like bread flour. I literally decided to make them to eat with dinner Sunday night, and we had all the ingredients on hand. You probably do too! How many more reasons do you need to make these rolls to serve to your family tonight?

Rosemary Clover Rolls

Adapted from How Sweet It Is 

Makes 15 rolls

• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided + extra for brushing tops
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 large egg
• 2/3 cup warm milk
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves

In a large bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp. honey and water. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until yeast gets foamy. Add egg, milk, butter and remaining honey, mixing until just combined. Add 1 cup of flour, salt and rosemary. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until you reach 2 1/2 cups of flour added. Flip dough out onto a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes, adding more flour as you go. Dough should be a bit sticky, but easy to work with. Roll dough into a ball and place in a bowl coated with remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Flip so all dough is covered and let rise about 1 1/2 hours. 

Punch dough down. Grease muffin tins. Rip off small pieces of dough and roll into balls, placing three in each muffin cup. Cover and let rise for another hour. 

Once dough has risen, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush each roll with olive oil, then place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Remove from tins and serve warm.

*Note: I made 12 regular sized rolls, then another 12 in a mini muffin tin.

Brownie Covered Oreos

If you've ever read the blog Picky Palate, you'd know that it features lots of delicious recipes using Oreos (these tasty cookies are from a Picky Palate recipe too!). Well, these brownies combine two delicious treats and make them into one fabulous dessert!

They're really cute. I think they almost look like those two-bite brownies you can get at the grocery store...but they taste much better!! The Oreo on the inside bakes and becomes kind of soft...yum! You'll love them...especially warm from the oven.

Brownie Covered Oreos

Adapted from Picky Palate

Makes about one bag of Oreos

• One package double-stuffed Oreos
• One package brownie mix
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 - 2 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. 

Dip Oreos into brownie mix, flipping to make sure they're covered. Place in a well-greased muffin tin.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Immediately after taking them out of the oven, run a knife around the edge of each muffin cup to ensure brownies don't stick!

To make icing, mix icing sugar with milk, starting with one Tbsp. and adding more as needed. Transfer to a piping bag or a ziplock with a tiny hole cut in the corner and pipe designs onto completely cooled brownies. 

Enjoy!

Candy Cane Brownies

Wow, I'm really going for the candy cane theme this week! This recipe is a little different from Monday's recipe though...those Rice Krispie Treats were just shaped like candy canes...these really taste like them! But even better because, I don't know about you, but I've never seen a candy cane that has CHOCOLATE in it.

I absolutely love the combination of mint and chocolate (mint chip ice cream, anyone?), and it seems to be a go-to pairing around the holidays.

These brownies are delicious, and would be a perfect addition to any holiday sweet tray!

Candy Cane Brownies
Adapted from Our Best Bites
Makes 16 brownies

For the brownies:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

For the frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• 1-2 drops red food colouring
• 1 Tbsp. milk (adding more by the tsp. if needed)

For the chocolate glaze:

• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (3 baking squares)
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3-4 candy canes, crushed (enough to cover the top of the brownies)

Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Once melted, add sugar, eggs and vanilla, beating well to combine.

Next, beat in the cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. Once combined, pour into lined dish. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not over bake. Let brownies cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter with powdered sugar, peppermint extract, food colouring and milk. If the frosting isn't quite coming together, add more milk, a teaspoonful at a time. Spread evenly over brownies and place in fridge to chill.

To make glaze, melt chocolate with butter in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth and fully melted. Let cool for a few minutes, then pour over the frosted brownies. Spread it around quickly so that the chocolate doesn't harden. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes and return to fridge to allow chocolate to set. 

Candy Cane Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispies are one of my favourite cereals. Cereal is pretty much one of my favourite foods, and I eat it practically every day. I go through phases with other cereals, but one that I always love is Rice Krispies. I don't know why, they're just so darn tasty.

As much as I love them, I don't actually make Rice Krispie Squares that often. I always think that they're more complicated than they are to make, when really, they're easy! There are like, 3 ingredients. Can't get much easier than that, can it?

Okay, so these Rice Krispie treats actually have four ingredients. Sorry if that's a bit overwhelming. But   I promise, the end result is totally worth it. They're really cute and festive, perfect for Christmas. I wonder is Santa likes Rice Krispie Treats...

Candy Cane Rice Krispie Treats
Adapted from Rice Krispies
Makes about 14 

• 28 large marshmallows
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 pieces red shoestring licorice

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and marshmallows until smooth. Once completely melted, add vanilla.

Stir in Rice Krispies. Remove from heat. 

Using well greased hands, mold Rice Krispie mixture into candy cane shapes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Wrap strings of licorice around canes. Enjoy!

Snowman Shepherd's Pie

It is December...and there is still no snow. I mean, I will be the first to admit that snow is NOT my favourite thing, but I feel like we need just a little bit. I remember at this time a few years ago we had a TON of snow. It's so funny how it changes from year to year. As long as there is some on Christmas, I will be satisfied.

To try to encourage the snow to come, I made this Snowman Shepherd's Pie! It looks really cute, and it's super easy to make! You'll impress everyone who sees it, but it takes practically no time at all.

Snowman Shepherd's Pie
Adapted From Taste of Home
Serves 4-6

• 1 lb. ground beef (I used extra-lean, but you could sub regular or even ground turkey!)
• 1 package gravy, prepared
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (plus a couple extra pieces for "noses")
• 3/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup peas, plus about 1/4 cup extra for decorating
• 2 cups of prepared mashed potatoes 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef until fully cooked. Drain and return to pan. Add vegetables and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Add gravy and ketchup, stirring to coat.

Transfer beef mixture into an 8x8 inch baking dish. Create snowmen by using one tablespoon for each head and three tablespoons for each body. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Once Shepherd's Pie is done cooking, press the peas into the potatoes for "eyes" and "buttons" and the carrot pieces in for "noses". You can add some ketchup "scarves" if you want, too! Serve and enjoy!