Halloween Pizza Skulls

by penji1

I’ve seen these all over the internet so decided to give them a try since I just got the Nordic Ware skull pan and they did not disappoint, in fact I had to make two batches because everyone wanted more. Your kids will love them and they couldn’t be any easier.

1 (13.8 oz) tube refrigerated pizza dough

6 tablespoons pizza sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

24 slices pepperoni

1 Preheat oven to 375. Spray skull pan with cooking spray.

2 Unroll pizza dough and press or roll into a 15 x 10″ rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise then cut the two strips into 3 pieces each. Drape each piece of pizza dough into a skull cavity in the pan.

3 Sprinkle with a little cheese, top with 1 tablespoon of sauce, 4 pepperoni slices, and then more cheese. Fold dough over and press seams to seal as best you can.

4 Bake about 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 6 pizza skulls

recipe from Plain Chicken

Sourdough Pepperoni Pizza Muffins

by penji1

I’m always on the lookout for quick and easy sourdough discard recipes and this one fit the bill. I tweeked it a bit for us and they were delicious. I served them with some spaghetti sauce for dipping. I think kids would love them! All the big kids here sure loved them!

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sourdough starter

2 cups flour

2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 package pepperoni slices, each slice cut in half

1 jar pizza or spaghetti sauce for dipping, if desired

1 Preheat oven to 400. Spray muffin pans with olive oil cooking spray.

2 Whisk together eggs, milk, and olive oil. Stir in sourdough starter, flour, cheese, and seasoning. Stir in pepperoni half slices, retaining about 12 – 18 for topping each muffin.

3 Scoop dough into muffin pans sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes or until starting to brown.

4 Serve with pizza or spaghetti sauce.

Yield: about 12 – 18 muffins

recipe adapted from True Sourdough

Salted Caramel Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

by penji1

Oh yeah, look at those delicious cookie bars, loaded with all the good stuff! Here’s another view so you can see all that caramely goodness in the middle

Can’t recommend these highly enough!

3/4 cups butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 (11 oz) bag caramels bits or caramels, unwrapped

3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 Melt butter over medium high heat. Continue cooking, watching closely, for 5 minutes or until butter foams and turns a deep golden brown. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2 Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

3 Add brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla to cooled brown butter and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread 2/3 of batter in pan, reserving 1/3 of batter.

4 Combine caramels or caramel bits and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 1 minute and stir. Continue microwaving at 30 second intervals, stirring in between each, until completely melted and smooth. Pour caramel mixture over batter in pan, to within 1/4″ of sides of pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt. Drop pieces of reserved dough over top of caramel. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt.

5 Bake 19 – 23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

recipe from Land O Lakes

Toffee Chocolate Chip Muffins

by penji1

If you follow my blog, you already know that I have a thing for muffins. They would be my breakfast of choice every morning if that were possible but alas it is not! These were awesome! You can see the melted toffee in there, what’s not to love?

2 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup toffee bits

1 cup chocolate chips plus more for sprinkling on top if desired

1 Preheat oven to 375. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2 Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

3 In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place, whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla on high until foamy and slightly stiffened.

4 Mix together melted butter and oil in a measuring cup with a spout. Slowly add butter/oil mixture to egg mixture in a slow stream as mixer continues to whisk.

5 Mix together whipping cream, milk and vinegar. Add slowly to batter while continuing to mix at a reduced speed.

6 Fold in dry ingredients by hand just until incorporated. Gently fold in toffee bits and chocolate chips.

7 Scoop batter into prepared pans. Top with additional chips if desired.

8 Bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

recipe from Rock Recipes

Utah Taste Off – Macaroni and Cheese

by penji1

We love macaroni and cheese at our house and Utah Taste Off delivered the goods this week. There was mac n cheese from

Station 22

Wallaby’s Smokehouse

Good Thyme Eatery

Five Star BBQ

Cravings Bistro

Zulu Grille

We loved Cravings Bistro the best, as you can tell from the picture above with Cravings mac n cheese at the bottom center position, almost gone but Station 22 was named the official winner.

If you haven’t checked out Utah Taste Off, I urge you to give it a try. It’s fun and tasty!

Brown Sugar Muffins

by penji1

I am aware that these muffins don’t look like anything special so you just let your family go on thinking that while you gobble these beauties down because they are awesome! And so easy to make.

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped nuts, if you like

1 Preheat oven to 375. Line 14 – 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

2 Stir brown sugar and butter together. Add milk, egg, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until incorporated. Stir in nuts.

3 Scoop into prepared muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 15 – 20 minutes.

recipe from Taste and Tell

Black, White, and Grey Marble Fondant Wedding Cake

by penji1

Courtney and I got to make a wedding cake this weekend for our friends Sarah and Hector. I think it came out really nice. Here’s a look at the top just for fun

The cake was coconut almond made from this recipe here.

The frosting was our favorite buttercream from this recipe here.

The fondant was Satin Ice brand from Michaels.

It was a three layer 8″ round cake. Rolling out that big of a piece of fondant was a challenge but we got it on the third try. 🙂

Congrats to Sarah and Hector and thanks for letting us be a part of your big day! We love you!

Utah Taste Off – Fall Cupcakes

by penji1

Be still my foodie heart, Utah Taste Off did cupcakes this week! Don’t they all look divine?

Pecan Pie from So Baked!

Churro from Kenzie’s Cakery

Pumpkin Spice from Sweet Tooth Fairy

Carmel Apple Spice from Cakes de Fleur

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip from Cravings Alisha’s Cupcakes

Maple Brown Sugar from Carrisa’s Cake Company

The winner for me was the Maple Brown Sugar, so scrumptious!

Check out Utah Taste Off, you won’t be disappointed!

Fudgy Sourdough Brownies

by penji1

Oh the things you can do with your sourdough discard. You can make almost anything! These were super fudgy!

9 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 sticks butter, cut into pieces

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup sourdough discard

1/2 – 1 cup flour (I did the 1/2 cup the recipe called for but when I make them again I will up it to 1 cup)

1 Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2 Combine chocolate and butter in large microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute then stir. Continue to microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until melted and combined.

3 Stir in sugar, brown sugar, salt and vanilla. Add in eggs, one at a time, stirring after each then stir vigorously for 30 seconds.

4 Fold in sourdough discard then stir in flour just until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until brownies are puffed up a bit and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs.

recipe from Baking Sense

Utah Taste Off – Chocolate Chip Cookies

by penji1

Today was Chocolate Chip Cookie Tasting Day with Utah Taste Off and what a fabulous day it was! And all the proceeds benefited the Utah Food Bank! The cookies were from

Sweet Tooth Fairy

Crumbl Cookies

Ruby Snap

Fabulous Freddy’s Splash

Twisted Sugar

Hug Hes Cafe

I’m not lying when I say that they were all delicious but Twisted Sugar knocked it out of the park!

Check out Utah Taste Off, you won’t be sorry!