Sugarfoot Eats

Baking. Blogging. Being...in Austin, TX

Texas Sheet Cake

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My last day is living in Wichita, I finally had my 1st blogger meetup!  I was thrilled when I found Veronica’s blog when living in Wichita.  Although you have a common bond with food bloggers in other parts of the country, having one in own city is even more awesome!

Veronica and I met up for lunch the Copper Oven.  It was so fun!  We had a ton to talk about.  I’m pretty sure the waitress started to think that we were never going to leave!  I just had so many questions about her blog and just getting to know her better in general.

Left:  Veronica; Right:  Me

Veronica has such a good heart too!  You can just tell that she’s a genuinely nice person.  She was so thoughtful to get me a going away gift too!  She gave me a cookbook, sheet cake pan, and her recipe for chocolate sheet cake.

She wrote a sweet note that said:  “You can’t go to TX without a fabulous TX sheet cake recipe & a pan to make it in!  Enjoy them.  I wish you much happiness on this new path & adventure.”

Awwww!

I made the cake yesterday and it is SO yum!!!

Texas Sheet Cake

Recipe very slightly adapted from Veronica’s Cornucopia

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 cup water
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the icing:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
16 ounce box powered sugar, sifted (Don’t forget to sift the powdered sugar or you get lumpy frosting like I did!)
1 teaspoon vanilla

*I omitted pecans from the icing as a family member has a nut allergy.

Instructions:

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  With non-stick cooking spray, spray a 18″ x 12″ jelly roll/sheet cake pan. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, butter, oil, and cocoa. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from the heat. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and cocoa mixture. Add the vanilla. Mix until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into your sheet cake pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.  You’ll know it’s done when the the center appears firm and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.

To make the icing:

In a medium saucepan, add the butter, cocoa, and milk.  Stir and bring it to a boil.  Remove from the heat.

Stir in the sifted powdered sugar.  Beat until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.

You can pour the warm icing on the warm cake and spread quickly.

Serve warm or cool.

* I serve mine with a scoop of ice cream.

** I also love to eat leftover chocolate cake in a bowl with milk poured on it.  Sort of like cake cereal….anyone else do that??

Easter Egg Hunt Cupcakes

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Last year, I…er…I mean, the Easter Bunny hid eggs in my parents’ backyard for my nephews to find.  I hid them about 30 minutes or so before my nephews arrived.  And it was pretty warm out that day.

Do you see where this is going?

Melted chocolate in the Easter eggs!  Oops!!  The Easter Bunny really screwed up on that one.

I got my act together more with these cupcakes though.

Easter Egg Hunt Cupcakes

Recipe from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1 box of white cake mix + ingredients specified on the back of the box

1 can of white whipped cake frosting

light green sprinkles (I found mine at Joann Fabrics.)

jelly beans (I used Lifesavers pastel colored jelly beans)

You really can decorate however you like!!!!

Instructions:

Bake and frost the cupcakes according to directions on box.  Decorate your heart out!  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

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Have you ever been snubbed by your dog?

It kinda stinks.

Guess who totally gave me the cold shoulder this weekend?

She HATES it when it’s time for her flea treatment.  You know those little vials of liquid that you put on a dog’s back to prevent fleas/ticks…  It smells sort of like orange-scented Pledge.  I guess the smell drives Haley bonkers.  For two days afterward, she avoided me like the plague.  When I walked toward her, she’d get up and walk away.

Geez, she’s dramatic.  Like dog, like owner.

I finally won her back Sunday afternoon by taking her on a 30 minute walk and giving her peanut butter.  At least I know the secret to her heart.

You can also win over hearts with these easy cake mix cookies!  I recently made these cookies to take to a friend’s dinner party.  The cookies went over well and no one was the wiser that they took just a hot minute to make.   Nothing wrong with letting people assume you slaved away in the kitchen!

Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

Recipe from Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 8 ounce bag Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the chocolate cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil.  Stir together until combined.
Add in the bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis.  Stir in the Minis until combined.  You’ll want the Minis broken, but large chunks of Minis are ideal.
Using a spoon or cookie scoop, place  rolled balls of dough on prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-9 minutes.
Enjoy!

 

Butterscotch Walnut Spice Cake

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Did you see my post yesterday about movie actors?

Well, far be it from me to not give TV actors some love!!

Julie’s Top 5 Drool Worthy TV Actors

5.  Patrick Dempsey

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Who knew from Can’t Buy Me Love that he’d become McDreamy?

4.  Jason Sudeikis

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A funny man with a great head of hair?  Yes, please.

3.  Timothy Olyphant

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Do you watch Justified on FX?  It’s a great show plus the eye candy.

2.  Jon Hamm

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I’ll be Don Draper’s secretary any day.

1.  Taye Diggs

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No explanation needed.

I made this cake while dreaming that I was guest starring on Private Practice.  Taye Diggs will be my doctor and fall madly in love with me while saving me from near death.  Addison doesn’t stand a chance.  (Annnnnd, I need to get a life.)

This cake is easy-peasy, semi-homemade.  It’s a perfect “in a pinch” cake to make when company is coming.  Or take it to book club with your friends….where you can talk about the book for 5 minutes and then talk about hot actors for 2 hours.

Butterscotch Walnut Spice Cake

Ingredients:

1 3.5 ounce box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1 box spice cake mix
1 bag of butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan; set aside.

Make the vanilla pudding according to the package directions, using 2 cups of milk.  Add spice cake mix to the pudding and mix well.  Pour batter into your prepared cake pan.

Sprinkle butterscotch chips and chopped walnut on top of batter.

Bake for 35 minutes.

I LOVE this cake!  So delicious!!

Enjoy.

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Yesterday, I went to see Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol.  I later was tweeting about how Tom Cruise is bat crazy, but still full of hotness.  That smile!!

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The lovely Missy (hi Missy!) said that Tom doesn’t do it for her.  She’s more of a Ryan Reynolds type of gal.

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So, it begged the question.  Who are my top 5 actors that I drool over?

Julie’s Top 5 Drool Worthy Movie Actors

5.  Brad Pitt

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Do you remember when Legends of the Fall came out???  OMG.love.

4.  George Clooney

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It’s all about the eyes!!!

3.  Matthew McConaughey

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The southern draw makes me weak.

2.  Ryan Gosling

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It’s the INTENSITY of his eyes.

1.  The Rock

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I know, I know.  What?!  He just does it for me!!!  Drool worthy.

You know what else is drool worthy.  These cookies.

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe slightly adapted from Baking with Basil

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped Ghirardelli Intense Dark Toffee Interlude chocolate
24 Rolos

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Whisk together the flour and the baking soda in a small bowl.  Set aside the bowl.

In a skillet, melt 10 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes.  For 1-3 minutes more, stir melted butter constantly until butter is golden brown with a nut smell.  Pour melted butter into a mixing bowl.  Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into the melted brown butter.  Stir until all butter is melted.

Add the sugars, salt, and vanilla extract to the bowl with melted brown butter.  Whisk until combined.  Add the egg and the egg yolk to the wet mixture.  Whisk for  30 seconds.  Let the mixture sit for 3 minutes.

Whisk for another 30 seconds.  Let the mixture sit for another 3 minutes.

Again:  Whisk for another 30 seconds.  Let the mixture sit for another 3 minutes.

Once again:  Whisk for another 30 seconds.  Let the mixture sit for another 3 minutes.  Wet mixture will now be smooth and shiny.

Add the dry ingredients mixture to the wet.  Stir until combined.  Add the dark chocolate chips and chopped dark chocolate; combine.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes.

Measure out a heaping cookie scoop full of dough.  Place a Rolo in center of dough.  Use your hands to cover the Rolo with dough and roll into a ball.  Place rolled ball on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake one tray of cookies at a time.  Bake for 9-12 minutes until edges are golden brown.  Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Enjoy these cookies while watching a movie with your favorite movie star!!!

Who’s your favorite drool worthy movie star???

Pumpkin Pie Crumb Cake

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Now that people that I know in “real life” know about my food blog, I sometimes get recipes from them.  And sometimes, I get so excited that I make that recipe the same day.

This recipe was one of those recipes!! It’s pumpkin pie meets coffee cake!!! Loved it!

Thanks, Nancy!!  🙂

Pumpkin Pie Crumb Cake

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package of yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch pan.  Combine pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, eggs, granualated sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt.  Pour it into the pan.  Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture.  Top with the chopped pecans, then drizzle melted butter over the top.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden.  Let it cool completely.

Cut into squares and serve.  Enjoy!

 

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

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It’s been sleeting here today.  Luckily, I didn’t have to drive anywhere.

Well, I did go outside at 9:30 am.  I moved my car from across the parking lot to a parking spot right in front of my apartment.  Because if it’s slick out tomorrow, there’s no way I could successfully walk across the parking lot without falling!

Does this happen to anyone else?  I get so inside my head when it’s slick outside!  I’m so convinced in my head that I’ll fall that I curse myself.  I’ll end up taking baby steps, but I think that just makes it worse.

Can someone give me boots with spikes on the bottom for Christmas?  Or some semblance of balance and grace?

Instead of driving today, I made Christmas cookies!!  I’ve seen these cuties floating around on Pinterest.

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

What you’ll need:

Peanut butter cookies
Chocolate covered pretzels
Chocolate chips
Hot tamales

Instructions:

Bake 2 dozen peanut butter cookies using your favorite recipe or mix.  While cookies are still warm from the oven, place 2 pretzels on the corners of cookies for the antlers.  Place two chocolate chips (flat side up) in the middle for the eyes.  And finally, use half of a hot tamale for the nose.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

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What do you remember about Christmas when you were young?

For me, it was the anticipation!!  We always had our Christmas tree in our basement.  It would have been too cramped in our upstairs living room with the Christmas tree plus presents.  On Christmas morning, I wasn’t allowed to go downstairs until my Mom got up though.  And I had to wait until 11 am to wake up my Mom.  I kid, I kid.  I probably only had to wait until 7 am. But on Christmas morning, it felt like I was waiting until 11 am.

Now, my brothers’ bedroom was in the basement though.  They were already down there!  Taunting me!!  Me, lip quivering at the top of the stairs.  Brothers, downstairs and yelling up the stairs….”Oh!!  Wait until you see what Santa got you!!!  We’re going to start playing with your presents!!”

Anticipation is killer.

That’s how I feel when I make cakes.  I will always prefer to make cupcakes, cookies, brownies, or dessert bars.  Baking actual whole cakes freak me out!  You can’t eat a piece for quality assurance ahead of time.  It rattles my nerves.  What if I did something wrong? What if it doesn’t taste right??

Anticipation is also awesome when it works out well in the end though!

Gingerbread Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

Recipe from PromiseMe2

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter,  at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 cup half & half
1 & 2/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg

For the cream cheese filling:

1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.  Set pan aside.
To make the bundt cake:
In a large mixing bowl,  combine the butter and granulated sugar. Mix well.  Add molasses and mix.  Add eggs one at a time and mix.  Add pumpkin puree and half & half, mix.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and the remaining dry ingredients.  Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well.  Set aside.
To make the cream cheese filling:
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese, flour, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Set aside.
In your prepared Bundt cake pan, fill it with your gingerbread pumpkin mixture. With a knife, carve a well in a circle through the Bundt pan.  Pour the cream cheese mixture into the well.  Use your knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture with the pumpkin mixture.
Bake for 1 hour.
Top Bundt cake with powdered sugar or cream cheese icing.

 

Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

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You know those people that listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving???

GUILTY!

I started listening to Christmas music before Halloween.

I can’t help it.  It makes me happy!  It makes me smile!  It makes me want to eat Christmas cookies.

Julie’s Top 5 Favorite Christmas Songs:

5.  All I Want for Christmas is You; Mariah Carey
4.  Last Christmas; Wham
3.  Silent Night; Michael Buble
2.  O Holy Night; Celine Dion
I’m not afraid to admit it!  Celine is fab!  Celine can BELT out this wonderful song.
1.  O Come All Ye Faithful; Josh Groban & the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
This song!  This song!  THIS SONG!  Love!  You NEED to get Josh Groban’s Noel album from iTunes if you don’t have it already.

Christmas music is great to listen to whilst baking too.

Let’s bake!  Shall we?

Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Yields approximately 26 cookies

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Cookie Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
Turbinado sugar, for rolling

For the Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

To make the chocolate cookie dough:

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  Set bowl aside.

Beat together the sugars, butter, and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth. Add in the vanilla, whole egg, and egg yolk.  Beat until combined.  Stir in the dry ingredients to the wet.  Blend well.

To make the peanut butter filling: Stir together the peanut butter and powdered sugar until smooth.  Using your hands, roll the filling into 26 small balls.  Place flour on your hands if they become sticky.

To shape the cookies: Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 26 balls of chocolate cookie dough.  Make an indentation in the center of the chocolate ball with your finger.  Place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation.

Bring the chocolate cookie dough up and over the filling to cover the peanut butter inside.  Roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Roll each rounded cookie in turbinado sugar.  Place prepared dough on baking sheets.  Use a flat surface to flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake cookies for 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This time of year, it’s important to always have a few things on hand in the pantry.  These things being several boxes & varieties of cake mix (Betty Crocker cake mixes have been on sale at Target recently!!) and a crap-ton of different bags chocolate chips.  They work in a snap when you need (or just want) a dessert to make.

Jenn posted this recipe on her blog the day before Thanksgiving.

Who decides on a whim to make another dessert the night before Thanksgiving??

This gal!

When I find a recipe that looks so delicious PLUS it’s super easy PLUS I already have all the ingredients on hand…..SOLD.

P.S.  On Thanksgiving, my Mom said something to the effect of “OMG.these.cookies.are.the.best.cookies.in.the.whole.entire.world.”

Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from Eat Cake For Dinner

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 box Betty Crocker spice cake mix
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line your cookies sheets with parchment paper.  Set cookie sheets aside.

In a bowl, combine the pumpkin puree and the cake mix.  Stir until blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets.  Bake 10-14 minutes.  Cool and serve.

You know…I still have all the ingredients on hand.

Hmmm, okay, I’m off to make another batch!

 

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