Chunky Monkey Muddy Buddies

I just cannot get how you people are so anxious to jump into the fall season!

Cotton Candy Hard Candy

Once I made homemade suckers at an activity.

They were awesome flavors (watermelon and root beer) and tasted really good.

Rocky Road Muddy Buddies

When I like something, I crazy like it.

Peanut Butter Toffee Apples

 

I have braces. And, I totally completely want them to go die in a fire or something sort of hate them. 

I mean, they don't exactly do wonders for my appearance. 

Cinnamon Roll Muddy Buddies

Have you seen Mallow & Co.? It's a whole site dedicated to rice krispy treats.

Seriously. The whole site is krispy treats! BTS, Mojito, Blueberry Muffin, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, a ton of krispy treats!

Cake Batter S'moreos

Do you remember in February, the Oreo people made a birthday cake oreo?

When I heard about it, I went crazy. Obviously, I have to try this Oreo, and the fact that it's limited makes it even more so.

I pleaded with my dad to pick some up for me when he got home from a wrestling match with my brothers. I ran to the door and grabbed the box only to see . . .

Berry Burst Ice Cream Oreos.

Don't get me wrong, they were good, but certainly no birthday cake Oreo. By the time I could get to the store, they had been replaced with chocolate mint triple something.

So, I had to wait another year, and then I tasted it. And it was awesome. The only thing was, the cake flavor wasn't too strong because the chocolate cookie sort of overpowered it. So, I thought, wouldn't it be cool if they had a golden oreo with this filling in the middle? I was going to blog about it, but never could actually do the experiment.

And then? The Oreo people got smart and stole my idea. But it was okay because now I wouldn't have to do Oreo surgery or buy two boxes of Oreos.

So, I immediately bought them. We were at my grandparents house and roasted marshmallows. I had the idea . . . the cake batter s'moreo!

So, I tried it and . . . it was amazing. Like, super duper amazingly mind blowing out of this world delicious.
                   
It was so so so good, and I couldn't wait to blog about it at home. I saved the box all through the drive home. 

I was totally ready to redo the cake batter s'moreos, and then . . .

My little brother attacked. He ate the whole box. True, there were only 3 left, but I'm sure I could have made it work.

But, I knew that you guys needed these in your life, so I bought another box.

It was the right choice, don't you think?

Cake Batter S'moreos
 An American classic with a twist. A s'more turned s'moreo get's changed up with the golden cake batter oreos, delicious!
Ingredients: 

• Golden Cake Batter Oreos
• marshmallows
• milk chocolate squares

Directions:

1. Take apart the oreos. 
2. Toast the marshmallows. You can do this lots of ways, over a fire, in an oven, or my favorite, over a stovetop with roasting sticks. 
3. Put the toasted marshmallow on the oreo. Add the chocolate. Smoosh it, and bite into heaven. 

 
I've actually done cake batter s'mores before, during cake batter week.

I personally like these a lot more because . . .
Those have homemade marshmallows, which were insanely delicious and was like eating bites of heaven, but required lots of work. Which isn't exactly my favorite thing.
The marshmallows melt a lot easier, and I just like oreos a lot more than marshmallows.

These are super easy, insanely crazy good run to the store right now for the ingredients delicious, and festive!

Go make them!

Seriously!
      

And just because I love hand shots . . .
                            

Patriotic Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muddy Buddies

Have you ever thought of something, only to find out that people have already done it?

This happened to me a lot during Valentines Day last year. I even talked about it on the blog. Back then my head was sort of exploding with muddy buddy ideas.

Similar to now.

I was thinking of all the possibilities, any mix, pudding, cake, cookie, and any chocolate, could make a totally different muddy buddy!

I really wanted to make red velvet ones.

I even put it in my journal. That's serious people.

But then I found out that everyone had done it. Seriously.

So I put it off for later. Yesterday I got a serious muddy buddy craving. I was gonna make something with the cinnamon chips I got, but then I got on the computer.

Oh my gosh guys! The 4th of July is next week! So I got really bored and racked my brain for ideas.

I'm good at coming up with ideas when I have a flavor. Color combos, not so much. Then, I saw this. Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes, that got all jazzed up for the 4th.

Major duh moment! Just use red velvet and cream cheese. That already gives you the red and white part, all that's left is blue! Which can be easily solved with sprinkles, candy melts and food coloring.

So, I decided to make Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muddy Buddies. Perfect, who would think of muddy buddies at 4th of July?

I'll tell you who. Someone else before me! Sigh. Being a dessert blogger isn't easy.

Buuuut, I didn't want to have to change my mind after already buying the ingredients, so I just went with it.

I should go with it more often, dontcha' think?

So, people often try to do different flavors of muddy buddies, but they mess up. Classic muddy buddies have peanut butter in them. It gives it a certain softness that makes it really good. It doesn't allow the chocolate to ever fully harden. When people make it, they just leave it out, and you have white chocolate and something muddy buddies.

Ashton from Something Swanky had the idea of using frosting in place of peanut butter. It has the same soft texture! Plus it gives you a lot more flavor options. So, I figured I'd do something similar.

Most cake batter muddy buddies have the cake mix added with the powdered sugar. I did that too, but for an extra flavor boost I put some in with the white chocolate. I was thinking about using a red velvet bark in place of white chocolate and then thought, why not just put some cake mix in with the frosting goop?

It makes it look sort of pink, but it doesn't really matter because it all get's covered up with cake mix and powdered sugar.

Frosting muddy buddies have a different texture/flavor than normal ones. They're really sweet, I'd probably add a pinch of salt next time, and they're really soft. Normal ones are crunchy/soft. These ones are soft. These are chewier in a way. It's like chewy and soft got morphed together. I like normal muddy buddies when they're still warm, but these ones tasted a lot better the next day. The flavors blend and complement each other better, and it's crunchier, but with a soft texture. It's kind of hard to describe, but it's cool.

Really cool.

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muddy Buddies
Muddy buddies get a new twist in this delicious patriotic treat! In place of peanut butter is cream cheese frosting, which then get's smothered in a red velvet powdered sugar mixture. The result is a soft sweet treat that you can't resist!
Prep Time: 10 min.   Total Time:10 min.   Serves: 6
Ingredients:

• 4 1/3 cup chex cereal
• 1/2 cup white chocolate
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup cream cheese frosting
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon red velvet cake mix
• 1/2 cup red velvet cake mix
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Measure the chex and pour into a large bowl. 
2. Microwave white chocolate, butter, and frosting. Take out and stir about every 20 seconds. After 1 minute, add vanilla and 1/2 tsp red velvet cake mix. Stir, and microwave until smooth. 
3. Pour frosting mixture over the cereal. Mix it until coated in the mixture. 
4. Pour powdered sugar and 1/2 cup cake mix into a gallon size zip-loc bag. Seal and shake together until mixed. 
5. Use a large spoon to scoop the cereal into the bag. Seal the bag and shake until coated. 
6. Serve. This is good at any stage, but I prefer it the next day when the flavors sort of blend and it get's crunchier. 

Notes:
*if you want the patriotic version of this, follow all of the directions. Divide the muddy buddies in half and add a lot more powdered sugar to one. This will make it white. Roughly toss the white and the red together, then drizzle with blue candy melts
*you really just need 1/2 cup cake mix, and 1/2 tsp cake mix. There really is only 7 ingredients, not 8, I just added that for clarification.
*these are really sweet, you can add a pinch of salt to the white chocolate to tone it down a little
*I used canned frosting because it's a little smoother and easier to melt, but you can use homemade if you want.  

 These muddy buddies are different than the original. I like them both equally, but in different ways. 

The red velvet has almost a salty/sweet taste because sometimes the cream cheese shines through. 

The original is crunchier, but the red velvet is chewier/softer. It literally melts in your mouth. They both have a lot going for them, and I really recommend trying this version, it's super yummy. 

So, I have 2 title photos. They just both looked so good! Feel free to pin either one (or both, or all of them, I'm good!)

Cotton Candy Watermelon

  I got some braces work done yesterday. It was pretty horrific, so I'm gonna dump it off here. Do you mind? Of course you don't, I mean, I made you guys this

How can you not forgive that?

So, ready for a story?

I got my braces on in December, right before Christmas (worst present I've ever had). It hurt SO bad! The pain was awful, I couldn't chew anything, and my teeth constantly hurt and I was getting headaches. It lasted for about a week or two.

Then I got them re-tightened. I thought it would be like last time, super horrible. It hurt, but not as much as before, and it only lasted three or four days.

I went in a couple months later to get them re-tightened. I had a faulty hygienist and I had a huge wire poking out. I couldn't feel it then, but an hour later it was driving me crazy. It cut into my lip reeeeeally bad, it was a bloody mass of lip tissue, really gross, and really painful. I had to wear wax 24/7. Wax is horrible, it's a whole 'nother post. My teeth started to adjust and it went away, then they adjusted more and it came back, switched again and it was gone.

Now, today. I went in and expected it to be like the other two, short and simple uncomfortable. Well, there were lots of complications. The lady started sticking me in a lip retractor. I have a small mouth, and my lips kept slipping out and drool was getting all over my face. Eeew. She called it slime and kept saying 'your slime is getting all over me, here have a tissue, have some water, get it off'.

So we tried the lip retractor five times, then tried a smaller one. It was too small, so she had to use some weird little pad things with her hands. Then she stuck some medicine stuck to cotton swabs in my gums.

A while ago they pulled out my canine teeth. They weren't ready to come out. Now they're trying to force the permanent ones out. I think it's stupid unnatural.

So she stuck it in my two canine gum holes. I hated it, it didn't feel good, all I wanted was that out of my mouth.

Then the dentist/doctor came over. He started talking about a laser. I repeat, he was talking about a LASER. Freak out! He said something like, "I hope you're not too scared for the laser". Like I knew about it in advance. I didn't, they never told us. Anyways, he brought this laser over that had smoke coming out of it (double freak out!!!) and started digging it around in my gum. I couldn't feel it that much, but I didn't like it. I'm pretty sure red hot fire lasers were never meant to be in my gums. EVER.

Then they tried to put some "button" on. I had no idea what they were doing, I just wanted to go home. When I looked at it at home it looks like they stuck an invisible hook/string in the gum hole (that they made with the laser) and then brought that up and stuck it up on the top high part of my gums.

Ouch.

Okay, enough about lasers and hooks and teeth, lets talk about this.

I went to Golden Corral a couple weeks ago with my mom and my two littlest brothers and sisters. I LOVE Golden Corral, they rock, and I totally want to do a copycat of their scones, except for I am deathly afraid of fry oil, so that's out of the question.

My little sister got watermelon, and I got her some cotton candy. The cotton candy fell into the watermelon, and started melting. I tasted it and . . .

It was amazing! So awesome, I loved it and did it with the rest of her watermelon. I recreated it at home as soon as I could, yesterday, but . . .

I had just gone to the orthodontist (aka the laser fanatics), so my teeth were suuuuper sore. I tried to bite into a watermelon during the photo shoot to make it look cool and I just about died. So, while I didn't really eat this, I've had it before, and it rocked.

But what I did eat was some of the cotton candy with watermelon juice. Ohmygosh it was so good! So yummy, totally doing this again and again.

What this is is watermelon cubes. You smoosh the cotton candy into the top and it starts melting and oozing into the watermelon. Then you add another piece on top. This one might melt a little, but not that much.

That's it! Then you eat it and it's awesome and the end.

Cotton Candy Watermelon
Watermelon oozing with melted cotton candy, with another fluffy piece on top!
Ingredients:

• watermelon 
• cotton candy

Directions:

1. Cut the watermelon into cubes. 
2. Pull off a piece of the cotton candy that is about half the size of the cube, you don't have to be exact, any amount is fine. Press that into the top and push down. It will start melting. When there is only a little bit left, stop. 
3. Grab another tuft and stick it on top. Eat!

Notes: You can do any shape you want, I just like cubes (stars would be adorable for the 4th of July!) Something really fun to do is follow all the instructions, except don't eat it. Pull off the tuft you just stuck on. It'll be sort of melty at the bottom and will taste REALLY good. I find my cotton candy at the dollar store. 
 
 So, I love this, because it's super delicious, and it's easy. If you know me, that's a staple, if it's too hard, I totally quit. That's kind of why I love cake mix so much. 

This would be great for the 4th of July, or any time! Have fun creating!

Root Beer Muddy Buddies

Guys. I have a secret. A dark, dirty secret.

Are you ready?

I don't like soda that much.

It's just too fizzy and sweet, and it makes me burp and hiccup. And hiccups are like the black plague. Seriously. And when I burp, I burp loud. Which is sort of rude and embarrassing, not to mention that I can sort of feel the root beer gas coming through my nose. Gross.

But, I do like some sodas.  Hope is still there!

Want to know the sodas I like?

There's two. And I'm super picky about one of them.

They are . . . (drumroll please) tiki punch and orange soda.

Tiki punch is made by the Shasta company. It's basically carbonated fruit punch, and I LOVE it! It's super yummy, I'd almost go as far to say that I'm addicted.

I'm very picky about my orange soda. No Fanta or Sunkist, I only like the kind found in WalMart. And it cannot be the Walmart Great Value brand (do they even make soda?). Just a normal boring kind from Walmart. Or the Dollar Store.

That being said, I'm not a huge fan of root beer. But one way that I like root beer?

Muddy buddy form.

Root Beer Muddy Buddies
Muddy buddies that taste just like root beer.

Serving: 10     Prep Time: 10 min.      Total Time: 10 min.

Ingredients:

• 9 cups Rice Chex Cereal
• 1 cup white melting chocolate
• 1/2 cup Duncan Hines Frosting Creations frosting
• 1 teaspoon root beer extract
• 1/2 teaspoon root beer
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2  cup powdered sugar 

Directions: 

1.  Add root beer and extract to frosting. Mix until totally combined
2. In a large mixing bowl, microwave the white chocolate and the frosting for 1 minute, add the vanilla. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour the cereal and chocolate mixture into the bowl, and use a large rubber spatula to mix the cereal until it's coated in the chocolate mixture.
4. Pour the powdered sugar into a gallon sized zip top bag. Use a large spoon (or whatever method works for you) to scoop the cereal into the bag. Seal the bag and shake until the cereal is coated in the powdered mixture.

Notes: This is delicious at all stages, but I think it tastes best eaten within the first two days. Some people have trouble fitting all the cereal into the bag. It's always fine with me, but if you have this issue do half the cereal at a time.

Hugely Adapted from Something Swanky


This is super good, and not to mention easy! It reminds me of a root beer float that didn't get enough ice cream, which always bugs me, but in muddy buddy form it's actually pretty good!

I edited some photos by Two Peas and Their Pod. I made them say root beer muddy buddies at the bottom for my own purposes. This post is just a shout out to Maria and her delicious Chocolate Coconut Chex Mix. Thanks for the delicious recipe Maria! Everyone, go check it out! Because this post is all about Maria! Because while it looks like it's about the newest version of muddy buddies , it's really all about honoring our fellow blogger and friend Maria. Keep up the good work Maria! You are a great example of blogging and I just wanted to dedicate this post to you. That is why I wrote this post. I just wrote about the muddy buddies for fun, because really, this is all about you. This post is for you. The sauce is just a nice little addition, like a present for you. The whole purpose of me writing this is to honor you. Not the muddy buddies. Because this is all about you. The whole reason of my blog is so I can honor bloggers like you. I do the recipes just to attract people here so they can see what a truly amazing personality you have. I hope you aren't angry that I edited your photos. The only reason I did it is so that I can compare the differences between our recipes and show that even though we're different, we're both awesome. Again, I hope you're not angry that I honored you like this. That is why I edited your photo, to honor you and show how cool you are. I hope I can grow up and make as many cool things as you.Once again, if you are offended by me editing your photos, well think of it like this. This is just a shout out to you, like many bloggers do with their friends at the bottom of their posts.  

Now here's a question: What time is it? Before & After Time!

Here's Maria's                                                         


and mine

Homemade Tigger Tail Pops (Disney Copycat) Tutorial

I love toasted marshmallows.

I can remember not very long ago (like, two months ago) secretly toasting marshmallows over the stove while everyone else was watching a movie.

Ah, my guilty pleasures.

I have a lot, way too numerous to list here, so instead, let's take a really short trip down memory lane.

Do you guys remember my Tigger Tail Ice Cream?

I really need to remake it, but oh well. That was ice cream based on tigger tails from Disneyland.

Apparently, there's lots of restaurants at Disneyland. More than I can count.

There's one called Pooh's Corner. They sell lots of cutesy little things there, like mickey mouse candy apples, and my favorite, tigger tail pops.

It's four marshmallows covered with caramel, which is then coated in orange and black candy melts. Yum. So if you were to make something tigger tail flavored, it would be white chocolate, caramel and marshmallow. Killer combination.

Unfortunately, I have never been to Disneyland, so I've never tried these delicious things. But I found a way to make them at home by following this awesome tutorial by Christi.

I'm a super visual person, and I always love it when people do step by step tutorials, so I did one for you guys! All of these are Christi's photos unless specified otherwise.

Tigger Tail Pops
You will need: sticks (not like twigs, like lollipop sticks or toothpick type things), marshmallows, microwave safe caramel, two tablespoons of water, wax paper, cooking spray, white chocolate

1. Put three or four marshmallows on the stick.


2. Put caramel bits into a microwave safe bowl with two tablespoons of water.


3. Put it in for about a minute and thirty seconds, it depends on your microwave, you just want to get it melted.
 

4. Spray wax paper with cooking spray. A LOT of cooking spray, or else you will be stuck scraping caramel off for eternity. There are times like these when I wish I had a silpat (if you have one TOTALLY use that in place of the wax paper! it will make your life a lot easier) 

 Remember, you need a lot of cooking spray, or this will happen.
 

5. The caramel is pretty sticky. I found that mine was too sticky, so I added more water and put it back in the microwave. Even so, it's really hard to dip the pops in it, so brush it on with your pastry brush.

Putting the pastry brush in hot water helps to make the caramel spread smoother.

6. Now you just let them set up. I'm super impatient and stuck them in the freezer, and that sped it along quite nicely. You don't want it to be hard though, just nice and firm.


7. Once it sets up, you have to pull it off. If your marshmallows are sticking to the paper and looking like this
then you want to put it in the fridge until it comes off like this.
 

8. Then you dip them in orange candy melts, which pretty much tastes like white chocolate. (This picture comes from Rogers Neighborhood)


9. Then drizzle dark chocolate on top in stripes. So then it will look just like something from disneyland! (this photo was actually taken from a disneyland one, and it's from the Disney Food Blog



Now bite into it, mmm look at all that goodness.


I edited some photos by The Disney Food Blog. I made them say Disneyland Copycat Tigger Tail Pops at the top for my own purposes. This post is just a shout out to AJ and AJ's awesome clarification between tigger tails and tiger tails. Thanks for the clarification Aj! Everyone, go check it out! Because this post is all about AJ! Because while it looks like it's about how to make some of the most delicious treats ever known to mankind (seriously, there's white chocolate caramel and marshmallow all in one) , it's really all about honoring our fellow blogger and friend AJ. Keep up the good work AJ! You are a great example of blogging and I just wanted to dedicate this post to you. That is why I wrote this post. I just wrote about the tigger tails for fun, because really, this is all about you. This post is for you. The tigger tails are just a nice little addition, like a present for you. The whole purpose of me writing this is to honor you. Not the tigger tails. Because this is all about you. The whole reason of my blog is so I can honor bloggers like you. I do the recipes just to attract people here so they can see what a truly amazing personality you have. I hope you aren't angry that I edited your photos. The only reason I did it is so that I can compare the differences between our recipes and show that even though we're different, we're both awesome. Again, I hope you're not angry that I honored you like this. That is why I edited your photo, to honor you and show how cool you are. I hope I can grow up and make as many cool things as you.Once again, if you are offended by me editing your photos, well think of it like this. This is just a shout out to you, like many bloggers do with their friends at the bottom of their posts. 

You guys know what time it is, right? No? Seriously? Well, it's before and after time!

Here's AJ's                                                

 

and mine

Anyways, I totally love this new flavor, and you can definitely expect some tigger tail stuff coming up!

Savannah Smiles Muddy Buddies

So. The walk-a-thon this year was a huge failure.

Ginormous flop.

Tremendous disaster.

It just didn't work. Only 1/10 of the entire student body donated anything.

But, of course, no one cares about that part of it except for the school.

I mean the walking part.

It had been really nice the day before, sunny skies and all that. And then on the day of the walk-a-thon, the weather forecast predicted rain.

When we first started walking, it was super windy. So windy that my hair flew in my face and got stuck to my lip gloss. So windy and freezing that the hand not cozily nestled in my pocket was getting numb from holding the water bottle.

There were brief moments when the wind would go away and it would be okay, but like I said, very brief.

I was on my third lap when it started hailing.

Seriously. Hailing. During the walk-a-thon when most kids are just wearing a shirt.

Anyways, the whole experience just stunk.

To get rid of the bad memories, I came home and made muddy buddies.

GS style of course.

Savannah Smiles Muddy Buddies
Chex mix slathered in a lemon frosting white chocolate mixture, doused with powdered sugar and sprinkled with Savannah Smiles GS cookies, these muddy buddies are sure to bring a lemony smile to all who eat them.
Ingredients:

• 9 cups Rice Chex cereal
• 1 1/4 cup white vanilla baking chips
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 4 tsp grated lemon peel
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup roughly chopped Savannah Smiles GS cookies

Directions: Measure cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside.  In a microwaveable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on high for 1 minute; stir.  Microwave about 30 more seconds or until mixture can be stirred smooth.  Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.  Pour into a 2-gallon resealable food storage plastic bag.  Add powdered sugar and cookies, seal bag and shake until all the cereal is well-coated.

Notes: This recipe is actually SS flavored. It's not just muddy buddies with SS thrown in, it actually tastes like them, because SS's flavor combo is powdered sugar and lemon.
 

I was dying to come up with a new girl scout muddy buddy after the samoas one (cookie sales are still in full swing here in my town).

Savannah Smiles was the obvious choice, because it's covered in powdered sugar. I love having flavors where you don't have to use the actual cookie.

This is Savannah Smile flavored because it's a lemon base covered with powdered sugar.

Just like Savannah Smiles.

I edited some photos by Apple a Day. I made them say Savannah Smile Muddy Buddies at the bottom for my own purposes. This post is just a shout out to Kelsey and her delicious Lemon Buddies.  Thanks for the delicious recipe Kelsey! Everyone, go check it out! Because this post is all about Kelsey! Because while it looks like it's about a delicious muddy buddies recipe, it's really all about honoring our fellow blogger and friend Kelsey. Keep up the good work Kelsey! You are a great example of blogging and I just wanted to dedicate this post to you. That is why I wrote this post. I just wrote about the muddy buddies for fun, because really, this is all about you. This post is for you. The muddy buddies are just a nice little addition, like a present for you. The whole purpose of me writing this is to honor you. Not the muddy buddies. Because this is all about you.

Go say hi to Kelsey for me!

Cake Donuts Muddy Buddies

Have you ever been sort of obsessed with something?

No matter how hard you try to think of something else, that one idea keeps coming back and nagging you?

That's exactly what's happening with me.

With muddy buddies.

I'll be sitting in PreAlgebra, looking out the window into the field, seeing the gym kids doing track stuff, which I know is torture, but at the moment looks so much better than being here.

In PreAlgebra.

With the teacher droning on and on about does everyone understand isoceles and that to find the value of x you first have to divide y by 37?

And while I'm looking out the window, my mind will wander to puppy chow.

This is seriously one of the worst things to be obsessed with.

As a food blogger at least.

Because a regular person would just go home and make some muddy buddies, and then it would be over.

A dessert blogger is trying to think of a new kind of muddy buddy.

Which would be totally fine, but muddy buddies are so hard to come up with new flavors.

There's always one roadblock, either with the chocolate or with the spread

(Muddy buddies have 3 key factors that cannot be left out, some type of spread like peanut butter, and some kind of chocolate, like peanut butter chips)

I'll be able to come up with a good chocolate, but then I'll get stuck at the spread idea.

Ashton has come up with a new way to get out of this, frosting. 

Instead of a spread, use frosting. Exact same consistency and result with a lot more flavors.

But, there's only so many frostings a girl can have.

See, I've had this idea for a while.

I'd think, oh, I'll do chocolate chips for the chocolate covered donuts, the powdered sugar that goes with all muddy buddies for the powdered donuts, but what on earth will I use for a spread?

I presented my mom with this problem and she said . . .

"Just put some donut crumbs in a can of frosting."

Of course!

How could I not think of that?

Oh well, I'm glad she did.


Cake Donut Muddy Buddies
Chex mix covered with chocolate for chocolate covered cake donuts, a frosting with donut crumbs, and powdered sugar on top for powdered cake donuts.
Ingredients:

• 9 cups Rice Chex Cereal
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup canned frosting (I used DuncanHines frosting starter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup donut crumbs
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 cup yellow cake mix

Directions: Combine crumbs and nutmeg with frosting. In a large mixing bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and the frosting for 1 minute. Mix together until smooth.
Pour the cereal into the bowl, and use a large rubber spatula to mix the cereal until it's coated in the chocolate mixture. Pour the cake mix and powdered sugar into a gallon sized zip top bag. Seal and shake together until mixed.
Use a large spoon (or whatever method works for you) to scoop the cereal into the bag. You can work with half of the batch at a time, but I can usually fit all of it into the bag. Seal the bag and shake until the cereal is coated in the powdered mixture. Serve

Notes: The Duncan Hines Frosting Starter is really good for this because it's not overly vanilla. This can be served at any stage, immediately, days later, it doesn't really matter!


(This is just a random picture of powdered donuts used to separate the recipe from the rest of the post.)

My mom said that cake donuts have sort of a nutmeg taste. I wasn't sure, but I added some just for fun. The yellow cake mix is for an extra boost of cake flavor.

Either way, these are some of the best muddy buddies I've ever had.

I edited some photos by Nikki @ Chef in Training. I made them say Cake Donut Muddy Buddies for my own purposes. This post is just a shout out to Nikki and her delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muddy Buddies.  Thanks for the delicious recipe Nikki! Everyone, go check it out! Because this post is all about Nikki!

Fruit Punch Meringues

 DISCLAIMER: This is actually my idea, no one elses, but my camera's broken (waaah!) and I still wanted to have a picture for the post. This beautiful photo is from the lovely Gina who shares over at Bon Appetit. She made some Peppermint Meringues,with step by step photos too1 ! Go check out her post! I edited her photos and made them more red and added words, but they're still hers. Go look at her amazing photos!

You know how there's all those food holidays, riiiiight?

Well, if you don't, here's a quick rundown.

Some genius/weirdo (all depends on how you look at it) decided that they loved food and there needed to be a food holiday every single day.

So now there is.

Here's what there is this week . . .

Sunday= Lobster Newburg Day (don't know what that is, and probably don't ever want to)
Monday= National Waffle Day (yum!)
Tuesday=National Nougat Day (let's eat snickers and milky ways)
Wednesday=Spanish Paella Day (no idea what it is)
Thursday=Black Forest Cake Day (definitely celebrating!)
Friday=National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
Saturday=Turkey Neck Soup Day (who eats turkey necks? gross!)

I still like to look at what day it is on the American Food Holidays Calendar.

I used to always go tell my friends what day it is, taco day, pie day, soft ice cream day.

And in the summers when I had basically nothing to do, I'd actually try to honor the days by making whatever dish it is.

This lasted for about a week when I discovered that no one wants to make 3 layer cakes and tortes everyday.

I'm okay with making pudding mousse and magic bars, but tortes? Not my thing.

I would look at holidays every day. And try to do them.

National Watermelon Day (August 3) went over fine.

National Chocolate Chip Day (Aug. 4) was a breeze as well.

Then came Mustard Day. I hatched up some plans to dip pretzels in honey mustard, of making hot dogs, but all I really did was eat hot dogs with ketchup.

Root Beer Float Day (Aug.6) came and went with no root beer floats in sight. Same with raspberries and cream day on the seventh. I own no cream.

National Frozen Custard Day. August 8th. After failing with root beer floats, mustard and raspberries and cream, I was determined to make this work. I actually made custard! But I was way too impatient to freeze it so I just ate custard.

On Rice Pudding Day (August 9th) I begged my mom to make her rice pudding recipe, same one as my aunt's. But that was a no go. S'mores day was passed over as well.

Then on Raspberry Bombe Day, I made a gallant effort to make a torte.
However, my bombe, was not a bombe. I got a graham cracker pie crust. I poured in cherry jello (there was no raspberry). I added crushed animal crackers in an attempt to make another crust. Knowing that there was no real raspberries in my "torte" I went out into our garden and tried to find raspberries off our bush. I was unsuccessful in finding red juicy ones, but some little hard unripe berries went into the torte. I then added strawberry yogurt. Then topped it all with cool whip in an effort to disguise the mess I'd made.

It was not good.

At all.

So, yeah, don't go making tortes out of jello and animal crackers. (although real bombe kind of is like jello)

Creamsicle day went by with no results.

Then finally, Lemon Meringue Pie Day on the 15th. I decided that I was going to make it. And it would work. Me and my mom made it. I don't suggest doing it just because . . .

OMGosh people, there are so many steps! Not to mention the meringue part.

First, you have to make the homemade pie crust which is basically impossible. Then you have to make the lemon filling. With no lemons in the house, so you use ReaLemon

Then after that, you have to make the meringue. Seperate the egg whites. Whip for eternity. Have stiff peaks. Pour onto lemon. Bake for ever. Cool off in fridge overnight.

And then you eat and discover citrus isn't really your thing.

But one good thing came out of this.

I learned that meringues rock. They're so good, it's like eating air. Except way better.
It's like eating marshmallow air. I'd go through and eat all the meringue leaving lemon and crust left for my siblings.

So yeah, I love meringues.

I decided to make some of the fruit punch variety.

Fruit Punch Meringues
Meringues flavored with Duncan Hines Fruit Punch Frosting Starter
Ingredients: 

• 2 egg whites
• Pinch of Cream of Tartar
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• Duncan Hines Fruit Punch Flavor Packet

Directions: Preheat oven to 170° Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Fit a large piping bag with a star tip. Place the egg whites in a "spotlessly" clean mixing bowl and whip them with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Stop the mixer and add cream of tartar. Start mixer again and continue to beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add in sugar *this is where I added the flavor packet as well Beat egg whites until they are shiny and hold stiff peaks but are not dry or crumbly, about 7 minutes. Make sure the sugar is dissolved by rubbing a tiny bit of meringue between fingers. If you feel granules of sugar continue to beat until all sugar has dissolved. Spoon the meringue into the piping bag and pipe onto prepared baking sheets. Bake the meringues for 90 minutes turning them halfway through baking. When meringues are done, turn off oven and let them stand for several hours or overnight. The meringues should be hard and dry to touch and you should be able to easily lift them from parchment.


So, I think the reason the meringues in the lemon meringue pie was hard, was just because it was combined with so many other factors.

But meringues alone, that I can handle.

These are reeeeaally good. Like go into your kitchen and make them now good. They're fluffy and airy, bite size and taste like fruit punch.

These photos come from Bon Appetit.