The Easter Bunny’s Favorite Dessert Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

 It’s that time of year when my craving for carrot cake takes over. Ever since I mentioned my carrot cake martini last week, I’ve had carrot cake on my mind. I made these carrot cake whoopie pies over the weekend, which were the perfect bite-sized treat to satisfy my craving. Awhile back I made Martha Stewart’s carrot cake sandwich cookies, which were equally as good. But these definitely have to be the Easter Bunny’s favorite treat, moist and cakey and filled with a fluffy cream cheese frosting. Can you guess what he washes it down with… a carrot cake martini, of course!

Cheers to giving into your cravings this week, just a little!

Carrot Cake Martini

1/2 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Goldshlagger or cinnamon schnapps

2 oz. Bailey’s

2 oz. Butterscotch schnapps

a few splashes of cream

Rim a martini glass in cream cheese icing and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Add all ingredients in a shaker filled halfway with ice. Shake and pour!

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies (Adapted from Sweet & Simple Bakes)

2 cups All-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1 ¼  tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

¼ tsp all-spice

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1¾ c. dark brown sugar (You can substitute with light brown sugar)

11 oz grated carrots

¾ c raisins

Optional:  3 oz chopped walnuts (to decorate).

Cream Cheese Icing:  

3 oz cream cheese

3 oz softened butter

4 1/2 oz confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp)

Preheat oven to 300 F. Boil carrots for 5 minutes to soften. Mix all dry ingredients and set aside.  Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the oil and brown sugar. In a food processor, add the cooked carrots and raisins and puree.

Add the pureed mixture into the oil and sugar and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix only until combined. Do not over-mix. 

Prepare regular sized muffin pans. Spray well with non-stick spray. Pour your mixture (about 1 rounded TBS into each space) and spread batter evenly. Do not fill these too high. You want them to bake fairly flat. If they do bake too high, use a serrated knife to trim down before assembling whoopie pies.  Bake for 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from pans. 

Prepare the cream cheese frosting: 

Beat the cream cheese and butter until combined. Add the vanilla extract and the confectioners sugar.  Turn into a piping bag.

To assemble:

Pipe frosting on top of half of the baked cakes. Top with cream cheese frosting. Top with another carrot cake bite to make a sandwich.  To decorate, press down slightly so some of the icing peeks out from the sides, now roll in chopped walnuts if using or coconut or whatever you wish to decorate.

Chill your Whoopies or serve at room temperature (your preference).



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Tulip Mania… Simple Spring Floral Arrangements

 I don’t know if spring has officially sprung, but I’m ready for it! Even on a budget, I find ways to fit fresh flowers in.  It’s one of the easiest ways to bring life into your home (aside from having a group of eight year olds running throughout your house). I love tulips for their simplicity. I love that you can’t mess these up when arranging them. And what I’m loving right now are tulips in vintage aqua mason jars. I didn’t have to look any farther than Etsy to find them ~ now I just have to make room in the budget!

Submerged Tulips, Tulips with White Eggs, Pink Tulips in a Mason Jar, Tulips & Limes, Tulips with Calla Lilies, Tulip Variety

Want more spring floral inspiration, check out these other posts…

Simple Centerpieces in 60 Seconds

Color, Creative & Cost Friendly



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Academy Award Winning Martini

I’d first like to thank the fabulous people at De Kuyper for their amazing liqueurs.  I’d also like to thank whoever is responsible for the creation of Goldschlager – a genius. If it wasn’t for you, this cocktail would never have made an  impact on my life. And of course, I wouldn’t be standing here tonight (or actually, sitting and typing) if it weren’t for my parents who instilled in me a passion for fine cocktails (from birth – I think).  

Seriously now, the Academy Awards are this Sunday and I’ve created the perfect golden cocktail, accessorized with gold sanding sugar in honor of this glamorous occasion.

And just in case any of you ever have the opportunity to give an “I’d like to thank the Academy” speech, here are a few thoughts… First off, it just isn’t right when you forget to mention your husband or wife who has  sacrificed more than anyone else on the list. Oh, and another thing, once you get up to the stage,  do not start by saying, “I didn’t even write a speech,” because we all know that you rehearsed it in the shower. Finally, please do not use the following words… fabulous, genius, amazing, brillant, or wonderful (there’s more, that’s just a few). We get that everyone you mention is an amazing genius who provided a wonderful amount of support to you so that you could be up on stage looking fabulous. This is why the show runs over folks. I vote that the Academy bans all adjectives (and adverbs, as is the case in the word fabulous a few sentences back) – that would shorten things a bit.

If you do tune in this weekend, shake up one of these martinis before all of the speeches begin. I promise it will make it all much more entertaining. This cocktail had to be a golden hue, so I used apple juice as the base. I added De Kuyper’s Butterscotch Liqueur and a splash of Goldschlager to spice it up. Once it’s shaken, it tastes like a fancy cinnamon, caramel apple ~ yum!

Does anyone ever use Goldschlager? It’s an Italian cinnamon schnapps, originally made in Switzerland. You probably recognize the bottle with the little flakes of gold inside. And remember those red fire ball candies? Think of that taste in liquid form and that’s what goldschlager tastes like. My personal opinion is that a little goes a l-o-n-g way. Goldschlager is also sold in these tiny bottles, and since you’re not going to use a lot, a little bottle or two should get you through Easter if you also plan on serving the carrot cake martini (a personal favorite), which also calls for goldschlager.

Cheers to the Academy Awards ~ another great excuse for a martini!

Academy Award Winning Martini

3 oz. apple juice

1.5 oz. De Kuyper’s Butterscotch Schnapps

Splash of Goldschlager

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, pour, enjoy!



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Double-Chocolate Polka-Dotted M&M Cookies

“In the beginning, the Lord created chocolate, and he saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the dark, and it was better.” ~Anonymous

There are days that require chocolate, and then there are double-chocolate days. This past month I have had one too many double-chocolate days. And as much as I love chocolate, I’m craving normalcy. My job has taken precedence over friends, family, fun, and Tivo (among other things). Thank goodness the new season of Glee has not started, because that is where I’d draw the line!

These M&M cookies are great for a double-chocolate day and perfect for the Flavor of the Month theme for February… “Chocolate”. Do you like how these cookies coordinate with my new blog design? I saw the pink M&M cookies Jen at Beantown Baker made awhile back. She got the recipe from Michelle at One Ordinary Day, and now I’m passing it on. That’s why I love food blogging – it’s a community linked together by a common passion – food! 

The specialty color palette M&Ms are pricey, but I couldn’t pass these up.  The cookies were good and a nice change from traditional M&M cookies. Next time around, I think I might try adding M&Ms to the Giant Toffee Cookies (hold the toffee) that I made from Bon Appetit. Those are more brownie-like. These are more cookie-like. Has anyone tasted the coconut M&Ms? I bet these would taste great with the new coconut M&Ms ~ perfect color option for St.Patrick’s Day! Let me know if you try them.

The redesign of my blog has been a long process. About a month ago, I contacted Jen, my cyber-space angel, at Swank Web Style Design Studio. I had started the process back in October, with a different designer. It was only supposed to take a few weeks… By January I was still waiting for things to be finished and a bit frustrated. Jen was a God-send. I am so thankful to have found a designer with the ability to take what I envisioned and give it life. She is efficient, responsive, and knows the ins and outs of the Wordpress platform. If you use Wordpress, or are considering switching over, make sure your web designer knows it well. The most important feature I wanted was  a way to categorize and list my recipes, with a photo for each. (I still need to go back and update a few posts so that the pictures show.) I’m beginning to go back and make printable recipes so that each recipe has a print link.  Jen also updated my Twitter page to coordinate with my blog, and she’s now working on business cards and Grin and Bake It stickers. I am thrilled with the design and am so thankful for her creativity and expertise.

Want more chocolate? Go check out everyone who has linked up to the Flavor of the Month post at Bakeat350.

Double-Chocolate M&M Cookies    (From One Ordinary Day)

Printable Recipe

2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 c. m&m candies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk to combine and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture in two or three additions.  Mixture will be quite thick.  Stir in m&m pieces with a wooden spoon.  Drop by large rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 9 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire cooking rack.



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Diet Cherry Vanilla Cocktail to Toast George Washington

Today’s cocktail is in honor of our first President,  George Washington, the only President in history to be elected unanimously. An American hero? I won’t argue that. He served as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was one of the most honorable politicians in history. He was loved by the people and dedicated to his country. He also chopped down a tree… remember learning about the cherry tree when you were in school? I do! When asked by his father who did it, he said, “I cannot tell a lie…” Okay… FALSE – never happened, it was a story created after his death. Isn’t it interesting to see what the history books include and what they omit. Hmmm…. my text book didn’t mention his likely affair, according to the “love” letters, with Sally Fairfax. Okay, this one is up for debate, but I wouldn’t rule out the idea of it being an “emotional affair”. It’s a story for Days of Our Lives and certainly would have been plastered all over the tabloids, had they existed. I’m not here to criticize the man, the point is that the history we teach our kids has a slant to it. Is it good or bad? I’m not sure.

Speaking of “love affairs”, I’ve found a diet cocktail truly worthy of my love. It’s not as great as a creamy chocolate martini, but in terms of the calories this is a keeper. I’m a huge fan of Diet Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper. It is one of the few diet sodas that doesn’t taste diet-y. With just a shot of vanilla vodka, this is low on calories, but big on taste.

Cheers to George Washington’s 278th birthday!

Diet Cherry Vanilla Cocktail

Diet Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Pepper (Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper works too)

shot of vanilla vodka.

Pour Dr. Diet Pepper into a glass and add a shot of vanilla vodka. Pretty Simple!

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