Brownie Marshmallow Cupcakes

I hung out at my sister's house for the evening.  As soon as I walked in the door, one of my nephews said, "Aunt Nancy, I want to bake something with you!"  Good thing my sister knew this was coming and had something in mind.

The inspiration came from here....

Source: springraine.blogspot.com via Nancy on Pinterest

Step 1: Make brownie mix as directed.  Put some in each muffin cup.  Do not fill to top.  We had great helpers!!!

 Step 2: Put mini marshmallows on top of brownie mix.  Our addition was to drizzle butterscotch on there, too.

Step 3: Top with more of the brownie mixture and bake @ 325 degrees.  It ended up taking them about 32 minutes.

Step 4: Remove from oven and enjoy!

Our review is that they were good.... but could probably be better.  As you can see, most of the butterscotch cooked out, and the marshmallow may have, too.  Next time, we'll put less batter below the "extras" and maybe make a few more cupcakes instead.  They still tasted good, but there is room for improvement!

Front door

So the wreath is now hanging on the front door...

And I used an upside-down Command hook to hang it from the inside!  Found the Command hook idea on pinterest, too...

Fall is officially here!

Fall Wreath

Time for a break from recipes... and time to try a craft!  This is the first time I've ever attempted making my own wreath.  It was a quicker project than I thought it might be, but I already know how I would fix it the next time around.  This is a yarn wreath and I think I might do two layers of yarn the next time around.  I was just ready to get it done and put it on my door!

This was my inspiration....

Source: danielleburkleo.com via Nancy on Pinterest

And here is my creation (sorry about the crooked picture)....

I will try to update once it is hanging on my red front door!

A Pinterest weekend!

Weekends in the fall tend to fill up pretty quickly pretty early.  So when I realized I had a free weekend, I decided I would try several pinterest recipes.  Having friends over for game night helped the cause!

I was looking for things that were snacky-type foods, yet dessert-ish, too, since we were gathering after dinner.

I settled on Apple Pie Dip and cinnamon sugar tortilla chips...

Source: thepeachkitchen.com via Nancy on Pinterest

Here's my version:

I also made brownie batter dip.  No eggs in this one, so you can snack with a little less guilt (except for that whole weight gain thing!).

Source: oureverydaydinners.com via Nancy on Pinterest

I served it with graham crackers, raspberries, and pretzel sticks.

It was decided that all of these get a thumbs up.  Great for entertaining... definitely too yummy to just make and eat at home -- you might eat all of it! :)

Nutella Banana Bread

Delicious.  Simply delicious.  I didn't even put the chocolate topping on it and it was still really, really good.  It was dangerous to make this, because banana bread will not be the same ever again.



serves 16 ( 5 points +)

• 5 T. Nutella ( chocolate hazelnut spread)

• 3 T. + 1 tsp. canola oil, divided

• 3 T. butter, softened

• ½ c. packed brown sugar

• 2 medium bananas

• 2 eggs

• 1-½ c. flour

• ¾ tsp. baking soda

• ½ tsp. baking powder

• ½ tsp. salt

• ⅔ c. low-fat buttermilk

• 1 oz. chopped semisweet chocolate

• 1 T. skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
Combine 3 T. oil, butter and brown sugar. Beat until blended. Add bananas and eggs, one at a time, mixing until blended.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to banana mixture alternately with buttermilk.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared bread pan. Top with Nutella mixture. Add remaining batter and swirl with a toothpick. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
Cool 10 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack. Cool.
Microwave semisweet chocolate and milk until melted; stir well. Spread over bread and let set.


Combine Nutella with 1 tsp. oil. Microwave for 30 seconds or until melted; stir.

Next time I might add the chocolate topping just to give it a try, but it really didn't even need it.  YUM!