HOLLY'S CHEAT DAY

Easy Caramel Apple Crack

April 2, 2020 By Holly

Happy Thursday y’all, and welcome to another Fall Back to Fall Series, because let’s be real, 2020 so far has been kind of a bummer. Fall is my favorite time of year (and I know a lot of y’all’s too), so let’s just pretend we can time travel and go back to a time when all things pumpkin, apple, cinnamon and beautiful fall colors were what we were thinking about.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love an easy recipe, especially one with few ingredients but can pack a big delicious punch, and boy this packs a big one ~~that’s what she said~~. This one starts with crescent dough, which is one of the best ingredients ever, it’s easy to use and versatile. You throw some brown sugar & cinnamon, fresh apple pieces and some caramel, bake this guy up and dunzo, you have a rich, crispy edged dessert. Also, y’all when this is baking in the oven your house will literally smell like Heaven, all of that cinnamon and sugar, mmmm.

Something else super awesome about this crack, is that you could totally change out some of the flavors, maybe instead of apples, you use pears, or even pineapple. Get creative, you never know what you might come up

with. I hope everyone is being safe and trying to stay optimistic, I get it, it can be a struggle. Some tips ~~just the tip~~ that I recommend are, stay away from the news, I’ve literally gone into full on panic attacks after inundating myself with the news. Watch happy movies or comedy specials, get in the kitchen and get to baking with your family, this might sound strange, but cleaning and organizing totally de-stresses me as well. Anyway, sending lots of love to everyone and thank you so much for stopping in. Happy Baking!

Easy Caramel Apple Crack

Decadent caramel apple dessert so good it's like crack.

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 22 mins

Course Dessert

Equipment

Large Baking Sheet
Potato Peeler
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

1 8 Ounce Tube of Crescent Dough
1 Medium Apple, Peeled
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
Pinch Of Salt
1/4 Cup Caramel Sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray, set aside.
Peel your apple, and chop up into pieces, set aside.
Roll out crescent roll dough onto the parchment paper, pinch seams of dough, and with a fork prick all over with a fork.
Evenly spread the brown sugar all over the crescent dough.
Spread your apples evenly over the brown sugar, then sprinkle your cinnamon sugar mixture on top of that.
Drizzle your caramel on top of everything, feel free to use more or less depending upon your taste.
Bake your 'crack' for 22-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let cool completely, slice into pieces and enjoy!

Biscoff Cookie Butter Pie

March 21, 2020 By Holly

Well helloooo there y’all!!! I’ve been away for an embarrassingly long time, for which I apologize but I have good reason, I’ll make this quick. In October I got the flu for the first time in my entire life (weird, I know) and honestly it was so bad I went to the ER twice and I was pretty much out of commission until December. For reals y’all, walking across the room would leave me out of breath & pouring sweat like a monster until December, ewww, I know. Throw all of that on top of having to work very long hours and time just straight up got away from me. Maybe some of y’all are wondering why I haven’t posted anything since? Well, right before I ~~caught the plague~~ got sick I had cooked and photographed a few recipes with a noticeably Fall theme, and I kinda felt like a dummy posting those into January. Also, I have had no time to make new ones.

Well, since the world in the last couple of weeks has basically turned into a giant dumpster fire, I have seen a lovely trend of people putting up Christmas decorations to bring joy and happiness. If folks are going to go back to Christmas time, I thought maybe we could all go ahead and go all the way back to the Fall…Also, pie. This isn’t just any old pie either, this is a no-bake pie filled with some of my favorite things, cookie butter, whipped cream and cream cheese. So not only is this easy to make, it also requires very few ingredients.

While the world at the moment feels very uncertain, one thing is for certain, this pie is super delicious, easy to make and might be something fun to ‘bake’ with your kids while everyone is at home.

I understand how scary everything seems right now, trust me I’m right there with you– financially, health-wise, economy-wise, for our loved ones and for the world, remind yourself to breathe, stay home, be as hygienic as possible and be considerate of others, we are really all in this together. Sigh, jeez that sounds lame but it’s true haha. What is everyone doing in their isolation? I’ve been reading a lot, streaming a lot of stuff and for some reason re-watching Game of Thrones, even though let’s be honest, I would take the white walkers over these shenanigans, just kidding, kind of. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and my prayers go out to the world (again, cheesy but I mean it).

Biscoff Cookie Butter Pie

Holly

No-Bake pie filled with delicious Biscoff Cooki Butter and whipped cream, a must make.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 2 hrs

Course Dessert

Ingredients

1 Roll Out Pie Crust OR Pre-Made Pie Crust
1 14.1 Ounce Jar of Biscoff Cookie Butter
1 8 Ounce Block Of Cream Cheese Room Temperature
2 Cups Heavy Cream Divided
1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar

Instructions

PIE CRUST

Roll out pie crust and bake according to instructions or bake pre-made frozen crust according to instuctions.
Once pie crust is completely cooled, place 1/3 Cup of the cookie butter into the bottom of the crust, carefully to keep the integrity of the crust.

PIE FILLING

With a handheld or stand mixer with whisk attachment whip your heavy cream until stiff peaks form, set aside in fridge.
Place the remaining cookie butter and cream cheese into your bowl and whisk with handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
Now, gently fold your whipped cream into the cream cheese/cookie butter mixture until completely combined.
Spread your pie filling into your prepared crust evenly, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
Serve with whipped cream and enjoy y'all!

Maple Cupcakes with Brown Butter Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

October 3, 2019 By Holly

Good Morning & Happy Happy Thursday y’all. You guys, if the weather people have stopped lying to us, it looks like we might actually have some almost Fall weather around these parts in the next few days.

Please keep in mind that weather remotely resembling something Fall-ish is usually what folks up north have for summer. Honestly, I don’t really care, I’m just crossing my fingers for temperatures below the mid 90’s, because, boob sweat.

Anyways, so, I brought y’all the recipe for the incredible frosting that tops these cupcakes last week, and now it’s time to bring y’all the actual cupcakes. In case you just happened to wonder, coffee and maple are absolutely delicious together, the flavors really complement one another.

With the light maple flavor of these cupcakes mixed with the rich buttery coffee flavor of the frosting, these cupcakes taste just like breakfast.

Like all cupcakes, these are a little more work, but let me tell you, 100% worth the effort, do yourself a favor and make these wonderful treats. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by.

Maple Cupcakes

Delicous, moist cupcakes with a subtle maple flavor, paired wonderfully with a coffee brown butter cream cheese frosting.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 22 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 22

Equipment

Handheld or Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Large Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Maple Syrup
3 Egg Yolks
1 Large Egg
1/4 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Vegetable Shortening Room Temperature

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325 Degrees F
With a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, whip your butter & shortening together until smooth.
Now add your maple syrup & mix until butter and shortening are well incorporated, making sure to scrape down the inside of your bowl.
Now add your egg yolks, egg, flour, baking powder, salt and milk, and mix all together until just incorporated, make sure not to over mix your batter.
Now place your batter in your cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes, every oven is different so make sure to check your cupcakes by lightly touching and if they spring back to the touch then they're ready.
Let cool completely before frosting your cupcakes and enjoy!!!

Holly’s Junk Food Review Series: Pumpkin Pie Kit Kat

October 1, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Tuesday and welcome to another addition of my junk food review series. It’s the first day of October, so I believe it’s totally allowed to start in on all things pumpkin without judgement, OK, at least less judgment. I’m aware that these Pumpkin Pie flavored Kit Kats are not new, it just happens to be the first time that I’ve been able to find them in the store.

Ok y’all, I want to preface this with, I am not a huge fan of giving bad reviews. I go into all foods I review optimistically. I love pumpkin pie, and I love Kit Kats, the two flavors combined is on the verge of having the ability to induce vomiting. On the plus side, they genuinely nailed the pumpkin pie flavor, on the realistic side, these are pretty vile. Let’s just leave Kit Kats tasting like chocolate and deliciousness shall we? These get a solid 2 out of 10. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Brown Butter Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

September 27, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Friday y’all!!! I’m so excited to share today’s recipe with y’all. Sometimes when you create something so delicious, it deserves it’s very own post instead of having it in conjunction with another recipe. That’s exactly what happened with this one. I had had every intention of just slapping this frosting on some awesome cupcakes, but this one turned out so decadently perfect it needed to be the star of the show today.

I’d been toying around the idea of a coffee frosting, since it’s one of my favorite flavors, but I knew to keep it from being overpowering it needed some delicious friends with it, and by friends I mean butter and cream cheese. I stand by the fact that brown butter literally makes everything better and cream cheese wonderfully tones down frostings, which in my opinion have a tendency to be too sweet.

To get that wonderful coffee flavor, I originally just threw instant coffee into the frosting, which was a terrible idea because it did not want to blend. So the next batch, I did the smart thing and let the instant coffee hang out in a bit of milk, then blended it in, which was perfect.

This frosting is probably a bit more work than a basic buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but y’all, take the extra time and the extra dirty dishes and make this stuff. This frosting will knock your socks off and I guarantee will make any cupcake taste 100 times better. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

First, let’s get that butter nice and brown so it has time to completely cool…I have a more in depth tutorial of how to brown butter here…

Take your softened butter & whip it good ~~whip it real good~~ …

then add your cream cheese…

once the cream cheese & butter is well blended, add your cooled brown butter…

then add your powdered sugar…

then put your instant coffee into some milk, making sure it’s dissolved…

Then whip your coffee into your frosting and enjoy!!!

BROWN BUTTER COFFEE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

½ Cup (1 Stick) of Unsalted Butter, Browned & Cooled.
1 Cup (2 Sticks) of Unsalted Butter, Softened.
8 Ounces (1 Block) of Cream Cheese, Softened.
3 Cups of Powdered Sugar.
4 Teaspoons of Instant Coffee, Mixed into 2 Tablespoons of Whole Milk.
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract.
Dash of Salt.

DIRECTIONS:

~Take your 1 stick of butter and place in a pan on medium/high heat and while stirring constantly, cook until it reaches a golden brown (should have a really delicious nutty smell to it). Place in fridge to cool completely.

~With a handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment, place your 2 sticks of butter into the bowl and beat until smooth.

~Now add your cream cheese to the whipped butter and beat until smooth, then add your vanilla, powdered sugar and salt and beat until well incorporated. Now add your cooled brown butter and mix again.

~Place your instant coffee into about 2 tablespoons of cream or milk, stir until completely incorporated then mix into your frosting until completely mixed in. If you want a stronger coffee flavor, then add more instant coffee about a teaspoon at a time and enjoy!

Holly’s Junk Food Review Series: My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream

September 25, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Wednesday y’all!!! This is going to seem like the most random junk food review because my review today is not a new product, but something I randomly stumbled across a while back and is literally my most favorite thing ever. If you don’t know, mochi is a sweet, fluffy dough surrounding ice cream. Sounds totally weird, but holy freaking crap, it’s amazing and makes ice cream perfectly handheld! This My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream has a lot of different flavors but I thought I might try to narrow it down to my 3 favorite flavors for today.

Ok, first we have the My/Mo in the Mango flavor…

This mango flavor is one I honestly picked up on a whim, only because I had never tried it, and I do happen to love mango. Lucky for me, this one had the most perfect mango flavor. It’s fresh, it’s light & fruity and of course absolutely delicious. These get an 8.5 out of 10.

Next we have the Dulce De Leche…

Y’all know, if any food has anything resembling Dulce De Leche in it, it’s going to be awesome, and let me tell you, this one is absolutely no different. This mochi has the most decadent coffee ice cream that they filled with freaking dulce de leche, droooool y’all. That soft pillowy dough with all of those amazing flavors is almost too good for words ~~as I stare into the freezer talking dirty to them~~. These get a 9.5 out of 10.

Last and most certainly not least, is the S’mores flavor. Not only is it the first flavor of mochi I ever had, but hands down my most favorite flavor AND possibly my favorite dessert of all time…

If you’re sitting there thinking, ‘oh gosh, I’m not really a s’mores fan’ absolutely no worries, because first of all, I forgive you & these don’t taste like s’mores anyhow. You know what they taste like? Like absolute awesomeness & the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten. Y’all, its the lightest chocolatey dough, the graham cracker ice cream is rich in taste and there is a creamy marshmallow filling, O.M.G drrrooll. Unfortunately, I have only found this particular flavor at Sprouts, but you guys, it’s worth it to ~~stalk~~ track down this flavor. This one gets a solid 10 out of 10! Thanks so much for stopping by & y’all have an awesome day!

Autumn Apple Sangria

September 20, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Cocktail Friday y’all!!! As much as I would love to be able to share a lovely Fall hot cider of some kind (obvi with a splash of an adult beverage) with you guys today, but that is sooo not gonna happen. Why, you ask? Well, it’s roughly 4 billion degrees, give or take a degree and the thought of drinking any kind of hot beverage makes me want to run screaming into the night. I know, I know, very dramatic of me, but y’all, this is the summer that would not freaking end ~~wipes sweat off of brow~~.

As I was walking into the grocery store the other day, I saw all of these awesome looking pumpkins for sale, but as the heat beat down upon my head, I knew I couldn’t buy a pumpkin because it would just feel like a lie.

Ok, I promise I’ll stop complaining about the never ending sweltering heat…for now. So let’s get to the star of the show shall we? I’ve always been very open about not being that big of a fan of wine, which I understand is blasphemy to a lot of folks, but if you throw a whole bunch of other yummy stuff in wine, then I’m usually on board and that’s exactly what was done

for this Sangria. First of all, I think this drink is just beautiful, but also delicious and bonus, it’s cold, haha, just kidding…kind of. This is a super easy and delicious cocktail, and also perfect if you too live somewhere near the surface of the sun. Anyways, thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have the most wonderful weekend!!!

AUTUMN APPLE SANGRIA

For 2 Glasses:

⅔ Cup of your choice of Red Wine.
3 Ounces of an Apple Liqueur (make sure it’s not green in color).
2 Ounces of Grenadine.
3 Ounces of Cranberry Juice.
3 Ounces of Pineapple Juice.
12 Ounces of Sprite or any other Lemon Lime Soda.

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients together and mix well.
Place ice in your wine glasses, serve and enjoy!!!

Holly’s Junk Food Review Series: Pop-Tarts Cereal

September 17, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Tuesday y’all!!! Holy crud! I’m back! So basically, I needed to take a bit of a break from food blogging this year. Work has been crazy, life has been crazy and it’s just little ‘ole me doing all of the cooking, photographing, editing and writing so there you go. Thank you to the folks who have reached out making sure I was planning on coming back Anyways, I thought I would ease into some food blogging with a junk food review, which are seriously some of my favorite things to blog.

As you can see from the title and the above picture, I decided to review this new(ish) cereal. I’m aware that it’s technically Fall and strawberry flavors are usually kept to the beginning of summer, but here in Atlanta it is absolutely still summer so, I do what I want haha.

So, first I would like to preface this review with the fact that frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts are my favorite flavor (followed by a close 2nd with the S’mores flavor, just FYI) so I came into this review with high expectations. I don’t know how they did it, but they absolutely, 100% captured the flavor of the frosted strawberry Pop-Tart in this cereal. This cereal has a nice crunch, and at first glance you would think would have the texture of Frosted Mini Wheats, but they totally don’t and hold up their crunchiness pretty well sitting in milk. This cereal is definitely in my top 10 of favorite cereals and I give it an 8.5 out of 10. If you can still find this cereal hanging out in the store definitely grab a box. Thanks so much for stopping by & have a wonderful day!!!

REPOST-Kiss Me Quick Cocktail

February 14, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!!! This cocktail is too freaking good not to share again. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but how darn pretty is it?! If you’re looking for some last minute ideas for a delicious and unique drink to serve to your significant other, then this is definitely the one for you! Have a wonderful day!!!!

Happy Happy Cocktail Thursday y’all!!! Ok so I don’t know if you guys have realized yet, but next Tuesday is Valentine’s Day! Can you guys believe it? I can’t, the year is already flying by, but it’s totally worth it because Valentine’s Day is all about red, pink, hearts, themes, love and fun.

Luckily, today’s cocktail is aaaalll of those things, with a bonus of it being freaking delicious. This Kiss Me Quick Cocktail (OMG so cute right?) is a bit more work than most cocktails I post here, but I just couldn’t pass up making this lovely and beautiful raspberry sauce to go in it.

This delicious libation also includes pineapple juice (which IMO makes everything better) and Cake Vodka (also not too shabby haha). If you want to make this extra Valentine’s-ey then I highly recommend throwing in some cute heart sprinkles like I did for your Valentine. I think this is such a fun and fruity cocktail and I hope you get to make this too. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

for the raspberry sauce… sugar and water…

then the raspberries…

after simmering for a while…

nice and strained (the fruit left over)…

back into your saucepan (minus the fruit leftovers) and cook for a bit longer…

raspberry sauce done…

now for the cocktail, raspberry sauce into your glasses…

then the pineapple juice and cake vodka…

and enjoy!!!

Kiss Me Quick Cocktail

2017-02-08 16:02:15

Yields 2

Delicious and fruity cocktail to enjoy with your Valentine, filled with a fresh raspberry syrup.

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KISS ME QUICK COCKTAIL

8 Ounces of Fresh Raspberry Sauce, Divided.
4 Ounces of Vanilla Cake Vodka, Divided.
8 Ounces of Pineapple Juice, Divided.

RASPBERRY SAUCE

1 Cup of Granulated Sugar.
2 Cups of Water.
12 Ounces of Fresh Raspberries.

FOR THE KISS ME QUICK COCKTAIL

Place 4 ounces of the raspberry sauce in each glass, then 2 ounces of the vodka in each glass, then 4 ounces of the pineapple juice in each glass, mix them up and enjoy!

FOR THE RASPBERRY SAUCE

In a medium saucepan, place the water and granulated sugar in it and on medium-high heat mix together until the sugar dissolves.
Now add the raspberries and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 25 minutes.
Remove your saucepan from the heat and strain the raspberry/sugar mixture over a bowl, throw away the fruit from the strainer then place the syrup back into your saucepan.
Simmer the raspberry sauce for 15 more minutes, then strain again, let cool and place into your drink.

HOLLY'S CHEAT DAY https://www.hollyscheatday.com/

REPOST-Sweetheart Strawberry Cupcakes

February 6, 2019 By Holly

Happy Happy Wednesday y’all!!! I’m bringing you guys another re-post today because these absolutely delicious cupcakes just happen to be one of my favorite flavors as well as my favorite in the way that they look. I mean, come on, they have hearts on top that are filled with an incredible chocolate frosting. Anyways, as always thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you can make this fantastic cupcakes for your sweetheart too. Have a wonderful day!

Oh how I love Valentine’s Day, even when I was single ~~for a million years~~ for a while I still loved it. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a holiday that is focused on all things chocolate, pink and red, and hello, chocolate covered strawberries are seriously one of the best things (food wise) I’ve ever received for this awesome holiday.

I’m a sucker for a fun and (obviously) delicious cupcake and wanted to recreate chocolate covered strawberries with my favorite strawberry cake recipe with a whipped chocolate frosting. This cake recipe is amazing, easy to make, tastes incredible, and even tastes better after a couple days because the strawberries in the mix moisten the cake even more. I also just so happened to have a small heart shaped biscuit cutter which I cut out the middle of the cupcake and filled with the whipped chocolate frosting. Oh my gosh y’all these are so incredible and just so darn cute I can’t even handle it These would be wonderful to make for the sweetheart(s) in your life, or heck, just treat yourself.

Start with your white cake mix and 3 tablespoons of flour…

Then add your strawberry jello mix…

Then add your eggs…

Then add your water and vegetable oil…

Then add you strawberries…

Mix, mix, mix..look how yummy and pretty…

Bake up these lovelies…

So now for the frosting..start with milk and flour…

Heat and mix until it’s the texture of thin mashed potatoes and remove from the heat…

While the flour/milk mixture is cooling, take your butter…

Whip your butter until creamy…

Then add your sugar…

Whip, whip, whip until smooth and creamy…

Then add your cooled milk/flour mixture…

And whip the heck out of it until it’s the texture of whipped cream…

Then add your cocoa powder and mix, mix, mix…

Take your cupcake and with a small biscuit or cookie cutter cut out the cute little heart shape and sprinkle with powdered sugar…

You can use a piping bag or spoon to fill the heart with chocolate frosting…

Then enjoy!

So yummy…

Delicious!

Sweetheart Strawberry Cupcakes

2015-02-08 16:40:10

Yields 24

Deliciously moist strawberry cupcake filled with a wonderful whipped chocolate frosting.

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FOR THE CUPCAKES

1 Box of White Cake Mix.
1 Package of Strawberry Jello Mix.
3 Tablespoon of Flour.
4 Eggs.
1/2 Cup of Water.
1 Cup of Vegetable Oil.
1/2 Package of Frozen Strawberries in Syrup (16 Ounces) or Fresh Strawberries.

FOR THE FROSTING

1 Cup of Milk.
5 Tablespoons of Flour.
2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, Softened.
1 Cup of Granulated Sugar.
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder.

THE CUPCAKES

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Line 24 cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
With a handheld or stand mixer with paddle attachment mix your cake mix, flour, jello mix, eggs, water, vegetable oil and frozen strawberries until well incorporated.
With an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill your liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until they spring back to the touch.

THE FROSTING

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat your milk and flour stirring constantly until it becomes the texture of thin mashed potatoes and remove from the heat.
Let the flour/milk mixture cool completely.
In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer whip your butter, then add your sugar and whip together until light and fluffy.
Now add your flour/milk mixture to the sugar and butter and whip, whip, whip until it is the texture of whipped cream.
Now add your cocoa powder and whip until completely incorporated.
Enjoy this amazing whipped chocolate frosting.

Notes

Since I used light colored cupcake tins I set my oven to 375 degrees F, if you are using dark colored cupcake tins set your oven to 350 degrees F.
I used a small heart shaped biscuit cutter to make the heart shapes in the cupcakes then used a Wilton disposable bag with a Wilton 12 tip to fill the hearts.

HOLLY'S CHEAT DAY https://www.hollyscheatday.com/