Roasted Cherry Brownies

Fresh cherries just scream summer to me and they are one of my favorite fruits to snack on through the warm months. Brownies are also a favorite of mine so when I came across this recipe I knew I had to try them, and it had to be soon since cherries are only in season for a short time! Chocolate and cherries are a perfect combination and these brownies were no exception! These were everything a brownie should be, rich and moist, very chocolately and the roasted sweet cherries just pop making these extra special!

Roasted Cherry Brownies: (slightly adapted from The Pastry Affair)

• 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and quarted
• 2 1/2 cups (1 lb.) semi-sweet chocolate chips 
•  1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

                                                           Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a small roasting pan, combine the fresh cherries and 1 tablespoon sugar. Roast for 10 minutes or until cherries start releasing their juices. Remove cherries from pan, strain the juices, and place in the refrigerator to cool down.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9-inch pan, set aside.

In a double boiler, melt together the semi-sweet chocolate and butter until smooth. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla extract until well blended. Add the melted chocolate and mix until incorporated. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the cooled, roasted cherries. Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and bake for 15-30 minutes (mine took closer to 30 minutes), or until brownies do not jiggle in the center when the pan is shaken.

*Note: It states that even when baked completely, a toothpick may not come out clean. Don't overbake! They are best when slightly under-baked.* 

Buttermilk Banana & Strawberry Bread

I am currently obsessed with using buttermilk in baking. If a recipe ever called for buttermilk I would usually just substitute it by adding lemon juice to milk, but never again! This fantastic and extremely moist Cornmeal Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting (and just to inform you, this is seriously the BEST chocolate frosting I have ever tasted) from Evil Shenanigans definitely changed my mind.

Buttermilk just makes everything so moist and adds a unique and subtle flavor to whatever it is baked into. Since making that cake, I have made my family and I's favorite chocolate cake, (which I use as the base for any recipe that I make which involves chocolate cake) into like the best cake EVER (according to my family and I)! I just substituted buttermilk for regular milk and frosted it with the chocolate buttermilk frosting. I have also made these Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes, which then leads me to this Buttermilk Banana Strawberry Bread. It is a fabulous quick bread recipe that is very moist, buttery, rich, and so delicious! It is perfect to eat plain, or you can smear it with butter, toast it and spread on jam, or eat it warm with some nutella or drizzled with honey.

Needless to say, I am in love with buttermilk and will be using buttermilk in my baking more and more!

Buttermilk Banana Strawberry Bread: (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium sized bananas)
• 4 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup diced strawberries, plus 2 whole srawberries thinly sliced for the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 1 large loaf pan or 4 small loaf pans (I used 4 small loaf pans). You can also make banana muffins with this recipe, as well. Set pans aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla until the batter is well mixed.

Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and soda. Mix until well combined. Gently fold in diced strawberries. Divide batter into greased and floured pans and top with thinly sliced strawberries. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let bread cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the bread with a knife and carefully remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. Slice and serve once cooled.

Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters

These Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters are the perfect little bite-sized desserts and are a fun and easy take on a classic summer favorite treat! Cake, strawberries, nutella, and whipped topping are all layered into little glasses and ready to enjoy. It is strawberry season and these shooters are a great way to enjoy fresh, perfectly sweet, and juicy summer strawberries!

Strawberry & Nutella Shortcake Shooters: (adapted from Cheeky Kitchen)

• 1 box Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix, prepared and baked according to package directions
• 1-1/2 cups strawberries, finely diced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 10 teaspoons Nutella
• 1 (8-oz.) tub cool whip
• 10 small, whole strawberries

 Cut cake in half, wrap one half very well and store in freezer for later use.

With the second half of cake, crumble it into small pieces. Press a small amount of cake into the bottom of 10 small shot glasses.

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar. Spoon a bit of strawberries over the cake layer in the shot glasses.

Spoon a teaspoon of Nutella over the strawberries.

Place a second layer of cake over the Nutella layer. Top with a spoonful of cool whip. Garnish with a single strawberry atop each shot glass. Serve immediately, or store chill until ready to serve, for up to an hour.

Moist Cupcakes Everytime

I was searching for an easy and moist yellow cupcake recipe when I happend to stumble upon a recipe called THE BEST Chocolate Cake. I'm not quite sure how moist yellow cake landed me on THE BEST Chocolate Cake, but, I am glad it did! Not only did I find a great recipe for dressing up just about any boxed cake mix, I also found another great blog to follow called Kevin & Amanda. They have tons of delicious recipes including these Creamy Chicken Enchiladas and Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Avocado Quesadillas which my whole family absolutely loved!

This recipe is so versatile and you can use it to make cupcakes, a sheet cake, a bundt cake, or in two 9-inch round cakes. All you do is take a box of your favorite cake mix and dress it up with sour cream, instant pudding, oil, eggs, and vanilla and you place all the ingredients in one large bowl and mix them up. Just match any cake mix with instant pudding; some ideas are chocolate cake mix with chocolate pudding; white, yellow,  french vanilla, or strawberry cake mix with vanilla pudding, or banana cake with banana pudding. The possibilities really are endless and will result in super moist, super rich, and oh so flavorful cupcakes or cake every single time. No one will ever know they came from a box! Give these a try and you won't be disappointed, I promise :)

Moist Yellow Cupcakes: (adapted from Kevin & Amanda)

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 small package Jello instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla exract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake tins with cupcake liners (this makes between 18-24 cupcakes); set aside.

Place all ingredients in a very large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat ingredients at low speed for 30 seconds and then at medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Batter will be thick. Divide batter evenly between prepared cupcake liners (about 2/3 full). Bake for 18-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost as desired.

Homemade Restaurant Style Salsa

This salsa is so good and it tastes just like the salsa that you get at authentic Mexican restaurants served with tortilla chips. It is full of fresh flavors; it consists of  canned whole tomatoes, rotel (tomatoes and chiles), fresh onion, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper, and cumin. It also couldn't be easier to make! All you do is throw everything into a food processor and pulse until your desired consistency; you can make it as chunky or as smooth as you like. Enjoy.

Homemade Restaurant Style Salsa: (Brown Eyed Baker)

Yield: About 6 cups

• 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (peeled) with juice
• 2 10-ounce cans Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion 
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Juice from 1/2 a fresh lime
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Add all ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until you get desired consistency. Refrigerate for at least one hour, and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

*Notes*: This makes a large quantity so use at least an 11-cup food processor, or work in batches. If you prefer a milder salsa, remove the seeds and membrane from the jalapeno before adding it to the food processor.