These are my favorite pecan tarts! I made them before here. They are great to make and store in the freezer until you need em!

Heres the recipe again!

Decadent Mini Pecan Tarts

Ingredients: 

• 20-24 Tart Shells – If frozen, take out of the freezer before you begin for about 5-10 mins
• chopped pecans
• pecan halves – one for each tart
• Semi Sweet Chocolate – broken up into small chunks (Bakers secret or any other rich chocolate)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325º F.
2. Place tart shells on baking sheet – about 20-24 on a large baking sheet
3. In the bottom of each tart, add 1 tablespoon (or more) chocolate chunks and 1 tablespoon + chopped pecans, then place a pecan half on top of each.
4. In a mixing bowl:-whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. Pour the filling over the pecans, just until it almost reaches the top of the sides of the tarts.
5. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the crust is golden, and the middle is set. Remove from the oven and transfer with a lifter to wire racks to cool

Enjoy!

I found these cute little things from Whisk Blog! What a cute idea for the holidays. I substitued the frosting for Nutella and sprinkled the tops with crushed candy canes! Really simple and pretty for the holidays and great to bring to a cocktail party.

Recipe – From Whisk: A Food Blog
Makes 1 8×8 pan or 2 dozen minis

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
¼ teaspoon baking powder¼ teaspoon salt
Nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350˚F. Grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs, and beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to egg mixture, beating until blended. Stir in nuts, if desired.

Fill a piping bag (or freezer bag) <– This is a must, makes it very easy to fill and make them all even! And fill the mini muffin cups. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

I mixed Nutella with some icing sugar and piped it onto the tops, and sprinkled them with crushed candy canes!

Enjoy!

These are a favorite in my house! My brother almost ate the entire bowl before i even got them onto the cookie sheet!! 

Ingredients:

2 cups Chocolate Chips

1/2 Butter

Coconut ( about three cups )

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350.

Place coconut onto baking sheet in single layer and toast until slightly browned. Be careful to watch it and using a spatula or lifter sift the coconut often so it evenly browns. Once it has reached the color you desire take it out of the oven to cool.  The smell of coconut will fill your house! Ooh it smells so good!

Once it’s cooled Melt chocolate and butter in microwavable safe glass bowl. Microwave until almost completely melted then stir by hand to completely melt. 

Stir in the coconut. I ususally add some non toasted coconut to the mix as well. 

Once it is all covered in chocolate, scooping with a small ice cream scoop, or dropping by spoons, place small clusters onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Let cool in refrigerator until set. You can freeze these easily and take out about 15 mins before serving.

Enjoy!

These little babies are melt in your mouth good! Especially when you eat them straight out of the oven and place the toblerone on top..mmmm. OK back to the recipe. I make these every year, and I think they’re my moms favorite! The recipe comes from Kraft Canada, but they used segments of Terry’s Chocolate orange. Im sure either way would be good!

Toblerone Shortbread

Ingredients:

Tis the season! I had a white party this weekend to kick off the holiday season, with a little pre christmas rush get together to eat drink & be merry. I wanted to make coconut cupcakes for a while now! And of course, they fit the white theme! I tried my hand at meringues but they didn’t quite work out (hence the reason I didn’t take a picture of them!) So here’s my recipe for coconut cupcakes. My friends liked them so much they left with a few for the road!

First off I’d like to say that Box is not a four letter word (in fact its three, but it doesn’t have to be a bad word!)

Vanilla Cupcakes:

As I was running around Saturday I needed a quick and easy way to make these, so I started from a {box} and went from there. I made French Vanilla cake mix and I added some extra vanilla (mexican vanilla that my brother brought me back from cancun) and added about 1/2 cup of low fat vanilla yogurt to it. Bake for the time it says, about 17-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few mintues, so they can set before lifting and you wont smoosh them!

Let cool completely on rack.  While they are cooling, you can make the frosting!

Creamy Coconut Frosting:

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• Icing Sugar, Sifted ( approx. 4 cups)
• 1-2 tbsp. Coconut milk (Sweetened)
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Shredded Sweetened Coconut for Decorating

Directions:

Cream butter and shortening together in mixer on medium speed until creamy and fluffy.

Add 1/2 cup of icing sugar, and then add a tablespoon at a time of the milk, and rest of icing sugar alternating. Mix in vanilla and rest of sugar until you reach the consistency you want. Since you are just going to use these to frost with a spatula, you dont need to worry about it’s consitency for piping.

Once you’ve gotten it to the texture you want, using a small spatula (or back of a spoon) frost the tops of your cupcakes.

After you have all the peaks frosted add about 2 cups of shredded coconut to a small bowl. Dip/Roll the tops of the cupcakes into the coconut, try not to press too hard so they keep their shape. You can also set them on the wire racks with parchment underneath, and sprinkle it on top. Reserve the droppings from the cupcakes and re-use them on the other ones.

& Voila! Some pretty yummy and pretty looking cupcakes for your holiday party! These cute little ones resemble snow balls, but I’m sure you’d rather eat them, than throw them at someone..or maybe youd like to do both! You can make the tops/peaks rounder or bigger depending on the size you want your balls (snow balls that is.)

Happy Holiday Baking!

Enjoy!

In keeping with the festive spirit I thought I’d bake some Halloween Cupcakes!..more specifically Devil’s Food Cupcakes. I thought it was fitting with the occasion of goblins, and witches and devils. Oh my! These little cakes were quite delicious.. some didn’t live to see another day.  Such a shame. MmMm. Thanks Jordan for the great photo’s once again =)

It’s funny I searched and searched for these cupcake cups, or snack cups, because I thought they looked so cute and would be great for cupcakes. Now that i’ve used them I think i’ll stick to regular cupcake liners. These were too small, even thought I bought the large. And the batter just doesn’t rise enough for me. I like the tops to be a little more round. But either way, they were fun to decorate.

Ingredients:

1 box Devils Food Cake mix ( Ok, i was a little lazy and I was at school all day. PLuS! I’m going to see Madonna Tonight!! So the mix had to do )

Wilton Icing:

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar (approximately 1 lb.) sifted
• 2 Tablespoons milk

Instructions
(Medium Consistency)

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer.Add vanilla.  Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.

Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.
Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re whip before using

Decorate as desired!

Happy Halloween!