Mini Toy Story Alien Zucchini Donuts

 Mini Toy Story 

Alien Zucchini Donuts

Written by: Christine | September 14, 2022

Ingredients:

·         1 C. flour 

·         ¾ tsp. baking powder

·         ¼ tsp. baking soda

·         ¼ tsp. salt

·         ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

·         ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

·         1/4 C. sugar 

·         3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil

·         1 egg (at room temperature)

·         1 tsp. vanilla

·         3 Tbsp. plain full fat Greek yogurt

·         1/3 C. skim milk

·         ½ C. finely shredded zucchini

·         ¼ cup toasted and chopped walnuts

Frosting:

·         3 tablespoons powdered/icing sugar

·         1/2 cup light cream cheese (at room temperature)

·         2 tablespoons milk

·         Lime green food coloring gel

Decorations:

·         Pretzel sticks

·         Green candy melts

·         Green mini-M&M’s

·         Candy monster eyeballs

 

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Spray mini donut pans with coconut oil spray, butter, or oil the pans. Stir dry ingredients (flour through sugar) in a large bowl. In a medium bowl on the side whisk oil, egg, yogurt, and milk until combined. Add the zucchini and walnuts to the wet mixture and stir until just combines. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently until no dry streaks remain.

Spoon mixture into each donut form (you can use a plastic bag or pastry bag to fill carefully). Bake for 10-12 minutes.

While the donuts are baking, melt your candy melts according to the bag. Break each pretzel stick in half. Have your mini green M&M’s ready to place. Line a Baking sheet with parchment. Dip each half rod into the green melts place on parchment and top with one M&M.

When the antennae are set and the donuts have been removed from the pan and cooled on a rack, prepare your frosting.

Stir (with a fork) the cream cheese and the powdered sugar until combined and soft. Add the milk and food coloring. Add more color if desired to match the candy melts. Add sugar or milk to make the frosting thin enough to dip the donuts but thick enough not to run off completely.

 

Dip your donuts, place your eyeballs, insert your antennae, and enjoy!

 

Hidden Mickey Loaf Cake

Hidden Mickey Loaf Cake

Written by: Christine | September 2, 2022

For the Chocolate Loaf Cake:

Ingredients

·        1 C. AP Flour

·        ½ C. unsweetened cocoa powder

·        2 tsp. baking powder

·        1 tsp. ground ginger

·        ¼ tsp. salt

·        2 large eggs

·        1 C. granulated sugar

·        10 Tbsp. unsalted butter

·        ½ C. milk

·        1 tsp. vanilla

·        ¼ C. hot coffee (can sub hot water here)

Instructions

1.     Let your ingredients come to room temp.

2.    Preheat the oven to 350°F

3.    Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl.

4.    Spray a loaf pan with baking spray or brush with butter and flour. Cut a long piece of parchment that lines the bottom of the pan and overhands the short sides by a few inches (don’t worry about the long sides if you grease them well)

5.    Sift the flour, cocoa, bp, salt and ginger into a large bowl.

6.    Whisk eggs and sugar in a medium bowl until the sugar starts to look less grainy, add butter, milk and vanilla. Stir to combine.

7.    Add the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just combined.

8.    Pour in the hot liquid and mix.

9.    Pour batter into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.

10. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 30 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool totally. (while cooling you can measure out the pumpkin loaf ingredients)

11. Slice into ¾-ish inch slices and use a Mickey cutter to stamp out your hidden Mickeys.

For the Pumpkin Loaf:

Ingredients

·      2 C. AP flour

·      ½ tsp. salt

·      1 tsp. baking soda

·      ½ tsp. baking powder

·      2 tsp. ground cinnamon

·      ¼ tsp. ground cloves

·      ¼ tsp. allspice

·      ½ tsp. ground ginger

·      ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

·      12 Tbsp. unsalted butter 

·      2 C. Sugar 

·      2 large eggs

·      1 15-oz can 100% pure pumpkin

 

Instructions

               1.    Let your ingredients come to room temp.

2.    Preheat the oven to 325°F

3.    Spray 2 loaf pans with baking spray or brush with butter and flour. Cut a long piece of parchment that lines the bottom of the pan and overhands the short sides by a few inches (don’t worry about the long sides if you grease them well)

4.    Sift the flour, spices, salt, baking powder, baking soda into a large bowl

5.    With a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for 5-7 minutes.

6.    Add the eggs one at a time until combined.

7.    Add the pumpkin (may look like its separated, it will come back together after the dry ingredients are added)

8.    Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (don’t over mix)

9.    Pour out about 1-1 ½ C. of the batter into the bottom of the pans.

10. Line hidden Mickeys up in the batter, press down a bit so they stand on their own (leaning on one another).

11. Top with the batter and smooth out leaving some room at the top ½-3/4 inch of the pan for rising.

12. Bake for 60-70 minutes *remember to test the cake on the sides as to not slice the mickeys!

13. Top with the ganache (recipe below) when totally cool (I let cool overnight).

 

For the Chocolate Ganache:

½ C. heavy cream

½ cup good quality chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Put the chocolate in a glass bowl. Bring the cream to a scald in a small sauce pan. Pour over the chocolate. Let stand for a minute or two. Stir until smooth. Let come to room temp on counter. Refrigerate until totally cool and spreadable. Stir.

 

 Magical Pumpkin Spice Treats

Written by: Christine | September 1, 2022

You have to try making these magical beauties! The look on our kids faces when they saw these was priceless. 

We are ready for fall already and decided to give the classic Mickey Rice Krispie Treat the autumn treatment! Of course, we went with pumpkin spice and then using some candy melts created darling mickey pumpkins and "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo" added Cinderella's Carriage too!

Even if you don't make this version follow these few simple tips to make any rice krispie treat next-level good:

* Toast your krispies- about 5 minutes on medium heat in the pot you plan to melt your mallows in.  *Use the best butter you can find, the butter is one of the main flavors, so make sure its very good quality! 

*Add 1/2 tsp. of salt, this sets all the flavors off! 

*Use one extra cup of mallows than the box recipe calls for, toss them in when the heat is off and right as your adding your cereal. )Who doesn't love finding a mallow glob in their treat?!?)

*Bonus tip: brown your butter (we didn't do that for these since we wanted the pumpkin spice to shine through, but for a plain krispie treat, the nutty flavor of browned butter is unreal!

Ingredients: 

6 cups of toasted Rice Krispies 

6.5 C. miniature marshmallows

3 Tbsp. good butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. pumpkin spice

Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. When it has just melted add the salt, vanilla and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine. Add the marshmallows , stir. When they have almost completely melted turn off the heat add the last cup of mallows and the cereal.  Stir until the cereal is coated. Pour out into a buttered 9x12 cake pan. Press with buttered fingers until you have an even layer. Let set for about 30 minutes. Turn out onto a cutting board or counter. Use cookie cutter to make Mickeys. Press the scraps back together to cut more treats. 

For decorating:

1/2 C. white chocolate chips

1/2 C. chocolate chips

1/2 C. green candy melts

1/2 C. blue candy melts

1 C. orange candy melts

Melt chocolate and melts according to directions on the bag in microwave safe bowls. Pour melted chocolate into small zip locks. Draw a circle and curved lines to make your pumpkin (orange) and carriage (blue). Let set. Draw your wheels. stems, and leaves on a parchment lined sheet pan (draw on the other side and flip for guide). Let these set for a few minutes in the fridge. Carefully transfer with offset spatula to the treats to create pumpkins and carriage. 

*We also inserted popsicle sticks with the tip coated in white chocolate to help little (and big) hands from getting sticky while enjoying these. 

Enchanted Rose Cakes

Enchanted Rose Cakes

Written by: Christine | August 29, 2022

These magical treats are so simple since they use box mix. We substitute the buttermilk for the water and half the oil for butter. We also through in some white chocolate chips and make super simple cream cheese icing to drizzle. A dusting of sparkly sprinkles and your red velvet rose cakes become enchanted!

Ingredients:

1 Box Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix

1 C. Buttermilk

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

8 TBSP. melted butter

Spray the pan with baking spray or butter and flour (they don't seem to make this pan anymore but they do still make this Multi-flower version).

Stir the mix, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together. Fill the cakelets (3/4 full). Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Let cool. 

Beat 1/2 a bar of cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Add 2-3 tablespoons of milk until it is the right texture. Loose enough to drizzle. You can fill a piping bag or plastic bag or just use a fork or spoon to drizzle. Sprinkle lots of sparkly red sprinkles. 

Coco Inspired Mickey Ears

Written by: Christina | August 20, 2022

We are leaving for Disney in 2 days and we will be going to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! My sister and I decided we wanted to go with a Coco theme for our outfits.  I had some left over plain Mickey ears from my daughter's birthday party and used them as the base and these were SO easy!

 

What you need:

Mickey ear headband

Battery operated lights

Faux Flowers

Hot glue gun

 

How we did it:

1. I glued the battery pack for the lights in the center of the headband (between the ears). Don't worry, the flowers will cover it, just make sure you can get to the switch to turn lights on and off. 

2. I then glued the lights around the ears, I put a drop of hot glue on each light.  Leave the remaining lights hanging for now.

3. Glue the flowers in place. I put flowers on the front and back.

4. Take the remaining lights and tangle them in the flowers.

And that's it!!!!

 

 

Winnie the Pooh Macarons

Written by: Christina | August 18, 2022

How darling are these little Pooh Bear Macarons?! I am obsessed with them!  These would be so cute at a Winnie the Pooh baby shower or 1st birthday party! 

Making macarons can be intimidating but the design on these is relatively simple.  It just requires the extra piping of the ears and an edible marker for his face. You can fill your macarons with whatever you'd like, but to stick with the Winnie the Pooh theme I went with a honey filling. They were as sweet as they look!

Make sure to gather all of your ingredients and measuring tools.  I printed out a macaron stencil I found for free online to place under my parchment paper to try and make my cookies the same size.  Just make sure to remove the paper before you bake.  

 

It's important that the almond flour mixture is fine and light.  So it first goes into a food processor and then it gets sifted. 

 

Use either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to beat the egg whites.  This takes some time so be patient!

I was always taught to use a glass when filling piping bags. It helps hold them in place so you can use the rubber scraper to get the batter into the bags neatly.  I used two bags for these, one with a large round tip for the shells and one with a small round tip for the ears. 

 

After tapping the counter 5 times with the tray you have to let them sit for 30-60 minutes until they are dry.  Then they go in the oven!!! Once they are completely cooled you can start drawing Pooh's face.  I used the Wilton Edible marker to draw Pooh's eyebrows, eyes, and nose. 

Almost done!! You just need to make a filling.  I made a honey cream cheese filling to stick with the Pooh theme, I know it's what Pooh would want! So I beat the butter and cream cheese then added the honey.  After it's creamed and blended well add in the powdered sugar.  

I used a piping bag to do the filling but that isn't always necessary, you can use a knife or spoon to spread the filling.  Then sandwich the shells and that's it! You have the cutest little Winnie the Pooh Macarons!

 

Ingredients:

Macarons:

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup almond flour

1 tsp salt, divided

3 egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 drops yellow gel food coloring

1 drop orange gel food coloring

Filling:

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Making the macarons:

1. Put powdered sugar, almond flour, and 1/2 tsp of salt, and process on low speed.  Once the mixture is extra fine, sift into a large bowl.

2. In a separate large bowl (or stand mixer), beat the egg whites and the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt until soft peaks form.  Gradually add granulated sugar until fully incorporated.  Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.  Add the food coloring and beat until just combined.

4. Add 1/3 of the sifted almond flour mixture at a time to the beaten egg whites and use a spatula to gently fold until combined.  After the last addition of almond flour, continue to fold slowly until the batter falls into ribbons.

5. Transfer majority of the macaron batter to a piping bag with a large round tip.  Leave a little of the batter and place into a 2nd piping bag with a small round tip (for the ears).

6. To secure parchment paper to the baking sheet, place a dot of batter in each corner between the sheet and the paper.

7. Pipe the macarons onto the parchment paper.  Then add ears to half the shells (I didn't put ears on the back).

8.  Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release air bubbles.

9. Let the macarons sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, until dry to the touch.

10. Preheat oven to 300º F

11. Bake for 17 minutes, until the feet are well-risen and the macarons don't stick to the parchment paper.

12. Transfer the macarons to a wire rack to cool completely before drawing the face and filling.

13.  When cool, use a black edible marker to add Pooh's eyes, nose, and eyebrows.

Honey Cream Cheese Filling

1. Make the filling: Add butter and cream cheese to a mixer and cream with a mixer for about 2 minutes until fluffy.

2. Add honey and mix to combine

3. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Then mix on medium until creamy.

4. Put filling in a piping bag and pipe onto one shell and then place another shell on top.

Empire Biscuits from Brave!

 Empire Biscuits from Brave!

Written by: Christine | August 10, 2022

Sometimes its a "someone slipped you free cookies" type of day and sometimes its a "someone tied your shoes under the table" type of day. We hope yours is the former!  These cookies are from one of our favorite scenes from Brave. We are on a Disney movie and food pairing kick and these little treats were so fun to make and share with our family. We hope you give them a try.

*the cookie base is so simple and we could see it being customized for all sorts of treats in the future!

Ingredients

1 C. of butter

1/3 C. Sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. vanilla (almond extract would be so good here too!)

3 C. flour

1 ½ C. confectioners’ sugar

1-2 TBSP. milk

15 Maraschino cherries (cut in half)

¾ C. raspberry jam

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg until combined. Add in extract. Slowly add in flour until a crumbly dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and cool for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degree, Turn onto a floured surface and roll out quite thinly 1/8 inch- 1/4 inch. Cut rounds, scalloped rounds, mickeys (whatever use your favorite cuter and about 2 ½-3 inch in diameter). *Flour your cutter, your roller and your offset spatula. Use offset spatula to lift cookies from surface to your parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for approx. 12 minutes. They will very slightly turn golden, not brown. Cool completely.

Use a fork to slowly add milk to the powdered sugar. Add a little at a time until you reach a spreadable icing consistency. If you add too much, add more sugar to help. You may need more or less; you’ll know when you hit the right consistency.

Use a spoon to add a smear of jam. Top each jammed cookie with another cookie and use butter knife or offset spatula to spread the icing (not too much!). Top each with half a cherry. 

 

It’s easy to see why Hamish, Hubert and Harris love these so much!  But also, easy to understand their behavior too…these are a sugar kick for sure! Enjoy with milk or tea while watching Brave!