Dulce De Leche-Chocolate Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

• 2 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

• Pinch salt

• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• 4 ounces white chocolate, melted

• Red and green food coloring

• Red and green mini M&M candies

• Red and green fruit leather

Directions

Make crust::

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F; place rack in center. Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to extend on two sides.

2. In a mixer bowl, beat together butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in extract, then flour and salt until combined well. Press along bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until just golden brown around edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Make filling::

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, milk and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened and a deep caramel color, about 15 minutes. Pour over crust and spread evenly; refrigerate until completely cool, about 1 hour.

4. Melt semisweet chocolate; let cool slightly. Using a spatula, evenly spread over filling (for swirled top, see below). Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Using a knife, score chocolate layer into 1-12-inch squares.

For swirled top::

5. Divide white chocolate into three parts. Tint one part red and one part green. Leave remaining part white. Dollop red, green and white chocolates over semisweet layer. Using a toothpick, gently swirl together colors.

For decoration::

6. Using white chocolate, adhere candies to squares, making holly or wreaths. Using a small, clean paintbrush, make a snowman out of white chocolate; decorate with candy.

7. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.

8. Run a sharp knife under hot water; dry. Following score marks, cut into squares. Wipe knife after each cut (run under hot water and dry as needed). (Can be made ahead. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.)

Blue Velvet Cupcakes

Blue Velvet Cupcakes

2 C sugar 
2 sticks butter, at room temperature 
2 eggs 
1 T cocoa powder 
1 T Wilton royal blue gel food coloring 
1 small dab of Wilton violet gel food coloring 
2½ C cake flour 
1 tsp salt 
1 C buttermilk 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
½ tsp baking soda 
1 T vinegar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.

In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food colorings together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.

Pour batter into cupcake papers. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting. 

For the cream cheese frosting, I used my old standby recipe. 

Almond Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of butter, softened
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 box powdered sugar

Blend cream cheese, butter, and almond extract. Mix in powdered sugar. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes. 

(Source)

Rocket Pops

Rocket Pops

what you need

1

pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Cherry Flavor Gelatin

1

cup sugar, divided

2

cups boiling water, divided

 Ice cubes

2

cups cold water, divided

1

pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin

1

tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

make it

COMBINE dry cherry gelatin mix and 1/2 cup of the sugar in medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the boiling water; stir at least 2 min. until gelatin is completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to 1 cup of the cold water to measure 2 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until ice is completely melted. Pour evenly into 16 (5-oz.) paper or plastic cups, adding about 1/4 cup of the gelatin to each cup. Freeze 1 hour.

MEANWHILE, combine dry blue gelatin mix and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl. Add remaining 1 cup boiling water; stir at least 2 min. until gelatin is completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to remaining 1 cup cold water to measure 2 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until ice is completely melted. Refrigerate 1 hour.

SPOON about 3 Tbsp. of the whipped topping over red gelatin in each cup; top evenly with blue gelatin, adding about 1/4 cup of the gelatin to each cup. Freeze 1 hour or until almost firm. Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon into center of each cup for handle. Freeze an additional 4 hours or overnight. To remove pops from cups, place bottoms of cups under warm running water for 15 sec. Press firmly on bottoms of cups to release pops. (Do not twist or pull pop sticks.) Store leftover pops in freezer.

kraft kitchens tips

NOTE

Wooden pop sticks can be found at craft stores.

Star-Spangled Pie

Star-Spangled Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups Keebler® Chips Deluxe® Rainbow Bite Size cookies
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened*
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tub (8 oz.) frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
1 Keebler® Ready Crust® Graham Pie Crust
Red, white and blue sprinkles 

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop cookies. Set aside.

2. In small mixing bowl beat cream cheese on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Fold in cookies and whipped topping. 3. Spread in crust. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until set. Garnish with sprinkles. Store in refrigerator.

*NOTE: Soften cream cheese in microwave at high for 15 to 20 seconds.

(Source)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Ingredients

• 10 Tablespoons butter
• 3 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Red Food Coloring (I used Wilton No-Taste Red)
• 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
For the Cheesecake Layer
• 8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper long enough to hang over on two sides, making it easier to remove from pan once baked. Spray pan and paper.
2. In small saucepot over medium heat, or in the microwave, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and red food coloring with the sugar. Slowly add in chocolate mixture until well combined.
4. In small bowl, sift together cocoa, salt and flour. Add mixture to rest of batter. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
For the Cheesecake Layer
6. Beat ingredients together until smooth. Pour over brownie batter. Use sharp knife to swirl together.
7. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until just set and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

(Source)

American Flag Cake Recipe

2 boxes white cake mix (plus oil and eggs) 
Blue and red food coloring 
For cream cheese frosting: 1-1/2 pound cream cheese (3 – 8oz. packages, not low fat) 1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks) 2 pounds powdered sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla 


1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease two 8″ cake pans with nonstick spray. 
2. Make cake mixes according to box directions. You will need to make one 8″ blue cake, and three 8″ red cakes. I dyed one batch of cake batter red; I split the other batch in half and dye one half blue and one half red. Try to use as much batter as you can for each cake, because you want to end up with thick cakes. 
3. Bake the 8″ cakes according to box directions. Cool completely before going on to the next step. 
4. The most complicated part of creating this cake is torting the red cakes. Pain. in. the. butt. I used a large serrated knife to cut the cakes. Torte two of the red cakes so that you end up with 4 or 5 thin and even layers. Try to make the layers as level as possible. 
5. Use a knife to level off the blue cake (remove the “dome” that forms when the cake bakes). After the blue cake as been leveled, cut a hole out of the middle of the cake. I used a large round cookie cutter for this step. Using a round cookie cutter is a good idea because of the sizing consistency it provides. At the end of this step your blue cake should look like a donut — with a hole in the middle. 
6. Use a knife to level off the last red cake. Once the cake is leveled, use the same round cookie cutter to cut a circle out of the red cake. Torte the circle you cut out to get three thin layers. 
7. For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Slowly add the cream cheese until you reach the desired consistency. I like thicker frosting, so I always add nearly 2 lbs of powdered sugar. 
8. Time to assemble! Layer the first 4 or 5 full-sized red layers on a cake platter, adding cream cheese icing between each layer. Once the full-sized red layers are assembled, add the blue “donut” to the top. Fill the “donut hole” with the small red slices of cake, adding cream cheese icing in between each. Thoroughly frost the outside of the cake and decorate the top of the cake if you’d like to. I used red and blue frosting to create a spiderweb/fireworks design. 
9. Before cutting into your cake, chill the cake in the refrigerator for a few hours so the frosting can set (and the cake will be easier to cut!). Enjoy!