Grasshopper Swirl Bunt Cake

This Grasshopper Bundt Cake is rich, mint and a definite crowd pleaser. 

Who doesn’t love the combo of mint and chocolate! 

I love a good Bundt cake. This homemade Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake is unique in that it has these delicious green mint ribbons throughout it. And don’t get me started on the chocolate ganache drizzle! Trust me, this cake is not lacking in the flavor department! 

Ingredients
Filing

• 2 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½  tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• ⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 drops green food color

Cake

• 2 boxes of Chocolate cake mix plus ingredients requested on the box

Chocolate and Cream Cheese Glaze

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract, optional 
• 1 or 2 drops green food color

Instructions

Heat oven to 325°F. Grease bundt pan. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth and fluffy. Beat in rest of ingredients until smooth; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the cake mix as directed on the box. 

Pour half the cake batter into the pan. Spoon cream cheese filling over batter, using a butter knife, swirl the filing throughout the cake batter. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack; remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

In a 1-quart saucepan, heat chocolate chips and butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted; set aside. 

For glaze, mix the ingredients in a medium size bowl. Make sure you sift the powdered sugar, or else you will have lumps. Add water if you need to thicken the glaze until it can be easily drizzled. Drizzle over cake. 

Immediately spoon melted chocolate over glaze in a 1/2-inch-wide ring. 

Refrigerate until serving time. Store loosely covered in the refrigerator.

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Kahlua Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Chocolate cookie cups filled with a fluffy chocolate Kahlua cheesecake. The perfect bite-sized indulgence!

This mini Kahlua cheesecake recipe should definitely be on your list of must-try treats. The creamy cheese filling is laced with Kahlua for a subtle hint of coffee flavor that pairs perfectly with the rich chocolate cookie crust. 

If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, this recipe can easily be done with a regular muffin pan or even as a whole cheesecake.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookie Cups or Pie crust :

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar packed
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake Filling:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
• 8 oz cream cheese full fat,softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate melted, cooled
• 1/4 cup Kahlua Liquor

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugars on med-high until light and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough into muffin tins, press down to flatten.

Bake for approx. 10-13 minutes or until mostly set, but still soft in the middle.

Remove from the oven and immediately use a small glass (shot glass works great) to press firmly down in the center to create a well. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, loosen each slightly by twisting it in the pan. Cool for 5 more minutes then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake Filling:

Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks (ideally with a cold whisk and in a cold bowl).

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add chocolate and Kahlua and beat until incorporated.

Fold cream cheese mixture into whipped cream and pipe into cooled cookie cups. Refrigerate until set (approx. 2 hours).

If making as a cheesecake, follow these instructions… Bake in oven at 350°F for 60 minutes. Edges will likely have slightly puffed and may have just begun to turn a light golden brown and the center should spring back to the touch but will still be Jello-jiggly. Don’t over-bake or the texture will suffer, which means we all suffer.

Sprinkle with chocolate shavings or cocoa powder if desired. 

Serve chilled and eat within 2-3 days. Or freeze for up to 4 weeks.

Brownie Shortbread Cups

These brownie shortbread cups will hit all your cravings… both buttery soft shortbread and gooey fudge brownies. You can have the best of both worlds.

These brownie shortbread bars have two layers. The bottom layer is a simple shortbread crust made from little more than butter, sugar, and flour.The crumbly cookie crust comes together in a single bowl before being patted out in a muffin pan. While the crust bakes slightly in the oven, prepare the brownie batter, you can also use your favorite brownie mix box. After baking in the oven, the cups are ready to devour. The combination of shortbread and brownies is pretty phenomenal if you ask me

Let’s get to baking!

INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

• ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the brownie:

• ¾ cup unsalted butter

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• 1–1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

OR

2 boxes your favorite brownie mix and the ingredients needed

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line an 8 or 9” square baking pan with parchment paper or a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Lightly grease with cooking spray and set aside.

Begin by preparing the crust. 

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour and salt and stir just until combined to crumbs. Gently press the mixture down flat into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until set. 

In the meantime, begin making the brownie filling.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, gently melt together the butter, chocolate chips, and sugar, stirring regularly to melt evenly and prevent scorching the chocolate. Once melted and smooth, set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat the eggs on medium speed with a mixer until they lighten in color and fluff up, about 2-3 minutes. Gently stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, stirring just until combined. 

Pour the batter on top of the prepared shortbread and smooth. 

Increase the oven heat to 350 and bake for an additional 30-33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out only with a couple of small brownie crumbs. Do not overbake. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely prior to slicing.

Melt in Your Mouth Chocolate Chip Bars

Got a sweet tooth and love chocolate? Then these chocolate chip bars are for you!

They start with my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe and are filled with milk chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. The brown butter and brown sugar gives a toffee-like richness to the cookie bars. And they are so easy to make in a 9×13-inch pan; no scooping or rolling needed. Just press and bake!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 bag of milk chocolate chips
• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 4.4 ounce large milk chocolate bar, chopped 

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, about 6 minutes, until it becomes brown in color. It will foam, reduce, then foam again. Once it’s done cooking the foam is a light brown and it will dissipate after you remove it from the heat. Once it starts to brown, keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. Let sit for about 5 minutes to cool.

Pour into an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. While still hot, add both sugars and mix on low until combined. Let sit to cool for a few minutes.

While the butter mixture is cooling, combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk and set aside.

Turn the mixer on low. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely.  

Mix in vanilla extract. 

Add flour mixture one cup at a time to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Line a 9×13” baking pan with parchment paper for easy removal.

Press half the cookie dough in the prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top of the bottom layer (be careful to leave about 1/4” edge around the pan, then sprinkle the chopped chocolate bar over the top. 

Press the remaining cookie dough on top of milk and chopped chocolate bar. Press with your hands to flatten. It will mostly cover but not completely cover the bottom layer.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for about 35-45 minutes until the tops of the bars start to get golden brown. 

Cool completely before slicing into bars.

Lemon Loaf

This Lemon Loaf recipe is full of lemon flavor, moist, dense, and rich. It’s a perfect snack, dessert or even Breakfast Bread.

The lemon loaf cake itself is perfectly lemony, and the lemon glaze boosts the lemon flavor even more. Lemon lovers will be in their glory! 

I actually prefer this loaf after it has sat overnight, this allows the fresh lemon/sugar mix to have a chance to soak into the cake, which gives it more flavour and makes it even moist. But don’t let it sit for too long because there’s a fine line between when a loaf is moist, then all of a sudden it’s dry.  So moral of the story, let it sit overnight and enjoy it the next day.  Honestly, this loaf is so good so you’ll probably finish it in one day, a slice or two for breakfast with your coffee, one for a sweet mid-day snack and then a few slices with vanilla ice cream after dinner! 

Lemon Loaf Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ teaspoon lemon extract 
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup buttermilk — sour cream works too

Lemon Icing Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar, add more until desired consistency is reached
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice,  add more until desired consistency is reached
• 2 tablespoon cream or milk, add more until desired consistency is reached

Lemon Loaf Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. 

Grease and flour an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.

In a separate bowl beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy – this will take at least 3 minutes.

Mix in the eggs 1 at a time. 

Then mix in the vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in about 1/2 of the flour mixture followed by about 1/2 of the buttermilk. 

Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Repeat the process with the rest of the flour mixture and buttermilk.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. 

Cool the loaf fully before icing (otherwise, the icing will melt through the cake and run off the sides).

*It will be done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top feels firm to the touch. 

*If after about 30-40 minutes the top is browning too much, place a piece of aluminum foil over top and continue baking.

Lemon Icing Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and cream/milk until smooth. Add in more powdered sugar or cream as needed for desired consistency.

Remove the cooled loaf from the pan and drizzle or pour over top.