How to toast coconut

I needed toasted coconut for a recipe recently and I couldn't find it in the store so I took it upon my self to make it. It was extremely easy and cheaper than buying it already toasted!

Just place the desired coconut onto a baking sheet. Place in oven at 325 degrees and bake for a bout 5-8 minutes. Watch the coconut, it will usually brown on the outside first so you may need to move it around on the tray to even it out. Happy baking!

Easter Eggs Cheesecake Bites

I was feeling quite festive this Easter and made several fun treats. The biggest hit were my cheesecake bites! (I mean who doesn't love cheesecake!?) They were fairly simple to make and quite delicious! The original recipe is on the Kraft website!

I used 2 different types of candy eggs on them. We started with the Cadbury chocolate eggs and then I found M&M peanut butter eggs so we had to try those out too!

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

3 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup toasted coconut (If you cant find the toasted coconut click here  to see how to toast your own)

Candy eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom of 18 paper lined muffin cups.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and remaining sugar. Mix the eggs in one at a time, until just blended. Spoon the cream cheese batter over the crust. Bake 25-30 minutes or until centers are almost set. 

Cool completely, refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Top each cheesecake with 1 tbsp toasted coconut and 3 eggs. Voila! Easter Egg dessert! Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

With Easter just a few days away I started experimenting with some cute new deserts for the holiday and I cam across this recipe for Easter Bunny Cupcakes on stylingmyeveryday.com They are so cute I just had to try them!!

I mean look!

These are coconut flavored cupcakes but if you are like my fiance and loath coconut you could easily do a yellow cupcake and skip on the coconut shavings. (You don't have to make the cupcakes from scratch. You can use boxed cake and can icing for convenience!)

Ingredients:

Cake

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 oz shredded coconut
Icing
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners sugar
Bunny Ears
Pink crystal sprinkles
Large marshmallows

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cream together the 3 sticks of butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). On low speed, add eggs 1 at a time. Add vanilla and almonds extract, blend well while scraping the sides of the bowl down.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
Slowly add dry flour mix and buttermilk to the sugar and butter mix. (I like to alternate mine, a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk)
Then fold in 7 oz of the coconut into the batter.
Line a muffin pan and fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpicks come out clean and tops are lightly browned.
Cool in pan for 15 minutes and finish cooling on wire rack.

Now for the frosting! Cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until well blended.
Frost the completely cooled cupcakes and sprinkle the remaining coconut on top.

Now for the cute little ears!

Cut the marshmallows in half and dip the fresh cut edge into the sprinkles (It will be stick and should hold the sprinkles)

Easy as that!

And here they are ! Your precious Easter Bunny Cupcakes! (Pictures courteous of original website) 

ENJOY!

Low Carb Flat Out Pizza

I LOVE PIZZA! I mean who doesn't with all its chewy gooey goodness! So being on a diet can make it hard to show my love for pizza. While grocery shopping the other day I stumbled upon mini flat outs (We use flat outs frequently for its low in carbs and calories) We spread a little organic marinara sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese, pepperonis and VOILA! Healthier pizza!

They actually sell flat out for pizzas but they didn't have any at our grocery store so we used the flat out fold its (usually near the bakery) 

Ingredients:

1 pack of flat out of your choice

Marina sauce (you can look for healthier options or make your own marina)

Low fat mozzarella cheese

Toppings (We used pepperonis on one set and added pineapple bits the the second set)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a baking sheet with Pam and lay out flat out.

Put 1-2 tablespoons of marinara sauce on top each half (We found it was better with less sauce)

Sprinkle with cheese and toppings 

Bake for about 6-10 minutes. Enjoy! We are going to try barbecue chicken next week!