Xbox Controller Brownie

My husband is a gamer, so I wanted to do something video game-related for his birthday 'cake.'  He actually doesn't like cake that much, so I decided to do a brownie dessert.  This ended up being kind of a blessing in disguise, since cake is more difficult to shape in my opinion.  He and all our friends loved it!  Here's the Xbox controller brownie!

I used:

• Boxed brownie mix
• 3 Rolo chocolate candies (for joy sticks and 'D' pad)
• 4 M 'n' Ms
• 1 small tube of white icing

I cut out a brownie in the shape of the Xbox controller from the large pan of brownies.  You can make two of these if you use a large enough pan.  Use a small amount of icing to help adhere the candies to the brownie.  Then very carefully cut one of the Rolos in half to make it shorter and carve out the 'plus sign' of the directional pad (lower left on the photo).  Write the proper letters on the buttons and make the center white circle with the icing.

  

If you have a gamer in your family, this is a fun and easy themed treat to consider!  Enjoy!

Mini 'Dirty' Apple Pancakes

This recipe was so much fun to make.  It reminded me of standing in my mother's kitchen as a child and making homemade apple pie with her..especially with that distinct smell of fresh apples and cinnamon.  Yum! 

I started with two fresh golden delicious apples. You can use whichever is your favorite though.  I just had them on hand and went with it. 

I melted 1/8 of a stick of butter in a frying pan then added the diced apples for about 5 minutes.  Turn them a few times for even cooking. 

This is when you should get those (mini) pancakes cooking.  I use a box mix, but if you've prepared a from scratch recipe for these ahead of time that works, too!  Once the apples were mostly cooked through, I added granulated sugar and light brown sugar (hence 'dirty' apple pancakes), and cinnamon to taste.  It doesn't take much of any of these ingredients to make a big flavor impact.  Start light then taste test a slice to get it to your liking.

Here's how they turned out!

Enjoy!

Breakfast Pie

I had this idea after I made spaghetti pie.  We had friends visiting for a long weekend, and we had a jam packed agenda filled with fun.  So I wanted to make a breakfast that we could reheat on day two and get us out the door fast.

I went with a crescent roll crust and scrambled eggs/omelette for the pie filling.  It turned out great! 

Before

 

After

Ingredients:

• 4-5 large eggs
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/2 package of prepared bacon
• 1/2 of a yellow onion
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

It takes about 20-25 minutes for the center to cook through. Use a shallow pie pan (and a few less eggs) to speed up the cooking process. Keep an eye on the crescent roll crust, as it can cook a little faster than the filling.

Enjoy!

More Muffin Tin Madness!

I know I've posted about my past muffin tin recipe experiments.  Here are a few additional final products of recent experiments. 

 

Blueberry pancakes from muffin tins (Left); Omelette muffins (Right)

Enjoy!