Minion Cupcakes

If you have been around here for even a short amount of time, I am sure you have come to know the love of Minions in our family!  My third kiddo especially has a great obsession love of them.  I was recently looking back through some old photos and found these pictures of the cupcakes I made for his birthday 2 years ago.  I figured with the renewed excitement over Minions right now that I would share them with you! They were a big hit for sure ;)

How can you not love these cute little guys?! 

Stand Mixer Milk Shakes

This past weekend I was let in on a little secret that will change my life forever-milk shakes made in the stand mixer!  It might sound crazy, but this is seriously exciting to me!  Making milk shakes for a family of 6 takes a long time when you have to do each one by hand.  We love shakes, so finding out that I can make an entire batch in one swoop is fantastic!  So, thank you to my friend Jana who has introduced me to this life changing process ;)

All you need is ice cream, milk, and whatever you want to add to it (that night we made some with chocolate chip ice cream and melted peanut butter mixed together-YUMMY!!!)

Here's how we made just a basic chocolate shake:

We put a half gallon of vanilla ice cream in the mixer with the wire whip attachment and slowly let that begin to mix.

 Then we added in 2 cups of milk and let it continue mixing.

 We just drizzled in the chocolate until we had it to the flavor (actually went more by the color) that we wanted it.

And that's it! So good and so easy!  I can't wait to make them again and experiment with different flavors!

Enjoy!
-Emily


Linking up at:
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://www.thesassyslowcooker.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://houseofroseblog.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://organized31.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, I got the baking-itch today after scrolling through FaceBook and seeing all of the wonderful creations that my friends are making for Thanksgiving tomorrow!  I am cooking dinner at my house and my mom is bringing desserts so I had no reason to do any baking, but the mood just really hit me so I set out on the best site ever (Pinterest of course!) to find an idea.  I came across these cookies and decided to give them a try.  Oh my goodness, YUM!  They were so fluffy, moist, and soft.  Perfection!  You can view the original recipe from Inside BruCrew Life here.  The only change I made was that I did not use walnuts.

Here's what I did:

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vanilla 
2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Use a mixer to combine pumpkin, sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla and mix together. 
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda.
3. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.  
4. Stir in chocolate chips
5. Bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes. 

Note: I used my convection oven which automatically brings the temperature down 25° from what you set it at, so mine cooked at 325°F 

I wish all of you a  very Happy Thanksgiving!!

-Emily


Linking up at:
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/
http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com
http://www.commonground-do.com/
http://houseofroseblog.com
http://www.thesassyslowcooker.com
http://www.astrollthrulife.net
http://www.lambertslately.com
http://betweennapsontheporch.net

http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com
http://craftdictator.com
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com
http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
http://www.talesofapeedeemama.com