Red Velvet Oreo Gooey Cake Bars

There’s just something about Red Velvet that is simply irresistible. It's truly a southern favorite. I love Red Velvet cupcakes, but I wanted to change it up a bit. I'm a huge fan of cake bars...especially ones stuffed with chocolate! And of course who can resist something with Oreos mixed in? This combination is perfect! 

Chewy Red Velvet bars stuffed with chocolate chips and Oreos, all drizzled with sweetened condensed milk...making them super ooey and gooey. Un-believable. 

I've made these a few times before, but the entire pan seems to disappear before I can even snap a picture. This time I made them for a little slumber party with my two favorite kiddos. I made sure to take a few photos before everyone came over!

Red Velvet Oreo Gooey Cake Bars
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate 

Ingredients: 
1 box red velvet cake mix
1 large egg
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
5 oz milk chocolate chips (1/2 bag)
10-12 Oreos, broken into pieces
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil that’s been generously sprayed with cooking spray. 

2. Place cake mix, egg, and butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix until a nice dough forms similar to a cookie dough. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer with Oreos and chocolate chips. Drizzle half of the sweetened condensed milk over top. Top with remaining half of dough pressing evenly. Drizzle the rest of the sweetened condensed milk over the dough.

3. Bake for 28-33 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes then take a plastic knife and run along edges to loosen. 

4. Let cool completely then remove bars from pan with foil edges. Cut bars into squares and serve. They are delicious room temperature or chilled.

Red Velvet Pancakes

IT'S SNOWING IN GEORGIA.

So you know what that means...no school! :) It has been a pretty crazy 12 hours around here. Snow and ice covered the roads starting around noon yesterday. So many people have been stuck on the roads for 8+ hours, or even overnight! We are so thankful to be home and safe. 

Even Bailey loved her first time playing in the snow!

I love breakfast. I love pancakes. This morning was the perfect chance to try out these red velvet pancakes. I just love red velvet anything. 

These pancakes are soft and fluffy, with just the perfect amount of sweetness. I don't normally use a mix when making pancakes, but we had some left over so I didn't want it to go to waste. These are super easy to make and using the baking mix just takes out a few extra steps and ingredients. 

They are absolutely perfect with a dollop of cream cheese (you can't have red velvet without cream cheese!) and a drizzle of warm maple syrup. 

Looks like the perfect surprise for breakfast in bed on Valentine's Day! :)

Red Velvet Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick mix

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon red food coloring

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, whisk together baking mix and cocoa powder, set aside. Measure out milk into a liquid measuring cup and whisk in vinegar, allow mixture to rest for 2 minutes. Pour milk mixture into a separate large mixing bowl and add in sugar, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk mixture until combined. While whisking, slowly add in your dry ingredients and combine. Do not over mix! 

Depending on how big you want your pancakes, pour about a 1/4 - 1/3 cup batter at a time onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to appear on the top surface of the pancakes then flip and cook opposite side until pancake is cooked through.

Serve warm with a dollop of cream cheese and a drizzle of maple syrup. :)

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Valentine's day is right around the corner, and these sandwich cookies are the perfect little treat. They're also really, really good! 

This cake mix recipe is so easy and the texture of the cookies are perfect. This is the same recipe I use in my Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're a little bit chewy and just the right thickness. The icing recipe is from the latest issue of Food Network Magazine. They have some other really good recipes, so be sure to check it out!

You could probably recreate this cookie with just about any flavor of cake mix, but the red velvet version is definitely my favorite!

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:
Cookies
1 box red velvet cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour

Filling
4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  To make cookies, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil and flour.  Scoop onto lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until tops look cracked.  Cool completely.  Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer.  Mix in coconut and vanilla, then beat in powdered sugar until smooth.  Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the center of a cookie.  Top with a second cookie and press together until the filling reaches the edges of the cookies.  Makes about 15 sandwiches.

Red Velvet Brownies with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these yesterday for Evan's work luncheon. He decided to volunteer me to make the dessert...and I was more than happy to do it! I saw this recipe a few weeks ago and literally started drooling, but didn't have a reason to make them...until now. 

They looked so yummy and delicious on Smells Like Home's website that I just couldn't resist! Good thing Evan took them to work before I devoured every last bite!

Red Velvet Brownies with Whipped Cream Cheese Icing

Recipe adapted from Smells Like Home

For the brownies:
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 oz red food coloring (or a scant 2 tbsp)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the frosting:

16oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, cold

To make the brownies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line and 8x8 in pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, slowly stir together the cocoa powder, food coloring, and 1 tsp vanilla into a thick paste until no lumps of cocoa remain. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in the remaining 1 tsp of vanilla.  With the mixer off, add in the cocoa mixture, then turn the mixer to medium and beat the two mixtures together until they are one uniform color.  Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined.  Do not over mix.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir up the batter with a rubber spatula once or twice just to ensure all of the flour has incorporated from the sides of the bowl and there isn’t anything stuck on the bottom of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the brownies.  Allow brownies to completely cool in the pan on a baking rack.

To make the frosting:

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks, then add the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

The end of the semester is upon us and I am soooo ready for this break! I have honestly been blessed with some really great students this year, and I wanted to do something for them before we leave for Christmas break. I've been telling some of them about this blog and ever since they have been begging me to make them something. So I figured this was the perfect time to make them a little treat for all their hard work so far this year. 

 

Now I know I'm not really supposed to admit that I have "favorites" but my 6th period class is AMAZING! I just love this group; they are funny, smart, and definitely keep me on my toes. They are the ones that came up with this recipe so I decided to give it a try. 

I did a little research on Google and found this recipe at Busy Mom Media. Needless to say, they were a huge hit! Using the cake mix gives these cookies a soft and gooey center. Aaaaamazing!

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 package red velvet cake mix
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 bag white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat eggs and oil. Add cake mix until mixed. Slowly add flour, then chocolate chips. Shape into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Don’t over bake, light cake mixes will not look done even though they are. Makes about 36 cookies.

Cake Pops!

I've always had a passion for cupcakes...but I have recently fallen in love with cake pops! I had my first cake pop when I was in Raleigh, NC with my friend Rachel. We walked into Starbucks and there they were. I had heard about this craze, but I had no idea what I was missing. We had the birthday cake flavored pop (middle) and it was amazing!

From then on I was determined to make these little bites of heaven. I made my first batch of cake pops for 4th of July. I decided to do a basic chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.  

My go to site for a recipe and ideas was Bakerella. She is the cake pop queen! Mine aren't anywhere near as cute as hers, but after a few attempts they turned out delicious! And, they did get many rave reviews, which makes me think I’m definitely on the right track. After you eat one, it really won't matter what it looks like!

I'm always looking for an excuse to make these and I now have another reason to make cake pops! My brother-in-law's birthday is this weekend and I have decided to make red velvet pops with cream cheese icing. There are endless possibilities combining different flavored cake and icing. I can't stop thinking about all the different flavors I could make!

This recipe is based on a boxed cake mix, but you can follow the same directions by making a cake from scratch. (I didn't have time for all that!) I did make my own cream cheese frosting and I've added the recipe below.

Red Velvet Cake Pops

Ingredients

• 1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on the box)
• 1 cup cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
• 1 package vanilla almond bark or candy melts
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
• lollipop sticks and wrappers (you can find these at Michael's)
• Rectangular foam block 

1. Bake the red velvet cake according to the directions on the box or your recipe. Be sure to let the cake cook completely. 

While the cake is in the oven start making your cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp milk 

2. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a little at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract and milk until it is a smooth and creamy consistency.

3. Once the cake is completely cool, crumble the cake with 2 forks or better yet, your hands!

4. Stir in the frosting to create a smooth cake mixture.  It should look like the huge cake ball below.

5. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. You should get about 25-30 cake balls. Place them in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

6. Melt the chocolate candy melts in the microwave according to package directions. This is where the Crisco comes into play. If the chocolate is too stiff if won't coat the cake balls and it will turn into a big mess. (I speak from experience!) I add a little shortening at a time until the chocolate is really smooth and silky.

 

7. Poke holes into cake balls about half way through with lollypop stick. Dip stick into melted chocolate and press into cake ball. Return to fridge for 5 minutes. Dip cake balls into chocolate and gently tap to remove any extra. Bakerella posted a great video that has step by step instructions.

8. Add some sprinkles or other decorations while chocolate is still soft. Put them back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to harden. I use the foam to stick the pops into while they are setting.

 

YUM!! ENJOY! :)