Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Baked Chocolate Zucchini Donuts

July 22, 2021 By Jocelyn - 59 Comments

Chocolate for breakfast? Three kinds of chocolate make these moist and fluffy Chocolate Zucchini Donuts so good. The soft baked chocolate donuts are a delicious and acceptable way to eat your “greens” for breakfast.

If you love chocolate zucchini recipes, you need to try this Choc Zucchini Cake recipe with the rest of your green veggies.

Zucchini Donuts

Do you spell it doughnut or donut??? I always wonder that when I go to write that word. Then I find myself typing the shorter version…probably because I’m too lazy to type the extra letters.

We had an extra zucchini after making dinner the other night, so I decided to turn it into an easy baked donut with lots of chocolate goodness. They were so moist and delicious because of the shredded zucchini and yogurt.

The chocolate zucchini donuts did not last long at all in our house! Our kids ate them for breakfast and snack time.

And I may have even eaten one (or more) for dinner because they have yogurt and zucchini in them. That sounds like a perfectly acceptable dinner to me! Wink, wink.

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Skinny Banana Bread Recipe

July 20, 2021 By Jocelyn - 46 Comments

Get ready for this Skinny Banana Bread to win you over with its amazing flavor and texture. This healthy banana bread recipe is made with extra bananas, oat flour, and coconut milk making it gluten free, vegan, and dairy free.

Skinny Banana Bread

I love using bananas in baked goods because you can cut out sugar since the bananas add so much extra sweetness. Once they turn dark and spotty, it’s time to start baking some type of banana bread recipe.

For this skinny banana bread, I cut out all of the refined sugar and used extra bananas and our favorite sweetener. After a few test runs with different ingredients, we ended up with a dairy free banana bread recipe that tasted like baked oatmeal and banana bread in every bite.

It is absolutely heavenly! Trust me and eat a slice of this amazing banana bread while it is still warm from the oven. You can thank me later for the best banana bread recipe around.

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Easy Key Lime Cheesecake Recipe

July 17, 2021 By Jocelyn - 1 Comment

Wanna get away without leaving home? Whisk yourself to a tropical paradise with the incredibly refreshing flavors of this Key Lime Cheesecake. With only 7 ingredients, you will see how easy it is to make a homemade cheesecake.

Love key lime desserts? You have to try these Mini Key Lime Pies and this Coconut Lime Cake too.

Key Lime Pie Cheesecake

Have your tastes changed as you have gotten older? I used to avoid lemon and lime desserts at all costs, but slowly over time I have come to love them. It all started with these Best Lemon Bars and these Key Lime Bars. Now I actually look forward to citrus desserts.

Our oldest son loves key lime pie. But this time he requested a key lime cheesecake when he was home for his birthday. I decided to tweak the recipe for the key lime cheesecake bars in our Cheesecake Love cookbook. All it needed was a few changes and a graham cracker crust to make it into a full sized cheesecake.

This easy cheesecake combines the creaminess of a traditional cheesecake with the tropical flavor of key lime pie. It’s definitely the best of both worlds.

The key to the intense flavor in this key lime cheesecake comes from key lime juice and key lime zest.

Now I know what you are thinking. Nobody has the patience or time to juice a whole bag of those tiny Florida key limes. And I totally agree. In order to get enough juice for this cheesecake recipe, I like using a bottled key lime juice.

Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice is what I rely on when I make key lime desserts. It is delicious, tart, and adds a refreshing flavor to key lime recipes without any extra work. [Read more…]

Best Salted Caramel Frosting Recipe

July 15, 2021 By Jocelyn - 17 Comments

This Salted Caramel Frosting adds an amazing sweet and salty flavor to any cake, cupcake, or cookie. Or you could just eat the sweet and salty caramel frosting by the spoonfuls like I do. I won’t judge ya!

Swirl it on top of this Banana Caramel Cupcake recipe and watch them disappear.

Salted Caramel Frosting

Salted caramel is an absolutely delicious combo that adds an amazing sweet and salty flavor to desserts. I wish I could hug the person that came up with the genius idea to add salt to sweet desserts.

I have been making this salted caramel frosting for quite a few years now. The best thing about this caramel frosting is that it goes so well with everything.

You can use it on chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin, banana, or apple cakes or cupcakes. It’s also very good on this Dark Chocolate Brownie recipe.

The fluffy salted caramel buttercream is so easy to make in minutes. Trust me and make a batch, so you can see why we love it so much.

Made with caramel ice cream topping.
Whipped until light and fluffy!
Fabulous sweet and salty flair.
Goes with anything!
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Easy Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake

July 14, 2021 By Jocelyn - 225 Comments

This Buffalo Chicken Pasta is a delicious and easy casserole recipe that can be on your table in 30 minutes. Combining buffalo chicken dip and cheesy pasta in one pan creates a meal that everyone will devour in minutes.

This Buffalo Chicken Calzone is another easy and quick buffalo chicken recipe that everyone enjoys too.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Do you struggle with making quick and easy dinners? I tend to put off thinking about dinner until the very last second. Then I’m scrambling to have a hot meal ready when everyone is hungry.

Keeping pasta, chicken, and cheese on hand makes it easy to put together a quick 30 minute meal. I like to buy rotisserie chickens from Sam’s club and freeze bags of shredded chicken for future meals. Another great option is to keep some canned chicken in the pantry.

Our family loves anything that has buffalo chicken in it. This Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip is the number one snack request for our movie nights. So, for this easy dinner recipe I decided to combine our favorite dip with a cheesy pasta casserole.

Added pasta noodles to cream cheese, hot sauce, and melted cheese made this the best buffalo chicken casserole ever! Our oldest son said this pasta dinner tasted just like the buffalo chicken dip, only heartier! Gotta love a pan full of cheesy pasta goodness that everyone loves and wants every week.

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Gooey S’mores Pie Recipe

July 13, 2021 By Jocelyn - Leave a Comment

Enjoy the flavor of your favorite summer treat all year long. This sweet and gooey S’mores Pie has a graham cracker crust, creamy chocolate center, and a marshmallow topping with toasted marshmallows. No camping or campfire required!

* I am partnering with Dixie Crystals to bring you this delicious and easy S’mores Pie recipe.

A white plate with a slice of chocolate s'mores pie topped with toasted marshmallows on it.

Indoor S’mores

Do you love s’mores ? There is something so delicious about the combo of toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate sandwiched between crunchy graham crackers. The only thing I’m not fond of is the mess that comes along with making s’mores. And I’m not really a camping kind of girl…

I’m all for roasting marshmallows around a campfire once in a while in our backyard. But what I really love is finding ways to enjoy s’mores indoors in the comfort of my home. No smoke, no bugs, no sticky messy fingers!

This gooey chocolate pie was inspired by the classic campfire treat. It has all the flavors of s’mores – graham cracker crust, creamy milk chocolate filling, and gooey toasted marshmallows in a pie form. It is the best way to enjoy a s’mores dessert in my opinion.

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Best Ever Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

July 10, 2021 By Jocelyn - 63 Comments

Chocolate for breakfast? Yes, please. Double Chocolate Banana Muffins will make you wish you had more ripe bananas. These soft fluffy banana bread muffins are easy to make, are loaded with fresh bananas, and have lots of chocolate chips.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Every week I buy one bunch of bananas to eat and one bunch of bananas to bake with. Banana is perfect for adding to things like these Banana Scones or this Banana Caramel Cupcake recipe.

Right now these chocolate banana muffins are my favorite way to eat a banana. They are moist and fudgy and packed with two times the chocolate goodness.

We actually made these easy banana muffins twice in the last few days time because our kids devoured them so quickly. I call that a recipe success! Our daughter said her favorite thing about these bakery style chocolate muffins were all the chocolate chips.

Trust me, the BEST chocolate chip banana muffins have lots of chocolate chips inside and on top too. If you love chocolate and banana as much as us, you should try this Chocolate Banana Bread too.

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Easy Frosted Banana Cinnamon Rolls

July 8, 2021 By Jocelyn - 110 Comments

These easy no yeast Banana Cinnamon Rolls combine the classic banana bread flavor with everyone’s favorite cinnamon roll. This combo is a match made in heaven.

Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

Do you have a bunch of ripe bananas on the counter and want something new and exciting to make with them? Bananas are such a versatile ingredient that can be used so many different ways. Muffins, donuts, breads, cakes, cupcakes! You name it, I probably have added banana to it.

Normally when we have ripe bananas I make a loaf of this Banana Bread with sour cream. But I was craving cinnamon rolls, so I decided to mash up two recipes and create banana bread cinnamon rolls.

Oh, my goodness! Best idea of the week for sure.These no yeast banana cinnamon rolls were soft, gooey, and so delicious.

The best part about these rolls is that there is no rise time. And they can be made and eaten in less than an hour. They are one of my favorite ways to use up ripe bananas on the counter.

Still have leftover ripe bananas after making the banana rolls? Freeze them and make Banana Ice Cream for dessert later.

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Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza Bites

July 7, 2021 By Jocelyn - 4 Comments

Why settle for ordinary pizza bites when you can kick it up with these Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza Bites? This pizza appetizer combines cheese, pepperoni, and tasty pizza dough for an awesome snack!

Pizza Bites

Do you have a certain meal or food that you rely on every week? We usually do pizza night with a movie on the weekends. Some weeks we make our own pizza dough, and other days we rely on local pizza places to satisfy our pizza cravings.

Of course, our kids always ask for stuffed pizza. It doesn’t matter where we get it from, they want that extra cheese in the dough. I get it. More gooey cheese is always a good thing.

Since our kids love pizza so much, I decided to make some stuffed pizza bites as a fun snack for them. The little rolls were a hit with all three of our kids.

Pizza bites are the perfect after school snack, game day appetizer, or a delicious addition to any meal.

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Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake Recipe

July 5, 2021 By Jocelyn - 56 Comments

Looking for a cool and refreshing dessert to serve this summer? Pockets of lemon frosting and a fluffy strawberry mousse adds a fun and delicious flavor to this Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake. The sweet and moist texture makes this poke cake recipe a crowd favorite.

A slice of Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake on a blue and white plate with the cake behind it.

Lemon Poke Cake

Do you have a favorite kind of dessert that you make during the summer? For me, it’s poke cakes. There is just something about those chilly cakes that I adore.

Every once in a while I challenge myself to create something from the ingredients we have on hand. Since we had a lemon cake mix and a can of strawberry pie filling in our pantry, I decided to make a lemon strawberry cake.

We all loved this lemon poke cake recipe because it is simple to make, can be made ahead of time, and is cool and refreshing to eat on a hot summer day. Plus, poke cakes are so versatile because you can use different flavors of cake, frosting, or fruit.

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