Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Candy Cane Hot Chocolate Fudge

The best thing about this Hot Chocolate Fudge are all the toppings. Mini marshmallows and candy canes make this easy fudge recipe a delicious treat for holiday parties. You can also package this fudge in cute boxes to give to family and friends.

Three squares of hot chocolate fudge topped with chocolate, candy canes, and mini marshmallows on red and green paper.

Hot chocolate is the perfect drink when it is cold outside. I personally love to drink my hot cocoa with a swirl of whipped cream, chocolate drizzles, and sprinkles or candy cane bits.

The other day I was enjoying a peppermint mocha hot chocolate when all of a sudden I realized those flavors would be awesome in a batch of fudge. I couldn't wait to get in the kitchen and create this fun holiday fudge flavor to share with our friends and family.

Why You Will Love This Fudge

This chocolate fudge is so easy to make without a candy thermometer. Stirring hot chocolate mix into the chocolate fudge gives it a delicious hot chocolate flavor.

Peppermint bits also give the hot chocolate fudge a delicious peppermint crunch. It's a great way to use up all those extra candy canes.

Chocolate drizzles, mini marshmallows, and more candy cane pieces make this fudge so fun. Everyone will be the talking about it at your next party!

This easy chocolate fudge makes a great gift too. Give a box of fudge this season and see how much everyone loves it.

[Read more...]

Candy Cane Chocolate Cheesecake Cake

Candy Cane Chocolate Cheesecake Cake: Chocolate cake and chocolate cheesecake come together to make an amazing dessert. Adding peppermint marshmallow frosting and candy cane piece turns this cake into an impressive holiday cake worthy of sharing at any party.

You guys...

this cake is about to knock your socks off. Like completely! Are you ready for lots of peppermint goodness now that it is December?

And just to warn you there are about a billion pictures because I couldn't decide which ones to share...I'm sorry for slowing your computer down with all the pics on a Monday. But seriously, get ready to drool all over your keyboard. #youarewelcome

Candy Cane Chocolate Cheesecake Cake - layers of cake, cheesecake, and peppermint frosting makes this holiday cake so pretty and delicious! Great recipe for holiday parties!

So most of the time I have a reason for making a dessert. There is usually some sort of meeting or class or life group that needs a delicious treat. Ok, ok, they might not "need" it, but I sure love making and sending sweets for them anyway.

But on Saturday I got the brilliant idea to make this cake because it has been way too long since I made a big layer cake. The last one was this Lemon Cheesecake Cake two years.

Two years??? I have made bundt cakes, icebox cakes, and eclair cakes, but layer cakes have been missing in action. It was definitely time for some cake fun to happen in my kitchen.

After I decided how I wanted it to be, I couldn't get it out of my head. So with no plan to get rid of this delicious monster of a cake, I went ahead and made it anyway. I figured it wouldn't be hard to find someone to help me out with devouring it.

[Read more...]

Eggnog Sugar Cookie Bars

Two times the eggnog makes these Eggnog Bars the perfect sweet treat for the eggnog lover in your life. Plus, sugar cookie bars are so much easier to make than regular sugar cookies making them perfect for these next few busy weeks.

A stack of three eggnog bars topped with frosting on a white paper.

Eggnog is one thing that you either love or hate.

I am definitely team love for eggnog. Each winter I look forward to having a glass of the good stuff. Up until this year, it was just my oldest and I who loved eggnog. I would buy it and bake a few things, and he would finish off the rest. Well, except for the times I beat him to the left overs. It always became a race to see who would get it first.

Then just last week the other two munchkins decided to try it again...and they decided that they have been missing out on some eggnog goodness because now they love it too.

A stack of three eggnog bars topped with frosting and sprinkles on a white and pink paper.

Of course now with 3 kids who want to drink all the eggnog, I have to be smart and buy 2 half gallons. One for baking, one for drinking! And with three of them guzzling the sweet stuff, that half gallon does not last long at all. I have to make sure the second one is hidden in the back of the fridge, or that would probably disappear too!

As much I love eggnog, I can only drink a small glass of it at a time. The boys on the other hand would drink a large glassful if I let them. You should have seen the cup that our youngest was trying to drink before bed time last night. We had to go over some eggnog drinking rules right away. I know it's good, but chugging that much would give anyone a stomach ache.

[Read more...]

Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Brownie Bites

You look like you could use a fun sweet treat for the weekend. These Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Brownie Bites are so fun and absolutely delicious! Brownies, peanut butter cups, and marshmallows in one cute little bite.

You guys!!!! I did something crazy!

I'm probably going to regret this wild and crazy action in about 5 months! You see my husband signed up for the Tough Mudder again...and he convinced a few others to sign up too. I'm one of the crazies he convinced!! Eeeeiiikkk! What was I thinking? Again!

You see I am kind of a girly girl. Cute clothes, fun shoes, scarves, nail polish, and yes, lots of accessories. We are talking bags, necklaces, hair bows, and bracelets! Give me it all!!!

This girly girl does not like to get dirty. Mud is so not my friend. My idea of getting dirty is rolling brownie cookies with my bare hands!

So, cue all the crazy laughing at this curly haired girl who doesn't like mud. Because she will be running 10-12 miles all based around tough mud activities! It's ok...I'm totally laughing right now too! Laughing because it is totally something I've actually done before! I got this...I hope! [Read more...]

White Chocolate Funfetti Macaroons

White Chocolate Funfetti Macaroons: Sprinkles and white chocolate make these easy coconut cookies look so fancy.

Since everything around here is still coated in a light coat of snow, I figured why not embrace it and have my baking be coated too. Of course this kind of "snow" coating results in a warm toasty house and sugar. That's my kind of snow coating for sure.

I saw on the weather channel that New York is getting hammered with snow in certain parts. When I heard that, I realized how silly I must sound complaining about one inch of snow here. #firstworldproblems

They also said more snow is headed my way. As long as it stays around 1 inch and not the 6 feet from NY, I'll be ok with it. Well, as long as I'm snug as a bug in my house wrapped in a blanket and sipping on a coconut Nutella latte. [Read more...]

Frosted Eggnog Bread

Eggnog in the bread and eggnog in the glaze makes this Frosted Eggnog Bread the perfect sweet bread for the eggnog lovers in your life. It is the perfect holiday breakfast or afternoon snack. Just add a cup of coffee and you are good to go.

Two times the eggnog makes this frosted bread an awesome holiday breakfast or snack choice

Well, it happened.

Winter came early this year. The past 2 days have been 28*, and both days we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground and the roof looked like it was frosted with powdered sugar.

I am so not ready for this. It has been years since we have had snow here before January. Everyone is predicting a bad winter this year. I really thought last year was bad, so I'm not sure how it can get worse.

Becoming a hermit for the next 5 months is looking better and better. As long as I have a loaf of this Eggnog Bread each week, the confinement will be totally doable.

The recipe for this bread came from a plastic recipe box that has been hiding up in my cupboard since we moved to this house 5 years ago. I wish I know where the recipe came from, but unfortunately I wasn't so good at documenting that stuff. I think that's probably how a lot of family favorite recipes happened. Someone copied a recipe, stuck it in a box, and over the years it became "grandma's recipe" because she always made it.

When we first got married, I used to collect recipes from magazines and cookbooks and write them on notecards. The funny thing is we only ever tried a handful of these recipes, but I still kept writing more recipes on the cards. Then we started having kids, and I haven't really used those boxes of recipes in I don't know how many years. They just sat there until this week when I saw them hiding behind the big box of cupcake liners.

I pulled them out and flipped through all the cards. Some I pulled out, read the recipe, and promptly threw it away. I'm not sure what younger me was thinking about when she copied some of these down. There is no way I would ever make some of the stuff that was in there. Probably another reason why the box has been sitting forever.

[Read more...]

Peppermint Mocha Cookie Dough Truffle Bars

These easy no bake Peppermint Mocha Cookie Dough Truffle Bars are just what your holiday cookie trays need this year.

No bake mocha cookie dough with a white chocolate and peppermint topping will be a fun addition to your holiday cookie trays.

Do you know what time it is? It's peanut butter jelly time...wait a minute? That's not right.

Ok, how about it's all things peppermint time!!! Oh, yeah baby! Time to bake those holiday treats like there is no tomorrow. I have been anxiously waiting for this day to get here. I mean if Hobby Lobby can decorate their stores in July for Christmas, it's ok if I start cranking the peppermint treats now, right?

We always wait until the Saturday after Thanksgiving to decorate our house for Christmas. It has been our family tradition to get the tree that day and start to pull out all the boxes from storage.

This year though, I am ready to put it all out now. The other day I was at Target (surprise, surprise) and I was going crazy over all the cute holiday stuff! I found these cute lanterns to make a centerpiece for our table. I figured why not put them out...no one will even notice if I start putting one thing out at a time, right?

Wrong! My husband walked through the room that night. He got all the way through, then stopped and said, "Wait!". He turned around and walked right to the table. He says the decorations are not allowed out yet. But the lanterns are still there. I'm just waiting for him to notice that I added a snowflake table runner to the table. (Hey, babe...did you notice it was there yet?)

[Read more...]

Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars

These Brown Butter Blackberry Crumble Bars are a delicious way to end any meal. The glazed spiced crumble on top of sweet jam will have everyone asking for more.

Is anyone else looking at their calendar and wondering where the year went?

I kind of feel like the holidays are speeding toward us at an alarming rate. I haven't started any meal lists or holiday shopping. Of course, that isn't really anything new. We tend to do those kind of things last minute. Although every year I think this will be the year of planning...and then it is over before I can even start.

[Read more...]

Chocolate Fudge Turkeys

Different candies transform these little chocolate fudge bites into Chocolate Fudge Turkeys. These are such a cute and easy treat for the Thanksgiving Day food table. They would even make adorable place card settings.

These easy no bake chocolate fudge squares topped with a cute candy turkeys make perfect Thanksgiving day treats!

Does it seem like Thanksgiving seems to get shoved by in our attempt to get to all things peppermint and eggnog each holiday season? Oh, I admit I am right there too.

This week I bought Peppermint Oreos, Peppermint M&M's, Peppermint Crunch chips, and a few other holiday things. I'm already plotting what decadent treats these candies and cookies will become...that is if they last that long. I also just had a great idea for eggnog, so guess what I'll be buying tomorrow? Yup, eggnog is coming home with me.

[Read more...]

The 47th Pillsbury Bake Off

Last weekend I was given the awesome opportunity from Pillsbury to attend the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest! No, no not as a baker, but as a blogger. Yup, this girl got a press pass and everything. How cool is that?!? I seriously love my job!!!

Most people know what the Million Dollar Bake off is, but let me just recap the requirements. Anyone can enter (unless you are a food professional) a recipe. Now the recipes have requirements. They have to only have 7 ingredients, and they have to include a Pillsbury dough product and a sponsor product.

Then the judges narrow all the submissions down to 100 contestants who come bake their recipe for a panel of judges.

As you look at this picture of contestants marching around the room, imagine you hear the country music that accompanied them. The room was so full of excitement as these 100 awesome bakers made their way around the room.

I remember watching this happen on TV when I was younger, so to experience it live was so amazing. Seriously, I had to will myself not to cry as I watched these proud contestants make their way to their stations. It was a dream come true moment for sure.

The bakers got started right away on their recipe. They are given enough ingredients to make their recipe 3 times. Then they can decide which batch looks the best to submit to the judges. After they had been baking for about 30 minutes, they opened the floor for the press to wander around.

It was so fun to be right there in the middle of all the excitement. Although at times we worried we were in the way, so we tried to stay back and not bother them too much.

The contestants have 3 hours to bake their recipe and get it to the table for submission. Each baker had a "runner" who would get them ingredients or pans or clear the floor when they were walking their recipe to the table. As time went on, you could see the nerves start to disappear from the contestants.

I was able to chit chat with a few of them about their recipe, how many times they had been there before, and how many recipes they entered to make it here. I was in awe at the number of recipes people submit to contests like these. We are talking like 20-30 some recipes, sometimes more. That's a lot of recipe testing!!!

[Read more...]

« Previous Page