Blog - Inside BruCrew Life

Decorating Store Bought Cookies

Decorating Store Bought Cookies is easy when you use melted chocolate and sprinkles to add a fun and festive flair. You will be the hit of the holiday parties when you show up with this plate of cookies, all without turning on your oven.

An overhead shot of a white plate full of Decorated Store Bought Cookies.

There is something so fun about holiday cookies. It doesn't matter if they are homemade or straight out of the store packaging. I love them all.

One of the hot trending food items right now are charcuterie boards. These boards usually consist of meats, cheese, nuts, and fruit arranged in a random pattern. I figured it would be fun to put together a plate full of easy holiday cookies and candies in a similar pattern.

Seriously! Look how fun and pretty this plate of cookies is. And you know the best part? You don't need to spend hours in the kitchen baking anything.

It's amazing what you can do with grocery store cookies and some creative and easy decorating tricks.

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Glazed Cranberry Orange Scones

These glazed Cranberry Orange Scones are soft and buttery and bursting with flavor in every bite. It's a delightful way to start out the morning.

Cranberry Orange Scones on a brown board topped with an orange glaze.

A few weeks ago, when we were planning our meals for the week, my husband asked if I could make a batch of scones for Thanksgiving morning.

Of course, any time I am given an opportunity to bake I take it.

Now I know what you are thinking. "Jocelyn, have you read your own blog before? You bake ALL.THE.TIME. How is this any different." And yes, you would be correct.

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Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Red and white sugar and a candy kiss give these Candy Cane Kiss Cookies a festive holiday look. These sparkly chocolate kiss cookies will be the first treat to disappear off your holiday cookie tray this year.

Four chocolate kiss cookies rolled in red and white sugar and topped with a candy cane kiss.

I don't know about you, but I just love this time of year. I think it has something to do with all the cookies and fudge and candy that is always sure to be anywhere we go.

Yes, my sweet tooth gets a workout more than normal during the holidays. Thank goodness for weight and cardio workouts to keep me in check.

One thing that is an absolute must during the holidays is a cookie baking marathon. Just make sure you do NOT wrap your cookies in ziplock bags or saran wrap and put them on a tray INSIDE the oven.

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Peppermint Brownie Trifle

Layers of homemade brownies and a no bake peppermint cheesecake make this Peppermint Brownie Trifle an impressive dessert to bring to holiday parties.

A few years ago we visited my family over Thanksgiving. We were able to stay at my sister's house while we were there, and it was fun to catch up with her over those few days. And of course seeing our little niece and nephew was a treat because they are getting so big, so fast.

While we were there, we made a batch of Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies and talked dessert. Surprise, surprise. I still like to make and talk dessert even when I'm not home.

While we were talking she asked me about making a no bake cheesecake. Apparently, she had been craving one and tried to put one together using the ingredients in her fridge instead of what the recipe called for.

She thought she could use milk in place of whipping cream. Silly girl! I had quite a laugh at her expense. It's ok. She was totally laughing too!

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Pecan Banana Bread

Enjoy a slice of this Pecan Banana Bread with your morning coffee. This sweet bread is a delicious breakfast or afternoon snack choice this fall.

Lately I have stopped buying bananas. Mostly because our oldest is back at college, and the younger two just don't eat them when I do buy a bunch or two.

A few weeks ago though, I picked up a small bunch of bananas because our daughter does like having a bowl of Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream for her late-night snack.

Before I had a chance to freeze them, our littlest guy asked if I was going to make any banana bread because he really wanted some.

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Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

Layers of fudgy brownies, vanilla cheesecake, and cherry pie filling swirls make these Cherry Cheesecake Brownies a pretty and delicious dessert for celebrating any event. These cheesecake brownies are a simple but decadent dessert for parties.

Cheesecake is one of my absolute favorite desserts to make. I love making this Banana Split Cheesecake when I need a big full-size cheesecake to take to special dinners or to a fundraiser at church. It is a jaw dropper for sure!

When I'm short on time and need a fancy dessert, these No Bake Peanut Butter Fudge Cheesecake Parfaits are perfect. Quick and easy desserts are great because they can be made in a hurry.

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Gift Ideas for the Baker

Gift Ideas for the Baker - use this gift guide to buy kitchen tools or utensils for the baker in your life. These gifts are all ones that I own and use the most in our kitchen.

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Holiday Gift Ideas for the Whole Family

We put together this Holiday Gift Ideas for the Whole Family of things that we have and love or things that we would like to purchase soon. All of these items would make great gifts for the favorite people in your family.

Can you even believe that the week of Thanksgiving is almost over? This year is flying by. We spent the past few days relaxing at home with just our little family. It has been nice to do nothing but play games and hang out together.

Now it is time to pull out the Christmas decorations and start dreaming of all the fun gifts that we want...to buy for others, of course. I love finding a bargain in the stores and hunting down the perfect gift, but over the years I have also come to love online shopping.

It's kind of nice sitting on the couch in my comfy pants with a cup of coffee while doing some shopping.

The links to these items are through Amazon, which if you have Prime means those items will get to you speedy fast leaving you more time to sit around eating Eggnog Sugar Cookie Bars and sipping Nutella Hot Chocolate.

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Caramel Cheesecake

Sweet caramel and salty nuts give this Caramel Cheesecake a delicious flavor. It's an impressive dessert that everyone will love.

It's so easy to get in the habit of taking everyday things for granted. I think that at times we let things or people that should be extremely special to us become too commonplace.

I know that there are times that I get in the habit of thinking that nothing exciting or special happens in my life anymore. It's times like that that God reminds me that He still does all those exciting things for me. Unfortunately I have gotten so used to those things that I don't even realize it anymore.

Staying amazed at all the things God is doing in our lives, even the little things, is a good way to live. It gives us hope. Being grateful and recognizing the little things in our day to day life helps us to live our life with praise and gratitude. [Read more...]

Congo Bars

Looking for a soft and chewy cookie bar to make for dessert? These Congo Bars are loaded with chocolate and are easy to make with one bowl and one pan. The buttery chocolate chip cookie bars will disappear before you can even blink.

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All through high school I made these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars of deliciousness for every youth group event that needed food. It was must my sure fire recipe that never failed me and was always asked for.

Every time I showed up with a pan, these cookie bars got devoured in no time at all. Then I went to college, got married, had kids, and forgot about those chocolate chip cookie bars.

Recently I was going through a box of old recipes I had kept, and I found my recipe card for these congo bars. Of course, we had to make them right away.

Why Make These Bars

Now you may think they are just a blonde brownie, so what is the big deal? I can't explain it. These classic cookie bars just have a slightly different taste than M&M blondies.

Each bar is soft and chewy and loaded with chocolate in every bite. Plus, they are easy to make with just one mixing bowl.

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