Lemon Scented Cupcakes with Blueberry Sour Cream Frosting

What you need:

1 box White Cake Mix
Ingredients listed for mix (eggs, oil, water)
1/4 cup fresh Blueberries
1 Lemon
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup Sour Cream
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 TBSP milk

How you do it:

Follow directions on cake mix
Zest half the lemon and add to mix
then add 1 TBSP lemon juice

In a mixer whip butter and sour cream
Cut blueberries in half then run down to a fine juicy cop with chef knife or use a food processor
Add blueberries and 1 tsp lemon juice
Slowly add powder sugar
Use milk if needed- The frosting will not be completely smooth when finished it may have a little of the grit from the sugar, it will go away when the frosting sets.

Why it's good:

The cake has just a subtle lemon flavor with small yellow flecks from the zest. The frosting is sweet and cool with a little color and flavor from the berries. These were perfect on the fourth of July. They were refreshing and light, everyone loved them. And I made 50 mini- cupcakes from one mix box and they were the perfect size for everyone to have one or two. To make 50 of these guys, it cost me under $10 and that included the red and blue paper cups they were in. Mangia Tutto!

Creative Corn Muffins

What you need:

1 pk of corn bread mix
1 egg
1/4 cup Apple Sauce
1/4 cup Milk
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix-ins:

1/4 cup Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Walnut Halves
-or-
1/4 Dried Blueberries
1 TBSP Sliced Almonds

How you do it:

Mix everything in a bowl until well combined
Add mix-ins
After greasing a muffin pan well, divide batter amongst the cups
Bake @ 400* for 12-18 minutes until firm and golden brown

Why it's good:

I ALWAYS have corn bread mix and never have anything to do with it. So I decided to jazz it up a bit. This is a great example of "use what you have". I had almonds, walnuts, dried blueberries and chocolate, but invent your own with raisins, other dried fruits, granola, brittle, marshmallows or whatever you can find. You can really create an array of flavors for various seasons and occasions. Swap the applesauce for mashed bananas and add walnuts and some cinnamon for a banana-nut muffin.

This can be great for kids, it has about half as much sugar as prepackaged muffin mixes. I used them to package and give as hostess or get well soon gifts. This could be great around the holiday. I happened to use my Maple Leaf Muffin Tin which would look lovely around Thanksgiving. You can see how I package them up on my other blog. Mangia Tutto!

Mail Box Cookies

I mail out two kinds of cookies to family and friends:

Brownie Cookies & Shortbread Stars
These recipes make enough bite size cookies for 4- 12oz tins.

Brownie Cookies

What you need:

1 box of Brownie Mix
The ingredients listed on the box
2 cups of Flour
*Option- Chocolate Chips, Nuts, M&Ms

How you do it:

Preheat oven to 365*
Mix all ingredients together
Mixture will be very thick like cookie dough
You should be able to form nickel size balls
Space 1 inch apart on cookie sheet
Bake for 8-10 minutes
Cookies begin to form cracking lines on top

Why they're so good:

Who doesn't love brownies, but to mail cut up brownie squares is kind of a pain. I love sending something rich and chocolaty but I never know about the temperatures and worry about having a melted chocolate disaster while my goodies are mailed around the country. I use small melting white chocolate pieces to be safe and almond slices in mine.

Shortbread Stars

What you need:
1 stick of Butter (softened)
1 1/4 cup of Flour
1 cup of Sugar
1/8 tsp of flavor (I use a vanilla, butter and nut blend)

How you do it:

** this is a very stiff dough, a kitchen-aid mixer will be your best friend**
Preheat oven to 365*
Mix softened butter, flavor and sugar
Add flour slowly
On a floured surface roll out dough to about an 1/4 inch think
** or 3/16" according to my husband
Use a cookie cutter to make small shapes, like stars
** if you don't have a cookie cutter, baby food jars and shot glasses make good small circles
I spray a little PAM over the cookies so sprinkles will stick better
Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges start to brown

Why they're so good:

I love shortbread cookies, they are dry, and not too sweet. I love them with tea or coffee in the morning, and with cold milk before bed. They ship well, and are cute decorated with nuts and sprinkles.

I hope this helps you send some sweets away for the holiday. Fast, Easy and Inexpensive. PERFECT! Since my life is hectic enough.

Enjoy and Mangia Tutto!

Blueberry Scone Muffins

What you need:

2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
3 TBSP sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup water
1/4 tsp vanilla, butter, and nut extract or just vanilla
5 TBSP canned blueberries

How you do it:

Preheat to 375*
Strain the juice from the berries
Mix all ingredients well
Pour into muffin pan
Makes about 6 Large or 12 medium
Before you bake them you can top with strudel mix
(1 TBSP soften butter, 1/8 tsp Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp sugar, 2 tsp Flour it should be clumpy)
Bake until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Why their good:

The Bisquick is easy, and gives the muffins a scone like texture and the strudel topping is sweet. Perfect for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee.

Enjoy and Mangia Tutto!

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

What you need:

2 1/4 cups Bisquick Mix
2/3 cup Milk
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack
1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
2 TBSP melted butter
Salt and Pepper


How you do it:

Heat oven to 450*
Mix Bisquick, Milk and Garlic
Fold in cheeses
Spoon mixture onto greased backing sheet or oven stone
*These are drop biscuits so you don't need to roll them out and form them
Brush or drizzle each with some butter
Sprinkle on some salt and pepper
Cook until golden brown and cheese is melting (8-10 minutes)

Why they're so good:

Again, it's cheese. They are warm and cheesy. They are great in the morning, as a ham and egg sandwich. You can make them small as an appetizer or large for a side to soups, salads or chili. You can even add some Old Bay and serve them with seafood.

Enjoy and Mangia Tutto!