Decadent Hot Chocolate - Single Serve

You know that post I made, like, forever ago about the hot chocolate/cocoa? It makes about 5 servings and sometimes you just feel like one serving -- you know?

I always feel like just one serving. Of a drink. Not food.

Well, today I got home from the Y and felt like making myself some cocoa/chocolate while I enjoyed my great hair day (haha). Turns out we almost never have cocoa mix unless it's the dead of a snowy winter and we're going to be sledding all day, so I had (just had) to make myself some. I really like the decadent cocoa stuff, so I decided to make that except, um, one problem -- I can't make a single-serve mugful of that stuff.

Ohh WAIT.

I just did.

I cut the recipe in half, basically, and bingo, there you go -- Single-Serve Decadent Hot Chocolate.

Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 3/4 c milk (I used 1%, but any kind will do)
• 1/4 c heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 T cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 1/2 T gran sugar
• 2 T choc chips, semi-sweet (not important, but to get that not-quite-too-sweet flavor, semi is the best kind)
• 1/4 t vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix milk, cream, cocoa powder, and sugar together. I used a measuring pitcher thing (Pyrex) because my whisk didn't fit in my cup and besides, it's easier when it's bigger. Much easier to whisk. So, whisk it all together or stir, it doesn't matter, but it's cooler to watch the cocoa powder mix in when you whisk it, so I'd suggest you whisk it. 
2. Microwave for 1:30m or until steaming (I microwaved mine for 1:30m and it was perfect -- just warm. If I had done it for 2m, it would have been tongue-burning hot, but as it was it was right there on the spot. Perfect!)
3. Add chocolate chips and vanilla extract, stir and then cover for 30s, to give the ch. chips enough time to melt a little bit. Whisk until smooth.

The chocolate stuck to the side of my measuring pitcher, so I'd say look at the edges to make sure it's all off. Unless your cup isn't glass and then bummer for you because once you reach the bottom, you'll notice streaks of chocolate on the side. Yich, it sounds really gross the way I put it.

But it's really delicious, and a little bit creamier than the original. If you don't like the taste of creamy in your drinks, I'd suggest you put in an 1/8 c and leave it at that. What I would do if I were you and didn't like creamy tastes in drinks, I'd try it first and see how I like it and then try it without so much cream. Or without cream at all. But that might fail -- I've never tried it without cream.

But that might be because I made it, for the first time, (and made it up, too) today.

Your thoughts?

P.S. I have a lot more recipes that I'm hoping to get around to posting so eek! Very excited but I'm technically still not blogging on here. I'm not coming back, but I'm posting occasionally. Just pretend I'm a guest poster...without a post host. Or whatever they're called.

Salted Caramel - My Way

You may remember my post on our favorite salted caramel recipe?

Well, that wasn't exactly the recipe we use. That's why I'm here. Like, that's why this post is here. That's why I wrote this post.

This is exactly the recipe we use.

More or less.

You'll Need

• 1 stick butter, unsalted
• 1/2 c light brown sugar
• 1/2 c granulated (white) sugar
• 1 c cream
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Melt the butter
2. Dump in sugars, stir, mix in
3. Stir until sugar mix starts to get a little bit hard. You'll know when it gets "hard" because the mix will start sliding off of your spatula, leaving close to nothing behind when you pull it up out of the mix (tell me you do that too because if you don't, I have no idea how to explain what "hard" means here)
4. Once it's "hard", add cream, stir until boiling. Keep stirring, even after it's started boiling, then after a little bit of stirring (30-60 seconds?), turn off heat.
5. Add salt, stir until salt is well mixed in.
6. Pour into quart jar, store in fridge until needed.

For Heating Directions

1. Put jar in microwave
2. Microwave for 30 min, no more
3. If it's not runny and easy to use, put it in for 30 seconds more, but BE VERY CAREFUL -- you can overheat it and then it's "hard" and gloppy and gross
4. Take out, serve and

Salted Caramel is great for...

1. drinks
   
   1. (hot) coffee
   2. cold coffee
   3. hot chocolate/cocoa
   4. cappuccinos (frozen)
2. frosting/topping (see #1 under #10)
3. decor on cake
4. candy
5. desserts
   
   1. ice cream sundae
   2. mug cake
   3. cake
      
      1. or, decor on cake (see #5)
   4. pie (pecan pie - yum!)
   5. pizookies
6. sweet dips
   
   1. cookie dough dip and the like
7.  or your mouth!

5 Min or Less - Frozen Cappuccinos

I'm surprised I haven't posted this yet. I was sure (so sure that I even searched this blog just to make sure) that I had already posted this recipe.

If not, then I'll go ahead and do it, because everyone should have this recipe.

It's really good -- especially on a hot, hot melting summer day. The ones that are creeping up on us. Today it was -- is -- like, 70 out. It was terrific! I love summer. Cannot wait!

Serves: 4 (if you're serving in small glasses -- but it really serves 1, in a coke glass)
Time: 5 min, max

Ingredients

• ice cubes, a lot of 'em
• 1 t inst coffee
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c cream
• 1/4 c milk

Directions

1. fill the cup you'll be using to serve with ice cubes, up to the brim. Pour into the blender.
2. pour in sugar, cream, milk in that order (saves cup measures and cream -- explanation later)
3. dump in inst. coffee
4. pulse on high till smooth, or until ice breaks down (about 5 pulses)
5. pour into cup(s) and

 
You know how I told you to pour the sugar, cream, milk in that order into the blender because it saves cup measures and cream? And how I told you I'd explain it later? This is the later. One, it saves cup measures because you only need one cup measure to measure those three ingredients because once you've gotten the dry ingredients out of the way, you can measure lots of wet ingredients and reuse as you please. Second, it saves cream because you know how cream is thicker than milk? Well, that means cream's going to "stick" to your cup measure and leave a lot behind, unlike the milk (unless you're using 2% or whole, or anything other than skim -- I use skim. Can you tell?) which just slides right on out -- all of that white water that people slap a label on and call "milk". Or, more accurately, "skim". So if you use cream and then pour the milk in after you've used the measuring cup, it will act as a cleaner-outer and clean out all that cream and dump it in with the milk, cleaning the sides of the measuring cup, too. Simple, right? You betcha. Enjoy those dishes that aren't as much as you'd use if you had used two measuring cups -- one for the dry, one for the wet. You can thank me later. Like, this later, in the comments. winky face.

Two-Ingredient Cough Syrup

So sorry I haven't been active on here -- I've been wiped out by the flu for the past three days.

OK, raise your hand here if you've had the flu and nobody's seen you for a while.

Like, I haven't done anything except lie around the house which isn't a big help to some people, but at least I can just sleep. Nights are the worst though because my eyes are super watery and ache-y and who ever heard of falling asleep with your eyes open? No, really, it looks like either I'm crying or there is an onion nearby because my eyes will fill up with water when they're closed and then just leak. I'm turning into a fountain.

I wonder what the Wicked Witch of the West did when she got the flu?

Last night was horrible -- I went to bed around 10:30pm and didn't go to sleep until a little after midnight. Then I woke up at 3am, 4, 6:30, 8, and then 9:15.

That's the way I sleep when I have the flu.

What sucks is that I got sick two weeks ago, so to get sick again is not cool. It means I'll be stuck with a cough for four to five weeks because I always have a cough for a long time after I'm well.

Anyway, I'm still sick, so because of that, check it out...

Quick, Two-Ingredient Cough/Sore Throat Syrup.

Serves: depends on how much honey you put in, and I haven't made it in a while, but it's enough to last you for a couple of hours, depending on how fast you take it in
Time: 1-3 min

You'll Need

• a spoon
• a bowl, a little bigger than a ramekin
• a strainer
• a lemon squeezer or a juicer

Ingredients

• honey
• half a lemon

Directions

1. Squeeze lemon
2. Place strainer over bowl, pour squeezed lemon into bowl or pick out the seeds and pour the lemon in -- it's fine if there are lemon strings
3. Pour in honey until it's a tangy sweet. Taste as much as you want throughout the whole process. Won't hurt your throat if you do.

You might be uneasy about how much honey to put in so I'll just tell you something I find handy: stop pouring the honey in after a little bit, get a spoon, and try some. If it tastes sweet (like, honey sweet) and that's all, then you've added a little too much honey. In that case, just squeeze the other half of the lemon. Then taste it again after you've strained the other half of the lemon (that you just squeezed). This batch of cough syrup will last you one day and will be sticky if you get it on your pillow. So keep it in the bathroom at night. In the day time just keep it in the kitchen and away from little kids. If the mixture tastes a little tangy, then it's perfect. You want it to taste a little tangy. But even if it's sweet and not tangy at all, you don't have to put in the other half of lemon. The honey helps your cough and if you have a sore throat lemon helps too.

When you take the syrup stuff you want to drip it down your throat. Put it as far back on your tongue as you can without gagging. Then let it slide down your throat and try not to swallow until you have to and you should be good.

The cough/sore throat should go away relatively soon.

5 Min or Less - Microwave Mug Cake No. 5

Good golly, I have FOUR OTHER RECIPES for mug cakes!

...though, not all of them are good.

Here's the best one yet -- I've never had molten lava ones, I don't think, but I hear they're really good. This one might be a molten lava one because it's really good!

I got the recipe from Pinterest, so if you're following me, then you've probably seen it in your feed.

It's really good. I had it ... two? days ago and I'm going to make it this Sunday for a snack because that's what I do on my weekdays. :P

Anyway, click here. I don't want to post the recipe on here because I feel bad about taking other people's pictures and this feels like the same thing only second degree.

But I do have to say it made me feel better to see that the Remodelaholic lady does the same thing.

However, it doesn't make me feel good when I see this lady do it.

But enjoy!

5 Min or Less - The "Real Deal" Microwave Mug Cake No. II

This is, in fact, one of the best mug cakes I've tried. The original recipe was posted yesterday, and I've tried it before, but I didn't like it, so this is my changed version. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying mine's the best -- the way I had it (the way my sister made it), it was the best, but when I followed the recipe I just didn't like it, so I changed it a little bit to make it more moist and flavorful. 

Hopefully I changed it for the better, but give it a try, see how you like it.

Serves: 1

Time: 1 min, max

Ingredients

• 1 T & 1/2 tsp dark brown sugar
• 1 T flour
• 1 T cocoa powder
• ​1 T oil
• ​1 T cream
• ​1 T water
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 T semi-sweet chocolate chips

mix in that order, excluding the chocolate chips. 

First put in the dark brown sugar, flour, and cocoa powder. Stir. For an additional zing, I put in 2-4 tsp instant coffee which adds a nice background flavor, cutting the richness in half a little bit. Then put in oil and cream, stir. After that, water to act as a sort of cleaner by washing out the oil and cream. Dump it into the mug. 

You can add the salt any time you want since you're just going to use your fingers for the pinch, but you should definitely do a hefty, generous pinch because it's delicious with a little bit of salt to give it some bite -- I don't normally like salt in sweet things, but this takes the cake! 

The great thing about this recipe is that it only takes one tablespoon measure if you add the ingredients in that order, according to my directions. But you do what you want. No skin off my nose. 

Then onto the decor. The decor has nothing to do with the taste, really, so don't bother about how it might taste or how it might mess up the flavor. It's fine. But for looks, if you want, you can add one dash of cream on the top, then with the tip of your spoon, gently stir it in. Then sprinkle on some light brown sugar to give it a sort of crunchy top layer. If you want that top layer, you're going to need to add a lot of brown sugar. Don't give it a light touch, give it a heavy punch. Sprinkle it on so that you can see the mix underneath, but there's a lot on top. Don't worry about it, some of it will sink in, some with get hard, some will get soft, melty, and dark. Don't worry, it doesn't matter. Just do what you want, play by ear.

Now, if you don't like that decor procedure, or you don't want to do anything with cream, don't. Just put on the brown sugar (or don't, it doesn't matter), and then get some chocolate chips and dump them on. But dump gently so that they don't sink into the mix below. They're going to in the microwave but don't dump because then they're really going to. Or, that's my theory. It probably doesn't really matter so go ahead and dump hard. But do it like the brown sugar -- play by ear, yes, but also put on a lot. You want a lot of chocolate because mmm, chocolate! Yummy in my tummy!

Or, you can just leave off the decorations. It doesn't matter what it looks like because it's all going to end up in your stomach anyway.

(but I do have to add that it gives some richness and flavor to the mug cake, just saying)

Also, I find that the cream doesn't really do anything to the looks when you put the chocolate chips on (the chocolate chips melt on top of the cream, covering it and the brown sugar, both) so if you want the crunchiness of the brown sugar and the decor of the cream, put them on after you put the chocolate chips on.

What I find helps is to put the chocolate chips on, microwave for 15 seconds, take out, put cream and brown sugar on, pop it back in for the remaining 15 seconds. Unless you do yours for a minute, and then 30 seconds, take out, 30 seconds again.

Or you can put the cream on before you melt the chocolate chips, and then the brown sugar, you know. Whatever tickles your sister.

Or you can just skip both entirely.

But I'd advise you do add chocolate chips to your mug cake because that makes it all the better!

​Anyway, back to your mug cake.

Your mixture should -- by now -- be pretty smooth and liquid-y. If it's doughy, you might want to add more cream. But if you don't want cream, water. If not water, not oil either. Just leave it and move on.

Put the mug in the microwave, microwave on high (it really doesn't matter, but I think mine is automatically set to high. If you don't know, it doesn't matter. Really, if you're that worried, why do you cook at all? Cooking is basically playing a game you don't really understand. You have to take some chances sometimes because if you don't, it's not fun. Besides, it's just a dumb mug cake, it's not like it's important or it's a meal but if it is, take a lot of precaution because meals are very important! Haha, just kidding). Since you probably forgot what I was saying before the parenthesis, I will go ahead and say it again.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds.

It should have some liquid-y dough around the edges That's perfectly fine. It's more of a syrup and the drier dough will taste better (if there is any dry dough) with the syrup-y stuff, as long as you eat them both together.

But, whatever floats your boat or boats your float!

This time, you should find that the cake is a much wetter, moist cake than the one that I posted earlier.

5 Min or Less - The "Real Deal" Microwave Mug Cake

A while ago my sister made a delicious mug cake.

She's also made this pretty kitty, which I find better than the one I'm posting now, so check it out and see how you like it. Tomorrow I'll give you the REAL "Real Deal" Mug Cake. (that's totally 100% my own name for it, that's not what it's called... but you call it what you like, I don't mind -- especially because it's not really my mug cake haha)

But for now, here's the "Real Deal" mug cake, mug cake recipe no. #3. No. #4 coming tomorrow (the revised edition)!

Serves: 1
Time: 1 min, max

Ingredients

• 1 T dark brown sugar
• 1 T flour
• 1 T cocoa powder
• ​1 T oil
• ​1 T water
• 1 pinch salt

Directions
The directions are simple and straightforward. Follow them (or don't follow them) and you can't go wrong. Like, who could go wrong with a mug cake?

Ha. Ha.

1.  Mix ingredients together in order of listing in a  7 oz. mug
2. Microwave for 30 seconds

Decadent Hot Chocolate | America's Test Kitchen

Okay, raise your hand if you don't like hot chocolate.

If you raised your hand, then why are you here.

And if you don't know that hot chocolate and cocoa are the same, join the club me neither. Wellll, ok, I wasn't that extreme.

I just never called it hot chocolate.

But since the recipe below (from America's Test Kitchen) called it hot chocolate, I will too. Besides, everyone where I live calls it hot chocolate, so why not blend in with the crowd? And really you have to admit that hot chocolate sounds much more richer than COCOA. Cocoa reminds me of this watery brown mixture that you manage to swallow in as little time as possible, burning your throat on the way down, that's so bland you don't even know why you like it so much. It's just because you don't want to add more and you don't want to pour it out after wasting about five spoons of the stuff that it's bland, though.

Yeah, that stuff.

Really, it was just because I was such a terrible penny-pincher and cocoa-mix-pincher. I just wanted to ration it properly so that the mix would last for weeks and weeks!

...and at the rate I was going, it would.

Anyway, last Sunday we made this and it was really really delicious.

Rich, creamy, sweet enough for me (I don't like bland, bitter, or not-sweet -- exception: black coffee -- so basically, in a few words: I don't like hot chocolate. Cocoa. Whichever it is that's not sweet normally), but not too sweet -- now there's a picture-perfect cup of hot chocolate!

Also, it has only a couple ingredients (win!), all of which you should be able to find in your house, even when the house is stripped bare of anything close to resembling edible-ness (double win!). Another thing, few ingredients means fewer dishes (triple win!).

Win win (or winwinwin) for all of us, emiright.

And all you need is a saucepan, lid, spatula, measuring stuff, ingredients, and a stove to make it. Easy!

So, to make this creamy, lucious, delightful, satisfying, fullfilling, refreshing, fills all your senses, delicious, mouth watering, you will fall in love, fruity tooty, tangy, tasteful, sweet, a pinch of lemon, tempting, dangerous drink *gasp of breath* follow the directions below. 

(sorry! I just saw this, and thought maybe it could be used to describe hot chocolate! Besides, "fruity tooty" is a fun word, especially when used to describe hot chocolate!)

Note: this is not America's Test Kitchen's exact recipe... I've changed it a little bit. I will probably not post the original, but you can probably find it online. 

Serves:  4
Time (start to finish):  10m, fast

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c milk (not precise)
• 1/2 c heavy cream (not precise -- just throw some in)
• 1 T cocoa powder (not sweet)
• 1 T sugar
• 1/4 c semisweet chocolate chips (I throw in a big handful)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Put in milk, cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in pan. Once hot, and looking puffy on the top, turn off the heat. Really, it doesn't need to look puffy, it just needs to be hot. Ask yourself if you would be comfortable drinking it the way it is...if you let it cool off a little bit? If so, you're ready for the next step. It DOES NOT need to boil -- just until it's steaming or a few degrees above what you're willing to pour down your throat. Just make sure it's not uncomfortably so. Your throat, though.
2. Once you've turned off the heat, put in the chocolate chips and the vanilla. Cover immediately after that so that the chocolate doesn't stick to the bottom.
3. Let chips melt about 1 min, then whisk smooth before serving.
4. When done, top with whipped cream and plop a candy cane in, for looks, or serve plain and

Christmas Queso

I'm not really a fan of queso, and this didn't turn out great but it was because of the cheese we were using and I still found it really good. It's an American thing, though. "Queso" is Spanish for "cheese", not for the cheesy dip that I tried yesterday for a dinner I was hosting...

so try it. See how you like it.

If you've never heard of this, comment below. I'm curious to see how many haven't tried it.

I myself have only had it once. Last night.

Serves 10 or more.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. cheese (I used pre-grated, but it turns out rubbery because of the starch. Either grate by hand, or use a hunk of cheese, roughly 12 oz., to produce the best results)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (with jalapenos)
• 1 tomato, chopped

Directions

1. put cheese into med.-size saucepan over medium heat.
2. open can, chop tomato, if not chopped. Once chopped, set aside.
3. once cheese has melted, put in chopped tomatoes, stir until well-mixed.
4. pour in can of tomatoes, minus the can.
5. stir until well-mixed,
6. serve immediately with tortilla chips and

 and happy holidays!

P.S. Yes, I did put this under "toppings" because some of the girls at the dinner put it on their tacos. Doesn't sound very good to me, but as long as they liked it.

Post Review | Microwave Mug Cake

This is just a temporary thing... I'll probably do a few and then stop for good, but these are just in case I ever want to "review" my posts.

Click here to see the original post.

Normally I would have you click on this post's title but I find it kind of a pain when I want to see comments or comment on someone's blog and I can't click on the title because it takes me somewhere else, so this time I decided to embed the link in the post, not "on top" of it.

If you know what I mean.

So, how did I like the microwave mug cake?
I didn't.

It was horrible!

Dry, rubbery, not at all sweet, even though I'd added an extra tablespoon because I had tasted the batter and gone, "ah, not quite right - doesn't taste very sweet to me" and besides, I was making it for a little girl, so I knew she would want it sweet.

Good thing she liked it, because I sure knew I didn't.

When I told Mom she told me she'd never found a recipe she liked - they always turned out to be dry and not very good.

What I wanted was moist. What's a cake - even a mug cake - if it doesn't have a bit of moisture to it?

Same goes for brownies. Can I advise, if you're going to make it from scratch, save yourself the trouble and just get Ghirardelli's mix? It's delicious! In fact, it's basically the same recipe I used when I would make brownies from scratch. And no I'm not being paid - this is 100% my own opinion. It's moist, flavorful, and sweet, with pockets of melted chocolate (chips) here and there. Mmm, makes me want some. I used to not like brownies, but now I do. Good ones, that is.

Not ones some people I know make. Wouldn't touch some of those with a 10' pole and that's saying a lot.

I'll eat mostly everything.

Mostly.

There are a few exceptions, like badly-made - or just plain made - eggs. I don't really like eggs, unless I have bacon to go along with it, to drown out the taste. Sometimes I'm in a mood for eggs, but mostly not. Unless I'm really really hungry and that's once in a blue moon because I can just make myself something.

So, about the microwave mug cake, if I can stop straying from the path like I tend to do.

There I go again.

That kid will eat anything I make and pronounce it good, but I'm a little bit more picky. This tasted vaguely familiar to some brownies I've tasted before, see above. Except mine wasn't as sweet, which made it all the more horrible.

If the bad brownies I've had before pale in comparison to this, something's not right.

What's not right?
Here's a list of aaaaall the things wrong with the recipe I've been discussing.

1. No sweetness
   So it calls for three tablespoons of white sugar. I put in four. Still didn't work. I put in 1/2. Still didn't work. It wasn't bitter, per se, it just wasn't sweet. How to fix it: I would say get a better recipe, but if you don't have any idea where to look, I'd say America's Test Kitchen because Mom recommended one of their mug cake recipes to me and I have yet to try it but if Mom recommends it, how can it go wrong. But if you don't want a different recipe, try adding 6-7 tablespoons of sugar. Sound like a lot? Wait until it's cooked!
   
   (What's the saying? "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? In this case, "don't judge the sweetness by the dough")
2. No dome
   It was more like upside-down flan than a cake. It just went down. It sagged in the middle, the opposite of me. Just kidding, no more jokes. haha. How to fix it: to tell you the truth, I absolutely have no clue. Cook for less time? I wish I knew. I'm not a cook, so LMGTFY. Click it. It won't harm you. Maybe get some laughs out of you, but that's about it.
3. No moisture
   This was like eating flour and water, only harder. More like eating dough. Dough that isn't sweet. I don't know, it was so unlike anything I've ever tasted that I can't find anything to compare it with! So what was wrong with it? It was that you had to use your saliva to break it down. Mug cakes are supposed to break down and almost seem to melt in your mouth! You're not supposed to do the work! How to fix it: Try adding some water to it. I don't know how much, and I don't know if this will work, but when I read the thing about mug cakes in the America's Test Kitchen recipe (hopefully I'll have time to try it and write about it before 2016 - but don't hold me to it), they talked about how all mug cakes they came across were dry. I said to myself, "Exactly!" so they advised (if I remember correctly) adding some water to it. Since this isn't a very big mug cake (though big enough that you can't use a 7 oz. mug, you need something more like 12 oz.), use 2+ tablespoons of water and stir thoroughly before putting it in the microwave. Try it out and see how you like it. If it's still dry, add another 2 or so tablespoons, depending on how dry it is. Practice makes perfect, even if it means wasting ingredients. Try using friends or family as guinea pigs - always works for me. ;)

And I could probably think up some other problems with it if I wanted to but for now I'm going to close up shop and call it a night.

After all, this is only making me hungry and we don't need that.

Post Review | Cookie in a Mug

Click on the post title and it will take you to my original post.

This was really quite nice.

Actually, I'm just a bit embarrassed about this but when I read the recipe it said to put in the yolk and guess what I thought the yolk was.

Not what the yoke actually was, I can tell you that!

No, really, I used -- ok, yes, I did -- the egg white.

*slaps forehead* I felt maybe a little bit dumb when I asked my mom and realized I had...well...gotten it wrong. I always get those two mixed up.

Which is probably why the cookie didn't taste very cookie-like.

The "dough" tasted cookie-dough-like, though!

Also, Mom said you can just use a whole egg if it's single-serving size. Or maybe she just said you could use the whole egg period, I don't know.

I guess I wasn't really listening.

But that is very convenient.

Then you don't have to think up some way to use the egg yolk (no, not the egg white, I really do truly mean the egg yolk).

But I have to say that every time I made it, no matter what I did (cooked it shorter, put some water in, put in oil...ok, I didn't put in oil) it still came out as dry and not at all what cookies should taste like.

So be forewarned.

Also try this. You might like it better than I did.

Salted Caramel Sauce

The best caramel sauce ever! This is definitely a favorite!

Also, this is a very very very short post. Just long enough to post the link and be done.

Really, it was going to be a real post and then I ran out of time so hopefully when I have more time I'll make an actual post out of it.

But for now check out the delicious salted caramel sauce recipe I found on Pinterest!

It's the best.

Promise.

Caramel Milk Tea | gugutree

Admit it.

We've all, at one time or other, had too many teabags on our hands.

And for me, they're normally Lipton tea bags.

See, we make delicious sweet tea and we're not even Southern but it means we're always well-stocked with lots and lots of Lipton's black tea teabags.

Sometimes too well-stocked.

But in the winter, you know that the last thing you're going to want is iced, sweet tea. You know you don't want warm sweet tea, heavens no! You're going to want something warm, sweet, creamy, and delicious.

Good thing is, I've got just the thing!

Ingredients

• 1 Lipton tea bag, black tea
• 1 spoonful white sugar
• 1 spoonful light brown sugar
• about 1/4 cup milk
• about 1/8 cup cream
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Steep tea bag 3 min
2. While tea is steeping, in a small pot on stove, mix in
   
   1. vanilla
   2. brown sugar
   3. white sugar
   4. milk
   5. cream
   in that order. Vanilla tends to evaporate very quickly, so you'll need to have the brown sugar ready when you've put in the vanilla. Two teaspoons won't evaporate as quickly as one, and besides, it's yummier that way than with just one. Just trust me.
3. Let mixture in pot simmer and get hot, while on low.
4. Once hot, pour in tea, sipping every couple pours to make sure you like it so far and that it's not too Lipton-tea-y. 
5. Once poured, stir vigorously, allowing tea to be distributed throughout the whole mixture.
6. Pour into mug, and, for a fancier addition, top with whipped cream and salted caramel sauce on the top of the whipped cream. 
7. Serve, and

P.S. to enjoy even more, turn on some soft music, get in some cozy pajamas, get in bed or in front of the fire with your favorite, exciting book. My suggestion is "The Scarlet Pimpernel" -- excitement guaranteed! Also terrific characters *wink wink*. Also be prepared to really like this tea. Enjoy!

P.P.S. hopefully I'll be able to change the blurry photo for something a little more "in focus" to what I had in mind...pun intended. ;)

5 Min or Less: Quick Coffee

Ingredients

• 3-4 drops vanilla extract
• milk (if you use milk instead of cream, but I wouldn't advise it)
• cream, use generously (until light)
• light brown sugar
• hot water, medium amount
• instant coffee, medium amount (about 1-2 spoons)
• nesquik, to taste

Directions

1. Put coffee in mug, pour hot water over coffee
2. Mix all ingredients together and

P.S. Once done, the coffee should be sweet, creamy, coffee-cocoa like. It should taste like coffee and cocoa. And this recipe was on a slip of paper, very vague, without any measurements so all measurements are my very own. I'm guessing, here.
P.P.S. This makes the 15th coffee recipe! Aren't we loaded... or about to be!

5 Minutes or Less: Coffee Cake in a Cup

So I tried out the "Top 25 Microwaveable Dessert Recipes" and though I didn't try each and every one of them, I randomly chose (well, ok, looked at the pictures and said, "Which one looks most appealing to me?") and picked the Coffee Cake recipe! So, here's "5 Min or Less: Coffee Cake in a Mug". Enjoy!

So, basically, what I did here, was follow the recipe. I used a custard cup instead of a ramekin, I used a small red mug (about...errr...7 oz?) instead of a large mug, because I really wanted to have the top like overflowing. It lived up to my expectations, that's for sure! Anyway, so just click on the link below and you should have it. Mmm, I give it all to them. It was good. It wasn't as moist as I would like it to be, but then...coffee cake never is. :) Enjoy, though! It's pretty quick.

5 Min or Less: Coffee Cake in a Mug (and in a microwave)

5 Minutes or Less: Cocoa

I'm going to start posting something daily (every...mmm...Thursday - I'll be original!) called "5 Min or Less". Essentially. Anyway, here's the first.

Cocoa! I love cocoa. Very nice on a cold, snowy winter day in front of a crackling fire, as soon as you come in from sledding. Mmm, funny as it may seem, I miss winter. The season with all the best holidays! Christmas, Thanksgiving, Black Friday... ok, yeah, Black Friday is technically not a holiday. But you can make cocoa in summer, right? I just did.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp coffee (optional)

Directions

1. Put in all ingredients. 
2. Pour boiling milk (or water, but milk makes the taste richer) into cup
3. Stir and
4. Enjoy!

Or, if you don't like how it's not sweet, here you go. A problem solver.

You'll Need:

• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 4 tsp sugar (brown is better)
• 1 tsp coffee

Optional ingredients:

• 1 tsp Nestle's choc. milk
• 1 tsp coffee
• 1-2 c milk, instead of water
• 1-2 c water, instead of milk

Directions:

1. Put milk in mug
2. Put mug in microwave for 1-2 min (mine took 2:30 min but who's counting)
3. Put ingredients in
4. Stir and

Microwave Mug Cake #2

Here's another one--a different way to make it, but about the same idea.

Ingredients

• 1 pinch salt
• 1 dash vanilla extract
• 3 T milk
• 1 egg
• 3 T oil
• 3 T sugar, white
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 T cocoa powder

Directions

1. melt butter in microwave (in mug)
2. stir butter, sugars, and salt in
3. stir in egg yolk and do not use egg white!
4. add flour and cocoa powder and stir again
5. add choc. chunks (or chips)
6. stir until well-mixed
7. cook abt 45 secs in microwave. time may vary. do not overcook.
8. serve hot and

P.S. for a more coffee-like mug cake, add 1-1/2 T inst. coffee. stir until well-mixed.

Microwave Mug Cake

This is more like a brownie in a mug, but whatever you want to call it, here it is.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c flour
• 3 T sugar, white (I put in 3 1/2 T because I find it just doesn't hit the sweet spot but you do wat you want)
• 2 T cocoa powder (I use unsweetened, Kirkland baking cocoa)
• 1 egg
• 3 T milk
• 3 T oil  (I use olive oil, but it might be better to use vegetable oil, but who knows?)
• a dash of vanilla extract (I put in about 10 drops? Most likely more)
• a pinch of salt (I put in two small pinches but one generous pinch does the job well)

You don't need to add these ingredients in this order, you just need to end up with all of these ingredients mixed up.

Directions

1. Mix until combined
2. Microwave on high for abt 2 min
3. Serve, and

Notes:
When I had mixed all the ingredients, it came out as a soupy mixture.
I cooked mine for 1:30min, checked on it when 30 seconds were left and it was up against the sides but it was doughy in the middle. It looked kind of like a pool with sides. so I put it back in for 30s, and when I took it out of the microwave it closely resembled flan, with it kind of like an upside-down dome. But at least it was cooked on the top. On the top, at least. In the bottom it was a bit doughy but it didn't taste doughy when I put it in my mouth, so that's good!
Also it wasn't sweet. It was sweet-ish, but it really wasn't that much fun to eat.
So, updated:

You'll Need

• all of the ingredients and
• 4-5 T sugar, white (or sweetened to taste...MAKE SURE THE DOUGH IS SWEET. If it's not, keep adding 1/2 T sugar until it is DO NOT MICROWAVE UNTIL DOUGH IS ACTUALLY YUMMY TO EAT) 

Directions

1. Mix until combined
2. Microwave 1:30min EXACTLY
3. Should look like a "flan brownie", looking like an upside-down dome. If it doesn't look like that, that's good, too.
4. Serve and

Hopefully you'll enjoy. If you don't, can't say I don't believe it.

I don't really like it that much, either.

But maybe I'll like the second recipe better. Maybe?

P.S. to make this a nutella cake/brownie, take out the salt and vanilla and switch it with 3 T nutella or more!

Cookie in a Mug

This is the same idea as the microwave mug cakes, only it's a cookie. Mmm, love me some good cookies! And this is one of them. ;)

Ingredients

• 1 T butter
• 1 T dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 T granulated sugar, white
• 3 drops vanilla extract (or, a dash)
• small pinch salt, kosher
• 1 egg yolk
• scant 1/4 all purpose flour (slightly less than 1/4 flour)
• 2 T semi-sweet choc. chips (heaping)

Directions

1. melt butter in microwave
2. add sugars, vanilla, and salt
3. put in yolk, stir
4. add flour, stir
5. add choc. chips, stir
   (it should now look like cookie dough)
6. cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, and start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. do not cook past one minute, because like all other cookies, it will continue to cook in the mug until it's cooled off. if the cookie is dry and cake-like in texture, you've cooked it too long, so shorten the time the next time you make a cookie in a mug.
7. serve warm and

if you like your cookies slightly coffee-like, add 1-1/2 t inst. coffee. stir until well-mixed.

5 Quick and Easy Recipes

...including breakfast. Enjoy!

NOTE: these are not supposed to go together. That's why lunch and snack are both pizza. Don't worry, though - lunch is a more filling pizza!

- BREAKFAST: oatmeal -
ingredients: oats, hot milk, sugar, fruit

• oats
• hot milk
• sugar (opt)
• fruit (opt)

directions: put rolled oats in bowl. Put milk in microwave, warm it until it's hot. Pour it over oats until oatmeal is clumping together. Don't add more, don't add less. It shouldn't be floating in milk, it should be clumped together. If you put in sugar, put it in until it's sweet-ish. If you put in fruit, put it in now and eat up! (warning: to those of you who don't like oatmeal, you won't like this.)

- APPETIZER: yogurt parfait -
ingredients:

• yogurt
• maple syrup
• fruit
• granola

directions: put yogurt in wineglass. Put granola on. Put fruit on top of granola. Drizzle maple syrup over fruit. Eat up! (warning: this is better with granola, so do not leave it out or sub something like rolled oats over it - that's gross.)

- LUNCH: bagel pizza -
ingredients:

• bagel(s)
• tomato/pizza sauce
• cheese (preferably mozzarella)

directions: put bagel in toaster or oven until lightly toasted. Put on tomato sauce and put on cheese (I use shredded cheese because it will melt evenly over bagel, but if you use cheese sticks or slices of cheese, it may not melt evenly). Put in microwave (oven will brown your bagel even more, and your bagel may burn before cheese is melted) until cheese is melted and golden brown on top. Take out and enjoy! (warning: bagels aren't pizza dough, so you can also buy dough that comes in little circles and put pizza sauce and cheese on and then put it in the oven until either cheese is melted and golden brown or the dough is cooked and golden/lightly brown.)

- SNACK: mini pizzas -
ingredients:

• tortilla(s), large if you're making more than four or five
• tomato/pizza sauce
• cheese (preferably mozzarella)

directions: place can as close to edge of tortilla as possible without going over it. Push down - hard - on can until you have cut out a circle with the edge of the can. You can also use a glass and a knife, but a can is easier. Cut out as many circle as is fitting for you (remember, as you're cutting this out, this is just a snack, not a full on meal. Only make enough to make your hunger pangs go away). Put tortilla circles in muffin tin (mini muffin tin, not those normal-sized ones - those are too big!). Put tomato or pizza sauce on/in. Sprinkle cheese over it. It has to be grated (or, pre-grated, for your convenience), not sliced because sliced will pool at the bottom once melted and cheese sticks you can't put on the edge - the cheese should be all around the tortilla circles. Then put muffin tins in oven and wait until cheese is melted and golden brown and then take out. Slide knife underneath tortilla and remove carefully. May burn you, so be careful! Put on decorative plate, if having guests over, or just put on normal plate if it's just normal you. Serve to either guests or normal you and enjoy!

- DESSERT: cookie in a mug -
ingredients:

• 1 T butter
• 1 T dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 T granulated sugar, white
• 3 drops vanilla extract (or, a dash)
• small pinch salt, kosher
• 1 egg yolk
• scant 1/4 all purpose flour (slightly less than 1/4 flour)
• 2 T semi-sweet choc. chips (heaping)

directions: melt butter in microwave, add sugars, vanilla, and salt. Put in yolk, stir. Add flour, stir. add choc. chips, stir (it should now look like cookie dough. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, and start checking for doneness at 40 seconds (time may vary for different people's cookies). Do not cook past one minute, because like all other cookies, it will continue to cook in the mug until it's cooled off. if the cookie is dry and cake-like in texture, you've cooked it too long, so shorten the time the next time you make a cookie in a mug. Serve warm and enjoy! (note: if you like your cookies slightly coffee-like - add 1-1/2 t inst. coffee, stir until well-mixed, and then put in microwave.)
Thanks for reading and