Puppy Chow Cupcakes

I made these for my daughters class to celebrate her 7th birthday. When I asked her what she wanted to take she just said Puppy Chow, well I wanted some kind of cupcake so I figured I would make a Puppy Chow Cupcake and also send a little snack bad of puppy chow for each child. Here is what I came up with:

Milk Chocolate Cake
Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared cupcake papers, I use 1/4c put paper and it gives the perfect dome.

3. Bake 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

BUTTERCREAM ICING

Ingredients

6 cups confectioners' sugar (or more for consistency)
1 cup butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/3 cup peanut butter

Directions

1.In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

2.Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream or powdered sugar if needed for spreading consistency.


Puppy Chow

Ingredients

9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tsp butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine peanut butter, chocolate chips and butter. Microwave for 30-45 seconds at a time on high stirring between until you have a smooth consistency.

2. Pour over cereal and stir until coated.

3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated.


Assembling Cupcakes

1. Crush 1-2 cups of the Puppy Chow in a plastic bag.

2. Ice finished cupcakes with peanut butter icing, as soon as complete sprinkle crushed puppy chow over the top (don't wait too long or the icing will develop a hard 'film' and the puppy chow won't stick)

3. Place 1-2 whole pieces of puppy chow in the center of the cupcake standing up as a garnish.

4. Enjoy.

Lots of Updates

I have made lots of updates in the last few days. My gallery now includes pictures of a few pages I made in 2009 and a page of photos of some of the hand made cards I've made. Take a look, and keep checking back because soon I will have the rest of 2009, 2010 and 2011 posted.

Easy, Reusable Chore Chart

I was looking on-line for some ideas on making Zoe a reusable chore chart, rather than printing one out every week. Well I came across this site www.accountablekids.com and liked the idea but didn't like the price or need all the other items that come with the kit (ADHD isn't our issue, we just needed a good chore chart, for parents with kids with ADHD I highly recommend the whole kit).

So I took the basic idea and made my own. This is the finished product.



Here are some of the cards, I used the same concept they did of the color bars at the bottom:



Altogether, this cost me about $10 to make. I used Excel to make the cards (using clip art) & printed them on card stock, then laminated them with Self-Sealing Laminate Pouches (I only used 4 of the 10 in the package), then bought a small key rack to hang them on and used a strip of adhesive magnet material I had in my craft center (or you could screw it to the wall, but the less holes the better for me).

Super easy, and good for the environment. Enjoy!