Easter Sweets!

Time for the chef hat!

Baking and cooking meals has always been something I enjoyed and now that I'm considered an adult I enjoy contributing to family holiday meals or whipping something up just because it looked divine. My addiction to Pinterest and fan of The Pioneer Women has given me access to so many fun recipes I never would have though of. This weekend my parents swung through Milwaukee and slowed down just a bit for me to "hop" in with my luggage and sweets and headed to Indiana to spend Easter weekend with my sister Danielle.
Rest assured, when Nicole is in charge of the dessert you'll have more than just one option. Here's what I brought, feel free to steal if you're ever at a loss as to what to bake for a family get together! All are easy and good for last-minute baking. These sweet treats are brought to you by Pinterest and The Pioneer Women.

Dulche de Leche Cheesecake! A bit embarrassed about this one, because I took the rectangular pan to my family's Easter with a row completly gone. Yes, I couldn't wait and needed to taste it. It's just my family, so I hope they understood. They know I have zero self-control. Is it sinful to take half a pan of something to a family gathering? Recipe compliments of Pinterest.

Another Pinterest Recipe: Lemon Blueberry Breakfast Cake. Test-tested approved, however I brought a pan of this into the office last Monday. Coworkers make great guinea pigs. They gobbled the pan up so it's a sure bet it would also go over well at any meal.

 Lastly The Pioneer Women French Breakfast Puffs (In cookbook #1 for all you fans!). Please excuse the horrible lighting in the pictures.

The cast of characters:
3 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cups Shortening (Crisco)
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Milk
1-1/2 cup Sugar
3 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 sticks Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.



 

Now you can stop here and enjoy with breakfast, however it's Easter and what's a holiday without sugar? I love to bite into a sweet something that really lets out a loud crunch sugary crunch. So if you're looking for that continue to read, trust me.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in one dish. 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3 tsp of cinnamon in the other. Roll 'em, sprinkle 'em, shake 'em around (in the butter dish and then in the sugar dish). Just do whatever you have to do to get the cinnamon to stick. Plus you'll fingers will be covered in the gooeyness (score!).

Repeat with each muffin! Best to do when muffins are warm.

And yes, like the other sweets above, I've tasted this one too! And sooo good! Next time I'll make them smaller, baseball-size is a bit too big. These French Puffs are like bitting into a homemade donut roll! Thank you PW!
Excuse me I need to go run A LOT!!
Happy Easter!!