It’s Leftovers Club Day! I wanted to do something different than my usual cookie recipe this month, so I decided to try my hand at fudge for the first time. I also knew I wanted to include some sort of alcohol, as it is almost St. Patrick’s Day and (sometimes) I like to actually live up to my Irish nature. So when I was paired with Mary Kay from Homemade Cravings, I developed a fudge recipe for her using one of the only spirits I actually drink — Malibu Rum. Malibu is rum that also uses coconut liquor. I am basically a fan of everything chocolate and coconut. I really hope she likes it because heaven knows I’m going to be obsessed with this California Pizza Kitchen Butter Cake that she’s sending me. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Recipe: Boozy Coconut Fudge

What You Need:

• 2 bags white chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup Malibu
•  

  What To Do:

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except for the coconut. Mix until chocolate has almost completely melted.

  2. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the coconut pieces.

  3. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish that is lined with aluminum foil. Make sure that the foil hangs over the edges of the dish a bit. This will make it easier to pull the entire block of fudge out later.

  4. Put the baking dish in the fridge and let the fudge sit until it is completely set.

  5. Carefully remove the foil from the baking dish. Cut into squares.

  

  Want to see what all my friends made this month? Click through their links below:
  Oatmeal Berry Crumb Bars – Sugar Dish Me

  Spicy Honey Mustard Cashews – Little Kitchie

  Dulce De Leche Croissants – Basic N Delicious

  Pistachio and Cranberry Bark – Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

  Chocolate + Potato Chip Cookies – Elizbatte

  S’mores Cookies – Charlotte Turtle

  Bailey’s Irish Cream Brownies – Eats Well With Others

  Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies – Meadows Cooks

  Fresh Blackberry and Meyer Lemon Bread - Live, Bake, Love

  Sunbutter Choco Chip Cookies – Cooking with Milton

  Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies – Runnin Sri Lankan

  Hazelnut Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips – The Spiced Life

  Chocolate Lavender Blueberry Truffles – Pinch and Swirl

  Coco-nutty Bars -Take A Bite Out of Boca

Recipe: Almond Joyful Cupcakes

Makes 20 cupcakes

What You Need:

• 1 box Golden Vanilla cake mix
• 1 tub Betty Crocker Almond Joy frosting
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut

What To Do:

1. Mix your cake mix according to the packaging.

2. Add in coconut extract.

3. Bake. (Mine took 18 minutes).

4. After letting the cupcakes cool, Spread a thick layer of frosting onto eack cupcake and sprinkle coconut on top.

5. Refridgerate for 30 minutes before eating so that the coconut can firmly stick to each cupcake.

Making granola is incredibly easy. Now that I have discovered this, you should expect more recipes similar to this one in the near future. This version is pretty standard except for the fact that it includes three kinds of “nut” – walnut, almonds, and coconut. It also contains locally grown honey. Back in high school people used to tell me I should try honey for my severe allergies — if you eat a tablespoon each day of honey grown from where you live, it significantly reduces your allergies. I ignored the suggestion until last year, and when I finally gave in and tried it I couldn’t believe how much it relieved the agony I endure in the spring. Honey still isn’t my favorite thing, but I will do anything to not suffer from the allergy induced asthma that is my life.

Recipe: Nutty Cinnamon Granola

Makes 15 servings

What You Need: 

• 5 cups old-fashioned oats
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 cups slivered almonds
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons EVOO

What To Do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.

3. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, oil, honey, and syrup until the butter melts completely.

4. Pour the mixture onto the dry ingredients and toss until it is evenly coated.

5. Spread the new mixture evenly onto the cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 40 minutes, gently stirring the mixture halfway through.

7. Let cool completely and then transfer to airtight containers.

Want to see what everyone else made for the club? Check out their links here:

Butterscotch Wedges – Platter Talk

Spiced Honey Cake – Take A Bite Out Of Boca

Overnight Oats – Let’s Get Peas A Chance

Speculoos Cookies – Eats Well With Others

Chewy Coconut Lemon Cookies – Food Ramblings

Mexican Chocolate Cookies – Cooking In Stilettos

Streulsed Carrot Bread – The Spiced Life

Spicy Gingersnaps – Meadows Cooks

“There’s always money in the banana stand.”

Tonight is a big night for television lovers. In case you don’t get the reference in the first line of this post, tonight is the release of Season 4 of “Arrested Development“.

This season has been seven years in the making. You see, originally the comedy aired on FOX back in 2003. It ran 3 amazing seasons before it was cancelled by the network. There was always speculation of the show returning to tv, or possibly to the big screen with a feature film, but it always got pushed back. However, Netflix announced that they were picking up the show for a 4th season and would have all 15 episodes available for streaming at once. Starting at midnight tonight, one of the greatest dysfunctional families to ever be created will come to life once again, bringing along: con artists, chicken impersonations, accidentally racist puppets, and their family banana stand.

I decided to pay tribute to this hilarious show by creating snacks that George Michael (Michael Cera) would serve at Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand. I topped my bananas with shredded coconut, walnuts, and multi-colored sprinkles. If you are a Tobias Funke fan, you know why there’s one banana that only has blue sprinkles! Feel free to use whatever toppings you want; they’re your celebratory bananas after all. “I made a terrible mistake” by jamming the pink/red sprinkled banana in my mouth too quickly after taking these pictures and ended up with a rose-stained face for a few hours. Be aware, these are messy but they are worth it.

Recipe: Chocolate-Covered Frozen Banana Pops

What You Need:

• 3 large bananas, cut in half
• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• popsicle sticks
• toppings of your choice
• several small bowls

What To Do:

1. Carefully slide the popsicle sticks into the bananas, being careful not to pierce through the sides. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 2 hours.

2. When bananas are frozen, melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 45 second increments, stir until smooth.

3. Pour each desired topping into its own small bowl. Set aside.

4. Hold banana over the chocolate bowl and spoon the melted chocolate onto the fruit until it is covered. Do not try to use your fingers or press hard with the spoon to smooth out the chocolate. It will clump and fall off the banana.

4. Due to the extreme differences in temperature, the chocolate will harden within seconds. You must work quickly! Move your banana over the the desired topping bowl and sprinkle topping onto the banana. Do NOT roll the chocolate-covered banana in the topping or you’re going to have one big brown mess and zero topping on the banana.

5. Eat immediately. If you are planning to eat all 6 of them by yourself one at a time (don’t judge me!), you can store them in a tupperware container in the freezer.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and don’t forget to check out the newest season of “Arrested Development”!

I love banana bread. That’s probably because it’s so easy to make. You just mash up bananas you have on hand, add a little flour and sugar, and then you can add anything you want from nuts to fruits, to candy. I love coming up with new combinations. It’s also a good way to sneak a little more fruit into your daily mealplan.

Recipe: Coconut-Almond Banana Bread

What You Need:

• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 & 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup coconut, shredded
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Mix together flour, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Add butter and eggs.

4. Add in bananas, almonds, and coconut and mix until will incorporated.

5. Pour into greased bread pan.

6. Bake 55 minutes and let cool before slicing.