The creamy centers of the Golden Oreos are great in here, but the unexpected crunch puts these cookies over the top.

The Duke, who loves Oreos more than life itself, proclaimed that he actually likes Golden Oreos better than traditional Oreos. Who knew?

Believe me, if you make these cookies, they will fly off the plate!

Alright, back to the grind for me…I’m at a writing training today. Can you believe pre-planning for teachers starts this Thursday, and school starts next Thursday, August 5th??? CRAZINESS! Where did the summer go? The Duchess

So how does the Duchess celebrate a year of blogging bliss? Cupcakes? Bananas Foster? How about both!

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the Bananas Foster Cupcake. Isn’t she cute? I think I’m in love.

Start with a few bananas…give ‘em a slice.

Then proceed to caramelize them in butter and brown sugar. Oh yeah.

Fill the cupcake liners about half way up, then top with a few caramelized banana slices and a sprinkle of butterscotch chips.

And then top with some more batter before popping in the oven. The result?? Warm banana perfection!

I have to say, these cupcakes were amazing! Next time I make them I’m going to add more bananas to the cupcakes. The sweet buttery bananas were the best part.

I hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as I’ve enjoyed blogging for the past year. Here’s to another great year of fabulous recipes!
The Duchess

Umm..yeah, I’d say that’s chocolatey! So what makes it a “breakfast cake,” you ask? Well, this cake is actually a pound cake. When I was growing up, my Granny Flash would often eat sliced and toasted poundcake for breakfast with coffee. So, in a round about way, this cake is perfect for breakfast.

You can also eat it any other time of the day. Got it? Good.

German Chocolate Breakfast Cake

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray two 8-inch loaf pans with cooking spray, then dust with flour. Shake out any excess flour and set pans aside.
2. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed for about a minute. Increase speed to medium and beat two more minutes. Stir in pecans and coconut, then divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing out with a rubber spatula. Place pans in the oven side by side.
3. Bake loaves for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely before removing from pans.

Makes two large loaves

Now, you know this would make the perfect breakfast.

Hope you enjoy! Have a great Thursday. The Duchess

I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, Picky Palate , and came upon a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly White Chocolate Blondies. Hold the phone! Those are the three most heavenly things on this earth, all put into one scrumptious treat. I’m not surprised…Jenny is the queen of sweets, after all!

These blondies had a texture similar to pound cake, which is just fine by me.

You all know that I’m obsessed with peanut butter, right? I could eat it at every meal. I try to limit myself to 1 serving (aka 2 tablespoons) per day, but sometimes I can’t do it. I love getting a spoonful of peanut butter and dotting it with white chocolate chips.

These blondies are sorta like that, but people don’t look at you as funny.

Hope you all enjoy! Have a fabulous Thursday and wonderful weekend. I’ll be trapped in my house doing homework. BLAH! The Duchess

Before I share the details of that sweet and creamy treat, I have an introduction in store. Ladies and gentlemen of the Blogosphere, meet Pearl:

She’s our latest addition! The Duke and I have been talking for a while about adding another puppy to our brood. We brought Ruby into our family last July, and just adore her. She’s so full of energy, and we thought she could use a friend. After a few months of debate, we found Pearl and just had to give her a home. Both girls are maltipoos (Maltese/ Poodle mix- Ruby is jet black and Pearl is all white) and I think they’re going to be best buddies. Ruby’s not quite sure what to think just yet, but it’ll happen in due time.

Ok, so back to business. I’d been wanting to create an ice cream sandwich for a while, and I finally bit the bullet, just in time for the 4th of July. These cuties couldn’t be any easier, either. I made cookies from a cake mix, but you could even use store-bought cookies for convenience.

Mix some fresh summer berries into your favorite frozen yogurt or ice cream, and voila! Fro Yo sandwiches!

These will be the perfect dessert at your July 4th picnic or BBQ…just be sure to load the cooler up with lots of ice!

I’ll leave you with a precious candid of Pearl. She’s so tiny. Have a great week!!

The Duchess

Since everything around me is baby blue and pale pink, I’ve been feeling cutesie. Keeping in line with the precious and tiny theme, I stumbled upon a Wilton mini brownie pan at Michael’s and snatched it right up. It’s a silicon pan that makes 24 baby brownies. Too cute! The story gets better…I asked the check out lady if they offered discounts for educators and she gave me 50% off the $10 pan. Gotta love that!!

Now, down to business. I chose to fill the teeny tiny pan with extra dark chocolate brownie batter. Oh, yes I did.

The cute factor is nearly out of control here. And, the best part is, these brownies are quite small, so you can certainly eat more than normal brownies.

The batter of these brownies is amazing by itself (it’s the Duke’s mom’s recipe), but the finished product? Fuggedaboutit!!! You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

Have a great weekend! I plan on hitting the beach or the boat…that’s if the oil hasn’t taken over
The Duchess

Other things that make me happy? My puppy. How cute is Ruby??

She looks like such a ferocious beast in this picture, but really I caught her mid-yawn.

Yet another thing that makes me happy- Oreos. Oreos are by far the best store-bought cookie ever. Ever. Ever. Ever! So I did what anyone would do and threw the American snack-time classic into a bar cookie. Voila:

I’m very proud to announce that I didn’t eat a single bite of these bad boys, so I don’t know how they taste. I’m bound and determined to get back to 130 pounds (I’m hovering around 135), and a thick and chewy cookie bar stuffed with Oreos and chocolate chips won’t help me reach that goal. Who would have guessed?

The Duke said they were awesome, though. He ate about 5 bars, so he would know.

Serve these with a big cold glass of milk for a post-pool treat on these hot summer afternoons.

Have a great week! Remember to stay hydrated, friends. The Duchess

I thought I’d celebrate the end of the school year with a fun and cheery cupcake. Nothing puts a smile on my face like a sweet cupcake with lots of fluffy frosting. I found this “Tropical Trio” of dried fruit at the store, and immediately started scheming up an islandy cupcake.

I also had a box of white cake mix on hand, so I turned to the Queen of Sweets for a little guidance. Jenny at Picky Palate makes the most mouth-watering desserts you could ever dream of. I used the base of her Cookies and Cream Cupcakes for my tropical concoction.

Oh momma. I love coconut. What’s better than coconut? Toasted coconut. Yes, please. The sweet fruit were like chewy little nuggets of gold inside the already delicious cupcakes.

These cupcakes will make you feel like you’re lounging on a tropical beach, even if you’re miles away! I hope you enjoy. The Duchess

On another note, did I mention I’ll be teaching 5th grade next year? I’m so excited! I’ll be working at the same school, but I’ll have my very own classroom, my very own class roster and my very own grade level team. Woop woop! All of my hard work this year has paid off. I’ve loved my Pre-K babies, but bring on the big kids.

It was a friend’s birthday this week, and I wanted to make her something fun. You all know that I love making cookies from cake mix, and what’s the most fun cake mix you can think of?

Funfetti, of course! I’m pretty sure this cake made its way into every birthday party I ever went to growing up. And for good reason. It’s fun and it’s confetti…what more could you need?

This cake mix made for the cutest (and tastiest) cookies. The base is white cake, which is always so light in texture. A friend that tasted them said the cookies tasted like clouds. I guess that’s good?

With the bright and cheery colors peaking out in these cookies, they’re perfect for any celebration. They would also make a great ice cream sandwich with vanilla or strawberry ice cream. Summer parties will never be the same!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. The Duke and I plan on being on the boat all weekend, though I heard it was going to rain I promise I’ll be sharing some not-so-sweet recipes soon. I feel like it’s been ages since I posted anything besides a cookie.

Tata for now! The Duchess

So last night, after my kitchen was unpacked and organized, I finally got around to baking in my new space. I’m used to a gas oven and cook top, but the rental house uses an electric glass cook top. I guess it’s not a huge deal, but I definitely want gas in my next house.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Honeydoodles in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine that I was anxious to try. I decided to give them a whole wheat spin.

They were delicious! Soft and chewy without being overly sweet. Other than the sugar that I used for dusting, the only sweetener in the cookies is honey. A sugar-less Snickerdoodle…genius!

The whole wheat flour was a great idea. It gave the cookies a hearty flavor, without weighing them down. These little treats would be great alongside a mug of hot tea or coffee.

I think I’ll be making these cookies time and time again. I may even try agave nectar instead of honey next time around. I just love playing around with sweet treats!

I hope you have a great week. I promise that photos of the new house are coming SOON!!! The Duchess