This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FoundMyDelight #CollectiveBias
So, serious coffee question for you today.
Are you iced coffee in the summer and then hot coffee in the winter?
I am iced coffee all year long. I don’t care how cold it is, I don’t care if it’s snowing. I’m getting an iced coffee.
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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #McCafeMyWay #CollectiveBias
My favorite part of every day is that time before my kids and husband wake up, when I’m alone downstairs with my dogs and my coffee.
I wasn’t even mad at Penelope (the husky) this morning when she woke me up at 4:45 because that just meant I had extra coffee time.
I try to set my alarm a good hour before my kids and husband have to get up just so I can knock out emails and other computer work. And also watch the same 4 stories on CNN over and over again because for whatever reason, I find that entertaining.
But coffee is the most important part of my morning. And I am digging the McCafé Premium Roast coffee.
I attended the McCafé demo at my local Walmart last weekend. I love going to demos like that because you not only get to try the new product, you also learn all about it in the process!
The McCafé coffee is made from 100% Arabica beans and the beans are harvested from the rich soils and mountainous regions of the foremost coffee-growing areas of the world.
There are 8 different varieties of McCafé coffee and they’re now available at Walmart. I found mine on the very top shelf with the rest of the coffee pods. It also comes in bags if the pods aren’t your style.
And now we let’s talk about these muffins! What’s better than a banana muffin? A banana muffin with chocolate chips AND coffee. I used the McCafé coffee in these and it all works together so deliciously.
You guys know I’m obsessed with banana muffins and I think it’s safe to say that these are my new favorites.
If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. It has recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more! What’s not to love? If you’re looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out!
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First up, I hope everyone in that gigantic storm’s path is safe and warm and hopefully just hanging out at home enjoying a day off.
Second, I turned my a/c on yesterday. Because it’s ridiculously warm plus you know I always have the oven on. It was 80 degrees in my house. Penelope (the husky) was just following me around, panting loudly. She’s not a fan.
My husband had some sort of tire flip competition yesterday morning which I didn’t know was a real thing but apparently they have to go back this morning because they made it into the finals of the bizarre tire flip competition. But anyway, he came home all muddy and hungry so I quickly made him some chicken and some Paleo Mocha-Bacon Brownies!
All my favorites! Coffee and bacon and brownies!
I have to warn you though: these are super Paleo. And by that, I mean you’ll probably only like them if you’re super Paleo. Like, if you’re used to Quest bars and Justin’s peanut butter cups (like me), you probably won’t like these. Buuuut, if you’ve managed to somehow give up sugar and be real Paleo (not like me), you will love them. They’re not bad, they’re just not super sweet like the Betty Crocker brownies that I know and love. My husband is obsessed and wouldn’t shut up about how good they are.
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This is a sponsored post featuring DREAM Latte™. All opinions are my own.
I don’t know if you know this but I’m kind of a coffee addict. Like, I’m that person that starts thinking about my morning coffee at midnight and has to make a cup of decaf.
Something else you may not know about me is that I don’t drink any kind of cow’s milk, half and half, anything like that. I mean, I make exception for heavy cream every once in awhile just because heavy cream is delicious and I’m weak but other than that, I don’t drink any dairy. I don’t have an allergy, I just prefer to stick to nut milks.
So I was excited to try the new DREAM Latte™which comes in two flavors: Caramel and Mocha! They are free of soy, lactose, dairy, gluten, and cholesterol. They are rich in calcium and vitamin D and are made from fair trade organic, non-gmo coffee beans.
Most importantly, they are delicious! I have to say, I’m not a mocha person but I’m in love with the DREAM Latte™ Mocha!
I wanted to make a frozen drink using the DREAM Latte™ because coffee shop frozen drinks are expensive. Plus, most coffee places still don’t have almond milk! Get with the times, coffee shops! Geez.
I went with a Frozen Peppermint Mocha because, like I said, I don’t usually love mocha so I never have peppermint mochas and then I’m always jealous when I hear other people talking about them.
That’s weird, right? To be jealous of someone’s ability to like something that you don’t?
I know.
But anyway, since I do like the DREAM Latte™ in Mocha, I made a quick simple syrup with peppermint extract and blended it all up with ice. Topped it with whipped cream (google coconut milk whipped cream if you’re dairy-free – it’s so easy!), chocolate syrup, and crushed peppermints.
It was so delicious. Peppermint just gets me feeling all sorts of festive so I’m thinking this is going to become my official holiday drink this year.
Everyone has an official holiday drink, right?
I don’t even know anymore.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DREAM™.
Happy Monday! I hope you have the day off today and are able to spend the day relaxing or doing something you love. I’m taking the husky to get fixed and my husband is 100% convinced that I’ll spend the entire day sitting in the vet office, biting my nails and waiting for her surgery to be over.
I will actually probably spend the day stuffing my face because I tend to do that when I’m worried. Good thing I have these Mocha-Chip Cheesecake Bars in the fridge, huh?
I made this over the weekend because my husband had 24 hour duty and I do what I always do when he’s gone for 24 hours: sit on my butt and watch a marathon of whatever show I’m currently into. I took time away from that important stuff to make these so it looked like I actually did something.
I really, really love cheesecake and cheesecake is even better when it’s baked in bars instead of a fussy water bath. These bars have a delicious oat crust and crumble. Then the cheesecake itself is coffee flavored with mini chocolate chips. It’s good, really good.
Three years ago: Orange Ricotta Pancakes
Four years ago: Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Five years ago: Devil’s Food White Out Cake
Today is the last day of November! Hooray! I posted every single day in November which means I completed NaBloPoMo for the first time ever! I had so much fun with it and kind of want to stand in my front yard and shout “I’M GOING TO BLOG EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!”
But I’m not going to do that. (Scream in my yard or blog everyday. Don’t worry.)
Since you guys stuck with me through all the posts and continued to comment even though I know you’re sick of me, I have an amazing Starbucks giveaway for you!
You have to read about my brownies first though.
Coffee and chocolate were obviously meant to be so I combined the two in this recipe for super rich brownies topped with a mocha buttercream. But it’s not nearly as heavy as it sounds – the buttercream is light and fluffy and was perfect on top of the fudgy brownies. I’m forever on the lookout for a rich brownie that uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate and I think I’ve found a winner here.
Giveaway time!!
Starbucks sent me a bunch of coffee to “try” – and I say “try” because I kind of consider myself an expert on Starbucks coffee. I did wear the black apron for awhile, after all. ;) I love just about every roast Starbucks puts out but I especially love French Roast (included in the giveaway, y’all! Get excited!) because it’s dark and rich and perfect without anything in it. I used the Via instant packets for this recipe (House) and you can totally tell that it’s the good stuff.
For this giveaway, you get the four pounds of coffee that you see above and also 2 boxes of the Via coffee in House Blend and Breakfast Blend. I told you it was a good giveaway!
To enter:
Leave me a comment letting me know how many pounds of Starbucks Christmas blend you plan on hoarding this year! :D (Five for me, thankyouverymuch.) If you haven’t tried Christmas blend, what’s your favorite kind of coffee?
For extra entries:
“Like” Fake Ginger on Facebook! Leave me another comment letting me know you did!
Follow me on Twitter! And then leave yet another comment!
The rules:
Fudgy Brownies with Mocha Buttercream (and a Starbucks Giveaway!!)
Brownies from AllRecipes
Ingredients
For the brownies:
For the mocha buttercream:
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
Melt ½ cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.
To make the frosting:
Beat the butter until fluffy.
Dissolve the instant coffee in the hot water. Add to the butter, along with the vanilla and cocoa powder. Beat until combined. Start adding powdered sugar, ¼ cup at a time, beating after each addition until it reaches the desired consistency. (You can use more powdered sugar if you prefer a stiffer buttercream.)
I am obsessed with espresso. When our coffee maker pooped out on us recently I decided to invest in this guy because hello, $40 espresso machine? You can’t go to Starbucks 6 times for that! So I have a latte or a cappuccino every morning and it’s pretty much the best way to start the day. Needless to say, I was pretty excited with Sarah’s Project Pastry Queen choice of Cappuccino Cheesecake.
These cheesecakes start with a crust made of crushed Oreos (always a good way to start a cheesecake) and then the actual cheesecake itself has espresso and chocolate chips inside. It’s topped with a chocolate ganache after cooling. It’s a very simple cheesecake but it’s so rich and the little muffin-sized portions I made were the perfect sweet ending to dinner.
The changes I made: halved the recipe & got 8 tiny cheesecakes. Instead of covering the entire thing with the ganache, I made a dark chocolate drizzle with a tablespoon of butter and a handful of dark chips. You can get the original recipe over at 20 Something Cupcakes if you’re interested. And make sure you visit the Project Pastry Queen page to see how everyone else did.
The impressive Project Pastry Queen recipes just keep coming! This one, chosen by Sarah, is a three two layer brownie dessert that’s stuffed with a mascarpone filling and frosted with an espresso whipped cream. Once it’s completed you press bits of crushed toffee bar into the sides. Is your head exploding from awesomeness yet?
Despite sounding difficult, this one was actually really simple and surprisingly quick. I started first thing in the morning (we’re talking 6 am) thinking it would take me all day and I was done within 3 hours! Most of that time was spent waiting for the brownies to cool and/or procrastinating.
The brownies are decent. The recipe is so massive that it was hard for me to find a mixing bowl in my kitchen big enough to hold all the batter. I feel like I had some lumps that shouldn’t have been there because of the bowl situation and the end result was a little bumpy. Tasty brownies though and that’s all that matters! The mascarpone filling it out of this world and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t see the appeal of mascarpone! The whipped cream frosting is tasty but a little strong of espresso. I had to add an extra 1/4 cup or so of powdered sugar to get the bitterness out.
The finished product is outstanding, of course! How could you not love a layered brownie?! I know you want the recipe so make sure you head to Sarah’s blog to check it out.
