A Nerd Cooks

... and bakes and mixes the occasional cocktail!

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Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars

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Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars | A Nerd Cooks

I love cereal. Like, to an unhealthy, almost unnatural degree. It really doesn’t matter what kind of cereal, either. Super sugary children’s cereals? Yes, please. Healthier options? Also yes. I’m not exactly sure what it is that I love so much, but I can’t help myself. We don’t keep in the house for this reason.

An exception was made for these bars. Lucky Charms (for which I have a particular affinity) replace puffed rice cereal in a traditional Rice Krispie Treat recipe to make Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars. These were perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, and seriously couldn’t be easier to make.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars | A Nerd Cooks

Lucky Charms Bars | A Nerd Cooks
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Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars
Prep Time
15 mins
Total Time
15 mins
 
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12
Author: laurenpacek
Ingredients
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 4 cups mini marshmallows
  • 6 cups Lucky Charms cereal
Instructions
  1. Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. In large saucepan or pot (I used a Dutch oven), melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted. Remove from heat.
  3. Add the Lucky Charms cereal. Stir until the cereal is well coated.

  4. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into the prepared 9x13-inch pan. 

  5. Allow the bars to cool before cutting into squares.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars | A Nerd Cooks

Funfetti Cake Dip

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This Funfetti Cake Dip is sweet, fun, and couldn’t be easier to whip up.

Funfetti Cake Dip | A Nerd Cooks

You know Funfetti, right?  In case you don’t… Basically, it’s white cake with a butt ton of sprinkles swirled into the batter.  When baked, the sprinkles look like confetti.  And we all know that confetti = a party.  Ideally the frosting is covered in sprinkles, too.

I’ve been bringing this dip to parties lately, and it’s consistently a hit.  It tastes just like Funfetti cake, but in the form of sweet, fluffy dip.  I actually took this batch to a friend’s house last weekend, which explains the disposable pie plate in the photos.

Funfetti Cake Dip | A Nerd Cooks

One really nice thing about this dip is that it’s not that terrible for you, if you ignore the entire box of cake mix that goes into it.  I like to think that the fat-free yogurt and whipped topping count for something.  This recipe is also easily made gluten free by using GF Funfetti cake mix (found in most grocery stores) and GF treats for dipping.

ALSO!  You can totally customize this dip for holiday celebrations.  Wanna make it for your Christmas celebrations?  Top with red and green sprinkles.  I’m going to be making this on Christmas Day, when family comes over to my parents’ house in the evening.

Need more Funfetti action?  Check out these Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes!

I originally found this recipe on the blog Eat Yourself Skinny.

Funfetti Cake Dip | A Nerd Cooks
Print
Funfetti Cake Dip
Prep Time
10 mins
chilling in fridge
4 hrs
 
Course: Appetizer, Dip
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 cups
Ingredients
For the dip
  • 1 box Funfetti cake mix 
  • 2 cups plain fat-free yogurt
  • 8 oz Lite Cool Whip
  • 3/4 cup sprinkles, divided
For dipping
  • Nilla wafers
  • pretzels
  • graham crackers
  • animal crackers
Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, yogurt, Cool Whip, and 1/2 cup of the sprinkles together until everything is combined. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of sprinkles.

  2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

  3. Serve with Nilla wafers, pretzels, graham crackers, animal crackers, etc. for dipping.

 

Funfetti Cake Dip | A Nerd Cooks Funfetti Cake Dip | A Nerd Cooks

Bourbon Chocolate Sauce

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Ahhh bourbon chocolate sauce.  How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways…

Bourbon Chocolate Sauce | A Nerd Cooks

This recipe was on the blog Kleinworth & Co.

You’ll need:

  • 1/2 cup half & half
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup bourbon (I used Bulleit)

In a small saucepan, combine the half & half and brown sugar.  Heat over medium heat until the sugar is totally dissolved and the half & half starts to bubble a bit.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the chocolate chips and vanilla extract to a glass bowl.  Pour the hot half & half mixture over the chocolate.  Stir vigorously until smooth.

Add the bourbon and stir to combine.

The sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Though I’d highly recommend tucking into this sauce with just a spoon (kidding, sort of), I’ll show you what you can do with this soon.  Hint: it involves cheesecake.

Bourbon Chocolate Sauce | A Nerd Cooks

Stuffed Strawberries

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My cousin, Sarah, made these adorable and delicious stuffed strawberries for my other cousin’s (her sister’s) bridal shower this past weekend.
IMG_0976

You’ll need:

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • strawberries (amount depends on how big yours are… but ~2 of the clamshells you’d get at the grocery store)
  • vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl.  Put in a piping bag with desired tip or put into plastic zip top bag and use as a makeshift piping bag.

Wash strawberries and remove the hulls.  Using a paring knife, at the end where the hull used to be, hollow out a bit of the berry.  Discard or snack on removed strawberry innards.

Pipe cream cheese mixture into the hollowed out berries.  Top them with the crushed vanilla wafer cookies.  Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon & Blood Orange Curd

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Last night I decided to get my curd on.  I had a surplus of Meyer lemons, and Sean had brought a large bag of blood oranges home from work.  It only seemed natural.

I found the recipes on Cookie + Kate.  Please head over there for the recipes.  I made the Meyer Lemon curd exactly as the recipe states.  Next time around I would consider using more honey, or switching to sugar again.  I made the blood orange curd with ~1/3 cup of sugar instead of the honey.

Lemon and blood orange curdLemon on the left, blood orange on the right.

Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad

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This Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad is a staple at picnics, cookouts, and the like.  There are a lot of different versions floating around, but I found this recipe for Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad on allrecipes.com.

You’ll need:


2 cups pretzel twists or small sticks, crushed
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 tbs sugar


1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 (8 oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed


2 (3 oz.) packages strawberry-flavored Jello
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 oz. ) packages frozen strawberries (it’s nice if these are sliced, rather than whole)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  


Stir together the crushed pretzels, melted butter, and 3 tbs of sugar.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until set.  Set aside.


In a large mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar.  Feel free to use light cream cheese or that neufchatel business, if you’d like.  Fold in the whipped topping.  Smooth this mixture across the cooled crust.


Dissolve the Jello in boiling water.  Stir in the frozen strawberries, and set this bowl in the fridge for just a bit.  You want your Jello mixture to set a bit before adding it to everything else.  Otherwise things are a runny mess.


After the mixture has attained the consistency of egg whites, pour and spread it over the cream cheese layer.  Then refrigerate this dish until it has set.