Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes

even with the lost hour of sleep this weekend i was inspired to cross many things off my to do list. baking for a friends birthday being one of them.

i saw this recipe on Patent and The Pantry and was so excited to make them!
since it was the first time i made them i followed the recipe almost exactly so take a
look at gwendolyn's site for the exact measurements.

limes, cream cheese, graham crackers, lime juice, butter, sugar and one egg
make this microwaveable treat super quick and super easy!
and yes, i said microwaveable.

press graham cracker crumbs and melted butter into the bottom of mini
canning jars to form a graham cracker crust.


mix the rest of the ingredients until smooth and fluffy,
spoon over the crust and microwave for 2 minutes
give or take 30 seconds.

chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour

enjoy -xo

Mini Cupcake Poppers

a few weeks ago i spent a night with three adorable little ones. 

if you read Always Love you've definitely seen them around

for these mini cupcake poppers

i used confetti cake mix, canned vanilla frosting,

and my trusty wilton food coloring gels

mix the cake according to the directions on the box, 

separate into 4 different bowls and mix with 4 colors of coloring gel

fill mini cupcake wells and bake

after the cupcakes are done baking and cooled, 

cut the tops off and discard the bottoms

fill with a little spoonful of frosting and press two tops together

creating a mini sandwich. 

hand out to beautiful little girls and watch their faces light up!

mini pumpkin pies

one of my favorite fall dishes is pumpkin pie.

i also have a love for mini desserts.

this is my combination of the best of both worlds.

pumpkin pie just isnt the same without Libby's

did any of you experience the hurt that i did when i found my

local markets shelves bare where i would normally find 

this lovely little orange labeled can?

oh the excitement when i found last years 

pumpkin crop catastrophe was over!

following Libby's trusty recipe, i mixed the ingredients and

filled mini tart tins lined with pie crust.

bake until filling is firm and crust is golden

top with whipped cream and 

revel in the taste of fall.

strawberry and vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

using a standard white cake mix

some flavored extract, and cream cheese frosting

i made these bite size treats to share at a friends annual labor day party.

first i filled a tray with plain cake batter(for those that are particularly picky)

and then made a tray of strawberry flavored cupcakes.

while cupcakes are baking and cooling, in a mixer

whip together softened cream cheese, a little vanilla extract

and some sugar for a simple cream cheese frosting

pipe just a little onto the cupcakes...

add a slice of strawberry to a few...

and just like that, youre done!

mini strawberry lemon cakes

this might be one of my favorite recipes so far.

it was another spur of the moment,

bake with whatever i find in the cabinet kind of night.

i baked lemon cake mix (yes i know. another cake mix,

but hey, it was late and spur of the moment.)

instead of baking the cake in a regular cake pan, i divided

the batter into muffin tins, for easy individual servings.

i whipped up some semi-homemade frosting and mixed in

a little strawberry extract for added flavor.

top with sliced fresh strawberries and enjoy!

mini baked donuts

many of you may have seen last fridays guest

blog post on sunshine on a cloudy day,

here is the recipe to go with those

adorable mini baked (semi-good for you) donuts

Donuts

*preheat oven to 425*

2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup almond milk

2 tsp melted butter

2 eggs

sift together dry ingredients before combining

in the milk, butter and eggs. mix until just combined.

spray donut pan with non-stick spray.

fill each donut well approximately 3/4 of the way full.

bake 6 minutes (cooking time will vary by oven)

[Recipe adapted from Wilton]

Icing

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbs almond milk

1/2 tsp extract (i used vanilla)

in a small bowl stir together the above ingredents.

dip cooled donuts and let set.

enjoy!