Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake and an AWESOME Giveaway!

I have exciting news for you all today.

1)  I get to do a really big and awesome giveaway thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics.  You guys do not want to miss this one.

and

2) I made a really delicious chocolate bundt cake, also thanks to Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics because I got the same package that I get to give away.

and

3)  I’m now obsessed with Redwood Hill Farms and Green Valley Organics… can you tell?

I had never tried lactose free yogurt or kefir before, but I honestly can’t tell the difference.  The only difference is that the lactose free kefir is not as thick as regular kefir.

Redwood Hill has all sorts of recipes, news, events, and other information on their website.  Definitely make sure to check it out!

Okkkay, now what you guys have been waiting for…

GIVEAWAY:

The prize package (minimum value of about $57.55) will include:

– 1 Eco-friendly insulated green “Get Your Goat, Have a Cow” co-branded tote bag (approximate value $5)

– 1 t-shirt (winner’s choice of Redwood Hill Farm Goat, Green Valley Organics Cow OR RHF kid-size shirt; approximate value: $15)

– 6, 6-oz cups Redwood Hill Farm Goat yogurts or free product coupons (valued at about $2.19 each = $13.14)

– 6, 6-oz cups Green Valley Organics Lactose Free yogurts (valued at about $1.59 each = $9.54)

– 1 32-oz bottle Redwood Hill Farm Kefir (about $6.39)

– 1 32-oz bottle Green Valley Organics Kefir (about $4.49)

– 1 12-oz Green Valley Organics Sour Cream (about $3.99)

Are you excited yet? Because when I received my package, I felt like a little kid in a candy store.

To enter, all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment saying why you want the prize package.

For extra entries:

1. Like Green Valley Organics on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
2. Like Redwood Hill Farms on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
3. Like What Katie’s Baking on Facebook and leave a comment saying you did so.
4. Follow Redwood Hill Farms on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
5. Follow What Katie’s Baking on Twitter and leave a comment saying you did so.
6. Subscribe to my RSS feed and leave a comment saying you did so.

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, October 2nd at 12:00 am.  Good luck! 🙂

If you don’t win, don’t worry, you can just buy their products!  Redwood Hill Farm and Green Valley Organics products are available at Whole Foods Markets, natural food stores and specialty grocers nationwide. To find a store near you, go to redwoodhill.com/store and greenvalleylactosefree.com/stores/

Now, for this deliiiiicious recipe (which got devoured extremely quickly in my house):

Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

Adapted from: Leite’s Culinaria

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
• 1/3 cup (1 ounce) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain Green Valley Organics plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, plus extra for pan coating

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ½ stick butter
• 1/3 cup Redwood Hills plain Kefir
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and sprinkle cinnamon in a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, and water and place over medium heat.
3. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Place the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
5. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended (the mixture will be quite thick). Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended before adding the next egg. Whisk in the Green Valley plain yogurt and vanilla until smooth.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.

Make the glaze:

1. Just before glazing the cooled cake, combine the Green Valley kefir, cocoa powder, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip and dribble down the sides.  It will soak into the cake and taste delicious.

 

Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

My friend’s uncle drives a cereal truck, so anytime he gets cereal, everyone I live with gets it, too.

This time, we got Rice Krispies, so I wanted to do something creative with them.  (Don’t worry, I’ve also made rice krispie treats twice now.)

I found a recipe for Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies, used it, and took it to another level.  They turned out really good.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they tasted like brownies covered with crunchy chocolate chip cookies.  Weird, huh? 😉  My brains not doing so well with descriptions right now, I think it’s because I just finished FINALS!! Yay!!!

What’s your favorite recipe for Rice Krispies?

Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Adapted from: Rice Krispies and  All Recipes

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup rice krispies
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Brownies:

• ½ cup oil
• ¾ cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. First, make the cookie dough.  In large electric mixer bowl, beat together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.
3. Mix  flour, baking soda and salt into butter mixture  until combined. Stir in rice krispies and chocolate chips. Set aside.
4. Then, make brownies.  In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, and sugar. Beat in eggs.
5. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended.
6. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.  Drop cookie mixture evenly over the top of the brownie batter.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Gooey Butter Bars

I’m taking a Public Relations class and I love it.  The people in it are awesome and so is my teacher.  Everyone gets along really well and it’s the class that I wake up on Tuesdays and Thursdays looking forward to.

We have to come up with a fundraiser for an organization, so last class we spent the period coming up with ideas. We were to see what people think of our ideas.  So far, this is what we have:

Movie Night

Adult Spelling Bee

Potty Protection Insurance

3 on 3 tourney
Bake Sale

Canned Food Drive

Improv Show

Tupperware Fundraiser

Talent Show

Cheesecake Calendar

Dance Off

School Carnival

Walk a thon

Wii Dance off

Clean Yards

Recycle Printer Cartridges/Cell Phones

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Slow Pitch Softball

Orange Juice Pong

Pie Eating Contest

50/50 Raffle

Bachelor/Bachelorette

BBQ Contest

Board Game/ Card Game

Butler Auction

Karaoke Night

Trivia Night

Fun Night

Haunted House in April

Dodgeball Tournament 

I’m personally favoring the eating contest and bake sale.  I would really like to hear your guys’ input!  What do you think people would like?

If we’re going to have a bake sale, I figure that I need to be baking more… ya know, for practice.  So my goal is to bake more often.  (If that’s even possible.) Starting now, with these Gooey Butter Bars…


Have you guys ever had Gooey Butter Cake before?  I hadn’t, but I had always heard that it was really good.  I saw the recipe for these bars on Jessica’s blog and thought they looked really good, but I wasn’t really planning on making them.  But then I was brainstorming at work with my friends about what to bake to pass out at the store and my friend Roxie was explaining something she had tried at a restaurant before and it sounded just like this recipe.  I got really excited and made it and oh wow… they’re creamy on the inside and they’ve got sort of a caramelized top layer and a soft and chewy bottom crust.  I had 3, Kellen (who doesn’t like sweets, remember) had 2 and then I brought them to work and Roxie had 3, too.   Then, one of my other friends asked if he could take the rest home with him. Yeah, they’re pretty good.


I know I always tell you guys to make stuff, but… make these!!


P.S. I saw this healthy vegan fudge over at Chocolate Covered Katie and really wanted to try it, but I don’t have any coconut butter.. but then I saw that she’s giving coconut butter away.  Isn’t that crazy?? So I entered to win… send me good luck!! 🙂


P.P.S. I didn’t get a finished product picture. 😦  They were eaten too quickly.

 Mix dry ingredients for crust.

 Add the wet ingredients.

 Have your helper press the crust into a pan. 🙂

 Mix the filling…

 …until creamy.

 Okay, so it’s really ugly… but the taste completely picks up what the looks lack.

Gooey Butter Bars (from scratch version)
Jessica- How Sweet Eats 

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 2 cups sugar
• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 whole Egg
• 1/4 cup milk

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 3-¾ cups Confectioner’s Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Prepare crust first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a wooden spoon until moist. Transfer to a 13″x9″ ungreased baking pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
3.  Next, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and continue to mix. Next, add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time until all sugar is mixed in. Pour filling over the crust, and spread evenly with a spatula.
4.  Bake gooey butter cake for 40-45 minutes until it is browned, but the center is still jiggles when the pan is shaken. Cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with additional confectioner’s sugar and serve.

Gooey Butter Bars

I’m taking a Public Relations class and I love it.  The people in it are awesome and so is my teacher.  Everyone gets along really well and it’s the class that I wake up on Tuesdays and Thursdays looking forward to.

We have to come up with a fundraiser for an organization, so last class we spent the period coming up with ideas. We were to see what people think of our ideas.  So far, this is what we have:

Movie Night

Adult Spelling Bee

Potty Protection Insurance

3 on 3 tourney
Bake Sale

Canned Food Drive

Improv Show

Tupperware Fundraiser

Talent Show

Cheesecake Calendar

Dance Off

School Carnival

Walk a thon

Wii Dance off

Clean Yards

Recycle Printer Cartridges/Cell Phones

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Slow Pitch Softball

Orange Juice Pong

Pie Eating Contest

50/50 Raffle

Bachelor/Bachelorette

BBQ Contest

Board Game/ Card Game

Butler Auction

Karaoke Night

Trivia Night

Fun Night

Haunted House in April

Dodgeball Tournament 

I’m personally favoring the eating contest and bake sale.  I would really like to hear your guys’ input!  What do you think people would like?

If we’re going to have a bake sale, I figure that I need to be baking more… ya know, for practice.  So my goal is to bake more often.  (If that’s even possible.) Starting now, with these Gooey Butter Bars…


Have you guys ever had Gooey Butter Cake before?  I hadn’t, but I had always heard that it was really good.  I saw the recipe for these bars on Jessica’s blog and thought they looked really good, but I wasn’t really planning on making them.  But then I was brainstorming at work with my friends about what to bake to pass out at the store and my friend Roxie was explaining something she had tried at a restaurant before and it sounded just like this recipe.  I got really excited and made it and oh wow… they’re creamy on the inside and they’ve got sort of a caramelized top layer and a soft and chewy bottom crust.  I had 3, Kellen (who doesn’t like sweets, remember) had 2 and then I brought them to work and Roxie had 3, too.   Then, one of my other friends asked if he could take the rest home with him. Yeah, they’re pretty good.


I know I always tell you guys to make stuff, but… make these!!


P.S. I saw this healthy vegan fudge over at Chocolate Covered Katie and really wanted to try it, but I don’t have any coconut butter.. but then I saw that she’s giving coconut butter away.  Isn’t that crazy?? So I entered to win… send me good luck!! 🙂


P.P.S. I didn’t get a finished product picture. 😦  They were eaten too quickly.

 Mix dry ingredients for crust.

 Add the wet ingredients.

 Have your helper press the crust into a pan. 🙂

 Mix the filling…

 …until creamy.

 Okay, so it’s really ugly… but the taste completely picks up what the looks lack.

Gooey Butter Bars (from scratch version)
Jessica- How Sweet Eats 

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 2 cups sugar
• 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1 whole Egg
• 1/4 cup milk

• FOR THE FILLING:
• 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted
• 3-¾ cups Confectioner’s Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Prepare crust first. In a large mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a wooden spoon until moist. Transfer to a 13″x9″ ungreased baking pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
3.  Next, prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter, and continue to mix. Next, add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time until all sugar is mixed in. Pour filling over the crust, and spread evenly with a spatula.
4.  Bake gooey butter cake for 40-45 minutes until it is browned, but the center is still jiggles when the pan is shaken. Cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with additional confectioner’s sugar and serve.