Happy 1st day of February! Yesterday, Multiplying Michie turned 2!
This is also my 100th published blog post!
Seems fitting to be sharing these sweets and treats today. Though shared in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, they could easily be made for any celebration … anniversary, girls night, Monday … whatever you want! Below you’ll find 2 super easy fudge recipes, a sweet & salty treat from my MeeMaw’s recipe box, a sparkly spin on a sparkling beverage and a festive Starbucks drink order I highly recommend you try!
Funfetti Fudge
3 cups Funfetti Chips
1 (14oz) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
Dash of Salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Line an 8 or 9in baking dish with wax paper or parchment paper.
Melt confetti chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt in a saucepan.
Add vanilla and remove from heat.
Spread evenly in your prepared pan.
Chill for 2 hours or until firm.
Remove from pan by lifting edges of paper; peel off paper.
Cut into squares or use cookie cutters to make fun shapes.
Enjoy!
This Eagle Brand recipe has been my go-to ever since my mom shared it years ago. Homemade recipes require more ingredients, take longer to prep and have a ton of sugar! This one is so easy and only takes about 10 minutes to whip up. Then after chilling for 2 hours, it’s ready for a party, a gift or your own enjoyment. You can easily substitute the Funfetti chips (these are pretty sweet but it’s pretty to look at and my girls like all of the colors) for semi-sweet chocolate chips to make the perfect chocolate fudge. The Funfetti chips alone can get a little sweet by themselves, so next time I would probably use with semi-sweet chocolate chips and follow the instructions of the chocolate peanut butter swirled fudge recipe I’m sharing next. I used to make chocolate fudge to give to Brad for Valentine’s Day every year when we were in college. This year, I’m making the next recipe for him to change things up!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirled Fudge
2 cups peanut butter chips
1 (14oz) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 tbsp butter
Dash of salt
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
Line an 8 or 9in baking pan with parchment or wax paper.
Melt peanut butter cups with 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
Melt chocolate chips with remaining sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan.
Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir until smooth.
Spread peanut butter mixture evenly into prepared baking dish.
Then spoon the chocolate mixture over the peanut butter mixture.
With a table knife or a metal spatula, swirl through the top of the fudge.
Chill 3 hours or until firm.
Remove from pan by lifting edges of the paper.
Cut into square and enjoy!
Cinnamon Orange Pecans
1 egg white
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
1 16oz bag of pecan halves
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tbsp orange zest
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat egg white at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff. Add water, vanilla and orange extract, beating to combine. Add pecan halves, stirring by hand. In a small bowl, combine sugars, zest, salt and cinnamon, stirring well. Sprinkle sugar mixture over pecans, tossing to coat. Spread in an even layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from foil. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!
(The couple stores I checked for orange extract were out, so I ended up just using the juice from the orange since I already needed it for zest. It obviously added more liquid than the recipe was calling for but it still gave the recipe plenty of orange flavor!)
Sparkly Sparkling Grape Juice + Champagne
While perusing some Valentine’s Day goodies on a recent shopping trip, I came across this cosmic champagne flavored cotton candy with flecks of gold glitter. I thought this would be so fun for elevating some actual champagne for sparkling grape juice to make it family friendly.
I know my girls will love the added sparkle to their drink, so we will be toasting to Valentine’s Day with the grape juice option. I bought both Martinelli’s Sparkling Blush and Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice.
Tasting the cotton candy by itself, the champagne flavor is extremely subtle, it more so just tastes like a little added sweetness. Cheers!
A Must-Try Starbucks Order
Do you love chocolate covered strawberries? And do you love coffee? Well, if you answered yes to those questions you definitely need to try this next time you are at Starbucks. I’ve seen some different variations starting to circulate but tweaked this one to be my own and it is *chef’s kiss*! I was getting a little bored with my usual caramel macchiato order, so this will definitely be my new go-to drink when I need a caffeine fix from Starbucks.
Here’s how to order it:
Grande Cold Brew
3 Pumps White Mocha
Vanilla Foam mixed with Light Strawberry Puree
(Alter pumps of syrup as needed based on what size you want to order)
Have you checked out my Valentine’s Day gift ideas for kids as well as DIY Valentines?
You can find that post here!
Or if you want to make some festive Valentine’s Day Hot Chocolate Bombs, you can find the how-to here!
Still to come — Valentine’s Day Crafts! I will link it here when it goes live!
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