J@H - Homemade Snoballs

I'm a few challenges behind on my Junk at Home 2015 challenge, due to travel and work, so I thought I should get back to it with a bang! This week I was scheduled to make my own version of Hostess coconut snowballs and I decided to make it all from scratch.

Even though I had to made four different things for this recipe, it all came together pretty quickly. Aside from the shredded coconut, you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry. Well, as long as you're a baker, if you don't bake a lot you may need to head to the grocery story for a few things (unsweetened chocolate, marshmallow creme, Greek yogurt).

While you can get Snoballs at the store once again, you should definitely try making them at home. It's so much fun! Look at these adorable little purple puffs! The colored coconut is so easy to make. Simply place a bag of sweetened, shredded coconut into a large zip top bag. Add a drop of gel food coloring and squish it around until the coconut is evenly colored. Alternatively, you can add the coconut and food coloring to a food processor and pulse until the color is even and the coconut is slightly smaller.

The big question - do they taste like the original? With the combination of marshmallow, coconut and chocolate, there is no way for these to taste like anything else! This was definitely a winner in my book.

Two Years Ago: Strawberry Bacon Pizza
Three Years Ago: Pesto-Yogurt Chicken
Four Years Ago: Baked Pasta Casserole

Celebrations

I'm wrapping up my fun with ice cream! Today it's all about bringing back childhood memories. We're doing that with sprinkles. Lots and lot of sprinkles!

I've been seeing a version of this cake around the internet and have been dying to make it in my kitchen. I mean, look at all of those sprinkles! It's so pretty! It's also seriously easy to do. No need to worry about smooth icing, piping bags or imperfections. Just cover your cake with frosting and pour on the sprinkles.

I didn't stop with just sprinkles on the outside, the cake is also filled with adorable bursts of color. This is the perfect cake for a birthday, whether the birthday person be eight or eighty! Just be sure to stock up on sprinkles, you'll need a whole bunch of them.

It isn't a birthday celebration unless there is ice cream to go along with your cake. As soon as I saw this Fireball ice cream among the flavors from Perry's escapes, I knew it would be the perfect pairing with my vanilla sprinkle cake. Nothing reminds me more of middle school than fireballs and this ice cream tastes exactly like the classic candy.

If you are in the region that sells Perry's Ice Cream, you should definitely go and try out this flavor. I was so surprised at how dead on the flavor was in this ice cream. It has a strong cinnamon and spice flavor, with little bits of fireball candy mixed throughout. You definitely don't need to eat an entire bowl of this stuff, a scoop with your cake will totally satisfy.

Feel like a kid again. For your next celebration eat lots of sprinkles and ice cream!

Two Years Ago: Spice-rubbed Chicken & Gratin Dauphinois

Three Years Ago: PB&J Mallomars

Four Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Ice Cream Week - Grasshopper Sandwiches

It's day two of ice cream week! Today we're enjoying ice cream sandwiches, made with the biggest, richest cookies around, filled with ice cream, which is filled with more cookies! Ice cream sandwich Inception!

Summertime is ice cream sandwich time. Who wants to be tied to a bowl and spoon? With these bad boys, you're free to leave the house, roam the world and still eat ice cream. So perfect.

These particular ice cream sandwiches might be the perfect thing to share with a friend. The cookies are enormous and putting two of them together gives you something the size of a baseball. I decided to pair Perry's Grasshopper Pie with these rich cookies. The mint flavor of the ice cream is smooth and not overpowering. There are also crushed cookie pieces and fudge swirls throughout. The combination is totally decadent.

I only made up a few sandwiches with the Grasshopper pie flavor. I'm thinking these cookies would also be amazing with the Cocoa-Nut Bliss flavor - coconut ice cream with chocolate covered almond, fudge pieces and shredded coconut. What would you sandwich between these chocolate cookies???

Disclaimer -  As a member of their Inside Scoopers team, Perry's Ice Cream supplied me with a bunch of their new Escapes flavors. All opinions are my own. I'm only so happy to support this hometown brand because I grew up eating Perry's and they make a damn delicious ice cream!

Two Years Ago: Celebration Cake
Three Years Ago: Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Four Years Ago: Cream of Asparagus Soup