Top 5 Kylee's Kitchen Recipes of 2015

I’m counting down the days to the New Year with the “Top 5” Kylee’s Kitchen recipes of 2015!

I’ve made a wide variety of recipes this year, from cookies to slow cooker meals to more sweets, but here are the five most viewed recipes on my blog this year!

5. Slow Cooker Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

4. Gooey Butter Cookies

3. Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

2. Three Ingredient Banana Pancakes

1. Texas Sheet Cake Cookies

What was your favorite recipe in 2015? What types of recipes would you like to see more of in 2016? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Hot Chocolate French Toast

Hot Chocolate French Toast may very well be the most over-the-top breakfast imaginable. It has the trifecta of chocolate + marshmallows + whipped cream! And, yes, it’s still breakfast because it’s FRENCH TOAST.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but if you write the phrase “French Toast” somewhere in the title of the dish then it counts as breakfast.

Now, I am in no way suggesting you should eat this every morning for breakfast, but I think this would definitely be a fun idea for Christmas morning! It’s fun and interactive and it gets your kids in the kitchen. You can have the little ones stuff the bread “pockets” with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Then once the French Toast is done cooking, they’ll love topping it off with whipped cream and chocolate syrup!

Hot Chocolate French Toast

Ingredients

For the French Toast

• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons of hot cocoa mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 8 thick slices of bread

For the Chocolate Syrup

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

OPTIONAL: Whipped Cream (You can also use store bought whipped cream)

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

For the Chocolate Syrup

Make this first so it's ready when you finish cooking the French Toast!

1. In a microwave safe bowl add the cream and chocolate chips.
2. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring each time until smooth.
3. Set aside.

For the French Toast

1. In a glass measuring cup or medium size microwave safe bowl add 1 cup of coconut milk.
2. Stir in hot cocoa mix and let cool 5 minutes
3. In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and salt
4. Whisk in hot chocolate
5. Cut slice of bread 3/4 of the way through to make a “pocket”
6. Fill the pocket with chocolate chips and marshmallows, but be careful not to overfill it. You don’t want it to come out in the pan while it’s cooking.
7. Place the bread in the hot cocoa egg mixture. Let bread soak for five minutes, and then flip to other side and let soak for another five minutes so both sides are coated.
8. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and coat generously with butter.
9. When the skillet is hot, cook the French Toast until golden and crisp – about 2-3 minutes per side. (Check it after two minutes because the hot chocolate mixture is sugary and will burn quicker.)
10. Remove French Toast from pan and serve immediately with chocolate syrup and whipped cream

For the Whipped Cream

1. Beat heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla on high speed until high peaks form (about two minutes)
2. If you like a lot of whipped cream, you may want to double the recipe!

This recipe is adapted from a video by Tastemade.

Creamy Chocolate Fudge

You know what makes for a great gift during the holidays? FOOD! When you give someone the gift of food, you don’t have to worry if it’s the right color or the right size – delicious food is universal; one size fits all, if you will ;)

This chocolate fudge is an easy way to treat someone with a sweet tooth! It’s so creamy that it melts in your mouth. And it makes a great gift because it’s durable enough to ship across the country and it stays fresh for several weeks.

Yia Yia always makes fudge around the holidays, so now my mom and I make it too! I always thought this was Yia Yia’s secret recipe, but as it turns out, it’s very similar to a recipe from Kraft. Regardless, this recipe holds a special place in my family’s heart, and I guarantee your family will love it too!

Creamy chocolate fudge

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 can evaporated milk, 5 ounces
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil, and let the edges of the aluminum foil extend over the sides. Set the pan to the side. (The purpose of this is so it is easy to remove the fudge once it has set.)

Combine butter, sugar, and evaporated milk in a large saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Once the mixture reaches a full rolling boil, stir it constantly for five minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat and add chocolate chips. Once the chocolate chips have melted, add the marshmallow cream and stir until combined. Then add the vanilla and the walnuts.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the 9x13 pan and spread the mixture until it’s evenly distributed in the pan. Let the fudge cool for about 4 hours before lifting it out of the pan and cutting it into squares.

Festive Christmas Tree Brownies

FACT: Food is instantly better when it’s been holiday-fied ß Not a word, but that’s okay. Remember these candy corn Rice Krispies treats I made for Halloween? Yeah, ADORABLE! So for Christmas, I’m adding a seasonal spin to a classic dessert – BROWNIES!

Quadrilateral brownies are so overrated. Instead, I’m making Christmas tree brownies! Initially, I used a Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut the brownies into the appropriate shape, but there were too many scraps and not enough trees with that method. So instead, I cut the brownies into triangles, which look just like trees with significantly less scraps. In fact, there are exactly four half-triangle scraps that you should most definitely snack on while cutting the rest of the brownies.

But no Christmas tree is complete without garland and ornaments, right? So I decorated the trees with vanilla buttercream frosting, sprinkles, and mini M&Ms! I used vanilla buttercream frosting as opposed to cream cheese frosting or chocolate ganache because buttercream frosting hardens, it lasts longer, and it’s easier to transport ß important if you want to stick these in cute holiday bags and hand out as gifts to your friends and neighbors.

Also, Christmas trees have trunks, which are easily made with candy canes!

FOREWARNING: You may be surprised that my brownie “recipe” is a box of Ghirardelli brownie mix. I can already hear the haters saying, “That’s not actual home-baking!” Well ya know what, I’ve tested out half-a-dozen homemade brownie recipes and the Ghirardelli brownie mix is my favorite. And I think sometimes we forget that easier is better. So I’m using brownie mix and NO ONE CAN STOP ME FROM LICKING THE BATTER!

Christmas Tree Brownies

Ingredients

For the brownies

• Two boxes of Ghirardelli brownie mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

For the buttercream frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 4 to 5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

For the brownies

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Line a 15x10* baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick baking spray (the reason for using aluminum foil is so that they’re easy to pull out of the pan). Set pan aside.
3. Mix the water, vegetable oil, and eggs in a bowl.
4. Add the two boxes of brownie mix and stir until well-blended.
5. Spread mix into pan.
6. Bake brownies for 39 minutes. Check on them – if you stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, they’re done! If brownie mix sticks on the toothpick, bake for a two more minutes and check again.
7. When the brownies have cooled, life the aluminum foil out of the pan.
8. Slice the brownies in half length-wise (down the center) and then make six diagonal cuts to form 22 “trees” with four edges as scraps in each corner.

 For the buttercream

1. Beat softened butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
2. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined
3. Add cream, vanilla extract, and salt and mix until combined
4. Increase mixer to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes.
5. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if frosting is too thick.
6. OPTIONAL: Add two to three drops of green food coloring and mix until color is distributed.
7. Decorate brownies with frosting, sprinkles, and other toppings of your choice!

*If you don’t have a 15x10 pan, use a 9x13 pan – the brownies will just be a little thicker.