A Day Late OR 364 Days Early? (King Cake Cake Pops!)

I know Mardi Gras was technically yesterday, but can you really blame me for wanting to keep the party going? I made these King Cake^2 Pops for a birthday celebration at work today. And based on 100% statistically sound exit polling, these treats would be a welcome offering year-round =p. The filling is a 6 Bittersweets original cake full of sour cream, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cream cheese. Dressed up in a slim candy coat and sparkly colors, these are my most party-ready cake pops yet! I suggest you grab on to any excuse you get to make these, whether it's Mardi Gras, a birthday, or even just Hump Day =).

Start Your Day Super (Cinnamon Teff Waffles with Blueberry Compote)

A few months ago, I was contacted by Phil, a representative for City of Hope -- a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases -- to ask if I'd make a recipe for their Superfoods Recipe Collection. He explained that over the past few years, the COH cancer research team had identified 5 foods "considered to have cancer-prevention qualities and should be included generously in everyone's diets": pomegranates, mushrooms, blueberries, grapes, and cinnamon.

These shouldn't be viewed as cure-alls or eaten to the exclusion of other healthy foods. But as part of a healthy, balanced diet with minimally processed food, these superfoods will help you control your weight, prevent or fight illness, and extend your lifespan. That was more than enough incentive for me to do my part in promoting 2 of these "superfoods," cinnamon and blueberry. Please head over to City of Hope's Facebook page to check out my Cinnamon Teff Waffles with Blueberry Compote and learn more about their incredible work. If you just need to grab the printable recipe quickly, click here.

Snickerdoodles (no relation to Snickers)

Yep, I baked for work 2 nights in a row on top of overtime...so I'm crazy alright. Frankly, this cookie recipe looked kind of vanilla to me after the "fancy" (as one coworker called it) flavor combination in yesterday's banana bread. Trust me though, I just inhaled 4 of these babies in an embarrassingly short amount of time so I'm confident they'll hold their own against other baked goods.

In case you're not familiar with snickerdoodles, as I just learned several people weren't, they're essentially sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. For my first time making these from scratch, I chose Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles recipe, posted on Allrecipes. With over 2,000 rave reviews, I figured I'd keep substitutions to a minimum and simply link to the original recipe. I used all butter and no shortening and doubled the amount of cinnamon sugar to make coating easier. As the photos show, mine were missing the cracked surfaces characteristic of snickerdoodles. On top of that, the cookies baked on different metal sheets and liners consistently set up differently from each other (see below):

Cookie baked on sheet with lower rim lined with a Silpat silicone mat (left) and
cookie baked on insulated sheet with higher rim lined with parchment paper (right)

I'd love to figure out what caused both of these results, but it'll have to wait. I'll be on vacation in NYC then NC all of next week. Superw00t! Bye for a while!