Cake Mix Blondies | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

eats: valentine’s day cake batter cupcakes.

3 February, 2015 by Gracie 8 Comments

January is always a tough month. It’s cold, you have to go back to a normal routine after the holidays, but worst of all…there are no themes to be celebrated.

February would be a similar situation if it weren’t for the oh so wonderful holiday of Valentine’s Day. I’m that girl who loves Valentine’s Day, whether I have a special someone to share it with or not! But I love just about any reason to embrace (cheesy) themes, if we’re being honest…

Even if you don’t like Valentine’s Day, you can at least use it as an excuse to treat yourself. So whether you want to make a little something sweet for your guy, your friends, or yourself (I won’t judge), these cute heart-shaped Valentine’s Day Cake Batter Cupcakes are a perfect little gift.

inspired by my original Cake Batter Blondies
yields 10-12 cupcakes

ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (I always use Betty Crocker)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 – 1/2 cup milk *
1/4 cup red & pink sprinkles
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
frosting of choice (strawberry is fun because it’s pink!)

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill cupcake pan with cupcake liners + nonstick spray.

Place cake mix in a large bowl, set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and oil.

Add wet mixture to the cake mix and combine as much as possible, then add the milk.

* Add as little milk as possible to just get the batter to come together. You want it to be THICK – almost like a cookie dough.

Mix in the sprinkles and white chocolate chips.

Place batter in lined cupcake pan, 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or just until the tops turn golden. **

Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then add the frosting. Decorate with sprinkles of your choice!

** Don’t be tempted to over-bake!!! That will result in a drier cakelike texture, not the ooey-gooeyness we’re going for!

You can use a regular cupcake pan/liners, but I couldn’t help but go for the heart-shaped look. I found these reusable silicone ones at Michael’s.

Valentine's Day Cake Batter Cupcakes || girlmeetslife.com

{photos by Sam Ruby}

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Do you like Valentine’s Day? Any special plans this year?

eats: red velvet cake batter brownies with cream cheese frosting.

29 November, 2014 by Gracie 1 Comment

Second only to my Original Cake Batter Blondies, this recipe has been my most popular post. It’s been a while since I shared it, so I thought it would be a good time to do a little re-post. You know, since it includes those Christmas colors and all 😉

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

brownie ingredients:

1 box red velvet cake mix
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk

frosting ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 + 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix in a large bowl and mix in the oil and egg. Then add the milk slowly JUST until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Place batter in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan and bake for 22-25 minutes.

While the brownies are is in the oven, get started on the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter until fully combined. Add vanilla and sugar, and continue beating until creamy.

Let brownies cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting/frosting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, brownie-batter texture.

Red Velvet Cake Batter Brownies || girlmeetslife.com

These babies - especially combined with the cream cheese frosting - are pretty much guaranteed to be a crowd pleasing dessert for the holidays.

(Check out all of my Cake Batter recipes here)

girl meets: 11.22.13.

22 November, 2013 by Gracie 9 Comments

fuel.

I always get so excited when a new Bestowed box arrives in the mail. I know I’m going to open it to find so many delicious and healthy treats!

Bestowed was kind enough to send me a free box for November, and this one was especially great – full of some old and new favorites.

If you want to try Bestowed for yourself, use discount code HELLOTEN105 to get your first box for $10 (normally $19)! This code expires on 11/30.

fun.

I love when my friends send me funny random things throughout the day.

…like this weird animation of me that Jessi made. I still have no idea how or why she made this but, I’ll take it. Haha.

And then there’s the Male Models And Cute Kittens Doing The Same Pose “article” that Erica posted on my Facebook wall. She really knows me too well…

Also on the fun front – on Wednesday night we had a clothing swap at my place for our last Community Group. We all walked away with a ton of great new clothes, and we donated what was left (about 3 trash bags full!) to Covenant House.

food.

To add to the girliness of the evening, I made an old favorite - a batch of Nutella Cake Batter Blondies. They were a whole lot of ooey gooey chocolately success, to say the least.

As for a new favorite – I’m loving these Little Green Handcrafted ‘Shroom Burgers. I always find store-bought veggie burgers to be way too small, and these are actually the size of a real burger. My go-to lunch lately.

(yes, we initial our food. haha)

fitness.

Every time I stop working out first thing in the morning…I pretty much stop working out all together. Why do I always forget how amazing it feels to exercise before work?! Back on the bandwagon with some strength training + treadmill intervals.

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Have you discovered any new food finds lately?
Do you prefer a morning or evening workout?