Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday and the time I get to spend with my family. One of the things I am thankful for is all of you – who read this blog, leave comments, and e-mail me with compliments and questions. You all inspire me to keep baking, decorating, and blogging – and I’m forever grateful. I hope you have a happy, safe, and healthy holiday with your family and friends. <3

[ps: these cookies were inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest, but the source link was dead; I’d love to give credit where credit is due, but I can’t!]

I LOVE BAY BAKERY! Does that adequately convey my enthusiasm? Cause man oh man, I love this place.

• Their cookies have the most magical icing. I can’t even figure out what it’s made out of or what the secret is, but it’s to-die-for. Bay Bakery’s cookies are my absolute favorite. Obviously, given the design of the cookies above, these were bought back in October (whoops – didn’t get around blogging about them until now). They do seasonal cut-out cookies and they’re always adorable.
• Though not pictured, I also love their cakes. They made my mom’s 60th birthday cake (lemon poppyseed) and it was fabulous.
• When I visited back in October, I also tried some of their cupcakes — which were also amazing (I sound like a broken record…). I tried a chocolate + vanilla icing, raspberry, key lime, and one that was just a chocolate extravaganza. They were all great — even the key lime which was topped with evil coconut. ;)
• Another plus to Bay Bakery? It’s located in the adorable Whitefish Bay. Whitefish Bay is just north of Milwaukee and it’s filled with cute shops, restaurants, and the classiest Dunkin Donuts in all of Milwaukee (hey… I have my priorities…)
• Please visit if you ever get the chance!

Raise your hand if you are still working through your extra Halloween candy! I certainly am. And I can’t just have it sitting around otherwise I’ll eat it all. Butterfingers are one of my favorites. Love the flavor, love the faux chocolate they are coated with, and love the fact that they’ll always remind me of Bart Simpson. I found a great (and very simple!) recipe to help me get rid of these extra candy bars. Hope you enjoy!

Butterfinger Cookies
Recipe source: Sally’s Baking Addiction
Print Recipe

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1 large egg
8 fun sized Butterfinger candy bars, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl and set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in egg until just combined.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Butterfinger pieces by hand. The dough will be very thick.
5. Drop by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned. Allow to cool completely.

My best friend Bethany came to visit me in Milwaukee last month. We did all things tourist – Milwaukee Art Museum, Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukee Public Market, the Third Ward, the list goes on. We stopped at the Milwaukee Cupcake Company for lunch one day. Yes, for lunch. Stop judging. ;) Here are my thoughts on this delicious local bakery:

• Located in the Third Ward, one of my favorite neighborhoods.
• The bakery is situated in the lobby of an old building – and the building has other tenants, so it’s not a free-standing bakery.
• The varieties we tried: carrot cake, raspberry white chocolate, pink champagne, salted caramel, classic vanilla, and tuxedo. They do flavors of the week, so if you live in the area, check their website before you visit to find out what the treat of the week is :)
• The tuxedo cupcake was my favorite (because it involves so much chocolate, duh). It was just to-die-for.
• I also loved the carrot cake cupcake. This is surprising, as I usually hate carrot cake anything!
• The salted caramel was super, super sweet – which made it just ehhhh for me.
• The raspberry white chocolate and vanilla were classics — and they were just alright. Nothing great, nothing bad, just a cupcake.
• And my least favorite: the pink champagne. I just didn’t like it.
• So I adored two of the six! Not bad.
• The Milwaukee Cupcake Company is lovely — their cupcakes are moist and flavorful. Just find a flavor you love! (I’ll be stopping back for another tuxedo cupcake one of these days)

Note: I am not being paid to review this bakery, nor am I affiliated with it. I just really like trying local bakeries and treats.

PS: This bakery is now closed permanently. :(

It’s November! Yay! I mark November as the beginning of the coziest time of the year. The last two months of the year contain my favorite holidays and more warm ‘n’ fuzzies than I can handle. While I love cinnamon rolls, I do not love how involved they are to make. I always wish there could be an easier way — a faster version. Well here’s the answer: a cinnamon roll bundt cake. And this baby was AMAZING. It was easy to make (mix a bunch of stuff up and pop it in the oven for an hour) and tasted just like a cinnamon roll. . . minus the yeast!

Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake
Recipe source: Bake or Break
Print Recipe

For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3-ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon cinnamon

For the filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

For the glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9- or 10-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and pudding mix.
3. Add butter, oil, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Mix well. Dough will be thick.
4. In a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Gently fold into the cake batter. Do not mix thoroughly, but leave swirls of cinnamon sugar in the batter.
5. Transfer half of the cake batter to prepared pan.
6. To make the filling: Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Sprinkle over the batter in the pan. Scoop remaining cake batter over the filling and smooth the top.
7. Bake cake 45-50 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then, flip the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To make the glaze: Mix confectioners’ sugar, 3 tablespoons of cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add more cream as needed to make glaze pourable. Drizzle glaze over cake.