I'm so excited to share these cookies with you. I love hearts (isn't it obvious?) and I LOVE YELLOW!

Also, it's the second year for our Valentine's event to benefit Cookies for Kids' Cancer! Bloggers from all over signed up to participate, they donated, they created recipes and I'm so excited to share them with you. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom and click over to check out the recipes!

Did you know that childhood cancers are the #1 killer of children in the U.S.?

Did you know that there are 12-13,000 new childhood cancer diagnoses each year?

Did you know that for every $1 of cancer research only 3 pennies goes to childhood cancer research.

This is why Cookies for Kids' Cancer exists! This is why they do what they do. They sell cookies to fund the researchers who are trying to find cures and better treatment options for children suffering through cancer today. They also encourage all of us to hold bake sales to raise much needed funds.

Please consider donating today: Donate Now

Also, watch this video to learn more about what Cookies for Kids' Cancer does! A huge thank you to them for what they do for children!

I want to shout out to these companies because they are matching what we raise up to $3000 total. THANK YOU, Dixie Crystals, Mediavine and OXO!!

Now back to the cookies…

Yellow makes me smile, what about you?

Of course, I used Dixie Crystals powdered sugar and my new OXO baking sheet!

Cream the sugar with the butter.

Add the egg yolk and extracts.

Mix until well combined.

I always mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.

Now we have cookie dough!

It looks perfect!

Add the sprinkles and mix again. I love these ones!

I like rolling cookie dough in between two pieces of parchment paper so I don't have to add more flour to the dough.

See how easy?

It's perfect!

I used a 1.5 inch heart cookie cutter.

Remove the dough surrounding the cut outs and then use a cookie spatula (like this one) to move the cut out to your baking sheet.

These are so small, they only take 5 minutes in the oven!

I used Bridget's royal icing recipe for the icing to decorate these cookies. And here's a quick video of how I decorated them!

I used drops of lemon yellow and a couple of drops of orange to get the yellow color I wanted! I used a #3 tip to outline the cookies and then a #4 tip to flood the cookies. These are so sunshiney happy smiley cookies, I love them!

They are pretty easy to make, be sure to follow Bridget's tips for the royal icing!!

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Yellow Heart-Shaped Rainbow Funfetti Cookies

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 Dixie Crystals confectioner's powdered sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
• 1 batch of royal icing I used Bridget's recipe
• Americolor lemon yellow soft gel paste food color
• Americolor orange soft gel paste food color

Instructions

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using an electric hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar and whip until well combined. Then, add the egg yolks and extracts and mix until also well combined.
• Combine and mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in batches to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
• Then, add the sprinkles and mix until just combined.
• Divide the dough in half and roll between two pieces of parchment paper using a rolling pin, until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. (I take the excess dough and roll up and re-roll until I have no dough left).
• Place on a silicon mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes (or longer for bigger shapes).
• Make royal icing and color the icing. Pipe outlines and then flood the cookies. Allow for them to dry overnight.

Notes

I just halved this recipe for Rainbow Funfetti Cutout Cookie Recipe from Sweet Sugarbelle.

Check out the other recipes from bloggers who participate this year!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cake from Julie of Julie Blanner
Cherry Coconut Macaroons from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Brownie Cookies from Mel of Mel's Kitchen Cafe
No-Bake Chocolate Candy Cookies from Debi of Life Currents
Double Dark Chocolate Chery Black Forest Cookies from Jamie of Southern Revivals
White Chocolate Valentine Madeleine Cookies from Marlynn of Urban Bliss Life
Pillowy Soft Sugar Cookies from Stephie of Stephie Cooks
Steak with Pink Peppercorn Sauce from Sonja of Ginger & Toasted Sesame
Creamy Beet Risotto from Rachel of Copper & Verdigris
Valentine's Day Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Denise of Chez Us
Red Velvet Donuts from Gwynn of Swirls of Flavor
S’mores Brown Butter Panbanging Cookies from Marybeth of babysavers
Gluten-Free Chocolate Kiss Cookies from Audrey of Mama Knows Gluten Free
Gluten-Free Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies from Brianna of Flippin' Delicious
Rose Meringue Cookies from Kirsten of Comfortably Domestic
Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Curry from Shashi of Savory Spin
Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies from Dee of Meatloaf and Melodrama
White Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie from Sarah of Sarah Cooks the Books
Cream Wafer Cookies from Kelly of Live Laugh Rowe
White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies from Wanda of My Sweet Zepol
Raspberry Fudge Cookies from Jessica of A Kitchen Addiction
Raspberry Cookies from Courtney of Know Your Produce
Syltkakor Raspberry Jam Cookies from Megan of Stetted
No-Bake Chocolate Tart from Rachel of Rachel Cooks
Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies from Angela of About a Mom
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies from Lisa of TasteCookSip
Chai Latte Shortbread Hearts from Sue of It's Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Soft and Sweet Sugar Cookie Bars from Carlee of Cooking With Carlee
Strawberry and Cream Cookies from Ashley of A Cup of Charming
Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies from Lisa of Blogghetti
Galete Waffle Cookies from Shaina of Food for My Family
Almond Shortbread Cookies from Denise of addicted 2 recipes
Easy Strawberry Fudge from Chrysa of Thrifty Jinxy
Valentine's Day Mug Hug Cookies from Aimee of Southern From Scratch
Doughnut Sandwich Cookies from Bree of Baked Bree
Chocolate Nutella Cookies from Melissa of Modern Honey
Easy Crinkle Cookies from Amy of The Nifty Foodie
Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Becca of The Salted Cookie
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies from Sara of Confectionary Tales
Meringue Cookies from Sara of My Imperfect Kitchen
Rose White Hot Chocolate from Susannah of Feast + West
Gluten Free Lavendar Shortbread Cookies from Carolann of Apron Warrior
Fruit Filled Chocolate Waffle Cones from Nicole of For the Love of Food
Chocolate and Vanilla Sweetheart Cookies from Sheila of Life, Love, and Good Food
Raspberry Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies from Nancy of The Bitter Side of Sweet
Chai Spiced Snickerdoodle Cookies from Ashley of Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
Heart Happy Valentine Cookie Chocolate Cheesecake from TammyJo of The Chocolate Cult
Persian rice cookies from Caroline of Caroline's Cooking
Chocolate Dipped Espresso Shortbread Cookies from Julianne of Beyond Frosting
Fudgy Chocolate Sixlets Cookies from Barbara of Barbara Bakes
Bake Chocolate Donuts with Cherry Glaze from Deb of Taste & Tell

There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Yellow Heart-Shaped Rainbow Funfetti Cookies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by White Lily.

Since I made these peanut butter cookie cups at the request of Curtis last year, I had to make these chocolate chip cookie cups as well. Because when he drew that diagram for me, he also talked about the chocolate chip cookie ones.

I made these a few months back and shared them with friends and they were a HUGE HIT. I'm so excited to share these with you!

Chocolate chip cookie cups with frosting or icing…however you call it. But I had to, just had to add the unicorn frosting bit. What do you think?

Supplies you'll need for this recipe:

• stand mixer
• White Lily flour
• cookie scoop
• muffin pan
• angled spatula
• large piping bag
• small piping bag (at least 2 or 3)

Let's start with the flour. My favorite flour to bake with. I always mix the dry ingredients together first.

Then, I mix both sugars and the butter together.

Then, mix together with vanilla extract and egg.

In two batches, add the flour mixture and mix together.

Don't over mix.

Add the miniature chocolate chips. Since these cups are small, the miniature ones work the best!

Spray your nonstick muffin pan and use your cookie scoop to scoop uniform sized cookies into the muffin pan.

Super easy. You don't have to push the cookies down or anything.

They automatically bake domed in. Perfect for the icing!

Add the butter to your stand mixer and mix.

Add the powdered sugar in batches (don't add it all at once!).

Once you have all of the powdered sugar mixed in…

add the milk in one tablespoon at a time. Then, mix it for 5 to 6 minutes.

Split the frosting up in bowls to mix your colors.

Pretty colors, right?

Set up your piping bags, I put them into cups so I can easily put the frosting in.

Using the angled spatula, add the frosting to the bags.

Add a rubber band to the top and then cut the ends of the bags.

Set up the large piping bag with the tip.

Then, put all of the frosting bags into the large one…I thought I could fit 4 into it but I couldn't! So I just used three colors.

Get your chocolate chip cookie cups ready to frost.

Frosting them is easy. It just takes some time and you'll get used to the pressure you need to put on the bag to get an even design on the frosting.

These are sooo good! I know you'll love them!

I can't wait to make them again!! I have a couple of friends who mention these every time I see them!

And Curtis loved them too!

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Unicorn Frosting Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 12 to 14 cookie cups

Ingredients

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

• 1 cup White Lily all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 Stick 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Unicorn Frosting

• 2 Sticks 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 pounds powdered sugar sifted
• 1/4 cup whole milk maybe a little more

Instructions

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

• Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with nonstick baking spray. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add White Lily flour, salt, baking soda and ground cinnamon to a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix together and set aside.
• Add butter and both sugars to a medium sized mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together. Add vanilla extract and the egg and continue mixing.
• In two batches, add the flour mixture and combine with a rubber spatula, taking care to not over mix. Scoop cookie dough into the prepared muffin tins using a medium cookie scoop. Bake for 13 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a couple of cookie cups comes out with crumbs.
• Remove from the oven and place the muffin pan on a cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing.

Unicorn Frosting

• Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix together with vanilla extract. Add powdered sugar in batches (being careful to not add too much at a time or you’ll have powdered sugar everywhere). Mix until combined. Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, then mix for 5 to 6 minutes on medium speed.
• Add frosting to three bowls and split the frosting evenly. Color the frosting accordingly. For the blue, I used one drop of sky blue. For the purple, I used one drop of regal purple and two drops violet. For the pink, I used one drop soft pink and one drop deep pink. Mix with a different angled spatula. Refrigerate the frosting until ready to use.
• If refrigerated, allow the frosting to sit on the counter for at least 20 minutes.
• Add the frosting to piping bags set up in a cup or glass (to make it easier to add as well as less mess). Cut the ends of the piping bags and then add to a prepared 16-inch piping bag that’s fitted with a 1M tip. Push the bags down and pipe onto cooled cookie cups to make the colored swirl you see in my photos.

Notes

Notes:

I use gel food coloring to color my buttercream.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by White Lily. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that I work with, it allows me to keep doing what I love; sharing on The Little Kitchen.

The post Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Unicorn Frosting appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by Florida Department of Citrus.

First off, I'm excited to be working with the Florida Department of Citrus to bring you a couple of Florida orange juice recipes! I love Florida orange juice and drink it practically every day!

I love tres leches cakes…so I thought I would combine it with my love of Florida orange juice. And it turned out amazingly! Adding citrus to it…kicks it up another notch!

You'll want a slice of cake and another.

Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.

I creamed the butter and the sugar together and then add eggs and vanilla extract…mix with an electric hand mixer.

I baked the cake with Florida orange juice!

Pour it in to the batter and then mix.

Then, add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula.

After the milk mixture cools, pour in the Florida orange juice and mix.

Pour the milk & orange juice mixture into the cake.

All done. Now let it soak on your kitchen counter for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

After the liquid has soaked into the cake for 45 minutes. Don't skip this step because the cake needs to soak it all in at room temperature.

Whipped cream topping is all done!

I use an angled spatula to spread the whipped cream on top of the cake.

The cake is so pretty!

Look at that cake! I hope you make it for family and friends soon!

Today is National OJ Day! Make sure you follow the hashtag #AmazingInside on on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and join in on the conversation! Be sure to follow them on Facebook, follow on twitter and on instagram!

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Orange Tres Leches Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 16 Makes 1 cake

Ingredients

Orange Vanilla Cake

• nonstick baking spray
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Florida orange juice

Milk and orange juice soaker

• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup Florida orange juice

Whipped Cream Topping

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For soaker

• (Prepare before baking the cake or while it’s in the oven.)
• In a medium saucepan, add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk. Mix well and cook over medium heat, 8-10 minutes. (Do not bring to a boil.)
• Set aside to cool. After it’s cooled, add Florida orange juice and mix together. Set aside until needed.

For orange vanilla cake

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray a 9-inch square pan with nonstick baking spray on the inside bottom and sides. Set it aside.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Cream the butter and sugar using an electric hand mixer, until fluffy, about one minute. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and Florida orange juice to creamed butter mixture. Beat 1-2 minutes, until well mixed.
• Add the flour mixture in batches, about 1/2 at a time. Mix until blended with a rubber spatula, but don’t overmix.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and level out the top with your spatula.
• Bake for 20 to 21 minutes at 350 degrees F, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove cake from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

For whipped cream

• Add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl (with high sides). Whip using an electric hand mixer, 5 to 6 minutes, until soft peaks form.

To assemble

• Poke holes all over the cake with a fork. Make sure you poke holes all over the cake!
• Slowly pour the cooled orange-milk soaker mixture about 1/4 of the mixture at a time, allowing the soaker to be absorbed each time. You can use a rubber spatula to spread it and gently push the soaker into the cake. Repeat until finished.
• Allow the cake to sit and absorb the soaker for 45 minutes to an hour (on your counter). (This is an important step. The cake needs to absorb the milk and orange juice before you refrigerate it.)
• Cover cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate cake for at least one hour. Remove and frost with whipped cream as desired. The cake is now ready to serve.
• Be sure to refrigerate any leftover cake.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Florida Department of Citrus. I only work with brands that I love and only share with you my own opinions. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Little Kitchen possible.

The post Orange Tres Leches Cake appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I love cupcakes…so when KitchenAid asked me to participate in their 10,000 cupcakes campaign…to bring awareness to breast cancer during the month of October and to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, I said yes!

Not only because I love cupcakes but because as an individual I support Komen for the Cure and its mission to end breast cancer. My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor and I used to volunteer with my local Komen affiliate. It's an important cause that's near and dear to my heart.

This raspberry ice stand mixer was released by KitchenAid a couple of years ago and the inspiration behind the frosting for these cupcakes…and thisssss new ceramic bowl was just released! I LOVE it!

I mixed the butter to get it going first and then added the powdered sugar (half of it at first).

And then the next batch.

Add the extracts and then the milk a tablespoon at a time.

Once it's done, portion it to bowls.

I decided to do a couple of pink versions of the icing and then swirl them!

I actually made a video awhile back to show you how easy it is to swirl frosting!

The bags are all ready!

Pink frosting makes me happy!

What can you do? Talk to your doctor to find out the guidance for early screening. I have had conversations with my own doctor over the years because of my family history of breast cancer and recently got a mammogram. It was a little uncomfortable but so is a lot of things when you go to the doctor, right? I don't think that should discourage women from get their screening that they need to get done. Because 1 in 8…say it with me 1 in 8 will be develop breast cancer. That's a huge number.

And another thing, make a pink cupcake and share the picture on instagram or twitter and using the following “#10000cupcakes #donate and @KitchenAidUSA” and KitchenAid will donate $1 to support the fight against breast cancer, up to $10,000. Let's get on it!! (For more info, visit the KitchenAid website.)

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Pink Raspberry Buttercream Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 pounds powdered sugar sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 teaspoons raspberry extract
• 1/4 cup whole milk maybe a little more or a little bit less
• pink color paste gel

Instructions

• In the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer, add butter. Using the paddle attachment, beat until smooth on medium. Add powdered sugar in two batches and mix until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla extract and raspberry extract and mix.
• Add milk, gradually, starting 1 or 2 tablespoons. Mix and and continue adding milk until smooth. Continue mixing buttercream for 4 to 5 minutes. Store in the refrigerator if not using immediately. Place buttercream on your kitchen counter for at least 15 to 20 minutes before using (if refrigerating).
• For the cupcakes, use these vanilla cupcakes!

Disclosure: This is not a compensated post; I shared this because the breast cancer cause is important to me. I did receive the stand mixer and the bowl from KitchenAid to help facilitate this post as well as for the purpose of review. I only share with you brands that I love! There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Pink Raspberry Buttercream & 10,000 Cupcakes appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I was out of town for a week and came home yesterday! My first flight of the day was at 5:30am…since it was so early, I didn't get much sleep. Honestly, when I have such an early flight, I usually don't sleep well. I'm so paranoid I'm going to oversleep and miss my flight! Please remind me never to book a flight so early! I literally had to have people ask me questions more than once today because my brain was so slow from the lack of sleep.

I told you that I was going to make these cupcakes with almond milk and I did it! I'm so thrilled to share these with you and work with Blue Diamond Almond Breeze again!

How about another close up? Don't you love the blue buttercream and the sprinkles? Sprinkles MAKE me SMILE!

I always measure out the dry ingredients first and then get to the wet ingredients.

Cream the butter and the sugar together.

Then, add the eggs one at a time.

After mixing the eggs and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar.

I add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix.

And then, add the almond milk…since these are vanilla cupcakes…I used the Almond Breeze almondmilk vanilla!

Nice batter!

Using a cookie scoop,

I portion out the batter in the cupcake liner-filled muffin tin.

While the cupcakes are baking, I make the buttercream.

I love the turquoise color that I used for the frosting. I made these for friends and they were a hit! I'm loving baking with almond milk and can't wait to try more recipes!!

Don't forget to check out the $100 giveaway I have going on right now that's sponsored by Almond Breeze!

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Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream (made with almond milk!) Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup Almond Breeze Almondmilk vanilla

Vanilla Buttercream

• 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 pounds powdered sugar sifted
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 to 4 Tablespoons Almond Breeze Almondmilk vanilla maybe a little more

Instructions

Vanilla Cupcakes

• Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Add cupcake liners to muffin tins. In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or can use a large mixing bowl and an electric hand mixer), add butter and sugar. Cream butter until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment. On slow speed, add eggs, one at a time and until completely mixed. Then, add vanilla extract and vegetable oil and mix.
• Add dry ingredients and mix on slow speed until incorporated. Do not overmix. Add almond milk and mix on slow speed for 30 seconds. Scrape bottom and mix again for 20 to 30 second or until batter is smooth.
• Scoop or pour 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake liner. Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick in center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from muffin tin and allow to cool on cooling rack.

Vanilla Buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and beat with paddle attachment until smooth. Add powdered sugar in two batches and mix until creamed. Add vanilla and mix.
• Add almond milk, gradually, starting with 1 Tablespoon at a time. Mix and and continue adding almond milk until smooth. Continue mixing buttercream for 4 to 5 minutes. Store in the refrigerator if not using immediately. Place buttercream on your kitchen counter for at least 15 to 20 minutes before using (if refrigerating).

Notes

from The Little Kitchen (modified from my other Vanilla Cupcakes recipe)

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almondmilk. I only work with brands that I love and always share with you my own and honest opinions.
 
 

The post Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream (made with almond milk!) appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Florida Strawberry Growers Association and learn all about Florida strawberries. When I arrived, we were all talking about strawberry shortcakes and someone mentioned having one on a fried donut. I was like WHAT? I need to make that. And I did. It was amazing and I will be doing this again and again!

Photographed here, the shortcakes are on Pembroke Collection plates by Q Squared. I found out about Q Squared in Utah last year and love love their products. Totally durable and reasonably priced…it's great for every day and for entertaining. That's their flatware too!

These strawberries are so perfect. I had fun playing around with them with my camera. I ate a lot of strawberries…well, because I came home with 10 POUNDS!

This was our group. I help plan get togethers with local food bloggers from the Central Florida area. That's Sue on the left, she organized this event for us!

Strawberry flowers. Once they bloom, it takes 35 days for a strawberry to grow. I love this photo because you can see the green unripe strawberry growing out of the the flower and how the calyx starts!

Strawberry fields. We were lucky enough to be able to pick strawberries and taste them straight from the field. It was amazing.

The best way to store strawberries? Completely dry and in the refrigerator at 33 degrees F. Strawberries don't actually freeze until at least 28 degrees F.

We visited the FSGA's strawberry fields and BBI Produce. It was so neat to hear all about the research and the strawberry varieties grown in Florida. Strawberries are planted in October and harvest from November and usually until March.

And then we went to lunch at Ole Town Pizza in Plant City. Amazing amazing pizzas and these rolls, were divine. I had two. We also had the best ever strawberry salad. I'm going to recreate that salad soon!

We then made our way to Parkesdale Farm Market and enjoyed strawberry shortcakes and the most amazing strawberry milkshakes. Shortcakes are only available during strawberry season…I recommend you head down there if you're ever in the Plant City area!

Back to the recipe…

I hulled and sliced the strawberries and put them into a bowl with sugar and a few drops of water. Mix.

The amount of sugar you'll need depends on how sweet your strawberries are. These were really sweet so I didn't need much.

This is a total cheater recipe. I used canned biscuits. These make great easy fried donuts. We make them all the time. Don't judge. I'm serious, I don't want to hear it. If you want to make your doughnuts from scratch, here's a great recipe for homemade doughnuts!

Fry them in some oil.

Let them sit for one minute and then dip them in sugar.

I made homemade whipped cream with vanilla extract and sugar. You can use canned whipped cream if you want.

Photographed on Pembroke Collection plates with flatware by Q Squared.

For reals, this is amazing. I think I like this even better than actual shortcakes. Fried donuts. Enough said.

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Fried Donut Strawberry Shortcakes Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups strawberries washed, hulled and chopped
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• canned refrigerated buttermilk biscuits 5 count
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar

Instructions

• First add oil to a large pot and turn heat to medium low.
• Prep strawberries. Place in a bowl and add sugar and 2 to 3 dashes of water. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
• Turn oil to medium and while waiting for the oil to get to 325 degrees F.
• Add 1 cup sugar to a bowl and set aside. Prep a small baking sheet and cover it with foil and paper towels and set aside. Open can of biscuits and separate biscuits. Using a small circle cookie cutter or the tip of a round pastry tip, punch a hole in the middle of each biscuit.
• Fry 2 to 3 donuts at a time for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the finished donuts and place on covered baking sheet. Allow donuts to cool for only 1 minute.
• Carefully and one at a time, place donuts in the bowl with sugar and use a spoon to cover.
• Add heavy cream, vanilla extract and powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, whip until there are stiff peaks.
• Place each donut on a small plate, top with strawberries and whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Other strawberry recipes:
Strawberry Mojito Slushies
Strawberry, Grapefruit and Ginger Smoothie
Sautéed Strawberry & Sugarsnap Salad with Almonds
Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese
Strawberries and Cream Bars
Basic Peach & Strawberry Jam

Disclosure: Thank you to FSGA for hosting our blogger group for the farm tour. This post is sponsored by Q Squared. I only share with you my honest opinions and brands that I love.

The post Fried Donut Strawberry Shortcakes appeared first on The Little Kitchen.