These pepperoni pizza pinwheels are short on time but not on flavor!

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I can pretty much guarantee that any recipe that has to do with pizza is going to be something that my family will love and devour. A few years ago, I stumbled across this recipe for pepperoni pizza pinwheels. I don’t even remember where I saw it, but I changed it slightly and it’s now a recurring recipe for our family.

It’s the kind of recipe that works well for an appetizer, carry-in or dinner. Pepperoni pizza pinwheels are ideal party food if you are hosting a get-together as well!

Though I use only pepperoni for our family, you could easily use other pizza toppings your family likes as well as long as you chop them well. (If you are using another meat like hamburger or sausage, be sure to cook it first before adding it into this recipe, just like you would for a pizza.)

Preheat your oven according to the directions on your canned pizza crust. (Mine said 425-degrees.) Spread your pizza crust out onto a large cutting board to form a large rectangle.

Next, you can add Italian seasoning to the crust for a little extra flavor. You can use Italian seasoning blend, oregano, crushed red pepper or whatever you have on hand. You can also skip this step. I have made the pepperoni pizza pinwheels both with and without the seasoning, and it’s good both ways!

Then you spread shredded cheese over the top of the seasoning. I use either mozzarella or Italian blend. Cover the crust with a layer of cheese. This is how much cheese I put on and my husband and kids don’t like much melted cheese! (My husband prefers pizza ordered with 1/4 the usual amount of cheese from restaurants.)

Next, chop your pepperoni (and other pizza toppings if desired) and spread it evenly over the top of the cheese layer. You could buy the pepperoni sticks or diced if you can find it. I usually just have round pepperoni slices on hand, so I use a sharp ceramic knife and cut them into small pieces.

Your pepperoni pizza pinwheel crust is now all ready. Starting from one of the longer ends of the rectangle, roll the dough tightly. If you’ve made cinnamon rolls before, it’s the same sort of roll. It will turn into one long log like this:

Using a very sharp knife (I love ceramic knives for their sharpness and ease to care for), slice the roll into about 1-1/2 inch thick slices. Place the cut slices onto a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or covered with parchment paper. (I recommend parchment paper for easy clean up.)

Chances are, you’ll have cheese and some pepperoni left on your cutting board when you are finished. I take this and spread it over the pepperoni pizza pinwheels on the baking sheet — no sense in having ingredients go to waste!

Now you’re ready for the oven. Your pepperoni pizza pinwheels should look something like this:

Bake them in your preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until they are lightly browned.

You can serve the pepperoni pizza pinwheels with pizza sauce, but my family loves them best served with Ranch dressing to dip them in. (And then that lets me easily add some baby carrots on the side for them to dip as well!)

These pepperoni pizza pinwheels are best served warm.

Once you make this pumpkin bread recipe, you’ll never make another one!

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

The weather has definitely cooled off here in the Midwest, which often puts me in a baking mood. One of my favorite things to make this time of  year (and really year-round) is pumpkin bread. Does anything taste more autumnal than pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon? Nope!

My husband is a fan of many pumpkin treats. I can usually take or leave them, but pumpkin bread is the exception. It is my favorite sweet bread, hands down. I found a recipe for pumpkin bread made from scratch quite a few years ago and did a small amount of tweaking to make it just a tad healthier. It is definitely in regular rotation for my family.

I’ve made it as muffins, and it made lots of them. I’ve also made some mini loaves, but most often I make it into full-sized bread loaves. Even though it’s a from-scratch recipe, it’s super easy! When my daughter was in kindergarten, I helped a group of kindergarteners make this bread. So you can, too!

You’re going to need a large bowl for this. I used a large plastic bowl that I also use for serving potato chips when we have a family cookout. Everything mixes in that one bowl so it’s the only one you need to use — and clean!

First, stir together the dry ingredients: both flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Measure them out, pour them in and stir them together. Also, I use part wheat flour for this recipe just to cut down on white flour, but you can use all white flour if you want. I’ve not tried it with all wheat flour.

Next, get ready to add the wet ingredients. Make sure that you’re using canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling. 

Add in the 15-ounce can of pumpkin, water, vegetable oil and eggs. Give it a really good stir. More often than not, I stir by hand with a spoon, but you can you a handheld mixer if that’s easier. You want to get everything mixed together well, and it’s a pretty full bowl.

Then it’s all ready to go into pans that have been greased and lightly floured. I usually use cooking spray. I sprinkle a very tiny amount of flour and am not sure that’s even needed now that I have these awesome Rachael Ray loaf pans. I’m loving her line of bakeware because it really is good at being nonstick! I loved the one loaf pan that came with my set so much that I ordered a second one, in fact. My mom fell in love with my Rachael Ray bakeware when she tried it. She got a set of her own, and she doesn’t even bake as much as I do!

Slide those pans into the oven and bake for an hour to hour and 10 minutes. I check mine around an hour and go from there. The loaves go side-by-side (not touching) on the same rack in the oven. I use the toothpick test to see if it’s finished. You know, the fancy method of sticking a toothpick down the center and seeing if it comes back clean (done!) or gooey with batter still stuck to it (needs to bake longer).

This pumpkin bread so incredibly good! I store mine in either a gallon-sized zip-top bag or wrapped in Glad Press ‘n Seal (love that stuff!). It is good for at least a week. I’m not sure how it freezes, because my family eats it too quickly for me to have a chance to freeze it.

And just to show you what I mean about the Rachael Ray loaf pans, this is mine after I dumped the cooled loaves of pumpkin bread. I had prepped them with a light spritz of non-stick cooking spray and a tiny amount of flour.

So many options for such an easy-to-make pie!

A few years ago, a friend shared an easy pudding pie recipe with me and ever since then, it’s been in my rotation of recipes. It works great for a carry-in dinner or even just an easy weeknight dessert.

You can whip up this pudding pie recipe in five minutes and even make it sugar free and low fat and it still tastes good! I actually do make it sugar free and low fat and my whole family loves it.

I used lemon pudding mix most recently, but you can use literally any flavor of pudding mix you want. I’ve made it with butterscotch and cookies-and-cream in the past as well. So many options!

You start with making the instant pudding mix according to the directions on the package, which means whisking the mix with two cups of milk for two minutes. I used sugar-free instant lemon pudding mix and 1% milk for this one. The mixture should start to thicken a bit like so:

Next you pour half of the pudding mixture into a graham cracker crust. You can make your own or buy one. I always use a store bought one, because they are cheaper than if I bought the ingredients myself and they are way easier. (And you could totally swap out for a chocolate graham cracker crust if you think it would be good with your pudding flavor!) I just measure with my eyes to look like it’s half. Basically, it should cover the bottom of the crust and maybe be about an inch thick.

Set the crust aside and gently fold half of the whipped topping into the remaining pudding mix. I used Sugar Free Cool Whip for this time around, but regular works fine as well. Again, I just estimate it so that I use about half of the 8-ounce container for this pudding pie recipe. (Be sure to fold in the whipped topping instead of whisk to keep the mixture light and airy.)

Spread the whipped topping and pudding mixture evenly over the top of the first pudding layer in the crust. It should cover well and come almost to the top of the crust.

Stick the whole pie into the refrigerator for at least an hour to set. It can stay in there longer. Be sure to refrigerate your remaining whipped topping as well, because just before you serve it, you’ll spread it on for a final layer.

It’s so good! The layers aren’t dramatic visually, but they’re there. It is definitely a soft pie, so I usually serve it up in small bowls, but it works on plates as well. Should you end up with any left, be sure to refrigerate it. I know it lasts well for three days, but I’ve never had any left longer than that!

Find other easy, no-bake dessert recipes:

Edible chocolate chip cookie dough

Easy mint chocolate chip mousse

The best puppy chow recipe

4-Ingredient Oreo ice cream cake

No-bake butterscotch haystacks recipe

Easy microwave fudge made 5 ways

This easy recipe is a hit for an appetizer or for dinner!

Affiliate links are used in this post; if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

If you know anything about me from the recipes I share on here, you know I like recipes that are easy and go over well with my family. I first came across this recipe for BLT pizza years ago.

I’ve put my own twist on it, and it has recently made a comeback in our house. BLT pizza is great for busy nights when you don’t have a lot of time and don’t want to make a mess of your kitchen.

Also, it combines both bacon and pizza. I’m not sure it gets much better than that!

In order to make my life easier, I use some easy ingredients like precooked bacon and pre-shredded lettuce for this BLT pizza. You can most definitely fry your own bacon and shred your own lettuce to make this recipe. I’m just sharing it the way I make it.

This BLT pizza recipe can also be halved if you’re just serving a couple of people or using it as an appetizer. I’m giving you the recipe as I make it now, which feeds my entire family of two adults and two children for dinner.

Start with preheating your oven according to the directions on the crescent rolls. Then open the two cans of crescent rolls and spread them out into one large rectangle onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

(For years I have used the Air Bake cookie sheets from T-Fal. They are hands-down my favorites for baking cookies and anything else I need a cookie sheet for!)

The parchment paper is not completely necessary, but it makes cooling and cutting it later easier. And it definitely also makes clean-up way easier!

You could probably use a rolling pin to get the dough rolled more smoothly and all creases gone, but they don’t show once the food is made, so I just use my clean fingers to smoosh them all together to look like this:

Once the oven is preheated, put the crescent roll crust into the oven and set the timer. I start with the suggested time on the package and check it. I’ve found that it tends to need a few extra minutes to get nice and brown all the way through. (It could be my oven.) You want it to be this color when it comes out:

While the crescent crust is baking about (10-14 minutes for me), I make the precooked bacon in the microwave. I usually cook it longer on a lower percentage of cook power in order to help it get super crispy. It needs time to cool off before you break it up, so do this as soon as you can.

Also while the crust is baking, prepare your other ingredients. If you need to shred or tear up your lettuce, do that now as well.

Once the crust is finished cooking, pull it out of the oven and let it set for about 3-5 minutes. Then, gently slide your parchment paper onto a large cutting board. I love the flexible cutting mats best for their size, ease of use and ease of fitting in my dishwasher and kitchen cabinets! (Also, for $6.99, you can get three!)

When the crust is not piping hot, put the mayonnaise and honey mustard on the top of it. You can measure this out with the measurements below or just squirt it on well enough to cover the dough. If you like lots, put on extra. If you like less, put on less. It’s all about preference!

I drizzle it on like this:

Then I use a spatula and smear it around like this:

The honey mustard gives the mayo a little extra tanginess that works really well with these flavors. In fact, I use it like that on my turkey sandwiches for the same reason!

Once the mayo layer is finished, spread the shredded lettuce over the top. Then add the shredded cheese. While all of these things can be measured, I really don’t measure them. (And I’m a big believer in measuring things when I cook; this recipe just doesn’t need much measuring!)

I crumble the crispy bacon on top of that. If you notice, my BLT pizza is minus the “T.” My husband and son don’t like tomatoes; my daughter and I do. I don’t always have tomatoes on hand when I make this, but when I do, I dice them up and put them on the side. Then my daughter and I can add tomatoes on our own pieces. Easy peasy! Chopped green onions also work well on this pizza, but I almost never have those on hand, so I don’t usually use them.

Since your pizza is already on the cutting board, it’s easy to slice through it with a pizza cutter then serve and enjoy! (My husband loves a pizza blade while I usually prefer a roller-style pizza cutter, so we have both!) The nice thing with this pizza is that it’s good at room temperature or cold.

It’s so yummy! For us, it’s usually our main dish. I pair it with some chips and fresh veggies. Delicious!

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These toasted pizza subs are easy to make and customize for your family

Affiliate links are used in this post; if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I love recipes that are easy to make and please my whole family; this pizza sub recipe does just that.

Both my son and husband love anything pizza. I mean, I do, too. What’s not to love? The sauce. The cheese. The toppings. The crust. Mmmm. However, we like to shake things up, and this pizza sub recipe is great for that. Plus it’s easy, which makes it even better!

My mom first got this recipe from another mom when I was a teenager. She made the pizza subs with pizza sauce, shaved ham and cheese. They were delicious!

My husband and son, who are particular eaters, don’t eat ham, so I tend to go a bit more traditional pizza toppings with our pizza subs. However, they are completely customizable to what your family likes and even what individual members of your family like.

In fact, when I make this pizza sub recipe, I make each one slightly different for each person in my family!

The first thing that a good sub needs is toasted, crunchy bread. So I toast the bread before I put on toppings. I used to toast by spraying it with margarine spray or brushing melted margarine or butter on the bread. Now I just use some non-stick cooking spray spritzed on the top of the bread.

After setting my oven to 450-degrees, I open up the sub buns onto a cookie sheet covered with my beloved Reynolds Non-stick Aluminum foil, which makes clean up so much easier. Then I spritz them generously with non-stick cooking spray.

The buns then go into the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Keep check on them to make sure they don’t get too done. You want them to be lightly browned around the edges. Once they are, then pull them out and add the toppings, starting with pizza sauce.

Next up add your toppings. I usually put a bit of Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce then add Italian blend or mozzarella cheese. My husband doesn’t like much cheese on his, so I go light cheese for him. My kids are sort of average on cheese, and I love it, so I cheese up the bread accordingly.

Then go the other toppings. For my guys, that means pepperoni. This time around I added some diced onion to my husband’s pizza subs as well. My daughter doesn’t like pepperoni so much so I thawed a small amount of cooked, chopped hamburger for hers and also added diced onion. I like all of the above, so I did some pepperoni, a small amount of hamburger and onion on my own.

But, you can totally use whatever pizza toppings you and your family like best: green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, bacon, ham, pineapple, chicken, etc. You could even switch up the sauce and use barbeque sauce or ranch dressing.

After the toppings are on, the pizza subs go back into the hot oven for about 8 to 10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Sometimes for the last minute or two, I turn the broiler on low to get them good and toasting on top, but the pizza sub recipe works just fine without using the broiler as well.

Pull them out of the oven and serve them up! I usually put my pizza sub together like a sandwich while my husband eats his in open-faced sandwich style. Either way works!

Join the Families with Grace Acts of Grace challenge and receive a FREE devotion book today! In just a few minutes each day for seven days, you can focus on what giving grace looks like and how to put that grace into action.

Frozen dough and precooked bacon make this bread as easy as it is delicious!

Affiliate links are used in this post; if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

Sometimes I try recipes and they flop. Other times, they become a staple. This is one such recipe. I first came across it way back in 2001 in a magazine called “Quick Cooking” that was put out by “Taste of Home.” The magazine may no longer exist, but this recipe remains in my family. 

This recipe is the one I make for my husband when I owe him something — like when he overhauls my technology or sets up a website for me. He is a technical genius. I am not so much. I can’t come close to affording his actual hourly rate, but fortunately for me, he accepts this bacon ranch cheese bread as payment.

Most of the time, I make it just for him, but it also works nicely for a carry-in dinner. The best part is that it starts with frozen bread dough and pre-cooked bacon, so it is pretty darn easy.

Of course you can use your own bread dough recipe and cook bacon fresh if you want. Back when I was first making this recipe, I had no clue how to even make my own bread dough. Nowadays I do, but I still go with the frozen for this recipe.

It’s up to you whether to cook your bacon first or thaw your bread dough. I usually cook the bacon first in the microwave. I get it good and crispy then set it aside while I do the dough. The benefit to making the bacon first is that it has time to cool before you have to crumble it up later in the recipe. I’ve done it both ways and have nearly burnt my fingertips breaking up hot bacon!

After your bacon is all nice and crispy, it’s time to thaw the bread dough. When I first started making this bread, I assumed you thawed bread dough much like you thaw anything else. So I put it in the microwave on the setting to thaw for meat. I set it for 1 pound. It’s not the correct way to thaw bread dough, but it works for this recipe. Seriously. You don’t have to plan way ahead or anything. Thaw it in the microwave like you would anything else. You could also leave it out at room temperature for a few hours.

While your dough is thawing, go ahead and turn your oven on to 200-degrees to preheat for dough rising.

Once your dough is thawed, put it on a cutting board and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thick, so it looks something like this:

Next you brush it with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Then it’s time to cut it into about 1-inch squares. You can use a dough cutter for this, but I am a fan of just using a really sharp knife. I love ceramic knives because they really do stay sharp! And your pieces don’t have to be exactly 1-inch in size, but they should be close in size so they all bake at the same rate.

Next you put your bread dough pieces into a bowl. I use my glass batter bowl with a lid, because you have to cover it and shake it. You could cover a bowl with plastic wrap if you want also.

Add the other 1 tablespoon of oil, cheese, bacon and ranch dressing mix to the dough in the bowl. I’ve tried adding the items in various orders and it really doesn’t seem to matter what order I add the ingredients. It will look something like this:

Cover the bowl with its lid or plastic wrap and shake it all around so the pieces get coated. If your kids are helping you, they love shaking the bowl — or at least mine do! When you’re finished, it should look like this:

Next, prepare a cookie sheet. You can spray it with non-stick cooking spray or do what I do and use Reynolds Non-Stick Aluminum Foil. I love the stuff. I use it for recipes like this so I have have easy clean-up and even use it by itself to serve as a baking sheet for smaller frozen pizzas. Parchment paper would also work.

Put the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. I usually just dump it in the center and then spread it out a bit into a large oval shape.

Cover the bread (I usually use foil to do this.) Put the bread into your oven preheated to 200 and turn off the oven. Let the bread rise for about 30 minutes until its doubled. Turn the oven to 350-degrees and once it is at temperature, remove the foil from the top of the bread (but hang onto it for later!).

Bake it 15 minutes then cover the bread with foil and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. It will look like this:

So good! You can serve it warm or at room temperature. My husband likes to dip it in honey, but you can also dip it in ranch dressing or just eat it as is.

An easy recipe your family will love any time of the day!

My son is obsessed with peanut butter. I send it in his lunch in some form almost daily: on bread, on flatbread, on bagel thins or with crackers to spread it on. Sometimes he likes some honey mixed in with the peanut butter for variety, because he also doesn’t like jelly.

The flavor of peanut butter and honey is so good and seems like such a treat! Those flavors combine for this super easy, super yummy, not-too-bad-for-you treat. I’ve been making these peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters for a couple of years. Every time I make them, my family gobbles them up. The last time I made them, I doubled the recipe so they would last more than a day.

I have served them for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert. They’re the kind of treat that I don’t feel bad about giving my kids because there isn’t a refined sugar and other bad stuff for them. It includes whole grains and protein. You can’t get much better than that — except if you can make it easily.

I would daresay this is one of the easiest recipes in my repertoire. It takes only about five minutes and doesn’t even require the oven or stovetop. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t!

Start with 1/4 cup of honey and 1 cup of peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. I use my large glass mixing bowl.

Put the bowl in the microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds. Stir and heat again for 30 seconds until the peanut and honey are melted together. (If you’re making a double batch like I did with this one, you may have to heat for another 30 seconds.) It should look like this:

Gently stir in 2 cups of honey nut Os cereal. (Clearly the name brand here is Honey Nut Cheerios, which I have found really does tend to work better than store brand just because they have less of a stale taste to them.)

Once it’s all stirred together, drop immediately in clusters of about 1 tablespoon each onto parchment paper. I used two spoons. I scooped the cereal out of the bowl with one and then used the other to help plop it onto the paper. While I use parchment paper for this, I think that wax paper or even aluminum foil would work just fine as well.

A single batch makes approximately 24, depending on how big you make your clusters them. Let the peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters cool for 30 minutes or so and they are ready to enjoy! Store them in a ziptop bag or plastic container with a lid to keep them fresh. They don’t have to be refrigerated.

Join the Families with Grace Acts of Grace challenge and receive a FREE devotion book today! In just a few minutes each day for seven days, you can focus on what giving grace looks like and how to put that grace into action.

One simple tweak to a brownie box mix makes all the difference!

About 20 years ago, I discovered a hack to make box mix brownies so good and fudgy that it doesn’t even matter what brand of box mix you buy. My brownies are one of my most requested desserts to bring places. I am almost ashamed at how easy they are to make!

Affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

I start with a brownie box mix and make it up according to the directions on the box. Any size works for this recipe, but I will say if the box says it will fit in a 9×11 pan, go with that size.

If you use a smaller pan, the brownies wouldn’t be as fudgy since they would be thicker. Having a bit thinner brownie gives you more fudginess!

Then follow the directions on the brownie mix to. Stir the batter, and put it in your pan.

I highly recommend the Rachael Ray bakeware. It is nonstick and my absolute favorite bakeware I’ve ever used.

This is where the brownie hack happens. Are you ready for it? Grab your bottle of chocolate syrup out of the fridge — the kind you put on ice cream or use to make chocolate milk — and swirl it over the top of the brownie batter in the pan.

Check out the baking time on the brownie box mix. Set your oven timer for 3-5 minutes prior to the shortest time given. Check your brownies then to see if they are done.

I always test my brownies by sticking a toothpick into the center and seeing if it comes out clean. If so, they’re done. If it is still goopy, bake the brownies a few minutes longer and check again. Feast your eyes on this gorgeous fudgy-ness! (Is that a word? I don’t even care!)

And that’s it. Once the brownies have cooled, they are ready to cut. If you are going to stack them on a plate, give them PLENTY of time to cool. Otherwise, they meld into one giant fudgy uni-brownie. Trust me, I speak from experience!

Also, check out this pan. Nothing sticks to the Rachael Ray bakeware! I did spray it with a light spritz of non-stick cooking spray, because I’ve used mine so much they need a bit of help, but this Rachael Ray cake pan is my all-time favorite. I LOVE it!

Because these brownies are so fudgy, they don’t need to be frosted. And they are usually best eaten with a fork or spoon!

I promise you people will ask for your brownie recipe. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to share this hack with them!

Join the Families with Grace Acts of Grace challenge and receive a FREE devotion book today! In just a few minutes each day for seven days, you can focus on what giving grace looks like and how to put that grace into action.

An easy twist on taco night your family will love!

I have a couple of particular eaters in my family, but we all agree on Mexican flavors. Taco anything tends to go over well. I first tried this recipe on them a couple of months ago. Since then I’ve made it a few times because we all liked it so much and it’s easy.

While my family would be happy eating tacos a couple of times a week, I like to change things up. This recipe still gives that taco flavor but in a different way. Who can complain about combining tacos and cornbread? We love both around here!

It starts with a basic Jiffy cornbread mix. You know, the one you buy that is less than $1, which is super nice! Mix it together with an egg and 1/3-cup milk into a batter then spread into a greased 8×8 pan. I use a glass baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Stick that in the oven at 350-degrees for 15 minutes. While that is baking, prepare your meat that will go on top of it. While you could use more meat or add in some black beans, my family isn’t big on meat or beans. I use with 1/2-pound of seasoned ground chuck and find it’s the right amount. That said, we also use about 1/2-pound of seasoned ground chuck for the four of us when we eat tacos. We really aren’t meat-heavy around here.

HOWEVER, that works in my favor. I usually fresh ground chuck when making tacos, which is usually packed in 1-pound packages at my local grocery store. So, I cook the full pound, season it and then freeze the 1/2-pound we don’t eat in a Ziploc bag. When it’s time to make this (or nachos!), I pull it out of the freezer, thaw it (usually in the microwave because it’s easiest for me) and it’s ready to use. I freeze it flat to take up less space.

So, for this recipe, preparing the meat for me means thawing it out. While the meat thaws, I mix together sour cream, shredded cheese and onion for the top layer.

The cornbread layer will be finished after 15 minutes as being soft-set. It looks like this:

Once you have the cornbread layer out, spread the meat gently over the top. If you are using more than 1/2-pound, it will cover the cornbread more densely. Below you can see below that 1/2 pound covers it completely.

Top the meat layer with the sour cream/cheese/onion mixture and spread evenly over the top. I usually dollop the mixture out in blobs over the top and spread each just a bit. Minimal spreading for this works best!

Once the sour cream layer is on, it goes back in the oven at 350-degrees for 20-25 minutes until it’s warm and the cheese is melted. It comes out looking like this:

All that’s left is to cut and serve! I usually let it set for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. It doesn’t come out in slices and looks a bit messy but it’s so good! You can easily top the bake with diced tomatoes or lettuce or whatever other taco toppings you like. We don’t do that in our house. We serve it alongside tortilla or corn chips and dip the chips right into it for some added crunch.

It’s so yummy that even my most particular eaters will eat it and get seconds, which is great! This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13 dish to feed a crowd.

Easy-to-make buttercream frosting so scrumptious everyone will think you got it from a bakery!

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here.

Oh. My. Gosh! I am still flabbergasted about this buttercream frosting recipe. I’ve tried various recipes for buttercream frosting and didn’t love any of them. I don’t want my icing to taste too buttery. But, I don’t want it to be so sweet that it makes my teeth ache.

Finally after tweaking with recipes, I’ve done it. I’ve created the best buttercream frosting! Even better is that it really is easy enough for anyone to make. This is completely doable for anyone with some basic ingredients and a mixer (handheld or stand).

I’m an icing lover. LOVER! I love cake and cupcakes, especially if they are moist and delicious. I told you a couple of days ago about the four tweaks I use to make cupcakes (and cakes) better than the bakery. But all that yummy cake needs something special on top of it. I have eaten icing from so many bakeries and so many different types. Some are so super sugary. Some are greasy. This one is just right.

Now I’m going to guess you’re thinking that of course I love it because I love icing. And that’s true to an extent (I have tasted some mediocre icing, to say the least!), I have even more proof: My husband loves this buttercream frosting! I have never, ever, ever made an icing that my husband likes or encountered one from a bakery that he likes in the 20-some years I’ve been baking for the guy.

I am beside myself with joy! My husband is a nice guy and doesn’t say things to be mean, but he is also honest and will tell me if I make something he doesn’t care for. The fact that he not only told me the icing was the best he’s ever had but then proceeded to eat a few cupcakes with it on top has made me swoon!

So, of course, I’ve got to share the recipe with you. You already know how to make yummy sponge (as they say on all the baking shows!) thanks to the tweaks I’ve shared. Now you can make yummy icing for the top with just a few ingredients. While you can top your cupcakes with the buttercream frosting by smearing it on with a butter knife or spatula, I use a pastry bag and star tip. It used to intimidate me, but it looks pretty and it really does take less time to frost cupcakes. I have no cake decorating skills and I can make them looked swirled OK. You can do it, too!

While I whip up this icing using my beloved Kitchenaid stand mixer, you can also make it with a handheld mixer. The recipe below makes plenty of icing for one cake or 24 cupcakes. (And if you have a bit extra and want to lick it from the bowl, I won’t judge you because I totally did the same thing!)

Making the frosting

Listen, I know that shortening isn’t so healthy. Of course, neither is butter, but you really do need both for this recipe. I buy baking sticks and then store them in the fridge. Honestly, this is the only recipe I use them for, but it’s so worth it!

Put the butter and shortening into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together. Basically, beat them together until they are smooth and fluffy.

Next, gradually add in the confectioner’s sugar until it’s fully incorporated into the butter/shortening.

Once the confectioner’s sugar is incorporated, then add the vanilla and stir it in. Next, add in the milk on low speed (otherwise it will splash out and hit you). Once the milk is stirred in, then beat the buttercream icing on medium to medium-high speed for three to four minutes until it’s nice and fluffy.

Use the butter cream to frost completely cooled cakes or cupcakes. You can add food coloring if you’d like. One batch makes enough icing for one 9×13-inch cake, two 9-inch round cakes (with icing between the layers) or 24 cupcakes.

Quick and easy buttercream

This quick, easy and oh-so-delicious buttercream frosting recipe is so scrumptious that everyone will think you bought it from a bakery!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup salted butter
• 1/4 cup shortening trust me on this!
• 4-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• Food coloring if desired

Instructions

 

• Cream the butter and shortening together with your hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixture. Beat it up it is smooth and fluffy.
• Gradually add in the confectioner's sugar until it's fully incorporated.
• Beat in the vanilla.
• Add the milk and once it's incorporated a bit, beat on medium to medium-high for 3 to 4 more minutes.
• If you're adding food coloring, drop it in and mix until the color is even and smooth.

Keyword 4 ingredient dessert, Birthday cake, buttercream, buttercream frosting, buttercream icing, cakes, cupcakes, frosting, icing

Be sure to also check out my 4 easy tweaks to make cake mix cupcakes taste better than bakery ones!