Tis the season for peppermint flavored everything, instant breakdancing when trying to get to your car, and mad crowds at the stores trying to get the best deal on an item. But as a college student, we have a little more to worry about then this, and what I mean by this is that it is finals season. This may be a scary time for you, but you have to remember what is at the end of the tunnel: a month long break away from school, time with family, and time to relax. So, to help you make it through the rest of this semester and finish off strong, I have provided some sweet treat recipes to make the semester and finals bearable.
From Joyfoodsunshine.com
Puppy chow:
- 9 cups of unflavored Chex cereal
- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup of creamy peanut butter(melted)
- ¼ cup of butter(melted)
- 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla
- 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar
Step one, measure out the 9 cups of cereal and this aside in a large bowl. Make sure that the bowl is large enough to mix all the ingredients into. Next, get yourself a microwave safe bowl and add the chocolate, peanut butter, and butter into the bowl. You will put this mixture into the microwave for about a minute, then you will take it out and stir it with the one spoon that you brought to college. Place the mixture back into the microwave and nuke it again but for only 30 seconds this time. Repeat this process until the mixture is smooth, then add the vanilla.
The next step is to bath the Chex cereal in the melted mixture until it seems to evenly coat the cereal. For the next step, you will need to acquire either a very large Ziploc bag or a normal plastic grocery bag that one would get from the local Walmart checkout. Pour the chocolatey Chex mixture into the bag, then you will shower it in the powdered sugar. Shake that bag until all the powdered sugar has coated the Chex. Since it is the holiday season, you can add something like green and red M&Ms to the mix to add a little bit of Christmas flair. Now you are ready to share with your friends or keep it all to yourself for a Netflix night, but remember: Santa is watching.
Hot Chocolate Mug Brownie:
- 6 tablespoons of hot chocolate of choice
- 4 tablespoons of flour
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 2 tablespoons of melted butter
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla
- Mini marshmallows
The first step is to grab the largest microwave safe mug that you have, Christmas themed ones if you prefer for the holidays. Using either spray oil or bottled oil, grease up the inside of the mug to help the brownie not stick. Combine the hot chocolate powder and flour in the mug, (on the off chance you don’t have hot chocolate you can use cocoa powder and sugar.) Next, you will pour in the water, melted butter, and the vanilla extract, but if you are feeling especially festive, you can use peppermint extract instead. Mix everything together in the mug until the mixture is as smooth as Uncle Jesse in Full House. Now sprinkle some of those miniature fluffy white things, (you know…marshmallows), on top of the mixture but do not stir them in.
Place the mug in the microwave and set the timer for 60 to 90 seconds and jam out to your favorite holiday hit as it cooks. When it is done in the microwave, set it out to cool for 5 minutes because it will be very hot! After the five minutes, feel free to put any of your favorite toppings on it to make it more personal. Enjoy this with your significant other but you may need to make another for them, or you can just binge watch all the Christmas movies on tv by yourself.
Hopefully these small holiday treats can inspire and motivate you to finish off the rest of this semester strong or maybe just give you an idea of what to bring to a holiday party this Christmas season. Good luck and happy holidays!
Dan Vlach
Leave a Reply