Baking the Easy Way with @Safeway

I am a make-it-from-scratch kind of gal. It just seems like cheating if I use a packaged anything. This goes for everything from chicken soup to taco seasoning to cakes. This often means I don’t get much sleep at night when I’ve got something big to make, but that’s the price you pay for neurosis perfection. Hah! As if I ever achieved perfection! But the labor of love makes me feel virtuous, in any case.

Anna’s birthday was this week, and we had big plans for a “Winter Holiday Craft Birthday Playdate.” This happened to coincide with me receiving a giant basket full of baking supplies from Safeway.

I have to admit, I was a little reluctant to make my daughter’s birthday cupcakes from a package, but using these mixes really made things easier on me. I used the extra time to make frozen whipped cream puffs for the hot chocolate, prepare the crafts, line up the cute mugs for hot chocolate, and decorate the house with her chosen birthday colors: silver, white and icy blue.

My friends are foodies, and they raved about the cupcakes. I didn’t tell them (until now) that they came from boxes! The kids loved them, and I didn’t have to spend hours making them. The Red Velvet cupcake mix came with a cream cheese frosting mix, and a piping bag. Also in the basket was a container of “frosting starter” – white frosting base that you can add color and other flavorings to. I mixed the two together, and used the combo to frost 36 cupcakes (12 from the Red Velvet mix, and 24 from the yellow cake mix). The piping bag made it really easy and quick to make pretty swirls of frosting on top. I felt like these really looked like cupcakes, you know?    I was a little afraid of the sparkly gel, but it was so pretty on the cupcakes once the candles were lit. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for sparkles all the time. But it seems a little too artificial for me. It only took a little bit to have a high impact, though, so I got over it quickly. Did I mention the SPARKLES?

 

We also (another day) made Reese’s Puffs muffins – they took about 10 minutes to prepare (not including baking time), and they all came out perfect and delicious. Not a low-calorie food, mind you. But a fun treat to share with my dad, who just got back from 2.5 months of traveling in Asia.

We still have some things to try, as Eric reminds me nearly every day. He is OBSESSED with the idea of making cake pops.

Want to know something else that is fun? Safeway wants to give one of our readers a basket of baking goodies similar to the one I got!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And the fun never ends…

Safeway is hosting a Pin 2 Win sweeps now through January 2! Pinners may enter up to eight times and prizes include daily $50 gift cards.

 

Find more Safeway cheer here:
Safeway on Facebook
Safeway on Twitter
Safeway on Pinterest

And the Safeway Chef Assistant app (I used this to make my turkey last year!)

Thanks for stopping by!
~Krista

I was given a baking gift basket by Safeway, and no other compensation was received for this post. All opinions are my own, of course.