March 29, 2010

Quick Desserts and a Betty Crocker/Safeway Giveaway

It's no secret that I have my uses for cake and brownie mixes, like the above birthday cupcakes that were delicious, freakishly hot pink, and took me less than an hour from thought to finish (aren't the little Haribo raspberries so cute on top, too?). I know lots of people are mix-haters, and I am in the frosting department. But oh I love me a quick cupcakes or batch of brownies! I only buy the nice Betty Crocker premium brownie mixes, for the record (even if I do with a coupon) but I do like to doctor them to make delicious desserts in no time. Some of my favorite things I've made with boxed mixes include-



Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes (or any cupcake for that matter- I have five German Chocolate cake mixes ready to go in case of a Red Velvet Cupcake emergency. A little sour cream and extra flavoring- vanilla, zest, etc- makes a world of difference!)



So when MyBlogSpark contacted me about doing a giveaway featuring a Betty Crocker baking prize pack and $25 Safeway card I was totally on board. I hate to sound like a sell out with giveaways but really these are my favorite and Safeway is my favorite grocery store so I knew this was a match made in heaven. Betty Crocker cake mixes and traditional brownie mixes are on sale at Safeway through April 6th for only $.69 so you can bet I'm going to cram more into my already overflowing pantry (especially since my normal stock up price for those is a buck! Yay!) They also have a lot of great looking desserts and ecoupons you can load onto your Safeway card on their site here.

So leave me a comment letting me know what you like to make with cake and brownie mixes- I'd love some fresh ideas! One entry per person, US addresses only please. And PLEASE leave your email or a way to contact you- I hate when I can't get a hold of the winner! Giveaway ends one week from now.
 
Disclosure- the coupon, prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all given to me from Safeway and Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark- but the opinions are my own!

48 comments:

  1. Have you ever had British Columbia bars? Aren't those made with brownies? If not cream cheese swirls are great with brownie mix. At any rate, please enter your brother-in-law in the giveaway.

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  2. I love making Black Bean Brownies. They're healthier than the alternative of adding eggs and oil, and you cannot taste a smidge of black bean in the finished product!
    Also, who doesn't love a little fiber?!

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  3. I love to make oreo cookies with devil's food cake mix. I'm guilty of using store bought cream cheese frosting for those too :)
    lyssa_lou_@hotmail.com

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  4. I love Baked Alaska with a brownie base.

    epfender@verizon.net

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  5. Red velvet cake truffles/balls. Yumm! I also make cobbler using yellow cake mix.

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  6. I love to use cake mixes and make fruit pizza!

    kathrynbaby2004@yahoo.com

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  7. I make interesting cupcakes with fun filling. People love the yummy surprise when they bit into a cupcake!
    e.estt[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  8. I make a cake that combines a yellow cake mix, with instant butterscotch pudding mix, (along with the other usual ingredients) and has two layers of cinnamon/brown sugar baked throughout. It is topped off with a glaze of pwd sugar and milk.

    passmenotby@inbox.com

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  9. i love making cheesecake brownies. i also made butter cake with the cake mix. then my friend all time favorite that i have made is black forest cupcakes from a cake mix. i love using cake mixes since it is so much easier when i am running short on time.

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  10. Yellow cake mix is my favorite--you just can't go wrong with it. I like to mix in butterscotch pudding and crushed Butterfingers to make Butterfinger cupcakes.

    alwaysarac @ gmail . com

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  11. I like to make pear cobbler with yellow cake mix, but we always keep a box of brownie mix on hand for the hubs...it's the only thing he knows how to make in the kitchen, and he's so proud of it.

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  12. Cake mix cookies are delicious and easy. Now I want one....

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  13. I'm all for fresh fruit, like blueberry, cranberry with cake and brownie mixes.

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  14. CHEESECAKE brownies are definetely the best.
    oh, and yellow cake with ice cream and strawberries!
    its like strawberry shortcake, ish.

    ahaha.

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  15. I make a mean fruit pizza with cake mix. Love that we are coming up on fresh fruit season. Our family has a version of this every weekend during the summer! Yummy.

    xmaswoman at hotmail dot com

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  16. My kids love it when I make cupcakes in ice cream cones...just make cupcakes the usual way, but before throwing it in the oven, you plop a ice cream cone upside down on top of each one...and when they come out, the kids eat it as if they're eating an ice cream cone :) A bit cleaner and a lot more fun! -Liz, chlives@Hotmail.com

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  17. One of my favorite things with a cake mix, yellow cake mix and lemon pudding is Paula Deen's Lemon Blossoms, little cup/tea cakes, drenched in a lemony glaze. They are so good.
    (I have a nice/big stock of cake and brownie mixes in my food storage, too. Maybe it's a Mormon thing. ;) But I have a hard time turning them down when they're on sale.)

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  18. I am NOT a mix hater!! lol But i agree frosting store bought not the best;)

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  19. I love to make Deluxe Marshmallow Crunch Bars. They're like a candy bar on top of cake.

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  20. i love making cake balls especially around Christmas...the red velvet are the best!

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  21. I like making Gooey Butter Cakes - a la Paula Deen. It makes a mediocre cake mix divine.

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  22. I almost always use my cake mixes! Why do everything from scratch when - like you say - you can add a little sour cream and what not and have a wonderfully moist cake!

    I love to make Reeses chocolate cake (add sour cream, pudding mix, cut up Reeses for both the batter and to sprinkle on frosting). I also love to use the yellow cake mix and butter for apple crisp topping or other dump cake mix toppings.

    My whole life I stunk at making frosting, so I also relied on the can for frosting, but I'm happy to say I've found some recipes that I'm actually successful at! But I won't ever give up my mixes!

    Thanks!
    ktalice@hotmail.com

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  23. I like to use cake mix to make "cookie bars" they're so yummy and decadent!

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  24. I would make the cake pops from the Bakerella website.

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  25. I love all of your recipes that you use cake mixes etc for. So handy. We use betty crocker cake mixes to make carmel brownies. MMMMMMM

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  26. I would love to try your creamsicle cupcakes! They look so yummy!

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  27. One of the first things my mom taught me to bake was "cake mix cookies." A box of any flavor cake mix with 1/3 cup oil, 2 eggs, and 3/4 cup whatever else you want to throw in (chocolate chips, coconut, chopped nuts, raisins, etc.). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and you get really fast, really easy cookies!
    One of may favorite combos is chocolate cake mix with peanut butter chips. Mmmm! Also, I love this giveaway! Please enter me!

    cjpeacockbird@gmail.com

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  28. This may sound lame but I like to make themed cupcakes. For thanksgiving I make cupcakes shaped like turkeys (with candycorn) and for easter I make bunny cupcakes.
    My nephew loved blues clues so one year I made a blue cake shaped like a dogs paw. The round cake was the "paw" and I had 4 cupcakes up on top so it looked a dog paw when it was finished.

    runningmatey at hotmail dot com

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  29. i love making chocolate cherry cake! all you need is devil food cake mix, 2 eggs, 1 can of cherry pie filling & 1 tsp of almond extract. mix together and bake!

    lynnx512 at gmail dot com

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  30. I always got yelled at from my mom for even having a cake mix in my house. I did like pudding a pudding packet in them and maybe some chocolate chips in so it didnt taste like it was completely out of the box.

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  31. This is so already done and definitely a "mix recipe", but my sister and I came up with this and I love it! Bake a german chocolate cake mix in a large cookie sheet. Make a french vanilla pudding and a strawberry jello, when they are still liquid, pour over cake. Refrigerate cake for 4 hrs. Frost with real whipped cream and garnish with sliced strawberries.

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  32. Peanut butter cheesecake brownies rock!

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  33. I like to make cookies--you can find recipes for cake-mix cookies on the web.
    Jennifer, jennem22 at yahoo dot com

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  34. I always like to doctor up a cake mix. The cake doctor recipe book is amazing and makes cakes even more delicious.

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  35. I LOVE making pumpkin cookies from a box of spice cake. Just add 15 oz. of pumpkin and some chocolate chips. So easy!
    mindyostler@gmail.com

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  36. we use brownie mix and make our own version of turtle brownies
    msboatgal at aol.com

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  37. I'm not normally a fan of convenience foods either--but I definitely see the value in cake and brownie mixes. They're so easy to "doctor up" as you said. My favorite use for the mix is a scrumptious lemon Bundt cake that I found in my Cake Mix Doctor cook book. It's moist and delicious...more so the second day!

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  38. I make double chocolate chip cookies with a cake mix. You can also make them with a brownie mix.
    I make turtle cake with a german chocolate cake mix.

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  39. I like to make key lime cake because I love sour things.

    kerrie@mayansfamily.com

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  40. I love to make just brownies with brownie mixes. I'm a pretty simple gal. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  41. i like brownies! Nothing spectacular just plain old brownies!

    debbiebellows[at]gmail[dot]com

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  42. Can I get the recipe for the hot pink cupcakes with raspberries on top? They look yummy! BTW, I made a ton of creamsicle cupcakes for our church's Women's Ministries bake sale and they sold like hotcakes! I received so many compliments that I reposted your recipe on my blog for others to see! Thanks a million!

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  43. I always make Blueberry Dump Cake using yellow cake mix as the base
    digicat{AT}sbcglobal{DOT}net

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  44. I've made S'Mores Squares using Low-Fat Fudge Brownie Mix
    HobartsMama {AT} aol.com

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  45. I like mixing spice cake mix with canned pumpkin and then baking it - it tastes delicious and it is so easy with only two ingredients.
    Thanks for having this giveaway!
    mem4dr at gmail dot com

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  46. I like to make chocolate cupcakes and fill them with a homemade cream filling. (Yum!) Then frost with a homemade chocolate frosting.

    hollykallison {at} yahoo {dot} com

    I love your blog...Darcy introduced me to it in like October and I subscribed and have been baking right with you. Thanks for all of the great recipes!

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  47. I just made a bunny cake for Easter using a boxed cake mix! You bake the cake in two round pans then cut it into the shape of a bunny!

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  48. Pineapple upside down cake! So easy when you start with a mix. :)

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