“Head Over Heels” on Hallmark Channel inspired these beauties! So many fabulous shoes in this movie, but only one shoe was Addi’s (played by Rebecca Dalton) Inspo to design shoes, and it was the OG ‘Delaney Diaz’ red pump! These cupcakes are so fun to make and great for a birthday party or bachelorette party/bridal shower!

What you need to construct these cupcakes:

-Cupcakes of choice

-Frosting of choice

-Food coloring

-Candy melts

-Pretzel rods

-Pepperidge Farm brand Milano cookies

-Black decorating gel

-Pull and Peell Twizzlers

-Edible sugar pearls

-Edible glitter

-Piping bag and tips

Directions:

Begin by making your cupcakes of choice. You can either make them without liners, or choose a fun liner if you don’t plan to dip your cupcake bottoms in the candy melts.

Once the cupcakes are cooled. Melt the candy melts in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Dip bottom half of cupcake into the candy melts. Let it harden.

Cut a small straight edge on one end of the cupcake top. Dip the Milano cookie in the candy melt to act as ‘glue’, and insert it on an angle into the small edge you cut off. Prop something up against it until it hardens.

Next, take a pretzel rod and measure the height against the Milano cookie to make the ‘stiletto heel’. Dip the shortened pretzel rod into candy melts and let harden.

Then, dip one end of the hardened pretzel rod and attach it to the Milano cookie to make the ‘heel’. It will start to look like a shoe now!

Using a piping bag and frosting of choice, pipe a fun design on top of the cupcake. Sprinkle with edible glitter or any decoration you like.

Use the black decorating gel to cover the top of the Milano cookie to look like the ‘insole’ of the shoe. Pipe a thin line of frosting around that, and then add edible sugar pearls along the border.

Pull apart a rope from the Pull and Peel Twizzler to make a bow and place on top of cupcake. Refrigerate to let harden. Enjoy!

“The Magic of Lemon Drops” on Hallmark Channel was in fact such a magical movie to watch! The delicious ‘lemon drop pie’ was a key component in this movie. Especially the lemon drops, which possessed the power to allow you to live one day in an alternate reality and given the choice to choose which reality you would like to make permanent! I especially loved the scene where the main character, Lolly, is baking a lemon drop pie with her mother, who had actually passed in reality. It was a very special scene. The three secret ingredients they stated in the pie was “Meyer lemons, European butter, and lemon balm”. And of course garnished with lemon drops. So that’s what I made!

Ingredients:

-Frozen pie crust dough

For filling:

-1 1/4 cup sugar

-1/3 cup cornstarch

-2 tablespoons flour

-1 1/2 cups water

-5 egg yolks

-1/4 cups European butter

-1/4 cups juice from 2-3 Meyer lemons

-About 5 leaves of fresh lemon balm (chopped)

For Meringue topping:

-3 egg whites

-1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-1/4 cup sugar

-Lemon drop candies and lemon zest for garnish

Directions:

In a pie dish, take your thawed out pie dough and place in dish, crimping the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let it cool.

In a small pot, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour, salt, and water. Stirring gently and every minute over low/medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, stir continuously for a minute and then remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl , whisk your egg yolks, then very slowly add a very small amount (around 1/4 cup) of the hot mixture into the eggs. Whisk briskly! Then slowly add THAT mixture into the pot with the rest of the hot sugar mixture and stir continuously over low/medium heat until it has thickened. Remove from heat, and add butter and lemon juice until fully incorporated.

Pour into the cooled pie crust and let it sit while making the meringue.

To make the meringue, in an electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tarter and vanilla until it’s frothy and starts to thicken up. With the mixer still on high, slowly add sugar a little bit at a time. You will see the meringue start to turn white, and thicken. Once you see stiff peaks form, its done!

Spread all over the top of cooled lemon filling and create small peaks with back of spoon.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until the top of the meringue has browned peaks.

Let cool and then place in fridge overnight. Garnish with lemon drop candies and lemon zest. Enjoy!

“My Dreams of You” on Hallmark Channel inspired this dreamy, fluffy cake! Have you ever had a dreamsicle? Orange and cream frozen goodness from the ice cream truck, but this is in cake form! Maybe eating this before bed will make you dream of your true love like Grace dreamed about Michael every night!

Ingredients:

FOR CAKE:

-One box yellow cake mix (plus eggs, water and oil according to box directions)

-1 tablespoon orange extract

-1 box orange jello

-1/2 cup boiling water

-1/2 cup cold water

FOR TOPPING:

-1 box instant French vanilla pudding

-1 1/2 cups cold milk

-1 tub cool whip

-1 teaspoon orange extract

-orange zest

Directions:

Make cake according to box directions and add one tablespoon orange extract. Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with nonstick spray and pour batter in. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes.

Next, boil 1/2 cup water and add jello mix. Then add 1/2 cup cold water. Stir until dissolved.

Once the cake is baked, use a fork to poke holes all over the top. Then pour liquid jello all over top. Let sit in the fridge for an hour.

While that cools, mix pudding with 1 1/2 cups cold milk and whisk until thick. Fold in cool whip and 1 teaspoon orange extract. Refrigerate until the hour is up for the cake to sit in the fridge. Spread topping evenly all over top and sprinkle orange zest on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sweet dreams!

“Junebug” on Hallmark Channel was such a sweet movie with a lovely message, to listen to your inner childlike heart. I highly recommend watching this movie on repeat! This particular recipe is inspired by Autumn Reeser’s character, Juniper, and her daily ritual of having an Americano coffee from her neighborhood coffee shop. She called it her morning “rocket fuel”! I included coffee in the cake itself, as well as the crumble on top. It will for sure be a hit for all you coffee lovers out there!

Ingredients:

FOR CAKE:

-Cinnamon swirl crumb cake mix (I use Krusteaz brand)

-2/3 cup brewed coffee

-1/4 cup greek yogurt

– 1 egg

FOR CRUMBLE:

-1/2 cup flour

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-1/2 teaspoon ground coffee

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

-pinch of salt

-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

It’s very important to know that you will NOT make the coffee cake according to the box directions. ONLY use the cake mix itself. Also, do not use the cinnamon streusel crumble mix that comes with it (unless you want to, or keep for a rainy day).

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, brewed coffee, Greek yogurt and egg. It will be a thick batter. Set aside.

In another small bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, ground coffee, cinnamon, salt and melted butter. This will form a wet crumble.

In a square baking dish, spray with nonstick spray, then pour entire cake batter in, spreading evenly. Add crumble on top to cover entire cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until golden. Enoy!

I grew up eating this dish, and it is so much easier to make than you would think! In the Hallmark Mysteries movie, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Tale of Three Letters”, you’ll see Shane offer to make linguine with clams for Oliver as a peace offering when she tells him she broke the key to his grandfather clock. He politely turns her down, but he doesn’t know what he’s missing out on! I added white wine to the recipe to deepen the flavor a bit, and as a nod to the glass of wine Shane also offered with this dish!

Ingredients:

-1 box linguine

-2 cans good quality clams

-3 cloves of garlic

-1/2 large onion

-1/4 cup chopped parsley

-1/2 cup white wine

-olive oil

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add a generous amount of olive oil to a deep pan. Chop onion and sauté until translucent.

Mince garlic and add to pan. Then add parsley. Cook for one minute.

Next, drain 10% of the clam juice from the cans and add all clams plus remainder of juice to the pan. Add white wine.

Let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it starts to dry out, add olive oil.

After cooking the linguine, add small batches at a time to the clam sauce, adding a bit of the starchy pasta water. Mix it all together in the pan and top with extra parsley. Enjoy!

Growing up, my parents would always make stuffed mushrooms. It’s pretty much the only way I ate mushrooms for a long time! They are great for any occasion, casual Mondays or the holidays! I decided to make this recipe in honor of Hallmark Channel movie, “Whitewater Romance”. There is a scene where the two love interests played by Cindy Busby and Benjamin Hollingsworth are forced to forage for mushrooms in the forest to help create a big meal with some other members of their group. Also, don’t miss my episode of “Hungry For Hallmark” on my YouTube channel, where I make these with Cindy Busby!

Ingredients:

-Large mushrooms

-2 cups Italian breadcrumbs

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 bunch Italian parsley

-Good quality olive oil

-OPTIONAL, shredded Romano- Parmesan cheese blend

Directions:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Wash mushrooms thoroughly, pat dry, and carve out the stems.

Mince the garlic and chop parsley.

In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and olive oil until a paste forms. Keep adding olive oil until you get a paste consistency.

Fill the cavity of each mushroom with the filling, packing it in. Sprinkle cheese on top if you wish. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Enjoy!

“Everything Puppies” on Hallmark Channel gave us SO much doggy fun and lots of doggy treats! While the movie was centered around a new delicious dog treat being introduced to pet stores, I decided to make my own version that I could eat!! Somewhere between a graham cracker and gingerbread cookie, this yummy human treat hits the spot!

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup honey

-1/2 teaspoon water

-splash of lemon juice

-1 3/4 cup flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)

-2/3 cup brown sugar

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1/4 teaspoon orange extract

Directions:

In a pot, bring water, honey and lemon juice to a boil. Stir for one minute, and when it starts to have a nutty smell, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Set in fridge for 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat room temp butter, brown sugar, vanilla and orange extracts, and cooled honey.

Slowly add flour mixture until fully combined. Refrigerate dough for two hours.

Roll dough out on a floured surface, and use dog bone shaped cookie cutters to create a dog bone shaped cookie.

Place on non stick baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes.

I had the pleasure of making these bars along side star of “For Love and Honey” on Hallmark Channel, Andrew Walker! We are celebrating this movie by making a honey-based snack to pay homage to the place this movie takes place in, which is Malta! Malta is known for their honey, and in my video with Andrew, you’ll learn about that and many other interesting facts surrounding “For Love and Honey”!

****Check out the video of this recipe on my YouTube Channel “Hungry For Hallmark”.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• a pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

First toast up the sesame seeds in a skillet on low/medium heat until they are smelling toasty and slightly darker in color. Set aside in a bowl.

Next, add honey to the skillet and let that come to a soft boil. In the meantime, go back to the bowl of sesame seeds and add salt, cinnamon and orange zest.

Once the honey has come to a boil, add the sesame seed mixture into the honey and return to a boil. Continue to boil for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring very often, until thickened.

Line a square baking dish with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and pour hot mixture in. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula and let it sit out to set over the course of 2 hours at the least.

Once bars are hardened and set, use a sharp knife to cut them into bars. Enjoy!

Summer is right around the corner, so I had to pay homage to a great Summertime movie on Hallmark Channel, “Two Tickets To Paradise” starring Ashely Williams and Ryan Paevey! A funny romance taking place in beautiful Hawaii! This recipe was inspired by a few scenes featuring some yummy looking coconut drinks, but I turned it into a pudding!

Ingrediednts:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Using a whisk, mix together there cornstarch and coconut milk until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Then pour that mixture plus all other ingredients EXCEPT milk into a pot. Stir on low heat until melted and well combined.

Add the milk and continue to stir occasionally for about 7 minutes and keep on low heat until it becomes a thicker “pudding-like” consistency.

Place in a heat safe container and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight before serving. You can add more shredded coconut on top, sliced bananas, whatever your heart desires!