Are you on TikTok? I am finally getting on board! Follow CasualConfections for fun geeky videos, baking clips, and more. Hit me up for stitches and duets!

Are you on TikTok? I am finally getting on board! Follow CasualConfections for fun geeky videos, baking clips, and more. Hit me up for stitches and duets!
Pi Day is coming up and I have a small-portion dessert to help us celebrate! Gather these ingredients and tools and get ready to bake up a tasty treat! Video link for bake-along will be posted later this week.
Copycat Recipe Chili’s Paradise Pie
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (separated into 2 1/3 cups)
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Optional toppings:
Vanilla ice cream
Hot fudge
Caramel sauce
1/4 cup chopped or crushed walnuts
Tools (Amazon affiliate links):
Measuring spoons
Measuring cups (liquid and dry)
Stand mixer/hand mixer/spoon or rubber spatula
1 quart casserole dish
Toothpick
Rubber spatula
Oven
The latest video on the Casual Confections YouTube channel walks you through cutting a recipe in half. We work through a box of cake mix and a cookie recipe.
Amazon Affiliate Links:
Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake: https://amzn.to/3kv9dPV
Duncan Hines White Cake: https://amzn.to/3bI8sip
Nestle chocolate chips: https://amzn.to/2ZZvegd
Check out the latest video on the Casual Confections YouTube channel.
Do your own experiment! Try it with the Tollhouse recipe or grab a recipe off this blog! Let me know what you did and how it turned out! Comment here or shoot me an email.
Pair this write up with the video to run your own experiments!
NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Recipe
Ingredients
Notes: I left out the salt (personal choice) and nuts (better visuals for the trials I selected) for my experiments.
Nestle’s recipe:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon (I use a 1 ½ Tbsp sized ice cream scoop) onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes (start at 9 mins and then increase time if needed in small increments) or until golden brown (the golden-brown color may not be achieved depending on the trial you’re running. Be sure to run all trials at the same temperature and time). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Hey, everyone!
The combination of COVID-19 and pregnancy has kept me out of the bakery since March 2020. Now that the baby is here, it’s time to pivot to keep this baking train going while we work together to get some control over the spread of COVID-19.
This morning, Casual Confections’s channel went live on YouTube! The videos will evolve as time goes on and I play with style and approach. The first four videos are part of a series titled Nibbles of Knowledge. These are very short videos providing tidbits for baking. The channel will also include videos of baking experiments whose recipes will later be posted to the blog, some longer form videos that expand on the Nibbles, and more!
Be sure to subscribe and set notifications so you don’t miss a video. I look forward to you baking along with me!
A plate of butterbeer fudge made it on to a local morning show today! Check out leader of the Charlotte Geeks, Joey Starnes, as she shows off goods from many of the vendors you can visit and purchase from at Muggles Market Too, next Saturday and Sunday, March 7th and 8th, at the University Hilton in Charlotte, NC. Click to watch the WBTV Muggles Market Too spot.
Lauren Widrick of Lauren Widrick Coaching and I did a Q&A about Casual Confections. We discussed where I started, how I made the baking blog into a business in the past 5-6 months, and what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. There’s also a nice plug for the Charlotte Geeks Muggles Market and Geek Gala!
I recently had the pleasure of doing a photo and video shoot with Minotaur Media Group. They put this awesome video together for the page!