Woof

Some of my best ideas come to me at night in those few lingering moments just before my active mind is completely engulfed in the warm, still blanket of sleep.  It is that feeling of slowly slipping into a warm bath or nestling your face into a fresh towel just pulled from a hot dryer, inhaling deeply the crisp yet soft scent of Bounce.  It is in these moments, these night time moments, that many people slip through delirium, yet for me I find in them pure clarity.  Well, sometimes.  Last night's clarity: dog snack cupcakes.  Those who know me well are laughing right now.  Those who don't are doubting my supposed clarity.  Rewind with me for a moment before removing me from your RSS. (Is that even the proper usage of "RSS"?)

Dog snacks.  I love dog snacks.  And by "dog snacks" I mean those little sweetened sesame sticks found in random munchie assortments.  See below.

Sometimes I refer to these other little pub mix gems as dog snacks...

...but for the sake of this post refer only to the former snack.

Anyway, one of my roommates who knows and understands my love for dog snacks is always on the hunt for better and better munchie assortments.  "Better" of course referring to the ratio of dog snacks to pretzels.  She has been known to clandestinely leave bags and barrels of dog snack surprises for me to find.  She is a gem.  And I digress. Where were we? Ratio of pretzels to dog snacks. This brings me to my latest grievance:  Pretzels.  Namely, pretzel sticks and the overwhelming amount of them in my barrel of monkeys.  Er, munchies.  

So last night, as I sat perched on the couch with said roommate, rifling through my pretzel-filled mix for the occasional dog snack, I decided to extract all those pesky pretzels and use them to make something. The thought was fleeting, however, and it did not come back to me until I was laying beneath my sheets, ready to be bathed in warm sleep.  Chocolate cupcakes with a brown sugar pretzel base.  The perfect recipe for making my dog snack hunt a smidge easier. Hence the name. Dog snack cupcakes.

 Being that I am not my mother and do not own a mortar and pestle, I had to get a little creative.  In case my mother is reading this, yes, mom, I did remember to wash the hammer first.

Aaaand, the finished product.  Chocolate cupcake thrown together from the random assortment of fridge/pantry contents paired with a lovely pretzel/butter/brown sugar base.  This one will definitely be revisited.  Praise God for sweet and salty cupcakes. And for dog snacks.  And for roommates who indulge me.