Disclosure: This #HeroesEatMMs shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
Are you a superhero fan? Do you love Captain America and Marvel comics? In our house, we definitely do! We own almost all of the recent Marvel movies, a huge collection of comics, and even superhero figurines. Yes, yes, I know–this might make us a little bit nerdy, but that’s okay by me! I’m super excited about the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this Tuesday, September 9th! To get ready for the movie’s release, I created an easy and fun Captain America Movie Night with the help of M&Ms®, featuring Captain America: The First Avenger.
Captain America happens to be one of my favorite superheroes. I love his patriotism and the story of triumph against all odds. Plus, you have to admit–he looks pretty cute in that suit!
I love Captain America so much, I even made The Husband wait in line with me to meet him on a recent trip to Disneyland:
See? I told ya we are fans! (Though I do find this picture absolutely, mortifyingly embarrassing!)
I do a pretty good impression of him, don’t I?
To celebrate one of my favorite superheroes, I created three Captain America-themed recipes to serve at our movie night while we watched Captain America: The First Avenger– Captain America M&M Stuffed Cupcakes (made with swirls of red, white, and blue cake and decorated with blue and red M&Ms on top with mini-M&Ms inside), Captain America Sweet & Salty Cake Batter Popcorn Snack Mix (decorated with red and blue candy melts), and a layered red, white, and blue mocktail (that even the kids can enjoy!).
All three of these recipes are simple to make, and will definitely put you in the superhero mood!
I can’t decide which of the recipes is my favorite–they were all so fun to make and celebrate with. I have to say I’m pretty partial to those mocktails, though (How cool are those?!?).
I had to include my favorite movie-watching snack as part of our celebration–M&Ms, of course! They’re the perfect candy to snack on while sitting on the couch enjoying a flick. To make my Captain America recipes, you’ll need two bags of plain M&Ms and one bag of mini-M&Ms.
I picked up my M&Ms at my local Walmart, where they have a huge selection of all the different varieties of M&Ms:
I started by sifting through my M&Ms and separating all the blue and red M&Ms out for my decorating:
Then it was time to get down to business! Here are my three Captain America Movie Night recipes–I hope you’ll give them a try!
Recipe #1: Captain America M&M Stuffed Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix (plus ingredients listed on the box to prepare the mix)
red + blue food coloring
1 can white frosting
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 bag mini M&Ms
red + blue plain M&Ms (for decorating)
red + blue sprinkles (for decorating)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cupcake pan with red and white liners.
Mix the cake mix according to the directions. Separate the batter into three bowls, with about 1-1/2 cups in each bowl. Add the red and blue food coloring to two of the bowls. Start with about 10 drops each, then work your way up to your desired brightness of color. I used between 25-30 drops of each color for my batter.
2. To get the Captain America ringed “shield look,” start with a base of one color in your cupcake liners, then spoon the other colors of batter on top, making a slightly smaller circle each time:
Repeat this with all colors of the batter until your cupcake liners are about 3/4 of the way full.
3. Bake the cupcakes in the oven for 14-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut a rectangle out of each cupcake. Scoop out a tiny bit of the cake, making a hole for the M&Ms.
Drop a few M&Ms and sprinkles into the well, then cover back up with the cake.
5. In a bowl, combine the frosting, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium until the frosting thickens slightly.
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag or plastic bag with the corner snipped out. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, then top with sprinkles and M&Ms for decoration.
Recipe #2: Captain America Sweet & Salty Cake Batter Popcorn Snack Mix
Ingredients:
4 cups air popped popcorn
3 cups pretzels (sticks or small squares)
2 cups graham-flavored cereal
2 cups Chex cereal (I used rice)
1 cup chocolate graham cookies
1 cup mini M&Ms
1 cup + 4 tbsp funfetti cake mix
1 bag each red + blue candy melts
1/4c + 1/4c vegetable oil
red, white, and blue sprinkles
1. Spread the popcorn onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Remove any unpopped kernels and sprinkle with a little salt. Combine the pretzels, cereals, and chocolate cookies, lightly tossing to mix. Sprinkle about 3/4 of the M&Ms on top.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the blue candy melts in 30 second increments, stirring after each time. Continue until the candy is completely melted. Stir in 1/4 C vegetable oil, then 1 cup of cake mix.
Drizzle the candy melts over the popcorn mixture. Using a spoon, gently toss the mixture until the cake batter has coated most of the popcorn and snack mix.
3. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoons of cake mix over the popcorn mixture and toss one more time.
4. Repeat the melting process with the red candy melts, melting in 30 second increments. Add the rest of the vegetable oil, then drizzle over the popcorn mixture. Sprinkle with the red, white, and blue sprinkles if desired, and the remaining mini M&Ms.
Allow the snack mix to cool completely, then break into pieces to serve.
Recipe #3: Layered Red, White, and Blue Mocktails
This one isn’t so much a recipe as it is a tutorial. You will need three different drink choices, each with different amounts of sugar content. The greater the difference in the sugar content, the better this will work (and the better your drinks will stay layered!).
I used cran-apple juice (32 g sugar per serving), Frost Gatorade (the white kind–21 g sugar per serving), and low calorie blue Gatorade (7 g of sugar per serving).
To fancy up my drinks, I added a red sugar rim, using sparkling red sugar and corn syrup. With a fingertip, I added a little corn syrup around the rim of each glass, then dipped it into the sugar (which I sprinkled on a plate).
Then I filled my glasses with ice, and poured in the drinks from highest to lowest sugar content. It helps to pour each layer onto the ice cubes, to keep the colors from mixing too much. I added a festive paper straw and red, white, and blue pinwheel.
So are you ready? Excited for the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier this Tuesday?
If these recipes didn’t get you excited, check out these great offers and contests:
Starting September 9th, you can get $5 off Captain America: The Winter Soldier when you purchase M&Ms. Check out coupons.com for more information on this offer.
Enter to win (1) of (10) $100 Walmart Gift Cards! To enter, visit HeroesEatMMs.com and take one of the two quizzes (or both!): “Which MARVEL® Super Here Are You?” or “Which M&M’s® Character Are You?” Once you’ve taken the quiz, leave a blog post comment here with your results to be entered to win. You can enter twice per contest period by taking both of the quizzes and leaving two separate comments!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The post Get Ready for Captain America: The Winter Soldier with a Captain America Movie Night starring M&Ms® #HeroesEatMMs appeared first on Ya Gotta Have a Hobby.