S'mores Squares

1/3 cup butter
1 (10 oz) bag marshmallows
1 box golden grahams
1 cup chocolate chips

Grease a cake pan and rubber spatula, set aside.  Melt butter in large nonstick pan over medium heat.  Add marshmallows and melt, stirring frequently.  Once no lumps remain add golden grahams. Stir till evenly distributed.  Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.  Use prepared spatula to press into place.  Let cool till firm and slice into squares.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

From LDSliving.com

Lemon Crinkle Cookie by Lauren Brennan from Hood River, Oregon.
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8⅛ teaspoon baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Peppermint Cereal Squares

3 Tbsp Butter or Margarine
10 ounces marshmallows (5 ½ -6 cups mini marshmallows, or 40 large marshmallows)
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Peppermint Extract

1/2 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

3 coarsely chopped candy canes

Grease 9x13 inch baking dish with butter.  Also, butter all sides of a rubber scraper. Set in baking dish and set aside.

Melt butter in large, nonstick pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted. Remove from heat, add peppermint extract, and continue stirring until completely melted. Add cereal immediately, mix well, then quickly stir in the Andes baking chips (they will begin to melt.) Press into pan using the prepared rubber spatula.  Sprinkle with candy cane pieces to taste.  Let cool and cut into squares.

Holiday Snickerdoodles

4 1/2 cups four 
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg 
2 tsp. cinnamon 
1 cup shortening 
4 Tbsp. soft butter 
2 cups sugar 
2 eggs 
2/3 C sour cream 
2 tsp. vanilla
Colored sugar
Mix butter and shortening. Add sugar until blended. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Combine dry ingredients and slowly add to the rest of the dough. Cover and refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 and make dough into 1 ½ inch balls. Roll in colored sugar and cook about 15 minutes on a lightly greased pan. Cool 2 minutes on pan and move to rack to finish cooling.

Apple Pudding

Cream Together:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Combine creamed mix, alternate adding dry ingredients and 2 cups shredded apple.  Add
chopped walnuts. 

Bake 350 for 45 minutes at 9 or 8 in sq pan

Serve warm with Best Ever Pudding Sauce and a dollop of whipped cream

Best Ever Pudding Sauce
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light cream/evaporated milk

Heat through and then add
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Zucchini Gingerbread

	Zucchini Gingerbread 2 cups finely grated zucchini 1 tsp salt 1 cup oatmeal 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1 teaspoon ground ginger 3/4 cup dark molasses 3 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 cup applesauce 2 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon lemon zest (optional) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.In a medium bowl, combine the zucchini, salt and oats and let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and ginger. Add molasses, eggs, oil, vanilla, and lemon zest to the zucchini mixture and stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir to combine. Divide evenly between 2 greased 9 inch round pans. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with  best ever pudding sauce or Lemon Ginger Glaze
	Alternate Recipe: Original version found at AllRecipes cooking spray 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup molasses 1/4 cup applesauce or canned pumpkin 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt 3 eggs 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini 3 cups all-purpose flour Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray 2 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, molasses, applesauce, vanilla yogurt, and eggs until thoroughly combined. Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gently mix in the shredded zucchini, and stir in the flour. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans Bake in the preheated oven until the loaves are browned and springy to the touch, 50 to 60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf should come out clean. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on racks.

Candy Corn Rice Crispy Treats

Thanks to the blog My Creative Stirrings for this fun idea!  Check out her blog for great pictures and assembly instructions.

6 tablespoons margarine, divided

6 full cups mini marshmallows, divided

7 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal, divided

food coloring

butter or margarine

Measure 2 1/2 cups crispy cereal and place in a large bowl; set aside.  Grease one large and one small piece of waxed paper.  Line a large bread pan with the large piece, greased side up; set aside. 

In a small sauce pan combine 2 tablespoons margarine and 2 full cups of mini marshmallows just until melted.  Stir in cereal from the large bowl until combined.  Press into the bottom of the bread pan; set aside.  Wash the small sauce pan. 

Measure 2 1/2 cups cereal and place in a large bowl; set aside.  In the small saucepan combine 2 tablespoons margarine, 2 drops red food coloring and 3 drops yellow, and 2 full cups of mini marshmallows just until melted.  Stir in cereal from the large bowl until combined.  Press into the bread pan on top of the white layer; set aside. Wash the small sauce pan. 

In the small saucepan combine 2 tablespoons margarine, 5 drops yellow food coloring and 2 full cups of mini marshmallows just until melted. Stir in the remaining cereal until combined.  Press into the bread pan on top of the orange layer.  The mixture will not all fit in the bread pan. 

Place the small piece of wax paper on top of the krispie treat, greased side down. Flip the entire treat upside down to help form the top layer and place back into the pan to allow it to set for 1-2 hours or overnight.  Un-wrap the krispie treat.  On a cutting board slice the treat into three long sections. Take each of the three segments and slice into triangles.

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

1 1/2  pounds strawberries (fresh, sliced) 1/2 cup  sugar 1 lb low fat cream cheese (softened) 3 tbsp orange juice 1- 8 oz tub  cool whip (extra for garnish, as desired) 1 large pound cake In a bowl, toss strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and orange juice until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip. Set aside. Cut pound cake into cubes. Drain strawberries, reserving juice. Drizzle cake cubes with reserved juice. Place half of the cake cubes in a 4 quart trifle dish. Top with half of the cream cheese mixture and half of the strawberries. Repeat layers. If desired, garnish with cool whip and strawberries, cut into fans. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours. inspiration from from yummly.com

Blonde Brownies

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter  (or 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup applesauce)

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips (or Reeces pieces, chocolate chips, walnuts, whatever sounds yummy)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix dry ingredients together.

Cream sugar and butter together.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well.

Stir in butterscotch chips.

Spread into greased 9X13 pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Ingredients

• 1 9-inch (6 oz.) prepared cookie crust (gingersnap, Nilla wafer or graham cracker)
• 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
• 1 pkg. (5.1 oz.) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
• Whole pecans for garnish
• Whipped topping for garnish

Directions

Add pudding mix, evaporated milk and pumpkin pie spice in large mixer bowl; beat till combined and add pumpkin. Blend until well mixed.  Fold in whipped topping. Pour into crust. Freeze for at least 4 hours or until firm. Let stand in refrigerator for 1 hour before serving. Garnish with whipped topping and pecans, if desired. Serve immediately.

Adapted from this recipe at verybestbaking.com

Ice Cream Cooke Pie

Oh Betty, you know how to make life sweet.  Check out this recipe:


2        pints mint chocolate chip ice cream, slightly softened
1        package (6 ounces) ready-to-use chocolate-flavored pie crust
1 1/4  cups crushed chocolate-covered mint cookies
1        cup chocolate fudge topping


Spread 1 pint of the ice cream in pie crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of the crushed cookies over ice cream. Cover and freeze 1 hour.


Spread remaining pint of ice cream over cookies. Cover and freeze about 3 hours or until firm.
Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with fudge topping; sprinkle with remaining cookies. Cover and freeze any remaining pie.


Variation: S’mores Ice-Cream Pie!
Put a spin on this ice-cream pie by using a graham cracker crust, chocolate ice cream and chocolate-coated marshmallow cookies.


*Is your ice cream too hard to scoop? Soften it in a flash by heating it in the microwave on Low for about 20 seconds.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 345 (Calories from Fat 180 ); Total Fat 20 g (Saturated Fat 8 g); Cholesterol 30 mg; Sodium 200 mg; Total Carbohydrate 38 g (Dietary Fiber 1 g); Protein 4 g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 4 %; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 10 %; Iron 6 % Exchanges: 
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Peanut Butter Bars

Cream together
1 cup butter/margerine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

mix in 3 eggs

then add 2/3 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
mix then add 2 cups of quick cook oatmeal

Spread in greased pan and bake at 325 for 18-22 minutes, or until the middle is light golden brown (the edges will be darker) cool and then frost with frosting, cut before serving.

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup softened margarine
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp vanilla

Mix and add
1lb + powdered sugar until desired consistency

Coconut Macaroons

2 large egg whites

Pinch of salt

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

3 teaspoons imitation vanilla

4-5 drops almond flavoring

2 bags shredded sweetened coconut (14-ounces each)

·    In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites and salt until frothy, about 2 minutes. Stir in condensed milk, almond flavoring, and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold in coconut until well combined.

·    Heat oven to 300 degrees.

·    Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Use a cookie scoop to form macaroons into 1 1/4-inch mounds about 1 inch apart.

Bake until macaroons are golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack; let cool completely.  Drizzle with semi-sweet chocolate.   

Caramel Apple Bites

Thanks to Family Fun and EHow.com for this great idea!

You will need:

• Granny Smith apples -One apple makes around 6 bites
• Cookie scoop or large melon baller
• Wooden skewers or lollipop sticks
• Caramel or melting chocolates
• Toppings* such as chopped nuts, nonpareils, sprinkles, coconut, crushed candy bars or cookies, etc
  
• Small paper candy cups

1. Melt the caramel in a saucepan over medium heat.

2. Wash off the apples.

3. Cut into the apples with the cookie scoop or melon baller, making circular scoops to create little balls of apple. The peel should serve as a flat base to rest the ball. (But I like the look of them at the top, so you can tell it is an apple) You can get about four to six balls out of one apple.

4. Pat the apples to remove any excess juices from the fleshy part of the ball.

5. Insert the wooden skewers or lollipop sticks into the center of the top of the apple ball. If you're using skewers, don't allow the tips to pierce the skin on the bottom of the apple, or the apple will slide down when it's picked up.

6. Give the apples another pat to dry off any juices that may have run out while inserting the sticks. Dip in powdered sugar, then tap off the excess.
   

7. Dip the apple balls into the caramel, twisting to make sure you cover the whole thing.
   

8. Set dipped apple on paper candy cup. Then place on a dish or tray, and place in the refrigerator for about half an hour. This will allow the caramel to set.

9. Serve immediately. If you are unable to serve the apples right away, make sure to leave them in the refrigerator until you are ready for them. Unlike on a regular caramel apple, the flesh is exposed and so the apple will spoil much faster. Serving them immediately will make sure they are still crisp

*Check out these sites for gourmet topping ideas
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Amy' s Decadent Chocolates

Miss Debbie's Specialty Apples

Strawberry Jell Topping

This is a perfect topping for strawberry shortcake, angel food cake, cheesecake, anything that tastes good with sweet, juicy, strawberries.

Mix together in medium saucepan:
1 pk strawberry kool-aid
3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbs (1/4 cup) cornstarch

Add 2 cups cold water, mix well. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and cool. Add sliced strawberries.

Lime Pie

Thanks to Studio 5 for this yummy recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 package (3 oz) lime flavored Jello
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (2-3 fresh limes)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime zest
• 1 can (14 oz) fat-free sweetened cond. milk (not evaporated)
• 1 package (8 oz) fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 9-inch graham cracker crust*

Method:

Dissolve Jello in 1/2 cup boiling water; stir until sugar is completely dissolved in Jello. Add 1/2 cup cold water to Jello, then remove 3/4 cup and set aside. Stir lime juice and zest into remaining Jello and set aside to cool and thicken, but do not allow it to set.

Pour the 3/4 cup reserved Jello into a flat, non-stick 9-inch cake pan, cover and refrigerate. This Jello may be used as a garnish later.

Beat softened cream cheese until smooth; add sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) and stir to blend.

Whip cream until stiff peaks form.

Beat together cream cheese mixture and Jello-lime-juice-zest mixture (product should be thick and light - but not setup). Fold in whipped cream; spoon filling into prepared graham cracker crust. Refrigerate until set (2-3 hours).

Cut pie into 10 pieces. To garnish, use a small cookie cutter to cut shamrock or other fun shapes from set Jello and carefully place shapes on each slice of pie. If desired, add curls of lime zest or thin slices of lime.

Optional garnish: whip additional cream and pipe swirls of cream on each slice, add thin slices of lime.

Optional crust variation: (not included in nutrition analysis)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread approximately 2 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut out in a shallow baking pan. Toast coconut in oven, stirring every 30 seconds, until lightly browned (about 2-4 minutes). Cool coconut and mix with 1/3 cup softened butter. Press coconut into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until crust is firm.

Ice Cream balls

I found these instructions on a fun site called Grandmas modern day trunk of treasures. Yummy.
This is a really easy recipe that is delicious and fun to make. I created the recipe myself and it has become a family favorite. It is a good dessert to follow mexican food.

Recipe: Ice Cream Balls yields 3 dozen

8 Cups Frosted Flakes, 4 Cups Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds, 1/2 C. brown sugar, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 14 oz. sweeted coconut, 1 & 1/2 gallons vanilla ice cream.

In a large mixing bowl place cereals, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Crush mixture with hands to a rough crumble and mix ingredients well. Add coconut and toss to blend.

Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper and make room in the freezer for them to sit flat.

Allow Ice Cream to slightly soften. Make scoops (rough scoops okay) of ice cream and set 3 or 4 in the bowl of cereal mixture. Use your hands to pat coating onto the scoops and round the scoops with your hands. Place on cookies sheets. Repeat working quickly until first pan is filled. Place in freezer to freeze. Fill the second sheet the same way.

Allow to freeze at least 3 hours before serving.

To serve: Place the ice cream ball in a bowl. Top with a nice drizzle of honey, top with whipped cream and sliced almonds. You can garnish with a triangle of deep fried flour tortilla coated in cinnamon sugar.

Once the balls are frozen hard you can store them in plastic ice cream buckets or any other freezer safe container. They keep for about 6 weeks in the freezer.

It is hard to mess this recipe up. You can easily make any size batch you would like.

Cinnamon Bundt Cake

18 ounce vanilla, yellow, or white cake mix
4 serving size instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F. Carefully grease and flour Bundt pan. Or save some effort and use pan spray with flour, like Baker's Joy. Turn pan over to drain any puddled spray.

Combine all ingredients and mix for 2 minutes. Sprinkle bottom of pan with toasted walnuts (optional) Carefully pour or spoon batter into pan. (Fill no more than ¾ full) Tap on countertop to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for precisely 10 minutes. Lift pan and shake from side to side. You should hear the loose cake shifting from back and forth. Then put on serving plate on top of pan and flip over to easily place it. Make sure it is where you want it, after it cools it may be stuck on the plate pretty well.

Caramel Sauce
In a saucepan combine:
½ cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk

Melt together over medium heat, bring to boil, stir constantly while boiling for 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Let frosting cool to room temperature. Beat in ¼ cup powdered sugar for sauce type consistency. Increase powdered sugar to 1 ½ -2 cups to create frosting.

Carefully remove cake from pan directly onto serving plate. Evenly pour glaze over top, using a spoon or pastry brush to reach undersides and crannies until cake is completely covered. Garnish with toasted walnuts, if desired.

Cool completely before covering.

Spooky kooky cakes

Mark and I teamed up our creativity to make these. Make a regular batch of cupcakes, and a batch of green frosting. (Recipe to come at a later date.) Prepare frosting and monster parts. We used:
Gummy eyeball candy
airheads- cut and molded to desired shapes
white chocolate chips
black gel icing
marshmallows (large ones cut in half)

Ice cupcakes with a star or grass tip. Use candies to add eyes, tongues, eyebrows, and whatnot. Have fun!

Shawna's Carrot Cake

Mix
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup oil
¾ cup applesauce

Add
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

4 eggs
2 cups grated carrot (2 large)
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 oz cream cheese
½ stick margarine
½ bag powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Raisins
Nuts