Heaven in a pan

Actually, these are called Chocolate-peanut butter mallow bars. But that's a mouthful. And they really are heaven in a pan!! They are even better than brownies. Try them.



Ingredients:

1 pkg devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup cold milk, divided
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 7oz jar Jet-Puffed marshmallow creme
1/2 cup planters salted peanuts
4-6 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 350. Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until blended. Press 2/3 onto bottom of a 9/13 pan. Bake 12-14 minutes until almost set. Cool for 3 min. Mix peanut butter and remaining milk. Spread onto cake. Top with spoonfuls of marshmallow creme and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate; pres gently into cake mixture to make a flat surface.
Bake 18 min. Cool before cutting into bars.

Owl Cupcakes!

I saw these on a fellow foodie's blog and gave them a try!! I won't bother reposting the recipe, since she did it so well, but I did take a shortcut; she made her own frosting and I used store-bought. Call me lazy...but they were still a HUGE hit!




Ingredients:

Storebought cake mix
Chocolate frosting
Oreo cookies, divided, only using side with frosting
Brown M&M's or Reeses Pieces
Candy corn

Bake cupcakes as directed, frost and assemble!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Admittedly, I am not much of a baker; I make a huge mess and use way too many dishes. I prefer cooking. And, though I know it is not normal, I do not have much of a sweet tooth. Ice cream is my guilty pleasure, and I actually don't like chocolate; a fact which causes my mother to often claim I am not her child. I rarely bake, because then I end up giving too much of it to the kids so that it won't go to waste, so I usually don't bake sweet treats. At birthday parties, I always pass on the cake. However, tomorrow there is a bake sale at church to raise money for a ministry that I participate in where we go to Mexico and build houses for needy families. So I made my favorite sweet treat. I love white chocolate.



Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts (**after eating these, I feel I would have been okay with just 1 cup of nuts...there were alot in each cookie. Your choice.)
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Beat together melted butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, then the egg yolk, then the vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just combined. Stir in the chips and nuts gently. Scoop by large tablespoonfull onto lined baking sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes until edges are golden and centers are not quite set.





**I used my melon baller to drop cookies onto baking sheet, so I don't have to push the dough off the spoon with my fingers and also makes the cookies all the exact same size (which helps with even baking!). I also line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Much easier cleanup and a much softer cookie!

Banana Bread

Got old bananas?? Don't waste them!! Grab a pack of chopped pecans from the store and make this AWESOME bread...you're sure to have everything you need on hand.



Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 over ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Combine flour, baking soda and salt - set aside. Mash 2 bananas with a fork in a small bowl. Whip remaining bananas with sugar for 3 minutes. Then add butter, eggs and vanilla. Beat well, scrape down sides of bowl. Mix in dry ingredients until just incorporated, do not over mix.

Fold in nuts and mashed bananas. Pour batter into loaf pan, drop pan on counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour 15 min. Let rest for 10 min, remove to rack.

**I should name this One Day Banana Bread, because thats how long it lasts around here!

Carrot Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

All I can say is wow, you have to make these. If you like pumpkin, you will love these. And they were simple. Not the most diet friendly recipe, but what dessert is, really? Splurge on this one, you won't regret it!


Ingredients:

1 - 8oz pkg cream cheese softened
2 eggs
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
1 - 14oz pkg pumpkin quick bread and muffin mix (I used Pilsbury)
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup raisins (I didn't add raisins, I don't like them)
2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tbs butter, softened

Heat oven to 350. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 egg, sugar and lemon juice. Set aside. In a small bowl, set aside 1/2 cup of the bread mix for topping. Place rest of mix in large bowl. Add remaining egg, carrots, milk raisins and oil. Stir until well blended.
Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup of batter. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of cream cheese mixture over the top of each muffin.
Add pecans and butter to the reserved muffin mix. Mix with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the cream cheese in each muffin cup.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool, remove from pan and serve. YUMMY!!

PS - Isn't my picture great? I'm proud of myself on that one!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Friday Dessert -
Since it's Halloween and all! Thanks Rachael Ray (again!).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar



Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

**Photo from www.rachaelraymag.com



Feedback:
These were so good. I can't believe I made them myself, they look like they came out of a package! I thought they would be more pumpkin-y, the flavor was pretty mild though. I took some next door after trick-o-treating to share, they loved them too. Making these again for sure!

Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake

Tuesday Dessert...yummy!-
I got this recipe from a fellow blogger and am so excited to try it!

Ingredients:

3 large Macintosh apples, peeled and sliced
2 1/4 cups sugar divided
1 Tbs cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 cup apple juice
6 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven 350.

In a large bowl, combine apple slices, 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine remaining 2 cups sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Pour in oil, vanilla, apple juice and eggs. Stir to just combine. Pour about half of the batter into a lightly greased bundt pan. Top with the apples (do not let them touch sides of the pan). Top with remaining batter. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, run a knife around pan and invert onto a platter.





Feedback:
This is the only time I have ever been able to invert a cake and have it come out clean. I'm usually terrible at it! But it works this time, and this cake is as yummy as it sounds!!

Cheesecake Brownies

I have made these once before for a potluck and everyone LOVED them. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I thought I'd make some for us tonight. I've already had 2...okay 3. And to be honest, the actual recipe calls for the lowfat cream cheese, but personally I think that's a sin. So I abided by the lowfat directions and used the applesauce and egg whites, but this girl will not scrimp on cream cheese. Period.

Ingredients:

1 pkg brownie mix
1/2 cup applesauce
3 egg whites, divided
1/4 cup water
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese-softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Mix brownie mix, applesauce, 2 egg whites and water. Pour into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Mix cream cheese, sugar, flour and remaining egg white until well blended. Spoon over brownie batter. Cut through batter with knife several times for marble effect. Bake 28-30 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs attached.



Feedback:

They were fabulous, as usual. Too fabulous. I don't even care for chocolate, and I can't get enough of these. My son drug one of the table chairs over to the island and dug into them for a few minutes before I caught him. I couldn't get mad, who could blame him? It's the brownies fault. I won't make them for awhile again. After we all come off our sugar high!

Apples, Apples, Apples

It's that time of year! We went to a mom's group meet-up today to share apple recipes. Here's what I took, a few I'd been waiting to try:

CrockPot Applesauce



4 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used Gala apples)
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup water

Place apple slices in your crockpot. Add the melon juice and the water. Pour in the vanilla and add the cinnamon. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Once apples are tender, mash with a potatoe masher or fork. Serves 4




Apple Delish



2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans cresent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a cresent roll. Place in a 9x13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream and spoon sauce over the top.


Feedback:

Applesauce - first let me say that I am not, nor have I ever been, an applesauce fan. But this was FABULOUS! I liked that it was warm, and kind of chunky, and the vanilla flavor was delicious. My only gripe is that it makes so little. Note to self ** double recipe for next time! This would be so good over ice cream! YUM!

Apple Delish - is just that - DELISH! Sweet, sticky, yummy good! You will love this dish, you have to make it! I forgot the vanilla. I'm not sure how, since it was on the counter already from being used in the applesauce. But I'm lucky to find my own head most days. At least I remembered to take the dishes I made to the meet up. That's good for me!