Pumpkin Cobbler

When I told my husband I was making pumpkin cobbler, he said "it can't be a cobbler, pumpkin is not a fruit!". Whatever, it is pumpkin with deliciousness on top and I love it. This recipe is almost too easy too, and even my "cobbler" snob husband couldn't stop eating it, and he hates pumpkin.  I may have had it for lunch once (or twice). Really, you should try this, and do not wait until next Thanksgiving.

Oh, and DO not leave out the pecans either, it seriously is the key to this recipe.

Pumpkin Cobbler
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup milk, evaporated or regular
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 boxed yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle evenly with pecans and drizzle the butter evenly over the top.
Bake the cobbler for about 1 hour, until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the cobbler stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Homemade Corndogs and Funnel Cake

As a family, we set aside one night a week for Family Night. One night my husband came up with a fantastic idea: Carnival night! We started with homemade corndogs (from the amazing Alton Brown), then played some carnival games (ring toss, knock over the bottles, and throw the ball into the bucket). The kids had to "earn" their tickets for the games by answering gospel and scripture questions. Over all it was a really fun night, and only a few tears and threats of an early bed time.

My favorite part of the night was of course: the food. Homemade corndogs are suprisingly easy, and really good. And homemade funnel cakes? I may never buy an over priced one again. Maybe.

Now I just need to get one of those cotton candy makers and I think we're set.

The only bad thing about this recipe is the cornstarch.  Does any one else my disdain for cornstarch? I am not talking about taste here (does it even taste like anything?). It is that cringing squeaky noise it makes when you touch it. Gives me the heebie-jeebies. I avoid it at all costs, but unfortunately you kind of have to use it here. I have nightmares of someone throwing me into a pool full of cornstarch...

:shudder:

Corn Dogs
from Alton Brown

1 gallon peanut oil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons (approximately 1 large) jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced
1 (8.5-ounce) can cream-style corn
1/3 cup finely grated onion
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons cornstarch, for dredging
8 beef hot dogs

Special equipment: 8 sets chopsticks, not separated. (I used bbq skewers and popsicle sticks)

Pour oil into a deep fryer or large heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the jalapeno, corn, onion, and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once, and stir only enough times to bring the batter together; there should be lumps. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Scatter the cornstarch into a dry pie pan. Roll each hot dog in the cornstarch and tap well to remove any excess.
Transfer enough batter to almost fill a large drinking glass. Refill the glass as needed. Place each hot dog on chopsticks, and quickly dip in and out of the batter. Immediately and carefully place each hot dog into the oil, and cook until coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. With tongs, remove to cooling rack, and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes.

Easy Classic Funnel Cakes 
from food network magazine


1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg, beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup milk, plus more if needed
Canola oil, for frying
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Whipped cream and/or fruit sauce, for serving (optional)

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the granulated sugar until pale. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture, then gently fold into the flour mixture. It should be a bit thicker than pancake batter but thin enough to pour. Add up to 3 tablespoons milk to loosen the batter, if needed.

Heat about 2 inches of canola oil in a large high-sided skillet or pot over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375. Meanwhile, mix the confectioners' sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Hold a funnel in one hand with your finger plugging the hole at the bottom. Pour 1 cup batter into the funnel. Hold the funnel over the hot oil and remove your finger from the hole, letting the batter drop in a spiral pattern all over the surface of the oil. It will look like lots of individual pieces at first, but as you continue to add batter, the pieces will fuse together. Cook until the batter floats and the underside is golden brown, about 30 seconds. Flip with tongs and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 30 more seconds. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat to make 5 more funnel cakes. Dust with the cinnamon-sugar and serve with whipped cream and/or fruit sauce, if desired.

Campfire Cones

I admit, I am a pinterest junkie. Haven't heard of it? Well, I suggest you look it up and check it out. It has revolutionized the way I organize the recipes I find online AND it has opened up a whole new world of recipe sites for me to check out. I have "pinned" and tried several new recipes found from pinterest and I am excited to share them.

One of the first recipes I "pinned" on pinterest was Campfire Cones. Honestly, I think it only took me about 10 hours after I saw the recipe to break down and make them, which was easy since I had ALL the ingredients laying around. These are really fun to make because each person can personalize them, and even better, you don't need to only cook them in a campfire, you can also do them in the oven.

Campfire Cones
from Chef Jessica Bright

Each person needs:

1 ice cream cone (I prefer sugar cones)
1 piece of foil, big enough to wrap the cone

And an assortment of the fillings of your choice. They can include but are not limited to:

Chocolate chips
Butterscotch morsels
White chocolate morsels
Peanut Butter Chips
Mint Chips
Walnuts
Peanuts
Almonds
Toffee pieces
Mini marshmallows
Brown sugar
Coconut
Cocoa nibs
Banana pieces
Dried fruit


Allow each person to design their cone with the fillers of choice in layers. Wrap securely with foil and place over heat near campfire or on grill to allow the chocolates to melt. You can also bake in the oven at 400 for 10-12 minutes Unwrap and enjoy.

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First Annual Cougar Board Charity Cook Off

This past weekend our family attended the First Annual Cougar Board Charity Cook Off. What is cougarboard? Well, it is not a place where I prowl on boys half my age. It is a message board for all that is BYU sports and more, much much more. My husband is addicted to it, and I may admit I am too. The people who run the message board decided to do a cook off and chairety event to support a cancer support group. Since our family is all about food, we decided to enter ALL FOUR CATEGORIES. This consisted of: meat, hot wings, chili and dessert. I was in charge of the hot wings, my husband was in charge of everything else (this was all his idea by the way).

Starting at 4am, My husband was out attending to his smoked pork shoulder, and through out the day we simmered chili, constructed a dessert and fried up some wings!

I cannot say the competition was fierce, but there was some great food there. In the end, we came out pretty well.

The husband placed 3rd with his smoked pulled pork. Honestly, he was up against ribs and brisket.  The judges did not bother to try his amazing secret bbq sauce either, so pulling out a third place with plain smoked pulled pork was pretty awesome.

I placed second with my hot wings. Please do not ask how many competitors their were. It will make my second place win be more like last place... I don't think the judges were quite ready for the hot part of my hot wings. I used Bobby Flay's recipe for hot wings and blue cheese yogurt sauce. I used peppers that we grew in our garden, which may have possibly made it a bit to spicy for most palates. However, I thought they were delicious! I also won some pretty awesome BYU beenies so all is good.

We did not place in the chili portion. However, my husband made some pretty awesome chili. He took the recipe for our favorite beans, and made a chili out of it by adding some tomato paste and other ingredients.

Husband also placed third in desserts, and EVERYONE agreed he was robbed. He lost to two desserts that looked like they were made from a boxed cake mix. I was not a judge but I tried all the desserts and only one even came close. It was a Key lime cheese cake, and they didn't win anything! But, that is how it goes. I loved the dessert so much that I want to share it with you

Carmel Fudge Cake

Take your favorite recipe of yellow cake
Good melting caramel
favorite chocolate ganache recipe
whipping cream whipped yo to perfection

Bake your yellow cake in two 8 inch cake pans. After cooking, cooling, and de-panning, pick the cake that came out the best and cut it in half (like a layer cake). Fill the middle with melted caramel, replace the top part, cover it with more caramel. Refrigerate it for a bit, the cover the top with chocolate ganache and sever with the whipped cream.

White Chocolate S'mores Gooey Cake Bars

Yah, just the name of this makes me drool. I made the mistake of checking out Picky Palate the other night, and I think I bookmarked at least half the recipes. Holy moley this lady knows how to do desserts (and her other recipes look pretty fantastic too).

I love S'mores, so this recipe really stood out to me, plus I had all the ingredients and it looked super simple (and it was). The fun part about this recipe is you can change it up if you want, make is all chocolate, or throw in some peanut butter chips instead.

White Chocolate S'mores Gooey Cake Bars
from Picky Palate

1 box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 full graham crackers
10 ounce bag white chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line an 8×8 inch baking pan with tin foil that’s been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure foil goes all the way up and over the edges for this one. It will be a full pan

2. Place cake mix, egg, and butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix with hands until a nice dough forms. similar to a cookie dough. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer with graham crackers, white chips then marshmallows. Top with remaining half of dough pressing evenly. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over top then bake for 28-33 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on top. Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes then take a plastic knife and run along edges to loosen marshmallow (this will make your life easier when pulling foil out of pan to remove bars. Let cool completely then remove bars from pan with foil edges. Cut off all edges if desired, about 1/2 inch each side. I save the edges to snack on too. Cut bars into squares and serve. They are delicious room temperature or chilled.
12 to 16 servings

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake and the Best Frosting

I am always on the lookout for an amazing cake and frosting recipe. Sadly, I am almost always disappointed...until now. One of my favorite recipe blogs is My Kitchen Cafe, and she posted the unbelievable chocolate cake and best ever frosting recipe. I knew I had to try it! Oh, and it is oh so moist, and the frosting is oh so yummy! You have to try this out, it is a little bit of work, but I don't think you will go back to box cakes after this!

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake
from my kitchen cafe 

*Makes two 8-inch or 9-inch cake layers and I’ve had great success making it in a 9X13-inch pan (I suspect cupcakes would work out great, also). Also, it makes a little too much batter, so don't use it all or it may spill over!

1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ cups sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 ¼ cups warm water
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, making sure the baking rack is in the middle of the oven. Prepare your cake pans by cutting out a piece of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Grease the pans, place the parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan and lightly grease again. Dust the pans with flour (or cocoa powder if you don’t want the white dusting on the finished cakes). Set the pans aside.
Using a fine mesh strainer, sift together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, yolk, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix on low speed (with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer) until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Do not overbake! Remove the pans from the oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Gently run a thin knife around the edges of the pans and unmold the cakes, removing the parchment paper liners from the bottom of the cakes. Let them cool completely, top sides ups, on a wire rack.
Trim the tops of the cake layers with a long serrated knife to make them level. Frost as desired (I highly recommend this life-changing frosting).

The Best Frosting
from my kitchen cafe

*Makes about 4 cups frosting (plenty for two 9-inch cake layers)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1% with stellar results)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature
In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.
Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature – this is extremely important! If it is even slightly warm, the frosting won’t beat up properly. I refrigerated my initial mixture overnight. If you do this, make sure to pull it out in time to let it warm back up to room temperature. If you try to proceed with the rest of the recipe and the mixture is too cold, the butter won’t absorb into the frosting like it should.
Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temperature (it should have no hint of warmth at all!), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined, about 30 seconds (a stand mixer will work best for this). Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work it’s magic. Beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour. I suspect if you chill it for an hour or so, it would be stiff enough to actually pipe with instead of frosting with a rubber spatula.
Chocolate Version: Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt mixture in the first step. Once the frosting has been mixed for five minutes and is light and fluffy, mix in 3 ounces of semisweet chocolate that has been melted and completely cooled to room temperature.

Holiday Dinners: Thanksgiving

So I am a few weeks late... what's new? If you want, this would also be a great Christmas or New Years meal, or you can plan ahead for next year.

This year we smoked our turkey. My husband bought a smoker for his birthday, and we have been enjoying it immensely. In fact, I plan to do a post all about it someday, when I get around to it. Anyway, it was amazing but I am not going to post the recipe because only a handful of people actually have a smoker, and I have many other recipes to share instead. And yes, that is bacon draped over the top. Bacon seemed to be the theme of our dinner this year. Oh, and just for the record, I have never made my turkey. My husband does it every year and he is awesome at it.

Appetizers

So I have this sick obsession with food. It was only our family for Thanksgiving, and I bought way too much. I probably went a little over board on the appetizers this year, but they were oh so good.

This year I did a cheese tray, with grapes, crackers and crusty bread. I looked up online to see which cheeses were the best, and most sites suggested to get three or four different types and to get a hard cheese, a soft cheese and a semi-soft cheese. We used sharp cheddar, tintern cheddar with chives, smoked Gouda and taleggio.

Along with that I made in antipasto platter with salami, prosciutto,  ham, turkey, baby swiss cheese, black olives, and mini pickles.

Also, crab dip and 7 layer dip which are definitely my go to appetizers. Also we threw in some veggies and dip!

A new one we tried this year is homemade hummus. It was super easy, and really good. I even through in some red pepper spread that we had to add some more flavor.

5-Minute Hummus

1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 clove garlic
1/4 c olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste) optional- (I used sesame seed oil)
1 tsp ground cumin
kosher salt
1/4 tsp paprika

In a food processor, puree the chickpeas and garlic with the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini (if using), cumin, and ¾ teaspoon salt until smooth and creamy. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.
Transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the paprika before serving.

Main Course

As I mentioned, we had the smoked turkey, with a gravy made out of the drippings.  I also made my go to butterhorn rolls and added a yummy honey butter recipe to go with!

Honey Butter

2 sticks butter, soft
1/2 c honey
1/2 c marshmellow fluff

Whip all together with an electric mixer and serve at room temp.

And here are the side dishes. All were super delicious, even the stuffing. I hate stuffing, but this was actually pretty good! And in place of cranberry sauce, I made a package of cranberry jello!


Blue Cheesy Potatoes

5 potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 c crumbled blue cheese
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
4 strips bacon, crumbled
2 tbsp butter
milk

Boil Potatoes and garlic until soft (about 10 min). Mash Potatoes with blue cheese, Worcestershire sauce, crumbled bacon and butter. Add milk for desired consistency.

Spicy Corn-Bread Stuffing

For the Corn Bread
3 cups cornmeal
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2½ tsp kosher salt
2 cups milk
½ cup canola oil
1 can (14¾ oz.) cream-style corn
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 yellow onion, finely diced
½ cup diced green bell pepper

For the Herb Butter
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp minced fresh sage
2 tbsp minced fresh thyme
2 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Stuffing
5 tbsp Herb Butter
2 yellow onions, finely diced
(about 2 cups)
3 stalks celery, finely diced
(about ¾ cup)
10 cups corn bread, cubed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup whole milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Corn Bread

1 Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 13˝ x 9˝ x 2˝ baking dish, and warm in oven while you make batter. 2 In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt. Stir in milk, oil and cream-style corn. Then add cheese, onion and green pepper. 3 Carefully remove warmed baking dish from oven, and pour batter into it. Return to oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely, then cube.

For the Herb Butter

and celery and sauté until translucent,In a small mixing bowl, combine butter with herbs, salt and pepper. Reserve 5 tbsp for stuffing mixture and use remainder for turkey. For the Stuffing 1 Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. 2 In a large bowl, combine onion-and-celery mixture with corn bread, eggs, milk, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine, careful not to crush cubed corn bread. Refrigerate until ready to stuff turkey. 3 Grease an 8˝ x 8˝ baking dish. After filling turkey, place remaining stuffing in baking dish. Bake alongside turkey for last 35 to 40 minutes.

Green Beans With Bacon Vinaigrette

kosher salt and black pepper
2 pounds green beans, trimmed
6 slices bacon
2 shallots, sliced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the green beans and cook until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool; transfer to a serving bowl.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let cool, then break into pieces.
3. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the skillet and return to medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, mustard, oil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add to the green beans, along with the bacon, and toss to combine.

Baked Sweet and Savory Mashed Potatoes

3 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon salt, divided
1 (29-ounce) can sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and mashed
1 (8-ounce) package 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
3/4 cup light sour cream
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Garnish: crumbled bacon

Bring potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and water to cover to a boil in a Dutch oven; cook 30 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Return potatoes to Dutch oven. Add sweet potatoes and cream cheese; mash until smooth with a potato masher. Stir in bacon, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20 minutes. Garnish, if desired.


 

Pumpkin Week: Slow Cooker Pumpkin Apple Dessert

Two of my favorite things: pumpkin and a crock pot... you can't go wrong. This was super easy, and only cooks for 1-2  hours! I imagine you could do this in a dutch oven too. It tastes like a cross between apple pie and pumpkin pie. So good!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Apple Dessert

1

 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling

2

 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4

 cups packed brown sugar

1

 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

3/4 

cup fat-free cholesterol-free egg product

1/3

 cup vegetable oil

2

 teaspoons baking powder

1 

teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 

teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4

 teaspoon baking soda

Ice cream, if desired 

Spray 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Spoon pie filling into cooker; spread evenly.Beat remaining ingredients except ice cream with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pie filling. Cover and cook on High heat setting 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream.

Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Choolate Chip Cookies

Easiest pumpkin recipe ever. Three ingredients, that's it! Great for last minute party treats, or on a lazy day where you don't really feel like baking.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
2 cups chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 375. Mix three ingredients together. Drop spoonfuls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 12 min.

Halloween Treats: Green Goblin Punch

Just completely ignore the fact that it is after Halloween. Just think of it as being really prepared for next year right? This was a fun drink to make, but oddly enough, my kids didn't like it, but my husband and I did.  

 

Green Goblin Punch

3  cups apple juice
3  cups plain seltzer
Corn syrup
Colored sugar crystals
2  cups prepared green Jell-O

Combine apple juice and seltzer in a pitcher and chill. Dunk the rims of serving glasses in corn syrup, gently shake off excess syrup or use a thin paintbrush to wipe off excess. Dredge rims in colored sugars. Place glasses upside down on wax paper in the refrigerator to set. When ready to serve, place spoonfuls of Jell-O in decorated glasses and fill with apple-juice mixture

Halloween Treats: Candy Corn and Pretzel Bark

I am not a fan of candy corn, but this recipe peaked my interested! It is super easy to make, and if you like pretzels and chocolate, then you will love this! It makes for a festive and colorful treat for Halloween too!

Candy Corn and Pretzel Bark

8 oz melted white chocolate
1 cup mini pretzels
1/2 c candy corn

Line an 8 inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang. Spread the melted chocolate in the prepared pan, then sprinkle with pretzels and candy corn. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Remove from pan and break into pieces.

Halloween Treats: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Halloween and fall are all about the pumpkin right? This makes a great Halloween or fall treat. This is also a preview to my "pumpkin week" I will be doing in November!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c water
3 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 c (or more) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.

Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Vanilla Cheesecake with Ginger Graham Cracker Crust and Blueberry Sauce

This is a recipe I have been hanging onto for almost 6 years. It is from the September 2004 issue of Real Simple, and I pulled it out with intentions of making it, but never did! Until now. Oh why do I torture myself by putting off recipes like this? It is so creamy and delicious, and the crust is just the right thickness and texture with a fun hint of ginger. Other then the "must be refrigerated over night" the recipe is simple and straight forward! Oh, and for your own sake, do not try and add up the calories. I stopped after I hit 3000 and I was only to the cream cheese. It is just better not knowing.

Oh, and I finally used my new spring-form pan!


Ginger Graham Cracker Crust
2 packages honey graham crackers, to make about 2 1/4 cups of crumbs
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground ginger
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, grind the graham crackers to form fine crumbs. Add the sugar, ginger, and butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into a 9-inch springform pan, working the crumbs over the bottom and then up the sides. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly before filling or according to your pie recipe directions. This recipe makes one 9-inch piecrust.


Vanilla Cheesecake
*When I make cheesecake, I usually only make half the filling recipe. I like this better because the ratio between crust and filling is equal. The crust is my favorite part though, so if you like the filling, go ahead and make the recipe as is, but if you are like me, you can cut the cheesecake ingredients in half.


3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4  eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1  prebaked Ginger Graham Cracker Crust
1 cup sour cream


1. Make the Ginger Graham Cracker Crust.
2. Preheat oven to 325° F.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add 1 cup of the sugar and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and mix until well combined.
4. Pour the batter into the crust and bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and the remaining sugar and vanilla. Pour the mixture over the cheesecake, spreading it to the edge. Bake 5 minutes.
6. Cool and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Blueberry Sauce
This is something I made up on my own! I simply took 1 cup of  fresh blueberries (frozen would probably work too, and you could use any berry) and put it in a sauce pan with a little bit of water (like about 1/2 cup) and about 2 tbsp of sugar. I cooked it over med-low heat for 15 minutes, or until the blueberries began to liquefy. It was very tasty on top of the cheesecake. I have also done this and put it on ice cream and pancakes or waffles. If you want to be healthier, you don't even need to sugar (but it sure makes it taste good)! 

Chocolate Cake Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

I have come to a sad realization. You cannot fake a doughnut. There is a reason why doughnuts are so delicious. They are cooked in a vat of oil. When they are not cooked in a fat of oil, they are simply doughnut shaped cakes.

I have tried two recipes now in my doughnut pan, and both have simply tasted like doughnut shaped cakes. They still taste good, but they are not doughnuts. I am very sad about this fact, but I have not quite given up. I am going to try a few more recipes just to make sure. However, I will post my recipe anyway, because they are tasty, and the kids still thought they were doughnuts, which made me the coolest mom in the world!

Chocolate Cake Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze
From Family Circle: April 2010
1  cup all-purpose flour
1/4  cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/4  teaspoon salt
1/2  cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2  cup packed dark-brown sugar
1  egg
4  teaspoons unsalted butter, melted
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
2  cups confectioners sugar
3  tablespoons milk
Sprinkles, toasted coconut, mini chips
1  tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In small bowl, whisk buttermilk, sugar, egg, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; whisk until blended and smooth.
3. Spoon batter into a large resealable plastic bag. Cut off a corner and squeeze batter into prepared indents, about 2/3 full. Smooth tops. Bake at 325 degrees F for 13 minutes, until doughnuts spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan on rack 3 minutes, then carefully turn out directly onto rack to cool.
4. For white-frosted doughnuts: In small bowl, combine 1 cup of the confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Stir until smooth. Dip cooled doughnuts into bowl and allow excess frosting to drip back into bowl. Transfer to rack. Top with sprinkles, coconut or mini chips, if desired. Transfer any extra frosting to a plastic bag.
5. For chocolate-frosted doughnuts: Combine remaining 1 cup confectioners sugar, the cocoa and remaining 2 tablespoons milk. Stir until smooth. Dip cooled doughnuts into bowl and allow excess frosting to drip back into bowl. Transfer to rack. Top with sprinkles, coconut or mini chips, if desired. Transfer any extra frosting to a plastic bag.
6. For drizzle: Snip small corner off bags of frosting. Decoratively drizzle over cooled doughnuts.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I finally used my new mini muffin pan! These are not the best chocolate chip muffins, but they are cute (which is really important when it comes to food), and they are actually a little bit healthy (as far as chocolate chip muffins go). My husband and I are trying to lose a little bit of our "winter weight", so these are great because they are only 45 calories each! After my winter weight comes off, I will find a more delicious chocolate chip muffin recipe.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

3/4 c milk
1/4 c butter
1 egg
1 3/4 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

Pre-heat oven to 400. Beat milk, butter, and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once. Stir until batter is lumpy.  Bake about 10 minutes in a mini muffin pan, 18-20 in a regular muffin pan.

Using Up Leftover Candy: Reeces Peanut Butter Egg Cookies

My husband found this recipe on the all knowing magical cougarboard.com. One of the fellow cougar boarders  found this on Picky Palate, and my husband and I agreed they needed to be made. As you can see, most of our leftover Easter Candy is Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Eggs. I think between my husband and I, we bought 6 packages of them. Anyway, these are diet buster cookies, but definitely worth it!

Reeses Peanut Butter Egg Cookies

from Picky Palate

2 sticks softened butter
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
2 large eggs plus 1 egg white
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Cups chopped Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs, 12 total eggs 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter, sugars and corn syrup until well combined….light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chopped Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs.  Mix only until just combined.  Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 9-11 minutes until just turning golden around edges.  Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 4 dozen cookies

Oatmeal Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread is a hit at our house. Last summer we had two out of control zucchini plants, so we used a lot of zucchini. To make it fun, I tried out a lot of different recipes. The oatmeal zucchini bread is one of my favorites, mostly because I feel better eating it since it has oatmeal in it, oh and it tastes good too!

I made these in my new mini loaf pan! I love it because I can freeze them, and pull one loaf out a day for us to eat!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
(I apologize, but I cannot remember which site I found this recipe on, so thank you who ever you are!)

3 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/3 cup white sugar
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

Grease and flour 2 8x 4 inch pans (or use mini loaf pans). Preheat oven to 325. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, Beat in eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and cinnamon until well combined. Pour batter in to prepared pans. Bake for 40-60 minutes (more towards the 40 minute for the mini pans). Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove.

Using Up Leftover Candy: Peanut Butter Oven Smore's

We have a lot of Easter candy, and this is pretty typical for all the candy holidays at our house. I usually buy way too much, but the problem is we aren't big candy eaters. Sometimes the best way to get rid of it, is make more treats! Make sense to you? Me either, but is is fun!

These are so good, I don't even need to explain anything. Sometimes I believe I am a food genius.

Peanut Butter Oven Smore's

Graham crackers
Marshmallows
Reece's Peanut Butter eggs (they are like peanut butter cups, but in the shape of an egg, they also have these at Halloween and Christmas, in different shapes obviously)

Set oven to Broil (I learned this trick from my best friend, doing smore's in the oven). Take 1 sheet of graham cracker, and break in half. Assemble smore using one half of the graham cracker on bottom, then the chocolate egg, and lastly balance two marshmallows on top of that. Stick in the oven and watch until marshmallows are browned. Remove baking sheet and top with another graham cracker. Delicious!

My husband bought me a giant version of the Reece's egg (like half pound size). We were just joking that I should make a monster smore with it. Cut it in half and stuff it with marshmallows and then bake it, mah haha!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Just another cookie recipe I wanted to try out. These turned out great, and you can make them bite sized too (so then you can eat twice as many). My favorite was to eat them about 30 minutes after they came out of the oven and the chocolate in the middle was still gooey. This is a great egg-less cookie recipe too! This is great for those Sunday afternoons when you find yourself wanting to make cookies but alas, there are no eggs.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Note: In the comments of the Baking Bites blog where this recipe was originally featured, several commentators mentioned their cookies had spread quite a bit. I didn't have a problem with that, but two tips I'd be aware of is first, to make sure your butter isn't overly soft - a cool room temperature is what you are looking for (you can tell if the butter is just right for creaming if you press your index finger into the butter and it gives just a little but it isn't easy for you to slide your finger all the way through). Second, chill the batter for 30 minutes if you are working in a warm kitchen or if your batter seems overly soft. Also, I have found if you replace 1/4 c of the butter with butter flavored shortening, the batter will be a good consistency.

*Makes about 3 dozen cookies (or 6 dozen smaller cookies)

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
approximately 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)
approximately 2/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar, adding the sugar in slowly so that it doesn’t puff everywhere and transform your kitchen into a white mess. In a fine mesh strainer/sieve, place the cocoa powder and salt and sift this mixture into the butter/sugar and mix until well combined. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, blend in the flour until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball lightly in the cocoa powder and place on the baking sheet. Do not flatten the cookies. The cookies will not spread very much if the dough is chilled, so they can be placed fairly close together.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They will just barely be set but you don't want to overbake or they will be dry. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cookies have reached room temperature, after about 30-45 minutes, roll each cookie in powdered sugar until completely coated. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe Source: from My Kitchen Cafe/originally from Baking Bites

Chocolate -Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

A good friend of mine made these a few months ago, and I about died when I ate them. These are one of the best desserts/cookies I have had. Not only do they taste amazing, they make a lot, and they are not too hard to make. Just try not to think about all the butter in them while you are eating them, it ruins the fun.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

1  12-oz. pkg. miniature semisweet chocolate pieces
2  Tbsp. milk
3/4  cup butter, softened
1/4  cup creamy peanut butter
1-1/2  cups granulated sugar
1  tsp. baking soda
1  tsp. baking powder
2  eggs
1/2  cup milk
1  tsp. vanilla
1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3  cups all-purpose flour
1  recipe Filling 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside 1/4 cup chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies. In microwave-safe bowl combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons milk. Microwave on 50 percent power (medium) 1 minute or until melted; stir once. Set aside.
2. In bowl beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until combine. Add sugar, soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; beat to combine. Add eggs, 1/2 cup milk, vanilla, and melted chocolate; beat until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and flour until combined. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces. Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with reserved chocolate. Bake 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely. To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with Filling; top with remaining cookies.
Filling: In bowl beat 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup marshmallow creme, and 2 cups powdered sugar with electric mixer until combined. If needed, beat in 2 tablespoons milk until spreading consistency. Makes 30 servings.