Amish Apples

Apple Crisp

Made: November 3, 2013

Ingredients:
Filling
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sliced & peeled apples (mix of courtland and golden delicious)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Sift together sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon and combine with sliced apples
- Mix well
- Place in a greased 9x9in pan
- Combine oatmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder and brown sugar
- Add in butter and mix together until it crumbles
- Put on top of apple mixture
- Bake for 35-40 minutes

For the apples, I used Red Delicious and Granny Smith, since they happened to be on sale. (Trying to be frugal) I also used a 9in pie pan.

First attempt, I sliced the apples and didn't melt the butter. I liked it, but I felt like it wanted to be more of an apple pie. Second attempt, I cut the apples into small pieces. And for the crumbles, I melted butter and then added all the dry ingredients to that. I think it was easier to eat (especially when you use a crappy plastic fork at work!)

My second attempt

Both ways tasted super delicious and had just enough sweetness with the tart. I didn't peel the apples on either attempt, but I think it adds to the flavor.

(Recipe used: theliterarfairy.com - tweaked from Amish Recipe)

Chocolate-y Pumpkin-y Muffin-y, oh my!

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

Made: October 27, 2013

Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 15oz can solid-pack pumpkin
- 1 1/2 cups canola oil
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (12oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, mixing well
- Fold in chocolate chips
- Fill greased or lined muffin pans 3/4 full
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted neat the center comes out clean
- Cook in pan for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack

One of the few things I like about fall ... all the new pumpkin recipes come out! These are very yummy and mine came out super moist. These could be just as delish without the chocolate chips, but either way I'm pleased!

(Recipe used: Taste of Home)

No flour in these cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Made: September 6, 2013

Ingredients
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and place the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven
- In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets
- Flatten the mounds with the tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern on the cookies
- Sprinkle coarse salt on top of the cookies.
- Bake until golden around the edges, about 10 minutes, switching the position of the sheets halfway through baking
- Transfer to racks to cool
- Repeat with the remaining dough

I used my bottom rack and only my bottom rack since I had a 2-layer cake in the oven and they were taking up the other two racks in the oven. But cooking these for 10 minutes, no rotating and being on the bottom, these turned out really yummy! I like making my cookies smaller in size (I roll them into a small ball in the palm of my hands) and let them bake down into cookies. I also didn't use any seasalt for sprinkling and I was rushed for time for the decorating of the crosshatch pattern, but these tasted just like other peanut butter cookies with flour, just with a more prominent pb flavor you yearn for!

(recipe used: foodnetwork.com)

Coffee and Chocolate

Deep-Dish Brownies

Made: May 26, 2013

Ingredients
Brownies
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup water or coffee
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions
- Heat oven to 350 F
- Coat 8-inch square pan with cooking spray
- Whisk sugar, melted butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla in large bowl; whisk in eggs until blended
- Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl; slowly whisk into egg mixture until well-combined
- Spread in pan
- Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean but with some crumbs attached
- Cool completely on wire rack
- Meanwhile, melt chocolate, 1 tablespoon butter and water in small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally
- Pour into medium bowl; whisk in powdered sugar until smooth
- Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Refrigerate until frosting thickens slightly (about 25 minutes), stirring occasionally
- Spread over brownies; let stand until set

To melt the chocolate, I used a double broiler and I used coffee instead of water. I used a lot of powdered sugar and it seemed like it was still too watery. Even after an hour in the fridge, it still didn't seem like it wanted to set. I used it as a glaze and it's finally starting to set (about 3 hours later).

(recipe used: Cooking Club of America)

Swirly Cheesecake

Cappuccino Chocolate-Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Made: May 9, 2013

Ingredients
- 24 oreo Cookies, finely crushed (about 2 cups)
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 4 packages (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 4 eggs
- 2 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, cooled

Directions
- Heat oven to 325 F
- Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides
- Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of prepared pan
- Add coffee and cinnamon to boiling water; stir until coffee granules are dissolved
- Cool slightly
- Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended
- Add coffee and sour cream; mix well
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each just until blended
- Remove 1 cup batter; pour remaining batter over crust
- Stir chocolate into reserved batter.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls over batter in pan; swirl gently with knife
- Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set, cool
- Refrigerate 4 hours

A lot of prep work, melting chocolate, boiling water for coffee, then of course the normal for a cheesecake (cream cheese and crust). I probably should have added more coffee, but I'll have to adjust for a later recipe.

(Recipe used: Kraftrecipes.com)

Green Brownies

St. Patty’s Day Brownies

Made: March 15, 2013

Ingredients
- 1 box Betty Crocker® fudge brownie mix (plus eggs, water and oil listed on the package, prepared according to box directions) - or your favorite brownie mix
- 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- green food coloring

Direction
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
- Pour prepared brownie batter into the prepared 9 x 13 inch dish
- In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until well blended
- Beat in the egg, flour, vanilla, and food coloring until well blended and smooth
- Drop cream cheese mixture by tablespoonfuls evenly on top of batter
- With knife, cut through mixture a few times to marble
- Bake as directed on brownie mix box or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean
- Cool completely, about 1 hour and cut into squares
- Store in refrigerator

I wanted to do something else for St Patrick's day this year, but I think the cream cheese mixture was too much for these brownies. I probably would only use 1 tsp of vanilla vs a tbsp and I would omit the flour completely. They still taste scrumptious, but there is just something off about them. I used 5 drops of food coloring for this

(Recipe used: Real Mom Kitchen)

Mardi Gras

King Cake Cupcakes

Made: February 12, 2013

Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons soft butter
- 2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia; OR 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil
- 2 large eggs

Icing
- 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (half of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, enough to make a spreadable icing
- colored sugars, preferably purple, yellow, and green

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 FL
- Lightly grease and flour a muffin tin, or line the muffin tins with papers, and spray the insides of the papers

Cupcakes
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt
- Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer at low speed, until the mixture looks sandy
- Combine the milk and vanilla and add, all at once
- Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl
- With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg
- Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds
- Add the second egg, again beating for 30 seconds
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly, just till smooth
- Scoop the batter by heaping 1/4-cupfuls into the prepared muffin tin (A muffin scoop works well here)
- Bake the cupcakes for 23 to 25 minutes, until they've domed, and are a light golden brown around the edges
- They'll spring back when pressed gently on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and place on a rack to cool completely before icing

Icing
- Combine the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon oil in a medium-sized bowl, and beat them together until light and fluffy
- Add the sugar gradually, beating well
- Beat in the milk a little at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency
- Spread each cake with icing, and immediately dip in gold, purple, and green sparkling sugars, covering about 1/3 of the cupcake with each color sugar

I followed this one really close to the recipe; only a couple of changes. I couldn't find lemon oil anywhere. So I used lemon juice in the batter with the vanilla and extract in the icing. Also, I didn't use a full 2 cups of powdered sugar. It was getting a nice consistency, so I used 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk. I also didn't have or could find yellow sugars, so I just used green and purple I had. I never had King Cake before, but these cupcakes were quite delicious!

(Recipe used: King Aurthur Flour)

Fruity cake

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

Made: February 1, 2013

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 9 slices pineapple in juice, drained
- 9 maraschino cherries without stems
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg

Directions
- Heat oven to 350 F
- In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven
- Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter
- Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar
- Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice
- In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly
- Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally
- Pour batter over pineapple and cherries
- Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
- Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over
- Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan
- Serve cake warm
- Store loosely covered

It's a little darker than I expected, but my pan only fit 6 pineapple slices instead of 9, but the taste is really good! Even though the batter tasted odd before I baked it.

(Recipe used: Pillsbury)

Chocolate + cream

Black Bottom Cupcakes (full size)

Originally made date; unknown - Recently made: January 5, 2013

Ingredients
Chocolate batter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream cheese filling
- 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt
- Set aside
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, oil and water until blended
- Stir in the vinegar and vanilla
- Beat in the flour mixture until incorporated
- Set aside
- In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and salt
- Stir in the chocolate chips
- Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with chocolate batter, then top with a heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture
- Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes

These are requested quite often :) I didn't realize I never posted the recipe before today ...

(Recipe used: Allrecipes.com)

The pudding in the Rice

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Made: December 29, 2012

Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, and/or dried cherries
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla or vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
- Lightly coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside
- In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, evaporated milk, milk, sugar, and the water
- Stir in raisins, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon
- Transfer mixture to the prepared cooker
- Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours
- Stir gently before serving

I made about 3 cups of uncooked rice, which 1/2 cup made 3/4 a cup of cooked rice; which just about evened out. I added some extra milk and sugar (mixed up) and put on the "keep warm" setting and it seemed to even out nicely. Before, it was too thick for my liking and wasn't as sweet as some I've tasted. As for the berries, I added raisins and dried cranberries.

(Recipe used: Better Homes and Gardens)

Fall Harvest Cupcakes

School Days Applesauce Cupcakes

Made: November 2, 2012

Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 box Yellow Cake mix (or your favorite recipe)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 eggs

Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
Cupcakes
- Heat oven to 350 F

- In a large bowl, beat cupcake ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds
- Beat on medium speed about 2 minutes
- Divide the batter evenly among the cups
- Bake 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cool for10 minutes
- Remove cupcakes to cooling racks to cool completely

Frosting
- In a 2 qt saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat
- Stir in brown sugar, heat to boiling, stirring constantly
- Stir in the milk, return to boil
- Remove from heat
- Beat in the powdered sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth
- Frost the cupcakes

I followed this one to a tee, minus that I used cinnamon flavored applesauce since my unsweetened one went bad on me. Oops! But I called them my Fall Harvest cupcakes since I took them to a bowling alley and not a school haha Plus, Apples are best in the fall :)

(Recipe used: Best of Betty Crocker 2013)

Cheesy brownies

Philly Brownie Cheesecake

Made: October 18, 2012

Ingredients
- 1 package brownie mix (plus whatever you need for this mix)
- 4 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 2 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Directions
- Heat oven to 325 F
- Prepare brownie mix as directed on the package
- Pour into greased 13x9in pan
- Bake 25 minutes or until top is shiny and center is almost set
- Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer until well blended
-  Add sour cream, mix well
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low-speed after each just until blended
- Gently pour over brownie layer in pan
- Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set
- Run knife around rim of pan to loosen sides, cool
- Refrigerate 4 hours
- Melt chocolate squares as directed on package, drizzle over cheesecake
- Refrigerate 15 minutes, or until chocolate is firm

I bought Reynold's disposable "Bake and Take" cake pans since Mom needed these for work the next day. I think they were longer than the size needed, so one batch of brownie per pan and then the cream cheese mixture was enough for both pans. I wouldn't have time to have the cake set overnight and then chocolate drizzle (which I need to practice on :x) so I let the cakes cool for 20 minutes and then drizzled the chocolate overtop before sticking them both in the fridge overnight. I didn't get to taste the finished product, but the tastings inbetween were quite yummy :)

(Recipe used: Kraft Foods - Showstopping Desserts)

Surprise Cookies

Peanut Butter Sugar Cookies

Made: October 15, 2012

Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg

Sugar Cookies
- 2 3/4 c. flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 c (2 sticks) butter
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla

Directions


Peanut Butter Cookies
- Combine all ingredients until batter is thick and a little crumbly.
- Roll into approx. 48 balls
- Put them on a plate or a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator while you do the next steps.

Sugar Cookies
- Combine all ingredients.
- Batter will be thick and hard to stir (you might have to use your hands).
 
- Get your PB balls from the fridge.
- Starting with one ball of sugar cookie dough, tear off a small amount and press it flat in your palm, forming about a 2 inch circle (should cover the flat part of your palm).
- Place a PB ball in the middle and cover it with the sugar cookie. Roll into a ball.
- Roll in sugar.
- Place each ball onto a greased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- The balls are definitely going to expand, so make sure you leave enough room.
- Bake at 375°F for 7 minutes.
- Pull the cookie sheet out of the oven and gently tap each one with the bottom of a glass to flatten.
- Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I had a couple issues with the cooking time. I actually cooked mine for about 11-12 minutes. I don't know if I made mine too big or too thick, but either way, they turned out quite delish!

(Recipe used: bakebakebake@lj.com)

Cookies without their sugar

Sugar-free Sugar cookies

Made: September 14, 2012

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- Sugar substitute equivalent to 1/2 sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups sifted flour

Directions
- In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds
- Add sugar, baking powder and salt; beat until combined
- Add oil, egg and vanilla; beat until combined
- Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer; using a wooden spoon, mix in rest of the flour
- Divide dough in half
- Cover and chill for 1-2 hours or until easy to handle
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Bake for 6-8 minutes or until edges are firm and just starting to brown
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool

** You can use the dough to make cut outs with cookie cutters or roll into small 1-in balls like I did **

For this recipe, I used Splenda that was equal to sugar measurements; so I only needed 1/2 cup of Splenda overall. I also used enough flour to make the dough stable without making the cookies taste like only flour. So I used about 2 sifted cups. I also didn't use a spoon, but my hands to mix it to a consistency I liked. I think they came out great :)

Lemon Cookies

Zesty Lemon Cookies

Made: August 14, 2011

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
- In the bowl of a standing mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together until well blended
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl
- With the mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, until blended
- Add lemon juice and zest, mixing until blended
- Add salt, baking powder and flour and mix until blended
- Drop by rounded scoopfuls onto prepared baking sheets
- Bake until edges are firm with no color, 12 to 15 minutes
- Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks and let cool completely
- Dust with powdered sugar

For me, these came out a little too thick battered, so I might reduce the flour next time. Trial and error! But they taste very lemony and overall are quite delish :)

(Recipe used: realmomkitchen.com)

A cake missing it's flour

Flourless chocolate cake

Made: June 27, 2012

Ingredients

- 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Spray a 9-in pan with nonstick cooking spray
- Combine the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl
- Microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring after each session, until melted
- Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture
- Add the sugar gradually, beating continually
- Beat in the cocoa, vanilla and salt
- Place the egg whites in an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form
- Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture
- Fold in the remaining egg whites
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan
- Bake until set, about 22  minutes
- Let stand to cool slightly on a wire rack

 Made for Jeanie's birthday; needed to be gluten free for her. So I found a new recipe to try. Beware of it sticking to your pan; make sure it's greased up good! I thought mine was and it stuck to the bottom :(

Cupcakes turned to cake

Black Bottom Cake

Made: June 20, 2012

Ingredients

Cake:

- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

- 1 package (8oz) cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

- Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt
- Add water, oil, vinegar & vanilla; mix
- Pour into a 9x13 greased and floured pan
- Combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg & salt until blended
- Stir in chocolate chips
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the cake batter
- Bake 30 minutes at 350 F

I had a couple of issues with this cake, unfortunately. The middle wasn't done after 30 minutes. So I kept on checking on it and left it in 10 minutes longer. I wish I could've had it cook even longer as the middle still wasn't done all the way but the edges were going to burn. So I'll have to try and perfect this cake; either less filling in the middle or a different cooking method. So we'll see. But it still had a decent taste and the middle tasted like a gooey brownie. Hopefully next time will be a better turn out.

Chocolate Cheese

Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars

Made: June 6, 2012

Ingredients
- 1 tube (18oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (or favorite cookie dough recipe)
- 1 package (8oz) cream cheese; softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg

Directions
- Cute cookie dough in half
- For crust, press half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 8-in square baking pan
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth
- Spread over crust
- Crumble remaining dough over top
- Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cook on a wire rack
- Refrigerate leftovers

For Ms Marge's birthday, I tried something new. It came out smelling delish, I can't wait to try it later!

Green Nutty Cake

Pistachio Cake; before icing

Made: May 4, 2012

Ingredients

Cake:

- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 package (3.4oz) instant pistachio pudding mix
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup club soda
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Icing:

- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup cold 2% milk
- 1 package (3.4oz) instant pistachio pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

- In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, soda and oil
- Beat on low speed for 30 seconds
- Beat on medium for 2 minutes
- Stir in walnuts
- Pout into a greased and floured 10-in fluted tube pan
- Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean
- Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely
- In a large bowl, beat the cream, milk, pudding mix & confectioner's sugar on high until stiff peaks form
- Frost cake
- Sprinkle with the walnuts
- Refrigerate until serving

Pistachio cake; after decorating

Ken asked for his Pistachio cake and he got one! I was just happy that my cake came out in one piece! (Me and bundt pans do not get along!)

(Recipe used: Taste of Home - Quick Cooking 2012)

Lemony cheese

Lemon Cheese Bars

Made: April 23, 2012

Ingredients:

- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:

- In a bowl, combine the cake mix, one egg and oil until crumbly
- Set aside 1 cup for topping
- Press the remaining crumb mixture into a greased 13in x 9in x 2in baking pan
- Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes or until golden brown
- In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy
- Beat in the sugar, extract and reamining egg until smooth
- Spread over crust
- Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture
- Bake for 25-30 minute4s longer or until golden brown
- Cool on a wire rack
- Refrigerate leftovers

I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee on this one. Only I had wax paper in-between my pan and cake crust, so it was easier to remove without breaking the cake all over the place. Overall, it came out nice and moist with just the right amount of lemon :)

(Recipe used: Taste of Home Cake Mix Creations)