molasses ginger sticks & pecan pumpkin cream dip

¾ c. butter

1 c. sugar

¼ c. molasses

1 egg

2 tsp. soda

2 c. flour

½ tsp. each of ground cloves, ground ginger, salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Cream butter, sugar, egg, and molasses. Add dry ingredients. (I do this all in my kitchen-aid)

I roll this out into a large rectangle, sprinkle lightly with a cinnamon/sugar mix, and cut strips with a pizza cutter and place them on the greased cookie sheet (similar to cut-out sugar cookies).

Pecan Pumpkin Cream

½ jar of your choice of pumpkin butter (I used the williams sonoma brand and it just happened to have pecans in it.) I’m guessing I used about 6-8oz.

½ package of cream cheese

1 c. (or to your taste) powdered sugar

1 container cool whip

Blend cream cheese, pumpkin butter, and powdered sugar. This will be pretty thick. Gently fold in the cool whip. Serve as the dip for the ginger sticks.

375 degrees 10-12 minutes

oreo balls

1 pkg oreos (don’t use double stuffed)

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese

Almond Bark

Blend an entire pkg of oreos. Add cream cheese to oreos and blend. Mix well - may have to use hands at the end. Roll into walnut sized balls & freeze or refrigerate at least 1 hr (this is important when dipping into chocolate). Melt almond bark (start w/ 4 blocks or so) on medium low. You don’t want to burn it. Put a little Crisco in the pan, it helps it not to burn. Completely dunk the oreo ball into the chocolate. Pull out w/ a fork or spoon and put on wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Keep in fridge & enjoy!

oreo ice cream cake

24 OREO Cookies, divided

2 cups Strawberry ice cream, softened (I used vanilla instead, and abt 3 cups)

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

2 cups Chocolate ice cream, softened (3 cups also)

2 Tbsp. Hot fudge ice cream topping (I used crushed oreos instead)

LINE 9-inch round pan (I used a 10 in springform pan. Didn't have to use the plastic wrap) with plastic wrap, with ends extending over side of pan. Stand 14 cookies around edge of pan. Crush remaining cookies. Reserve 1/2 cup crumbs for later use; sprinkle remaining crumbs onto bottom of pan. Spread strawberry ice cream over crumbs; top with 1 cup COOL WHIP and reserved crumbs. Cover with chocolate ice cream.

FREEZE 4 hours.

REMOVE dessert from freezer 10 min. before serving. Use plastic wrap handles to lift dessert from pan. Carefully peel off plastic wrap; place dessert on serving plate. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Top with remaining COOL WHIP; drizzle with fudge topping.

almond tart

2 C flour
2 C sugar
1 C softened butter..not melted!
4 eggs
2 tsp almond extract

Bake 350* for 30-35 min in a tart pan. Mine is a 2 piece pan and is dark. If yours is light adjust cooking time. It should be golden brown on top when you take it out. sprinkle with powdered sugar after cool. do not over mix ingredients. just slightly blend with wooden spoon. Enjoy!

giant s'mores cookies

2 sticks softened butter

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

4 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips

3 regular size Hershey’s Chocolate Bars

3 Full Graham Crackers

5-6 Large Marshmallows cut into fourths

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter and sugars into a stand or electric mixer; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

Place flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl; mix then slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined. Scoop a heaping 1/4 Cup of cookie dough into muffin top pan cups. Press down then gently press chocolate bar squares, graham cracker pieces and marshmallow slices on top of cookie dough. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until edges are just turning brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with milk and enjoy!

red velvet cake w/ raspberries & blueberries

Cake:
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs

Frosting:
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
3 1/2-pint baskets fresh blueberries


Directions for cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

Directions for frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake. Arrange 1 basket raspberries and 1/2 basket blueberries atop frosting, pressing lightly to adhere. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange remaining berries decoratively over top of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

recipe can be found on epicurious.com

decadent peanut butter pie

1 c. creamy peanut butter, plus 2 tbs, divided

1 8oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 12oz. whipped topping

1 prepared chocolate pie crust

1 jar Smucker's hot fudge ice cream topping

Beat together 1 c. peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well combined. Gently mix in 3 c. whipped topping until combined. Spoon mixture in pie crust. Smooth out to edge of crust.

Reserve 2 tbs of hot fudge topping in the corner of a resealable food storage bag, set aside. Microwave remaining topping on high for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining whipped topping over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

Cut a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tbs. peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag, cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in opposite direction from topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

never fail sugar cookies & stiff butter cream icing

Never Fail Sugar Cookies
4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt (if you're using butter with salt then don't use salt)
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c (less 3T) milk
1 c butter or shortening

D: sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Cut shortening in to four mixture as for pie. Mix sugar, beaten eggs, vanilla and milk well. Mix with flour mixture. Sometimes a little more flour is needed. Chill 1 hour. Bake 350 deg for 8-10 minutes.

Stiff Butter Cream Icing
4 c powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 c butter (not margarine)
1/2 c shortening
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond or butter butter
2 T water (add 1 T of water to make thinner icing)

D: cream all wet ingredients then gradually add in the powdered sugar.

candied pecans

1 lb pecan halves
1 egg white - beaten until frothy
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg


Preheat oven to 250. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add pecans and mix until nuts are coated well with egg. In a large ziploc bag or bowl, mix all dry ingredients well. When well mixed, add nuts and mix until all pecans are well-coated.

Spread pecans onto a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 1 hour, turning them over every 15 minutes.

mint brownies

Brownie:

1 lb butter

4 C sugar

1 C cocoa

2 tsp salt

6 eggs

4 tsp vanilla

3 C flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Mix in remaining ingredients. bake in a greased jelly roll pan @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

1 Cube butter, soft

¼ C milk

4 C powdered sugar

1 tsp peppermint extract

a few drops of food coloring

Mix all together and spread on brownies.

Topping:

1 cube+ 1 TB butter

1 TB vanilla

1½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter and chocolate chips. add vanilla. Pour over cold brownies.

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

1 c. shortening or butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp if you use butter)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 c. oatmeal (quick or regular)
1/2 c. chocolate chips (or more if you like!)
1 c. coconut (optional)

Cream together shortening and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix up dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients. Add in chocolate chips. Mix together well. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Makes about 3-4 dozen.

Dough can also be frozen. Best if used within 3 months.


FREEZE the dough: using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet, freeze and then ziploc that shiz.