Chocolate Cheese Fudge

8oz Velveeta cheese

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

2 lbs powdered sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

Lightly spray the bottom of a 9”x9” pan with nonstick spray.  On medium heat melt the cheese and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and nuts.  In a large bowl sift together the sugar and cocoa powder.  Pour the cheese mixture onto the sugar mixture.  Stir until completely mixed.  It will be very stiff (I use my hands).  Using hands, remove the candy from the bowl, press evenly and firmly into prepared pan.  Pat the top of the candy with a paper towel to remove excess oil.  Place in the fridge until firm.  Cut into squares and enjoy.

Cream Cheese Mints

3oz cream cheese

2Tbsp butter

½ tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

1 lb powdered sugar

Mint flavoring to taste

Food coloring

Mix together and form in to balls.  Roll in 1/3 cup sugar to coat, store in fridge.

Caramel Popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

¼ cup Karo syrup

dash salt

½ tsp baking soda

Place 3-4 quarts of popped popcorn in a large brown paper bag (grocery type).

Mix the sugar, butter, Karo syrup in a bowl.  Microwave on high until it has boiled for 2mins.  Add the soda and salt.  Pour over the popped corn.  Shake.  Microwave for 1 min.  Shake.  Microwave for 1 more min.  Shake well and pour out to cool.

Chocolate Popcorn

½ cup milk

½ cup butter

2 cups sugar

¼ cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

6 qts popped popcorn

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil.  Boil for 1 min then stir in the vanilla.  Pour over popped popcorn and stir until coated.

Six Week Muffins

2 cups boiling water

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

1tbsp salt

1 cup chopped nuts

2 cups dates and raisins

5 tsp baking soda

4 beaten eggs

5 cups sifted flour

4 cups all bran cereal

2 cups bran flakes

1qt buttermilk

Mix water and baking soda first, let cool.  Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs until fluffy.  Add all other ingredients together.  Mix in a large 10 quart bowl.  Store in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.  When ready to bake, place mix in greased muffin tins and bake at 400*F for 20 minutes.

You can freeze for up to 3 months.

Carrot Loaf

2 teaspoons vanilla

½  cup shortening

1 egg

1 Cup sugar

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup carrot, grated

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup crushed pineapple in juice

½ cup nuts, optional

½ teaspoon salt

Mix shortening and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add carrots and pineapple.  Add dry ingredients.  Mix until just moist.  Bake at 325* for 50 min in a loaf pan.

Note:  You can double the recipe to use an 8oz can of pineapple.

Strawberry Oreos

I saw a picture of cookies like these around Valentine's Day and thought, "Hey!  I can make those by tweaking my homemade Oreo recipe."  So that is what I did.  Doug took some to work and one co-worker said that they are the best cookies ever.  Not sure about the ever part, but they sure are good.

2 boxes Strawberry Cake Mix

1 1/2 cups shortening

4 eggs

1 lb powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1 stick butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

Combine cake mix with shortening and eggs.  Should be pretty thick.  Form into small balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8min at 350*.  I use my small scoop from Pampered Chef to form the balls; about 1 1/2 tsp or so worth of dough.  Cool completely.

When cooled combine remaining ingredients together and spread between cooled cookies and sandwich together.  Store in fridge if they last that long.

 

Gluten Free Thin Mint Cookies

So, we've just been told that we are allergic to wheat.  Crap!  What am I going to do?  I'm a baker.  How do I bake without wheat?!?!?  Let's just say life is not fair and I'm not happy about it.  On the other hand now I get the chance to turn all my favorites into gluten free versions and see how they match up.  One favorite of mine are Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies.  Really, I can and will, if given the chance, eat a whole container by myself.  So after learning about this horrible joke of nature and seeing a recipe on pinterest, I made these tonight and also for added bonus made them sugar free as well.  I know.  I'm an over achiever.  What can I say?

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup sugar or Xylitol

1 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 egg

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp vanilla

Favorite Dipping Chocolate

Peppermint oil or extract - see below

In bowl mix the oils and sugar or sugar substitute.  Stir in the brown rice flour.  Scrape down the sides.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  When you look at the mixture you are going to think there is no way that these are going to hold together but trust me they will.  Take about 1/2 of the dough and press it into a slightly flattened ball.  For the next part I used a silpat sheet, but waxed paper or lightly floured work surface should be fine. 

Place dough on work area and start pressing it flat.  You are going to have to press it and push the crumbs in and squeeze the breaks together.  After you have it pressed out to about 1/8" you can use a rolling pin to even out the surface.  Just don't push too hard or you will crack the dough.  Now use a 1 1/2" cookie cutter and cut out your cookies.  As you can see I didn't have a circle but the heart one was perfect.  Plus my kids thought I put my love in the cookies because of the shape.  Place cut out cookies on greased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven at 350*F for 8-9 min.  You want to make sure they are done all the way without burning.  Mine were a little under done and therefore not as crisp.

Cool completely and then prepare to dip them in chocolate.

For this part just melt your favorite dipping chocolate and flavor with mint oil or extract to taste.  If you use almond bark you can use extract, however if you use chocolate then you need oil otherwise you run the risk of having the chocolate seize up.  For the milk chocolate I just used almond bark because that is what I had.  However, the dark chocolate is a sugar free bar from chocoperfection.com.  They use chicory root to sweeten the chocolate so that you get no sugar and the sweetness that you taste is full of fiber.  One bar has 14 grams of prebiotic fiber!

So my dark chocolate cookies are 100% sugar and gluten free while the milk chocolate has sugar in the coating.  The taste is phenomenal and I had to hide them in the cookie jar so I would stop eating them.

Post note:  The second batch I made was wetter and I was able to roll them out with a rolling pin without issue.  It was raining all day so the humidity level could play a role in what your dough looks like.

Pizza Hummus

Hummus?  Gross!  Sick!  I'm not eating that!

Those are the words I expected to hear when I introduced my children to hummus months ago.  Instead I got: "Can I have more?"  and "This is good."  If you know my children then you can understand why I had to pick myself up off the floor and if you don't, well... let's just say that anything other than a PB&J or Mac n' Cheese and I get mutiny.  Now they prefer hummus sandwiches over the PB&J.  Go figure!

So I set out to make my own.  I mean why not?  It's got to be cheaper than buying the stuff at $3+/container when chickpeas only cost 60 cents a can or so.  Plus I can control what is in it and it will be guaranteed to be fresh.

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

2-3 cloves garlic

2 cans chickpeas, drained reserving 1/2 cup of liquid

1/4 cup tahini, recipe below

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Heat oil in small pan over med-high heat.  Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, and seasoning; cook about 2 min or until slightly toasted.  Transfer the mix to a food processor and add rest of ingredients.  Process until smooth.  Taste and season with salt if needed.  The taste really develops after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours so you may want to wait to adjust seasonings.

Tahini Recipe

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 Tbsp water

Process sesame seeds in a food processor until smooth.  Pour into bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

This will make enough for two batches of pizza hummus and lasts for several months in the fridge.

The hummus recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine and the tahini is from a childrens' cookbook.

Breakfast on the go

It's Valentine's Day and you want to make your special someone breakfast in bed, but they are already gone when you get up.  What do you do?  I suppose you could get up at some crazy hour to accomplish your task but I have a simpler and way yummier idea.  How about a breakfast in bed on the go cereal bark?  Yes, you heard right cereal in chocolate.  Really?  Could life get any better?  I first got this idea from chocoley.com but they used fresh fruit and I wasn't hip on that.  There would be no real shelf life if fresh fruit was involved so I though of dried fruit and this cereal bark was born.

What you need:

Good dipping chocolate white or brown

Dried fruit

Breakfast cereal

Chopped nuts, optional

Melt the chocolate and spread out on a piece of wax paper.  You want to keep it thick enough to hold your fruit and cereal, but thin enough so it isn't over powering the taste.  Sprinkle with desired toppings.
(I used dried cherries, white chocolate and chocolate rice krispies for mine.)
Once cool and hardened break into pieces and package it up for giving or just enjoying yourself.

Packaged and ready to give

Speedy Rolls

It's 5 o'clock and you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry.  You need rolls.  There's no time to thaw some frozen ones and you don't have time to whip up a batch.  Or do you?  Yes, you do.  These are called speedy rolls because just like their name they are speedy to make and even speedier to eat.  Yeast rolls that are in the oven within 30 min and at the table another 15 more.  Soft and fluffy.  My children love them.  My husband loves them.  I love them.  This batch makes up 16 very large crescents or 32 smaller ones and we can eat them all in one sitting.  I've even made they garlicky by brushing the rolls with butter and sprinkling with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese before rolling up and baking.  Ohhhhhhh, they were so good and very bad of my to make when I'm watching how much I am eating or not eating at the moment.  So if you're in a hurry and need rolls or just want to try a new roll recipe this one is for you.

2 cups warm water

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp yeast

1 Tbsp salt

6 1/2 cup flour, divided

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

Place water sugar and yeast in a bowl and beat together.  Add the salt and 2 cups of flour; beat.  Add the eggs and shortening; beat.  Add the remaining 4 1/2 cups flour; beat together.  Cover with towel and let raise for 20 min.  Split dough in half and roll out on floured board to a big circle with dough being 1/4" or so thick.

  Cut into triangles (like a pizza) and roll up big end to small end making a crescent roll.  At this point you can decide if you want 16 large rolls or 32 smaller ones just cut accordingly. 

Place on greased baking pan and bake at 350*F for 15-20 min.  Top with melted butter right out of the oven and enjoy.

Cool Veggie Pizza

I was dreaming of summer today and wishing for it's quick arrival.  It was with this in mind that for book club today I made this cool and fresh veggie pizza.  If you know Pampered Chef, you  may recognize this recipe.  It was with memories of their pizza that I made this one today.  I'm not sure how close I got to their recipe, but it still tasted awesome.  I could have easily eaten the whole pan and probably would have if no one had shown up, but they did so I didn't.

2 can crescent rolls

8oz cream cheese, softened

3 Tbsp miracle whip

2 cloves garlic, minced or to taste

2 tsp dill weed or to taste

2-3 cup chopped fresh veggies or to taste

Unroll the rolls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Press seems together.  Bake at 375* for 10 min; set aside to cool completely.  When crust is cool, cream together the cream cheese, miracle whip, garlic and dill weed.  Spread on crust.  Top with chopped veggies.  Slice and eat.

Tex-Mex Casserole

I've really been cooking by the seat of my pants the last couple of weeks.  Normally I plan out a menu for the week, shop for it, and then serve it.  However, my computer has been crazy and wouldn't let my writing program work, so hence I've been cooking with whatever and making it up as a go.  Sometimes great things come from this type of cooking and sometimes dissaster.  I'm pleased to say that this was one of the good times.  A taco casserole.

1 lb hamburger

1 pgk taco seasoning

1 cup salsa

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

1 can corn

1 can kidney or black beans

2/3 cup pumpkin or squash puree

1 cup shredded mexican mix cheese

3 Tbsp chopped cilantro - optional

1 cup bisquick

1 cup milk

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Brown the hamburger and drain of fat if any.  Stir in the seasoning, cilantro if using, salsa, cream cheese, corn, beans, and squash.  Stir to melt the cream cheese.  In medium bowl, stir together the bisquick, milk and eggs until blended.  Stir in the cheese.  Transfer meat mix to a 7X11" greased pan.  Pour the bisquick mix on top of meat.  Bake for 20-25 min until top is golden brown and meat mix is bubbling.

Monster Cookies

These are indeed monster in size.

3 cup sugar

1 cup shortening

2 cup brown sugar

1/2 Tbsp Karo syrup

1/2 Tbsp vanilla

4 tsp baking soda

6 eggs

8oz chocolate chips

16 oz M&M's

9 cup oatmeal

3 cup peanut butter

2 cup Rice Krispies

In large bowl cream together the sugars, peanut butter, and shortening.  Mix in the vanilla, eggs, Karo syrup,and baking soda.  Stir in the oatmeal, Rice Krispies, chocolate chips and M&M's. 

(This makes a big batch of cookies.  This is my 42 cup Tupperware bowl and it is full)

Place on cookie sheet using 1/4 cup of batter per cookie.  Bake for 15 min at 325*F

Ovens vary and so does this size of cookies you wish to make just watch them so they don't get over done and adjust baking time accrdingly.

Mexican Brownies

1 cup cocoa

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 cup sugar

1 TBSP vanilla

7 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup melted butter

Mix the cocoa, flour and seasonings; set aside.  In medium bowl mix the butter and the eggs.  Add vanilla.  Stir egg mix into the flour until just combined.  Pour into a greased 9X13" pan.  Bake for 35-40min at 350*F.  Makes 24 bars

*Optionally you can frost them like I did.  Just make your favorite chocolate frosting and add 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of black pepper.  Spread on cooled brownies.

Cherry Chocolate Bread Pudding

I love reading cookbooks.  It's almost a fetish I have.  I'm like a stalker of cookbooks.  So, having said that, while at the library I came across this book titled "Double Delicious!" by Jessica Seinfeld.  I'm not sure why I grabbed it but I did and there are some interesting ideas in there.  I may end up buying the thing but that is for later.  Right now I want to tell you just a hint about it and then share the recipe I adapted.  Her whole thing is about how to sneak healthy into what your kids will eat.  By healthy I mean veggies and they even get into dessert.  This morning for breakfast I made her Chocolate Bread Pudding.  A little strong on taste so I've adapted it for this post, but delicious and the best part is you can't even tell that there are pureed carrots in it.

3 cups milk (whatever you have even soy will work)

6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup carrot puree

8 oz soft whole-wheat bread (I made mine), cubed

1/2 cup dried cherries

2 lg egg whites (I used 1/4 cup egg beaters)

1 lg egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 375*.  Grease a 8X8" baking dish or equivalent in size.  Whisk the milk, cocoa and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a near bowl.  Remove from heat and stir in the carrots.  If your pan is big enough toss in your bread and stir to coat, if not then pour into a bowl and add the bread.  Let sit for 10-15 min, until the milk is cool enough to touch.  In small bowl whisk together the egg, egg whites and extracts.  Pour over milk mixture and toss in the cherries.  Stir well, until the liquid becomes smooth and bread is evenly coated.  Transfer to baking dish and bake for 45-50 min or until pudding is crusty on top and puffy in the center.

I made this yesterday and then just warmed it up at 350* for 30min this morning.  Turned out great.  The only complaint was the strong flavor of almond and so I have cut it in half here.  If you want to try her way out it was 2 tsp almond extract.

Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles

I found the recipe for these cookies at  blueeyedbakers.com and noticed that they lacked eggs.  The cookies were soooo delicious with extra ginger, molasses, and chocolate that I thought, "Why not cookie dough truffles?"  And that is exactly what I did.  I took out the baking soda and chocolate chunks, rolled them into balls, and after some refridgeration I dipped them in chocolate.  Our favorite is the white chocolate, it just kind of balances the cookie dough out.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

1 1/2 tsp boiling water

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Favorite dipping chocolate - I use Bada Bing Bada Boom

In bowl beat the butter and the grated ginger until light and fluffy.  Add brown sugar, boiling water and molasses; mix until combined.  Add in flour, cocoa, and spices mixing until just combined.  Roll into 1/2"-3/4" balls and place in fridge for 30 min.  Remove and dip in chocolate. 

Go ahead and try one, though I'm not sure you can stop at just one.

Caramel Cashew Bars

You  know, it would probably help my weight loss goal if I stopped making all these sweets.  But where's the fun in that?  So with that in mind I bring you these bars.

These are a perfect mix of salty and sweet, crunchy and gooey.  They have taken me 4 tries to get down, not that the family is complaining, but I'm done and here they are for your eating pleasure.

Crust:

12 Tbsp butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

3 cup flour

Cut together until crumbly.  Press into bottom of 9X13" pan that has been lined with foil and greased.  Bake at 350*F for 20 min.  Remove from oven. Top with 2 cups chopped salted cashews.

Caramel:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup water

4 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 Tbsp salt

1/2 tsp maple extract

In saucepan, mix the sugar, water and syrup on low until sugar is dissolved.  Crank up the heat to high and bring to 315*F  Remove from heat and add in the butter; stir until melted.  Now stir in the cream, careful it may bubble lots.  Add in salt and maple extract.

Pour caramel over nuts making sure all are covered.  Gently sprinkle 2 cups mini-marshmallows on top and gently press into caramel so they stick.  Turn oven to broil and when ready carefully brown the marshmallow tops.  Decorate top with 3oz good dark chocolate that has been melted.  When all is cooled and the chocolate has hardened use a greased knife to cut into squares and enjoy.

Cranberry Apple Salad

This little salad is a Thanksgiving tradition.  It is very simple in nature and just adds a little zing to the table.  Plan ahead though because this does need some fridge time.

12 oz bag cranberries, fresh or frozen, chopped

2 cup sugar

2 cup grated apples, I leave the peels on

2 cup mini-marshmallows

8oz cool whip

In a bowl with a lid stir the cranberries and sugar; place in fridge for 12-16 hours.  Add the grated apples and marshmallows.  Return to fridge for 2 more hours or until ready to serve.  Just before serving stir in the cool whip.

Ceddar Herb Biscuits

If you are a fan of Red Lobster biscuits, then you will love these.  I'm not sure I've ever been to Red Lobster before, so I had no idea what all the hullabaloo was about when people would rave about the biscuits.  It just so happens that on Black Friday instead of going shopping Doug and I went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and afterwards had dinner at said restaurant.  Yummm!  I love a good fish dish and the ones we had were, but the biscuits were also superb.  I remembered that I had seen a copycat recipe for the biscuits and decided to make them at home.  They were good, but not great so of course I had to play around.  These biscuits were born and one I will repeat. 

2 1/2 cup flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

1/2 cup shortening

2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

In bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Cut in the butter and the shortening with pastry blender or fork.  Pour in buttermilk and stir just until moistened.  Do not over stir or this will make for hard biscuits.  Gently fold in the cheese.  Drop onto greased baking sheet and cook at 450*F for 12-15 min.  (I used my large cookie scoop to shape biscuits)  When fresh out of the oven, mix the melted butter with the remaining garlic powder and thyme and brush tops of biscuits.  Enjoy!