Cream-Filled Cupcakes

serves: about 2 dozen

Ingredients

1 1/4 c Flour
1 c Sugar
1/3 c Cocoa
3/4 tsp Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 c Sour milk
1/3 c Oil
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla

Filling:

1 pkg Cream cheese (8 oz)
1/4 c Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 c Mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix cocoa and oil until smooth.
2. Add egg and mix.
3. Add sour milk and vanilla; mix.
4. Combine dry ingredients, add to mixture, and stir. Batter should be thin.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth.
6. Add chocolate chips to the second bowl.
7. Put about 1/4 inch batter in bottom of cupcake liner in pan. Add 1 teaspoon of filling in the center and cover with more batter.
8. Bake at 350 until done.

Gingerbread Pudding

Another new crockpot dessert recipe! We had all the ingredients for this except the molasses, so I had Ryan pick up some molasses at the store so we could try this recipe. It's pretty good! I don't know why it's called 'pudding' though because it was more like a cake. Oh well. It's still really tasty! I think it would taste really good with a little vanilla ice cream and some caramel syrup drizzled on top. :)



Ingredients:
1/2 C. molasses
1 C. water
1/4 C. butter, softened
1/4 C. sugar
1 egg, well-beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 C. brown sugar
3/4 C. hot water
2/3 C. butter, melted

Directions:
Combine molasses and 1 C. water. In separate bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla; add to molasses mixture. Line a 6-quart oval slow-cooker with waxed paper; pour batter into slow-cooker. Mix brown sugar, hot water, and melted butter; pour over batter but do not stir. Cook on high 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until pudding is set.

Instead of using waxed paper, we just used a crockpot liner (which is pretty much the same thing, right?). I have no idea why it wasn't really 'pudding' for us, but it was still good! I recommend this dessert for anyone who loves gingerbread cookies! Tastes just the same, except in the form of a cake/pudding (we did have a tiny bit of pudding stuff on the very bottom, but it was mostly just cake).

This recipe can be found in the Slow-Cooker recipe book below!

Apple Turnovers

Here is a recipe for the holidays ... perfect for a large family gathering, or dinner for two paired with some apple cider!  We served these on Sunday when my family came over, and everyone enjoyed them!  I got this recipe from John's mom, and I think she got it from her sister.

Ingredients

2 Croissant Roll Cans (must say "50% bigger")
2-3 Granny Smith Apples, cut into small slices
Cinnamon
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla


Directions

Unroll the croissants, and set a few apple slices on the wide end.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, roll tightly, and place on a baking sheet.  In a medium saucepan, cook sugar, butter, and vanilla until liquid becomes clear (or almost clear).  Pour liquid on apple-filled croissants.  Secret ingredient: after pouring the liquid, pour a 1/2 cup of original Mountain Dew over the top.  This is purely optional, and the turnovers would probably taste just as good without if you want to exclude it.  Sprinkle sugar on top of all the croissants, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

* Let me know how they turn out! *

Raisin Pudding!

This is a recipe that came from my Grandma Higginson. My dad said that he had it a lot when he was a child, and my family made it quite often when I was growing up. It is so good! My parents made it and brought it with them when Ryan and I had most of my family over to our place on Halloween, so I was able to get a picture of it. I don't have a cool 'raisin pudding pan' like the one that my parents have. I don't really have any pan that would be good to make it in, so I haven't ever made it at my house. I'll have to get a cool pan sometime! :)


Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt

Mix ingredients and place in the center of a pan.

Mix in a pot on the stove:
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
Stick of butter or margarine
4 cups boiling water

Pour over or around dough. Bake at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes.


It is pretty sweet, so we like to eat it either with evaporated milk or regular milk poured on top. Enjoy!!

Squash Bars

I got this recipe from a friend, Kami. She has been doing the GAPS diet with her kids, and these squash bars were one of the things that they ate. Ryan and I are not on any type of diet, but I have been trying to eat healthier and these sounded pretty good. I decided to try them with a butternut squash we got from our garden. I'll be honest and say that I really did not like these at first. They tasted like cardboard (not that I know what cardboard tastes like). BUT, I found a solution and now I LOVE these! I actually prefer these as a dessert or snack over other things because they are just so healthy!--and only four ingredients! As Kami mentioned in her post, these do smell like pumpkin pie as they are baking. Yum!


Ingredients:
8 eggs
2 cups pureed winter squash
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or ghee

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate egg yolks and whites into different bowls. Whip egg whites until light and fluffy. Combine egg yolks, winter squash, cinnamon and butter. Mix well. Fold in egg whites. Pour into a 9x13 pan buttered and lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool, then slice into small squares and optionally top with butter. Enjoy!


Ok, my solution to make these taste better... a little bit of maple syrup along with strawberries or raspberries (or any other kind of berry or fruit would probably taste good with it too). The strawberries shown in the picture below are strawberries from our garden. It was heavenly and so tasty! :) They are also good just with maple syrup (without fruit).


One more thing--we didn't have any parchment paper, so we just used cooking spray on an 8x8 pan (I had to cut the recipe in half because the butternut squash we had was little and I only got 1 cup of pureed squash from it). It turned out ok with the cooking spray, but the first couple of bars fell apart when I tried to get them out of the pan. Oh well. I still recommend these for anyone wanting to eat healthier (and still wanting some kind of dessert!) :)

The Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie!

I've never come across a really good oatmeal raisin cookie recipe ... until now!  These cookies turn out really soft, and they're even still good the next day!  If you make this recipe, you'll know why these oatmeal cookies are ultimate!

Ingredients:

1 cup Crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp hot water
2 eggs
1-2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups rolled oats blended in the blender
1 1/2 - 2 cups chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips but do what you want)
walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:
Blend sugars and crisco shortening.  Add hot water, and stir until creamy.  Mix in all of the other ingredients in the order listed.  Drop cookie dough on lightly greased cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls (1/4 cup to 1/3 cup in size).  Do not flatten! Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until cookie starts to get golden. Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Kristi for the recipe!



More Brownies!

Here is another recipe for brownies!  If you're craving something with chocolate, homemade is probably better because store-bought has a lot of preservatives.

I got this recipe from The Recipe Society, and discovered that these are very similar to the Hot Fudge Brownies!  There are only a few minor variances, including a different frosting.  I love this variation, though, because the brownie batter looks so creamy and gooey-good!

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup butter)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 T vanilla

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Mix well.  Pour into 9x13 baking dish (or two 8x8 pans if your 9x13 one is occupied).  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Frosting

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cocoa

1 Tbsp. butter

1/8 cup milk

1/2 Tbsp. corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Powdered sugar

Directions: 

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except vanilla & powdered sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 1-2 minutes.  Take off stove and set pan in a cold water bath (sink or bowl with water) for about one minute.  Add vanilla & then powdered sugar until desired consistency. 

Pour over brownies, cut, and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Have you had enough zucchini recipes yet? No? Ok... then here's another one! :)

This has been one of my favorites for a long time! My family made zucchini bread a lot in the past. It is always so good! I thought I'd grate zucchini for zucchini bread while I grated some for zucchini pie. Take care of two recipes at once!


Combine:
3 well-beaten eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 3/4 cups sugar

Mix well:
3 cups raw grated zucchini
3 tsp. vanilla

Add:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup nuts, optional

Grease and flour 2 large loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.


Mmmmm....just posting the recipe and looking at the pictures makes me want to make more! We made this a few weeks ago, so we haven't had any for a while. I did make one change to the recipe though. I had some extra whole wheat flour that I ground to make homemade bread, so I decided to use that for zucchini bread instead of all-purpose flour. It turned out really good!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Zucchini is so versatile! You can use it to make so many different things--fried zucchini, zucchini casserole, use it in vegetable soup, stuffed zucchini, zucchini bread. Who knew you could use it in a chocolate cake? All this recipe needs is 2/3 cup of zucchini (or 1 1/3 cup if you double the recipe to go in a 9x13 pan), so next time you make casserole or bread or something using zucchini, save out a little bit and try this cake! :)


Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 zucchini
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Pour 1/3 cup oil in blender. Chop small pieces of zucchini and drop in oil. Blend a few pieces at a time until mix reaches the 1 cup mark (or 2 cup mark if you double the recipe). Add egg, vanilla, and milk and blend completely. Sift dry ingredients together. Pour zucchini mixture into dry ingredients and stir well. Pour into greased 8x8 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Cool and frost with chocolate icing.

Chocolate Icing:
Beat 3 Tbsp. milk, 2 Tbsp. butter, 1 tsp. cocoa, and 1 cup powdered sugar until creamy.


This cake was really good! You can't even tell that there's zucchini in it. :) I definitely like this cake better than this chocolate cake.

Easy Chocolate Pudding!

I found this recipe on a friend's blog a while ago (she got it from Food Renegade) and decided to try it. It is SO yummy! We had some boxed chocolate pudding in the cupboard and made it soon after we made this chocolate pudding from scratch. You really can tell the difference between them! The homemade tastes a lot more healthy (and it IS!). :) If you're ever craving chocolate, you should try this pudding! Yum!


Ingredients:
1/3 cup Honey
4 tbsp. Arrowroot Powder (or corn starch)
2 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
2 cups Milk (or coconut milk)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Butter (omit if using coconut milk)

Directions:
In a pot, whisk together arrowroot powder (or corn starch), cocoa, and milk until relatively smooth. Whisk in the honey. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until thickened.
Once it is thickened, remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter until evenly distributed.
Serves 4-6. Enjoy! :) You can eat it hot or cold. It tastes good either way. :)

Chocolate Molten Cake

We didn't have any dessert in the house yesterday. (Maybe that's a good thing??) :) I felt like eating something sweet... so I searched through recipe books and found a recipe that we had all the ingredients for! -- Chocolate Molten Cake ... made in the crockpot! (Wow, I sure have been using our crockpot a lot lately! And pretty much all the crockpot recipes I use come from this cookbook. You can also find it here and here. I highly recommend it!) I've never made a cake in the crockpot, so I thought we could try it since we had all the ingredients. It was DELICIOUS! If you're a chocoholic like I am, you'll LOVE this! It was kind of rich, so it's good to eat with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. We didn't have ice cream, but we did have whipped topping! Yum, yum, YUM!!!


Ingredients:
1 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
6 Tbsp. butter
1/3 C. semisweet chocolate chips
1 C. sugar, divided
3 Tbsp. + 1/3 C. cocoa
Pinch baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 C. milk
1 egg yolk
1/3 C. brown sugar
1 1/2 C. hot water

Directions:
In medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. In separate bowl, melt butter and chocolate chips. Add 2/3 C. sugar, 3 Tbsp. cocoa, soda, salt, milk, and egg yolk. Combine with flour mixture. Pour batter into greased 5- to 6-quart slow-cooker. Mix remaining sugar, 1/3 C. cocoa, brown sugar, and hot water. Pour over cake batter. Cover and cook on high 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until edges are set and pull away from sides. Cake will be very moist and the bottom will be a layer of molten chocolate.

This was SOOOOO good! When we made it, we used a crockpot liner so we didn't have to grease it. It worked out just fine! AND... not much of a clean up to do afterwards when using a crockpot liner! Hurray! We did it for 1 1/2 hours and it seemed to be enough time for it to bake. This even tastes good cold because the molten chocolate on the bottom is less runny and more like a chocolate pudding consistency. Mmmm!!!

Chewy Chex Mix

One of the things I love most about visiting family, is trying new foods, and then grabbing the recipes of the ones I like!  This recipe can also be made with the variations below.  Enjoy!

Chewy Chex Mix

Ingredients

• 6 cups Rice Chex
• 6 cups Corn Chex
• 4 cups pretzel sticks

• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup Karo Syrup
• 1 cup butter

Directions

Break the pretzel sticks in half.  Mix the Chex and pretzel sticks in a very large bowl. 

In a saucepan, cook the sugar, Karo Syrup, and butter over medium heat (no higher or it will alter the sugar).  Cook -- stirring constantly -- until it comes to a rolling big-bubble boil, then pour over chex mixture.  Stir quickly.  When coated, set out to cool on a flat surface (I just use our kitchen table). 

Store in an air tight container.

Variations

Here are some different things you can try using this recipe:

• In the Chex mixture, alternate/add m&m's, nuts, graham crackers, etc.
• You can use either stick margarine or tub margarine.  I have tried both ... the tub butter version comes out a little bit stickier, but otherwise tastes similar.  I have not used real butter yet.
• Instead of setting the completed mixture on a flat surface, try using wax paper.

Let us know how it turns out!

Sweet Apple Crisp

I thought I would make a new dessert recipe last week. It's somewhat healthy too! We had apples that needed to be used, so I went through my cookbooks to see if there was a recipe that uses apples that looked like it would be good. I came across the Sweet Apple Crisp recipe in the Cooking for Two cookbook, so I decided to try it! Now, the reason why I didn't post the recipe last week was because it really needed some tweaking, so I actually made it twice in just a couple of days (but it used up all of the apples we had, so that was good!). :)

Sweet Apple Crisp
3 medium apples
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Wash, core, and slice apples. Spread in small baking pan. Drizzle syrup over apples. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Toss evenly over apples. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.


I usually don't like crisps or cobblers, so it didn't surprise me that I wasn't a fan of this. The main reason was because it was too salty! I actually doubled the recipe both times I made it. The first time I used 6 apples and used a 9x13 casserole dish, and I doubled all the rest of the ingredients exactly. The second time I only used 5 apples (because that was all we had left) and I put it in a smaller casserole dish (7x11, I believe), and I changed some of the amounts of the ingredients (see below). I think it turned out a lot better using a smaller casserole dish, but if you do use a 9x13 dish, I suggest use more than 6 apples so that the bottom of the pan is completely filled (maybe 7 or 8 apples, and I actually quadrupled the topping for the 9x13 dish).

Here are the changes I made the 2nd time (doubling it):
5 medium apples (for a 7x13 casserole dish)
1/2 cup maple syrup
6 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. cinnamon (quadruple this so it has more cinnamon taste!)
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt (single this for a double recipe. It was still a little too salty for my liking, so use even less if you want.)
1/2 tsp. sugar (I added this ingredient just to make the topping a little more sweet, but you can use more sugar, maybe 1 or 2 tsp.)

The first time I made it, I decided to soften the butter a little bit. The second time I made it, I just put the butter in straight from the fridge. It turned out a lot better the second time, so do NOT soften or melt the butter! Just put it in with the dry ingredients and mix it till you don't have big chunks of butter. It will take a while, but it will work! I mixed it with a fork so I could 'shave' the butter into thin slices and then eventually it all got mixed together so you couldn't see the butter anymore.

I actually thought it was really good the second time we made it, which is a little surprising since, like I said, I'm not a big fan of crisps and cobblers. It's really good if you have it with French Vanilla ice cream, or you can use whipped topping! It's a really yummy dessert! :)

Healthier Banana Bread!

I posted another recipe for banana bread a while ago. You can find it HERE. I had 3 really ripe bananas that needed to be used (see picture below). The only problem was that the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening and I didn't have enough. (Well, it would be 1/2 a cup since I only had 3 bananas.) There was only about 3-4 tablespoons of shortening left in the container we had. I was thinking about having Ryan buy more shortening, but I knew there were banana recipes out there that didn't call for shortening so I decided to look up new recipes on the internet. I found some recipes that called for applesauce instead of shortening, so I decided to try it! It is actually really good, and more healthy for you! Shortening is just solidified fat. Gross! After I made this new recipe of banana bread, I threw away the container of shortening that we had. There wasn't much left in it anyway. I'm not planning on ever using shortening for anything ever again, especially when there is healthier food that can be substituted for it.


Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. flour

Directions:

Place bananas in large bowl and mash with electric mixer. Stir in the sugar and let stand 15 minutes. Add the applesauce and eggs and beat well. Beat in the baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla, then gradually beat in the flour, mixing thoroughly. Pour into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan that has been coated with nonstick spray.

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before removing from the pan.


When I made the bread, I put it in the oven for 45 minutes, but then I turned the oven off and let it sit in there for another 15-20 minutes because the middle was still gooey. I didn't want to burn the bread, but leaving it in with the oven off will do the trick. :)


I got the recipe here. It has optional frosting that you can make. I didn't make it because I like banana bread just plain. Here is the frosting recipe if you want to make it:

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. milk

Beat until well blended. Frost bread.

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

**Look below for more recipes, including homemade chocolate cake and sugar cookies! :)


I was looking through the People magazine one day at work and I found this recipe for Turtle Pumpkin Pie and decided to try it. I'm not a big fan of your traditional pumpkin pie. It might be the spices used or the mixture of spices and evaporated milk, or maybe I just ate it too much when I was younger. I don't know. I just know that I don't really like it. This new recipe is GREAT! I LOVE IT! It's almost like a mix between pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Everyone should try it! It's really easy to make. :)

You can find the recipe at dessert.com (which changes to kraftfoods.com for some reason) and search for Turtle Pumpkin Pie. You will find the recipe HERE.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel ice cream toppng, divided
1 graham cracker pie crust (6 oz.)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. chopped pecans, divided
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) vanilla flavor instant pudding
1 cup cold milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed, divided

Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts.


Beat pudding mixes, milk, pumpkin and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip.

Spoon into crust.

Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with remaining Cool Whip, caramel topping and nuts just before serving.

I think this might be my FAVORITE pumpkin pie! :) YUM!!!!!!

Homemade Chocolate Cake!

When you don't have any boxes of chocolate cake mix and you are craving chocolate cake, what do you do (if you don't want to go out and buy some)? This is what happened to me, so I went online and found a good recipe for homemade chocolate cake! I searched for "easy chocolate cake" and found Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake. Doesn't it sound good? It was good!


Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose floud
3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa (or you can use another brand... doesn't have to be Hershey's)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (recipe below). 10 to 12 servings.

There are different variations listed on the website where I got the recipe from, so you can go there and do whatever you want to do.


"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spread consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

I don't know if it was the powdered sugar we had, but after a few days I thought the frosting tasted a little weird. Maybe I'm not a big fan of powdered sugar. (I might try and find a different recipe for chocolate frosting... if there is one that doesn't use so much powdered sugar, or none at all!) The cake part of it was DELICIOUS though! It was so moist! If I make this again, I would make the cupcakes and not frost them. (Cupcakes are listed under the Variations section on the website.) That's just my suggestion, but you can try it all if you want and see how you like it!

Heavenly Sugar Cookies

I wanted to make some sugar cookies one day, so I looked in all the recipe books I have (which isn't very many) and I found this recipe. The name made it sound so good! Who wouldn't want to make something that has "Heavenly" in the name? :)

The flash from the camera reflected off the ceramic inside of the cookie jar which gave a cool effect on the cookies. :)

Ingredients:

2/3 c. shortening

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

4 tsp. milk

2 c. sifted flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add egg. Beat until fluffy and light. Stir in milk. Sift together dry ingredients. Blend dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Chill 1 hour. On lightly floured surface, roll 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 2 dozen.

These cookies are delicious! I just used the top of a cup to make the round shapes.

If you got some different colors of frosting, kids would have fun decorating these cookies. :)

Marshmallow Crispy Squares (for chocolate lovers!)

I have to admit... I'm a chocoholic! This recipe doesn't call for chocolate chips, but Ryan and I decided to add some anyway to see how it would turn out. They are SO good!

Prep: 15 minutes

4 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 pkg. (16 oz.) miniature marshmallows

6 cups crisp rice cereal

Melt butter in large saucepan on low heat. Add marshmallows; cook until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring constantly. (If you want to add chocolate chips, add them in and melt them with the marshmallows. I think Ryan and I used about half a bag of chocolate chips.) Remove from heat.

Add cereal immediately; mix lightly until well coated. Press into a greased 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely. Cut into squares.

Delicious! :)

Bread Pudding

Ryan and I got this recipe from his mom. I think this is only the second time we've made it, but it still turned out really good! Everyone should try it!

What you will need:

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

4 cups milk

bread

chocolate chips (optional, but recommended) :)

raisins (optional)

nutmeg

cinnamon

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar and milk. Break the bread in pieces into a separate glass bowl or baking dish, layering the bread with the chocolate chip. (You can also add raisins if you want to.) Pour the milk mixture over the bread and chocolate chips and sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Serve hot with or without milk. It is also good cold after being refrigerated. You can choose how you like it!

without milk

with milk

Hot Fudge Brownies! :)

I haven't posted any recipes for a long time, so here is one of my favorites. These are the BEST brownies ever!!!! Usually I just make the brownies and not the hot fudge sauce, but I will put both recipes on here so everyone can try it. :) I doubled the recipe when I took this picture.


Brownie:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 eggs, well beaten (1 minute with a fork)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients (starting with sugar). Pour into an ungreased 8 inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Yield: 6 brownie bars

Hot Fudge Sauce:
2 c. sugar
5 Tbsp. flour
5 Tbsp. cocoa
1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, flour, and cocoa in medium saucepan. Stir in evaporated milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly to desired thickness. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Serve over brownies and ice cream.