Hug-in-a-Mug Brownies

This is easy enough that older kids should be able to make it themselves!

Hug-in-a-Mug Brownies 

3 Tbsp flour 

2 Tbsp sugar 

2 Tbsp baking cocoa 

2 Tbsp water 

1 1/2 Tbsp oil (I prefer coconut oil or olive oil) 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tsp chocolate syrup 

1 Tbsp chocolate chips 

Thoroughly mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together in a ceramic ramekin or mug, or other microwave-safe bowl or dish. Stir in chocolate chips last. Microwave for one minute. Devour. 

Makes one brownie.

Screaming Peach Cobbler

My 13-yr-old daughter made this for us today, with minimal assistance from me.  I mostly just helped drain the peach juice.  I want to try making this with some different variations, like adding cherries or blueberries.

Screaming Peach Cobbler

1 box spice cake mix

12 oz can of lemon-lime soda

2 (24-29 oz) cans peaches -- drained OR 6 cups fresh peach slices

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Drain canned peaches OR slice up fresh peaches and cut into chunks.  Place in a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Sprinkle spice cake mix over the peaches.  Gently press mix down over the peaches.

Pour soda over the cake mix.  Try to get the whole thing moistened, if not covered entirely.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Don't do this ahead of time!  Let the cobbler bubble and steep while the oven heats up.

Bake for one hour.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Rustic Apple and Goat Cheese Tart

I took this to church for our fellowship snack time between services today, and it was a big hit!

Rustic Apple and Goat Cheese Tart

(Makes: 4 medium tarts)

1 box frozen puff pastry—thawed
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
1/4 cup honey
3-4 large, firm apples—sliced thin
4 oz crumbled goat cheese

Combine sherry, apple cider, and honey in medium saucepan.  Add apple slices and cook over medium heat until apples are slightly softened, but have not lost their shape (5-10 minutes).  Remove from heat and strain, reserving liquid.  Return liquid to stove, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until slightly thickened (about 15 minutes).

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice each sheet of puff pastry into halves and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Thoroughly prick each pastry sheet with a fork, leaving a border of 1/2” all around the outside edges to allow outsides to puff out but insides to stay flat.  Sprinkle all four tarts evenly with goat cheese, then cover with cooked apple slices in a decorative pattern.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until outer crust turns golden brown.  Allow to cool for 3 minutes, then spoon remaining juice over top.

Stir-Crazy Cake

I LOVE this cake recipe.  It does NOT need frosting, and it stays moist for several days.

Stir-Crazy Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa (cocoa powder)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups cold coffee
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Put flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, cocoa, soda, and salt into an ungreased 9"x13" metal baking pan.  Stir with a fork to mix.  Form three wells in flour mixture.  Pour oil into one well, vinegar into the second, and vanilla into the third.  Pour cold coffee over all ingredients.  Stir with a spoon until well mixed.  Do not beat. 

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over batter.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars

I made these to take to our church's Easter brunch this year.  They stuck to the pan a lot, so be sure you grease that REALLY well.

Also, it requires baking and cooling twice, so DO NOT wait to make this until late in the day!

Blackberry Cheesecake Bars 

1 tube (16 1/2oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 carton (8 oz) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs – lightly beaten
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. lemon juice
 1 tsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. amaretto, optional
1 cup seedless blackberry preserves
2 2/3 cups fresh blackberries

Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 5 minutes to soften. Grease a 13x9 baking dish. Preheat oven to 375.

Press cookie dough onto bottom and 1 inch up the sides of baking dish. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat ricotta, mascarpone, and sugar until blended. Add eggs and beat on low just until combined. Stir in vanilla, lemon peel, citrus juices, and (if desired) amaretto. Pour into crust. Bake 20-25 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 1 hour.

Place blackberry preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 30-45 seconds or until melted. Spread over cheesecake and top with blackberries. Refrigerate until serving.

Slow-Cooker Cherry Cobbler

Always a huge hit at our house, and so great for taking to potluck dinners.

Slow-Cooker Cherry Cobbler

2 cans sliced pears -- drained
1 can cherry pie filling
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter -- melted
Vanilla ice cream

In a greased slow-cooker, combine pears, pie filling, and almond extract. In a bowl, mix cake mix, oats, almonds, and brown sugar. Stir in melted butter. Sprinkle over fruit. Cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve with ice cream.

Chocolate Mint Crack(le)

I made this for a church potluck yesterday, from a recipe I got from Taste of Home.  A couple of my friends and I agreed that it's so addictive we couldn't stop eating it, so it was basically the food version of crack.  Hence my new name for it.  I've changed it a bit, so posting my version here.

Chocolate Mint Crack(le)

2 (10 oz) packages dark chocolate chips
12 mint Oreos -- broken into chunks
1/2 cup white baking chips
1 candy cane -- crushed

Line a cookie sheet with sides (not the totally flat kind) with parchment paper.  In a microwaveable bowl, microwave dark chocolate chips for 1 minute.  Stir.  Microwave again in 30-second increments, stirring between each heating, until fully melted and smooth.  Stir in cookie pieces.  Spread on your parchment-covered cookie sheet -- it might not go all the way to all the edges, but spread it out until it's fairly smooth and not a big glob.

Microwave white baking chips until melted, stirring every 30 seconds like before until smooth.  Drizzle over your dark chocolate-and-Oreos mixture, then sprinkle with crushed candy canes.  Refrigerate for one hour, or longer if it's not set yet.  Break or cut into pieces -- be careful, because those candy cane shards can be sharp.  Store in an airtight container, preferably tucked out of sight so you don't eat the whole thing in one sitting.

Happy Cake

I have one of these in the oven right this very minute -- I'm taking it to church for the Easter brunch tomorrow.  I call it "Happy Cake" because eating it is like taking bites of cheerfulness.  It's sunshiny and bright and... happy.  I first made this with my college roommate Emily when we were at my parents' house for... Spring Break, maybe?  Anyway, it's a really simple, yummy, joyful cake.

Happy Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup oil
9 oz. whipped topping (aka Cool Whip)
1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
11 oz. can mandarin oranges + juice
13 oz. can crushed pineapple + juice

Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges plus their juice.  Batter might be a little lumpy, just be sure your eggs are truly mixed in.  Pour into 9x13" pan.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  Let cake cool completely.  Mix whipped topping, pudding mix, and crushed pineapples plus their juice.  Spread on cooled cake.

This freezes well.

Brownie Pops

This is a dangerous recipe.  I could eat six of these in a single sitting if I let myself.  Possibly more.

Brownie Pops

1 box family-size brownie mix, plus what the box says you need to make brownies
24 (or more) lolipop sticks
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 1.55-oz Hershey's bars -- broken into pieces
1 Tbsp shortening
Sprinkles, if desired

Prepare the brownies as directed on the box.  Bake in a 9"x9" pan until they're almost done, but not quite -- the toothpick should come out with stuff sticking to it, but the center of the brownies shouldn't be liquidy or goopy anymore.

Cool brownies completely.  Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  Cut off the edges and keep them for eating later, feed them to your kids, quick eat them when no one is looking, whatever.  Crumble up the rest of the brownies in a medium bowl and mix them around with your hands so that the crusty top part is kind of evenly distributed (you don't want one brownie pop that is just all crusty and weird, you see).

Form this brownie glop into balls -- I made 24 about the size of a ping-pong ball, but you can make them bigger or smaller, as you desire.  Put them all on your waxed-paper-lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

When the brownie balls are good and solid, but the Hershey pieces, chocolate chips, and shortening in a microwavable (glass is best) container and microwave it 30 seconds at a time until they're totally melted, stirring in between each 30-second stint.

Take the brownie balls out of the freezer.  Dip a lolipop stick about half an inch into the melted chocolate, then stick into a brownie ball.  Dip the whole brownie ball in the melted chocolate, let the excess drip off a bit, then set back on the baking sheet or in a fancy-shmancy (aka I Don't Have One Yet) cake-pop-drying-rack thingie.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if you want to.  Allow the chocolate to harden.  Lick out the melted chocolate bowl when you're done to keep yourself from eating the cake pops right then and there.

Makes about 24, depending on how big you make them.

Frozen Banana Cream = Fake Ice Cream = Modern Miracle

Yes, it's true.  You can make a substance very like soft-serve ice cream from nothing but frozen bananas and milk.  My s-i-l told me about this a couple weeks ago, and we finally tried it ourselves tonight, and Oh My Word, it was sooooooooooooo good!  Thank you, Erika!!!

Frozen Banana "Ice Cream"

2 Bananas
2 Tbsp milk (approximate)


Wait for the bananas to be ripe, as in they need to have brown spots on the peels.  Peel them, break them into chunks (about 1 inch each), and freeze them until they are not soft anymore.  Stick them in a food processor, pour in a bit of milk (I didn't measure, but 2Tbsp is my guestimate), and blend until it's miraculously become ice cream-like.  You might have to stop and scrape down the sides during the blending.

You can add flavorings to this -- we tried cocoa powder tonight, and 1 Tbsp made it chocolate-and-banana flavored, so next time we might try 2 Tbsp.  We also thought of using strawberry jam, but haven't tried that yet.

Two bananas made enough for each of my 3 kids to have a pretty big serving, almost double the size of the ice cream servings I usually give them.  Two bananas made enough for a big serving each for Cowboy and myself.  Next time I'm going to try 3 bananas for the 5 of us, as this doesn't re-freeze -- you have to eat it all right when you make it.

Apple and Pear Crisp

A great autumnal dessert :-9  Not too complicated, either!

Apple and Pear Crisp

2 apples -- chopped
2 pears -- chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. Flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 cup walnuts -- chopped

 Mix the apples, pears, dried cranberries, 1 tbsp. flour, honey, and lemon juice in a greased 1 quart baking dish. In a large bowl, mix butter, flour, sugar, oats, and walnuts. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Flourless Chocolate Birthday Cake

I made this for my birthday this year, and it was far superior to the other flourless chocolate cakes I've made before.  This one is a keeper!  I originally found it here.  If you want to make it gluten-free, just make sure you use gluten-free chocolate, like the Baker's brand of baking chocolate.

Flourless Chocolate Birthday Cake

Cake

12 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 Tbsp butter -- cut into chunks
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Glaze (optional)

1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray as well, then set the pan aside. Place 8 ounces of chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter in a large microwaveable bowl. Melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring often, until completely blended. Add sugar and mix well. Then add your eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Sift your cocoa into the bowl and then stir until just blended. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen to the top and formed a thin crust. (The cake should be firm in the middle when done.) Cool for 10 minutes then invert onto a plate and remove the springform pan. Remove parchment paper and let cake cool completely.

When the cake is nearly done cooling, melt the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and 3 tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pan over medium to low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and then stir in your milk, honey and vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly. When the cake has cooled, pour the glaze onto the center of the cake. Using the back of a spoon or a flexible spatula, very gently smooth glaze along the tops and sides of the cake. Chill the cake, uncovered, for 30 to 60 minutes before serving to set the glaze and make the cake easier to slice.  Store in refrigerator.

"Combat!" Cupcakes

Yes, I named these after my favorite TV show.  The first time I made these, I'd just received the latest season of Combat! on DVD, and I enjoyed these and some episodes together.  I've made them very often since.

Combat! Cupcakes

1 chocolate cake mix
1 small box chocolate instant pudding
3/4 cup water
3 eggs -- beaten
 1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips -- frozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper muffin cups. Mix together cake mix, pudding, water, eggs, applesauce, oil, and almond extract until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips last. Fill cups 3/4 full. Bake about 20-33 minutes, or until done when tested with a toothpick. 

Makes about 18 regular cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes.

Strawberry Banana Popsicles

I found this via Pinterest last week because the kids were begging for popsicles now that the weather is suddenly warmer.  The original recipe can be found here.  Just happened to have a banana and some strawberries, so we made these.  They gobbled them up!  Totally making them again this spring & summer.

The original recipe says if you need your popsicles to be a bit sweeter, add a little honey to the mix and blend again.  Our banana was very ripe and our strawberries were sweet, so we didn't need it, but if the strawberries are tart, I can see you might.

Strawberry Banana Popsicles

1 ripe banana -- broken in chunks and frozen
12 large strawberries -- sliced in half
1/2 cup orange juice OR pineapple juice
Honey if needed for sweetness -- test mix first to see!

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth -- about 1 to 2 minutes.  Taste with a spoon to see if it's sweet enough.  If it isn't, add honey and blend again.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze 6 hours or overnight.

Makes 9 popsicles in the molds I got from IKEA.

Perfect Peaches and Cream Pie

I got this recipe from Taste of Home a few years ago.  I'm considering making this for Easter lunch, and thought I'd share it.  The pictures are my own, from when I posted this on a different blog a few years ago.

Perfect Peaches & Cream Pie 

Crust 

1 1/4 cup honey graham cracker crumbs (regular would be okay too)
1/4 cup sugar 6 Tbsp butter -- melted

Filling

4 oz cream cheese -- softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping -- thawed 

Topping 

1 pkg (3 oz) peach gelatin
1 pkg (3 oz) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 1/4 cups water
2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches (about 2) or canned sliced peaches

In a bowl, mix cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir in the butter. Press onto bottom and sides of an ungreased 9" pie plate. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or until slightly brown. Cool completely. In a small bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Add whipped topping and mix. Spread over crust with a rubber/silicon spatula. Refrigerate until set. In a small saucepan, combine gelatin and pudding mixes. Stir in water and bring just to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Arrange peach slices over filling. To get it to look like a flower the way I did, start at the edge, putting the slices down fat-side toward the edge. Do a whole ring that way, then do a ring inside that, and a ring inside that, until you've filled the whole pie with a layer of peach slices. Spoon gelatin mixture over the peaches. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until chilled and set.

Flexible Oatmeal Cookies

I call these "flexible" because you can tweak them to suit your tastes.  I got this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens:  Homemade Cookies recipe book, copyright 2000, but I've changed it around a bit so that I can make it the way I like it.  They suggest using M&Ms or gumdrops as an add-in instead of the ones I've specified here, and I've always wanted to try them with dried cranberries instead, but here I'll just put the two I make and love.

Flexible Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter -- softened
2 cups brown sugar -- firmly packed
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla
3 3/4 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats

Beat the butter in an extra-large mixing bowl on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add the sugars, baking powder, and baking soda, and beat again until combined.  You'll have to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice.  Beat in the eggs, milk, and vanilla all at once, just until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can, finishing up with a wooden spoon.  Then stir in the rolled oats.

Divide the dough in half.  Use one of each of the variations below to make your cookies, one in each half, or else double the amounts below and make all of one kind.  Once the additions are mixed in, drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.  These don't spread a lot, but they do a little, so I recommend parchment paper or non-stick pans, not a greased pan.

Bake at 375 for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges begin to brown but the centers are still soft.  Cool on the baking sheet for the first minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Variations

Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ever

1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

1 1/2 cup chopped Heath candy bars (about 5)
3/4 cup hazelnuts -- chopped

Makes about 3 dozen of each kind, so 6 dozen all together.

Cranberry Cookies

Back when we lived in Wisconsin, I had a coworker who worked at a cranberry bog and would bring in fresh cranberries for anyone who wanted them.  I found this recipe to use the cranberries I got, and it's become a favorite of ours.  In fact, Cowboy can't decide if he loves these or really fat sugar cookies more!  I made these for fellowship time at church this weekend, and half a dozen people asked for the recipe :-)  So I'm sharing it here too.

Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar -- firmly packed
1/4 cup butter -- softened
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries -- halved (it's easier to cut them when they're frozen)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper. In large bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar and butter, and beat them until they make light and fluffy crumbles.  Add the milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and egg, and mix well.  Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix well again. Stir in cranberries and almonds. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown.   Immediately remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.  Makes 3 dozen.

Dipping Chocolate

I've been using this recipe for years -- since high school, I think.  It doesn't get truly hard once it hardens, so you don't end up with flakes of it cracking off when you take a bite of whatever you dipped in this.  Last summer, I dipped strawberries and cherries in this for a celebration we had when my nephew was baptized.  I should have made twice as many.  Fabulous!  I've also transformed a humble chocolate-chip cookie into ambrosia by dipping half-way in this.  Dried apricots, pretzels, candy canes -- they all work!

Dipping Chocolate

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 1.55-oz Hershey's bars -- broken into pieces
1 Tbsp shortening

In top of double boiler, stir together chocolate chips, chocolate bar pieces, and shortening. Place over hot, not boiling, water, stirring occasionally, until chips and chocolate are melted. Remove top of double boiler; set aside until chocolate cools to lukewarm.

Dips about 5 dozen cookies half-way.

Cherry-Chocolate Cake

I made this years ago for a family get-together.  When Tootie asked for a chocolate cake with cherries for her third birthday, I knew just what to make!  I'll be mixing this up for her in a few minutes.

Cherry-Chocolate Cake

1 chocolate cake mix
1 cup water
1 egg
1 can (21oz) cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, water, and egg until smooth. Fold in cherry pie filling. Pour into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched.

Unbelievably Easy Fudge

I found this recipe in a recent issue of Taste of Home, and I couldn't believe it could possibly be any good because it's so simple!  But it actually is rather good.  I've changed it just a teensy bit to make it even easier.  This is not the best fudge recipe I've ever used, but is definitely the fastest and easiest.  If you're daunted by fudge, try this!

Unbelievably Easy Fudge

1 Tbsp butter PLUS a little more for greasing (see instructions)
1 pkg (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 pkg (11 1/2oz) milk chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Line an 8" or 9" square baking pan with foil and grease it -- I suggest taking a cold (frozen is great) stick of butter and using it like a crayon to grease the foil.  Set aside.  In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt all the chocolate chips and the 1Tbsp of butter, stirring after 1 minute and then after every 30 seconds until thoroughly melted.  Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth.  Spread into pan and refrigerate until firm.  Lift fudge out of pan, peel off the foil, and cut the fudge into squares.  Store in the fridge.