Mug brownie

This is a ridiculously easy and quick treat. Just takes a couple minutes to throw together.





2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
A few butterscotch chips (optional)

Directions:
In a 12 oz coffee mug, add water, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well.

Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well. If you want, drop a few butterscotch chips on top.

Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten. Careful not to overcook.

Peanut butter No Bake cookies

1 cube butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Bring to a boil and boil for 2 mins. Take off heat.  Add:
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats

Drop on wax paper and serve when completely cooled.

Healthy Fudge Brownies

Can I just say yum?! I have this thing for brownies and since I started eating healthier (I've since been not so good at it) I haven't had any because I feel too guilty. BUT on this blog- Chocolate Covered Katie- She has many delicious healthy dessert recipes And these brownies are my FAVORITE!! Tyson even likes it.

Recipe here

This is her picture.

In the recipe it calls for tofu, but I don't really do Tofu so I subbed very ripe bananas in there.

I doubled the recipe and used almost a whole banana and I thought it was too banana-y so I'll do less next time.

And I wasn't feeling really experimental so I just used white sugar *gasp* but next time I'll try a healthier sweetener.

PS This is not for those that like their brownies very cakey. So fudgey and gooey. mmmmm

Chocolate-Marbled Banana Bread

I found this recipe on http://www.cookinglight.com/ and fell in love. It's a great way to use up those browning bananas and it's easy and delicious. I tweaked a few things (like using eggs instead of egg substitute), but it still turned out amazing.

Ingredients

2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter (can cut down butter and add applesauce to make it healthier)
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
1/2 c. egg substitute (I used 2 eggs)
1/3 c. plain yogurt (I used lemon--all I had in the fridge)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Whisk together.



2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer for one minute. Add banana, egg, and yogurt and beat until blended.



3. Add flour mixture and beat just until blended.



4. Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. (I had to put it in for another 30 seconds.) Cool slightly and add 1 cup of batter to the chocolate, stirring until well combined.



5. Spoon chocolate batter and plain alternately into a regular-sized loaf pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Swirl batter together with a knife.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min. or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on cooling rack.

Best Ever Peanutbutter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gotta say, you HAVE to try these babies! Yummmmmmmmy!!!


2 cups quick cooking oats, uncooked
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
In a large, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and peanut until smooth
Beat in sugars, then the eggs and vanilla until blended. Beat in flour mixture just until blended, then stir in chocolate.
On a ungreased baking sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart
Bake 8 minutes or til golden brown.
Remove to wire rack and cool completely

White Chocolate Popcorn

pop 2 bags of microwave popcorn (the more butter the better) and take out all the unpopped kernels (so as to save your teeth) and put in a large bowl.

melt 1/2 a bar of almond bark (or 2 small white chocolate bars, or one bag of white chocolate chips) in the microwave (30 seconds at a time and then stir between). Or you can do the old fashioned double-boiler way, but...why?

pour the almond bark or chocolate over the popcorn and stir all the popcorn is coated.

Put out on waxed paper to dry (unless it doesn't make it that long)

Enjoy!

P.S. This recipe comes from aunt Renae...she always has great dessert recipes :)

Chocolate Pudding Cake

This is a new twist using Shirley J, on an old recipe that my mom used to make. I have very fond memories of "Chocolate Pudding Cake". Sorry I forgot to take pictures before we gobbled it up.
Somehow it makes a yummy chocolate pudding on the bottom of the cake.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 3 cups Shirley J Muffin mix, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 cup water. Mix well. Spread batter in the bottom of a 9 inch square ungreased pan. Combine 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small bowl. Sprinkle over top of cake batter. Gently pour 1 1/2 cup bliling water over top of mixtures. Do not stir. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipping cream.

sour-cream-pumpkin-crumb-cake

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter (melted)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
1. Mix the flours, baking powder and soda in a bowl.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in another bowl.
3. Mix the vanilla extract and eggs into the butter and sugar.
4. Mix 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the wet followed by 1/2 of the sour cream and repeat.
5. Mix the pumpkin puree, egg, sugar and spices in yet another bowl.
6. Mix the flour, rolled oats, cinnamon and butter until they for crumbs.
7. Mix the nuts into the streusel.
8. Pour half of the batter into a greased baking dish.
9. Sprinkle on half of the streusel.
10. Pour the pumpkin mixture on next.
11. Pour the remaining batter on top.
12. Sprinkle on the remaining streusel.
13. Bake in a preheated 350F until a toothpick pushed in to the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Pumpkin Cake

This is the easiest, most delicious cake- we love, love, love it!!

1 yellow cake mix
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 eggs
1 cup water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. We serve it with whip cream. It is supposed to be better if you let it sit for a day or two before eating it, however, I can't be sure of that because we have never made it that long before eating it. Hope you enjoy!

Renae's Hot Fudge

2 c. sugar
4 T.butter
4 T. cocoa
1 can evaporated milk

Blend together and dissolve. Boil gently 2-4 minutes,according to how thick you like it. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla. If it should curdle, put in blender and whip. Makes 2.5 cups.

(Thanks Sam for typing it and e-mailing it to me).

Shirly J Lemon Bars

I made lemon bars in about 40 minutes total mixing and baking. They were so easy and fast and turned out delicious!

4 cups Shirley J Universal Cookie Mix

2/3 cups water

Mix together and press dough into prepared 9x13 pan.

Spread 1/2 can of lemon pie filling on top of dough.

Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cool and enjoy.

Pina Colada Pound Cake

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix
3 eggs
1 can 14 oz. coconut milk (not cream of coconut)
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 can 8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained, 3 tablespoons juice reserved
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bottoms only of 2 (8x4-inch) loaf pans with baking spray with flour.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, and coconut milk with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in coconut and pineapple. Pour into pans.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool 50 minutes.

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and reserved 3 tablespoons pineapple juice. Poke tops of cakes every inch with toothpick. Pour sugar mixture over cakes. Cut each cake into 8 thick slices, using serrated knife.

No Fuss Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe creates moist, delicious chocolate chip cookies with little hassle. Delicious.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melt & cool
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine meltled and cooled butter and brown sugar. Mix well.
4. Stir in egg and vanilla extract until well blended.
5. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. For each cookie, drop a heaping tablespoon of dough onto a cookie sheet, leaving about 2 1/2 inches between each. Bake at 350 F for 9-11 minutes or until edges harden and centers are still soft.

Friendship Fudge

This is a versitile, decadent, fun, and did I mention DELICIOUS treat. It's perfect for family gatherings, camp, family home evening, or whenever you need that chocolate fix.


The first time I had it was at a leadership girl's camp outing. We all took turns squishing the ingredients in a bag while we told something unique about ourselves. By the time we were done, it was the right consistency to roll into a log and cut into slices. Yum!


INGREDIENTS

4 cups powdered sugar
3 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup softened margarine
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)



DIRECTIONS

1. Mix ingredients together by squeezing the bag and passing it around the group (you can have fun with games, get-to-know-you activities, etc)
2. When it is mixed together, roll into a log and sprinkle nuts if you choose.
3. Slice and enjoy!

*Note: you may need extra powdered sugar or eat with spoons. You may want to double or triple the batch if you have more than a few people--believe me, you'll want lots of extra.

"cran-tastic" baked pear slices

Ok my pictures don't really do this justice. I don't know if any of you have heard of this website/cookbook, but its my new absolute favorite! It is www.hungry-girl.com. The cookbook I have is 200 recipes all 200 calories or less. I've tried a few recipes now and LOVED all of them- this is just the only one that I have stopped to take a picture of :) So here is the incredibly east recipe straight from the book!

Ingredients:
-4 med. pears, sliced
-1 1/2 cups Diet Ocean Spray Cranberry Spray
-Dash Cinnamon

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Spray a large baking dish lightly with nonstick spray. Lay pear slices flat in teh dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and pour cranberry drink on top.
-Bake 45 minutes, or until pear slices are soft.
Remove from teh oven and let pears sit in the "juice" for at least 30 minutes.
-Drain any excess liquid from pears. Enjoy hot, cold, or anywhere in between!

A serving is one whole pear. Per serving: 98 calories, 0g fat, 20 mg sodium, 26g carbs, 5g fiber, 17g sugars, 0.5g protein.

Pioneer Woman’s Key Lime Pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust
18 graham crackers (the 4-section large pieces)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Crush crackers in a food processor or Ziploc bag. Pour them into a bowl and stir in sugar and melted butter. Press into a pie pan and bake for 5 minutes or until golden and set. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Filling
1 heaping tablespoon lime zest
1/2 cup lime juice
2 egg yolks
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Mix lime zest, lime juice, and egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Add in condensed milk and mix on high until smooth and thick. Pour mixture into crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour—more if possible.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream and more grated lime zest.

Enjoy every single bite!

Texas Sheet Cake

A few people were interested in this Texas Sheet Cake recipe so here it is.(sorry I didn't take a picture)

Texas Sheet Cake
Mix: 2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt


Boil: 1 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
Pour over flour mixture
Add 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
2 eggs
1 tsps. vanilla

Beat together and put in large pan. Bake 20 min. 400 degress

Frosting
1 cup butter
5 tbl. canned milk
1/4 cup cocoa
1 Tbl. vanilla

Bring to boil. Cool slightly and add 1 pkg. powdered sugar. Beat and spread on warm cake.

Decadent Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This is one of my favorite desserts. It is delicious, light, fluffy, and perfect for picnics and spring dinners. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Crust

2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Filling
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Topping
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 (16 ounce) package frozen strawberries

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl combine crushed pretzels, 3 tablespoons confectioner's (powdered) sugar and melted butter. Mix well and press into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool.

4. To make the filling, combine in a medium bowl the cream cheese and 1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar; beat until smooth. Stir in whipped topping; spread mixture in crust and refrigerate.

5. Meanwhile, combine gelatin mix and boiling water; add strawberries. Let gelatin mixture thicken slightly, and then pour over the crust and filling layers. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

You thought the last one was bad for you, you'll really like this. But, I've gotta say, the taste is pure heaven. I hope some of you dare to try it like I did because it was sooooo worth it! Do you guys check the Pioneer Woman's website? How often? I love it because she has pictures of every little step (perfect for me who sometimes needs a little extra help) and then just the printable recipe at the end.
The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Tiny Pies in a Jar

Check out the instructions for these darling pies here