Carmel Glazed Apple Cake

I don't like cooked apples at all. My neighbor made this and it was so good. I don't know what it was about this, but I could eat the apples in the cake. My husband really doesn't like cooked apples either and this is his new favorite desert. I didn't use my neighbors recipe this one came from a Costco cook book. We really like it. Don't mix in a mixer this is a recipe that you need to mix by hand. With the apples I used 2 bags of already cut apples so I am not sure how many I really used. The recipe calls for 5 cut up apples, but I think that is too many. I put on there 2 to 3 apples. You can try it anyway you want.

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 c oil

3 eggs

3 c. white flour

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

2 apples cut into small pieces

1 1/4 pecans

2 tsp. vanilla

Make sure that you don't over mix the ingredients. Pour into a pan. I used a bunt pan and cook it on 350 for 1 hour.

Glaze:

4 tbs butter

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. brown sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 c. heavy cream

Mix together in a pot on the stove and drizzle on top of the cake.

Snickers Cookies

It has been awhile since I have updated my blog. I am so sorry I have been really busy with the kids back into school. Hopefully I won't take so long next time!

These cookies were really fun to make with the kids because they can help you roll up the snickers into the cookies. Please excuse the pictures not being the best. My daughter who is almost 6 wanted to take the pictures so I let her.

1 bag of mini snickers

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. creamy peanut butter

3 1/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Cream it all together and have it look like this.

Take the dough in your hands and you wrap the snickers mini around the dough and roll it into a ball.
Roll the ball in sugar and place it on your pan or stone. Cook on 350 for 13-15 min. They should be a golden brown.

Banana Pudding

In a pot you are going to mix:

2 eggs

2 tbs flour

2 c. milk

1/2 c. sugar

dash of salt

cook until it is thick. You want to stir it constantly on med heat.

Take off the stove when it is tick and add 1 tbs butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir it all together and add vanilla wafers and 2 banana's. I cut up the banana's and broke apart the wafers by hand.

Bubble-up Pizza

If you are looking for something that is quick and easy for dinner this is a great meal to make for the family. My kids thought this was so much fun. They got to use their fingers and mom and dad didn't get mad at them! This is also a really cheap meal to make for your family too.

2 pkgs biscuits

1 jar spaghetti or pizza sauce

1 lb hamberger

grated cheese

Add the sauce to cooked meat and heat through. Cut your biscuits into 4ths and put it in a bowl. I added cheese to the biscuits and then added the sauce with the meat. Make sure that you stir it gently and pour it into a 9x13 pan. Cover with cheese on the top and put in the oven on 350 for 35 min. Make sure the the biscuits are cooked all the way through before serving. If it is not then put it in for a couple more mins. Pull them apart to eat or you can use a fork. We had tons of fun using our hands.

Lindt Truffle Chocolate Cupcakes

My Uncle is always sending me amazing recipe's, but this one is the most amazing one! If you only try one recipe on my blog this is the one to try! You will thank me for sure. We shared with the neighbors and they love me even more then they did. ha ha ha

Mix together:

1 box devils food cake

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

4 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c water

1 c. sour cream

Fill your cupcakes 2/3 full and then before you put them in the oven on 350 unwrap 24 Lindt truffles and put them in a bowl. Put the cupcakes in the oven for 5 min and then pull them out and put the truffles in the middle of the cupcakes.

Cook them with the truffles in them for another 13 min. They will be in the oven for a total of 18 min.
While they are cooling mix the frosting:

1/2 c. butter

8 oz. soft cream cheese

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. powder sugar

2 tbs evaporated milk
They will look like this when you are done. My husband doesn't like cream cheese frosting so he ate it without it and it really liked it even without the frosting. Me I loved it with everything on it. I really hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

Doughnuts....

I have tried a bunch of different recipe's for doughnuts and none of them have tasted really good at all. My good friend of mine told me to try it a different way and it worked out so good. She told me to try Biscuits. I got some of the biscuits like the pillsbury brand from the fridge that pops open and it was really good.

Lay out the biscuits and find something to cut a hole in the middle of the biscuit.

Put them in a pan and fry them. Make sure that they are dark and not light, because they will be doughy in the middle if they are to light.

Put them in a bowl with the glaze. How you make the glaze is:

3 c. powder sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. milk

Lay them out on a rack with paper towels under them so it will be easier to clean up the dripping glaze.

If I find a really good doughnut recipe I will post that too, but for now this will work. It is really good and they were gone really fast.

Swedish Pancakes

I have never made these because it is hard turning them over. I so am not good at that part of it. I will however keep trying until I do get it. I think I need a different pan that is easier to flip them over with. I am going to look into that this next weekend. In the recipe it says to cook it on a griddle, but I tried that and it didn't work. I used a round pan and they came out round well started out round. ha ha ha Here is the recipe:

5 eggs

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 c. milk

2 tbls butter

It makes a very thin batter. It will like like this:

Hopefully when you make these they will really be round! Mine were not so much. I never said everything turned out perfect, but they did taste really good. Spread them with butter and jam and roll up like a jelly roll. Sprinkle the top of them with powder sugar. We put cool whip on them and strawberry syrup and sprinkled the top with powder sugar. It was really good that way too.

Chocolate Cheesecake

My uncle gave me this recipe this week so I tried it. You can make it into mini cheesecakes also and I will add how to do it that way also. I just made it into one big one because I had a big crust for it.

2 packages (8 ounces each) , softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 eggs Pour it into a graham cracker crust and cook it in the oven on 350 for 25-30 min. Let it cool and stick it in the oven for a couple of hours or a day before serving. I added cool whip to the top when served.

This is the recipe for the Mini Cheesecakes. It would be fun to make these for the kids to have their own individual treat.

Cheesecakes: 9 creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies or 18 vanilla wafer cookies 2 packages (8 ounces each) plus 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened 1 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 eggs Whipped Cream: 3/4 cup whipping (heavy) cream 2 tablespoons granulated or powdered sugar Directions: Heat oven to 350ºF. Line 18 medium muffin cups, 2 1/2x1 1/4 inches, with paper baking cups. Split sandwich cookies in half. Place 1 cookie half, middle side up, in each cup. Or place 1 wafer cookie, flat side down, in each cup. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar and the cocoa until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Divide evenly among cups (cups will be almost full). Bake cheesecakes 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are firm. Cool 15 minutes (cheesecake centers will sink while cooling). Refrigerate in muffin cups at least 1 hour; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour longer before serving. In chilled small bowl, beat all Whipped Cream ingredients with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Spoon Whipped Cream on chilled cheesecakes. Cover and refrigerate any remaining cheesecakes.

BBQ Sause

I have kinda created a BBQ sauce that you can use for pork or chicken or whatever you would like. I used it on pork last night and made a pulled pork. I didn't get a picture of it because it was half gone by the time I got home. This is how I make it. I am don't measure when I make it because I just throw things in it. I did however try to measure it out this last time so I could write it down if anyone wanted to use it.

In a sauce pan mix:

1 c. of BBQ sauce any kind you like. We love the Stubbs or Austin's own. I get them at Costco

1 c. ketchup

1/2 c. water

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. worcestershire sause

2 tbls. honey

2 tsp. garlic salt

salt and pepper to taste

It is optional if you want to put onion in it or not. I used 1/4 c. of dried onions in it, but just for some season to it.

Yum Yum Cake

1 c. sugar

1 stick butter

1 egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. buttermilk

Mix 3oz. chopped marshmallow and 3oz. semi sweet chocolate chips in cake batter and pour into a 9x13 cake pan.

Sprinkle on top of the cake before baking

1/4 c. brown sugar (packed firm)

2 tbls. soft butter

1/2 c. chopped pecans
Bake at 325 for 20-30 min. Poke a knife in it and when it comes out clean it is done.

Monkey Bread

I made this yesterday and we ate it while we were eating and after. It is a fun snack to have or a great dessert.

Separate 2 cans biscuits. Cut each of them into quarters; place in a large bowl.

In a small sauce pan you are going to combine:

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1/3 c. butter

2 tbls. water

Heat until the butter melts. Pour brown sugar mixture over biscuits and toss lightly to coat evenly. Spoon into pan and bake at 400 for 20 to 30 mins.

Cook in a bunt pan and make sure that you grease the pan very well or it will stick to the sides and you will not have it shaped like the pan. After you let it stand for about 3 mins you will want to invert it onto a plate.

Mini Corn Dogs

This is a fun on for kids and even big kids like me! My son ate these up. Everyone loves corn dogs but even better when they are mini and there are lots of them.

2/3 c. yellow cornmeal

2/3 c. flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

2/3 c. evaporated milk

2 tbls. oil

Sift cornmeal, flour and salt together. Combine egg, milk, and oil. Mix all together. It will look like this when mixed.

Take your hotdogs and cut them in half. Pat them dry so you can dip them in the mixtures. Twist them as you pull them out so the batter stays on them and it will make the batter even. Deep fry in either a deep fryer or what I did was get a pot of mine and fill it 3/4 full of oil. Get the oil hot and you have a deep fryer on your stove. Cook it until the batter is brown and put on napkins or in a pan with paper towels to soak up the grease.

Strawberry Bread

This is amazing bread. I would never have thought to put this together however my neighbor gave me the recipe to try and I am now in love! ha ha ha

In a bowl mix:

3 c. flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 c. sugar

In a blender mix:

2 c. thawed strawberries

4 eggs

1 1/4 c. oil (I used canola oil)

After all that is mixed good in the blender start the mixer and add the liquid to the dry. You can add 1 1/4 c. chopped nuts if desired. Bake at 350 for 40-50 min. It will make two loaves.

Rocky Road Brownies

These are really yummy!

Get any brownie mix and mix it like the directions say add 3/4 tsp of coconut extract and 3/4 tsp of Vanilla with 1/2 a bag of chocolate chips. Cook as the direction say to cook it. When it is done pull it out and pour the rest of the bag of chocolate chips on the top of the brownies and pour marshmallow's on the top and chopped almonds and cook in oven for 2 min. Pull out brownies and put a pan on top to let the marshmallows melt some.

Root beer Chicken

Ok I know this is going to come as a really big shock, but I did not do a dessert today! I know I know it is an amazing thing that I have done! ha ha ha I made some root beer chicken. Don't knock it till you try it. It was really good. This was the first time ever that I have made it and it turned out very good.

1 pkg of Chicken Breast or thighs

1 can of Root Beer

1 12oz bottle of BBQ sause

Pour sauce in a large pan and put the chicken in the pan. Pour the root beer over all the chicken and the BBQ sauce. I let it marinate all day and then put it in the oven covered on 375 for one hour. You can serve it on top of rice or with mashed potato's.

No Bake Cookies

I love making these. I think for a whole week straight we made a batch everyday. My kids will eat them up, but only if they get to them faster then their dad! He loves these.

In a pan on the stove for 2 min you are going to mix:

3/4 c. peanut butter

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter

1/3 c. cocoa

1/2 c. milk

After two min you are going to remove from the heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla and 2 1/2 to 3 c oatmeal. Drop in spoonfuls on wax paper or foil. Let it cool and enjoy!

I put this of my son because he loves licking the spoon and he was too cute to pass up!

Mint Brownies

These are so good. It is made so that it will taste like an Andes mint. Very simple and the kids love them.

For the brownie mix:

2 cubes of butter softened

1/3 c. cocoa

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 c. sugar

Mix all together in a mixer and cook at 350 for 30 min. Let it cool completely.

Mint frosting:

2 c. powder sugar

1/2 c. butter

3 tbls creme de' mint

The cream de' mint is a liquor. I had to buy it at the liquor store because I could not find it at a regular store. I put the 3 tbls of it in a bowl and put it in the microwave to burn off the alcohol. It worked great and tasted so much better then the mint extract. I tried it with mint extract and it was not good at all.

The last part is 1 c. chocolate chips melted with 6 tbls butter and you spread it on the top of the mint frosting. If you want you can also sprinkle andes mints chopped up on the top.

Lemon Bars

I know to make a good lemon bar is hard. I don't know how mine have turned out good but they have. I have just followed the recipe the way it told me to. This has become a favorite of the neighborhood!

This is for the crust.

2 c. flour

1 c. soft butter

1/2 c. powder sugar

Mix all this together it should look like this in your mixing bowl:

Grease a 13x9 pan and press the dough into the bottom of it. I have a small roller so I rolled it out as evenly as possible. Bake on 350 for 15 to 20 min. Make sure that it is golden brown.

Lemon Layer

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix together until smooth. It will look like this:
Pour over crust. It should evenly lay out on the crust and look like this:

Cook on 350 for 20-25 min. When you take it out of the oven and let it cool shake powder sugar on the top. It will look like this:

Spaghetti Pie

This is a super easy recipe and a fun change from spaghetti but sill having spaghetti. I know that sounds strange, but it didn't in my head so there you go! ha ha ha

2 cans spaghetti sauce

4 tbs butter

2 lb browned hamberger or lean turkey meat

2/3 c parmesan cheese

12 oz package spaghetti

4 beaten eggs

shredded monterey jack cheese

Brown the meat in a pan and simmer the spaghetti sauce together.

Cook the noodles and drain the water when cooked all the way. Put the noodles back in the pan after it is drained. Add the butter, cheese and eggs to the noodles. When it is all mixed together pour it into a cake pan.

Pour sauce over the noodle mixture. Cover and bake 15 min on 350.

Take it out and cover with shredded monterey jack cheese. Bake it for 10 more min.

French Bread

I have never tried french bread before more cause I was really scared to make it. I have herd that it is very hard to make so I just bought it. After the last couple of day I will never buy it again. I have found an amazing and easy recipe.

4 c. flour

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c. warm water

In a mixing bowl you are going to put all the ingredients and mix it up. If you don't have a mixer then you can also mix it in a bowl and kneed it by hand. If you are using a mixing bowl then you are going to mix the dough for 3 min and then let it sit for 5 min and then mix it again for 3 more min. Take it out of the bowl and kneed it by hand on the counter top. I do this for about 2 to 3 min. Roll it into a big ball. Place it into a bowl that is greased. I know this sounds strange, but it works great. I spray pam in the bowl and then put the ball of dough in and then flip it over so that all sides have the spray on it. Put plastic wrap over the top of it and let it rise for an hour and 30 min. When it is done rising it should look like this.

Take it out of the bowl and kneed it one last time by hand. Cut the dough in half and leave half in the bowl while you shape the other half. Once you are done with this then put it on a cutting board to rise and shape the other half. Place a damp towel over the dough and let it rise for 30 min. (I tried rolling out one of the loafs and the other I didn't. I would not roll the dough out at all shape it by your hand and don't kneed it anymore. The flatter loaf is the one that is rolled out and it was less airy. I find it works better not rolling it out.) This is what it will look like.

While it is rising for the last time turn the oven on 450 and place the stone or cookie sheet in the oven to warm up. Before you put the bread in the oven take a pear knife and slice the top 3 or 4 times and then place the bread on it when it is done rising. Here is the trick when you place the bread in the oven to cook throw 1/2 c. of water on the bottom of your oven. I know this sounds weird, but the steam will really help the dough to cook more evenly. Cook the bread on 450 for 20 min.
This is what it will look like when it is done. You can cook the bread one at a time or together. I have cooked mine together and it has been great. One of the loafs went all weird on the side, but still taste great!

Baked Beans

I was trying to make a more meaty meal tonight. My husband is on a low carb high protein diet so I found this recipe and made it for dinner tonight with the corn bread. It turned out great. You can do it two different ways in a crock pot or bake it in the oven. I decided to use a crock pot tonight just because it was easier for me.

2 large cans pork and beans

1 c. ketchup

2 tbls mustard

4 tbls brown sugar

2 tbls bbq sause

1 lb sausage

1 lb hamburger

Fry the sausage and hamburger together. Drain and mix all the ingredients together and either spread it on a 13x9 pan and bake uncovered for 1 hr and 15-20 min on 325 or put it in a crock pot for about 2 hrs.

Corn Bread

I have never made corn bread from scratch. I normally use a mix, but never like the way it turns out. This my family and I loved. It was really good and super fast to make. I used a small baking dish if you want it for a bigger family then you will need to double it.

1 c. corn meal

1 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbls baking powder

2 eggs

3 tbls oil or shortening

1 1/2 c. milk (or if you want it sweeter you can do half a cup of milk and a can of sweet & condensed milk)

mix and bake for 20 min at 450

Cinnamon Rolls

I love cinnamon rolls, but to tell you the truth I never made them until this christmas for our breakfast after we opened presents. My mom always made them for our family for Christmas morning. I always thought that they were too much work so I never really wanted to learn to make them. I love making them now. They are super easy just a lot of steps to take with them. And they are so worth the time too.

Dough:

2 tbls yeast

1 c. warm water

2 c. scalding milk

1/2 c. honey or more if you want it a bit sweeter

2 eggs

4 c. flour

2 tsp salt

Put the yeast in the warm water and set aside. Mix everything together and then add the yeast. Add in 5 more cups of flour. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Take out of bowl and roll out. I usually cut the dough in half so I get 2 pans of cinnamon rolls out of it sometimes I can get 2 1/2 just depends on how much you want and how thick the dough is. Once it is rolled out mix cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl. Brush melted butter on the top of the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mix onto the dough. I use about a cup of sugar and two tbls of cinnamon. Roll up the dough and cut it to desired thickness. Once it is all in the pan I use the rest of the butter and brush it on the top of the rising rolls and sprinkle the extra cinnamon and sugar on it also. Let it rise for about 25 min and then cook it for about 15 min.

Cream cheese frosting:

2 8oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. butter

2 lbs. powder sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

This is what it will all look like when it is done. I put it on while the cinnamon rolls are still warm. It is a really good treat to have for breakfast or whenever you like.