Butterscotch Crunchies

The first batch of Christmas cookies are complete, and this is by far one of the easiest recipes you'll come across. There is something I love about the taste of butterscotch and then add in a little salt and crunch and I'm in heaven. Yum yum!!! I came across this recipe and while I can't pinpoint where I've had these, I know I've had them many, many times and each time, they are just as wonderful.

I hope the next few weeks will bring loads of many more cookies, cakes, and baked goods for me to taste and share, considering I've already been planning some almond spritz cookies and some chocolate peppermint cookies. Here's a good way to start the holiday cooking!!!

INGREDIENTS

1 Bag (11 oz) butterscotch chips
1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter
3 - 1/2 Cups corn flake cereal

DIRECTIONS

Melt butterscotch chips in a double boiler, stirring until melted. Add peanut butter and continue to stir (spray measuring cup with Pam first will help it release). Fold in corn flakes. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper to cool. Once set, enjoy!

OMG Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

I've never been a huge cake person, as I prefer brownies, ice cream, cookies, and cheesecake, but these are freaking amazing - FREAKING AMAZING! Not only is the frosting moist and creamy, but so is the cupcake. They are sweet without being too sweet and it is almost impossible to eat just one. Consider yourself warned.

Recipe courtesy Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Ann Byrn.

INGREDIENTS

CAKE

1 pkg (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/4 C milk
3/4 C vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 Tbl + 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbl sugar

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
4 Tbl butter, softened
3 C powdered sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Mix cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 Tbl cinnamon. Fill lined muffin pan about 3/4 full. Bake 18-22 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool prior to frosting.

Mix cream cheese and butter in a large bowl, slowly add powdered sugar and cinnamon until completely combined.

Mix 1 Tbl sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon for sprinkling.

Use cinnamon cream cheese frosting and them top with cinnamon sugar mixture. Eat and enjoy!

Orange Julius

Alright, who remembers these? I know I sure do! We used to go to the mall and beg our parents to get one, they were always so yummy and refreshing. Then, my sister some how got a recipe when she was in high school and we would make them all the time - in orange, lemon, and any other flavors we could. Then for some reason, we stopped and the recipe was lost.

Until a few days ago anyhow. While watching Food Network (as is on so often in our house), Alton Brown was talking about them - and the craving hit me, so I searched high and low for a recipe, and came across this one. Yum! And now, thanks to blogger, I am going to immortalize it so I will never lose it again.

INGREDIENTS

6 oz Frozen OJ concentrate
1 C water

1 C milk

1/3 - 1/2 C powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 tsp Vanilla extract
10-12 ice cubes (or more depending on their size)

DIRECTIONS

Blend all ingredients in a blender. My special trick was to then put the mixture in my ice cream maker and bring it to a much better consistency. Yum yum!

Pumpkin Fluff

I'm a few months late in adding this, but since this is a staple in our house during the fall, I wanted to make sure I listed it! We absolutely love this, and I even shared this with a few more people who are now also Pumpkin Fluff addicts. I enjoy it with Nilla wafers, but it is also good with graham crackers or gingersnaps - or even as a topping on pumpkin pie. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

I had heard about this recipe over and over and over, and finally decided to try - and holy cow it is yummy!!! I made it on Christmas for my in-laws (we didn't have any leftovers) and then again on New Year's Eve (again, without leftovers). It is so simple and sooooo rich, I highly suggest starting with a small piece. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Simple Apple Crisp

Image from Eagle Brand

What could be better than old fashion Apple Crisp? Simple - a quick version of apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream on top! My husband's family was coming over for dinner and I needed some sort of easy dessert (since my dinner plans were a little more involved) - this recipe was PERFECT! Of course, my husband also loves cinnamon apples, so this took that into account as well.

INGREDIENTS

2 cans apple pie filling
1 tsp cinnamon

1 C quick oats
1 C all-purpose flour
1C brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C butter, melted
honey

DIRECTIONS

Combine the pie filing and 1 tsp cinnamon - spread evenly in a baking dish. In a separate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except honey - mix well. Spread topping evenly over pie filling and drizzle with honey.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Spritz Cookie Press Cookies

For Christmas, I received a cookie press kit and I have to admit I had NO idea what to do with it. Luckily, it came with a few recipes, one of which I tried tonight. These are light cookies that are good plain or would be even better with a little lemon frosting - or filling if you make them into sandwich cookies. I would add the frosting, but I don't need to extra sugar! While making these cookies, I've learned a few things about my handy dandy little cookie press:

1) If the recipe calls for zest, make sure to use one of the discs with larger holes. My first attempt ended in the zest getting stuck in the holes and then the cookie wouldn't form correctly.

2) You have to clean the grease off the cookie sheets between batches. If there is the grease (butter) from the previous set, the dough won't stick to the cookie sheet.

3) Don't refill the cookie press if there is still a seal of dough at the disc - you end up with a big air pocket in the middle and the cookies again don't form correctly.

4) This is totally my fault - if your cookie sheet comes with instructions to reduce ALL recipes by 25 degrees, don't forget. My first batch got a little OVER baked. Oh well.

INGREDIENTS

1 C Butter, softened

3 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 C Sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/4 tsp lemon zest (I used 1 lemon, will use at least 2 next time)

3/4 tsp Lemon Extract

2 1/2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and mix until fluffy. Add egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour and salt and mix completely. DO NOT CHILL DOUGH.

Set up cookie press (select disc) and put dough into press. Press cookies onto UNGREASED, COOL cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

***Extra's: dough can be colored by any food coloring, or you can use a mix of colors by creating various small colored logs that are placed into cookie press together. These will be great around holidays or other events where you can play with various shapes and colors.

Double Chocolate Souffle w/ Fudge Sauce

In the past few years I have become more and more confident with my cooking skills, but I had to try a souffle. I remember hearing as a kid how tough souffles could be and how often they would "fall" so I had always avoided this particular dessert ... until tonight. I had spotted a recipe in my wonderful Cooking Light magazine a while back and made a note to buy the necessary items for it. For some reason, tonight seemed the time to attempt it - especially since my husband had come home form work this morning and stayed up for a while, which meant he would be sleeping for a majority of the day, giving me time alone in the kitchen. So, I gathered up the recipe and all the ingredients and went to work - and much to my suprise, these little pillows of chocolate came out wonderful! If you are like I was an afraid of the flat souffle, don't be! Give these a shot, you just might be amazed!

INGREDIENTS

SOUFFLE

Cooking spray

1/2 C and 2 Tbl white sugar, divided

3 Tbl flour

3 Tbl unsweetened cocoa

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/4 C milk

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg yolk

6 large egg whites

SAUCE

1 Tbl butter

1/3 C white sugar

2 Tbl unsweetened cocoa

1 Tbl flour

1/2 C milk

1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Position oven rack to lowest setting and remove middle rack. Preheat to 425.

SOUFFLES

Lightly coat 6 (8 oz) ramekins with cooking spray (I used shortening). Sprinkle even with sugar to give batter something to cling to when rising.

Combine remaining 1/2 C sugar, 3 Tbl flour, 3 Tbl cocoa, and salt in saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring with a whick. Gradually add 1 1/4 milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes until slightly thick, continuing to stir. Remove from heat and add 3 oz chocolate - stir until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature (~ 15 minutes or so). Stir in vanilla and egg yolk.

Place egg whites in large mixing bowl, beat on high until stiff peaks are formed - DO NOT OVERBEAT. Gently add 1/4 of egg whites to chocolate mixture, gently fold in. Continue with remaining mixture until all egg whites are mixed in. Gently spoon mixture into remakins, filling about 2/3 or the way. (I put all this in 4 remakins - they overfilled upon cooking) Lightly tap each about 2-3 times on a hard surface to level.

Place filled ramekins on baking sheet and place into oven at 425 - immediately reduce heat to 350, leaving souffle in oven. Bake 40 minutes.

FUDGE SAUCE

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 C sugar, 2 Tbl cocoa, and 1 Tbls flour; stir well with whisk. Gradually add 1/2 C milk, continuing to stir with whisk. Bring to a boilk and cook 1 minute to thicken. Remove from heat, add 1/2 oz chocolate and stir until smooth. Serve warm with souffles.

Mmmmm M&M Cookies!

These are traditional cookies and my weakness anytime passing a mall cookie shop, not only because their so tasty, but because they add a little color and fun to the moment. What's nice about these is being able to make them to fit a theme, and in this case it was a baby shower. We were doing everything in pinks and browns (since the bundle-to-be is a little girl) so I took the packages of Valentine M&M's and picked out all the red candies, then I separated all the brown one's from a normal package to get the pink and brown mix - yes, this was rather tedious and time consuming, but in the end I felt it was worth it. I know have a bag of red M&M's which I can use for Valentine's Day, so it works out perfectly!

INGREDIENTS

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C butter, room temp

1/2 C shortening

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 salt

1 1/2 C M&M's

DIRECTIONS

Cream together sugars, eggs, butter, shortening, and vanilla. Add flour, salt, and baking soda. Fold in 3/4 C of M&M's.

Drop dough by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Slighty push a few candies into the top of each cookie.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and enjoy!

Oh-My-Snickerdoodle-Dandy!

Who doesn't love the Snickerdoodle goodness? Cinnamon and sugar covering a soft, flavorful cookie? Yummmy! So far everyone who has tasted these thinks the are great, and what's even better is they are fairly simple (even more so now that I have my wonderful Kitchen Aid Mixer!). I tend to whip these up when I'm bored, so its a good thing my husband is a cookie monster and eats most of them before I can indulge too much. These are also part of my so-many-cookies-have-chocolate-I-need-some-no-chocolate-recipes group of cookies.

***Note: You can swap 2 tsp Cream of Tartar and 1 tsp Baking Soda for the 3 tsp baking powder if desired

INGREDIENTS

1/2 C butter @ room temp
1/2 C shortening
1 1/2 C white sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 3/4 C Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp salt (reduce if using salted butter)

2 Tbls sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 C sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Shape into small dough balls; I use about a tablespoon of dough and make smaller cookies.

Roll dough in cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet. Slightly flatten with back of spoon.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Transfer cookies to cooling rack.

***As always, make sure to store cookies in an air-tight container after cooling.

The Best, Most Divine Chocolate Pudding Cake in the World

My favorite, most treasured recipe - this is it. I remember the taste and texture and aroma of this dessert from my childhood and it's a recipe I stumbled on accidently a few years ago. I don't think I'll even find something as delightful as this. It is great fresh out of the oven, served cold a day later, or even re-heated in the microwave - all perfect. Serve it with vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream - or my favorite - all by itself. Once you've tried this, you'll be hooked. Welcome to heaven...

INGREDIENTS

3/4 C Sugar

1 C Flour

1/4 C Cocoa Powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C milk

1/3 butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1/4 C Cocoa

1 1/4 Hot Water

DIRECTIONS

Combine 3/4 C sugar, flour, 1/4 C cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, butter, and vanilla - mix until smooth. Pour into ungreased 9x9 baking pan.

Mix together remaining 1/2 C sugar, brown sugar, and remaining 1/4 C cocoa. Sprinkle over batter in baking pan. Pour hot water over - DO NOT STIR.

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and let set for 15 minutes; pudding portion is EXTREMELY HOT! Enjoy!

Oatmeal Scotchies

These marvelous cookies remind me of one of my favorite people, my stepsister Melissa. She makes cookies every year around Christmas to give out to family, and this just happens to be one of the types she makes. What I love about them is the butterscotch chips ... and the cinnamon ... and the oatmeal ... well basically everything. What I also like is that while I love chocolate, these are one of the few cookies I make which is different BECAUSE there isn't any chocolate in it. Strange, I know, but true.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 C Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 C Butter (room temp)
3/4 C Brown Sugar
3/4 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
3 C Oatmeal
1 pkg Butterschotch Chips

DIRECTIONS

Cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add oats and chips. Bake 7-8 minutes at 375. Allow to cool slightly then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

My husband LOVES oatmeal cream pies, these are as much a staple in our home as bread, milk, and eggs are - maybe even more so! After watching him eat his THIRD cookie and calling it breakfast one day I decided I need to see if I can make these at home. I found a recipe way back in the summer and bought the ingredients, thinking to myself "I'll make them this weekend." Well needless to say, the past few months were so packed with wedding planning and finalizing everything that I was never able to get around to making them. So this past weekend, I got the baking itch (and wanted a reason to use my new Kitchen Aid Mixer) so I pulled out the recipe, gathered all the ingredients, and got to work. While I don't have a picture at this time since my camera is filled with honeymoon shots, I am hoping to add one in the near future!

A few notes:

• I don't know how I ever made cookies without a mixer, everything is so much simpler and quicker now! Highly worth the investment!
• My husband has determined that these are SO MUCH better than the store bought ones. I haven't decided if this is a good thing or not ... We'll see how often I have to bake!
• Molasses is messy. The cream filling in these ... Even worse!
• Finally - I accidentally forgot the salt in the filling, but they still came out great!

On to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies
1 cup margarine
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups quick oats
Cream Filling
2 teaspoons very hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
2) In large bowl, cream margarine, sugars, molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
3) Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
4) Add to the creamed mixture; mix in the oats.
5) Drop dough by TBS on ungreased sheets.
6) Bake for 10-12 minutes,or until just starting to brown around the edges. They will look moist; don't overcook.
7) While the cookies bake prepare the filling. In small bowl, disolve the salt in the hot water. Allow this to cool.
8) Combine marshmallow cream, shortning, powdered sugar, and vanilla in med bowl; mix on hi until fluffy.
9) Add the cooled salt water and mix well.
10) Spread filling on flat side of one cooled cookie, press 2nd cookie on top.