Lemon Bars

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
4 TB flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 TB lemon juice
2 cups sugar
3 eggs beaten

Mix 2 cups flour, powdered sugar, and melted butter together until well blended. Pat mixture in bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Combine sugar, 4 TB flour, baking powder, lemon juice and eggs until thoroughly blended. Pour over partially baked crust and bake an additional 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove for oven. Cool slightly. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar if desired. Cut into squares and serve.

Oreo Truffles and Cake Balls

I have been wanting to make these for Valentine's Day. The stores have been closed due to snow, and roof repair, and I didn't want to venture further down the road... But I did want to get this recipe on before Valentine's day so that anyone who is looking for an idea might still have time to do this.

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg (1lb 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg (8 oz) Cream cheese, softened
2 pkg (8 squares each) BAKER'S semi-sweet chocolate, melted

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.


How to Easily Dip Truffles
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Then use two forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove the truffles with forks and allow excess chocolate to drip back into bowl before placing truffles on prepared baking sheet.

Special Extra
Sprinkle truffles with colored sugar or sprinkles in addition to or in place of the cookie crumbs.

How to Soften Cream Cheese

Place completely unwrapped package of cream cheese in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 10 sec. or just until softened. Add 15 sec. for each additional package of cream cheese.


I plan on using Golden Oreo's because Kyle likes them. You can use what ever melting chocolate you want. (you could also use choc chips with a little bit of shortening)

Or if you would rather you can do:


Cake balls

1 pkg (18.25 oz) chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients on box)
1 container (16 oz) prepared chocolate frosting
1 bar (3 oz) chocolate flavored confectioners coating (or you can use melting chocolate)

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended.

Melt chocolate coating in glass bowl in microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls (or roll with your hands) of the chocolate cake mixture. (If they are too sticky you can place on cookie sheet/waxed paper and put in freezer until cold, makes them easier to work with) Dip balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.

These are a little easier if you don't have something to make crumbs out of the oreos. Plus you can make all sorts of variations: red velvet cake or carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, white cake with mint choc chip frosting, german choc cake with coconut pecan frosting, etc.. and you can do all sorts of colors with the melting chocolate.

Brownies

This recipe is also in the Make-A-Mix book.
I can't remember many brownies that I have tasted that are better than these.. The only thing that I wish was different was for it not to be a mix, I want the whole recipe... because having the mix lying around makes me want to make them all the time!

Brownie Mix

6 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp salt
8 cups sugar
1 (8 oz) can unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Stir with a wire whisk until evenly distributed. Put in a large airtight container. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 10 to 12 weeks. makes about 15 cups Brownie Mix.

I halved this recipe, because I didn't have enough cocoa for the full recipe.. I also double the Our Best Brownies recipe for one 9x9 pan.

Our Best Brownies

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups Brownie Mix
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan. Combine melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and Brownie Mix. Beat until smooth. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until edges separate from pan. Cut into 2 inch bars when cool. Makes 16 brownies.

Again, I doubled this recipe and used a 9x9 pan and they were the perfect size.

Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is from a book my mother-in-law gave me called Make-A-Mix

Cinnamon Rolls

1 TB active dry yeast or 1 (1/4 oz) package
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water 110F (45C)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted margarine
5 to 6 cups HOT ROLL MIX (see below)
2 TB butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins, optional (we don't put raisins in them)
1/4 cup chopped nuts, optional

Sweet Glaze
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
about 4 TB milk

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Blend in eggs and oil or margarine. Add 5 cups HOT ROLL MIX. Stir well. Add more HOT ROLL MIX to make a soft dough. Knead about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth. Lightly butter bowl. Put dough in bowl and turn to butter top. Cover dough with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Grease 2 baking sheets. Punch down dough. Let stand 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 12" x 24" about 1/4 inch thick. Brush surface with melted butter or margarine. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on dough. Then sprinkle nuts and raisins, if desired. Roll dough like a jelly roll and cut into 24 1 inch slices. (We do big rolls and actually cut them about 2 inches, maybe a little less..) Place on prepared baking sheets. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 30 to 60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F(190C). Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Prepare Sweet Glaze, and brush on warm rolls.

Sweet Glaze
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to make a thin mixture.

I usually half the HOT ROLL MIX. I don't have a container to hold that much mix.

HOT ROLL MIX
5 lb. (20 cups) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 tsp salt
1 cup instant nonfat dry milk

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Stir together to distribute evenly. Put in a large airtight container. Label with date the contents. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 6 to 8 months. Makes about 22 cups HOT ROLL MIX.

Blackberry Pie

We went with a friend to Butler's Orchard and picked Blackberries. They were huge!! It was a lot of fun!! Then the best part.. the PIE!!!

Blackberry Pie

• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar

1. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
2. Bake at 425 degree F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

We actually didn't use the milk and sugar on top, and it was still great!! Instead of the refrigerated pie crust we used the pie crust recipe that I love!! You can also go to my Cherry Pie post and it has the crust recipe and what I do differently than the original recipe.

Monster Cupcakes

For Adam and Gabe's birthday party I made Sesame Street cupcakes.

Cherry Pie

I am personally not too fond of cherry pie, however my husband loves it. My mom bought some cherries and I had the brilliant idea to make a cherry pie. It was so good!!! I had to share!! and i am going to try this recipe with other fruits sometime to see if they are as good too!!! (I will let you know how it is when I do it.)

Cherry Pie

2 pounds sour cherries, pitted
1 1/8 cups white sugar
3 1/2 TBS cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all in a bowl and let them macerate for a few minutes. Pour into pie shell. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. make several small slits in top to allow steam to escape. Place on aluminum foil lined tray. Bake 45-55 minutes until crust is lightly golden brown. ( the recipe says to cook the cherries but after ready some comments I tried it this way with a different crust, so without having a hot filling I baked it closer to the 55 minutes.)


Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water

whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons ice water (I used 3 TBS both times I made it.) over flour. Toss mixture with fork to moisten. Gentle gather dough into a ball. Place on between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll out dough. Put in pie plate. (this recipe is for a bottom or a top, so I did it twice for a top and a bottom.) My mother-in-law said you can put a little bit of vinegar (tsp) in the water to make it flakier. I hadn't used the vinegar and I found it was flaky and I was happy with what I had. But if you want to make sure it's flaky go for it!!

When I was still in Hawaii I tried this recipe and I thought it was pretty good for how easy it was.

Here is the link: Creme Brulee


You might want to read some of the reviews and maybe add more egg yolks to make it a little creamier.. I did the recipe as is except I didn't have heavy cream but I have a lot of evaporated milk so I used that instead. I thought it turned out good! I would have liked to have a kitchen torch but the broiler will do.. It did make the custard warm though... with only the middle staying cold.

By the way have I said that I love All Recipes website!! It's great!! People rate the recipes and add comments so you can pick and choose the best recipe for you!!