Gingerbread Men

This cookie recipe gives you that fabulous gingerbread taste without the molasses, which can be overpowering in other recipes.  The cookies are soft and yummy!  This recipe if from allrecipes.com and submitted under the title name by Kim.  Try it - you'll love them!

Ingredients:

1 (3.5 oz) pkg. cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

What to Do:

1.  In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth.  Stir in the egg.  Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture.  Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.

2.  Preheat the oven to 350*F.  Grease baking sheets.  On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter.  Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets (you'll want to make sure they have room because they fluff up and grow!).

3.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges.  Cool on wire racks.  Frost with frosting or icing (you'll want one of the other).  

Strawberry Bread

We picked a bunch of very ripe and juicy strawberries from our backyard this weekend. After gorging ourselves on them, we decided that we'd better do something with the rest. Enter my online recipe search which resulted in this glorious bread! It's so moist and yummy - we're in heaven! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, posted by Ellen Rainey. However, I used some of the comments made by others to create the recipe you see below. Enjoy! It's amazing!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. fresh strawberries

1 1/2 c. and 1 Tb. flour

1 c. white sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs, beaten

1 Tb. vanilla

What to Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.  Butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2.  Slice strawberries and place in medium-sized bowl.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.

3.  Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in large bowl; mix well.  Blend oil, eggs, and vanilla into strawberries.  Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened.  

4.  Bake for 45-50 minutes (or until knife inserted comes out clean).  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Turn loaf out and cool completely.

Cake Box Cookies

Need some cookies fast but don't have all the ingredients?  These cookies are so fabulous when you're in a pinch.  I always try to pick up a cake mix or two when they're on mega-sale, and then you will always have these available to you.  I feel a little chagrined that I can't give the website where I found this exact recipe, but I'll just say this recipe is not my own, and you can find it online at cooks.com - I do know that much!  Super easy, super yummy, super versatile! PS - The picture below is of chocolate cake box cookies made by my 9 year old cousin for cub scouts - they are that easy!

Ingredients:

18 oz package cake mix (any flavor - I've done from chocolate to spice to lemon - really, ANY flavor works!)

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 egg

(Special Note:  If using chocolate cake mix, add 2 Tb. water along with the egg.)

(You can also add chocolate chips, candy pieces, chopped nuts, or oatmeal - totally up to you!)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.  

2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients at low speed until thoroughly mixed.  

3.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

4.  Bake in oven for 9 - 12 minutes.  Cool two minutes on cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool.

5.  Serve plain or with store-bought frosting, or an easy icing (mix powdered sugar and water until you have the consistency you desire) depending on your preference.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

My husband made this wonderful dessert for us the other night, and it was super yummy!  It was a recipe we'd heard of and tried before, so we researched many different ones online and came up with this.  (I might also add that my sweet husband made it more diabetic friendly by using a Sprite Zero and Sugar-Free cake mix - just an idea if you're looking to make it healthier as well!) As with all dutch oven recipes, I'll tell you how to make it in the dutch oven, and how to make it in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

2 cans peaches, with juice

1 can Sprite

Directions - Campfire:

1.  Place dutch oven over 15 hot charcoals.  

2.  Put peaches in oven.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over top.  Cover with can of Sprite.

3.  Put lid on top and place 10 hot charcoals on top in a checkerboard pattern.

4.  Bake for about 45 minutes (or until done).

(Thanks to Camp Dutch Oven Cooking 101 for info on the number of coals needed and how to place them!)

Directions - In Home Oven:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.

2.  Put peaches in dutch oven.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over top.  Cover with can of Sprite.

3.  Put lid on top and cook in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes (or until done).

Serve with ice cream!  It's fabulous!

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter-Chocolate Brownies

Let me begin by saying these are in no way shape or form diabetic friendly.  However, I did figure out exactly how many carbs are in one piece, so you can see that below if you want.  The calorie and fat content are actually not too bad!  This recipe is from Cooking Light (Sept. 2010), but I was introduced to it through Our Best Bites - LOVE that website!  My husband just looked as this picture as I was typing and started remembering how good these were!  AND THEY ARE!  YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!

Ingredients:

3/4 c. sweetened condensed milk, divided

1/4 c. butter, melted and cooled

1/4 c. non-fat milk

1 box devil's food cake mix (18.25 oz)

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

cooking spray

1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme (abt. 1 3/4 c.)

1/2 c. peanut butter morsels

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.

2.  With an electric mixer, combine 1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk, milk, butter, cake mix, and egg white.  Mixture will be very thick. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  (Use either floured hands, or spray your hands with cooking spray in order to press it down.) The layer will be thin.  Bake for 10 minutes.

3.  Combine 1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl and combine until smooth.  Stir in peanut butter morsels.  Spread marshmallow layer over brownie layer in pan.  Carefully drop remaining brownie batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture.  Bake at 350*F for abt. 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool before cutting into squares.

Makes 12 big brownies with 9 g. fat, 380 calories, and 68 carbs each.

Cinnamon Sugar Crisps

These crisps came about by me using this recipe I found at allrecipes.com as a jumping off point.  We served them with vanilla ice cream, and they were SO yummy.

What You'll Need:

1 pkg. 10-inch flour tortillas

1 stick butter/margarine

1/4 c. cinnamon sugar mix (2 Tbs. of each)

Cooking Spray

What to Do:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400*F.

2.  Cut or rip the tortillas into small rectangles. Lay them out flat on a greased baking sheet.  Brush evenly with melted butter/margarine.  Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon/sugar mix over the top of each one.  

3.  Bake for 5 - 10 minutes (keep an eye on them!) in the preheated oven (you want them to crisp up).  Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Brownie Chip Cookies

Wanting to see if there was an easy way to turn a box of brownie mix into cookies, I went searching online.  Lo and behold, I found this fabulous recipe at cooks.com.  It's quick, easy, and very very yummy!

What You'll Need:

1 pkg. fudge brownie mix (family size)

2 eggs

1/4 c. oil

6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips (or you could use peanut butter morsels, butterscotch morsels, heath bar chips, etc....  you get the idea)

1 can ready to spread frosting, or your best homemade frosting ready to go

What to Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl combine brownie mix, eggs and oil.  Stir by hand to blend.  Add chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoon 2-inches apart on cookie sheets.

3.  Bake at 350* for 10-12 minutes.  Cookies will be soft to touch.  Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.

4.  Frost with your favorite frosting.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Carrot Cookies

This recipe is from Grandma Polly Brady (my husband's great-grandmother), passed to us through Patty Hawks (our Aunt).  Even though my toddler HATES carrots, she LOVES these cookies. 

Ingredients:

1 c. cooked carrots, mashed

1 c. shortening

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. lemon juice

What to Do:

1.  Cream together shortening, egg and sugar.  Add carrots and mix.  Then add remaining ingredients.

2.  Drop by teaspoon onto lightly greased cookie sheet.  Press lightly in the center with a wet finger.

3.  Bake 8-10 minutes at 400*F.

Frosting:

Juice 1 large orange and add enough powdered sugar to make it the right consistency.  Frost cookies while still warm.  (This is really more like an icing.)

Candy Bar Brownies

A fun take on brownies, I found this recipes years ago in the Taste of Home magazine.  Enjoy!

You Will Need:

3/4 c. butter, melted

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. baking cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Snickers bars (cut into 1/4 inch pieces)

3-4 plain milk chocolate candy bars (coarsely chopped)

What To Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2.  In a bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Combine flour cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside 1/4 cup.  Add remaining dry ingredients to the egg mixture, mix well.

3.  Toss Snickers pieces with reserved flour mixture, stir into batter.  

4.  Transfer to greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle with milk chocolate candy bar pieces.

5.  Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes (until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean) - do not overbake!  Cool on wire rack. 

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Not only are these yummy, they're low fat too! This is essentially the Pillsbury Quick Bread Pumpkin Mix recipe using low-fat ingredients.

What You'll Need:

1 (14 oz.) box Pillsbury Quick Bread Pumpkin Mix

1 c. fat free milk

1/3 c. applesauce

1/2 c. egg beaters

What To Do:

1.  Heat oven to 400*F. Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2.  Combine mix, milk, applesauce, and eggs in large bowl.  Stir 50 to 75 strokes until mix is blended.  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.

3.  Bake at 400*F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and the muffins spring back when touched.  Cool 2-3 minutes in pan.  

These muffins are only 45 calories and .5 grams of fat each!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Drop Oatmeal Cookies

These are my husband's favorite cookies on the planet. This is the recipe that his family uses, and, trust me, they're scrumptious!

What You'll Need:
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 c. oats
1/2 pkg. chocolate chips (although I always put more in!)

What to Do:
1. Mix together the ingredients.
2. Spoon onto cookie sheets.
3. Bake 12-15 minutes at 350*.

Seriously so simple and so good!

Sand Castle Cake

If you don't know about the Disney Family Fun website, you are truly missing out! They have so many fun ideas for crafts, activities, and, my favorite, decorating cakes. For my husband's birthday he chose this sandcastle cake. I'm going to share with you the original recipe and instructions. You'll notice mine is a little different; this is because I was serving over twenty people, so I needed to make the cake bigger. Otherwise, it's essentially the same idea.

Ingredients:
8-inch round yellow cake
9-inch square yellow cake
2 (12-ounce) cans vanilla whipped frosting
Vanilla Wafers, 12-ounce box
4 jumbo ice cream cups
2 small ice cream cups
6 sugar cones
Graham cracker sticks (or stick like cookies), cut in half

What to do:
1. Use a long serrated knife to trim the top of the round cake flat, if needed. Cut a 5 1/2-inch and a 3 1/2-inch circle from the square cake, then stack all three pieces, spreading vanilla frosting between the layers. Frost the stack.
2. Use a rolling pin or food processor to crumble the wafers. With your hands, press the crumbs into the frosting, completely coating the cake. Spread frosting on the bottom of each ice-cream cup, then set them around the cake. With a serrated knife, carefully trim 1 1/2 inches from the top of 2 of the sugar cones. Set all 6 cones into the cups to complete the turrets, spreading a bit of frosting around the rims to hold them if needed.
3. Press 2 graham cracker-stick doors into the middle cake layer and rim the rest of the cake with graham cracker-stick halves. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs around the base and add a scattering of candy seashells and rocks. Serves 12.

(Click on the sand castle cake link above to see the example picture from the website.)

Snickerdoodles

I found this recipe at allrecipes, posted by Sue W. I followed it exactly (which is rare for me!), and we LOVE these cookies. They're soft and thick. Super yummy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tb. white sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

What to Do:
1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Combine 1 1/2 c. white sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
3. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
4. Combine 2 Tb. sugar and 2 tsp. ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

I just have to share this picture of my daughter anxiously waiting for the cookies to finish cooking!

Pretzel Jello Salad

Seriously, this stuff is so good, and I don't really even like jello! I got this recipe from Jenna Marie at Blogger Buffet. It's amazing!

Ingredients:
Pretzels (enough that, when crushed, can cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan)
1 cube Butter
1 c. Sugar, plus 4 tsp Sugar
12 oz. Cool Whip
8 oz. softened Cream Cheese
6 oz. Strawberry Jello
16 oz. Frozen Strawberries (sliced)

What to Do:
1. Crush pretzels in bottom of 9x13 pan. Melt butter with 4 tsp. sugar. Pour over pretzels and bake at 400* for 6 minutes. Cool in freezer.

2. Beat softened cream cheese, cool whip, and 1 c. sugar on med/low until smooth. Spread over COOLED pretzels. (Make sure to seal all the edges so the jello doesn't get into the pretzels).

3. Mix jello according to package directions. Stir in frozen strawberries. Let jello partially set (about 3-5 minutes) then pour over cream cheese mixture.
4. put in fridge and let set for 4-5 hours.

Present Cake

I got this idea from the familyfun website. There's lots of other fun cake ideas there, but this one takes practically no time, and it looks so cute.

What you'll need:
A 9x13 cake (any flavor is fine)
1 tub frosting (once again, any flavor works)
3 rolls of Fruit by the Foot
Any circular candy you want (In the picture above are Skittles; the original recipe called for Sprees - do what works for you!)

Directions:
1. Cook the cake according to package directions. Remove cake from pan. Cool completely.
2. Frost the entire cake and sides.
3. Measure out a 16" piece and a 12" piece of Fruit by the Fruit. Lay the 16" piece length-wise across the frosted cake, tucking the ends underneath. Lay the 12" piece width-wise across the frosted cake, tucking the ends underneath. (Use a small spatula to lift up cake when tucking under the ends.)
4. Create two 8" loops of Fruit by the Fruit, and two 5" long streamers, with notches at the bottom, of Fruit by the Foot for the bows. Place on cake. Cut small oval out of Fruit by the Foot and place in center of bow.
5. Randomly place candies all over the remaining part of the cake.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is a Christmas Morning Dorff Family Tradition passed down from my mother's side of the family. Over the years the actual recipes got lost. This is not the original recipe, but we figured it was more the tradition of having the coffee cake than having the exact recipe. This recipe is one I got from Irene at allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1 c white sugar
1 c butter, softened
3 eggs
2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c sour cream
1 c walnuts, chopped
3/4 c white sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 8x12 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of the white sugar with 1 cup butter. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sour cream, stir until just combined.
3. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan then sprinkle with 3/4 of the filling. Pour the remaining cake batter on top and sprinkle top with the remaining filling. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 minutes.
4. To Make Filling: Combine chopped nuts, ground cinnamon, and 3/4 cup white sugar and mix well.

*Note: I cook this in a bundt pan, and it turns out just great!*

Fruit Fluff

Ingredients:

1 carton Fat Free Cool-Whip
1 c. mini marshmallows
1 small package of Vanilla pudding mix
1 can crushed pineapple (and it's juices)
2-3 cups any other fruit you desire

Directions:

Mix, Chill, Enjoy!

*Special Note: Be careful not to put too many marshmallows in or it becomes too sweet and you'll get a tummyache!*

Resurrection Rolls

These rolls are really fun for Easter, but really can be used any time.

You Will Need:

Refridgerator Biscuits
Jumbo Marshmallows
Powdered Sugar
Water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven according to directions on Biscuit package.
2. Flatten out rolls and wrap them each around one whole marshmallow
3. Pinch around the edges
4. Bake according to roll directions - don't undercook! (The marshmallow will crystalize and create an "empty tomb" inside the roll.)
5. Mix together 1/2 c. powdered sugar and 2 Tb. Water - brush over warm rolls.
6. Enjoy!!!

Banana Muffins

This is a combination of a recipe from allrecipes.com, and many of the suggestions that were given to make it better. My favorite thing to make with this is mini muffins, but you can make regular muffins as well.

This recipe is actually three times the original recipe. I save my bananas that are not yellow anymore in the freezer until I have a bunch of them. Then I thaw them and cook up a bunch of muffins. So, if you only want one batch, you'll need to divide by three!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 c. mashed bananas (or about 10 large ones)
2 1/4 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, and melted butter in a large bowl.
Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
Scoop into muffin pans.

3. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini-muffins for 10-15 minutes, and large muffins for 25-30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.
I love to give these away as treats since I make so many each time! They're delicious and only 50 calories for each mini-muffin!

Graham Cracker Crust

Mix together 1 1/2 cups crushed Graham Cracker crumbs, 6 Tb. melted butter, and 1/3 c. sugar. Press mixture down firmly in a 9-in pie plate. Bake for 7 minutes at 375* or chill for one hour.