PEANUT BUTTER PIE

A no bake pie, rich in chocolate and peanut butter flavors. It is a dense pie, due to the cream cheese.

FILLING

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon of melted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of heavy cream, beaten until stiff

 1 (9 inch) chocolate cookie crumb crust

hot fudge sauce

TOPPING

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons of brewed coffee

chopped peanuts for garnish

First, melt about 3-4 tablespoons of the hot fudge sauce in the microwave. Spoon it over the bottom of the pie crust. If you must spread it, be careful; those pie crusts are very delicate.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Fold in half of the beaten cream. Then fold in the remaining cream until blended. Then place filling into the pie crust.

Combine the chocolate chips and coffee in a microwavable container. Microwave until melted and smooth. Cool slightly, and then pour over top of pie. Place chopped peanuts on top of chocolate. Carefully place plastic lid from pie crust onto the pie and refrigerate over night. Yes, really . . . over night.

Take that pie traveling!

SPINACH DIP IN A BREAD BOWL

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise 1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix (And yes . . . you do NEED Knorr) 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. To make a bread bowl - buy any round loaf of bread. I use to special order a round rye. Now I just buy whatever is available, usually whole wheat. Whatever is your preference.  Take a serrated bread knife and cut out center of bread. Be careful so you do not cut through bottom of loaf. Brush the inside of the cut loaf with melted butter and put in 300 degree oven until it reaches the desired crispness you want. While the loaf is in the oven, you can either rip or cut the center of the bread into pieces for dipping. **I also use celery, carrots, and tortilla chips for dippers.

CREAMSICLE MIMOSAS

We make them every year during the holidays and at the Annual Bike Week Brunch to rave reviews every time. Even by people who don't like champagne. As you can see we drink the cheap crapola.

2 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1 bottle sparkling wine or Champagne (use sparkling fruit juice or sparkling cider if you wish)
Strawberries, for garnish

Directions

Put orange juice, half-and-half, and sugar into a blender and process until the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds. Pour this mixture into a shallow pan and freeze until hard, 4 hours or overnight.

Remove the frozen orange mixture from the freezer and let it sit to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. With a scoop or tablespoon, scrape out a small scoop and put it into a Champagne glass. Slowly fill the glass with Champagne and serve garnished with strawberries.

Look below. And then you can smash the glasses with no remorse.

APPLE CRISP

A simple, uncomplicated crisp. I use a mix of apples.

4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup butter , softened

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with no stick baking spray.

Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork.

Makes 6 servings.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE WITH GINGERSNAP CRUST

I make this every year for the holidays, always to rave reviews. One year my husband dropped it on the floor and they still ate it.

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
• 1 1/2 cups pecans (about 6 ounces)
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
• 9 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 4 large eggs

• 1 tablespoon (about) purchased caramel sauce

For Crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind ground cookies, pecans and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter spring-form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. 

For Filling:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Transfer 3/4 cup mixture to small bowl; cover tightly and refrigerate to use for topping. Add pumpkin, 4 tablespoons whipping cream, ground cinnamon and ground allspice to mixture in large bowl and beat until well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Pour filling into crust (filling will almost fill pan). Bake until cheesecake puffs, top browns and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around cake pan sides to loosen cheesecake. Cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. 

Bring remaining 3/4 cup cream cheese mixture to room temperature. Add remaining 5 tablespoons whipping cream to cream cheese mixture and stir to combine. Press down firmly on edges of cheesecake to even thickness. Pour cream cheese mixture over cheesecake, spreading evenly. Spoon caramel sauce in lines over cream cheese mixture. Using tip of knife, swirl caramel sauce into cream cheese mixture. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) 

Release pan sides from cheesecake. Cut and serve.

HOT ARTICHOKE DIP

1 (15 oz.) can of artichoke hearts

1 c. Parmesan cheese

1 c. mayonnaise

8 oz. cream cheese

Drain then chop up artichokes. Mix all ingredients together. Put into a 9" baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, stirring at mid-point.

BLACK BOTTOM CUPCAKES

My grandmother always made these for me. This recipe will yield about 30 cupcakes. The cupcakes also freeze well, so you don't have to eat them all at one time. But good luck trying to get them to the freezer.

Filling

8 ounces of cream cheese
1/3 cup of sugar
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon of salt
6 ounces of chocolate chips

Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
1/3 cup of oil, plus 2 tablespoons of oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and salt until smooth. Add chocolate chips. Set aside.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add water, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Fill paper muffin cups 1/3 full with cupcake batter. Top each with a heaping teaspoon of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes.

DELUXE FUDGY BROWNIES

Super rich and fudgy.

4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 stick of butter
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of chopped nuts

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave. Beat eggs and add sugar. Beat together. Add chocolate mixture and blend. Stir in flour. Add vanilla and nuts.

Spread in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Check middle with cake tester or tooth-pick. If needed add more time but keep watch on the brownies. Allow to cool before eating.

LIME BARS

I just made these to take to a party at Marilyn's. I use the same recipe for my lemon bars - I just add fresh lemon juice rather than lime.

Crust:

2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

16 tablespoons of butter, melted

To prepare crust combine flour and sugar. Add butter and mix well. Press into 12x15 baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Filling:

4 eggs
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cups of sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder

To prepare filling, beat eggs with fork. add lime juice and mix well.

Combine dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Beat. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into squares  and serve. These cookies freeze well.

EASY YOGURT PIE

My mom always made this for me as a kid.

3 containers of blended yogurt, 6 oz.(I used mixed berries for this one)

1 container of frozen whipped topping, 8 oz. (I use the light stuff)

1 pre-made graham cracker crust ( I was tempted to buy the chocolate cookie crust, maybe next time)

Allow the whipped topping to thaw and then add to the yogurts. Pour into crust and place in freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight. I added some blueberries to this one.

RANCH PRETZELS

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Simple, salty, and good!

1 bag of Snyder's of Hanover sourdough pretzels
1 envelope of ranch dip/dressing mix
1/2 cup of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the dip mix with the oil and mix well. Break the pretzels into bite size pieces before placing them on a baking tray. (Don't dump the bag onto the tray. You don't want all the crumbs and extra salt.) Pour the oil/dip mix over the pretzels. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the pretzels every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Pound Cake Cupcakes

I guess I can post some things I made while on my blogging hiatus.

These are soooooo good!! When you look at the ingredient list, you may think that these would be extraordinarily heavy cupcakes, but they aren't. I did use my KitchenAid mixer to mix them so that might have helped.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 3 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups softened (not melted) butter
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. (I put it all in my mixer bowl.) Add butter, milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed and then up the mixer speed to medium and mix for about four minutes. Make sure to scrape down the bowl before adding your eggs. Add eggs one at time and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds after eacg egg. Once all the eggs are in the batter, mix at medium speed for one minute. Batter will be thick and fluffy.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners until half full. Don't fill them any more than that or it will get messy!! Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick, inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely in the cupcake pans. Makes about 40 cupcakes.

The Tentative Unofficial Xma$ Cookie List

• Black Forest crinkle cookies
• Inside out Almond Joy macaroons
• Pecan tassies
• Peanut butter biscotti
• Pecan turtle bars
• Snowballs
• Lemon bars
• Salted nut roll bars
• Peanut brittle
  
• Chocolate caramel cracker bars
• Double butter cup cookies
• Coconut macaroons
• Pecan pie squares

I feel like I'm missing some. I didn't pick my new cookie either. I was thinking about making peppermint patties, chocolate mint squares or buckeyes this year, but I don't know what direction I'll take. Any opinions or suggestions?

I miss blogging about food. I started my Masters degree in March and since then I have no time left to do much of anything. However, right now I'm taking a research class that has statistics in it. I'm completely lost with no hope of understanding so I've decided to not put much time into it. (But I have a 4.0 so far!!!!) Plus my yearly nightmare of frantic cookie baking will soon be here. Why not bitch and moan about it online? Misery should be spread around.

And next week is the Greek Festival!!! (I don't know what is up with their web page. I can't post a link.)

See last year's post and pics.

Brunch Cakes

I hate bundt pans. I can't tell you the last time was that I managed to get a cake out of a bundt pan successfully. I made a Coffee Swirl Cake for the "booze and breakfast" or "brunch". I can use about 2/3 of the cake since the rest of it either stuck to the pan or broke away from the bottom of the cake. It's good and I'll eat it. I just can't use it for presentation, dammit.

Betty Crocker's Coffee Swirl Cake

1/4 cup instant coffee granules or crystals

1 tablespoon hot water

3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups butter or margarine, softened

2 3/4 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch angel food (tube) cake pan with shortening; lightly flour. In small bowl, mix coffee and hot water; cool 10 minutes.

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in flour mixture, milk and sour cream on low speed until blended.

Remove 1 cup of the batter; stir into cooled coffee. Pour remaining batter into pan. Drop coffee batter by about 12 tablespoonfuls onto batter in pan. Cut through batters with knife for marbled design.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan on wire rack; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool at least 1 hour 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

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I had better luck with the Buttermilk- Lime Tea Bread. That at least came out of the pan. Next time though, I'll double the lemon/sugar syrup.

Betty Crocker's Buttermilk- Lime Tea Bread

Oh, I'm too lazy to type this recipe right now.

Judy's Kiffel Recipe

1 lb butter

12 oz cream cheese (full fat)

4 cups flour

Cream butter and cheese, add flour until thoroughly mixed,

shape into 4 balls, cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Make Filling:

Filling:

1 lb ground nuts ( I use walnuts)

1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 egg whites slightly beaten

Mix all ingredients until blended, put in fridge until dough is ready.

When dough is chilled roll each ball out on 10X sugar till about 1/8 inch thick, cut into circles about (3 inch diameter). Fill with teaspoon of nut filling placed on top third of dough circle. Fold dough over filling, then fold over again and crimp edges. Resembles a little burrito.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 14 minutes, just until the bottoms start to turn golden. I use parchment on my cookie sheets. They don't seem to burn for me when I do that.

Remove from oven, sift 10X sugar over while still hot. Cool and store.

INSIDE OUT ALMOND JOY MACAROONS

1 package (14 oz.) sweetened shredded coconut, divided

1/4 C. all purpose flour

1/4 C. sugar

1/4 C. light corn syrup

1/4 C. cream of coconut (such as Coco Casa or Coco Lopez -- DO NOT USE COCONUT MILK)

3 egg whites

2 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 t. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

32 chocolate 'kiss' candies with almonds, unwrapped

Mince 1 1/2 cups of the coconut in a food processor. (processing a portion of the coconut helps the dough hold together as it's shaped around the kisses) Transfer minced coconut to a bowl. Add the remaining coconut along with the other ingredients (except kisses). Mix gently with your hands until combined, then chill the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or coat with nonstick spray.

Shape a heaping tablespoon of dough around a chocolate kiss, enclosing the candy completely. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1" apart. Bake until firm and deep golden at the base and light golden on top, 16-18 minutes.

Let the macaroons cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

Makes 32 cookies

Snowball Cookies

1 cup of butter

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tsp. of water

2 tsp of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 cup of chopped nuts (I use pecans)

powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and water. Mix well. Blend in flour and nuts. Gather dough together and wrap in cling wrap.

Chill four hours or overnight.

Shape into 48 equal size balls. Bake on un-greased cookie sheets, 325 degrees for 20 mins. (I’ll bake two sheets at a time – 24 cookies.)

Cool and roll in powdered sugar.

Black Forest Crinkle Cookies

Preheat oven to 350; line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp table salt

Melt 1/2 stick (4 Tbl) unsalted butter

Add to melted butter:

1/3 cup cocoa powder, whisking until smooth.

Stir in (fully blending in each one before adding the next one):

1 egg

1 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 Tbl hot water

1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir chocolate mixture into flour mixture just until combined.

Fold in:

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup dried tart cherries

Shape into 2" balls and roll two times in powdered sugar (3/4 cup)

Place 2" apart on prepared baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are cracked, yet still soft. Do not overbake. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

Makes 2 dozen 3" cookies

Pecan Tassies

CRUST:

1 (3 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 c. sifted all purpose flour

1 stick butter

For the crust, have all ingredients at room temperature. Mix together and chill for at least 2 hours. Pinch off dough and shape into two dozen 1 inch balls. Place balls in 1 3/4 inch ungreased muffin tins. With thumb, press dough against bottom and sides of tins. Set aside and mix filling.

FILLING:

1 egg, beaten

3/4 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tbsp. soft butter

1 tbsp. vanilla

2/3 c. chopped pecans

For filling, mix all ingredients together. Fill each tassie 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool on cake rack. To remove, run sharp knife around edge and lift out.

Chocolate Cherry Bars

* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

* 3/4 cup cocoa or

* 2 cups sugar

* 4 eggs

* 1-1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided

* 1/3 cup chopped almonds

* 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

* 1 cup Hershey Mini Kisses

* 1 cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat; stir in cocoa until smooth. Remove from heat. Add sugar, 3 eggs, 1-1/2 cups flour and almonds; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 1 egg, remaining 1/3 cup flour, sweetened condensed milk and almond extract. Pour over baked layer; sprinkle chocolates and cherries over top. Return to oven.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until set and edges are golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until cold, 6 hours or overnight. Cut into bars. Cover; refrigerate leftover bars. About 48 bars.