Popsicles

Last summer, we were more than a little obsessed with homemade popsicles around here.  Now that spring weather has finally shown up, we're back in the mode.  Here are some of our favorites:

Fruit-sicles
4 cups fresh fruit (honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, or strawberries are the ones we've tested)
2 tbsp. sugar (if the strawberries are super sour, you might need a touch more)
juice of one lime or half a lemon

Blend like crazy and fill the popsicle molds.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pops
2 cups milk (I used 1-3/4 cups skim plus 1/4 cup half-and-half to make it delicious)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate chips

Blend the first four ingredients in the blender.  Put 1 tsp. chocolate chips in the bottom of every popsicle mold and fill with the milk mixture.  Freeze.  (Seriously, these taste just like chocolate chip cookie dough, except cold and refreshing and nearly guilt free.)

Dreamsicles
1/2 cup orange juice concentrate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. sugar
2 cups plain yogurt

Blend up.  Fill molds.  Freeze.

Pudding Pops
1 small instant pudding mix
3 cups milk

Blend.  Freeze.

Plus, anytime I make a smoothie, I pour the extra into the popsicle molds and freeze it.  This year, I'm going to not use the plastic sticks that came with the mold, but use wooden sticks instead.  That way, when the popsicles are frozen, I can unmold them, put them in plastic bags, and always have a stash in the freezer.

Whoopie Pies

I made these pies for my Activity Days girls this afternoon, and they were a big hit.  They are super easy, and, for once in my life, mine were just as pretty as the ones in the pictures.  :)  I used my cookie scoop to guarantee all the cookies were the same size, and it was perfect.

I used a different filling, however, since I didn't have enough peanut butter to make the filling in the recipe.

Here's the filling I used:

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cube unsalted butter
1 8-oz package low-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp. half-and-half
1/2 tsp. salt
about 2 cups powdered sugar

Beat peanut butter, butter, and cream cheese together until perfectly smooth and uniform.  Add half-and-half and salt, then beat in powdered sugar until fluffy.  Adjust consistency with more powdered sugar or more half-and-half.  Scrape bowl into gallon-sized ziploc bag, squeeze out excess air, snip off the corner, and pipe onto one of the two whoopie pie cookies, topping with another cookie.

This filling would be delicious between two layers of chocolate cake as well.  It's fantastic.

Apple Nachos

I got this idea from pinterest (of course), and we made them for our family home evening treat last night.  I think it looks festive, and it would be fun for a shower or potluck.

Apple Nachos

6-7 apples (I did half granny smith, half gala)
1/3 bag caramel bits
2 tbsp. peanut butter
2 tbsp. water
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp. mini chocolate chips

Slice the apples crosswise.  Use small  circle cookie cutters to cut out the core portion of each slice.  Arrange slices on a platter.  Melt caramel with peanut butter and water.  Drizzle over apple slices.  Melt white chocolate chips in microwave and drizzle on top of caramel.  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.  Chill in fridge until everything is set up.  Delicious!

Two delicious new recipes

This last week, my Bountiful Baskets subscription overwhelmed me with produce, so I've been trying some new recipes.  Both were AMAZINGLY delicious, so I'm passing them along.

#1  Caprese Flatbread Sandwiches (from here) That site has too many pictures for me to copy and paste the recipe.

#2  Peaches and Cream Pie (from here)  I used a premade graham cracker crust because I'm lazy like that, and it was still absolutely fabulous.  (I didn't use almond extract, just vanilla.  I think the cooked peach filling would be even better with a teeny bit of lemon juice in it, but I didn't have any to add.)

Fresh Peaches ‘n Cream Pie
**Depending on how big your pie crust is and how large the peaches are, you’ll probably have quite a bit of leftover peach filling and cream cheese filling. If you work it right, it could technically make 2 pies.**

1 cup sugar
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. water
2 T. butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract

5 large peaches

baked pie crust (either homemade or store bought–I just used what I already had. I have also used a graham cracker crust with success!)

Take 2 peaches, slice them and then mash with potato masher or whisk. Combine in a pot with the sugar, cornstarch and water. Cook on medium heat until it thickens, then bring to boil for 1-2 minutes. Take off heat, then add the 2 T. butter and almond extract, stir well and let sit. I like to let it cool down a bit.

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. cream (I use heavy whipping cream and I whip it up with my Kitchenaid)

3 oz. cream cheese

Add sugar, almond extract and vanilla to the cream cheese and beat until smooth and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream. Spread evenly in pie shell. Chill in the fridge.

Slice up the remaining 3 peaches. Lay them on top of the cream cheese filling.

Then add the cooked peach filling on top–bigger spoonfuls around the edge and then fill in the middle. Chill until ready to serve.

Argentina Cake

This is the cake John requests for his birthday every year.  And, since it's delicious, and easy, and pairs perfectly with either ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream, it gets requested at a lot of other birthdays as well.

Argentina Cake (1-2-3-4-Cake)


1 pint of cream (light or heavy whipping--we've used both to good effect)
2 cups sugar
3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. baking powder)
4 eggs
1 drop of vanilla (but really, I use a tsp. of vanilla)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix cream with sugar.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift flour (or flour + salt + baking powder) into mixture and mix gently until thoroughly combined.  Pour into 9x13 pan and bake for 1 hour.

This cake is terribly temperamental.  If you don't bake it too hot, it overinflates and then falls.  If you overbeat the cream, it overinflates and then falls.  However, even if fallen, it's still delicious.  So, never fear.

Toffee Chocolate Grahams

My favorite Christmas candy is English Toffee, but I have not been able to make it for a couple of years. I found this recipe on a blog called Stephanie's Kitchen. I am over sugared right now, but when I need a sugar fix this is what I am going to make.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Toffee

6 whole graham crackers(depending on the size of your crackers you may need more)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Arrange graham crackers in a single layer in a 8X10 inch pan. Add the butter and brown sugar to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture evenly over the crackers. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. The chocolate will immediately start to melt, and using a spoon or knife, spread the chocolate to cover the sugar mixture evenly. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top. Let the pan cool to room temperature and then chill until chocolate is firm. Break into pieces.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

We are trying these doughnuts tonight on the recommendation of Katie from No Big Dill.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

Hedgehog's Yellow Cake

This is Olivia's new favorite recipe because it comes from her second grade reader and is attached to a story about a hedgehog whose friends help him bake a cake (very cute).  It's basic, but delicious, reminding me of good sugar cookies.  I can think of a lot of ways to dress this sucker up.  (Grandma Nielson's fudge frosting anyone?)

Hedgehog's Yellow Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup self-rising flour (or 1-1/4 cup regular flour, plus 1/2 tsp. salt and 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder)
1 tsp vanilla (good vanilla--Watkin's is the best)
1. Ask an adult to set the oven to 350.
2.  Butter a 9-inch round pan.
3. Mix butter and sugar together in a bowl.
4.  Add eggs, one by one.
5.  Add vanilla.
6.  Mix in flour.
7.  Put batter into pan and bake for half an hour.
8.  Eat warm with a glass of milk.

Susanne's Carmel Corn

I love the Fall!!!!! The leaves change, the temp. drops and it's time for Fall Treats:)

Carmel Corn

2 c. brown sugar

1 stick butter

1 c. Lt. karo syrup

1 can sweeten condensed milk

Dash or 2 of salt

4 bags microwave popcorn

Pop popcorn:)

Cook syrup and sugar on med. heat till sugar dissolves stirring constantly. Add butter and cook till melted then add milk. Cook on Med-high till sauce resembles soft ball then add salt. Adjust the amount if you used butter with salt or without salt.

Mix sauce with popcorn then lay flat on wax paper to cool. Yummers!!!

Next time we're going to sprinkle in some bacon:)

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Treats

I haven't tried them but they sounds yummy.

Peanut Butter Marshmellow Treats

1/4 c. regular butter
1 pkg. (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows OR 4 c. miniature marshmallows
1/4 c. peanut butter
5 c. Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Cook 3 to 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Stir peanut butter into marshmallow mixture.
Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.
Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into buttered 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Cut into squares when cool. Yield: 24 squares, 2 x 2 inches.
NOTE: Best results are obtained when using fresh marshmallows.

The best Rice Crispy Treats ever!

These are not difficult or really that different from regular RC Treats but I promise they will make you happy to eat them.

RC Treats

1 12 oz Box Crispy Rice Cereal

3 10 oz Bags of Lrg Marshmallows

1 Stick of Butter

2 Tsp Vanilla

Cooking Spray

Melt Butter and Marshmallows in Lrg Pot over low-med heat stirring regularly. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Add Crispy Rice to Mallow-Butter and stir to coat evenly. Press into cookie sheet and let sit till completely cooled. Spray a Pizza Cutter with cooking Spray to prevent sticking and cut Treats to size.

The Yummy factor in this recipe is when executed properly the over abundance of Melted Mallow sinks to the bottom creating about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of chewy goodness at the bottom of each Treat. So chewy, so good. Also for an added kick you can add mini M&M's, chocolate chips and such but be careful cause the candy shell will bleed.

Blueberry Cobbler

Mike says one of the great things about this is it's not so sweet that you can't eat a lot of it in one sitting:)

Blueberry Cobbler

1/2 stick Unsalted Butter

1 C. All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 C. Granulated Sugar

3/4 C. Milk

2 C. Fresh Blueberries

1/4 C. Water

1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in 8x8 baking dish in microwave. In bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and milk. Pour evenly over butter. In bowl combine blueberries, sugar and water. Spoon evenly over batter, do not stir. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Batter rises to become buttery top crust.

It's yummy with ice cream.

Best Brownies EVER. No JOKE

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Holy crap.

Homemade Strawberry Poptarts

So this recipe is really easy and quite delicious. It would be delicious with any type of preserves or even fudge topping to make chocolate pop tarts. I also like that you can individualize each pop tart if you wanted to. Yum!

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tablespoons ice water
12 tablespoons strawberry preserves (preferably organic homemade)
Powdered sugar
Fresh strawberries

Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips or back of fork, blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water by tablespoonfuls, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide in half; shape each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour.
Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough on floured surface to about 13x11 inches. Trim to 12x10-inch rectangle, then cut into eight 5x3-inch rectangles.
Arrange 4 rectangles, spaced apart, on each sheet. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons preserves in row down center of each rectangle. Top preserves with second dough rectangle. Using fingertips, gently press all edges of each tart to seal; press all edges with tines of fork to double-seal. Using toothpick, poke a few holes in center of top dough rectangle. Cover; freeze tarts on sheets at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.
Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake frozen tarts uncovered until golden, reversing sheets after 15 minutes, 25 to 30 minutes total (some preserves may leak out). Immediately transfer tarts to rack. Sift powdered sugar lightly over. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh berries.

**I was too impatient to freeze it and it still turned out delicious :)

Strawberry Cake

A friend of mine gave me this recipe and I made it for my family while I was home. It is incredibly delicious.

Ingredients:

Cake
-solid vegetable shortening for greasing pans
-flour for dusting pans
1 package plain white cake mix
1 package (3 oz.) strawberry gelatin
1 cup mashed fresh strawberries w/ juice (about 1 1/2 c. whole berries)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans (very optional-- I've never put these in)

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Please note that the following ingredient list is to make frosting for  the layer in between the cakes, and the outside of the cake. To make just enough frosting for the layer in between, (and use an alternate
frosting for the rest of the cake, like a store bought chocolate fudge) you can fourth the cream cheese and butter, and guesstimate on the strawberries and powdered sugar. I had enough leftover ingredients to make a little extra and pipe it on top for decor.

1 package cream cheese, room temperature
8 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed, capped, and mashed to make
1/2 cup, then drained well.
3 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (about, add enough to achieve
desired consistency. frosting tends to be runny)
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup pecans (optional)

1. Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9" round cake pans 1/ shortening, dust with flour then shake out excess. (Or just spray with Pam for baking) Place aside.

2. Place cake mix, strawberry gelatin, oil, milk and eggs in large mixing bowl and combine. Then add mashed strawberries and juice and blend with electric mixer on low for at least one minute. Increase speed and beat 2 more minutes, scraping sides as needed. Strawberries should be blended well into batter. Fold in coconut and pecans (if you'd like).
Note: While some may feel coconut is an option in any recipe, I stress that in this one it is not. Because of the overall moistness of the cake, something about the coconut helps it solidify. Without the coconut, the cake is just as delicious, but be forewarned, more than likely it will cave in the center, or have structural issues. There is so little coconut in the recipe, that most people don't notice.
Divide batter into pans, and place on same rack, side by side in oven.
3. Bake cakes until they are light brown and just start to pull away from the pan, 28 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Remove cakes from oven, and place on wire racks to cool completely. Seriously, walk away for awhile, or make the frosting, and walk away for a while. When it comes time to remove them from the pan, run a dinner knife around the outside edge and invert.

4. Meanwhile, prepare frosting. This is much much easier when your cream cheese and butter have been sitting out the entire time you've been baking. Combine cream cheese and butter until well blended with
an electric mixer. Then add strawberries (this time without the juice-- if you leave the juice in, the frosting will be more runny) and blend. Slowly add powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency--the more powdered sugar, the stiffer the frosting will be. You'll be reaching a desired consistency when the frosting lightens noticeably.
If you're frosting the inner layer, and the entire outside cake, I suggest folding in the coconut. Again, something about the coconut makes it stick together better. You can leave it out, but it will be runny. If you're just doing the inner layer, and maybe piping for decoration, I'd leave the coconut out.
5. To assemble, put a little frosting on the serving platter to hold the cake in place. Put down one cake, frost with strawberry cream cheese frosting, then put the next cake on top. Frost with chocolate or with additional strawberry cream cheese frosting. To pipe a heart as decor, place excess strawberry cream frosting in ziplock bag, snip one corner and pipe away.
6. Chill cake. I promise you, you won't get the desired taste if it's room temperature or warm. Chill it. It's delicious.

Land O Lakes Frosting

You have got me going now. Unfortunately, and I really mean it, I do not like store bought icing. I am always guessing on the ratio of powdered sugar to butter. Then I found this recipe in a magazine.

Land O Lakes Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter (must be butter) softened
1 t. vanilla
2-3 T. milk or cream

Holy deliciousness-Lemon and White Chocolate Parfait with Strawberries

If you're looking for an incredible dessert, look no further. This recipe...AMAZING.

5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (this was about 4 lemons)
4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (Grate entire peel of 2 lemons)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup plus 2 2/3 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
13.5-ounce bar high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped
5 cups sliced hulled strawberries (about 2 pounds)

Whisk egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, and salt in medium metal bowl to blend. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Whisk until mixture is very thick and thermometer inserted into center registers 160°F to 170°F, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Cool lemon mousse base to room temperature.

Combine 1/4 cup cream and white chocolate in another medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir constantly until chocolate is soft and almost melted. Remove bowl from over water and stir until white chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool white chocolate mousse base to room temperature.

Beat remaining 2 2/3 cups cream in large bowl until firm peaks form. Divide whipped cream between both mousse bases, folding in 1 cup at a time (about 3 cups for each).

Layer scant 1/4 cup lemon mousse in each of 8 parfait glasses or wineglasses; top with 2 tablespoons strawberries. Layer scant 1/4 cup white chocolate mousse over strawberries. Repeat layering 1 more time. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Cover and chill remaining strawberries.

Spoon strawberries over top of each parfait, if desired, and serve.

Really amazing, really rich, but did I mention amazing?

Brownie Bites

Ladies, apparently this is dessert day Chez Wells, but if that's the way it is, that's just the way it is.

These Brownie Bites are the perfect recipe to have on hand because the ingredients are all refrigerator and pantry staples, and they are infinitely variable.  I adapted Nedra Bunker's delicious brownie recipe to have a little more butter and cocoa and a little less flour to make them work better in a mini muffin tin.

Brownie Bites
1 stick unsalted butter  (I've also used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup canola, and it's nearly as delicious)
4 tbsp. cocoa powder (I heap the tablespoons a little to make it extra chocolatey)
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs (but I've used 2 in a pinch--still okay)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour (a scant cup, not a heaping cup)

Melt butter and cocoa together in a small glass bowl.  Mix sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a larger bowl, and add cocoa mixture.  Add salt and mix well.  Add flour and again mix well.
Put mini muffin liners in the mini muffin pan.  Pour batter into a quart-size ziploc freezer bag, emptying out the excess air, and sealing it securely.  Cut off 1/2 inch of the corner of the bag and squeeze the batter into the muffin liners, filling 3/4 full.  (It helps to bunch up the freezer bag just under the zip part, to take the pressure off the zipper.  Otherwise, sometimes the bag pops open and you have brownie batter all over your hands.  Delicious, but messy.)  Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.  Remove immediately from tin and place on wire cooling rack.

Variations:
Candy Bites:  Put cut up candy bars in the muffin liners first, pouring the batter on top.  Rolos work amazing well.
BYU in miniature:  Top with the mint frosting from BYU's mint brownies.  (I put the frosting in another ziploc bag, cut off the corner, and make a cute little swirl.)
Peanut Butter:  Melt 1/3 cup peanut butter in the microwave.  Dollop 2 tsp on top of each brownie bite before baking, and swirl with a toothpick.  Bake as usual.

These are always a hit, and very very easy.

Lemon Curd

This is, again, from Everyday Food, and it's my new favorite dessert base.

Lemon Curd
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon zest (I just zest up a whole lemon)
8 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter (I use 1/2 stick, and it's still delicious), cut into 1/2 inch pieces

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, zest, and egg yolks.  Whisk in lemon juice and salt.  Add butter and place over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until butter has melted and mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Small bubbles will form around the edge, but do not let it boil.
Remove pan from heat, still whisking.  Pour curd through a sieve into a glass bowl.  Put plastic wrap right down on the surface and refrigerate until cool.

I have served this two ways:
1) as part of a trifle, with angel food cake and whipped cream.
2) with frozen berries mixed in

It would awesome so many ways.  Mmmmmmmm

HI

This is a good idea!! Infact I have a treat to post right now. My friend Christy made these yesterday for a birthday party and they were oober yummy!

York Peppermint Patty Cupcakes

-Make chocolate cupcake mix according to recipe

on chocolate cake box.

-Fill paper lined cupcake tin 1/3 full.

-Then place York peppermint patty on top.

-Finish filling cupcake tins till 2/3 full.

-Bake according to directions.

-Let cool then eat them up!!!!!!

You can add frosting but the patty makes it quite rich:)