Homemade Granola Bars

Posting this yummy granola bar recipe so I don't have to keep searching through my emails to find it. It's from my friend Ruth.

Granola Bars Basic Recipe

* 2 Cup Oats
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 Cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsrkip cinnamon
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1/2 Cup honey

*1 T oil

*1/4 c water

* Any dried fruit, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc.

Mix all ingredients and press into greased pan, 9 X 13. Dough will be very dry and crumbly, but press until dough forms with pan.. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until edges are browned. Take out and let cool entirely. Cut into strips and store in snack size bags.

**If the dough is very dry, add a couple of tablespoon of water to help mix it all together and you might need to use your hands to get it mixed up and pressed into the pan.

* My sister in law  threw in 1/2 c peanut butter the second time she made them and said it was really good.

Pineapple Ice Cream

1 can Pineapple chunks (drained)

2 1/4 cups sugar

Juice of 3 lemons or 9 Tbsp lemon juice

1 can evaporated milk

2 quarts WHOLE milk

1/2 pint whipping cream

(of course you also need LOTS of ice and salt to add on top while machine is spinning)

• Puree pineapple chunks (you can puree as much or as little as you like)
• Combine first 3 ingredients and stir
• Add the rest and put into ice cream maker
• Continue according to ice cream maker instructions
• Serve right away to enjoy super soft ice cream or put in freezer to harden up more

(this is the cheap walmart ice cream maker I have. Nothing fancy but it does the trick and is super delicious)

Angel Food Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes

I helped my mother-in-law make these awhile ago and have been thinking about them ever since, so I tracked down the recipe. I love this blog they're from, Get Off Your Butt and Bake

Click over there for more explanation. I'm putting it on here so that I can easily find the recipe again.

INGREDIENTS

FILLING

1. 3 cups raspberries (3/4 pound)
2. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3. 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 teaspoons of water

CUPCAKES (...or just use a box recipe)

1. 1 cup cake flour
2. 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3. 10 large egg whites (1 1/4 cups), at room temperature
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 plump vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
6. 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
7. 3/4 cup granulated sugar

GLAZE

1. 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2. 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons water
4. Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

1. MAKE THE FILLING: In a medium saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups of the raspberries with the granulated sugar and cook over moderately high heat, crushing the berries, until very soft and broken down, about 5 minutes. Strain the raspberry puree into a small bowl and discard the seeds. Return the puree to the saucepan. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of raspberries and the dissolved cornstarch and bring to a boil. Cook, gently crushing the berries, until the filling is glossy and thickened, about 3 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE CUPCAKES: Preheat the oven to 325°. Set 18 foil muffin cups on a rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the cake flour with the confectioners’ sugar. In a large bowl, combine the egg whites with the salt, vanilla seeds and cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the whites are firm and glossy. Sift the flour mixture over the egg whites in 2 additions, folding gently until incorporated.
3. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, shifting the pan from front to back, until the cupcakes are springy and golden. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack to cool.
4. Using a wooden skewer, poke a 1/4-inch-wide hole in the top of each of the cupcakes. Using a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/4-inch tip, pipe about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each cupcake.
5. MAKE THE GLAZE: In a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients. Spoon a small bit of the glaze over the raspberry hole and let set, about 5 minutes. Drizzle and spread the remaining glaze over the cupcakes and let set, about 10 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a platter and serve.

Oreo Truffle Balls

My friend Sandi gave me one of these the other day to try, and I liked it so much I ran out and bought some Oreos to make my own. We had the missionaries over tonight and they really liked them too. I just made some cake balls a few weeks ago and these were much easier I thought.

1 package Oreo cookies

1 8 oz. package cream cheese

Chocolate chips or melting chocolate

Crush up Oreos in a food processor (or crush them up in a plastic bag with a rolling pin). Mix with cream cheese until its mixed through evenly. Roll into little balls and refrigerate for an hour.

Melt chocolate chips and dip. The way I do it is put chocolate chips in a microwave safe mug (that way it's deep enough for dipping), and microwave on 30% power for 1 1/2 minutes, stir, and repeat until melted. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of shortening to thin out the chocolate some.

To dip I used toothpicks and that worked pretty well.

Place dipped Oreo balls on wax paper and refrigerate. They taste great right out of the fridge.

Frosted Banana Cookies

Yum. These turned out great. Gotta sway from the traditional chocolate chip cookie every once in a while. Recipe from the Land O Lakes website.

Preparation time: 30 min Baking time: 8 min

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 medium (1 cup) ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (I just used 1 T OJ, but couldn't even taste it)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons half & half or milk
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Grated orange zest, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine 3/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add bananas, egg, orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons brown sugar and half & half. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (1 to 2 minutes). Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat until well mixed; cool slightly.
Frost cooled cookies. Garnish with grated orange zest, if desired.

Cinnamon Rolls

I have been looking for a really good staple cinn roll recipe for a while - I think I've found it. So far I've had success each time!

3 ½ cups warm water

1 cup oil

¾ cup sugar

5 TBSP yeast

Combine above in large bowl and let rest 15 minutes.

10 ½ cups flour

3 eggs

1 TBSP salt

Mix into yeast mixture 5 cups flour, eggs, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in by hand the remaining flour. Pour out onto floured board and knead till smooth. Let rest about 15 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half out approximately to 12x30 inches. Melt ½ cup butter and evenly spread out onto rolled out dough (1/4 cup each).

Sprinkle each with a generous amount of cinnamon and about ½ cup sugar. Roll up each half and slice into 20 rolls (40 rolls total).

Place on large cookie sheet (a little larger than a jelly roll pan). Let rise about 20 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes (or until desired doneness) at 400. Cool for about 5 minutes, then frost with buttercream frosting.

For orange rolls, omit cinnamon and use some grated orange rind instead. When making the frosting, use orange juice instead of milk and add a little orange rind.

Buttercream Frosting:

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 TSP vanilla

3-4 TBSP milk  (enough to make it spreading consistency)

Beat together with electric mixer until smooth.

S'more Brownies

from the Food Network.

I went the lazy route and used a brownie mix but they still turned out fine. Just make sure you don't overcook them.

Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Topping:
4 cups large marshmallows
Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Alternatively, put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

Brownies (with carrot & spinach)

This recipe is from the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook

***Dont' serve the brownies warm - it's not until they're completely cool that the spinach flavor totally disappears***

Nonstick cooking spray

3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup carrot puree (can use baby food)

1/2 cup spinach puree (can use baby food)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tbs trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

3/4 cup oat flour; or all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8-inch baking pan with cooking spray

2) Melt the chocolate in a double broiler or over a very low flame

3) In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.

4) Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.

5) Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

***These brownies are low in calories (only 133 per brownie) and saturated fat. They're also packed with 3 grams of fiber, while spinach and carrots provide two powerful antioxidants that help your kids' eyes stay healthy!***

Here are some tips on how to prepare and puree the spinach and carrots. You could also use baby food.

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

This was my grandmother's recipe and the cookies are a huge hit in my family. For more of a turtle cookie, add some chopped pecans to the dough batter. Yummy!

CARAMEL-FILLED CHOCOLATE COOKIES
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 t. baking soda
48 Rolos
1 T. sugar

Combine 1 c. sugar, brown sugar and butter. Add vanilla and eggs, mix well. Combine in small bowl, flour, cocoa and baking soda, mix well. Add to sugar mixture, mix well. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375. With floured hands shape 1 T. of dough around 1 Rolo candy, covering the candy completely. Roll in sugar. Bake 7-10 minutes or until slightly cracked.

Petite Watermelons

Petite Watermelons

2 limes

1 small box of red Jello

mini chocolate chips

Cut both limes in half lengthwise. Scoop out all the fruit with a spoon. Place the limes in a muffin tin to keep them from tipping over. Make the box of Jello according to the Jiggler directions. Carefully spoon Jello into the limes halves. Chill until almost firm. Using a skewer push the mini chocolate chips into the Jello for "watermelon seeds." Chill until until firm, then cut into slices.
(Got this cute idea from: Chocolate on My Cranium)

Star Spangled Fruit Tart

From Taste of Home

Here's what I am going to make for our BBQs tomorrow. I might make them individual sized though, I haven't decided. Anyways it looks like a pretty easy yummy idea so I thought I'd share. Have a happy 4th!

Ingredients:
1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup halved fresh strawberries

Directions:
Press cookie dough onto an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and extract until smooth. Spread over crust. In center of tart, arrange berries in the shape of a star; add a berry border. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 16 servings.

Ribbon Ice Cream Pie

from Woman's Day.

The combinations you could try are endless. Yum.

• Active Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 1 ready-to-fill chocolate cookie crust
• 1 pint reduced-fat Dutch chocolate ice cream
• 1 pint strawberry ice cream
• 1/4 cup fudge sauce
• Garnish: strawberries

PREPARATION

Place 1 pint vanilla ice cream in large bowl; stir until smooth but not melted. Spread into bottom of a ready-to-fill chocolate cookie crust. Freeze 30 minutes until just firm. Repeat as above with 1 pint reduced-fat Dutch chocolate ice cream, then 1 pint strawberry ice cream. Cover and freeze until firm. Before serving, slightly warm 1/4 cup fudge sauce in microwave. Drizzle over pie; garnish with strawberries.

Australian Pavlova

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 6 kiwi, peeled and sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw a 9 inch circle on the parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until thick and glossy. Overbeaten egg whites lose volume and deflate when folded into other ingredients. Be absolutely sure not a particle of grease or egg yolk gets into the whites. Gently fold in vanilla extract, lemon juice and cornstarch.
3. Spoon mixture inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper. Working from the center, spread mixture toward the outside edge, building edge slightly. This should leave a slight depression in the center.
4. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack.
5. Remove the paper, and place meringue on a flat serving plate. Fill the center of the meringue with whipped cream, sweetened if desired. Top whipped cream with kiwifruit slices.

Tim made this for me for Mother's Day, and it was amazing. He used less kiwi and food processed some strawberries and kiwi (lightly so they didn't turn into soup) and added raspberries. We have one of these amazing things called a Silpat - we love them, they're $25 from Williams-Sonoma but worth it. He eyeballed the circle and baked the meringue on the Silpat with a little cornstarch underneath.

Poppyseed Bundt Cake

My roommate would make this all the time, and I would eat like half of it each time. I'm sure she loved that. I'm so glad to finally get the recipe so I can make it myself now.

Mix together:
4 eggs
1 c plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 small box instant vanilla pudding

Add:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 c water
1/3 c poppyseeds

Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until top is golden. Cool completely before removing from the pan. Recommended that you then allow it to sit 15 minutes before cutting.

Toasted Marshmallow Shake

i have been having fun browsing around the recipes on Oprah.com (link below). As luck would have it i have all these ingredients handy today...

Recipe created by chef Spike Mendelsohn, owner of Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, D.C.
Found on Oprah.com


Photo: Good Stuff Eatery

End your night on a sweet note with chef Spike Mendelsohn's creamy marshmallow milkshake. As the owner of Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, D.C., Spike created this dessert in celebration of the 2009 inauguration.

Ingredients:Serves 4

1 bag jumbo marshmallows
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. sour cream
2 cups creamy vanilla ice cream

On a medium-size cookie sheet, place 1/2 bag of marshmallows in a row.
Place under your burner in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, until completely charred.
Take out of oven and let cool.
Repeat this step but only let the marshmallows toast, so they are slightly burnt.
Take out of oven and let cool.

In a blender, pour milk, sour cream, ice cream and charred marshmallows.
Mix for 5 minutes.

Pour in a large glass and top with 2 to 3 toasted marshmallows.

Apple Crisp

Another variation to the apple pie is an apple crisp. This is quicker and easier, or if you have leftover apples from your apple pie you can make one of these for someone.

4 cups sliced apples

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

7 Tbsp. butter or margarine

3/4 cup flour

Combine apples, water and cinnamon in baking dish, 8x8x2.'' Mix flour, sugar, and butter to crumble stage. Cover apples with the mixture. Press down with hand until flat.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 50-60 minutes.

Mom's Apple Pie with Crumb Crust

6 to 8 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

dash ground nutmeg

Pie crust (store bought works fine, or there's a recipe below if you want to be an over-achiever)

If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with about 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, spices, and a dash of salt. Mix with apples. Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry crust. Fill with apple mixture. Sprinkle crumb crust (recipe below) over filling and place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake in oven at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until done.

Pie crust: (although I'd actually recommend just buying one at the store...)

2 1/2-3 cups flour

1 cup shortening

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix first three ingredients with pastry blender (I use a fork) Beat 1 egg, add 1 Tbsp. vinegar and 1/4 cup cold water. Makes one crust plus some extra (I used the extra to make my little heart decorations).

Crumb crust:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup firm butter or margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix three ingredients together with a pastry cutter (I just use a fork) until crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture in crust. Cover topping with aluminum foil the last 10 minutes of baking to avoid crust browning too quickly.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Got this recipe from Better Homes than Yours, oh I mean Better Homes & Gardens

2  cups all -purpose flour

2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2  tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1-oz. bottle red food coloring (2 Tbs.)

1 recipe Whoopie Pie filling, below

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment; set aside.  In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high 30 seconds.  Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined.  Stir in food coloring.

3. Spoon batter in 1- or 2-inch diameter rounds about 1/2 inch high on prepared baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between each round.
(I would make them smaller)
4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes for 1-inch cookies or 9 to 11 minutes for 2-inch cookies, or until tops are set.  Cool completely on baking sheets on racks.  Remove cooled cookies from baking sheets.

5. To fill, dollop Whoopie Pie Filling on flat sides on half the cookies.  Top with remaining cookies, flat side down.

Whoopie Pie Filling

In medium mixing bowl beat 1/4 cup softened butter and half an 8-ounce package softened cream cheese until smooth.  Fold in one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme.

To store, refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days.  Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Lemon Cake

Really easy and really tasty. I took this recipe from my mom.

1 box lemon cake mix
3/4 cup oil
1 small package lemon Jell-O
4 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp. lemon extract

Grease and flour bundt pan. Dissolve lemon Jell-O in hot water. Mix cake mix, lemon extract, eggs, oil, water and Jell-o. Bake 350 degress for 40-45 mins.

Glaze:
5 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 C powered sugar
Mix together until smooth. (add more lemon juice if too thick).

Poke holes in top of warm cake. Immediately pour over glaze.

Crater Cake

This is a really tasty version of banana bread. It's got chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar. It's one of my favorite things to bring to ward parties, or social gatherings.

Ingredients:

· 1 C. butter

· 2 C. white sugar

· 2 eggs (beaten)

· 1 t. vanilla

· 4 ripe bananas

· 3 C. flour

· 2 t. baking powder

· 2 t. baking soda

· 1 C. sour cream

· 2 t. cinnamon

· 1/2 C. brown sugar

· 1 1/2 C chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream together sugar and butter. Add beaten eggs. In a separate bowl add the vanilla to mashed bananas.

2. Mix dry ingredients (except the cinnamon, brown sugar and chocolate chips) together then add slowly to creamed mixture. Next fold in sour cream, and then banana mixture.

3. Pour half the mixture in a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle half of the mix over the batter, and sprinkle 3/4 C. of chocolate chips.

4. Pour the rest of the batter on top, and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar mix and chocolate chips again.

5. Bake at 350*F for 45-50 minutes.