Strawberry Popsicles

Dice up about 1/2 lbs of strawberries, put them in the food processor, and add about a 1/3 a cup of sugar (adjust sugar amount according to preference). Once its blended, pour the mixture into muffin tins, Put a popsicle stick/toothpick in each one, and freeze!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

Source
Crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Filling
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

Begin by making the crust.  In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until smooth and fluffy. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for about 17 minutes, until set at the edges.

While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, strawberry puree, sugar and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder and salt, then pulse until smooth.

Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set (There will be a light colored “crust” on top from the sugar in the custard – nothing to worry about).

Sprinkle the bars with some powdered sugar.  Cool completely before slicing and use a damp knife to ensure clean slices.  Store bars in the refrigerator, especially on a hot day.  Makes 24 bars.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sopapilla-cheesecake-pie/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Striped Delight

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup margarine
1-8 oz.  package cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
20 oz. Coop Whip (works better than whipped cream)
2 small packages  chocolate pudding mix
3 cups milk

Directions:
1.Blend 2 cups flour and 1 cup margarine.  Press into 9x13 pan.  Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until light brown. Cool.

2.  Soften 1-8 oz. package cream cheese at room temperature.  Beat until soft.  Add 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 8 oz. of Cool Whip.  Spread on cooled crust.

3. Mix 2 small (or 1 large) package of chocolate instant pudding with 3 cups milk.  Spread on top of cream cheese mixture.

4. Top with 12 oz. of Cool Whip (and nuts if desired)

Keep Refrigerated.

Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/10/strawberry-cream-puff-cake.html

Ingredients

Cream Puff Base:
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 3 eggs
Cream Cheese Mixture:
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. For the cream puff layer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture is shiny with a satiny sheen. Don’t overbeat. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (or in a pinch, you could use a 9-inch circle cake pan). Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and one inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and prick pastry with a toothpick 10-12 times. Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until golden brown but not overbaked (you can insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out with sticky dough, it still needs longer in the oven). Cool completely.
2. For the cream cheese mixture, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you want to ensure there are no lumps, sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese) and beat with the cream cheese until mixture is smooth and light. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread onto the cooled cream puff shell.
3. Top with fresh sliced strawberries (I mixed 2 cups of strawberries with 1 teaspoon sugar and let them hang out in the fridge while I was prepping the cake) or you can use a 16-ounce bag of frozen strawberries that have been thawed. Mix the thawed strawberries and juice with 1-2 teaspoons sugar and bring to a simmer in a saucepan. Cook until slightly thickened. Cool completely and use as topping for the cake.

Crisp Coconut and Chocolate Pie

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/r/Crisp-Coconut-And-Chocolate-Pie.htm

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: Makes 1 9-inch pie.

Ingredients:

• for the crust

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 11 ounces (about 6 cups)sweetened shredded coconut

• for the filling

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent cacao), finely chopped

Preparation:

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a food processor, process butter and one-third of coconut until mixture forms a ball, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Sprinkle remaining two-thirds coconut over mixture, and combine with your fingers.
2. Place a 9-inch pie plate on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Press coconut mixture into bottom and up sides of pan to form crust, leaving top edges loose and fluffy. Place a foil ring (see page 324) over edge to prevent burning. Bake until center begins to brown, 10 to 15 minutes; remove foil, and bake until edges are browned, 4 to 6 minutes more. Transfer crust to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Make the filling: Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan; pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Let sit 10 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is combined. Pour into coconut crust. Refrigerate until filling is set, 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

Original Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 (1 lb 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
• 1 box (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dry roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• optional - green food coloring (I didn't add any but if you wanted them extra green you could)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl stir cookie mix, pudding, and flour. Add melted butter and eggs and stir until incorporated.
3. Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and slightly flatten with fingertips.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The only way you can ruin these cookies is to overbake them! If you bake them too long you will lose the soft texture and they won't be as green. They will not look done but take them out and let them sit on the pan for about 2 minutes. Trust me.
6. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Double Peanut Butter Cookies

sunspire.com (with alterations)

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time:10 min

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup unbleached white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup SunSpire™ Peanut Butter Baking Chips
• Opt. Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS

Prepare 4 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven 350F.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the sugar and both butter’s together until smooth and light in color, beat in egg. Slowly add flour mixture, beating until smooth and just incorporated, Stir in morsels.
Drop dessert spoon full onto prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart and 6 per sheet. Bake for 9-10 mins or until lightly golden and remove from oven to cooling rack, leave cookies to cool slightly before removing cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Mint Buttercream Frosting

(AKA Brownie Cookies, as Rick calls them.)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate bars, chopped (Chocolate chips work great!)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I always add 1/2 cup instead of 1/4)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mint Buttercream Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 or 2 drops green food coloring
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions:

Cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with wax paper. (This is important. If not done, the cookies are extremely difficult to remove after baking.)

Melt chopped semisweet chocolate bars in pan on low, stirring until melted and smooth. Set aside.

Stir together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Add melted chocolate and mix well. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt till blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by level tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets about an inch apart. Bake 10 minutes until puffed and set. (The dough isn't as "thick" as traditional cookie dough. No worries, keep moving forward!)

Cool on baking sheets about 2 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. They will take on the appearance of brownies when you pull them out of the oven: a reflective top.

Frosting: Beat all ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Frost cookies.

Super tasty with out frosting. AMAZING with frosting!

Makes 24-30 cookies.

Candy Cane Cookies

Allrecipes.com

Ingredients 

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

1/2 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed

1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, white sugar and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough into a 2 inch long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining white sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture.

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles
3 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
Plus 3 tbs cinnamon to roll dough in.

Mix all ingredients together well, will be sticky. Roll in to small balls and roll in cinnamon. Bake 350 10-12 minutes

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

Carrot-Coconut Cookies

1 cup mashed cooked carrots (about 4 medium)

¾ cup sugar

1 cup shortening (part margarine or butter, softened)

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ recipe Orange Butter Frosting

Heat oven to 400°.  Mix carrots, sugar, shortening and eggs.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in coconut.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, about 8 minutes.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet; cool.  Frost with Orange Butter Frosting.

About 5 dozen cookies

Orange Butter Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

About 2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Mix powdered sugar and margarine.  Stir in orange juice and peel; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

Single Serving Apple Pie

Peel, core and slice an apple into 8 pieces. Put each apple piece inside a triangle from a can of crescent rolls and cover into a ball. Brush on melted butter (2 to 4 T). Sprinkle on a cinnamon sugar mixture to your liking. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Make sure they are cooked through before removing. Serve with whip cream or ice cream.

The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

Wet

• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

• 1/2 stick butter (we use salted butter)

• 3/4 cup raw honey (pick up at your local health food store, substitute regular honey if that

is all you have)

• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I advise against using imitation vanilla)

• 1 egg

• 1 egg white

Dry

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 cup whole grain rolled oats (I do not use quick oats, so I roughly chop these oats in my

food processors before adding to other ingredients)

• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. fine sea salt

Finishing touches

• 12 oz. package of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/2 cup chopped craisins (a.k.a. dried cranberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Now just mix and bake them like a batch of normal chocolate chip

cookies. In a mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients (I partially soften the butter in the

microwave, just be careful not to melt it too much). Stir them together with a spoon. In a

separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Now carefully stir in the dry ingredients in with the

wet. Now stir in the finishing touches.

Place cookies on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 - 14 minutes (Betsy & I do 12 minutes),

depending on your oven and how well done you like your cookies. Enjoy fresh out of the oven,

or frozen then warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Alternate/additional finishing touches (add whatever you have a taste for here and substitute it

for the finishing touches above, here are some ideas for additional )

• 1/2 cup pureed banana (In our next batch we will use this in place of chopped craisins to

switch up the taste)• 1/2 cup shredded coconut• 1 cup Rice Krispies• 1/2 cup chopped raisins

**Remember…these cookies freeze well, can be eaten as a breakfast meal and are a great healthy treat for any time of day

Apple Pie

Apple Pie Filling

From: http://donnasrecipebox.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:
6 peeled, cored, and sliced Jonathan apples ( you can use other pie apples but Jonathans are the best)
3/4 - 1 cup granulated sugar (I use the smaller amount when using pie slices that were canned in light syrup)
2 Tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 dash salt
1 dash nutmeg
1 squeeze of freshly squeezed lemon juice ( I do not use the bottled kind because it is bitter and changes the flavor of recipes)
2 pats butter (I slice a tablespoon of butter into small pieces)

Directions:

Make pie crust and place in pie plate. Put apples in a large bowl. Mix dry ingredients. Toss dry ingredients, lemon juice, butter, and apples together. Also, If you make a deep dish pie, I double to triple the pie filling recipe to fill the pie crust depending on the depth of the dish, usually it takes about 4 quarts of canned apples which I triple the other ingredients for. I like to fill the dish high, as the apples cook down. Pour into pie crust. Cover with second crust. Pinch edges together with a decorative slanted pinch, for a fluted look. . Cut slits in top crust. Place any crust cutout decorations on top of the pie, sealing to the crust with a few drops of water. Sprinkle the top with granulated sugar to which cinnamon has been added. Bake 50-60 minutes at 400 degrees. The shorter time is for canned apples. I place a foil edge around the crust and only remove it the last 10 minutes, so the pie will not over brown. The pie thickens as it cools.

Pie Crust

Ingredients:

10 inch Two crust pie
2 2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Butter
7 - 8 Tablespoons water.

Directions:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add butter and cut through the flour mixture until it looks like meal. Add water one tablespoon at a time, sprinkling over dry mixture, and stirring until flour mixture cleans the side of the bowl. Put in a ziploc or airtight container and refrigerate for three hours. Divide in half and roll into two balls. Roll out pie crust on a floured pie cloth, flour sack cloth, or 2 sheets floured wax paper. When between two sheets of wax paper, make sure to flour under the dough and over the dough so it does not stick to the paper. Fold into quarters, flouring surfaces that will touch when folded. Unfold crust in the pie dish.

English Toffee

1 pound real butter

2 cups sugar

1 to 2 cups coarsely chopped almonds

1/4 cup water or 1/4 cup light corn syrup

Put all ingredients into heavy pan or skillet. Put stove on high. Stir constantly until mixture smokes and reaches 290 degrees on a candy thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer, test it by dropping small amount in cold water and testing it between your teeth. If it sticks a little, it is not quite done. When done, it will crumble and not stick.

Tips: Stir constantly as it scorches very easily as it gets close to 292 degrees. Stir faster when you see little streaks of color coming up from the bottom of pan. Pour out immediately into ungreased cookie sheet. Score while hot if you want to dip squares. Or put chocolate on top of toffee while warm and spread evenly over surface. Sprinkle with finely ground walnuts or pecans. Break when chocolate hardens.

Fondant

4 cups white sugar

1 1/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp. light syrup

2 Tbsp. real butter

pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients into heavy pan such as 4 quart pressure cooker or heavy pan of comparable size. Wash down sides of pan with pastry brush in warm water. Make sure every granule of sugar is washed down into the well stirred mixture. Cover with tight lid and put on medium heat. Slowly bring to rolling. Steam will help the stray sugar granules to dissolve. Take lid off pan and finish boiling candy mixture to soft ball stage. Take off stove. Let set for 3 to 4 minutes, then pour out slowly on marble slab or greased Formica surface. Let candy completely cool to touch, then, using spatula with wide blade or a pancake turner, start beating the candy until it loses its gloss and stiffness gets dull and puttylike in appearance. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla or other desired flavoring. Butter hands and knead until soft and creamy. Let ripen in cool place for 24 to 48 hours before dipping.

Caramels

4 cups white sugar

2 cups light karo

1/2 pound real butter

2 cans evaporated milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix and boil to firm ball stage. (A heavy pressure cooker is a good pan for this recipe.) Slowly add 2 tall cans of evaporated milk in a steady small stream to mixture. Stir constantly while adding milk. Do not let caramel mixture stop boiling while adding the milk or it will curdle. Stir the mixture steadily after adding the milk until it reaches the firm ball stage again. Take off stove and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla to hot but not bubbling caramel. Now pour into a 9x13 inch pan and cool. Cut into squares and dip into chocolate or spoon out a tablespoon of caramel over 2 or 3 pecans for turtles. Let set 24 hours before dipping in chocolate.

Fruit Kebabs

Place on skewers:

Pound Cake

Nectarines

Bananas

Strawberries

Place on grill, turn until warmed and crisped.

Drizzle chocolate sauce over kebab.

Chocolate sauce: combine and melt

¾ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup sugar

½ cube butter

5 oz. can evaporated milk

Fortune Cookies

3 egg whites

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Have fortunes ready to go on small strips of paper.

In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites and sugar on high speed with electric mixer until frothy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to low and stir in melted butter, vanilla, almond extract, water and flour one at a time, mixing well after each. (Consistency should resemble pancake batter.)

Spoon batter into 3 inch circles on the prepared baking sheets. (Leave room between for spreading.)

Bake for 5-7 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges begin to brown slightly.

Quickly remove one at a time, place a message in the center and fold in half together into a horseshoe shape.

If they spring open, place them in a muffin tin to cool until set.

Bake them long enough until they are golden around the edges or they will be soft, spongy and pancake-like.

Yield 36 servings.

Enjoy!