Secretly Healthy Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I haven't tried these yet, but I wanted to make sure I had the recipe in a place I could find it later. I'm hearing all sorts of rave reviews about them. Let me know if you try them too!

http://www.elizasedibles.com/2012/12/16/secretly-healthy-chocolate-brownie-cookies/

Marble Pumpkin Brownies

http://jjmouthgasm.blogspot.com/2012/10/marble-pumpkin-brownies.html

Oh My! These were divine!

Just thought I'd share my friend's recipe. Thanks Jess! You are inspired!

The only difference I did with this recipe is I didn't layer the pumpkin mixture in between. I put all of the brownie batter on the bottom of my Large Bar Pan (Pampered Chef Stone), then poured the pumpkin mixture in stripes across the pan. I then took a butter knife and cut through the batters in both directions to get the marble look and get the pumpkin distributed.


This is what it looks like. Not a picture of the actual brownies.

Enjoy these (I know you will) and check out the other amazing desserts and recipes that Jess has posted!

Green Monster Smoothie

There is a new trend going around about these things. It is blowing up on Pinterest and I’ve seen them a few times on Facebook. I decided to try my hand at them and see what I thought.

I’ve kind of been on a health kick lately (counting calories and such). That’s kind of what piqued my interest on these. I wanted something healthy, yummy, and easy to put together in the morning or for a snack during the day. These are so easy to put together and to change up to your liking also.

Ingredients:
1 cup (or generous handful) fresh and clean spinach leaves
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup yogurt (I used WF Vanilla)
1/2 cup milk

1. Put everything in your blender and blend it on up.

This is 235 calories and makes about 1 1/2 glasses full. I didn’t actually measure it yet, but that is what it serves as in my glasses. I you want it a little thinner you can add another 1/2 cup of milk (50 more calories) and it will probably be two glasses of smoothie.

This is kind of a starter recipe that would be easy to add more things to. Here are suggestions:

1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter (90 Cal)
Some frozen or fresh berries
Cocoa Powder
Flax Seed (tons of health benefits and adds a fun flavor)

Have fun with it!

Golden Graham Smores

I found this recipe on cooks.com.

Ingredients:
3/4 c. light corn syrup
3 Tbsp. butter
1 pkg. (11.5 oz) milk chocolate morsels
3 c. miniature marshmallows
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (12 oz) Golden Graham cereal (9 cups)

1. Grease 9x13 pan

2. Heat syrup, butter and morsels to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.

3. Pour over cereal; toss until coated. Fold in Marshmallows (it suggests one cup at a time, but I just poured it all in at once. Press in pan with buttered back of spoon. I added some extra marshmallows on top for fun. Let it stand for 1 hour.

4. Cut into 2 inch squares (or the serving size you want). Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 days. Makes 24 squares.

These are DELICIOUS!!! I heard my sister talking about something similar to this and I had to try them. This is the only recipe I’ve tried, but I love the proportions and the easiness of it all. It comes together really quick.

Orange-Spiced Sweet Potatoes

I am a HUGE fan of candied yams and the like. Especially around Thanksgiving. In fact that’s generally the only time of the year that I eat them. It’s kind of sad now that I think about it. If there is something that you enjoy so much, why don’t you eat it more often? Maybe it’s just part of the tradition that makes it so good.

Anyway, this year I volunteered myself to bring them to Thanksgiving dinner. We had made a plan to do as much in Crockpots as possible though. That is where my journey started. I was just trying to look for some basic instructions for cooking yams in a crockpot when I fell about this one. I couldn’t resist trying it. It turned out perfectly! I loved it, the family loved it, and even people who generally don’t eat the candied yams tried it and liked it. So anyway, thank you CDKitchen. If you’d like to check out more of their recipes you can go to their website www.cdkitchen.com

Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (It was about 5 potatoes for me)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 medium orange, juiced
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
toasted chopped pecans

1. Place your sweet potatoes in the bottom of your slow cooker. Mix your spices together in your orange juice. Pour over the top of your sweet potatoes and stir to coat.

2. Sprinkle your brown sugar over the top of your sweet potatoes and stir it in.

3. Cook on HIGH for 2 hours or on LOW for 4 hours.

4. Before serving stir in your toasted pecans (or set on the side for those that want them and those that don’t).

*Tip: To juice and orange (or any other citrus fruit) I have found that if you roll it around with a little pressure before you cut it it is easier to get more juice out.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is one of the easiest recipes that I have found for these cookies and they are SOOOO good! Love them!

Ingredients:
1 can of Pumpkin
2 boxes of Spice Cake mix
6 eggs
1 package of Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Mix everything together really well.

2. Spoon onto your cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

If you are planning to store them make sure to let them cool completely before sealing them up. Otherwise they sweat and get pretty sticky. If this happens you can let them sit out for a bit when you are ready to eat them and they will go back to normal. This recipe makes 5-6 dozen depending on the size of your cookie scoop.

Caramels (No Fail)

This recipe was found in "Our Best Bites". It is awesome!!!

Anyone who knows my family really well knows that we enjoy making candy. We have a few old family recipes that are pretty popular in our small town. There is nothing like a taffy pull to get you in the mood for Halloween. One thing that has always evaded us, well me at least, is a good caramel recipe. I have always been secretly (or not so secretly) looking for a good one. My last attempt at making them didn't turn out so hot. In fact it was pretty much a failure. That was about 6 years ago. Don't get me wrong, they tasted GREAT!, but my roommates and I ate the caramel by scooping it out of the pan with a spoon. It would then slowly, but fast enough you could see, mush back together to make it look like there had never been a scoop taken out. I either haven't been brave enough to try again, or I just didn't think I had the right recipe yet.

As I was looking through this cookbook the words 'so easy and forgiving' stood out to me. I decided it was worth a try. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups light corn syrup
2 cups of heavy whipping cream, divided
2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine butter, sugar, corn syrup, and 2 cup whipping cream in a large, heavy stockpot (Go big, I thought my pot was big enough and ended up needing to transfer it into another. Give yourself plenty of space. The candy boils up quite a ways).Cook over medium-low heat, stirring gently, until sugar dissolves.

2. Turn heat to medium and cook until candy thermometer reaches 224 degrees, stirring occasionally. Stir in the remaining 1 cup whipping cream. Continue to cook over medium heat until thermometer registers 245 degrees (soft ball stage). Add vanilla.

3. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Cool overnight and then cut into squares. Wrap individually in wax paper.

To be able to get that candy out of the pan more easily you can layer two pieces of wax paper in the pan before you pour the caramel in. Then after it is cooled you can simply lift the caramels out and cut them more easily.

Peach Crisp (or Apple, or whatever)

This is an adjusted recipe from 'The Worldwide Ward Cookbook' (great investment!). I was kind of having a rough day yesterday. Even though I have told myself I am not going to use food as a 'comfort' , I still did/do.

I had some peaches that were kindly given to me by my parents. We live in an area that is VERY famous for it's peaches. Just last week we celebrated 'Peach Days'. We have a restaurant called 'Peach City', and our LDS Temple that is currently being built has peach blossoms in the stone work. Peaches are important to us. :)

Anyway, this is a great recipe that just seems to push your sorrows out of the way and lift your spirits. It is great served warm with a little milk over it, or whipped cream, or ice cream. You could always eat it all by itself too.

I didn't have as many peaches as this calls for. So I ended up picking a smaller pan, and I saved half of the crumble to do something with later. It worked out great. Anyway, on to the recipe!

Ingredients:
10-12 medium peaches (or apples, or whatever) peeled and cubed
3 Tbsp. Flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I omitted this because I didn't have any and it was still good)
3 cups of flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted

1. Place the peaches in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the 3 Tbsp. flour, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice until peaches are thoroughly coated. Pour peach mixture into a 9x13-inch pan. Set aside.

2. Stir together the 3 cups of flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture is completely incorporated. (I ended up using my hands a little to really get it mixed) Crumble the topping mixture over the peaches.

3. Back at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

I've done this recipe with apples too. Both ways are delicious. While fresh fruit always adds a special flavor and texture, this would be equally delicious with canned/bottled fruit. Give it a try. It's way easy and VERY worth it!

Aunt Nola's Brownies

I live in the same small town that I grew up in. Part of living where I grew up means that I have a lot of family around me. My (Great) Aunt Nola was a big part of this little town. She was known for her great food. She passed away last year, but she is lovingly remembered often around here. One thing that helps me think of her is food. I have several recipes that link right back to her. This is probably in the top three.

This recipe also reminds me of my mom. Whenever she is asked to bring a treat to a party or get-together she will most likely choose these brownies. This was actually my first time making them all by myself. It is an extremely quick and easy recipe that pretty much has a no-fail guarantee!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cubes of butter or margarine (softened)
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs (I only had medium so I did 7)
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
3 cups flour
1/2 t salt

1. Mix all of your ingredients together. I started with my butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then sift in your flour, cocoa, and salt. I was going to try and be buff and mix it by hand.... don't. If you have a mixer, use it. I don't know why I had that thought! I love my Kitchen Aid!

2. Butter and flour your jelly-roll pan. Do this by brushing a light layer of Crisco all over your pan. Then put a small amount of flour on top and tip your pan around so it coats the pan. I find that tapping the back of the pan helps to move it when it's all stuck in one place. Practice makes perfect. You'll get it.

3. Pour your brownie mix into your pan and spread it around. Push it as little as possible since you don't want to disrupt your flour job you just did.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. When you check it at the 20 minute mark go ahead and lightly tap the brownies. If it feels pretty doughy still or if it is still raised a ways above the rim of the pan they probably aren't done. They will settle back to the height of the pan when they are done. Check with a toothpick to be double sure.

These are great when paired with ice cream (especially with all of the toppings), or frosted (homemade or store bought), or plain. Enjoy! :)

Chocolate Cake - Redone

I made some cake on Friday to celebrate the weekend finally getting here. I'm not much of a cake person, so that says a lot about how long the week was and how good this cake recipe really is. Here is the original recipe. The only thing I changed was adding peanut butter chips instead of the chocolate chips. It was a good twist. Then came the genius moment.
This morning as I was lovingly gazing at the cake an overwhelming urge to put jam on it sprung up in my mind. I immediately told myself I was crazy. Then I stopped. What about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? I ran to my fridge.
So there you go. Add jam to the top of your cake. It is heavenly! I luckily had some Homemade Strawberry freezer jam waiting for me. It really was amazing... I may need to go hide the last piece before it disappears.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

A small sample of a recipe from the Worldwide Ward Cookbook! So Good!

I don’t know what it is about Banana Bread, but I NEVER feel like making it. Maybe it could be attributed to my ‘meh’ view on cake. I always feel bad because my hubby will get so excited when the bananas start to really ripen. He’ll give me ‘the look’ and proclaim “It look like we can make Banana Bread.” Sadly… I never make it. This past week we’ve had some exceptionally ripe bananas. We went through the ritual. Each day I look at the bananas and think ‘Um, no.’ Today I looked at them and had an epiphany. I wondered if I could find a recipe for Banana cookies (preferably with chocolate chips because that’s how I roll). I searched through a few of my favorite cookbooks and I found one. YAY!!!! I’m thinking I won’t have issues using old bananas anymore.

Ingredients:
2/3 C shortening
1 C sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 1/2 C Flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 C chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine all of the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well (I used my mixer).

2. Spoon cookie dough onto cookie sheet. It will seem really wet, but it will be amazing!

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (I baked mine for 15 because mine seemed not quite there. Make sure to check yours between 10-12, but don’t seem surprised if you need to let it bake a little longer.)

(Added March 2012: When I made them this time I went with the 12 minutes. They looked really pale, but were still cooked all of the way through. They are delicious!)

Chocolate Truffle Cake (mmmmmm…….)

Thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law Laura for sharing this recipe with me. It is truly amazing! LOVE YOU!

Ingredients:

1 Chocolate cake mix
2 small boxes of chocolate pudding mix
5 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 – 16 oz container of sour cream
1 bag of chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cake and pudding mixes and then create a well in the middle of a large bowl. Dump the sour cream, melted butter, and eggs in the well.

Using a large spoon (trust me, your mixer will fry because this is so thick) mix all of the ingredients together. Don’t be alarmed on how thick the batter is. That is normal.

Then pour the entire bag of chocolate chips in and mix it again.

Spray your Bundt pan with some pam and put the batter in it.

Bake 50-55 minutes. Once it is done baking let it cool for 10 minutes and then flip it. This cake does not need any frosting, but some fresh whipped cream or ice cream is yummy! You can eat it right away, but again, I highly suggest waiting a day. I promise it is well worth the wait!

*This is THE BEST cake ever. I am not really a cake fan, but this cake is so delicious that I can’t help but love it! I haven’t tried making it in a Bundt pan yet, but I can say it works great in a spring form pan.

(Sorry to the Whitaker’s for not getting this up when I said I would. I hope you enjoy it!)