Cookies

---------------

Ingredients:

  3/4 cup packed brown sugar

  1/2 cup sugar

  1/2 cup unsalted melted butter

  2 large eggs

  2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

  3/4 teaspoon baking powder

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1 cup dried cranberries

  1 cup white baking chips

  3/4 cup oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat sugars and butter until blended. Beat in the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add in in the sugar mixture, mix well. 

Stir in the cranberries, 3/4 cup chips and oats. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls, space 2 inches apart onto parchment paper. 

Bake 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.

This makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Hot Chocolate

-------------------

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Dash of salt

1/3 cup hot water

4 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan, add the water; mix well.Place over medium-high heat, boil.

Add the milk, and stir occasionally until the liquid reaches the desired drinking temperature. Do not boil. Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.

Pour into mugs and serve!

Whipped Cream

This is optional, My daughter loves whipped cream on her cocoa 

so I make this for her and add a few sprinkles to the top.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Chill the clean bowl of a stand mixer and the whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. 

Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and whisk on high speed until medium peaks form, 

(note: you can use a hand whisk and a large chilled bowl. 

Whisk all of the ingredients until medium peaks form.) 

Coconutty Caramel Chocolate Chip Brownies

Batter:

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

8 ounces (1 whole cup) melted butter

1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Topping:

1 cup coconut

1 cup chopper pecans

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup caramel chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with Baker's joy.

In a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into prepared 8-inch square pan. Add coconut, pecans, chocolate chips and caramel chips. Bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with toothpick, when inserted into the 

center of the pan should come out clean. 

Today my hubby and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary.

So, to make it special I made a cake for us.

I had been eyeing this recipe for quite sometime and I am glad I did it. 

This is one of the BEST cakes I have ever tasted,

Find the recipe here at Wilton's site:

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/White-Chocolate-Cake-with-Raspberry

Decorating tips:

*The recipe calls for White Candy Melts but I used white chocolate chips 

which made the icing more of a egg shell color...one or possibly one and a half bags of white chocolate chips should do it..and let them cool sufficiently before adding them to the cream cheese, otherwise you have runny icing that is hard to spread.

*For the shavings get a thicker bar of chocolate, I got a thin bar of baking chocolate and it made shaving this bar into curls very difficult.

**I'm certain this can be modified to use any other berry!**

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Pumpkin Butter Filling:

Cake:

1 box Spice cake mix

6 TBS sifted cake flour

4 eggs

1 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. oil

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degree's.  Mix all ingredients together, beating for 2 minutes on med. speed.  Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into each cupcake liner and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks. Torte and fill cake with filling.
 I have used Dickson's pumpkin butter in mine.

Butter Cream Frosting:

1 c. butter , softened

4 c. powdered sugar, sifted

4+ Tbsp. buttermilk 

2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice 

2 drops orange food color.

DIRECTIONS:

Whip butter until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Mix in 1 Tbsp. buttermilk after each addition of powdered sugar, repeating these steps until the frosting is well mixed and hold peaks. Add vanilla extract and pie spice, and mix thoroughly. Use additional powdered sugar if needed to thicken frosting. Ice cake as desired. 

*Decorating tips:

-I have a lot of little fondants decorations on my cake as you can see here. Those we done using simple punch outs that you can find on ebay or amazon for cheap.

-Tutorials on how to work with fondant can be found on youtube.

-If you want to fill your cake, this is the link to tell you how to do that:

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/filling-cake-layers.cfm

I made this cake for the home coming even at our church and it was such a huge hit. 

Something this yummy is hard to keep to myself.

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Cake

One box plain yellow cake mix 

6 TBS sifted cake flour

1 1/3 cups water

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease two cake ball pans (inside and outside) with Baker's Joy. Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, water, peanut butter, oil, eggs, flour, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. Spoon cake batter into pans. Bake at 30 for 15 minutes. Cool cake balls then trim the edges off the tops to make them rounder. 

Set these aside until after we get the chocolate cake mixed and ready for pans. 

-----

Chocolate Cake:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). 

Pour a small amount of batter into pans, place cake balls in the batter and pour remaining batter ovr cake balls.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 

---

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing:

10 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended. *You can thin this out by adding milk to the icing if you feel it is too thick. 

Ice cake and put cake in fridge while mixing up the glaze, this helps the icing "set" a little more.

---

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup half-and-half

DIRECTIONS:

In the top of a double boiler combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Spoon ontop iced cake..it's okay for the chocolate to fall down the sides.

Decorating Tips:

You can decorate your cake like mine by using a 1M star tip in a decorating bag. Pipe some simple swirls and chop 6 mini Reese Peanut Butter Cups to put on top of each icing swirl.

You can also grate some chocolate to put on the bottom and the top like I have here.

Enjoy!

Doughnut Muffins

Ingredients for Muffins:

-You can also make cakeballs with this as well-

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

5.3 ounces melted unsalted butter

1 cup of milk or buttermilk (room temperature)

Directions:

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla together until smooth.

Add the flour and milk alternately to the egg mixture in three additions folding with a spatula until smooth.

Scoop batter into well sprayed muffin tin with no liners.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until firm to the touch in the center of the muffin.

To finish muffins with cinnamon /sugar, first dip the muffin in melted butter then roll in cinnamon sugar.

To finish the muffin with doughnut glaze, 

dip cooled muffin in glaze.

Glaze recipe: 

Stir together 3 cups powdered sugar, 4 ounces melted butter, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Add 6-9 tablespoons milk and stir until glaze is smooth and the consistency is creamy. You will have glaze left over. You can half the recipe or keep glaze refrigerated for later use. 

*Let glazed muffin dry for a few minutes before serving.

1 box strawberry cake mix 

1  box vanilla instant pudding

3 eggs 

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1 cup milk

*The box calls for water but substitute milk for a thicker batter.

Cake: 

1 box vanilla cake mix 

1  box vanilla instant pudding

4 egg whites  

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon extract 

7 - 9 drops of yellow food color [depending one how yellow you want it]

Frosting: 

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening [I use the sticks because it's not as messy when measuring]

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened

1 1/2 teaspoons of strawberry extract flavoring

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 tablespoons milk

5 drops of red food color

Cake balls instruction: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

 Spray cake ball pans with Baker's Secret Spray. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, milk and oil in large bowl. Beat with mixer for 2 minutes, or until blended. Spoon batter into pans. Bake for 13 minutes. Cool cake balls in pans on cooling racks for 10 minutes. While cake balls are cooling go ahead and make the other part of the cake.

Cake instruction: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with Baker's Secret Spray. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, milk, lemon extract flavoring, food coloring and oil in large bowl. Beat with mixer for 2 minutes, or until blended. Place your cooled cake balls into the pans -we used 12 cake balls in each layer.  Poor batter into pans over top of the cake balls. Bake for 29 - 33 minutes. Cool cake in pans on cooling racks for 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling rack and cool completely. 

Frosting Instruction:

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with mixer. Add strawberry extract flavoring. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add food coloring.

Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Frost the cake when it's completely cooled and you can decide 

for yourself how you want to decorate yours. 

**For the flavor extract we used Watkins brand.

**Since we did a double layer cake we doubled the recipe for the cake balls and cake.

FRUIT COBBLER

2 - 3 cups of prepared fruit

-I have used blackberries, I also added about 3/4 cup of sugar to my berries and let them sit in the sugar mix for a while.

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

1/2 sugar

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a 9 x 9 inch baking dish.

Blend together flour, sugar, and milk.

Pour batter in baking dish over the butter. Sprinkle fruit on top of the batter, do not stir. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.

------------------------------------------------

A few notes about this recipe. This is very versatile. You can use it on any fruit! You can even use canned or frozen fruits too. When I was little mom made these a lot during the summer months. We lived in the country where berries grew wild so this was a quick and easy dessert. 

Red Velvet Cake:

CAKE:

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter - at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

ICING:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

8 cups sifted confectioners' sugar - this equals out to be about 2 lbs

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

Cake Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees place rack in center of oven. flour two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans.

***as you can see here I have made cupcakes, this makes about 24 average sized cupcakes.***

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. 

-we use Wilton's red red color. 

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 

***or spoon evenly into lined cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full.***

Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. 

Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or overnight). (This is done to make filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Icing Instructions:

In medium mixer bowl, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add sugar one cup at a time and milk. Mix well. Beat on high until smooth (30 seconds to 1 minute - do not over mix!).

**Don't use light cream cheese or butter substitute, if margarine is used, icing will be softer. 

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

For the strawberry puree:

1 – 20 ounce bag of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries

1/4 – 1/3 cup granulated white sugar, or to taste

For the crust:

2 cups Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the strawberry puree:

Place the unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. This may take a few hours. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2 cup measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar to start and stir until sugar dissolves. 

*Another option is using those already surgared strawberries from the freezer section. This is what I use, and remember when using this you need way less sugar added, if any, just taste your puree before adding any to the cheesecake batter. 

To make the crust:

In medium bowl toss together graham crumbs, margarine or butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Chill in freezer while preparing filling.

To make the filling:

Position rack in center of oven. Using mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla.

Transfer 1/3 of filling to prepared crust. Dollop 4-5 small spoonfuls of strawberry puree atop filling and swirl it through with a knife to distribute the puree into the filling. Repeat layering of filling and and puree 2 more times. Using knife again, swirl puree through filling, creating marbled design on the top layer. Try to make this swirling a more decorative effect. 

Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven. 

Let cake stand in oven 1 hour, leaving oven door cracked just a bit.

Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool completely. 

Cover cake and chill overnight. Remove pan sides. 

You can serve cake with the remaining strawberry puree on the side.

 Enjoy!

I'm finally getting around to filling in my recipe book. I'm ashamed to say I have been hoarding several recipe books and magazines for the past few YEARS. LOL.. but the good thing is, I have found a bunch of new recipes I want to try out and improve upon.. so more blog posts soon!

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients

CRUST:

2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (about 32 wafers)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

FILLING:

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

3 packages (8 ounces each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions

In a large bowl, combine crumbs and sugar; stir in butter.
Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan; set aside.

*for the cupcake variation, just put the crumb mix into the cupcake tins and mash them into the bottom, for this I use a bent spoon.

In a small saucepan, combine cream and coffee granules; cook and stir until granuals are dissolved let stand for 1 minute.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add flour and beat well. Add eggs, beating on low speed just until combined.

Add coffee mix to cream cheese mixture with vanilla; beat just until combined. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight.

*Tips:

-Let your eggs and cream cheese set out for about an hour to allow 

them to become room temperature before using them.

-I use Oreo cookies for the crumb crust. 

Just open the cookies and scrape out the cream and crush the wafers.

Vanilla Coconut Nest Cupcakes

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (about 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup)

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups flaked coconut

2 Jumbo sized cupcake pans with liners

Directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the milk mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. add coconut  Scrape bowl and beater often. Pour batter into prepared pans and smooth top with a metal spatula [I use a bent back spoon though for cupakes]. Bake cupcakes about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn pop cupcakes out and cool completely. 

Icing:

2 sticks butter, room temperature

8 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla or coconut extract

DIRECTIONS:

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream softened butter and add 4 cups sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat with paddle attachment until smooth gradually add the rest of sugar to reach frosting consistency.

Instructions for the top decorations on the iced cupcakes. [This is optional]

1 cup of flaked coconut

5 drops of GREEN food coloring

1 small container of malted robin eggs or jelly beans

*Place the coconut into a large bowl, drop 5 drops of coloring over the top of the coconut. Stir until  all the drops have been absorbed. At this point you should have green "grass". Pinch a small amount of the colored coconut over the top of each iced cupcake. Now you can move on to the "eggs".. For mine I have used malted Robin's Eggs. Place about 3 on each one. 

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

1pkg. yellow cake mix

2-2/3cups  BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (7 oz. pkg.), divided

Filling:

1pkg.  (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1can  (11 oz.) coconut milk

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to 350°F.

PREPARE cake batter as directed on package; stir in 2/3 cup coconut. Spoon into paper-lined muffin cups.

BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pans 10 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

MEANWHILE, beat pudding mix and coconut milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. (Pudding will be thick.) Refrigerate until ready to assemble cupcakes.

*You can use an apple corer or a cupcake corer to do this*

Press the corer into the center of the cupcake. Twist gently and pull out the center piece of cake.

Fill a piping bag with your mixture, cut off the tip so you have about a 1cm opening.

(or you can use a piping bag and tip)

Pipe the mixture into the cupcake just until it reaches the top.

Icing:

2 sticks butter, room temperature

8 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla or coconut extract

DIRECTIONS:

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream softened butter and add 4 cups sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat with paddle attachment until smooth gradually add the rest of sugar to reach frosting consistency.

Finally, We have piped the icing on our cupcakes here but you can spread it on if you feel more comfortable doing so.

Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

6 cups sliced carrots (about 10 medium)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup cola-flavored carbonated beverage

In a heavy saucepan, cook carrots, in enough water to cover, over medium-high heat, 8 to 10 minutes, or until tender; drain and set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Stir in butter and cola. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil 1 minute. Reduce heat, and add carrots, cooking until heated through.

-makes 6 servings*

 Yummy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

2 containers( 15 oz. ea.) ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (about 8 oz.)

42 oz  Pasta Sauce recipe HERE

(*double the recipe for lasagna usage*)

9 uncooked lasagna noodles

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine ricotta cheese, 

1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese.

Spread 1 cup Pasta Sauce in 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Layer 3 uncooked noodles, then 1 cup Sauce, and 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture; repeat. 

Top with remaining 3 uncooked noodles and Sauce.

Bake 1 hour covered tightly with aluminum foil. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. 

Bake uncovered an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Cookies-and-Cream Cake

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups whole milk (or 3/4 cup heavy cream mixed with 1/2 cup water)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper; butter the parchment and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.

Whisk 3 cups flour, the baking powder and salt in a bowl until combined. Beat 2 sticks butter and the sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. (The mixture may look separated at this point.) Beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with flour, until just smooth.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely. Remove the parchment. Trim the tops of the cakes with a long serrated knife to make them level, if desired.

Ingredients

For the frosting:

6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

3 cups confectioners' sugar

For the cake:

Basic Vanilla Cake , baked and cooled

15 chocolate sandwich cookies [we have use Oreo's] or other cookies, chopped

Directions

Make the frosting: Put the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until smooth; let cool slightly. Beat the butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the melted white chocolate and beat until combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth.

Assemble the cake: Place 1 cake layer on a platter; spread 1 cup frosting on top and sprinkle with 1/2 cup chopped cookies. Top with the second cake layer. Cover the whole cake with the remaining frosting, then press the remaining cookies into the sides.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

Bakers joy cake pan spray

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 cups grated carrots

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, optional

1 cup raisins, optional

Frosting:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick salted butter, room temperature

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 3 (9-inch) round pans with baker's joy; 

Line bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, blend until combined. Add carrots and pecans, if using.

Pour into pans. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on waxed paper and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Add all ingredients, except nuts, into a medium bowl and beat until fluffy using a hand mixer. Stir in the nuts. Spread frosting on top of each cake layer. Stack the cakes on a serving plate and serve.

BUCKEYES/ CHOCOLATE BALLS

Makes about 48 (1-inch) balls

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 block of paraffin

*2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla at medium speed. The dough should end up slightly crumbly. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet and stick a toothpick into each ball. Place in the freezer and chill for 1 hour.

3. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and paraffin  stirring until smooth. Holding a ball by the toothpick and placing a fork under the ball to stabilize it, dip it into the hot chocolate. Return the chocolate ball to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls.

4. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

**If you want to add the drizzle as we have here you will need white chocolate chips.

Follow the melting directions as before with the milk chocolate. Take a spoon and drizzle the white chocolate onto the chocolate balls after the milk chocolate has dried and cooled. 

Beef Stew

Makes: 6 servings

Prep 25 mins

Slow Cook 8 hrs to 10 hrs  (low)

ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck pot roast

1 small bag of baby carrots

2 small onions, cut into wedges

6 small red potatoes cut into wedges

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 14 ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

2 tablespoons cold water

4 teaspoons cornstarch

directions:

1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 1-inch pieces. In a slow cooker combine meat, carrots, potatoes, onions, and garlic. Stir in broth, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, the 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and the allspice.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours.

3. after the allowed time of 8-10 hours cooking, turn to high-heat setting. In a small bowl combine cold water and cornstarch. Stir cornstarch mixture into meat mixture. Cover and cook about 15 minutes more or until thickened.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Makes 12 servings

Prep time 10 minutes

Cook time 2 - 3 hours

INGREDIENTS:

Nonstick cooking spray

4 cups cooked white rice

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 cup milk [I used whole milk]

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon softened butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup raisins

STEPS:

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine cooked rice, evaporated milk, milk, sugar, water. Stir in raisins, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Transfer mixture into prepared cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 2 to 3 hours. Stir gentle before serving.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin

3 cups whipping cream

1/3 cup honey

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups assorted fresh berries

Directions:

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into glass bowls until about half full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours. Top with berries and enjoy!