Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

These are absolutely amazing. I added recees in the middle and they seriously are to die for. So easy and so good!

"Heavy, yummy, and very peanut-buttery. You'll need lots of milk to eat these!! "

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup peanut butter 1 cup white sugar

1 egg

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2.	Combine ingredients and drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool. Recipe doesn't make very many, so you could double recipe as you desire.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Let me tell you. This is basically fudge. It is so good. If you like chocolate you will love this!

"A dense chocolate cake for those of us who can't tolerate wheat or gluten."

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup white sugar 18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet

chocolate 1 cup unsalted butter 6 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2.	In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3.	Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4.	Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5.	Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6.	Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Cranberry Caramel Pecan Bars

This recipe was found in my family's local newspaper. My mom pulled it out for me to try and I LOVED it. I absolutely love the tartness of the cranberries. If you aren't a fan of tart cranberries, I would suggest using berries (any kind or a mixture). They really make this special and it is SO yummy--ooey, gooey, yumminess all around :)

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cranberries (or you could use berries)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
21/3 cups flour, divided
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups regular oats
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup melted butter
10 ounces chopped dates
¾ cup chopped pecans
12-ounce jar caramel sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss together cranberries and two tablespoons sugar and set aside.
2. Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, oats, ½ cup white sugar and brown sugar. Stir butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Reserve one cup of flour/butter mixture; press remainder into a greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Sprinkle dates, pecans and cranberries on top. Combine caramel sauce and 1/3 cup flour and spoon over top. Sprinkle with reserved crust mixture. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and run a hot wet knife around the edge of pan to detach sticky caramel and to make removal easier. Cool and cut into bars.

I really loved this. The crust was what my sister kept eating and the dates really do give it just a chewyness that is really nice. If you want to see the original recipe, it's foundhere and was posted during the holiday season, but would be yummy year-round.

Chocolate Susan's

The other day as I was looking at many recipes that I wanted to try, I stumbled on this one. It's actually from a Martha Stewart recipe and was posted by my friend Mel. She has some great photos on her blog if you want to make these. I made them the other night and they are FANTASTIC! I highly recommend them. They do taste a bit different from the ones you can buy in the Safeway Bakery, but oh man, they are great in their own way. Double Yum!

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:
2 sticks butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Chocolate center:
1 cup chocolate chips
6 T butter
2 tsp. corn syrup

Directions:
Cream the butter and powdered sugar. Then mix in the vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix just until it starts to separate from the bowl (it's a shortbread type cookie). Form the dough into small balls, place them on a cookie sheet and make a "thumbprint" in the center of it. I used the back of teaspoon to make my thumbprint. You are going to be filling this with chocolate later, so you want a good-sized indentation. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Once I pulled the cookies out, I redid the thumbprints with the back of my teaspoon to make them a bit deeper. Then, cool the cookies completely before putting the chocolate mixture in the middle.

To make the chocolate, put all the ingredients in a glass bowl and set up a "double boiler" with a saucepan. Continually stir the mixture until it has all incorporated and becomes smooth. Let the chocolate rest for about 5 minutes to thicken up before spooning into the center of the cookies.

These cookies tasted great before the chocolate cooled, but they were even better the next day when the chocolate had completely cooled and it tasted "fudgy." These are awesome cookies and I will be making them again....SOON!

White Texas Sheet Cake

Okay, this is really phenomenal :) We got it from a Paula Dean magazine and it's been a hit whenever I've served it. Yummy yum! If you like almond flavored things you will LOVE this sheet cake.

Ingredients:

Sheet Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. almond extract (I usually put a bit more in)
1 cup toasted coconut (the original recipe calls for 1 cup chopped pecans)

Butter Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk (original recipe calls for whole milk)
1/2 tsp. almond extrat
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a large jelly-roll pan with non-stick spray. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set it aside and then in a small saucepan combine the butter and water. Bring it to a boil and then add the mixture to the flour mixture. Next stir in the sour cream, eggs and almond extract. Stir well until combined and then pour into the jelly-roll pan. Bake for about 20 minutes (maybe a bit more, test it with a toothpick).

While the cake bakes, make the butter frosting. In a medium saucepan combine the milk and butter. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once it reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and add in the almond extract and gradually whisk in the powdered sugar. Spread the warm cake with the butter frosting. I then sprinkle toasted coconut over the top of the cake and let it cool. I toast my coconut in the microwave (1-2 minutes) and it turns out perfectly :) Yummy!

I guarantee that this cake is a winner. It's also super easy to make and is a definite crowd-pleaser :) Yum!

BYU Brownies

Oh Wow. I was craving a BYU brownie yesterday. You know those brownies that you can get at Sugar N' Spice in the Cougareat (NOT THE CREAMERY--they are very different). Anyway, I woke up from a 2 1/2 hour nap and all of a sudden thought, hmmm...I want a BYU brownie. But I really didn't want to drive down to BYU and then get a brownie that was somewhat stale since it was nearing the end of the day. So, I googled the recipe and actually found it! It's from the BYU magazine, so I figured it was pretty accurate. Turns out, I was right! They taste phenomenal. Wow. All I can say is WOW. I think I've found a new favorite brownie recipe. Here goes:

Brownie Ingredients:
1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
(The BYU brownies also have walnuts in them, so you can add those if you want, but I left them out)

Directions:
Melt the margarine and mix in the cocoa with the margarine. Let it cool while you mix the other ingredients together. Mix together eggs, honey, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt and then add in the cocoa/margarine mixture. Stir it all together until it's nicely incorporated. Pour into a greased 9 X 13 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (the online recipe says 25 minutes, I used a glass pan, so that might have made a difference, but I needed to bake mine for a bit over 30 minutes). Let the brownies cool completely. Once cooled, spread mint icing over the brownies and put in freezer for a few minutes to let icing "set up." Then spread chocolate icing on top of the mint icing. Cut and enjoy!

Mint Icing:
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

When I made this I thought that the mint was pretty strong--so maybe a tiny bit less mint and I would have added a bit less milk too to make a creamier frosting. Mine was a bit runny, but it tasted FABULOUS on the brownies.

Chocolate Icing:
5 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. cocoa
3 Tbsp. milk
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

I found this chocolate icing recipe in one of my cookbooks and it's really good. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the cocoa and milk and incorporate together. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and taste it to make sure you like it. You might need some more sugar or cocoa or whatever, but do it all to taste. I liked this icing, but I think I will be looking for a "thicker/fudgier" type frosting to put on top of the brownies. This was more like an icing. It was still fabulous, but I need to find a really good chocolate frosting recipe.

Anyway, these are PHENOMENAL brownies! I am just glad that I sent almost all of them to Mark in the MTC so I don't have them sitting around all day to eat :) They are super-yummy and I highly recommend them. My hubby even liked them without all the frosting (even though I didn't think they were as good without), but he's not a frosting lover. Anyway, if you're thinking of making a pan of brownies, this is the one for you! I almost NEVER make home-made brownies because I don't like them as much as the box mixes, but these are really fabulous and I think will be my new "go-to" brownie recipe!

Eclair Cake

This is a very yummy, yummy dessert that is nice and creamy. I learned about this dish from my roommate, Mel, who lived in Liberty Square with Noelle and me. We made this a few times over the term and it was yum. I'm normally not a "pudding-y" dessert type of girl, but this one really hits the spot!

Crust
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil the water and butter together. Then add the flour and mix together until it forms a ball. Add eggs one at a time, stirring each time to incorporate the egg. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 X 13 pan and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before you add anything else to it!

Toppings
8 oz. softened cream cheese
2 packages (3 oz) instant vanilla pudding
2 1/2 c. milk

16 oz cool whip (I used this much cause I LOVE the creamy, but you could use 8 oz)

chocolate chips
whipping cream

Mix together the cream cheese, pudding and milk until it's nice and creamy. Then spread over the top of the cooled "crust." Spread the cool whip over the top of the pudding. Melt the chocolate chips on low heat, adding some whipping cream (the amount depends on how much chocolate sauce you want to make) in a pot and when fully incorporated drizzle over the top of the Eclair Cake. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

This really is amazingly yummy :) Yum, yum, yum!

Blondies--when you're in the mood for ooey, gooey but not necessarily lots of chocolate

I have to tell you, Blondies have always intrigued me. The first time I heard of them was when we were at Josh and Emily's house one evening. I don't remember what we were doing, but Emily was making some Blondies. Jeremy loved them and so I decided I would try my hand at them. My first couple of tries proved semi-successful. Jeremy liked them, but I wasn't 100% sold. Well, I decided I would re-vamp the recipe a bit today and guess what...they turned out AWESOME! The main thing I changed was the amount of cooking time--I cooked them less and they taste SO much better--but there are still a few "crunchyish" ones for Jeremy--hehe. I also used a combination of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips and it was insanely yummy. Good thing I'm taking them to Grandma's tonight for everyone else to eat or it wouldn't just be the baby adding extra pounds to my expanding body!!!

These are really so yummy that they could easily jump into one of my new-found favorite treats :) The recipe I use comes the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and it makes a pan of Blondies. And FYI: Blondies were "invented" in the South due to a preference for brown sugar over granulated sugar. They are SO YUMMY!

Ingredients:
2 c. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda (I was out of this today and just added a bit extra baking powder and they still turned out great)
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. peanut butter chips (this is optional and you can add as many or as few of these as you want)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13X9 baking pan. Set it aside and heat in a saucepan (medium heat) the butter and brown sugar until it's all incorporated and smooth (you have to stir constantly for it to reach this point but it doesn't take long). Remove from heat and let cool for a minute. Stir in the eggs one at a time--right there in the saucepan! Then stir in the vanilla, flour, baking powder and soda. Once it's all incorporated pour into the greased pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips all over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. This part is KEY--you want to take them out much closer to 25 minutes than 30. I would check them at 24 minutes and maybe even take them out. It really makes a huge difference. The edges will be crispy, but in a good way and the middles will be perfect. Who knows, it could just be my oven, but you definitely don't want to overcook them.

Cut them into bars after they've cooled a bit and serve. They are delicious and oh so easy to make! Yum, yum!

Rhubarb Pie

I love things that are TART, TART, TART and this rhubarb pie is AMAZING. I'm not as much of a fan as strawberry rhubarb as I am of just the nice tart rhubarb--yum. This is my favorite pie, ever and I love it.

Ingredients
4 cups rhubarb
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 T flour
2 t. butter
2 9 inch pie crusts (I use pioneer woman's recipe which has never failed me and is so flaky and good--try it--it's the best home-made pie crust I've ever had)

Directions
Cut up the rhubarb. In a seprate bowl mix together the sugar and flour. Get out your pie crust and put one of them on the bottom of your pie pan. Coat the bottom of the crust with 1/4 of the sugar/flour mixture. Add the rhubarb and sprinkle the rest of the sugar/flour mixture on top. Add a few teaspoons of butter around the rhubarb and then put the top crust of the pie on. Bake on a cookie sheet at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Take it out and serve with vanilla ice cream. YUM YUM!

Oh my goodness. This pie is like a piece of heaven in my mouth. It is so yummy and so tart. It makes my mouth water :) I will definitely be making this one again. Good thing Jeremy loves rhubarb pie :)

Cake Mix Cookies

This recipe is extremely easy and delicious! 

1 package of cake mix

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

optional: you can add chocolate chips, mint flavoring, nuts, or any other add-in. 

Mix all togher, bake in balls on a cookiesheet @ 375 F for 6-8 minutes

(Homemade oreo: use chocolate cake mix and put white frosting between two!) 

Caramel Pecan Roll

Talk about amazing. This caramel pecan roll is candy. Literally candy and it is so good, but it takes forever to make. So...my recommendation is this: When you have a family get-together or you don't have a whole lot going on but are getting together with a close friend for a few days, make this recipe. It's a good one to make and talk and it makes a lot, lot, lot of candy. Great to giveaway, but also great to eat--yummers!

You have to make the cream fondant first and then you make the caramel the next day, so that's how I'll split up this recipe. Oh and by the way, we always double the recipe, so I'm writing this as a DOUBLED recipe (don't double the one I put on here--you can just undouble it if you don't want to make as much--but if you're taking this much time, you might as well use the recipe I wrote down here because it's totally worth it).

Cream Fondant

Ingredients
4 cups white sugar
4 Tbsp. white Karo syrup
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla (add this after cooking)

Directions
Mix sugar, cream, syrup and salt together in a mixing bowl. Grease a heavy kettle with butter or margarine on the sides. Add sugar/cream mixture. Cook and stir on high heat until it comes to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and cook to a soft ball stage* (230-232 F). Pour out onto a buttered platter (baking sheet) and add vanilla. Don't stir. Cool for about 22 minutes. Put mixture into a greased bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until it loses its gloss and it sets up (about 20 minutes). Put into a plastic bag and get all the air out of the bag. Refrigerate it and let it sit overnight.

Caramel

Ingredients
4 cups sugar
4 cups light Karo syrup
1 lb. buter
4 large cans of evaporated milk
4 tsp. vanilla
1 bag of pecans (you might need more or less)

Directions
Mix sugar, syrup, butter and two cans of milk. Bring to boil and cook until slightly thick and brown, stirring constantly. Add the other cans of milk about 1/4 at a time so the mixture never stops boiling (this helps to prevent curdling). Cook until mixture forms a hard ball in cold water** (about 235 F) and it should take about an hour. While this is happening, cover one and a half large buttered baking sheets with pecans. Then add vanilla into the caramel mixture and pour onto the baking sheets. Let them cool completely (this could take awhile). Once the caramel is cooled put the cream fondant on strips of caramel. Using a pancake turner, roll the caramel around the fondant strips. Then roll in more pecans. Cover with foil, saran wrap or baking paper and refrigerate. Then enjoy :)

Cold Water Test
The cold water test goes like this: Use a fresh cupful of cold water each time you test. Pour about a tsp of candy into the water. Try to roll it into a ball.

*Soft Ball Stage--The candy will roll into a soft ball which quickly loses its shape when removed from the water.

**Firm Ball Stage--the candy will roll into a firm, but not hard ball. It will flatten out a few minutes after removal from water.

FYI: In case this is kind of hard to understand, it looks like a roll. The center of the roll is the fondant. Then you have a roll of caramel around the fondant and then pecans around the caramel. It's YUMMY. So, when you have lots of time and someone to chat with, make this yummy caramel pecan roll. It's fabulous :)

Yogurt Pie

This is the perfect dessert for hot summer days because it's cold, creamy and relatively low in fat and calories :) I remember one summer that we made yogurt pie--like all summer long. We practically lived off of this stuff. I just made it for Jeremy last night and let me tell you, if you like fruity and creamy, you will love this yogurt pie.

Ingredients
2 Fruit 8 oz. yogurts (I like strawberry and raspberry best)
1 1/2 cartons Cool Whip (8 oz)
1 graham cracker pie crust

Directions
Take the Cool Whip out of the freezer and put it into a big mixing bowl. Mash it up with a wooden sopoon as you add in the yogurt. I just kept adding cartons of yogurt until I liked the flavor--about 3 cartons of yogurt (the little ones). It will make a very creamy, cold mixture. Open up your graham cracker crust and pour in the mixture. Then turn the plastic top (that originally came in the pie crust) over and fold the foil over so that the pie is covered. Freeze for a few hours until it is completely frozen. Then pull out about 5-10 minutes before you want to serve it and enjoy!

It would also be nice to add some fresh fruit on top when you serve it or when you freeze it. Both would be yummy :) Anyway, hope you enjoy this quick treat this summer. It is yummy! I think I'm going to have a piece right now...yum :)

Gomma's Delish Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Another favorite cookie recipe from Gomma are these amazing almond oatmeal cookies. They are super simple to make and super yummy :) Thanks Goms for another great family recipe! PS. If you like marzipan or anything with that flavor--this cookie is right up your alley and if you don't give it to me and I'll eat it! Yummers.

Ingredients
3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract (or a little more if you really like it)
About 1 cup oats

Directions
Cream together the margarine and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the almond extract. Add the flour and mix until well blended. Spread out the oats on a plate and roll the dough into little balls. Roll the balls in the oats (completely coat them) and set them on a cookie sheet (ungreased). Bake at 350 degrees until they're done. I would probably say 10 minutes, but just check on them and you'll be able to tell (they've got to look baby's bottom too, or they're not as good).

These are phenomenal cookies and definitely should not be overlooked. I love them because you can make them small and then freeze the leftovers. They also taste "lighter" than a regular heavy-duty chocolate chipper. If you love marzipan, this is the cookie for you :)

Best Ginger Cookies EVER

My mom and I were flying back for Ukraine and chatting on the plane. For some reason it came up that Gomma used to cook all the time and make the best ginger cookies (and almond cookies and bread, etc...). So, we decided to search for the recipe when we got back to the good old USA. We ended up not being able to find this recipe, but Gomma told us as much as she could remember from the recipe and then I pieced parts of it together from a recipe online and viola--the best ginger cookies ever came to be. These are absolutely fabulous and if you like chewy, gingery goodness--this one's for you.

Ingredients
1 cup molasses
1 cup crisco (not butter)
1 cup brown sugar (you might want a bit more brown sugar)
1/4 cup hot water
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger (maybe a bit more)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups flour

Directions
Start by heating up the molasses and crisco together in a saucepan. Stir constantly until the crisco is completely mixed in the the molasses and it becomes the same color and consistency. Then take off the heat and mix in a separate bowl the brown sugar, hot water and baking soda. Then add the molasses mixture to the bowl. Add the salt, ginger and cinnamon stirring to incorporate everything. Then add the flower and stir, stir, stir!

Get out a piece of wax paper and put a mound of dough in the middle of the paper. Spread it out and roll it up in the paper (so it makes a log shape). Refrigerate for a few hours. Once the dough is chilled, slice it and put it on ungreased cookie sheets. I've also dipped the top of the cookies in sugar before putting them on the cookie sheets and I think I liked them better like that, but they are good either way. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Let them sit for a minute and you have amazing ginger cookies. You can also freeze the dough for a month or two if you need to.

This is really an awesome recipe and it was so fun to make one of Gomma's old recipes (and come up with the proportions too). Yummers!

Tania's Napoleon Cake

This is a delicious Ukrainian cake I have learned to make in Ukraine. It is so good, but not the best for you. It also takes a long time to make, so do not try unless you have patience and a lot of time. If you really want to try it but don't want to make it yourself, maybe I will do it for you! Just let me know!!!

Dough

• 4 cups flour
• Pinch of salt
• 500 g (2 cups?) margarine grated (frozen)
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. On big cutting board, cut in margarine, salt, and flour with a big knife.
2. Then form ingredients into a big volcano and crack one egg into the center.
3. Fold it in with hands. Repeat with second egg.
4. Knead dough with hands adding a little bit of very cold water at a time (about ½ cup water total) until it sticks together like dough.
5. Form dough into a log.
6. Cut into 8 pieces.
7. Roll one piece out very thin, keeping the rest of the dough in the freezer. Use a lot of flour!
8. Roll flattened dough onto rolling pin and roll onto cooking sheet (no need to grease pan.)
9. Poke holes in the dough with fork.
10. Bake at 350 degrees until golden (5-10 min.)
11. With the help of knife put the crust onto a sheet of wax paper and cover it with another sheet of paper (for the next layer of crust).
12. Repeat steps 7-11 to make 8 layers of crust.

Cream

• 4 eggs
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 2 (or more) Tbs. flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup butter

Directions:

1. Mix eggs, sugar, and flour until blended.
2. Mix in milk and vanilla.
3. Heat on low while stirring frequently until thickens. Do not boil!
4. If cream doesn't thicken put a small amount into a separate bowl and mix in a small amount of flour.
5. Add to cream on stove.
6. Let cream cool.
7. Then add 1 cup butter softened.
8. Spread cream on each crust, thoroughly.
9. Press all layers together with hands by pressing on the top layer. Bon appetite!

Brynn's chocolate molten lava brownie cake!

Ok so this is a dessert I invented in China and let me tell you, it tastes just as good in America.

* preheat oven to 375 F

1. Boil:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1 cup water

2. Remove that from heat and mix in:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups flour

3. Then beat in:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda

4. Put all of that in a pan, circular is best, and cook it at 375

Frosting:

1. Boil:

• 6 Tablespoons milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 5 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup butter

Take the cake out when it is not jiggly and if you stick a fork in, it does not come out completly gooey. Pour the frosting on the hot cake and make sure the whole cake is covered. I usually let the cake sit for 10 or 15 minutes. It will taste more like a molten lava cake when it is right out of the oven. If you let it sit overnight, it will be more like brownies with a frosting. DELICIOUS!

Mom's Frosting

My mom always made the best frosting for cakes, cookies, you name it. I consider her to be a frosting guru. She loves eating it and I think this is why she makes the best frosting --light, airy and oh so sugary :) Now if you're watching the pounds, this would probably not be for you, but it sure is good and is the way I learned to make frosting--a little of this, a little of that and you really have to taste it to know if it's good.

Also NOTE: This is not ICING. This is thick, airy, wonderful FROSTING. So...here goes:

Ingredients
Crisco (you need to eyeball it--the quantity of frosting you want to end up with is how much Crisco you need)
Powder Sugar (lots of it)
Milk (a few teaspoons)
Vanilla (to taste)
Almond Extract (if you're making these amazing cookies or want an almond flavor to your cake, cookies or whatever)
Food Coloring

Directions
I use a hand mixer for most of my cooking (so much less clean-up and it takes less space than a gorgeous big one--and it's a lot less expensive), but you can do this just as well in one of those big fancy mixers that I'm sure some of you out there have (maybe you got one for your wedding or something--or splurged) anyway, get out your mixer and a tall mixing bowl. Put in a big blop of Crisco (you want abotu as much Crisco as you want frosting--this will make the base of the frosting). Then add powdered sugar--lots and lots and lots of it. Mix, mix, mix and add some milk, vanilla, almond etc... to taste. You really have to keep tasting it to see if it needs more sugar, less sugar (add more crisco) or whatever and eventually you end up with a very light, airy and wonderfully, wonderful white frosting. I always take out about half of my frosting and color it, leaving the rest white (you can always add more color to white but you can't take the color out of bright pink for instance). And there you go. Have fun frosting your cookies, or cakes or whatever you want to frost and you will be happy, very happy :)

Sugar Cookies

Okay, these are "the bomb" sugar cookies. You know how sugar cookies are sometimes hard and break easily, well if you bake these suckers right, you have the most amazing soft sugar cookie that is my absolute favorite. I'm typing these up now because I've had the recipe on a 1/4 sheet of green paper for about 4 years and I wanted it accessible online. I always make these cookies for Valentines Day and I made them for Halloween. You can do them for almost any holiday and they are really fabulous :)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups powder sugar
1 cup margarine
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (this is the key ingredient in these--oh so yummy)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar (also a key ingredient--it makes the cookies almost milky looking)

Directions
Mix together the powder sugar, margarine, egg, vanilla and almond. After those are combined, add the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Mix again and then refrigerate them for a couple hours.

Pull the dough out, flour a hard surface and roll out the dough (be careful of getting too much flour into the mixture--you don't want TOUGH cookies). Then cut them out with a cute heart, pumpkin or any other fun shaped cookie cutter. Put them on a greased baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees. You want to take them out just before they brown and they're perfect). Let them cool before frosting...and enjoy the yummy goodness of the most amazing sugar cookie ever :)



(Okay, I know the fortune cookies look good too, but unfortunately those are store-bought. Please turn your attention to the beautiful heart-shaped cookie with pink and white frosting--amazing goodness!)

Goat Milk Bars

These are pretty much the greatest Bar Cookie of all-time. It's one of those easy family recipes passed down and was actually renamed by my mom. She named them "Goat Milk Bars," because my dad was eating them so quickly that she wanted to make him stop and think about what he was eating instead of just inhale them. Needless to say, it didn't work, but Goat Milk Bars did become a family favorite.

Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
6-ounce package of chocolate chips

Directions:
Blend together butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Stir in flour 1 cup at a time. Mix it (looks kind of crumbly, but is really soft) and push it in a 9 X 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with 6-ounce package of chocolate chips. Let melt and spread over. Eat when cool.

Wow...this recipe is way YUM and it doesn't take long to make, it just takes long to cool!