Smores Cookie Bars

Hello! That's what I said when I ate one of these little goodies. If you like smores then you are in for a treat!..and you better like smores or I don't know if we can be friends :)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 king-sized Hershey chocolate bars

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 square baking pan.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In small bowl whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divided dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom or the pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme. Place remaining dough on top of the marshmallow (most easily acheived my flattening dough into small shingles and layering them together with hands)

Bake for 30 minutes, cool before cutting.

Lemon Drop Cookies

These are so good! They're the cookies Noelle and I made for Cassie's SLC shower and they were a big hit. One important tip is to take them out of the oven before you think they're done to ensure that they stay SOFT and deliciously chewy. Oh so good... Our cookies ended up a little flatter than we expected but they were still tasty as could be. I'm sure you could add a little flour to the dough and they'd probably plump up a little more. This recipe makes a lot of cookies - ain't nobody gonna complain about that!



Lemon Drop Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Grated or finely chopped zest of one lemon
1 (6-oz) package lemon drops

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
juice of two lemons (about 4-5 Tablespoons) - (You can use less if you want your glaze a little thicker)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl cream sugar, shortening, and eggs; then add vanilla and lemon extract. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Crush lemon drops in blender or food processor. Add lemon zest and crushed lemon drops; mix well. Roll into balls, flatten slightly with your hand, and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet (You must use parchment here to avoid sticking).

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool slightly on pan for a couple of minutes. Make the glaze by mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice to desired consistency. Brush glaze over cookie tops after cookies have cooled slightly. If the cookies are too hot the glaze will just melt off. Let cookies cool completely. ENJOY!

Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies.

Apple Streusel Squares

(From Eagle Brand recipes)



These were kind of a lot of work, but pretty worth it when all was said and done - DELICIOUS! Just make sure to cook them long enough because the bars in the middle of my pan ended up a little runny even after they cooled. Obviously you don't want to burn them either, so find the perfect middle ground (that's easy right?). I left out the cranberries because I didn't have any and wasn't sure I wanted them in my bars anyway. Also, I didn't have as many pecans as the recipe called for, but it was still delicious with less.

Apple Streusel Squares
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
1 (21 oz.) can apple pie filling
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans

* HEAT oven to 350°F. Line 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
* COMBINE graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans in small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of prepared pan.
* BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and eggs until smooth. Pour over prepared crust. Spoon apple pie filling evenly over cream cheese layer.
* COMBINE brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in cold butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cranberries and 1/3 cup pecans. Sprinkle over apple layer.
* BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Cool completely before serving - best served chilled.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

This is a supposed knock off of Olive Garden's Chicken Con Broccoli. It was super yummy, the only problem was it didn't make enough sauce for an entire box of pasta. I think next time I'll double the sauce recipe and that should be perfect, maybe even a little extra sauce for dipping breadsticks!

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Alfredo Sauce (recipe below)

2-3 cooked chicken breasts, diced

1-2 cups fresh chopped broccoli, cooked and hot

fettuccine, cooked according to package directions. (I used penne because it's what I had)

Cook chicken in method desired. I just cooked mine on the stove. Add chicken and broccoli to Alfredo sauce and heat through. Serve over hot, cooked fettuccine.

Alfredo Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups heavy cream

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon (1 clove) minced garlic

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic with the butter. Add cream, garlic powder, and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Trust me, it will thicken. When sauce has reached desired consistency, stir in Parmesan cheese. Use for Chicken Broccoli Alfredo, or just serve as is over fettuccine. Serves 4-6.

Shrimp Platter Appetizer

Ok so when you see this recipe you'll probably think, "Eh, that looks all right." But seriously it is better than all right. A co-worker brought a tray of this to work and I couldn't stop eating it all day. Way goo-ood.

Shrimp Platter Appetizer
(from Lion House cookbook)

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C mayonnaise
2 cans (4 1/4 oz each) broken shrimp, rinsed and drained
1 C seafood cocktail sauce
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 green pepper, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1 large tomato, diced

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo. Spread on a 12-inch glass plate (or whatever serving tray you have available). Scatter shrimp over the cheese layer. Cover with cocktail sauce. Then add a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese, a layer of green peppers, and a layer of green onions. Sprinkle diced tomato over the whole thing. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Serve with assorted crackers.

I made this for a family party last week and it was a big hit. I didn't use peppers...it just didn't seem quite right. I didn't measure the cocktail sauce or cheese. I just spread as much of it as I thought looked good, so I might have used a little more or less than called for. Delicious!
Enjoy!

Banoffee pie

This is Banana Cream Pie kicked up about 10 notches!!! YUMM - Plus there's no fat - beleive me its true!

Recipe: Banoffee Pie
Curtis Stone from the Today Show

Ingredients
Crust
9 ounces graham crackers
1 stick butter, melted

Toffee sauce
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Filling
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
5 small bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

Preparation
To make the crust: Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
Blend the graham crackers in a food processor until they are finely ground.
Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and process to blend well. The crumbs should stick together when pressed. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom and 1½ inches up the sides of the springform pan. Refrigerate.

To make the toffee sauce: Place a medium-heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Combine the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a medium-heavy saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil without stirring until the color is deep amber, occasionally swirling the pan and brushing down the sides with a pastry brush dipped into water, about 5 minutes. Stir in the condensed milk and butter. Continue stirring for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove the toffee sauce from the heat and spread 1 cup of the sauce over the prepared crust and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the caramel is semi-firm. Keep the remaining caramel sauce at room temperature.

To fill the pie: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream in a large bowl until thick and very soft billowy peaks form. Very thinly slice 3 of the bananas into discs. Fold the sliced bananas into the softly whipped cream and spoon into the prepared pie crust. Slice the remaining bananas and arrange them decoratively over the pie. Rewarm the remaining toffee sauce gently over low heat. Drizzle some of the sauce decoratively over the pie. If the sauce has thickened too much to drizzle, stir a few tablespoons of milk into the sauce to create a thinner consistency. Drizzle each pie wedge with more sauce and serve.

Pumpkin Cake

1 (29 oz) can pumpkin puree
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup butter1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 small tub whipped topping

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. (These could be substituted with 3t Pumpkin Pie Spice.)

Mix until smooth and pour into a 9×13 inch pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle chopped nuts and pat down gently. Melt butter or margarine and drizzle over cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. (Be sure to check the cake after 45 minutes because oven temperatures vary.) After cake cools, turn it upside down so the top of the cake will be the crust. Remove the parchment paper. Top with dessert topping (optional) before serving.