Merry Mint Fudge

We've been really into mint desserts this holiday season. I've got another easy one coming up in a week or so as well. We made this one for a party at my husband's work and it was gone fast. It's just a basic fudge recipe, but the addition of the Keebler mint patties added just that subtle mint hint and made it that much better.

I'm not sure if you can get the Keebler mint patties called for in the recipe after the holidays, but any kind of mint cookie (I'm thinking Grasshoppers or Thin Mints) would probably work too.

Merry Mint Fudge

1 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 12-oz. package (2 cups) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate when it comes to fudge)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup Keebler Merry Mint Patties, chopped into small pieces

Line and 8 x 8-inch pan with aluminum foil, extending foil over ends of pan.

Lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine the marshmallow creme, sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Gently boil for 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla until melted. Fold in mint patties. Spread in prepared pan. Cool. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and serve.

Over the Top Cookies

No, they really are over the top! But that's not why they're called that. Apparently there's a cookie shop in Salt Lake called Over the Top Cookies and this is a copycat of one of their cookies. I've never had the original version, but I do know these are good. Better than good! Light, crispy outside, soft, gooey inside...not to mention they're quite a bit bigger than normal cookies. I know. Perfect cookie, right?

We tried them with both Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and M&Ms and I liked the M&Ms a lot better. Both are yummy, though.


Over the Top Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chip

M&Ms (medium-sized bag should work) OR other candy bar, chopped into bite-sized pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla. Sift baking soda, salt, and flour together, then add to peanut butter mixture. Mix in chocolate chips.

Using an ice-cream scoop or large tablespoon, scoop dough. Press dough with palm of hand until slightly flattened. Cook for 12 minutes.

Remove cookies from oven and lightly press candy into tops of cookies. Return to oven for 2 more minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2 more minutes before moving to cooling rack.

Original recipe from here.

Raspberry Crisp

Mmm...raspberries. I love raspberries, especially as a fruit filling in pies and such. When raspberries went on sale at our grocery store, we immediately bought a flat. Most of those beauties were used to make raspberry jam (which is a must-have around here - my family loves it), but there were three containers left over. Just enough to make Pioneer Woman's raspberry crisp.

It's a simple recipe - crisps aren't anything fancy - but oh my, was it good! Especially topped with icy-cold vanilla ice cream. Rave reviews all around!


Raspberry Crisp

2 1/2 cups raspberries
1 Tbsp (heaping) corn starch
2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
Dash of salt
6 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine rinsed raspberries, corn starch, sugar, and vanilla. Stir and set aside.

In a separate bowl (or food processor) combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, oats, pecans (optional), dash of salt, and butter pieces. Cut together with a pastry cutter (or pulse in food processor) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add berry mixture to a small baking dish or pie pan. Sprinkle topping mixture all over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Allow to sit for ten minutes before serving. Scoop out with a spoon and top with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

S'mores Cookies

I was looking for something different to take on our road trip to Yellowstone last week. I probably could have just stuck with a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but I saw this recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything and thought, "Bingo!" We usually have S'mores when we camp with my husband's side of the family and they're, of course, a favorite treat. But there were no campfires this time around. The weather sentenced us to hotel stays, and hotels really aren't conducive to cooking around a fire. Enter: S'mores Cookies! The crunchy graham cracker bottom and little pockets of melted marshmallows were the perfect combination with a plain old classic chocolate chip cookie. They were almost as good as the real thing. :)


S'mores Cookies

11 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate because they're my favorite)
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular-sized Hershey bars, broken into pieces
1-2 pkgs. graham crackers, broken into squares

Line baking pan(s) with waxed paper. (I used one 12x16 cookie sheet and I had less than a cup of cookie dough leftover. I could have used it up in a second pan, but I really didn't want to bother. Plus the dough was really yummy, so it may have disappeared soon after anyways.) Lay out graham crackers side by side as close as possible. I could fit 24 graham cracker squares on mine, with a bit of extra room around the edges.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to combine. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine on low speed. Fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows. Cover dough and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a heaping tablespoon of dough on each graham cracker. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and press one Hershey bar piece on top of each cookie. You could also break the Hershey bar into smaller pieces and place 2-3 on each cookie, depending on how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5-7 more minutes or until dough turns golden brown at the edges. Let cool for 1-2 minutes, then cut between graham crackers to form separate cookies and remove to wire rack (this is important - if you let them cool all the way, the marshmallow gets stuck together and makes them kind of hard to get apart).

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

There's a famous chocolate version of no-bake cookies out there that I think just about everyone has tried. While I really like that version as well, there's something about straight peanut butter that makes me choose this recipe almost every time. Of course, I should also mention that I'm a peanut butter-aholic. (Is that a word? It should be.) I love peanut butter. Like, eat-it-straight-off-the-spoon-for-a-snack kind of love.

If you're anything like me (and I know there are others out there!), this is the recipe for you. Even if you just like peanut butter without having a strange love affair with it (ahem.), you'll probably still think these are good.

But be warned: You will most definitely need a big, tall glass of milk with these babies!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups oatmeal (I prefer the quick oats because they grains are much smaller, but any kind will work)

Spread a piece of wax paper or aluminum foil out on a flat surface. You'll need about 2 feet.

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar, milk, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for exactly one minute, then remove from heat. Add vanilla and peanut butter; stir until smooth. Mix in oatmeal.

Immediately drop in rounded tablespoonfuls on wax paper or foil. Let cool completely and enjoy.

Strawberry Cheesecake Squares

We tried these last night and oh my word, they were delicious! We needed to use up the strawberries we bought on sale, so I searched Our Best Bites for some ideas and found this. My husband was a little reluctant at first (he's a cheesecake purist), but we both agree now that they were well worth the trip to the store at 6:00 at night to get the extra ingredients we needed.

If I were rating these recipes, this would receive 5 stars. Definitely.

Strawberry Cheesecake Squares

1 package Pecan Sandies Cookies, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
11 oz. cream cheese (1 8-oz. package + 3 oz. of another package, not low-fat), softened
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups sour cream
1 1/4 c. strawberry sauce - recipe found below (you can also use strawberry jam, jarred strawberry topping, or canned strawberry pie filling)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a food processor, process 3/4 of the Pecan Sandies (reserve 6). Mix with melted butter and lightly press onto the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and sour cream. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes. Spread half of the cheesecake batter onto the bottom of the 9×13 pan. Pour 3/4 c. of the strawberry sauce over the batter, spreading gently to cover the surface (it doesn’t have to be perfect). Spread remaining cheesecake batter over the strawberry layer and then spoon remaining 1/2 c. of strawberry sauce over the batter. Being careful not to cut into the surface of the cookie crust, swirl the strawberry mixture with a butter knife.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until center is jiggly but not liquid. While baking, process remaining 6 cookies. During the last 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle the cookies on top of the cheesecake. Chill for at least 8 hours and cut into squares. If desired, drizzle remaining strawberry sauce over the individual squares.

Serve and wonder if you have, actually, gone to heaven.


Strawberry Sauce

1 pint (16 oz.) strawberries

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract

 

Wash strawberries and remove stems. If strawberries are really big (or if you don't think your blender can handle them), chop into smaller pieces.

 

Add ingredients to a blender* and pulse until smooth.

 

That's it!

 

*The original recipe actually says to add the ingredients to a saucepan first and cook for 5 minutes, then let the mixture cool before adding to the blender. I kinda didn't see that part and just put them straight in the blender. It still turned out yummy.

Ooey-Gooey Caramel Corn

I'm kinda picky when it comes to my caramel corn. The crunchy stuff just doesn't do it for me. It's probably because I grew up eating this recipe, which is about as ooey-gooey, sticky, and messy as you can get.

Basically, it's awesome.

(It also makes a ton. I have a giant mixing bowl that I use just for this that says it holds 32 cups. The bowl is about 3/4 full when it's finished, so you do the math. :) It might be good to half the recipe if you're just making it for a few people.)

Ooey-Gooey Caramel Corn

3/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernals*
1/2 cup butter
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup

Pop kernals in a popcorn popper, making sure you use your largest bowl; set aside.

In large saucepan, combine butter, evaporated milk, brown sugar, and corn syrup and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Let boil until mixture reaches soft-ball stage - about 235-245 degrees. (Or, if you don't have a candy thermometer - like me - just place drops of the liquid in a cup of cold water. If they form into any semblance of a soft little ball instead of just dissolving into the water, it's done.)

Drizzle over the popcorn, mixing well until kernals are coated.

Serve immediately. (It's definitely yummiest when it's fresh - still pretty good for a day or two after, though, if you keep it covered.)

*I have a hot-air popcorn popper that is perfect for this. However, if you don't have one of those, you could use another method or just microwave popcorn. You'll just need about 15-20 cups of unsalted, unbuttered popped popcorn.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

One taste of this and you'll never go back to the store-bought canned stuff. This comes from my husband's family and we have it for almost every birthday (as you can see by the obvious picture of a birthday cake above - the only picture I thought to take of the yummyness that is this frosting).


German Chocolate Cake Frosting

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut

Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, and butter together and heat over medium heat. Boil until thickened, stirring constantly (about 10 minutes).

Remove from heat and add vanilla, nuts, and coconut. Mix until thick enough to spread.

You may be tempted to just eat this plain. It really does belong on a chocolate cake, though. :)

Apple Crisp

I participated in Bountiful Baskets for the first time a couple of weeks ago. One of things I got was apples. I love to eat apples, but unfortunately these weren't the best eating apples. They were a little sour and didn't have much flavor.

So I made apple crisp. They turned out to be perfect apples for apple crisp. Add a couple scoops of ice cream, and voila!

Apple Crisp

4 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1 tbs. lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup melted butter

Put apples in shallow pan (I used my 8 x 8 square pan). Sprinkle lemon juice over apples. (If you happen to be using bottled apples - which I never have - lemon juice isn't needed.) Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl, then add melted butter. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apples.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until apples are soft.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream for best results. :)

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies

Have you ever tried cinnamon chips? I hadn't until the other day when they were on sale at the store. On impulse, I grabbed a bag and I'm really glad I did. These cookies (which is the recipe found on the back the bag... I know, I'm so original!) taste like your basic oatmeal cookies, but the cinnamon flavor is found in the chips, of course, and is a lot more pronounced. I really like cinnamon, so I was sold.

(I also didn't include raisins. But a certain husband of mine turns up his nose at raisins baked into things. So, yeah... no raisins for us.)

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg) cinnamon chips

3/4 cups raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugars in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips, and raisins (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Cookies and Cream Fudge

We love fudge at our house, and we also love Oreos. Especially my husband. Since Oreos have been dirt cheap lately at our local grocery store, we decided to put the growing number of packages we have around our house to good use. My husband found this recipe from Nestle Toll House and we gave it a shot. It turned out pretty good, but you definitely have to be a fan of white chocolate. It's very rich (as in, have-a-full-glass-of-milk-handy kind of rich) and actually reminds me of Hershey's Cookies and Cream candy bars.

Cookies and Cream Fudge

3 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) evaporated milk
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white chocolate chips
1 jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup finely crushed Oreos
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup crumbled Oreos

Line 9-inch square baking pan with foil.

Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in white chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, finely crushed Oreos, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle crumbled cookies on top. Gently swirl cookies into fudge using a knife without touching bottom of pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.