Hip Paddies

This recipe comes from my husband's aunt and I was in love at first bite. Others must experience this phenomenon as well because these bars disappear quickly wherever I bring them!  It can be a bit tricky to spread the first layer of dough in the pan but as you spread the dough it will warm up and stick to the pan instead of clumping together.

Chocolate:

1 can sw. condensed milk

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Dough:

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp soda

1 1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Heat sweetened condensed milk, butter and chocolate chips until all chocolate chips are melted.  Add vanilla and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and brown sugar; add egg and vanilla.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Press 2/3 of dough mixture in greased 9 x 13 pan.  Pour chocolate mixture on top.  Sprinkle on remaining dough mixture in clumps.  Add 1/2 cup nuts if desired.  Bake for 25 minutes. 

Frozen Yogurt

Who doesn't love a little frozen treat at the end of a hot summer day?  This recipe for frozen yogurt is spectacular. I found the recipe on EatingWell but opted to decrease the sugar a bit since the fruit adds so much sweetness on its own.  If you are planning ahead, it sets up nicely after freezing for a few hours but you can certainly still eat it right away if you can't bear to wait!  You can buy fruit in a frozen package, but I think it is most flavorful if you chop up fresh fruit and freeze it yourself.  I used peaches in the batch below.  Be patient if it seems to jam up in your blender/food processor, if you help it along by mixing it around it a few times it will blend nicely.

16 oz fruit, chopped and frozen
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix ingredients in blender or food processor. Store in freezer. Serves 4.

Mickey Oreos

Alright, so this isn't exactly a recipe...but it is food related and too cute not to share.  My sister had a Mickey themed party for her one year old so I volunteered to make some Mickey Oreos.  I dipped mini Oreos in chocolate and attached them to a big Oreo. I threw them in the fridge for a bit to help the chocolate firm up nicely. Then I dipped the big Oreo in red chocolate (Candy Melts from a craft store) and finished them off with a couple sprinkles for his buttons.

Frozen Mocha Dessert

This recipe came from my aunt and has been a family favorite for years.  It is smooth, rich and oh-so delicious! I use lite cool whip and 1/3 less fat cream cheese and it still turns out great.  If you will serve it in the evening you may want to consider using decaf coffee.

24 Oreos, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
16 oz cream cheese
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 Tbsp hot water
2 Tbsp instant coffee
12 oz cool whip or 1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Mix most of the crushed Oreos (reserving a small handful for the topping) with melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Chill in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the dessert. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it becomes fluffy. Mix in the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water and add it to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Remove pan with crust from the freezer and pour cream cheese mixture over the crust. Top with crushed Oreos and chill in the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Caramel Corn

This caramel corn is such a tasty treat!  The coating has great flavor and the baking method makes it deliciously crunchy.  A large bowl of this disappears quickly whenever I make it!

10-12 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda


Put the popped popcorn in a roasting pan, removing any kernels that didn't pop so that you don't crack your teeth on them later. Put the roasting pan in the oven and preheat to 250 degrees (this step is not essential, but it helps to get the popcorn warm while you make the caramel so that you can coat the popcorn without the caramel cooling off too quickly).  In a medium size sauce pan, heat the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup on medium heat.  Bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Add salt and baking soda, then stir until mixture becomes foamy.  Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn.  Stir to coat the popcorn with the caramel sauce as evenly as possible, but don't worry if it doesn't look even because it will spread more thoroughly as you continue to bake and mix it.  Return the roasting pan to the oven and bake for 2 hours at 250 degrees, removing the pan to stir every 30 minutes.  Lay out a long sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. When popcorn has finished baking, spread it out evenly to cool on the wax paper, breaking up any large clumps. Store in an airtight container once cooled.

Peppermint Puffs

A friend of ours made these last year and they have quickly become my favorite Christmas cookie!  They have just the right blend of minty flavor and sweetness so that neither is too overpowering.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz white chocolate
• 1 tsp shortening
• 1/2 cup chopped candy cane (about 4 candy canes)

Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Beat in egg.  Beat in peppermint and vanilla extracts.

On low speed, beat in flour and salt.  Shape dough together into a ball, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  The cookies will still be very light and will keep their ball shape for the most part.  Let cookies cool.  Melt white chocolate with shortening.  Dip the top of cookies into the chocolate and sprinkle with the chopped candy cane.  Yields about 2 dozen cookies.

Holiday Truffles

It's the season for holiday goodies!  With trying to eat a gluten-free diet, I was searching for substitutes to my usual holiday cookies and decided to try this truffle recipe (http://www.bakersroyale.com/candy/peppermint-crunch-truffles/).  Thankfully my sister helped me make these because they were definitely a process of learning!  The biggest lesson we learned was that temperature is everything.  It is important to let the chocolate set in the fridge, but we then had to let it sit out for a few hours before we tried to roll the truffles.  If the chocolate is too cold when you try to roll them it will be difficult, if not impossible.  You also need to give the truffles a roll to soften them a bit before rolling them in the coating so that they are sticky enough to pick up the coating well.  Use whatever kind of chocolate you like best, but make sure it is good quality--we used semi-sweet but dark would be great if you like dark chocolate. You also can experiment with the coating with whatever you think sounds good.  Between my sister and I, we've tried Peppermint Andes, Heath bits, salted almonds and Oreos. They were all delicious!

• 11 oz chocolate
• 8 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups coating of your choice

Melt chocolate with heavy cream in a double boiler. Let sit for the first few minutes untouched and then whisk together until mixture is melted and smooth.  Remove mixture from heat and let cool for 20-30 minutes. Pour into a shallow baking dish and refrigerate covered for 2 hours until set. Remove chocolate from the fridge and let warm up for a few hours.  Roll balls using a spoon or melon baller to help shape chocolate into spheres.  Roll ball in hands to finish shaping and roll in coating.  Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve and enjoy!

Mom's Pumpkin Bread

This bread is a Thanksgiving tradition in our house!

Mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl in the following order:

• 6 eggs
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 large can Libby's pumpkin pie mix
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 5 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare bread pans with butter and flour. Pour batter into pans until half full. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Recipe yields 4-6 loaves of bread (depending on the size pan you use). Decrease baking time by about 30 minutes if you are making muffins.

Toffee Apple Upside-down Cake

This is a fun fall treat! I slightly modified the recipe from 1001 cupcakes, cookies & other tempting treats.

Cake ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
• 2 apples, peeled and cored

Topping ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 apple, cored and thinly sliced

Grease a 9 x 9 baking pan. Prepare the topping by heating butter and brown sugar in a saucepan until melted. Pour mixture into the bottom of prepared baking pan. Place thin apple slices into the sauce (covering the bottom of the pan) and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Grate or blend apples in a separate bowl. Fold apples and hazelnuts into batter. Pour into baking pan on top of the toffee sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Sour Cream Raspberry Pie

This is my favorite pie! The recipe is like the one from the Norske Nook in Osseo, WI.  I found their sour cream blackberry pie recipe posted in an online newspaper, so I figured I could substitute the blackberry ingredients for raspberry and recreate my favorite: sour cream raspberry.  I use plain (unsweetened) yogurt in place of sour cream and it still turns out great!  I don't have an 11 inch pie pan so I use a 9 inch and put the leftover filling in a separate small dish for a crust-free treat.

Doesn't it look tasty?

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sour cream or plain yogurt
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup dry (not prepared) raspberry gelatin
• 5 to 6 cups fresh, frozen raspberries
• 11-inch pre-baked pastry crust
• whipped topping

Stir sour cream and egg yolks in pan. Add sugar and flour. Cook on high heat stirring constantly. Watch closely as this can burn easily. Cook until very thick. Remove from heat and add gelatin, then stir. Add raspberries. Pour into 11" pre-baked pie crust. Cool and top with whipped topping or cool whip.

Amish Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 cups french bread chunks
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Place bread chunks and raisins in a 8x8 baking dish and set aside. Heat milk over medium heat until film forms. Add butter and let mixture cool once butter is melted. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a bowl and beat for one minute. Add milk/butter mixture. Pour over bread. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.


Vanilla Sauce

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• dash of salt

Mix together in sauce pan and bring to a boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Let sit for 5 minutes. Pour over bread pudding and serve warm.