Butterscotch Brownies

My sister visited us this past weekend and, as is typical, we wanted to do some baking. I had nothing in mind so we opened up a cookbook {which I picked up for $1 at a thrift store on our honeymoon} and found these. I was drawn to it because it didn't need the mixer. {It was approaching the end of nap time and I didn't want any extra noise to cause the children to wake early as it had been a rough night of sleep.}
With only a handful ingredients and the ability to stir them easily by hand these bars came together very quickly. They're soft and buttery with just enough texture from the coconut to add but not detract.

Butterscotch Brownies
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Source: Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1988 Edition
Yields: 16-25 bars

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup coconut

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 350.
   2.  Melt butter in a large saucepan; remove from heat. Add brown sugar, vanilla and egg; mix. Add flour, baking powder, salt; stir until almost combined. Add butterscotch chips and coconut.
   3.  Spread in greased 9x9 pan. Bake 23 minutes. Cut while warm.

Buckeye Brownies

I signed up to bring a dessert to a church potluck and the day before I still had no idea what to make. I didn't want to go shopping so I was limited to what I had on hand. I wanted something more than just your basic bar, I wanted delicious and impressive. Based on the comments and requests for the recipe I think these Buckeye Brownies fulfilled my requirements.
They start with a simple brownie base {although a similar recipe used chocolate chip cookie dough as the base, which I think would also be great}, then a peanut butter filling, topped with chocolate. Obviously, since it has peanut butter and chocolate it will be a winner but this was beyond expectations. If you like peanut butter balls you will love these Buckeye Brownies!

Buckeye Brownies

 Print Recipe
Yields: 1 9x 13 pan
Source: Nestle and Susie Cutie Pies  

Ingredients:
Brownies

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 T water

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Middle Layer

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Topping

3-4 T butter

6 oz chocolate chips

 

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 pan.
   2.  Combine sugar, butter and water in a large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla.
   3.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, coca, baking powder and salt. Stir into sugar mixture. Pour into prepared pan.
   4.  Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out slightly sticky.
   5.  After brownies have cooled, combine powdered sugar, butter and peanut butter. Spread over brownies (may need to press with fingers).
   6.   Melt butter and chocolate chips until smooth. Spread over brownies.

   *Another recipe I looked at suggested using chocolate chip cookie dough as the base.

This is linked to Finding Joy in My Kitchen. 

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

I always have such grand plans for Christmas baking and I have yet to accomplish them. This year though I'm starting early and hoping that will help me be successful! The first treat on my list for this year was Gingersnaps.
Traditionally gingersnaps are a crunchy cookie. However, since I don't care for them that way I "underbake" them so they are still soft. When I've taken them places people have always commented how they like them soft instead of hard so it seems I'm not the only gingersnap rebel out there!

Soft Gingersnap Cookies
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Source: St. Pauls Lutheran Church Cookbook, Fairmont, MN
Yields: ~5 dozen cookies
 
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light molasses
1 beaten egg
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger

Directions:
   1.  Cream butter and sugar together. Add molasses and beaten egg; beat well. Add dry ingredients; mix well.
   2.  Chill dough for 10 minutes. Roll in 1 inch balls; roll in sugar, place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. {Eight minutes if you want them soft.} Let cool for 5 minutes then remove from cookie sheet.
   ~I like to refrigerate the dough in between rolling out batches so it doesn't get too sticky.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

 

I happened upon this recipe a few months ago in Woman's Day magazine and, unlike most recipes I find, I tried it immediately. Since then I've made these cookies numerous times because these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies have quickly become a family favorite.
With only four ingredients they are incredibly easy to put together {hence the name}. In fact, in the time it takes your oven to warm up you can mix the dough and prepare the first sheet to bake.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
 Print Recipe
Source: Woman's Day
Yields: ~4 dozen 

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg

Directions:
   1.  Mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
   2.  Drop by heaping teaspoon onto baking sheet, slightly flatten. {These cookies don't spread a lot so it's okay to put them close together.}

  

   3.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.

 

This is linked to URS.

S'mores Ice Cream Cake

I rip out a lot of recipe and sadly, many of them never get made. However, when I saw this in Woman's Day I knew I would definitely make it. It's a perfect summer treat, combining s'mores (quintessential summer food) and ice cream (again, goes hand in hand with summer). Within the first few bites my husband asked how hard this was to make. When I said it wasn't too bad he said "Good, because I think this should go on a card" (meaning it's a keeper!)
The steps might look a little intimidating but they're all easy. It's a standard graham cracker crust, followed by whipping some ingredients for the chocolate ice cream. Once you've made the chocolate layer you just do the exact same thing for vanilla and then you're practically done. Easy!

S'mores Ice Cream Cake
 Print Recipe
Source: Woman's Day
Yields: 12-16 slices

Ingredients:
1 sleeve graham crackers
2 T butter, softened
4 oz baking chocolate (I used semi-sweet, the original recipe calls for bittersweet.)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup mini marshmallows (or dehydrated, if you can find them)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

   1.  Line a 9 inch cake pan with tinfoil, leaving excess draped over the edges.

   2.  In a food processor, pulse 8 graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and pulse until combined; press into bottom of cake pan. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes; let cool.

   3.  Melt chocolate in microwave in intervals, stirring after every 30 seconds. Using the whisk attachment mix half the condensed milk (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons), 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and melted chocolate until combined. Add 1 cup heavy whipping cream and beat until thick, stiff peaks form. Fold in marshmallows; spoon mixture on top of graham cracker crust and spread evenly.

   4.  Clean the bowl and whisk. Using the whisk attachment, beat remaining sweetened condensed milk, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and 2 cups heavy whipping cream until thick, stiff peaks form. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips; spoon mixture on top of chocolate layer and spread evenly.

   5.  Break last graham cracker into small pieces and gently press into vanilla layer. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and any graham cracker crumbs over top. Cover and freeze until firm, at least eight hours.

   6.  To serve, remove from pan and slice, dipping knife in water between cuts, as necessary.

This is linked to Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Last year someone from church gave us some zucchini from their garden. I was grateful but unsure what to do with it. My sister happened to have recently gotten this recipe from her boyfriend's mom and suggested I try it. I did and we enjoyed it so this year, when we were once again gifted with zucchini I pulled it out to try once more. It's official, we've decided this is our go-to recipe for zucchini.
This is a delicious chocolate cake with a slight nuttiness added from the zucchini. The texture is not affected negatively, in the least, and unless examined carefully the zucchini might just pass by unnoticed {if you're trying to use up zucchini without anyone knowing it!}

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
 Print Recipe
Yields: 1 9x13 cake

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup applesauce (can use an additional 1/4 cup butter)
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 T cocoa powder
2 cups grated zucchini

Directions:
   1.  Mix ingredients in order given. Pour into a 9x13 pan.
   2.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until cake is set in the middle.

This is linked to Finding Joy in My Kitchen. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Toffee

We've gotten into what might be a bad habit. All three of us enjoy it when there's something a little more exciting than a handful of chocolate chips for dessert. However, I don't always have the time {or desire} to keep cookies around. Enter Peanut Butter Chocolate Toffee.
It takes about 10 minutes of active work, less than 30 minutes total and produces something wonderful. The combination of salt, peanut butter and chocolate is just divine, as one would expect. So while chocolate chips have their place Peanut Butter Chocolate Toffee definitely wins the battle between the two!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Toffee
 Print Recipe
Adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen & My Recipes
Yields: ~30 pieces

Ingredients:
1 sleeve minus 4 Club crackers
I cup brown sugar
4 T butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips  

Directions:
   1.  Line a 11x17 baking sheet with tinfoil. Spread crackers in a single layer, with edges touching.
   2.  In a small saucepan, melt brown sugar and butter until boiling; boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Working quickly, spread over crackers. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes.
   3.  Remove pan from oven. Place peanut butter in small dollops across crackers; spread.
   4.  Sprinkle chocolate chips across crackers; return pan to oven for 1-2 minutes, until chocolate is soft. Remove from oven; spread.
   5.  Let toffee cool until hardened; break into pieces.

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Finding Joy in My Kitchen.

Dessert Pizza

This wonderful treat came about because of a slightly failed experiment. I tried to freeze pizza dough but it just wouldn't roll out nicely or rise properly when I went to use it. So, I had some extra dough in the freezer that weren't suitable for "regular" pizzas. Enter the dessert pizza! It doesn't matter that the crust isn't airy and puffy like you want for pizza, in fact, it might almost be better a little flat.

This is almost a non-recipe recipe as I've put a variety of things on, depending on what I have on hand. However, I typically start with peanut butter as the "sauce" and try to put at least one slightly crunchy topping on. Also, mini marshmallows are a must in my book. They add a melty sweetness that is just wonderful!

Dessert Pizza
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Yields: 8 slices

Ingredients:
1/3 recipe of pizza dough
~2 T peanut butter
~1/2 cup toppings {chocolate chips, granola, crispy cereal, etc.}
1/4 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:
   1.  Roll out dough into desired shape. Spread peanut butter on crust; top with desired toppings, ending with marshmallows.
   2.  Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes.  

Apple Crisp

I was looking for an easy, yet delicious dessert a few weeks ago. I flipped all the way through my "Desserts to Try" binder and only found one thing that looked tempting: Apple Crisp. Ironically, in the end I didn't use the recipe I had pulled out but instead a recipe from one of my cookbooks.
Apple Crisp is such a good dessert to make because it's relatively quick and easy to put together but the result is fantastic! I reduced the sugar {in both the filling and topping} from the original recipe and we found it was still plenty sweet.

Apple Crisp
 Print Recipe
Yields: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
Filling
4 cups diced apples (I used 4 good sized apples)
1/2 cup sugar (Can reduce to 1/3 cup)
1 T flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (Can reduce slightly)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
   1.  In a 9x9 pan or 2 qt baking dish combine first four ingredients.
   2.  In a medium bowl combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over filling.
   3.  Bake in a 350 oven for 35-45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned.
   4.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Source: St Paul's Lutheran Church, Fairmont, MN Cookbook

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

Limeade Pie

I know now this recipe is everywhere on the internet but we had never had Lemonade Pie until last summer when our pastor's wife made it one hot spring day. We both loved it immediately. My husband adores anything lime so for his birthday dessert later that summer he requested Lemonade Pie but with Limeade instead. It turned out great and he requested it again this year!
This is a really easy dessert to put together and just requires a little planning ahead to allow for ingredients to thaw and then for the pie to freeze. I like to only use about 3/4 of the can of concentrate otherwise it is a bit too sweet.

Limeade Pie
 Print Recipe
Yields: 16 slices

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust
1 8 oz container cool whip, mostly thawed
1 6 oz can limeade concentrate, thawed
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

 Directions:
   1.  In a large bowl combine 3/4 of the limeade concentrate and sweetened condensed milk. Gently stir in cool whip.
   2.  Pour mixture into graham cracker crust.
   3.  Cover and freeze until hardened.

   4.  To cut for serving run knife under water between each cut.

 

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats.