Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Easiest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars Ever

1 (18.5 oz) pkg Spice Cake Mix

1 (15 oz) solid packed pumpkin

1 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix the spice cake mix and the pumpkin together until evenly combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press batter into an 8X8 in square pan (or 9X13 for a thinner bar) and bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and cut into squares.

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates and Candied Ginger

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates and Candied Ginger

Eight servings

Because I like the play of sweet and spicy, I added a handful of chopped candied ginger to the recipe. You can use Golden Syrup, which is one of the best sweeteners ever. 

For the toffee sauce

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons golden syrup or molasses

pinch of salt

For the pudding

6 ounces pitted dates, snipped or chopped

1 cup water

1 teaspoon baking soda

optional: 1/3 cup candied ginger, chopped

1 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and butter an 8 1/2-inch porcelain soufflé dish (or similar-sized baking dish.)

2. Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, demerara or turbinado sugar, golden syrup (or molasses) and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar.

3. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Pour half the sauce into the prepared soufflé dish and place the dish in the freezer, and reserve the other half for serving.

4. To make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, heat the dates and water. Once the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Add the ginger, if using, then set aside, but keep it slightly warm.

5. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

6. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. (Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit curdled.)

7. Stir in half of the flour mixture, then the date mixture, then add the remaining flour mixture until just mixed. Don’t overbeat the batter.

8. Remove the soufflé dish from the freezer and scrape the batter into the soufflé dish and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.

9. Remove the pudding from the oven, and let cool slightly before serving.

Serving: Spoon portions of the cake into serving bowls and douse with additional warm toffee sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are good accompaniments, although I enjoy it just as it is.

Note: To make the pudding in advance, bake the cake without the toffee in the bottom. Let cool, then cover until close to serving time. Poke the cake about fifteen times with a chopstick. Distribute half of the sauce over the top, as shown in the photo, cover with foil, then re-warm in a 300F (150C) oven, for 30 minutes.

From Sweet! (Da Capo) by Mani Niall

Spaghetti Carbonara

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti

8 ounces bacon (about 8 slices), cut into 1-inch pieces

3 large eggs

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

½ cup half-and-half

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Set a large pot of water to boil (for pasta). In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat, until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Salt boiling water generously; add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan cheese, and half-and-half. Drain pasta when al dente, leaving some water clinging to it. Working quickly, add hot pasta to egg mixture. Add bacon; season with salt and pepper, and toss all to combine (the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs). Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.


Let's Dish
Spaghetti Carbonara is a classic Italian pasta dish, although the addition of half-and-half is more common in America. This is quick and simple to put together, plus it has bacon in it, so you can't go wrong there. My husband especially loves this, but it's a favorite with the entire family. There are never any leftovers.


Martha Stewart and the Every Day Food folks.

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER BARS

Ingredients

1 cup butter melted

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Adapted from allrecipes.com.

Crunch Caramel Reese's Cookie Bars

CRUNCHY CARAMEL REESES COOKIE BARS

Ingredients

1 (16.5 oz.) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1 cup crushed pretzels

1 (12 oz.) bag mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped

10 caramels, unwrapped

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cut cookie dough roll in half and press half of dough evenly into bottom of prepared baking dish. Layer with crushed pretzels. Cut peanut butter cups in half and layer over pretzels. In a small bowl, melt caramels and milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Pour caramel over peanut butter cups. Crumble remaining cookie dough evenly over top. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Let cool completely. Melt chocolate chips in microwave until smooth and drizzle over top of bars.


Let's Dish
I love sweet and salty treats. Apparently my kids do too. My husband, not so much. But I think they'd be pretty good without the pretzels, if you're not into the sweet and salty combination. You might not need all of the mini peanut butter cups, but I thought it was best to allow for the handful that will inevitably get eaten during preparation. While I enjoy most baked goods warm from the oven, I definitely thought these were better after they'd cooled completely.


Adapted from Jenny at Picky Palate. 

Gooey Potatoes

Gooey Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 (2lb) bag of frozen cubed hash browns (I have used shredded too. It's just personal preference.)

2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded sharp cheese, + ½ cup for topping

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Small bunch of green onions, sliced

Corn flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sour cream, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, cream of chicken soup, and green onions in a large bowl.

Add the hash browns and mix together thoroughly.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese with 2 cups of corn flakes which have been lightly crushed. Reserve for later.

Cover and bake potatoes at 350⁰ for 30-35 minutes. (*I cook mine a little longer just to make sure they are done. There is nothing worse than crunchy potatoes. ) Cover top with corn flake/cheese mixture and bake an additional 15 minutes until potatoesare bubbling and top has browned.

by Ryan and Heidi Clark

Grandma's Twice Baked Potatoes

A childhood memory of mine was my Grandmother's house and her good home cooking! One of my favorite meals was anything that included her twice baked potatoes!

Grandma's Twice Baked Potatoes

4 russet potatoes

1/2 cup of Butter

1/2 cup of Heavy Cream

S'mores Cookies

S'mores Cookies

Ingredients:

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 ½ cups flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini marshmallows

3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces

1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Source: Ice Cream Before Dinner

Turkey Lasagna Primavera

Lasagna is one of those dishes that seems like it is a lot more work than it actually has to be. This is a delicious and easy Turkey Lasagna (if you prefer ground beef just replace the turkey with your preference!). Good for the whole family or to feed a big group!

Turkey Lasagna Primavera

1 lb. Ground Turkey

2 cloves crushed fresh garlic

1 8 oz. package lasagna noodles or can use the ones that don't need to be boiled

3 carrot, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 C. broccoli, cut

1 C. sliced zucchini, cut 1/4 inch thick

1 C. yellow crookneck squash, cut 1/4 inch thick

20 oz. (2 pckg) frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 8 oz. container ricotta cheese

1 1/2 26 oz. jar Newman's marinara sauce

Pinch of rosemary

Pinch of pepper

1 t. Garlic Salt

16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 C. parmesan cheese, grated

Sauté ground turkey with crushed garlic in EVOO till cooked thoroughly. Steam veggies, but not till they are mushy. Place Marinara in sauce pan and once turkey is cooked combine and let simmer. Cook lasagna noodles according to package (I get the no boil noodles and you just lay them in the dish). Squeeze liquid from spinach. Mix spinach with ricotta cheese. IN a 9 by 12 inch pan spread 1/3 of marinara sauce. Arrange 1/2 lasagna noodles on sauce, then spinach mixture and mozzarella cheese. Top with vegetables, then sauce. Repeat layers and top with sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Delectable Stuffed Mushrooms

Mouth-Watering Stuffed Mushrooms

I got this recipe from my friend and am obsessed with how good these stuffed mushrooms are.

Ingredients:

12 whole fresh mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
2.	Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
3.	When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
4.	Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have always been a baker. It is something I love doing at all times, if I am stressed it calms my spirits, if I am down I know I can cheer someone up with a tasty treat! I have been making chocolate chip cookies from my mother's recipe since I was at least 8 years old.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 Sticks of butter at room temperature

2 Eggs

1 Cup Granulated White Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla

3 Cups of Flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 Cups of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Cookies (sometimes if I want them extra sweet I go with Milk Chocolate!)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. 

2. Bake at 350 till golden brown.