Monster Cookies

I recently stumbled upon this recipe and knew I was going to have to try it!  Most of you have probably heard of Monster Cookies before. Many years ago a friend gave me a recipe for Monster Cookies that were made from scratch. They were very yummy, but they seemed a bit time consuming! 

This recipe calls for using cookie mix that comes in a pouch plus a few more ingredients. Maybe cheating just a bit, but they were yummy and a whole lot quicker!  I made the recipe exactly as it is written except for I had some Reese's Pieces on hand, so I added them too! One person who reviewed the recipe mentioned adding peanut butter chips. That sounds yummy too! 

Ingredients: 

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs

2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate candies


Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir all ingredients except candies until soft dough forms. Stir in candies.

On ungreased cookie sheets, place about 1/4 cupfuls (very large cookies!) dough about 3 inches apart.

Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. Store in covered container at room temperature

*(To make 36 smaller cookies, place 2 heaping tablespoonfuls dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes)

 

  These cookies are completey low in calorie and fat, NOT! But oh so yummy!

Lemonade Cake

I am always looking for a new recipe to try. Unfortunately for my waistline, I tend to be drawn to dessert recipes!  I happened upon this recipe the other day and just had to try it.

Back Many years ago a friend's mom would make a cake very similar to this for our church home group. I do not remember her putting icing on it though. I just remember the moist lemon cake that I just loved!

Lemonade seems to always go with Summer, so if you enjoy lemonade, you should try this yummy cake! I do recommend a light fluffy icing to go with it. When I made it, I used a buttercream frosting. I believe a lighter, fluffier icing would go better.

I found this recipe here and it originated from here.

Picture Credit

Ingredients:

1 box lemon or yellow cake mix

 
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box


1 can (6 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

 
3/4 cup powdered sugar

 
1 container Whipped fluffy white or fluffy lemon frosting ( I ended up using a buttercream frosting.)

 
Yellow colored sugar, if desired    


Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Make cake as directed on box for 13×9-inch pan. Cool 15 minutes.

2. Mix lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar. Pierce top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle lemonade mixture evenly over top of cake. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.

3. Spread frosting over top of cake. Sprinkle with sugar. Store covered in refrigerator.

While this recipe is very delicious, it did not seem to measure up to my friend's mom's version. Pam, if you happen to be reading this, please send me your Mom's recipe!

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Baking is something I have always enjoyed. I love to search for new recipes. Actually, I Love to read through cookbooks. A new cookbook would make an awesome gift for me, but no one seems to pay attention to that idea!

Anyway, the other day I needed to make a dessert for a function at church. I was looking for something I had never made before and preferably non-chocolate. I came across this recipe from Taste of Home that sounded yummy and easy enough to make. It is called Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars. I love Cheesecake and I Love Strawberries, so this sounded like a wonderful mix!

This seemed to be a hit. The kids are always complaining that I make things for church and we never have any at home. Since the majority of us did not attend the function at church, I made a batch for home.


This is a recipe that I recommend if you enjoy Cheesecake and Strawberries. The only thing I changed was I added sugar to the strawberries. I did not add a lot of sugar and it really could have used a little more. I used unsweetened frozen strawberries, but probably would just use the sweetened kind the next time.

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars Recipe


No-Stick Cooking Spray

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries, thawed  ( I recommend adding sugar or use sweetened frozen strawberries)

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 3/4 cups finely crushed cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup (4 tbsps.) butter, melted

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz.) can  Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 large eggs

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Blend strawberries in blender container until smooth. Transfer to saucepan; add cornstarch. Cook and stir until thickened. Cool.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl; press firmly into bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Pour over crust.

Drop strawberry mixture by spoonfuls over batter. Gently swirl with knife or spatula.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool. Chill. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 to 3 dozen bars.


I found this recipe here.



Enjoy!

Caramel Cake

I am still alive! Well, at least I think I am! The kids keep us pretty busy and something is always going on! As I look at the calendar, the next few months seem like they will be busier than ever! Blogging could be pretty sporadic!

The past 2 weekends have been JBQ and TBQ State competitions. I am proud to report that our kids did really well. Our JBQ A-League team (which includes Anna and Sammy) was in a 3 way tie for second place. So it ends up that they were 4th in the gold division. That was good enough for them to go on to Regionals! Anna came in 3rd place individually! She is pretty competitive and she has worked really hard! I should also mention her teammate Tyler came in fourth! They did so well, and we are so proud of them!


The B-League team also did really well. It is an all girl team and they came in first place in the silver division. Micah and Luke are in C-League and they did awesome too! They came in first place in the gold division. Luke worked harder at the end, so he answered more questions than he has before! I believe it has help to build his confidence! He got 8th place individually and was so excited to get a trophy!

Our TBQ teams did awesome too! Rebekah's team came in first and Rebekah got First place individually! This is her Senior year, so what a wonderful way to end her TBQ career! She will be going to Regionals next month with her team. Victoria's team came in second place! So Awesome! They too, will be going to Regionals!

Matthew is on the Middle School Team and they came in First in their division. His Team will be going to Regionals as well!

So, as you can see, there are some of the things that are on our upcoming agenda, not to mention the possibility of Anna and Sammy's team, Rebekah's team, and Victoria's team advancing to Nationals! I will also have to be running our kids to practices every week for our Church's Musical. There are actually 2 different musicals for 2 different age groups. I will have 3 kids in one and 4 in the other. Their practices are on different nights, so it will be a lot of transporting going on. The performances are in August with each group having two performances each. I would also like to fit in a trip to Virginia so that I can visit my Mom and the rest of my extended family.

To add to all of that, Rebekah and Josh will be starting College in the Fall. We will have to help them get ready for that and do all the necessary preparations! I personally find having older kids a bit more challenging than the little ones!

Recently Hubby celebrated his Birthday. I made his cake this year. He pretty much said that he would like any cake except chocolate. I scoured through recipes and decided on a Caramel Cake. Looking through so many recipes on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that most of the recipes were of a yellow cake with a Caramel Frosting. So, I decided to cheat just a little!

I used a yellow cake mix and mixed it up according to the directions and then stirred in some melted butterscotch chips. Originally I made a layered cake, but evidently left the cakes in the pans too long or something. When I tried to take them out, they were completely stuck! I had sprayed the pans with PAM, so that was not the problem. In the process of trying to get them out of the pans, one of the layers broke into pieces.

Yeah, so I mixed up 2 cake mixes and stirred in some melted butterscotch chips and poured it into a large pan. I am not sure of the dimensions, but it is a lot bigger than a 13x9 pan. I thought that since it was such a large cake that I probably should double the recipe for the Frosting. Well, in all actuality it probably wasn't needed. The Frosting was sort of like fudge and in the middle it was at least as thick as the cake! It was really yummy and the kids did not complain about too much Frosting! I wish I had taken pictures after it was cut so that you could see how thick the icing was!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Here is the Recipe for the Frosting!



Caramel Frosting From Scratch

2 sticks butter

2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup Pet's Evaporated Milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar



Melt butter and brown sugar and evaporated milk. Cook two minutes over medium heat (no longer than two minutes). Add vanilla. Remove immediately from heat. Add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.. Will frost a three layer cake!



I found this recipe here along with a cake recipe.



Warning: It will give you a major sugar rush!







Have a Great Weekend Everyone!

Better Than Anything? Cake

Here is the fourth and final recipe from this Birthday Post.


We call it  Better Than Anything Cake, but it has been called a variety of names.  You can do a google search and find hundreds of different recipes for this cake. This is a very easy cake to make and pretty yummy too, However, I am not sure it lives up to its name!


 Here is the recipe I used. You can also find it here.


Better Than Anything Cake


Ingredients:

1 German chocolate cake mix ( I used a Dark Chocolate Cake Mix)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

caramel topping

12 ounces Cool Whip

3 heath bars, crushed ( I buy a bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee bits that are located in the baking aisle near where they sell chocolate chips, not all stores carry these)


Directions:
Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. After 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Continue baking until cake is done.

While cake is still hot, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon. Pour sweetened condensed milk over cake; let cool. Top with caramel sauce, then whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy bars.

Here is Josh with the Better Than Anything Cake. I doubled the recipe and baked in a larger pan.

Now on to prepare for Jesus' Birthday!

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake

The next recipe that I will share from this Birthday Post, is the Chocolate Mint Layer Cake. I originally made this cake back a few years ago for Josh's Birthday. The Recipe for the mint filling calls for green food coloring. I told Josh he could pick any color he wanted. Back then his favorite color was orange, so we had orange mint filling!  (A little strange I know!)

I cannot find a picture of Josh's cake, but here is Sammy's. Yellow is Sammy's favorite color, so I decorated his cake with yellow M&M's and the filling is what else .......  Yellow!  Sorry, I did not take a picture after cutting it, so you cannot see the filling. I cheated this time while making this cake, Instead of following the recipe for the cake part, I used a chocolate fudge boxed cake mix and then continued with the rest of the recipe. It turned out great!

Sammy

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake



Ingredients:


1/2 cup butter, softened

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING:


1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 to 4 drops green food coloring, optional (or color of your choice!)



ICING:

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon Spice Island® Pure Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar



Directions:

Line two greased 9-in. round baking pans with waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Combine milk and water. combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture.

Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and extract; beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in food coloring if desired. Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with filling. top with second cake.

For icing, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chips and butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Beat in evaporated milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Frost and decorate cake. Chill 2 hours before slicing. Yield: 12 servings

I found this recipe from Taste of Home and can be found here.

 
Here is their picture:

Picture Credit

Blueberry Pound Cake

The next Birthday Cake recipe I am going to share with you from this post is Blueberry Pound Cake. I originally found this recipe in the Cooking Light Magazine several years ago. I wrote down the recipe on an index card and eventually lost the magazine. I now see that this recipe was published in 1998.

My oldest son Jeremy has always been fond of this cake. He has requested it several times. He even learned to make it himself. He actually asked me to make it for his birthday last year, but I was rushed for time, so I talked him into me buying him a store-bought cake. I told him I would make it when life wasn't so busy. Time got away from me, so when I thought about it again, I could not find fresh blueberries. I never did make that cake.

Fast Forward to this year and we were out of town for his Birthday. His Birthday is in August and we finally coordinated our schedules for early November. Well, early November is not exactly the best time to find fresh blueberries! I decided to go ahead and use frozen. The frozen work really well too and this cake is light and delicious!


Blueberry Pound Cake


Ingredients:


2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup light butter
1/2 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened (sometimes I use regular cream cheese)

3 large eggs

1 large egg white
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (8-ounce) carton lemon low-fat yogurt ( I use whatever lemon yogurt I can find)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cooking spray

1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 5 minutes).

 Add eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

 Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.

 Combine 2 tablespoons flour and blueberries in a small bowl, and toss well.

Combine remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

 Fold in blueberry mixture and vanilla; pour cake batter into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooking spray.

 Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool cake in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; drizzle over warm cake. Cut with a serrated knife.

You can also find this recipe here.

The finished product