Pumpkin Bars

I realize it's summer, but I also realize there may be other women like me who love autumn and all things smelling like pumpkin spice. Pumpkin bars are like chocolate chip cookies to me. They have to be absolutely perfect or they're no good at all. And I've finally found the perfect recipe!!




Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
4 eggs, lightly beaten
15 oz. can pumpkin
1 c. vegetable oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Stir in eggs, pumpkin and oil until combined. Pour batter into un-greased 15"x10"x1" baking pan, spreading evenly. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 2 hours.


Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
4-6 c. powdered sugar

Instructions
Cream butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl. Add vanilla and gradually add powdered sugar.

No-Bake Cookies

This has been such a tough winter for our family's health. We've seen the flu, another two week long stomach bug, bronchitis, sinus infections, and colds. Lots of movies have been watched, lots of pajama days had, and lots of cookies made. Making cookies comforts me almost as much as eating them does. Here is one of my favorite recipes that I've been making for over a decade, and people have been asking me to make for just as long. It was a recipe found in my mom's never ending recipe box, the card tattered and yellowed from use. No-bake cookies are perfect for those days you're in a cookie making mood, but don't feel like dealing with the scooping and/or rolling of the dough, being stuck next to the oven for a couple hours, and tons of dishes. No mixer or baking sheet required!

Step 1: On medium heat, mix the following in large pan. Cook until it starts to boil. (I always melt the butter before adding the other ingredients.)
1/4 lb. butter
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk

Step 2: Remove from heat. Cool for 1 minute.

Step 3: Add the following ingredients:
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pinch salt
1/2 c. peanut butter
3 c. quick cooking oats

Step 4: Stir well.

Step 5: Drop by tablespoon onto wax paper.

Cut-Out Cookies

While this may be a little late for Christmas, you can use the recipe with any shape of cookie cutters, and they will still be amazing. I've tried lots of different cut-out cookie recipes  but had never found one that didn't taste too bland or dry. So I sent out a plea on Facebook and received a few different recipes. After a couple fails (I wonder if I'm just too picky?), we found a winner! Thanks to a friend sharing a family recipe, I now have an amazing cut-out recipe! Soft, fluffy, and not too dry. Sadly I never got a shot of the finished cookies, but trust me when I say they looked and tasted perfect!

Mix to crumbs in mixer:
1 cups Crisco
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

In a separate bowl, mix together and add to flour mixture:
2 eggs
4 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cups sugar

Chill in covered bowl in refrigerator at least two hours.

Sprinkle counter and rolling pin with flour, roll to desired thickness, and get to work with those cookie cutters. Place cookies on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 - 10 minutes. (Don't wait for them to turn brown to take them out - you'll end up with crunchy cookies.) Let cool on the baking sheet a couple minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Confession: I NEVER make icing. I always use Pillsbury vanilla to frost my sugar cookies. Recipes for icing always say "4-6 cups powdered sugar" and I just about pass out when I can't measure something perfectly. And in the past, when I have actually tried, it has never tasted quite as good as Pillsbury. Apparently, they know exactly how much powdered sugar goes into icing, but I guess they're not telling!

Pizza Bites

Here's another family friendly recipe that I'm pretty sure will be a favorite with everyone!
Ingredients:
Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
jar pizza sauce
package of pepperonis (1 per each pizza bite)
block of Colby cheese
egg
grated Parmesan cheese
garlic powder
Italian seasoning

I know I didn't put quantities for the ingredients, but I've made these a few different times, always changing something and they always turn out just fine. (Also, if you don't want a ton of bites, just use one tube of biscuits, which has 10 biscuits in it.) As far as the sauce, cheese, and seasonings, I think it's really a matter of taste. But here's what I do: Cut the block of cheese into cubes - mine are about 1 cm cubes. Take one biscuit and flatten it into a circle. Place a pepperoni in the middle, put a little sauce on the pepperoni, then add a cube of cheese. Bring up the edges of the biscuit, pinching it shut. Place into a greased 9 x 13 pan (with the smooth part of the biscuit on top). Once biscuits are completed, beat egg and brush over biscuits. Then sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and Italian seasoning over the biscuits to taste. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

Funfetti Cake Batter Cookies

Looking for something to cure your sweet tooth cravings? Try these cookies! I found the recipe here. This is like a sugar cookie meets a piece of cake. They are light and fluffy, yet rich at the same time. So good! (Also, baking these cookies makes your house smell like a bakery - amazing!) This is her recipe:

Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix (18.25 oz. box)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix and baking powder. Separately, mix eggs, oil and vanilla. Add to cake mixture. Stir in sprinkles and drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack to completely cool.

My notes: Cut the sprinkles a little bit! 1 cup made the dough crumbly and very hard to scoop - it was also just SO much sugar. The second batch I made only had 3/4 c. sprinkles and it worked perfectly, tasting just as delicious. Make sure to not bake longer than 10 minutes. The cookies don't change color (brown) as they cook, so they don't look "done" even when they are. Lastly, make sure the cookies are completely cooled before digging in. Since they're cake-cookies, they're really soft and crumbly right out of the oven. Then pour yourself an ice cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am a baker. I have never, nor will I ever claim to be a cook. However, there is something I refused to bake for the longest time: your basic chocolate chip cookie. Why? Because no matter how many recipes I've tried, and how many of those recipes I tweaked, I could never get that delicious cookie you imagine dissolving in your mouth, needing an ice cold glass of milk to go with it. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have now found it: a wonderful recipe for addictive chocolate chip cookies. Thank you Crisco!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 stick (or 3/4 cup) Crisco butter flavor all-vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

[actual recipe is for 3/4 cup chips and 3/4 cup mini chips - I changed it because I don't like too much chocolate]

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine brown sugar, shortening, milk and vanilla in large bow. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat egg into creamed mixture. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. [I do 10 minutes for my oven.] Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Beautiful as they go into the oven . . .



. . . and after they come out!