Chewy Caramel Popcorn

Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes. Really quick and easy to make, tried it for the first time this year and ended up making a ton of batches! 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 bag of microwave popcorn, popped

PREPARATION:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. 
2. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.
3.  Bring to a boil stirring constantly. As soon as first bubbles appear, allow mixture to boil for 3 minutes without stirring. 
4. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat. 
5. Spread out on lined cookie sheet, breaking apart into smaller pieces as you go and allow to cool. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Made this for the first time last year for Thanksgiving, and it was awesome! Plan to make this a tradition, liked it even more than regular pumpkin pie. Found it originally here, but there are so many different versions there decided to put it here for quick reference :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9") prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping thawed (Optional)

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust. 
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 min., or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover w/ whipped topping before serving. 

Oreo Truffles

Seriously quick and easy dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg of OREO's (15.5 oz.)
• 1 pkg of cream cheese (8 oz.)
• 2 pkg BAKER's semi-sweet chocolate. melted (16 oz. total)

PREPARATION:

1. Crush entire package of OREO's. (Reserve about a cup of crushed cookie crumbs to use as topping for finished truffles.)
2. Combine remaining cookie crumbs with cream cheese. Mix until well blended.
3. Form mixture into 1" balls.
4. Dip into melted chocolate and sprinkle tops with reserved cookie crumbs.
5. Refrigerate until firm, approximately 1 hour. Store in airtight container in fridge. 

Brownies

So this is a recipe I originally found on allrecipes.com and it is perfect for when you are craving just a little something and you really don't want to make a big batch. They are super quick to whip up and they are perfect for baking up in a toaster oven which is what I usually do. I love that I can just heat up something small instead of a large oven - it makes me feel like I'm cooking in a little Easy-Bake-Oven, ha! Also, when I went searching for Brownie recipes a lot of them called for actual baking chocolate you had to melt down first, which I never have on hand. For this recipe all you need is cocoa powder for the chocolatey flavor, which I always have, so it really is perfect and easy to do. The original recipe calls for a frosting/topping you can do, but I usually just leave them without, they really don't need anything extra. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder. 

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8" square pan. 
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not overcook. 

Char's Hot Fudge Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3-4 heaping tablespoons of unsweetened powder cocoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 small can or 1/2 large can of evaporated milk
• 1 tsp of vanilla

PREPARATION:

Melt first 2 ingredients together, mix thoroughly. Add next three ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer until mixture reaches soft ball stage. Test in a glass of ice water. I usually stop before I get to this point. I just let it simmer stirring almost constantly for 5-7 min. After fudge reaches soft ball stage remove from heat and add vanilla. Keeps in fridge for a couple weeks.

Pineapple Buns!

Originally Posted By Ez: So these were a great treat from the Chinese bakery shops in Brooklyn. Someone found a link for this recipe, so I'm just posting it here. Enjoy!

http://chowtimes.com/2008/04/28/pineapple-bun/

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 Tbsp flour
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 3 Tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 small splash of vanilla extract
• 1 large coffee mug (microwave safe)

PREPARATION:

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
Enjoy!

Lemon Bars

INGREDIENTS:
Crust:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups flour
• dash salt

Filling:

• 4 eggs beaten
• 6 Tbsp lemon juice or juice from 3 lemons
  
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup flour or 5 Tbsp
  

PREPARATION: 

Crust-Mix all ingredients together and bake in oven at 350F for 15 min. or until golden brown. Set aside and let cool.

Filling-Whisk flour and sugar together. Incorporate eggs and lemon juice into flour and sugar mixture. Pour over cooled crust and bake in oven at 350F for 25 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Candy Cane Frosting Cake

Mom's Note: I usually mix the gelatin into the crushed candy canes and do not use the water. As you know there is no chocolate syrup in our cake. It's kind of expensive! :0)

INGREDIENTS:

• Angel Food Cake
• 3 tsp gelatin
• 3 tsp water
• 6 candy canes crushed in blender
• 1/2 cup milk
• 500 ml whipping cream
• 1/2 cup chocolate syrup

PREPARATION:

1. In small bowl mix gelatin and water.
2. Melt candy canes in milk. Be careful--too much heat curdles milk.
3. Mix water and milk. Let gel in fridge until just slight set.
4. Whip cream until stiff and gently fold gelatin mixture in.
5. Slice cake in 3 layers, drizzle syrup over layers and reassemble.
6. Frost the cake.

Butter Tart Bars

INGREDIENTS:

• 11/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbp icing sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 11/2 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup butter melted
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup chopped nuts
  
• 1 cup raisins
  

PREPARATION:

• Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter.
• Press into 9” square pan. Bake 10 min. at 350.
• Beat eggs, add sugar, butter, vinegar, vanilla, raisins and nuts.
• Spread over base.
• Bake for 30-35 min. or until set.

Mom's Note: For nuts I use pecans and put more than 1/2 cup in. One and a half batches will fill a 9x13 pan