Strawberries & Cream

A Fabulous Family Favorite!
We used to wait all year for the few weeks that our local cupcake shop would sell this delicious treat. It is just too hard so we created our own recipe and LOVE enjoying it at home.

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs fresh strawberries
- 3 cups Half & Half
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
- cut tops off strawberries and slice or dice
(I use my Ninja to get quick even slices)
- pour half & half in blender while adding sugar in stages as you whip it together.
- Combine in a large bowl and enjoy

Substitutes:
-Sliced peaches, other berries are also divine
- If you use frozen fruit in the blender with the milk and sugar mix, you create a soft icecream.

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows for Christmas treats

This is something I started about five years ago and it has always been a huge hit.  I use the large marshmallows with plastic forked picks, straight ones are a little harder to keep a good hold on the marshmallow but are ok.  One year I tried the huge campfire roasting marshmallows and used a popsicle stick.  They were enormous and fun but I prefer the standard ones.

What you will need:
- trays
- wax paper
- forked tooth picks
- double boiler (or two pans of different sizes that have the same effect)
- chocolate chips or melting chocolate
- marshmallows
- toppings of your choice

Preparation:
- line the trays with wax paper
- place the marshmallows standing up on one tray and push the picks in all the way to the bottom
- prepare several saucers with the toppings you wish to roll the chocolate covered marshmallows in,
  Suggestions:
  Chocolate = use hot chocolate mix
  Chocolate Orange = use Tang powder, this has quite a punch and tastes great
  Smore = use graham cracker crumbs
  Cinnamon = sprinkle with cinnamon sparingly, or you can use cinnamon candy bits
  Chocolate Mint = use crushed peppermint candy pieces or chocolate mint hot cocoa mix
  Chocolate Nut = use diced nuts, pecans/walnuts/peanuts/etc...
  Sprinkle = any sprinkles you would like, we use holiday ones to be festive
  *anything else you can think of that would taste good and adhere to the melted chocolate
- place your melting chocolate in the double boiler on med/low to melt the chocolate
  I suggest reading up on how to properly temper chocolate, too hot too fast too long can all cause problems.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_evlqvYZOM

 Rolling the Marshmallows:
- Using a spatula, scoop up some chocolate
- Holding the stick, roll the marshmallow in the chocolate on the spatula until the sides are coated
- Dip in the chocolate to cover the bottom and use the spatula to drop enough chocolate to cover the top
(If your chocolate is deep enough you could dip the entire marshmallow, but the weight may pull it right off the stick)
- Next, roll (don't slide) the dipped marshmallow in the topping
  For heavier toppings, like nuts and sprinkles, I only coat two opposite sides by laying one side down at a time on the dish
- Set on a tray with wax paper to cool and dry, it takes an hour or two

Now they are ready to eat or to bag up and give away as Christmas Treats!  Enjoy!


                     

BYU Brownies--And More!

The most commonly requested recipe at BYU among its alumni is for its mint brownies. BYU Alumni is providing it, along with three other university favorites.

Bon Appetit!

Note: Many ingredients are listed in ounces. A cup contains eight ounces.

BYU Brownies
1 cup butter or margarine
½ cup cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: Melt butter.  Add cocoa and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased 9X13 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Let cool then ice with mint icing.  Place into freezer for 5-10 minutes to stiffen the icing.
Remove from freezer and carefully smooth on a layer of chocolate icing.

Mint Icing
12 oz. powdered sugar
2 ½ oz. Crisco shortening
Dash of salt
2 oz. cold water
½ tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Directions:  Combine all ingredients except shortening.  Mix until smooth.  Add shortening and mix 10 more minutes until smooth and fluffy.

Chocolate Icing
12 oz. powdered sugar
1.5 oz. hot water
1.5 oz butter or margarine
1.5 oz. melted chocolate chips
1 tablespoon corn syrup
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Mix the hot water, margarine, and powdered sugar until smooth and margarine is fully melted.  Add the fudge base, corn syrup, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.

 Chocolate Road Bars
11 oz. butter
3.5 oz. cocoa paste
3 ½  cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3 cups chopped walnuts
5 oz. miniature marshmallows

Directions:  melt butter and stir in the cocoa paste.  Whip eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until very light and fluffy and fold in the cocoa past mixture.  Fold in the flour by hand until texture is smooth and consistent.  Pour into greased half sheet pan.  Sprinkle walnut pieces, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips over the batter evenly.  Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes, they turn up the heat to 350 degrees for another 20 to 25 minutes.

Cherry Chews
1.5 lbs. granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
12 oz. egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla
14 oz. cake flour
8 oz. shortening
4 oz. butter or margarine
1 ¼ cups chopped walnuts
6 oz. red glazed cherries (can substitute drained maraschino cherries patted dry)

Directions:  Melt the shortening and margarine; set aside for later.  Beat sugar, salt, egg whites, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Add the shortening and margarine and mix until smooth.  Add the flour and mix until just incorporated.  Add the cherries and nuts to the mix, mixing just until combined.  Pour into greased half sheet pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  

Pumpkin Crumble 
2.5 lbs. white cake mix
12 oz butter or margarine
2 cups chopped walnuts
3 lbs canned pumpkin
5 eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
15 oz. evaporated milk

Directions:  mix the cake mix and the margarine until crumbly.  Be very careful not to over mix.
Divide the crumb mixture in half.  Press one half into the bottom of a greased 2 inch buffet pan.
Add the chopped walnuts to the remaining half and set it aside for later.  Mix the pumpkin with the eggs, sugar, spice, and evaporated milk.  Pour the pumpkin mixture over the flattened crumb mixture in the pan.  Sprinkle the remaining crumb/ nut mixture over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until the pumpkin mixture is firm.

Buttercream Frosting

This frosting is a big hit with Everyone!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter, mix with beaters until VERY smooth
- 2 cups powdered sugar, slowly blend into butter making it very smooth and fluffy
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt, blend in to taste (Note: 1/4 enhances flavor, 1/2 you can taste the salt)
- 1 tsp. vanilla, blend in until very smooth again
- Add up to 4 T milk and up to 2 more cups powdered sugar adding alternately and a little at a time until the consistency you want

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
Prepare as above, then
- Mix in 2-4 T cocoa powder to taste.
- To thin add 1 to 2 T milk

Tip: When working with frosting, if you need it stiffer but not thicker, refrigerate for an hour or so and then pipe or frost. If you need it less stiff, just stir until the consistency you want or you can even microwave it for a few seconds before stirring.

Tombstone Cookies for Halloween

I attended a Halloween party recently and was asked to bring a dessert. Late the night before I was searching the Internet for Halloween themed ideas and found several that I liked but nothing that I had all the ingredients for. I didn't have any time to shop so I had to come up with something else.

I made a "Haunted Graveyard" using No Bake Oatmeal Cookies shaped and decorated like tombstones.

Here is the recipe I like (It doesn't use any peanut butter).

No Bake Oatmeal Cookies:

In a pot put,

- 2 cups sugar

- 1/2 cup butter

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1/3 cup cocoa powder

-Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly

- Boil for only 3 minutes, stirring constantly

- Remove from heat

- Stir in 3 cups Quick Oats

- Using two spoons to scoop and drop mix onto wax paper in the shape of an oval or rectangle

- Shape each one with the spoons as you drop them by arching the top and flattening the bottom
- Now let them cool

Tip: You will need to move quickly so they don't harden too much to shape. If you want to do a double batch, Either get help when you form them or make the batches separately so you will have enough time.

While they are cooling, prepare your frosting (or just use premade frosting)

I made Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Buttercream.

Tip: To make it chocolate I just made the vanilla and then added cocoa powder until it was the flavor that I wanted. If it is too thick, add a tad more milk.

Tip: To pipe frosting without the piping equipment, simply put some frosting in a Ziploc bag and squish it into one corner at the bottom. Then snip (a very small section) the corner off with scissors and start squeezing the bag to force the frosting out the opening.

Piping:

When the cookies have cooled, turn them over and pipe onto the flat side. You can pipe an outline of the tombstone if you choose, I did this on some of them and letters I could fit 4 characters across max, but that depends on the size of your piping bag hole.

Here are some ideas,

- C. U. Soon

- U. R. Next

- U. R. DEAD

- RIP

- FRED DED

- WHY TRY

- I. CRY

- I. M. DED

- NO MO

After piping, place the cookies on a baking a sheet and put them in the fridge to set the frosting

Display as a Haunted Graveyard:

I placed the headstones at an angle in lines in a baking dish.

-First I melted Crunch bars and rubbed it on the bottom of the dish.

- Then I dusted it with cocoa powder

- Using the Chocolate Buttercream I adhered the cookies to the bottom. This worked pretty well, but it did take a lot of frosting to keep them in place.

It may be easier to just make a large cake, frost it with the chocolate buttercream, push the cookies down into the cake, sprinkle with chocolate rice crispies and dust with cocoa powder. Everyone gets more dessert this way as well.

You can also add gummy worms and bugs, plastic spiders and bugs, or if you are even more ambitious and happen to have an at home cotton candy machine (I do), you can spin plain white sugar and make edible cobwebs.

Have Fun!

Peanut Butter Cups

Ok, so I made Peanut Butter Balls today rather than cups. I was in a hurry and it was much faster than using the molds I have. None the less, I like to call them peanut butter cups.
This recipe uses the peanut butter cup filling recipe I posted earlier.

This recipe takes only four ingredients:
- creamy peanut butter
- butter
- powdered sugar
- chocolate chips

Tip:
If you don't have a double boiler (like me) to melt your chocolate in, just use two pans that slightly vary in size. Put your water in the bottom pan, Rest the tip of the smaller on the side(s) of the larger and Shazaam, you have your double boiler.

Tip: Once my chocolate has melted, I throw a few new pieces to the side in the pan to start warming up. They will be ready to use once I am ready for more and I don't need to keep waiting for the chocolate to melt. I only use a small amount of melted chocolate at a time to prevent scalding and drying of the chocolate but with this method I also always have a ready supply.

Peanut Butter Cups:

- Prepare the peanut butter cup filling and let it chill in the fridge for an hour or so to stiffen
- Melt the chocolate pieces (I use chocolate chips) in a double boiler
- Roll the filling into walnut sized balls while you wait for the chocolate to warm
- Drop one ball at a time into the chocolate and roll it with a spoon until covered
- Place it on wax paper to cool
- Repeat until all the balls have a thick coating of chocolate
- You can leave them out to set or place them in the fridge
- Once the chocolate has hardened, your Done!

These are delectable!

Frosting Tip

I just found this frosting tip on line.
I will try it the next time I make frosting.

Tip: If you add a pinch of baking powder to powdered sugar when making frosting, it will stay creamy and not harden or crack.

I am on a quest to find/create the perfect frosting recipes. I am picky when it comes to frosting. I don't like it when it tastes like powdered sugar or like lard. I think the peanut butter recipe I posted is perfect. I have tweaked a butter cream frosting recipe to almost perfect and I am working on a chocolate recipe. I will post them when I think they are just right. This tip may become a regular ingredient in my recipes if it works well.

"Old or Bruised Apples" Tip

So, I tried this recipe posted by my sister earlier:
Old or Bruised Apples
Wow, it is delicious!

Tip:
Instead of going the way of apple sauce, however, I thickened up the juice with some corn starch and left the apple chunks as they were and it made a wonderful pie filling. You could top ice cream with it, cheese cake, cake or eat it as it is. It was wonderful.

- Once you have followed the steps in the previous post linked to above:
- Wait until the apples are as tender as you want them to be first
- mix 1T cornstarch with 1T cold water in a small bowl
- Stir this mix into the crock pot with the apples
- Cook for about 10 or so minutes more until thickened

Your Done!
An easy delicious treat.

FROSTING

I have two wonderful frosting recipes for you!

Peanut Butter Frosting

- 1/2 c softened butter
- 1 c creamy peanut butter
- cream together with beaters until smooth
- 2c powdered sugar, mix in with beaters

Now, this makes a thick mix perfect for filling homemade peanut butter cups.

- blend in 2T milk for a thick yet spreadable peanut butter frosting
OR
- blend in 4 T milk for a thin spreadable peanut butter frosting

If you want a sweeter frosting and greater yield,
- add up to 2c more of powdered sugar and
- enough milk for the desired consistency


Cinnamon Roll Frosting

- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2T water
- Mix together with beaters

This makes a wonderfully thick and delicious frosting! It reminds me of Cinnabon.
Have Fun!

Toffee - A Holiday Favorite

My family has a few special desserts that we make during the Holidays. I love baking these festive treats. It brings back memories and makes new ones with my own family.

We never used a candy thermometer so cook time is based on color =)

- prepare a foil covered baking sheet
- sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)
- in a medium sauce pan, combine 1 c sugar, 3/4 c butter (1.5 sticks), 1/2 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt.
- stir over medium heat continually until boiling.
- keep stirring until mix is the color of peanut butter (this is the final stage just before it burns)
- pour onto the baking sheet
- top with 1+ cups of chocolate chips
- the chips will soon melt and you can easily spread the chocolate over the entire surface of the candy with a spoon or spatula

TIP, when using a regular pan (not non-stick) be sure to not scrape the bottom and sides while stirring. This will keep the crystallized sugar from mixing with the smooth melted sugar in the middle. After pouring out the mix, don't scrape what has stuck to the sides onto the same pan.

TIP, I usually put a jar of peanut butter on the stove while I stir to see when to stop cooking.

You can view more images on this site. Her recipe is a little different, but the images are consistent with how we make our English Toffee. This site also says the Toffee should be cooked to 300 degrees. http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/08/national-english-toffee-day

Measuring Marshmallows

- 1 Regular Marshmallow = 10-13 Miniature Marshmallows

- 1 cup Mini Marshmallows = 10 Regular Marshmallows

- 8 Regular Marshmallows = 1 cup

- 16 oz bag Miniature = 8 cups

- 10.5 oz bag Miniature = 5-1/2 cups

- 50 Miniature Marshmallows = 1/2 cup Miniature Marshmallows

- 5 Regular Marshmallows = 1/2 cup

- 64 Regular Marshmallows = 16 oz bag

- 1 cup marshmallow cream = 16 large or 160 miniature marshmallows + 2 tsp corn syrup melted in the top of a double boiler.

- 2 cups of Marshmallow Fluff = a 7.5 oz container

(some of this is from Kraftfoods.com)

Soft Brown Sugar

This is a method I have used a few times and it works like magic, although I need to think of it a day ahead.
If your brown sugar has hardened:

- Put a slice of bread in the container or bag with it for a day

The next day the bread will be hard and the sugar will be soft and good as new!

If anyone knows of a faster method, please share.