Snickerdoodle. Blondies

I love snickerdoodles. I always have. But it seems like so much trouble to make them! You can't just whip them up in a second and that bugs me. So I found these. They are DELICIOUS!! It's a snickerdoodle in a bar. Dare I say they are better than the actual cookie?? You basically make the dough, put it in a pan and then douse it in cinnamon sugar. They were SO scrumptious that they left us all wishing I would have doubled the recipe...so that would be my only suggestion...DOUBLE IT!!! You will regret it if you don't!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 cup flour
1 T sugar + 1 t ground cinnamon (I doubled this also...you want it good and covered in sugar:))

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil (I just sprayed it with cooking spray...they popped right out after I baked them.)

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in salt, egg and vanilla until well combined. Add in flour and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour dough – it will be thick – into prepared baking dish and smooth it into an even layer.
Stir together remaining 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle dough evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bars are set and the edges are just very lightly browned. Cool in the pan before slicing.

*From Baking Bites

Blueberry Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Talk about the ultimate summer dessert! This is refreshing, light and delicious. I had a huge container full of home-grown blueberries from our friend down the road and wanted to find a way to use them up. Lemon and blueberries just go so perfect together! And with the cream cheese frosting with just a hint of lemon finishes it off a wonderful, refreshing bang. I took it to a family party and everyone was raving about the moistness of the cake and merriment of flavors. It was gone as fast as I put it out. Try it and you won't regret it!

Cake:
2 cups plus 6 T cake flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup milk
2 t vanilla
2 t lemon rind
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs

Frosting:
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 t lemon rind
1 t vanilla
3 t lemon juice
1 t lemon rind for garnish

Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans (I just did this in a 9x13 pan and it worked out perfect.) If using cake pans, butter them, line with parchment paper and then dust with flour.

Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Transfer 1 T of the flour mixture to a large bowl. Add fresh blueberries and toss to coat. Set aside.

Stir milk, vanilla and grated lemon rind in a small bowl. using a mixer, beat butter until light and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy
Beat in eggs 1 at a time until well blended.

Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture in 3 additions each, until just blended. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter equally among pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (about 35-40 minutes for a 9x13).

Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes and then turn cakes out on racks to cool completely (or just take it out and let cool completely in 9x13 pan).

Frosting Directions:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in lemon peal, lemon juice and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until just firm enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

You can either assemble a layered round cake or just frost your 9x13 pan. Garnish with remaining lemon rind. Enjoy the flavors of Summer!!!

*Adapted from food.com

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Found these on Lick the Bowl Good and almost DIED!!! They are SO awesome! I had a slew of kids over here one day and whipped these up in no time and they ate them ALL right down to the last crumb. My mom, Justin and I also enjoyed quite a few:) They are delicious and the perfect kid-size meal.

3/4 cup flour
3/4 t baking powder
1 T Italian seasoning
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup chopped pepperoni
1/2 cup pizza sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24 cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and Italian seasoning; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

NOTE: All my batter did not fit into the 24-mini muffin pan. So I made a full size muffin or 2 with the leftover batter. Some pans are larger than others so you may not have have an issue.

* From Lick the Bowl Good

Mexican Casserole

This is a gem I found in the Highland 23rd Ward Cookbook. Oh how I LOVE ward cookbooks!! This is such an awesome find. It can go as a full-on casserole or a base for other delicious dishes. Originally it says to top with Frito chips and cheese. You can leave it at that and just serve the casserole on it's own or you can make the basic casserole and eat it as burritos, use it for the filling in enchiladas, navajo tacos, or just a side dish. The possibilities are endless. I even used leftovers...plopped them in a smaller pan, topped it with cheese, threw it in the oven for about 15 minutes and had an instant dish for a potluck dinner. Love it and SO delicious!

1 (4oz) can diced green chilies
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (14oz) can stewed Mexican tomatoes, diced with juice
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 medium onion, diced
1 (4oz) can chopped black olives
2 cups UNCOOKED white rice
1 packet taco seasoning
4 cups cubed, UNCOOKED chicken
1 (14.5oz) can chicken broth
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter cut into small pieces

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together green chilies, cheese, tomatoes, onion, olives and uncooked rice. Add taco seasoning, chicken and chicken broth. Stir until well combined. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle top evenly with cold butter pieces. Cover tightly with heavy duty tin foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Optional for Casserole:
Remove from oven, remove foil, sprinkle with Frito chips and 2 cups Mexican cheese. Don't cover. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

I was getting the 3rd degree around here for not making a chocolate dessert lately...so I knew this would do the trick! This cake is the definition of chocolate. If you are a chocoholic, you should look no further. This original cake recipe calls for a ganache topping, but I was feeling like I wanted a sweeter topping since the cake was so dense and dark. So I opted to top it with a hot fudge sauce. You can definitely just either make the ganache or buy a jar of hot fudge sauce from the store if you're in a time crunch...but I DEFINITELY recommend making this homemade hot fudge! This hot fudge has to be THE BEST I've ever had...no more jars for me - perfect on this cake and then we used the leftover for ice cream sundaes on 4th of July. Perfection.

For the cake:
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
20 T (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
5 eggs
4 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the Bundt Cake Pan and dust with cocoa powder; tap out the excess.

To make the cake, in a bowl, combine the 1 cup cocoa powder and the 1 cup chocolate chips. Add the boiling water and whisk until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and blended. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 30 to 45 seconds. Reduce the speed to low, add the brown sugar and beat until blended. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated before adding more and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour, beating just until blended and no lumps of flour remain. Slowly pour in the chocolate-cocoa mixture and beat until no white streaks are visible, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are about 1 inch higher than the center. (This made way more batter than could fit inside my bundt pan, so I made another small bread pan full of batter.)Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached to it, 60 to 65 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Let the cake cool completely, at least 1 hour.

Hot Fudge Sauce:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups sugar

1 (12oz) can evaporated milk

1 t vanilla

Combine butter, cocoa powder, sugar and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, or until very thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Carefully pour hot mixture into a blender and blend for 2-4 minutes (to make thicker.)

Pour over cooled bundt cake letting it drizzle over the sides

Top with crushed candy bar of your choice (I always choose Symphony with Almonds and Toffee)

Enjoy!!!

*Cake recipe adapted from Lick the Bowl Good

*Hot Fudge recipe from allrecipes.com

Spicy Turkey Meatballs

Now, now. Don't start freaking out because I mentioned the word "turkey" right next to meatballs. You have no idea what you're missing. My mom introduced me to these. She said "let's make these turkey meatballs" and I seriously thought...no thanks, but we made them anyway. As we were mixing the meat and spices I was thinking they were going to be bland, dry and gross. Boy was I wrong. These were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I LOVED them! They were tender, flavorful and juicy....and healthy. Go figure. We made a double batch and froze half of them for future quick dinners. Genius. Give them a try...especially with the spaghetti and white sauce with smoked Gouda cheese - absolutely delicious!

Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 eggs (you can just use egg whites here as a healthier option - just add 1 T skim milk with them)
2 t chili powder
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (you can use ground up garbanzo beans here for a healthier option)
1 T dried parsley
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt

1 lb spaghetti (use whole wheat pasta here for a healthier option)
1 8oz package low fat cream cheese
2 cups milk
4 oz smoked Gouda cheese, grated

For the meatballs, mix all ingredients together and form into 1-1 1/2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. In a large skillet or large saucepan, melt cream cheese over low heat. After melted, add milk and whisk until smooth, bubbly and thick. Add half of the cheese to the mixture and stir until melted. Add spaghetti to the sauce. Plate spaghetti topped with meatballs and extra Gouda cheese.

*We also made a marinara sauce (for my dad...the baby) and it was ABSOLUTELY delicious mixing the red sauce with the white!! Try it...you won't be disappointed.

Butterfinger Cookies

Butterfinger has to be one of my favorite candy bars of all time. So, naturally, when I found this recipe I knew we were meant for each other! It has the beautiful taste of a peanut butter cookie with the crispity crunch of the Butterfinger chunks. And...some chunks caramelized and became ooey, gooey goodness. If you like peanut butter cookies, THESE are the cookies for you! When you first bake them they might seem like they are underdone and extremely soft, but don't fetter...after they cool they firm up.

1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 stick butter
4 eggs
3 running over teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
20 ounces Butterfingers, chopped up into large chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla in mixer. Add peanut butter and mix. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and mix until blended. Fold in Butterfingers.

Bake on greased cookie sheet for about 9-12 minutes (I cooked them the full 12 minutes in my oven.)

* From Confessions of a Cookbook Queen...by the way my new favorite dessert site...you are going to probably be seeing A LOT of desserts from this one!

4th of July Cake

Such a simple, light and delicious cake! Happy 4th!

1 French Vanilla box cake mix
1 recipe cream cheese frosting (found here)
1 tub whipped cream
raspberries
blueberries
1 strawberry
Red and Blue food coloring gels

Mix cake according to package directions. Divide batter in half. Color one bowl full of batter red and the other blue. Pour into 2 prepared 8 inch round cake pans. Bake according to package directions.

Make cream cheese frosting according to recipe above. Fold in whipped cream to make a light and fluffy frosting. Layer cooled cakes with frosting and then frost entire cake. Garnish with berries. Enjoy your holiday!!!