Marshmallow Popcorn

Marshmallow Popcorn


2 bags of microwave popcorn
3 cups of mini marshmallow
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
½ cup corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Mix popcorn and marshmallows together and set aside. Mix in heavy saucepan butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over popcorn and mix well. 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I got this recipe from Aunt Cathy, but I also found it here.   They are AWESOME.  Cathy makes them even better by making a thick(ish) lemon glaze to put on top.  So yum.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
Bake 9-11 mins. 

I make a glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice and put it in a ziplock and snip off the corner and squeeze a swirlly line of it on each cookie. YUM, Best Part!!!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

from melskitchencafe.com

Base:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

Caramel Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cups half-and-half or cream

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.

Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Michele made these sunday and I've probably eaten well over a dozen. They are amazing!!! She added the toffee bits to part of the batch, which were my favorite, especially with the caramel kisses. thinking I might try some with hugs. The white kiss might look pretty awesome!

1 1/4 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
2 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
54 milk chocolate CARAMEL candy kisses, unwrapped
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration
Toffee Bits, (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In large bowl mix butter and sugar till fluffy, add eggs and vanilla mix well. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, toffee bits and add to creamed mixture.
Roll dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter then roll in white sugar. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Place unwrapped chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie while still hot. Let cool and enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Dutch Oven Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Got this recipe from a friend, and we just had it while camping. We made some white rice to go with it. SOOOO GOOOD!

-The ingredient sizes are huge, so she usually halves things. Just so you know, you might have to experiment and adjust.

1 lb. bacon

6 Chicken breast, skinless/boneless

1 C Onion, diced

1/2 C Green Pepper, diced

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

12 oz Ketchup

2-3 T Cornstarch

1/2 T Season salt

1/8 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1 C Pineapple juice

1/4 C Bamboo Shoots, drained

16 oz Pineapple tidbits, drained

1/2 T Soy Sauce

With 12 coals on bottom and 12 on top, add bacon and cook until done. Drain grease. Add Chicken, onion, and green pepper. Cook together until chicken is done. Add Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, brown sugar, and pineapple juice, bamboo shoots, pineapple tidbits, and soy sauce. Mix in well. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and let mixture simmer down until thick, stirring often. Serve over rice.

Peanut butter bars

School Lunch Peanut Butter Fingers!

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Heat oven to 350 degrees, cream together butter, sugars and peanut butter, then add eggs baking soda, salt and vanilla.  Add flour and oats.  Smooth into 11x15 baking sheet.  Bake 12-15 minutes or until just golden brown.

As soon as you pull the pan out of the oven, lightly spread 1/2 - 3/4 cup peanut butter over the top letting it melt. 

Frosting:  
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Combine butter milk and cocoa in a saucepan and heat until boiling.  Add vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until spreadable.  Spread on top of peanut butter.

Cinnamon Roll/Twist Recipe

Cinnamon Roll/Twist Recipe

So this is my sister's recipe that she posted on my other blog. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks great. So if any of you try it out let me know how it goes. :)

Ingredients:

2 pkg quick rise yeast(or 2 Tbs) dissolved into 1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 cups milk scalded
1/2 shortening
1/2 sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 cups flour (add more if needed)

Directions:

When milk is lukewarm, add shortening, sugar, eggs, yeast, and 3 cups flour. Beat well with mixer. Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time until dough is soft but not sticky. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size. Roll dough to aprox. 25 x 22 inches spread with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.


Fold in half lengthwise. Cut into strips 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide, twist, and turn starting in the center to form a roll. Place on baking sheet and bake at 375' for 15 to 20 mins or until golden brown. Spread Icing over top right while hot. Serve warm.


Icing :Mix 1 pound powdered sugar, 1/2 cube butter, 1 tsp vanilla, add milk to consistency to spread.

Picture before icing....

Aren't those pretty!?

After Icing