Raspberry Vanilla Jello Salad

After a meal of Mexican food, I knew that we'd need something sweet, but light for dessert.
After checking through my dessert board on Pinterest, I knew this recipe was it!
(from Butter with a Side of Bread)

Sweet, light, creamy, simple to prepare...

My oh my.

Delicious!

Raspberry Vanilla Jello Salad

1 box (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding
32 oz. (2 lb) container vanilla yogurt
8 oz. container Cool Whip (thawed)
1 pkg. frozen raspberries

Using a medium size bowl, mix together the pudding mix (dry)

and the vanilla yogurt. Stir until completely mixed together.

Add the cool whip and stir until completely mixed.

Stir in raspberries, making sure to add any juice that is in package.

And that's it!
You can enjoy it right away, or place in the fridge to chill a little longer. 

Yum!

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars

Do you use your seasonal cookbook all year long?
Yea, me too. For the most part. 

There is always a recipe that can be made year round. 

(you can order this cookbook HERE!)

This recipe for Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars is one of them. 

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars

1/2 cup butter

1 cup plus 2 T. all-purpose flour, divided

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed and divided

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together butter, one cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Pat into the bottom of a 13 x 9 greased baking pan.

Bake at 325* for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, blend together remaining flour, brown sugar, 

eggs, salt, pecans, coconut, vanilla and chocolate chips.
Spread mixture onto baked crust.

Bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Cut into bars when cool. 

Makes 2 dozen

Sweet, chewy, crunchy and delicious!

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake

 It happened again...unexpected company, 

(children who call and say
"Hey mom! We're coming for supper!")

....plenty of food on the table but no dessert. 

I found this quick and easy cake in the Gooseberry Patch cookbook

Our Favorite Christmas Recipes.

I had all the ingredients on hand and it was so easy to just whip it up, 

pour it in the pan and pop it in the oven.
55 minutes later, dessert was ready.

I served it up right out of the oven.

Oh my goodness, was it ever good!

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake

16 oz pkg devil's food cake mix

4 1/2 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

1 3/4 cup milk

12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 eggs, beaten

Garnish: powdered sugar

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, chocolate chips and eggs in a large bowl. 

Mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. 

Pour batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan.

Bake at 350* for 50 - 55 minutes, 

until cake springs back when touched.

No not over bake.

Turn out onto a serving plate; sprinkle powder sugar over top before serving.

Just look at all the yummy chocolatey goodness!

Apple Dump Cake

You just found out that you have company coming for supper.
You've got enough for the meal, but you don't have anything to serve for dessert.
Need something quick and easy to prepare?

Or, maybe this is the case.

You have supper planned.
You know you want to serve a dessert, too, 

but just don't know what to fix.
You need something to top off the meal....

something delicious, filling and sweet.

Either way, this dessert is for you!

Dump cake.
I'm sure most of you have heard of it.

And, most of you have prepared it.

It's quick and easy.

It's delicious.

And, it's sweet.

And what is so awesome about Dump Cake, you ask?
You can use any flavor of pie filling....
Blueberry, blackberry, cherry, peach or apple pie....

or combine a couple flavors together.
Use a pie filling, then add a few fresh berries...

The options are endless....

Tonight, I used apple pie filling.
It's what I had on hand. It's what we like.

Apple Dump Cake

2 (21 oz) cans apple pie filling

1 TBSP Cinnamon or

1 1/2 TBSP Cinnamon sugar

1 (18.5 oz) box yellow cake mix

2 - 3 TBSP butter/margarine

Preheat oven to 350*

Spray the sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Pour pie filling in to the baking dish.
Spread pie filling evenly over the bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle cinnamon/cinnamon sugar over pie filling.

Sprinkle cake mix over cinnamon.

Dab butter in approx 8 - 10 places over cake mix.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until

 butter is melted and top is golden brown.

Just look at all that sweet yumminess.

Oh...and to make it even better...

top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Yea...now that's what I'm talkin' about!

This recipe can be cut in half by using half the cake mix,
saving the rest for a future dump cake,
or purchasing a smaller box of cake mix such as Jiffy.

Buttermilk-Crusted Blackberry Cobbler

One of our friends, here in Gramma's Kitchen,

 asked me to do a book review for her cookbooks...

and of course I said yes. Oh...am I ever so happy that I did! 

 These are awesome cookbooks...full of delicious recipes!

They are definitely two of my favorite 'go-to' cookbooks now!

The Best of Best

Recipe Hall of Fame

Guilty Pleasures

Indulgences to Die For!
by Gwen McKee and Barbara Mosely

 

contains chapters such as

Cakes

Cake Mix Creations

Cheesecakes

Cookies

Brownies and Squares

Pies

Desserts

and

Breakfast Sweets

 

That's  172 pages of delicious, melt in your mouth,

tummy tempting, tried and true,

family favorite recipes!

It was so hard to chose which recipe to prepare first!

You are going to want need these cookbooks!
And guess what?
You're able to purchase this cookbook at the following web sites:

QVC

Amazon

Amazon for Kindle

Quail Ridge Press

Now...time for a little 'Indulgence'!

 

Buttermilk-Crusted Blackberry Cobbler

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs blackberries

(I used frozen and thawed them under cool water)

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 1/2 TBSP all-purpose flour

1 1/3 TBSP vanilla extract

 

In a medium bowl, combine blackberries, sugar, flour and vanilla.

Pour into a greased 8 x 12 x 2 inch pan.
(I use 8 x 11.5 glass baking dish)

Crust:

1 TBSP plus 2 1/2 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 TBSP melted butter

Preheat oven to 350*.

In a large bowl, stir together 1 TBSP sugar, baking powder, salt, shortening, buttermilk, and 3/4 cup flour to form a sticky dough.

Spread remaining flour (1/4 plus 1/3 cup) on a work surface, and knead dough until most of the flour is incorporated and dough is manageable.
Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, and cut with a knife into large pieces.

Cover blackberry filling with dough, overlapping pieces. 

Drizzle melted butter over dough, and sprinkle with remaining 2 1/2 tsp sugar.

Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 50 minutes. 

Serves 8 -10

Hot and bubbly...straight out of the oven!
Yes...I added a little extra sugar.... shame, shame...but YUM!

Just look at all that blackberry goodness!

A nice 'model' photo for my blog.

My serving!

It's OH. MY. GOODNESS GOOD!!

 

 

Apple Butter Sheet Cake

Sheet cakes are nice because you can have a 

smaller piece of cake without having to cut such a large piece.
They are easy to transport to potlucks and holiday dinners at someone else's house.
And they come in a variety of flavors...

chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin, white chocolate....
the list is long.

If someone asks me to bring a dessert,
a sheet cake is usually one of the first recipes I think of.

I took a recipe for spice cake and played with it a bit,

then came up with this one.
I looked on the internet to see if there was another sheet cake by the same name and I couldn't find one. So, here's to hoping I have invented the first

Apple Butter Sheet Cake!

(since posting this recipe, I have found that someone else has decided to claim this recipe as her own. She claims that she made it up herself. I hate it when that happens, but in this case....apparently she really enjoyed the cake....
so I'll just take it as a compliment!)

ENJOY!

Apple Butter Sheet Cake

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup Apple butter

In a medium size bowl, cream shortening and sugar together.

Add egg and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.

(approx 5 minutes)
In another medium bowl, sift together all other ingredients except buttermilk and apple butter.

Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk.

Add apple butter and mix until all ingredients are combined and batter is smooth.

Pour in to a greased jelly roll pan

Bake at 325* for 25 - 30 minutes, or until done.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.
With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy.
Beat in the vanilla until combined.

Snowballs (cookies)

These cookies have so many different names for them... Mexican Tea Cookies, Wedding Cookies, Pecan Balls, etc...but because it's Christmas, we'll name them Snowballs!

My kids loved these cookies when they were younger. They would hold their breath when they took a bite so they wouldn't blow powdered sugar everywhere if they breathed through their nose. But of course, if they did, it was just as funny every time!

SNOWBALLS
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
1 T water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans (I used pecan bits)
Garnish:powdered sugar

With an electric mixer on medium speed, blend together butter and powdered sugar; add vanilla, water and flour.

Stir in pecans.

Shape dough in walnut-size balls. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet.





Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. While cookies are still hot, roll in additional powdered sugar. When cool, roll again in powdered sugar. Makes 3 dozen.





Now, don't they look yummy?
 I'm sorry...the kid in me couldn't resist the snowman face. :-)

Cinnamon Sticks

Oh how I love cinnamon! It's a year 'round spice for me!

I found this recipe in the Gooseberry Patch cookbook Old Fashioned Country Christmas. After one bite, they became a family favorite!

Cinnamon Sticks

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 3/4 cup flour

Mix all ingredients. (I used my mixer to blend it all together, then used my hand to form the dough ball.)

Roll and cut into finger lengths. (mine were about 1/2 inch wide) I love my old rolling pin!

 Roll sticks in cinnamon and sugar.








Bake at 350 degrees until set and edges are light brown.(mine were assorted sizes!)

They sure did smell good while they were baking and they tasted even better!!

Graham Pralines

I posted this recipe on my other blog 2 years ago. My granddaughter was such a big help! Just thought I'd share them with you!

Graham Pralines

1 sleeve graham crackers (I used cinnamon grahams)
½ cup butter
½ cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 t. salt
1 cup chopped pecans




Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil; spray lightly with non-stick vegetable spray.


Break crackers and arrange on baking sheet; set aside.

Melt butter, margarine, brown sugar and salt together in a saucepan over low heat.
"This is your job now Gramma. Remember I can't be too close to the stove?"

Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.

Pour over crackers. I stirred them around a little bit to be sure they were all covered. And if you do... spread them back out quick before they all stick together!


Chop pecans. A ziplock bag and a meat tenderizer came in handy here!

Sprinkle pecans over top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool; break apart. Makes about 2 dozen.

2 ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies
3 dozen

1 box Spice cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 15oz can of pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix cake mix and pumpkin together, until all is combined.

Drop by full-rounded tablespoon full on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.

Bake for approx 15 minutes.

And that's it folks! Simple and delicious!

I think they'd be even more delicious with a cream cheese frosting on top!

White Maple Fudge

Maple

Pecans

Fall

The three just go together.

I do believe that White Maple Fudge will become a new Fall family tradition. 

It's rich, sweet, maple flavor...

it's addicting. 

You can't eat just one. 

Now, you may ask...why is my White Maple Fudge not white?

My maple flavoring was a dark color. 

The fudge was white until I added the maple, then it became tan.

Not that it really matters.

The flavor is still just as delicious.
I believe it favors a maple color now anyway.

Yea..so in the end.

It all worked out...

accidentally perfect!

White Maple Fudge

(I think I'll re-name Maple Pecan Fudge)

3 cups sugar

5 oz can evaporated milk

(1/2 cup plus 3 TBSP)
3/4 cup butter

12 oz pkg white chocolate chips

7 oz jar marshmallow creme

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBSP maple flavoring

1/2 to 1 cup pecans, chopped or halved

In a large saucepan, mix together sugar, 

evaporated milk and butter over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Bring to a full rolling boil; continue stirring constantly at a full boil for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat. 

Stir in white chocolate chips and marshmallow creme; 

then stir in vanilla and maple flavoring.

Add chopped pecans, if using, or wait if using pecan halves.

(I used both)

Pour warm fudge into a greased 11 x 7 baking pan.

If using pecan halves, press into top of fudge.

Let set for several hours to overnight.

Cut into squares.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen squares.

From Gooseberry Patch
101 Autumn Recipes