Slice N Bake Lemon Gems

These come from Taste of Home:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup colored nonpareils
• LEMON ICING:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon peel. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
• Shape into a 1-3/4-in.-diameter roll; roll in nonpareils. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until firm.
• Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• In a small bowl, combine icing ingredients. Spread over cookies. Yield: 28 cookies.

***Excellent!  Great lemon flavor!  Kind of like a shortbread cookie.***

Buttermilk Blueberry Cake

I found this recipe on SkinnyTaste!  Modified just a bit:

• 2 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla
• baking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, in a medium bowl, beat sugar and butter for about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla until incorporated.


Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.  Gently fold in blueberries.

Place the batter into the prepared cake pan; bake cake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30-32 minutes.  Serve room temperature.

***Delicious!  The original recipe was intended to be low-fat. But I wanted this as a dessert, and didn't necessarily need it to be low-fat, so I changed it.  Simple to make!***

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are an adaptation of one of our favorite recipes, Monkey Squares. I decreased the sugar a bit, added chocolate chips, and omitted the browned butter icing. Hey, there are some limits to being able to call something a muffin rather than a cupcake :-)

1 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour (I did use GF)

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 muffin tins with papers, or grease and flour each tin. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend one minute. Stir in chocolate chips.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes about 24 muffins.

***So good! I actually like the decreased sugar so much, I might change it in the original recipe! I like to have something portable in the mornings, and these turned out to be great!***

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Recipe found here, and of course I modified it slightly...

Yields 10-12 muffins

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (I used Soy!)

For topping:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with baking cups.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon. Stir in the milk and mix until well blended.

Mix 1/4 c sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon together.

Fill baking cup 2/3 full with muffin batter and sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing.

***Yummy! Another great breakfast I can make and freeze...easy to pull out as needed! I also tried another batch with 1 cup diced cherries (frozen ok) added. Yummy as well!***

Peanut Butter Cups

I found this recipe at Taste of Home and I'm glad I did!

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
• 4-1/2 teaspoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 ounces each), coarsely chopped
• Colored sprinkles, optional

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup peanut butter, butter, confectioners' sugar and salt until smooth; set aside.
• In a microwave, melt the chocolate chips, candy bars and remaining peanut butter; stir until smooth.
• Drop teaspoonfuls of chocolate mixture into paper-lined miniature muffin cups. Top each with a scant teaspoonful of peanut butter mixture; top with another teaspoonful of chocolate mixture. Decorate with sprinkles if desired. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container.
  Yield: 3 dozen.

***Hubby and I made these together on Valentine's Day! Super easy, fun, and definitely delicious!***

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Scones

I found this recipe at Bakingdom! Love her site! Of course I modified it slightly (when don't I???)

FOR THE SCONES
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used GF)
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (10 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup milk (Ok to use Soy)
1 egg

2 tablespoons agave

FOR THE GLAZE
1 tablespoon reserved milk mixture
2 tablespoons agave
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread oats on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool completely before continuing.

Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Line another baking sheet with parchment.

Place all of the dry ingredients, except for the oatmeal, in the bowl of a food processor and pulse six or eight times to combine. Scatter the cold butter evenly over the top of the flour mixture in the food processor. Pulse 12 to 15 times to mix. The mixture should resemble corn meal or wet sand. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the cooled oats.

In a small bowl, combine the milk, egg, and agave syrup. Whisk the ingredients together until combined. Measure out 1 tablespoon of the mixture and set aside for the glaze.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to bring the dough together slightly. Once the mixture starts to form a loose dough, knead it about six times to form a mostly cohesive dough. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead a few more times, until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a disk about 7-inches in diameter. Cut into 8 wedges and arrange on prepared baking sheet.

Combine the reserved tablespoon of milk with the additional 2 tablespoons of agave. Brush the mixture over the scones with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the sugar over the tops of the scones.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until deep golden brown. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Add in ideas, just before shaping into a disk:

3/4 cup cinnamon chips (and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking)

1 cup dried cranberries (can add 6 Tbs orange juice concentrate to to liquid/milk mixture)

***Super Yummy! These freeze really well also!***

Cinnamon Cookie Crunch Popcorn

I came across this recipe on Our Best Bites. They always have great recipes!

Slightly modified:

12 cups air-popped popcorn
16 oz white chocolate (chips are fine)
1/2 cup red hot candies
10 Oreo cookies (Glutino GF work great)
optional: 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon flavored oil (I left out)
3 tablespoons semisweet or dark chocolate chips
kosher or sea salt (I left out)

Instructions
Pulse red hots in a food processor until they are just roughly chopped.

Break cookies up into rough chunks, by smashign in a baggie. Do not crush into crumbs!

In a medium sized microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Gently stir in red hots and chocolate cookies and then add cinnamon oil to taste (if desired).

Pour mixture over popcorn and stir well to coat. Pour popcorn mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and set aside. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over popcorn mixture. Sprinkle kosher or sea salt lightly over mixture to taste (if desired). Let popcorn mixture harden. When completely dry, break into chunks and store in airtight container.

***Super yummy! Great flavor combination. It is super sweet, so I didn't find it hard to control myself, but really great to pop a few chunks here and there throughout the day! What a fun holiday treat!***

Apple Cake

A recipe from a dear sweet friend, Carol!

1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup OJ (or juice of 1 orange)
3 cups flour
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 cups thinly sliced apples
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Mix all ingredients except the apples and cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling.
Pour 1/4 batter each in two loaf pans. Spread 1 cup apples over each pan.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Repeat layers.

***Can add chopped walnuts when you layer the apples if you like!

Bake on 350 for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean/crumbly.

***So yummy! Mine did not turn out as perfectly as Ms. Carol's, but she's been practicing for a very long time :-) So yummy!!! Hubs likes his with the walnuts, me-not so much!***

Artichoke Spinach Dip

1 can drained artichoke hearts
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
3oz cream cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh parmesan
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325f.

Cook spinach according to package; drain.
Drain and chop artichokes.
Mix all ingredients together.

Put in 1 quart greased baking dish.
Bake 20-30 minutes, or until slightly browned.

***We always double this, and it is still gone in minutes. We like to eat this with tortilla chips, but it is also great with pita chips or ritz crackers. This is a must at all holiday gatherings!***

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Recipe found at Taste of Home:

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; transfer to an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.
• Bake at 250° for 45-50 minutes or until lightly browned and dry, stirring occasionally. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
  

***Yum! Super easy! I love using the WHOLE pumpkin :-)***

Pear (or Apple) Crisp

I found the recipe for Apple Crisp over at:



This is my slightly tweaked version, because I was using Pears!

5 meduim-large pears (or apples)
1/4 cup sugar (less if your pears are pretty sweet, more if using tart apples)
2 T flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 C old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 T butter, melted

Peel, core and slice/dice pears. Stir pears, sugar and flour together in 9x9 pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and slightly stir again.

In a bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together. Stir in melted butter.

Sprinkle over the pears.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

Let sit for 10 minutes.

Scoop into bowls and serve! Tastes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too!

***Super yummy!!! Great way to use up some extra pears (or apples), and really easy for company or for the holidays! We will definitely make this over and over again!***

Peanut Butter "Cheese" Ball

I found this amazing recipe HERE! (Slightly adapted to fit what we had at home)

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup crushed toffee
Graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, and/or apple slices for dipping

Directions:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.

Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.

Freeze for about 1 hour or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place toffee and chocolate chips in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover, pressing morsels into the ball if necessary.

Place ball on serving dish; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until you can't stand it anymore and HAVE to eat it NOW!

Serve with graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, or apple slices for dipping or spreading.

***Super yummy snack. We ate this with apples to make it a little more healthy...and really, it isn't the worst thing you could eat anyway :-) Will definitely be making this for parties in the future!***

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Slightly adapted from HERE!

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe medium bananas
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour(I used GF)
  
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 10 tbsp peanut butter (divided into 8 tablespoons and 2 tablespoons)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
Mash bananas in a bowl, set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce, vanilla, and 8 tablespoons peanut butter, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Add flour mixture, then blend at low speed until combined. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into muffin tin halfway, then add 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining peanut butter into each muffin well.
Top off each muffin with remaining batter, and bake on the center rack for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

***Super yummy!!! "Healthy" snack...Hubs LOVED them!!!***

Homemade Ranch Dressing/Dip

This is just a basic guideline, feel free to change it up depending on your own tastes!

1 cup mayo
3/4 cup sour cream (more if you want it a bit thinner)
1 Tbs garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3-4 drops Worcestershire
1 tsp Italian seasoning (or your favorite herb blend, dried or fresh)
1/4-1/2 tsp seasoning salt

Mix all together, taste with a veggie or some other delicious food, and enjoy!


***I hate it when we run out of ranch, and it's dinner time, and I neeeeeeed ranch to dip something in (pizza, sriracha chicken strips, veggies). And those packets of mix...not gluten free. They have a whole lotta weird stuff in them actually. This is way better. And better for ya!***

Cinnamon Sugar Flatbread Crackers

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used GF)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons sugar + 3/4 tablespoon cinnamon for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well. Add water and olive oil and mix until a dough forms, using your hands at the end. Form it into a ball.

Dust a baking sheet with flour (or use parchment paper) and roll the dough as thin as you can with a rolling pin. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture all over top and cut with a pizza slicer into small or large crackers. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Let cool completely.

Adapted from How Sweet Eats, found HERE!

***Great Flavor! I did not get mine thin enough, so they were not super crispy, but still good. Would make excellent plain crackers without the cinnamon and sugar. And since it was the afternoon, and I have been craving Smores...oh yeah, I went there!***

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I have had a craving for chocolate covered strawberries for a while now. And my friend Melanie started talking about them last weekend...since then, I have been obsessing about them! So, with Valentine's Day here, I thought it would be the perfect time to make some!

Basically, I melted some chocolate chips (semi-sweet) in the microwave with a few drops of canola oil (to keep it from hardening so much when cool).

Make sure to wash and DRY your strawberries. And make sure you have the chocolate in a small, deep container so you can really dip them.

Place on parchment/wax paper when done and cool in fridge. DELICIOUS!

***Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!!!***

Sausage Cheese Balls

Original Source: Tablespoon

3 cups Bisquick® mix (I used the new GF Bisquick!)

1 pound pork sausage
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan or use parchment paper.

Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. If your mixture is too dry add a little more milk. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Enjoy!

Found HERE!

***Delicious! More biscuit-like, less sausage-like. Definitely needed extra milk. I think I will tweak it a bit and do a little less bisquick next time. But sooo good!***

Udi's Gluten Free Pizza

Thai Chicken Pizza:
Sweet Chili Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Chopped Red Onion
Shredded Chicken
Sliced Zucchini


BBQ Chicken:
BBQ Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Chopped Red Onion
Shredded Chicken

Mediterranean:
Pizza/Spaghetti Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Roasted Tomatoes, Chopped
Assorted Olives, Chopped

These are some of my favorite combos!

Preheat oven to 375f.

Layer toppings on Udi's GF Crust, or your own favorite crust.

Bake for 8-9 minutes.

DEVOUR!!!!

***No, I did not get paid for this post. I wish! I just LOVE Udi's brand GF products and want to share that love with all of you!***

Peanut Brittle

2 cups sugar
1 cup Karo Syrup
1/2 cup water
dash of salt

2 cups raw spanish peanuts
1 Tbs Butter

1 tsp vanilla
1/2 Tbs baking soda

Heat sugar, karo, water, and salt in large pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches hard ball stage on a candy thermometer.

Stir in peanuts and butter. Continue heating, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches hard crack stage on a candy thermometer.

Take off heat, quickly stir in vanilla and baking soda. Once thoroughly mixed, pour onto large cookie sheet.

Let cool for about 2 hours. Peel off foil and break into pieces.

Enjoy! And try not to eat the whole batch in one sitting!

***Made this with my MIL last weekend! She makes it every year and I finally got to join in the fun!***

Chocolate Mug Cake

4 Tbs. flour (I used GF)

4 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. cocoa

1 egg

3 Tbs.milk (I used Silk soy milk)

3 Tbs. oil

3 Tbs. chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips-excellent choice!)

a small splash of vanilla extract (BE careful!)

1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.

Add the egg and mix well.

Pour in milk and oil and mix well.

Add choc. chips and vanilla extractand mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 mins. athigh.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don'tbe alarmed, it won't overflow.

Allow to cool for a few minutes and then enjoy warm cake!

I ate mine as is, but you could definitely top with melted chocolate, whipped cream (not my fav) or a scoop of ice cream!

Found HERE!

***Awesome, easy, awesome, delicious, AWESOME!!! Perfect for those times where you need a 'fix" but don't want to bake a whole cake, or take the time to bake! Lots of variations could be made with different flavors of chips!***