Golden Peach Pie

My mom made this amazing dessert for our family get together last night. It's a new recipe from Taste of Home Cooking {where most of our favorite desserts come from} and I had to get the recipe to post on here.


Ingredients:

Pastry for double crust pie (9 inches)
5     cups sliced, peeled fresh peaches
2     teaspoons lemon juice
1/2  teaspoon grated orange peel
1/8  teaspoon almond extract
1     cup sugar
1/4  cup cornstarch
1/4  teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8  teaspoon salt
2     tablespoons butter
Milk


Directions:

Line 9-inch pie plate with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the peaches, lemon juice, orange peel and extract.
Combine the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt. Add to peach mixture; toss gently to coat.
Pour into crust. Dot with butter.

Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; make decorative cutouts in pastry. Set cutouts aside.
Place top over crust filling. Trim, seal and flute edges.
Brush pastry and cutouts with milk; place cutouts on top of pie. Cover the edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove the foil; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until the crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.


Prep Time:

15 minutes
Bake: 50 minutes + cooking
6-8 servings

Didn't she do such a great job decorating it?! Paired with hot chili and french bread on a cold fall night, it was a perfect combination!

 

Cook-Out Brownies

This isn't so much a recipe as it is a really cute idea I got from one of my Taste of Home Cooking magazines this month. If you are having a summer party, have kids, or just want a cute way to dress up a dessert than this is REALLY easy and simple to make!

What you'll need:

A brownie box mix (any brand or type will do)

A box of Hot Tamales

Chocolate piping frosting

Cupcake liners

Orange/red sprinkles for the flames

Directions:

Make the brownie mix according to box decorations and bake in oven
Let them cool
Place a small amount of red sprinkles on top for the flame

Pipe chocolate liner on brownie-cupcakes
Pipe three lines of chocolate on Hot Tamales for the grill lines and place until they stick

Prep Time: 30 minutes



Chocolate Mousse Torte

A new favorite of mine from Taste of Home Cooking:

It actually took myself and a friend to make this together because I was scared of messing it up for the office Christmas party, but it turned out beautiful AND delicious!



Ingredients:

37 Nilla Wafers

4 Squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate

2 Packages Jell-O Instant chocolate pudding

2 Cups cold milk

1 Tub whipped cream

1 Package cream cheese, softened

1/2 Cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cold milk

3/4 Cup fresh raspberries

Plastic wrap

Directions:

Stand: 16 wafers around inside edge of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap. Melt 3 chocolate squares as directed on package.

Beat: pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 minutes. Add melted chocolate, mix well. Stir in 1 cup cool whip; pour into prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of remaining cool whip, spread over pudding. Top with remaining wafers.

Refrigerate 3 hours.

Invert torte onto plate. Remove pan and plastic wrap. Top torte with remaining cool whip, raspberries and chocolate curls {from Baker's squares.}

Prep Time: 20 minutes {plus 3 hours refrigeration}

Serves: 16 servings

Yum, yum, yum!

Cream Puff Cake

A recipe e-mailed to us from our Aunt Christina... sounds amazing!!

Ingredients:

1 Puff pastry from the freezer section, thawed
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbst water
3 (3.3 oz) pkgs instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups milk
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed

(You can also used low-fat, sugar free, skim milk products)



Directions:

Roll the puff pastry to fit a 13x9 glass pan.
Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes or until puffed and golden.

(Optional, but prevents the pastry from getting soggy. And let's face it, chocolate is just delicious.) Melt chocolate chips and butter. Add water and stir until smooth. Spread over cooled pastry.

Beat cream cheese add 1 cup milk and beat until smooth.
Add pudding and balance of milk.
Beat until smooth. Pour mix over crust.
Chill until pudding mix has set.
Top with a layer of cool whip.
Chill until serving.

Take the entire pan and a spoon and get your share now, because this one is a hit with everyone I have served it to!!

Pecan Pie

And our family member, Alex, sent us a ton so I'm going to have to spread these out a little...

Ingredients


1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup (I use half and half)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans (I prefer more, but to your taste
Half shot brandy or bourban
1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen** deep-dish pie crust

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Put pecans in pie crust, if you like a very nuttt pie add more. Pour filling into pie crust.

Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

Pie is done when a knife or toothpick can be inserted in the center and removed clean. Tap center surface of pie lightly - it should spring back when done.If pie crust is overbrowning, cover edges with foil.High Altitude Adjustments: Reduce sugar to 2/3 cup and increase butter to 3 tablespoons. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Christmas Desserts & Snacks: Brownie Parfait

A coworker brought these in for our Christmas party last year. Delicious! And so easy to make too!

1 pan of Brownies (your own recipe or boxed deal)
1 tub of Cool Whip
Red and green food coloring
Candy canes

Makes brownies as instructed (either via recipe or instructions on box).

While the brownies are cooking, get out the Cool Whip and divide into thirds. (We found that using Cool Whip works much better than the canned Redi Whip.) In one-third, add green food coloring and stir together; in another third, add red food coloring; and the last third, leave white. Add enough food coloring to get your desired color. Refrigerate.

Once the brownies are done, pull from the oven and using a fork, create brownie crumbles.

Select a wine glass, goblet, parfait dish, or whatever you want to use as the show-piece for your dessert.

First add a layer of brownie crumbles, then a layer of green Cool Whip, a layer of brownie crumbles, a layer of white Cool Whip, a layer of brownie crumbles, and finally a layer of red Cool Whip. Top with a candy cane or two and serve.

We found that it was best to either serve the dish right away, or refrigerate until serving time.

Do you have a Christmas dessert or snack that you favor?

Triple Layer Brownie Cake

My mom tortured me yesterday by tempting me with this beauty. How do you say no to a slice of this?! (Another recipe, courtesy of Taste of Home Cooking):

1 1/2 Cups of butter (3 sticks
6 Squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
3 Cups of Sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt

Frosting:
2 packages (8 ounces each) semisweet chocolate
3 Cups Heavy whipping cream
1/2 Cup of Sugar
2 Milk chocolate candy bars (1.55 ounces each), shaved

In a large bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.
Stir in vanilla, flour and salt.
Pour into greased and floured 9 inch round baking pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely

For Frosting:
Melt chocolate in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually stir in cream and sugar until well blended. Heat to gently boil; boil and stir for one minute.
Remove from the heat; transfer to large bowl.
Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until mixture reaches a pudding consistency; stirring a few times.
Beat mixture until soft peaks form, spread between layers and over the top and sides of cake. Sprinkle top with shaved chocolate (use potato peeler with chocolate bars to make curly q's) Store in fridge.

Serves: 16-20 people

Grammie's Soft Sugar Cookies

Cream Together:
1 cup Crisco
2 cups Sugar
3 eggs
4 tbsp vanilla

Sift Together:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
Add 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream

Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle cookies with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 400- degrees

Grammie's Truffles

1/2# dark unsweetened chocolate
1/4# Baker's Semi-Sweet
1/8 oz. can Bordens
1/2 tsp. mint oil or extract
Chocolate decorats

Melt chocolate in double boiler, add milk and stir. Add mint. Let stand over night. Roll into balls and in decorets. Makes 50-80 Balls.

Cherry Pie Bars

2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 can cherry pie filling

Beat together margarine and sugar. Add eggs, beat well.

Stir in flour, vanilla, and almond flavoring.

Spread half of dough in greased 9x13 baking pan. Spread cherry pie filling on top. Drop by spoonfuls the rest of the dough on top.

Bake at 350-degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Cut into bars and serve.

Hot Milk Cake

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
10 tbsp butter

Beat eggs at high speed until thick, about 5 minutes.

Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy.

Combine flour and baking powder; add to batter with vanilla and beat at low speed until smooth.

In a saucepan, heat milk and butter just until the butter melts. Stir occasionally.

Add milk mixture to batter, beating well.

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350-degrees for 30-35 minutes or until cake is done.

When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Apple Crisp

6-7 apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp lemon juice

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine
Ice cream or whipped cream topping

Toss together the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, spices, and lemon juice. Spread mixture evenly in a well-greased 8x8 baking dish.

Mix together the topping ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and spread over the apples.

Bake at 375-degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Grammie's Applesauce Cake

Cream well:
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

Add:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups applesauce with 2 tsp baking soda dissolved in it
2 cups nuts (optional)
2 cups raisins (optional)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased and sugared (not floured) 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350-degrees for 50-60 minutes.

German Chocolate Caramel Brownies

1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 box german chocolate cake mix
20oz light Kraft caramels
3/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup nuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the caramels and 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk and melt. Set aside.

Grease and flour 9x13. In a bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk, and nuts.

Press half the mixture in the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350-degrees for 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately spread the chocolate chips on top and then the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips.

Crumble the rest of the cake mixture over the caramel. Bake for 10 minutes more.

Cool, cut into squares, refrigerate to set caramel.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, melted
1 pkg (12oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp baking cocoa
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour boiling water over oatmeal. Let stand in separate bowl for five minutes.

Add brown sugar, white sugar, and melted margarine. Mix well. Add eggs, mix well.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, and baking cocoa, mix well. Add 1/2 pkg of chocolate chips.

Pour batter into greased and floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and nuts on top.

Bake at 350-degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Cream Cheese Fruit Pie

1- 8oz cream cheese
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 can of Eagle Brand sweetened milk
1 tsp vanilla
Graham cracker crust pie shell

Soften the cream cheese. Beat until smooth. Add the sweetened milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into pie crust.

Refrigerate.

Top with either canned cherry pie filling or blueberry pie filling.

Perfect Chocolate-Chip Cookies

2 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
package of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, and nuts if desired.

Drop by rounded teaspoons on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes at 375-degrees, or until lightly browned. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Grammie's Brownies

Near and Dear to our hearts:

1 stick butter
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 Tspn. Vanilla
3/4 Cups Nuts (optional for you non-nut lovers out there)

Butter 8x8 square pan and dust with flour. Melt butter and chocolate in pan, cool.
Add sugar, eggs, and flour. Mix well.
Add Vanilla and nuts and mix
Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Note: Double recipe for 9x13 pan

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 Ready-made chocolate pie crust
2 4 serving size boxes of instant chocolate pudding and pie filling
Milk- amount on box directions
Small container of cool whip

Make 2 boxes of chocolate pudding with milk according to directions on box. Beat well.
Pour into chocolate crust. Set and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator.
Top with cool whip. Chill again.

Serve.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Serves: 6-8

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

In 9x13 pan, layer:

First Layer: Crush 25 oreo cookies with creme. Melt 1 stick of butter. Mix together and press into bottom of pan.
Second Layer: Combine 1 beaten egg, 2 1 oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup sugar, and small can of evaporated milk in saucepan

Cook until thick and bubbly, about 15-20 minutes. Pour over oreo crust. Cool in refrigerator.

Third Layer: Soften 1/2 Gallon of Vanilla ice-cream. Spread over chocolate layer. Refreeze
Fourth Layer: Top with container of cool whip. Sprinkle with bit of brickle bits, nuts and chocolate syrup.

Prep Time: 1 Hour
Serves: 10-12