Harvest Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:

1 can of fresh pumpkin

1 - 8 oz pack of cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixture until well blended.  Serve with apples and pears.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Creamy Fruit Freeze

I recently bought 10 pounds of fresh blackberries...yes, 10 pounds - luckily they were frozen so I didn't have to use them immediately.  We have made more blackberry cobbler than you can imagine, so we've been looking for other recipes to utilize these tasty little treats...and then I ran across this quick and super easy dessert at ourbestbites.com.  H-E-A-V-E-N...and you don't need an ice cream maker!!

Ingredients:

4 C berries or roughly diced fruit

1 C sugar

1 C heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Combine fruit and sugar in a food processor and process until smooth.

Reserve 1 cup of the puree (store in fridge until ready to use).

In a mixing bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until soft-medium peaks form. Gently fold into the remaining puree just until combined.

Place in a freezer safe container and freeze until firm (about 2-4 hours).

Scoop into bowls and serve with remaining puree and extra berries if desired. Serves 6 small servings.

Blackberry Cobbler

This is by far my favorite cobbler reicpe... Please trust me and try it!  I've got it posted on my main blog, but you can click here for the recipe - Enjoy!!!

Red, White & Blue Desserts

Are you having a Memorial Day get together?  How about a Fourth of July or Labor Day party?  No matter what patriotic holiday you're celebrating this summer, here are a few of my favorite Red, White & Blue desserts to make - they are quick and easy and trust me, they taste just as good as they look.

RED, WHITE & BLUEBERRY TRIFLE

INGREDIENTS:

1 prepared angel food cake (13 oz)

1 qt. fresh strawberries
3 cups blueberries
1 container (16 oz) frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, thawed
1 lemon
3 containers (8 oz each) blended strawberry yogurt
1 pkg (3.4 oz) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping, divided

DIRECTIONS:
Cut cake into 1-in. cubes; set aside. Hull fresh strawberries and cut into quarters. Set aside ½ cup of the strawberries and ½ cup of the blueberries for garnish.

In bowl, combine remaining fresh and frozen strawberries; mix well.  Juice lemon to measure 2 tbsp juice. In another mixing bowl, whisk yogurt, pudding mix and lemon juice until smooth; immediately fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping.

To assemble trifle, place one-third of the cake cubes into Trifle Bowl. Top with one-third of the strawberry mixture and one-third of the blueberries, pressing down lightly. Top with one-third of the yogurt mixture, spreading evenly. Repeat layers two times, spreading last layer evenly to create a flat surface.

To garnish, fill Easy Accent® Decorator fitted with open-star tip with remaining whipped topping. Pipe
whipped topping over top of trifle; garnish with reserved strawberries and blueberries. Refrigerate until
ready to serve.  ENJOY!

BERRIES & CREAM WONTON CUPS

INGREDIENTS:
24 square wonton wrappers (produce section of grocery store)
1 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 container (8 oz) low-fat strawberry yogurt
1 ½ cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (divided)
1 cup raspberries
½ cup blueberries
2 tsp. powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°. Using Pastry Brush, brush one side of each wonton wrapper with melted butter. Sprinkle wontons evenly with sugar. Press each wonton, sugared side up, into cups of Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan. Bake 6-8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from pan to Cooling Rack; cool completely.

Place yogurt in Small Batter Bowl; fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Attach the star tip to the Easy Accent Decorator; fill with remaining whipped topping.

Using Small Scoop, scoop yogurt mixture into each wonton. Top each wonton with one raspberry and two blueberries. Garnish with whipped topping; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.  ENJOY!

Mini Cheesecake Tarts

I think we made these every year around Christmas for as long as I can remember... But for some reason I find lots of other occasions to make them throughout the year - I think mostly because I just want an excuse to eat cheesecake!  They're great for all sorts of gatherings because they're quick, easy, and yummy, but they're especially fun at patriotic holidays because they're easy to decorate with red, white, and blue! They're great for pot-lucks, block parties, baby and wedding showers, and things like that because they're already packaged in nice single servings. And the great thing is that you can top them with whatever you want. After they've chilled they have a perfect well in the center to fill with whatever you'd like!  

INGREDIENTS:
12 Nilla Wafer Cookies
2 8oz packages cream cheese
3/4 C sugar
2 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Foil cupcake liners

Optional Toppings:
canned pie filling
fresh berries
whipped cream
chocolate sauce
caramel sauce
lemon curd

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375. Soften cream cheese if needed. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add in flour and baking powder and beat to combine. Then add in eggs, one at a time, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat to combine.

Fill a muffin pan with cupcake liners and place one vanilla wafer at the bottom of each one. Divide batter between 12 muffin papers, filling each cup up to about 1/4 inch from the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. They'll puff way up during baking, but they'll settle after being chilled.

When you take them out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack and let them cool completely. While they cool, they will sink down in the center. Don't worry- that's normal! It makes the perfect little well to fill up with the fruit filling. Before you top them, chill in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or preferably over night. Then top and serve. You can be creative and top with whatever you like, like chocolate, caramel, lemon curd, whatever! Makes 12 cheesecakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ribbon Dessert

INGREDIENTS:
12 Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, divided
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tub (12 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
2 squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS:

CRUSH 8 of the cookies in a ziplock bag with rolling pin. Mix cookie crumbs and butter togeether. Press onto bottom of foil-lined 9x5-inch loaf pan.

MIX cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in 3 cups of the whipped topping. Spoon ½ cup of the cream cheese mixture into small bowl. Stir in melted chocolate until well blended; set aside. Spoon half of the remaining cream cheese mixture over crust. Top evenly with chocolate mixture; cover with remaining cream cheese mixture.

FREEZE 4 hours or overnight until firm. Invert onto plate. Remove foil, then re-invert onto serving platter so that crumb layer is on bottom. Coarsely break the remaining 4 cookies. Top dessert with remaining cool whip and cookies.

Snickerdoodles

It doesn't get much better than a warm snickerdoodle right out of the oven.  I was first introduced to snickerdoodles when I started dating Aaron.  His mom makes the best snickerdoodles...I had always heard of the cookie and of course thought they involved a Snicker's candybar somehow.  Then I had the pleasure of enjoying this sweet delight...the crispy edges and chewy centers are the perfect combination!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Easy Pretzel Turtles

It recently came to my attention that not everyone in the world has been introduced to the pretzel turtle and that's just a cryin' shame! This is possibly the easiest little goodie you'll come across. They can be made in about 10 minutes and with only 3 ingredients.

Easy Pretzel Turtles

Ingredients:
small pretzels

Rolo candies - one bag has about 55 candies

Pecan halves -

Optional: almond bark or white chocolate for drizzling

This is easy as can be! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper for easy handling, but you can also put them on foil, a silpat, or directly onto the cookie sheet.Unwrap your Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel like a cute little hat.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Any longer is probably too long. You just want the chocolate on the outside to look glossy and melty, but they should still hold their shape.  Remove pan from oven and take a pecan and gently press it right into the center of the chocolate candy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If you want to get fancy you can give them a little drizzle of almond bark or white chocolate. Just melt some in a plastic baggie and nip the corner off to drizzle. A little goes a long way; I used a half a square of almond bark for half a batch and had plenty left over.

Now definitely do yourself a favor and eat a few of these babies warm off the pan. Mmmm...

The Perfect Scone

I love Ina Garten's scone recipe...the only thing is that if you are trying to watch your calorie intake these are not the scone for you (they are full of heavy whipping cream, several eggs, large amounts of butter). So I searched the web for a scone recipe that wasn't quite so heavy but still tasty and here's what I found:

This is what you'll need...you probably already have it in your cabinets.

egg, butter, flour, sugar, salt, milk, baking powder

The Perfect Scone

Ingredients:

1/3 cup real butter

1 3/4 cup flour

3 T sugar

2 1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 egg, beaten

4-6 T milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender until it resembles fine crumbles. Combine egg and 4T milk. Slowly pour milk mixture into dry mixture while mixing with a fork to combine. If you need the additional 2T milk to bring the dough together, add it. I almost always need the full 6T of milk.

Gently pat dough into a circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Brush top with milk or beaten egg and sprinkle liberally with sugar.

Cut into six wedges and separate on a cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. The tops shouldn't be brown, but the bottoms will be golden-brown and the tops set. Keep an eye on them and don't over-bake! The easiest way to ruin a scone is to over cook it! Scones have different texture than a cake or muffin, so if they get over cooked they will be dry and crumbly.

While still warm, split and spread with butter and jam, lemon curd, honey butter, or just about anything. Enjoy!!

Dessert Wontons

One of my favorite recipes is Baked Asian Potstickers...well, this isn't that recipe, but it's a great way to use any leftover wonton wrappers from the potstickers.

This recipe has tons of variations, there is not right or wrong filling, just whatever suits your fancy! You can use a spoonful of nutella, a little bit of peanut butter, maybe a banana slice, whatever you'd like! For this recipe I've taken some cream cheese, microwaved it until it is soft and then added a little powdered sugar to sweeten it. In each wonton wrapper I added a teaspoon of the cream cheese and a dollop of raspberry jam.

To seal, dip your finger in water and run along the edge of all four sides of the wrapper. Place the top piece on and press firmly to seal.

Fry in vegetable oil according to package directions. It's usually about 375 degrees. You can test it by dipping the edge of the wonton in and seeing if it bubbles up quickly. After they are golden brown (it just takes a few seconds on each side) remove from oil, letting the excess drip off into the pan, and then immediately place in a bowl of cinnamon sugar and coat on all sides.

You'll want to enjoy these little treats right away, as they are best served hot!

Red Velvet Cake Balls

I saw this recipe on my friend Kelly's blog and thought I'd give it a try - it is super easy and you can make it in any variety of flavor combinations that you'd like. I've seen yellow cake with chocolate icing or chocolate cake with chocolate icing...BUT, I've decided to use red velvet cake with cream cheese icing (my second choice was going to be carrot cake with cream cheese...I think that would be really good too!)

Here's what you need:

All you do is bake the cake according to the package directions with the eggs, oil, and water.

When the cake is still warm, crumble it up into a large bowl and mix in one tub of icing. Mix well.

IMPORTANT STEP!! Refrigerate the cake/icing mixture for ONE HOUR before you start making the balls.

I used The Pampered Chef Medium Scoop to create the balls (let me know if you need one, I know where you can get one or two!)

Melt Almond Bark (chocolate or vanilla depending on your cake) and dip cake balls in the melted chocolate bark. I used a toothpick, but you could use a fork or slotted spoon.

And ther you have it, one of the yummiest things you've ever tasted! Enjoy!

White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

I posted a status update on my facebook account last week that said I was making White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies and to my surprise I got tons of feedback from friends wanting the recipe...I'm actually kind of embarrassed to share it with you because it's so simple, but here goes!

Ingredients:

1 box of fudgy brownies...no, I don't make these from scratch!!

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1 tub of milk chocolate icing...no, I don't make this from scratch either!!

3 peppermint candy canes

Directions:

Bake brownies according to package directions. As soon as they come out pour the entire bag of white chocolate chips on top of the brownies and let melt (after a few minutes spread white chocolate with spreader to cover brownies and let cool completely). Spread icing on top of white chocolate and then sprinkle with chopped candy canes...is that totally simple or what!?!?

Pfeffernusse Cookies

Last week I posted about one of my favorite "fall" cookies and I thought I'd be nice and save you the leg work of tracking down the recipe yourself...so here you go!

Pfeffernusse Cookies

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c molasses
1 large egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/4 c confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line sheets with silpat or parchment.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, spices and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat molasses, brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and beat until just combined.
3. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 14 minutes or until the tops of the dough are firm to the touch and have cracked slightly. Place cookies on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Working in batches, add a few cookies into a high-sided bowl (or paper bag) filled with confectioners' sugar. Roll about or shake until cookies are well coated. Place back on wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Sorry I've missed a few weeks of recipes...I've been preoccupied with the sweetness of our little joy boy! I thought however, I would post this recipe that we made last night while Aaron's parents were in town. They brought perfectly ripe and ready apples from the Apple Valley Orchard in Tennessee so we wanted to make something using them. This recipe is super easy, super delicious, and great this time of year while apples are in season...Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp


Ingredients:
5 McIntosh apples
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a baking dish (oval or square work best).
Peel, core, and cut the apples into large wedges. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.
To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.
Bake for 1 hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.