DUTCH APPLE TARTS

Don't you hate it when you make a BEAUTIFUL pie and then you have to cut it and it doesn't look so pretty anymore???  Me too!!  So for the last couple of years I've been making mini pies and tarts.  You can set up your dessert buffet and they only have to take one (or two) and you have no need for knives or forks for that matter.  They are mini finger pies!!  This week I find myself looking for a good dessert recipe that is finger food friendly.  I looked in my cupboard and found a can of apple pie filling, some oats, flour, spices, leftover pie dough and only one stick of butter.  Sooooo.....combining several of my favorite recipes I came up with this mini apple pie with a crumbly Dutch topping!!  It's so tasty and looks so cute!!  Perfect when you are at a potluck and everyone wants a taste of EVERYTHING....and because they are made in a mini muffin tin they don't fill you up!!!

DUTCH APPLE TARTS
makes 36 mini tarts

dough for 2 pie crusts (I use my Grandma Dodie's Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe)
1 can of apple pie filling

Topping: 
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg or allspice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour pie filling into a bowl, use a knife to cut the apples into pieces.  Set aside.
Mix all ingredients for topping in a medium bowl.  Set aside. 
Roll pie crust into 1" balls and place in each cup of mini muffin tins (you will need two 24 cup tins). Using fingers, press pie crust into cup.  Fill each pie crust cup 2/3 full of chopped apple pie filling.  Sprinkle each with topping.   Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly in pan.  Using a small sharp knife, loosen pies by slipping knife between crust and pan and lift out gently.  Place on rack to finish cooling.

Quick Treats

One of my co-workers, Kelly, told me about this quick tasty treat that she makes for her family. It only has 5 ingredients most you probably already have. Now I'm silly and didn't ask what this was called but it reminds me of rugelach.

Cast of Characters:
1 pie crust - either homemade or refrigerated (not frozen)
cinnamon (approximately 2 tablespoons)
sugar (approximately 2 tablespoons)
jam (I used seedless blackberry but any would do)
chopped nuts (I used pecans because I love them!)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. I lined my baking sheet with parchment because I'm lazy and don't want to wash dishes. On a clean surface, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar about the size of a pie crust and then press your pie crust into the cinnamon sugar. Spread a thin layer of jam on the pie crust and sprinkle the nuts over the jam. Now roll that pie crust up! Place it on the cookie sheet and bake f0r 12 - 14 minutes. At least until golden. Let cool (if you can resist) and then cut into pieces. I think I got 12 pieces out of the one I made.

Enjoy!

LEMON BARS

This past Monday, to my delight, there was a FREE cookbook from Jiffy Baking Mix in my mailbox.  I spent all afternoon perusing and had at least 10 pages dog eared for recipes that I wanted to try.  Lemon Bars are one of my hubby's FAVORITE desserts/cookies.....AND I actually had all the ingredients on hand so decided to give it a try first.  They are truly delicious!! 





If you want your own copy of this FREE 66 page cookbook just go to http://www.jiffymix.com/ and request your own copy....OR you can view the entire cookbook.  The lemon bars recipe is here http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/chelsea/recipebook/#/26. 

CRANBERRY APPLE PIE

So today I was finally trying to organize my "hard copy" recipes into some sort of easy to locate system when I came across this recipe.  Stacy had made two of these pies last year and shared some with my family!!!  It was sooooo good....a perfect mix of sweet and tart!  If you happen to have some cranberries in your freezer now....THIS..... is what I would recommend making!! 





CRANBERRY APPLE PIE

Posted by Stacy Gleaton

6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples

1 cup fresh cranberries, washed and chopped, if desired

1 cup sugar + 2 TBSP

3 TBSP flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

dash salt

4 tsp butter

Heat oven to 425 F.  Roll pastry to thin and place one in bottom of 9" pie plate.

In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Turn into pastry-lined pan.  Add 4 dabs of butter on top of fruit filling.  Cover with top crust, trim excess.  Add decorative touch, if desired.  Cut slits, seal and flute the edges.  Bake for 40-45 mins.  Top with confectioner's sugar glaze while hot.  Serve with vanilla ice cream!!

GLAZE:  1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 1-2 TBSP milk.  Mix to a drizzly consistency.  

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE w/ HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE with HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM

1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
¼ cup honey
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 shortcake cups (or slices of pound cake…your choice)

Place strawberries in a bowl and drizzle with honey. Stir; set aside at room temp for about 10 minutes to allow juices to flow.

In a chilled bowl, mix heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla. Mix on high with electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

STRAWBERRY BROWNIE TORTE

I stole this pic from Javonna....hers looks sooooo pretty!!!!  Scroll down to see how mine turned out!

STRAWBERRY BROWNIE TORTE            Posted by Javonna

Simple recipe. You can use any berry in season. It's great with raspberries.

1 pkg (21 1/2 or 23.6 oz) fudge brownie mix
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cold water
1 pkg (4-serving size) instant vanilla flavor pudding
1 3/4 cups cool whip
1 qt fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled & halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line with waxed paper, extending up sides of pan: grease waxed paper.
Prepare brownie mix as package directs for cake-like brownies; pour into prepared pans. Bake 20 minutes or until top springs back when touched. cool.
In large bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk and water; beat in pudding mix. Chill 5 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Place 1 brownie layer on serving plate. Top with half each of pudding mixture and berries. Repeat. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 8-10 servings.

 

But is sure did taste good!!!!  LOL

 

LAZY FRUIT PASTRY

Lazy Fruit Pastry
by Ashley Reyes

Ingredients:
All-purpose flour, 2 cups

Superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon (we used regular sugar)
Ground allspice, 1 tablespoon
Butter or margarine, 2/3 cup (we used butter)
Egg, 1, separated (we used an egg substitute)
Cooking apples, 1 pound
Lemon juice, 2 tablespoons
Raisins, 2/3 cup
Raw sugar, ½ cup (we used regular sugar)
Hazelnuts, ¼ cup, toasted and chopped (optional, we omitted)

1. Preheat the oven to 4oo degrees. Put the flour, sugar, and spice in a bowl. Add the butter or margarine and rub it into the flour with your fingertips, until it resembles bread crumbs.
2. Add the egg yolk and use your hands to pull the mixture together, (You may need to add a little water). (we had to had about 3-4 tablespoons of water.)
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead gently until smooth. Roll out the pastry with a rolling pin to make a rough circle about 12 inches across. Use the rolling pin to carefully lift the pastry onto a baking sheet. The pastry may hang over the edges slightly—this doesn’t matter.
4. Peel the apples. Using a small sharp knife, cut the apples into quarters, then carefully cut out the core. Discard the core and slice the apples on the cutting board. Toss them in the lemon juice to stop them from turning brown.
5. Scatter some of the apples over the middle of the pastry, leaving a 4-inch border all around. Scatter some of the raisins over the top. Keep making layers of apple, raisins, and sugar until you have used them up.
6. Fold up the pastry edges to cover the fruit, overlapping it where necessary. Brush the pastry with the egg white (we used milk) and sprinkle over the reserved sugar. Scatter over the nuts (if using). Cover the central hole with aluminum foil. Cook for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is browned.

EGGLESS CAKE

EGGLESS CAKE

**This recipe may also be known as Victory Cake or War Cake.
***During and after WWII eggs and white sugar were difficult to come by, so this cake was typically made with brown sugar.

makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar (white or brown)
1 cup sour milk (stir in 1 TBSP lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk to make it sour)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg

Cream shortening and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Add sifted mixture and sour milk alternately to creamed mixture. Bake in a prepared loaf pan at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

COCONUT CREAM PIE w/ SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

COCONUT CREAM PIE W/ SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

Baked pie crust (I use Grandma Dodie’s Never Fail Pie Crust recipe posted here)
4 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp salt
3 cups milk
2 TBSP stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut, divided
1 cup Sweetened Whipped Cream (recipe to follow or use cool whip)

1. Prepare baked pie crust.

2. Beat egg yolks with fork in small bowl. Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.

3. Immediately stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks; stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in margarine, vanilla and ¾ cup of the coconut. Pour into pie shell. Press plastic wrap onto filling. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until set.

4. Remove plastic wrap. Top pie with Sweetened Whipped Cream and remaining coconut. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie after serving.

SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM
For 1 cup whipped cream: beat ½ cup whipping (heavy) cream and 1 TBSP granulated or powdered sugar in chilled small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff

MY BIG FAT BUNDT CAKE

MY BIG FAT BUNDT CAKE
from Group's Dinner and a Movie
Chick Flicks 2

1 boxed lemon cake mix
one 3.4 ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup lemon-lime soda

ICING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Combine cake mix, pudding mix and oil in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then slowly add lemon-lime soda. Pour batter into Bundt pan, and bake for 40-50 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack, then invert on serving plate. Mix confectioner's sugar with enough lemon juice to make thin icing, and drizzle over top of cooled cake. Serves 8-10.

KILLER BROWNIES

Posted by Jacquetta

Killer Brownies

1- pkg German Chocolate cake mix
1- 5 oz can evaporated milk
1- stick butter
40- caramels ( peel from wrappers and have ready to use.)
1- tsp. vanilla
1 -cup choco chips, semi sweet, dark, p-nut butter, what ever your choice.

Mix cake mix and 1/2 of evap. milk in a bowl. Coat 9x13 baking pan with end of butter stick. Melt the rest of the butter and add to cake mixture. The consistancy is "play dough" like. If the dough looks too dry add a little more butter.

Divide dough in half. Press 1/2 of dough into bottom of pan all the way to the edges. Cook for 8 min. at 350 degrees. No longer. Melt caramels with the remaining milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Take pan out of oven, sprinkle chips evenly on top of baked crust. Pour melted caramels over chips. Throw some nuts in if you want.

Use the remaining 1/2 of cake dough, crumble over top of all.

Bake at 350 for 20 min, do not over bake.

This seems like a lot of work, but it isn't and these are killer brownies.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.

SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE

Posted by Melissa Sanders Brewer

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 tubes crescent rolls
2 8oz bars cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar
9x13 pan

line bottom with 1 can crescent rolls

mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla

Top with crescent rolls

melt butter and poor on top sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

bake at 350 for 30 minutes

FRESH PEACH COBBLER

FRESH PEACH COBBLER
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Bake:30 mins
Serves 6

1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups sliced peaches (about 6 medium)
1 tsp lemon juice
3 TBSP shortening
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in 2-quart saucepan. Stir peaches and lemon juice. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole; keep peach mixture hot in oven.

Cut shortening into flour, 1 TBSP sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk. Drop dough by 6 spoonfuls onto hot peach mixture.

Bake 25-30 mins or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm.

***sprinkle sugar/cinnamon mixture over top of dough before baking for extra sweetness***

BLUEBERRY FROZEN YOGURT

Posted by Patrice Hansford

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

1 bag of frozen blueberries
5 cups of plain or vanilla yogurt
2 cups of half & half
2 cups of sugar

Crush berries. Mix all ingredients & refrigerate for 30 minutes. Freeze according to your Ice Cream makers instructions

NO-COOK VANILLA ICE CREAM

No-Cook Vanilla Ice Cream
makes 4 qts

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 TBSP vanilla... See More
1/2 pint whipping cream
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
Milk (approx 1 1/2 quarts)
1/8 tsp salt

Combine eggs, cream, sugar, salt and vanilla in bowl and mix well with mixer. Pour into freezer can, add sweetened condensed milk and stir well. Add milk to fill line on can and stir. Churn in freezer per instructions. Makes approx. 4 qts.

** There are so many things you can do to this ice cream to make it special. Our favorite is Cherry Chocolate Chip: add 1 jar of marachino cherries drained and chopped, and 1 cup miniature chocolate chips.**

*** a side note to this recipe....add extras BEFORE you add milk to the fill line...otherwise it will be too full!!***

HOME FROZEN SHERBET

HOME FROZEN SHERBET
makes 4 qts

2 liter bottle of orange or strawberry pop (or other favorite flavor)
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 - 20oz can crushed pineapple

Mix in your ice cream freezer can. Stir a little with the freezer paddle, then freeze as you would for ice cream.

HAY BALES

HAY BALES
7 minutes cooking time
1 hour chill time
15 minutes for finishing touches (if desired)

1/4 cup butter, unsalted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup butterscotch morsels

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool 1-2 minutes.

Fold in the Rice Krispies and toss until coated evenly. Stir in the butterscotch morsels.

Spread into a greased 13-by-9 pan and flatten with a spatula (I used parchment or waxed paper). Cover and chill for one hour. Cut into rectangles to resemble hay bales.

**Cut lengths of black licorice and wrap around each bale to resemble the twine. Or you can use black icing in place of the licorice**

FRENCH SILK PIE

FRENCH SILK PIE
prep: 25 mins
cook: 10 mins
fridge or freeze: 4 hours

Baked Pie Crust
¼ cup stick margarine or butter
3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
3 TBSP cornstarch
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
Whipped cream for topping

1. Prepare baked pie crust.
2. Melt margarine and chocolate in 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Mix sugar and cornstarch; stir into chocolate mixture.
3. Beat eggs in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until thick and lemon colored; stir into chocolate mixture. Cook chocolate mixture over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy. Stir in vanilla. Cool 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Beat whipping cream in chilled bowl with electric mixer on high speed, until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipped cream. Spread in pie shell. Cover and refrigerate about 4 hours or until set. Garnish with whipped cream. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie.

HOT COCOA FUDGE SAUCE

**I found this recipe on the back of my hot chocolate packet while I was camping!! You can imagine how excited I was when I realized I had all the ingredients for it right there. The recipe says to serve it over ice cream, but I found that it was an AWESOME fondue dip for apple slices, marshmallows and cheese....yes...cheese!!!**

HOT COCOA FUDGE SAUCE
makes approx. 3/4 cup

1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP butter or margarine
5 envelopes (3/4 cup + 3 TBSP) Hot Cocoa Mix

Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted. Stir in cocoa mix until smooth. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, for 5-8 minutes or until sauce thickens.

ANNE'S SOCK IT TO ME CAKE

ANNE’S SOCK IT TO ME CAKE
prep: 15 mins
bake time: 1 hour oven OR 20 mins microwave

1 yellow butter cake mix
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts

Mix ingredients together thoroughly.
Butter a bunt pan heavily and flour with the following mixture:

3 TBSP powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP chopped nuts

Spread ½ the batter in the bunt pan.
Sprinkle with the following mixture:

3 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP chopped nuts.

Add the rest of the batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. OR you can bake in a microwave safe bunt pan for 20-22 minutes.