Indoor Smores

This is one of my new favorites! I liked rice crispy treas, but this beats them.

Indoor Smores
Butter a 9x13 pan, set aside.

5 c. miniature marshmallows
1/2 c. corn syrup
6 Tbsp margarine
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Melt over low heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add in this order stirring after each:

1 tsp. vanilla
8 c. Golden Grahams
1 cup. mini marshmallows

Press into pan. Cool.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Bars

This is a recipe from one of my best friends LOVES. It's great sharing recipes with friends. Thanks Andrea for sharing this with me. I love testing recipes on Andrea & Charles. I have to reward them somehow for all the times my kids climb and beat them up.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Bars


1 cup Chipits Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Topping:
1 pkg. Chipits Reese Peanut Butter Chips
3/4 cup milk
8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). 
• Butter a 9x9 inch (23x23 cm); set aside
• In a microwave or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt Chipits semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter. 
• Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in milk. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract until smooth; set aside.
• In another bowl, sift together sugar, flour and cocoa powder. Pour chocolate mixture over dray ingredients and stir together. Measure out 1/4 of the batter; set aside. Spread remaining batter into prepared pan.
• To make topping, in a microwave or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water melt Chipits Reese peanut Butter Chips; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg and milk. Pour in melted peanut butter chips and beat until smooth.
• To assemble, spoon cheesecake batter over the brownie batter, covering well. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining browning batter over top and swirl with a knife to create a marble effect. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. 
• Cool completely before cutting.

Bruschetta

Here's another recipe from the bake swap. I know it wasn't baked, but it was too yummy not to share.

Bruschetta

• Prepare 1/3 cup of oil: add 1 tbsp of oregano and Mrs. Dash garlic & herb blend (no MSG) add a pinch of garlic salt.
• Chop or food process 5-6 tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic and 1 small onion.
• Put chopped mix in bowl & pour oil mixture over; then add feta cheese to taste (I add A LOT!!)
• Serve on rice crackers, tortilla chips or cut up a ciabatta baguette into thin slices. 

Soft Gingerbread Cookies

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a bake swap. It was a lot of fun. A group of gals gathered and shared some of their favorite goodies and recipes. I'm going to make a batch of these Soft Gingerbread Cookies today. There's more recipes to come. Enjoy!

Soft Gingerbread Cookies (for a large batch)

1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup lard (or shortening)
1 cup fancy molasses or eating molasses
1/2 boiling water
3 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
about 6 cups flour (enough to shape dough in a soft ball)

• Mix ginger and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
• Add sugar, lard and molasses and blend well.
• Add plain water and blend.
• Add half of the flour and mix.
• Add baking soda water mixture and blend well.
• Add flour until dough can be shaped into a softball.
• Roll out on floured board and cut out shapes.
• Place on greased cookie sheets and bake until centre is done. About 8 minutes.

Royal Icing

3 egg whites, at room temerature

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 cups icing sugar

few drops of flavoring

• Beat everything together until Icing stands in stiff peaks. DO NOT UNDERBEAT! 
• Keep icing covered with damp cloth.
• Keep leftovers in fridge, covered with damp cloth and in a airtight container.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Pecan Pie

This is absolutely the best Pecan Pie recipe. I hated pecan pie before I found this recipe. I dreaded making one of Ben's favorite pies because I don't like pecan pie and didn't like it one bit.

Pecan Pie
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans*

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add milk, vanilla and nuts.
• Pour into a unbaked 9-in. pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until done.

* I don't like biting into big pieces of nuts, so I finely chop the nuts. It melts in my mouth. To adopt this recipe into Pecan Tarts then just fill the tart shells with about 1 Tbsp of mixture. If there's too much in the tart/pie it will be fine. It shrinks down. Enjoy!