Chocolate Sheet Cake

Once again The Pioneer Woman's cookbook came through for me! This cake is A-MAZING! I literally ate half of it myself! Ridiculous, I know!  Just make sure you have lots of friends to share with when you make it.

Chocolate Sheet Cake


Cake:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
2 sticks butter
4 heaping T cocoa powder

Icing:

1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping T cocoa powder
6 T milk
1 t vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar and salt, set aside.  In another bowl mix together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and baking soda, set aside.  In a medium sauce pan melt the butter and add the cocoa.  While mixing these together, bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Now add the water to the butter/cocoa mixture and turn off the heat.  Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture.  Stir together and then add the egg mixture.  Stir until smooth.  Pour into a rimmed cookie sheet, a 10x15 inch pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is cooking, make the icing.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the cocoa and stir until smooth.  Add the milk and the vanilla.  Next add the powdered sugar and stir together.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the warm icing on top.  Try to pour the icing to cover the cake evenly to avoid spreading.  This cake is great served warm and is still great the next day and the next and the next...if it lasts that long!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Casserole

I came across this recipe at A Southern Grace and just knew I had to try it. I am a big lover of comfort food and this definitely fits into that category. I also love how quick it is and that it is all ingredients that I have on hand. I modified it slightly from the original recipe.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Casserole

2 chicken breasts

6 ounces egg noodles

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

salt, pepper and paprika to taste

1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs (I used club crackers, Ritz would be good too)

1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350. Cook chicken and shred it. Cook noodles. Mix chicken and noodles together. In a separate bowl mix soups and sour cream together. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Gently stir together the cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture. Put this into a 9x13 pan. Melt the butter and mix it with the cracker crumbs. Spread this on top of the casserole. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through and golden brown.

Grasshopper Pie

This week was my Wyatt's birthday! He LOVES mint ice cream and anything green! So, when I saw this recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe, I knew I had to make it his birthday cake. It was a big hit and fun to do an ice cream cake instead of the traditional.

Grasshopper Pie

(8 servings)

Crust:

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I used Oreos, about 20)

5 T butter, melted

Pie:

1 quart mint chocolate chip ice cream

1 quart chocolate ice cream

Garnish:

1 c whipping cream

2 T powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

10 Andes Mints

(directions borrowed from My Kitchen Cafe)

Combine the crushed cookie crumbs and the butter together in a medium bowl until the cookie crumbs are well-moistened and the mixture looks and feels like wet sand. Press the crumbs into a 9- or 10-inch springform pan and refrigerate or freeze until set (about 30 minutes).

While the crust is in the refrigerator, take out the mint chocolate chip ice cream and let it sit at room temperature for 15-ish minutes to soften up a bit. Scoop the softened ice cream into a medium bowl (you can use the same one as the cookie crumbs, if you like!) and stir the ice cream until it is smooth. You don’t want it overly melted here – just try to stir it all up so it is easy spreadable but is still cold and icy. Spread the ice cream over the cookie crust in an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least an hour.

Follow the same step above with the chocolate ice cream and spread it on top of the mint chocolate chip ice cream (make sure the mint ice cream is thoroughly frozen so the layers don’t mix). Once the chocolate ice cream has been spread evenly, again cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1-2 hours or longer depending on your freezer (or tightly covered up to a three days). My pie held up much better after sitting in the freezer over night. I will plan to do it that way next time.

When you are ready to serve the pie, whip the heavy cream into stiff peaks with the powdered sugar and vanilla. To make the Andes mint curls hold the mint nestled in a paper towel with one long thin edge exposed above the top of the paper towel. Take a vegetable peeler and gently shave off curls from the long, thin edge. Repeat this process until you have the desired amount of curls to garnish with (I shaved the curls early in the day and kept them on a plate in the freezer until I was ready to use them). You can microwave the mint for 4-5 seconds on power 20 if you want. This is supposed to make the shaving easier but I was fine without doing that.

Unmold the grasshopper pie from the springform pan and pile the whipped cream on top of the ice cream. Spread in large dollops over the top of the pie. Sprinkle with the curls. Cut the pie into slices and serve immediately. If you are planning to have leftovers, serve the whipped cream on each piece separately instead of the whole pie, as the whipped cream doesn’t fare as well being frozen on top of the pie for a long period of time.

Snickerdoodles

This recipe comes from my Grandma Twinkle.  I just love these because they remind me so much of my childhood and my mom!

Snickerdoodles

(makes about 2 1/2 dozen)

1 C. crisco

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 C. flour

2 t. cream of tartar

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 400. Mix together crisco and sugar. Then add eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Form into walnut sized balls and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture*.

 * 2 T sugar and 1 T cinnamon.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes

Blackberry Cobbler

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook. My sister-in-law told me I HAD to make this and once I did, I couldn't stop! I have made it a couple of times and it is the BEST cobbler I have ever had. Top it with some GOOD vanilla ice cream and it is H.E.A.V.E.N!

Blackberry Cobbler

1 stick butter, melted

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup self rising flour (or add 1/2 t salt and 1 1/2 t baking powder to 1 cup flour)

1 cup milk

2 cups fresh blackberries (or peaches, raspberries, blueberries or whatever)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, milk and flour. Whisk in the butter. Rinse the berries and pat them dry. Pour the batter into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the top. Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup sugar. Bake for 1 hour or until golden (Mine cooked for about 50 minutes). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website. They taste just like peanut butter cups to me. I love that these are No-bake. They are easy to throw together and keep for a long time in your fridge. That is, unless you are like me and eat them in two days!

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 sticks butter, melted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1/2 semi-sweet and half milk chocolate)

In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, powdered sugar and peanut butter.

Mix till well-combined.

Spread mixture in a lightly greased 9 x 13-pan. Chill in refrigerator for approximately 10 minutes.

While peanut butter layer is chilling, melt chocolate chips, in a microwave oven or in a double boiler on top of the stove.

Spread chocolate over peanut butter.

Cut bars into squares, but leave them in the pan. Return to refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. Store leftovers in the fridge, tightly covered.

Caramel Corn

Now there are 2 different kinds of caramel corn. The soft, sticky, gooey kind and the crunchy, melt in your mouth kind. I love them both and I have favorite recipes for both of them. Here is my favorite for the crunchy, melt in your mouth kind. I got this recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. During the holidays I like to drizzle this with melted chocolate chips and sprinkle red hots on the chocolate before it gets hard. So, so good!

Caramel Corn

15 cups popped popcorn (I use my air popper)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

Heat oven to 200. Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bubbles form around the edges. Continue cooking for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda until foamy. Pour over popped popcorn and stir to coat evenly. Spread the caramel corn onto 2 ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 1 hour at 200 stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.