Awesome Bake Ware

                 Make layered cakes a breeze with Mrs. Fields' Fill N Flip Baking Pan!
                 Make layered cakes a breeze with Mrs. Fields' Fill N Flip Baking Pan!

Chockablock Cookies

Dorie Greenspan, from Baking From My Home to Yours

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup solid vegetable shortening
½ cup sugar
½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or peanuts are all good)
1 cup coarsely chopped dried fruit (such as apricots, prunes, or figs) or 1 cup of moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chopped, or 2 cups store-bought chocolate chips
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready:

Position the racks to divide the oven in thirds and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and shortening together at medium speed until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another two minutes. Pour in the molasses and beat for 1 minute more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in the oats, then add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Toss in the nuts, fruit, chocolate chips and coconut and, turn the mixer on and off quickly a few times to incorporate. Alternatively, you can stir them into the dough with a sturdy wooden spatula. (The dough can be wrapped well and chilled for up to two days. If you'd like, you can measure out the dough onto a baking sheet, freeze until firm, then put mounds of dough in a bag and freeze for up to two months; bake directly out of the freezer, adding a few minutes to the baking time.)
I like to use an ice cream scoop with a 2-tablespoon capacity to divvy up the dough, but you can measure it out by rounded tablespoonfuls. Place the mounds of dough on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the mounds.
Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, rotating pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until the cookies are golden and just about set. Remove the baking sheets to cooling racks and let the cookies rest on the sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Allspice Crumb Muffin

 For the Streusel: 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 
5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits 

For the Muffins: 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 Tablespoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar 
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
2 large eggs 
3/4 cup whole milk 
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
Grated zest of 1 lemon (optional) 

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet. 

To Make the Streusel: Put the flour, brown sugar and allspice in a small bowl and sift them through your fingers to blend. Add the bits of cold butter and toss to get irregularly shaped crumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator for the moment. (You can make the crumbs up to 3 days ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator.) 

To Make the Muffins: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough--the batter will be lumpy, and that is just the way it should be. Stir in the lemon zest, if you're using it. 

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle some streusel over each muffin, then use your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter. 

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Hawaiian Pineapple Poke Cake

What you will need

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3 3/4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
2 cups non-dairy whipped topping
grated coconut (to garnish)
chopped nuts (to garnish)

Directions:

1 Prepare cake according to package directions using oil, eggs and water.
2 Bake in greased and floured 9X13 pan.
3 When cool, punch holes in cake with handle of wooden spoon.
4 Pour pineapple over top of cake.
5 Combine cream cheese, pudding and milk; beat until smooth and thick enough to spread.
6 Spread over top of cake.
7 Top with whipped topping, coconut and nuts.
8 Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Sent to me by: Amanda Strickland 

Death by Chocolate

Ingredients:
1 box of yellow cake mix (you can use any kind)
1 box of vanilla instant pudding,
1 box of chocolate instant pudding,
4 eggs,
3/4 cup of oil
1 cup of sour cream
12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Directions
Mix everything except the chocolate chips for 2 minutes.
Pour half the batter in a bundt pan and add half of the chocolate chips
Pour in the rest of the batter then sprinkle on remaining chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks Amanda for this awesome recipe!! 

Italian Cheesecake

 FOR CRUST

10 sheets graham crackers, sheets ground in a food processor to texture of fine crumbs (should be a little over 1 cup total)
1 1⁄8 tablespoons sugar
4 1⁄2 tablespoons melted butter
FOR BATTER

24 ounces ricotta cheese
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
6 tablespoons flour
8 ounces sour cream
1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Wrap the outside of a 10-inch spring form pan with foil to prevent water from seeping in while baking.
Mix sugar, crumbs, and melted butter together well to form crust.
Press this mixture into the bottom of the spring form pan and up the sides until you run out.
Bake crust for about 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on wire rack while preparing the batter.
With a mixer, cream together ricotta cheese, cream cheese, flour, and sugar until very smooth.
Mix in the eggs one at a time, blend well but DO NOT OVER MIX THE BATTER!
Stir in the sour cream and vanilla by hand.
Pour mixture into cooled crust.
Place cheesecake into a large rectangular pan filled with about 1 1/2 inches of hot water.
Make sure foil is high enough around the spring form pan so that no water seeps into it while baking.
Bake for 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes, turn oven off but leave cake in oven for another 60 minutes (DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR). It will fall and you will NOT be happy! frown emoticon

Carefully remove cake from water pan and remove foil from spring form pan.
Cool on wire rack for 1 hour.
Cover cake with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator overnight.

Provided By: Amanda Strickland

ECLAIRS

PASTRY:
½ cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs

CUSTARD FILLING:
1 (4 serving size) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups milk (or as called for on pudding package)
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

CHOCOLATE ICING:
⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powder or confection
sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet and set aside.

In medium saucepan, combine ½ cup butter and water. Bring to a boil, stirring to melt butter. Reduce heat to low and stir in flour and salt with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to form a stiff ball of dough.

Remove from heat and add eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition to ensure they are incorporated. Work quickly, especially with the first one, to prevent it from cooking into scrambled eggs on the bottom of your warm pan. With a spoon or pastry bag fitted with a large tip, spread/pipe the thick dough onto prepared cookie sheet into 10 strips approximately 1½ x 4″ each.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 and bake another 20 minutes, until puffed and golden and hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. When removed from oven, IMMEDIATELY pierce the ends almost through to the other side to let steam escape and prevent any sogginess in the middle. This hole is also where you will be piping your filling into. Let cool completely before filling and icing (this will only take about half an hour).

For CUSTARD FILLING: combine pudding and milk in a bowl and mix according to package directions. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in ¼ cup icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and ¼ tsp salt. Fold whipped cream into pudding.

Scoop mixture into pastry bag fitted with a smallish tip (I enlarged my steam holes a bit to make my tip fit, so do whatever works) and pipe mixture into centers of eclairs until full. This is a bit of a messy business, but worth it for ease of eating and pretty appearance. You could certainly also just slice the eclairs in half horizontally, fill the bottoms with cream, and replace the tops. Either way, you will probably have some custard leftover.

For ICING: Melt the chocolate and 2 Tbsp butter over low heat in a saucepan (or in the microwave, stirring after 30 seconds and giving additional 10 second increments as needed until fully melted). Stir in 1 cup confectioners sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in hot water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until icing is smooth and reaches desired consistency. Drizzle, pipe or spread over filled eclairs. Store in the fridge. Eat in moderation.
Put whip cream on top with a cherry !! Optional 

Reese’s Krispie Treats

What you need:

6 Reese's peanut butter cups
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
5 Tbsp butter
1 pinch of salt

Directions 

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter, add sugar, corn syrup, Reese’s peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, and peanut butter until smooth and evenly mixed, then remove from heat. Then add the salt and cereal and stir until combined thoroughly.
Butter an oblong cookie sheet or baking pan and spread mixture out evenly pressing down firmly.
Place in the fridge to harden.
Slice and Enjoy!

Courtesy of Amanda Strickland

Diabetic Friendly Strawberry Cheesecake

In a food processor

crush 1 package of graham crackers 
Add 3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pour into a pie pan and put in refrigerator.

Filling:

In the processor 1 soft block lite cream cheese blend until creamy
Add 1 1/2 cups skim milk (can't use almond milk pudding will not set)
When blended add 1 package sugar free Instant pudding.. Cheese cake flavor or Vanilla. blend ..
Take crust out pour and spread half of the mixture into your crust cover with sliced strawberries then spread rest of pudding and top with more strawberries.

Chewy Chunky Blondies

Chewy, Chunky Blondies.

It's from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook 

Baking From My Home to Yours

Chewy, Chunky Blondies 

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

Cake Mix Lemon Ricotta Drop Cookies

Ingredients

¼ cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 cup ricotta (not non-fat)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
Canned or homemade lemon frosting (optional), whipped well

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Position rack in the middle of the oven and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Parchment can be reused one time.

2. In a stand mixer beat together butter and ricotta until fluffy. Add egg, lemon extract, and lemon zest and beat until combined and fluffy. Add the cake mix and beat until combined.

3. With a mini or standard size cookie scoop drop dough onto parchment two inches apart. Dunk scoop into a glass of hot water and shake well after every few scoops when the dough gets difficult to release.

4. Bake a sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. I used a mini cookie scoop; it might take a minute or two longer for standard sized cookies.

5. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and move to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

6. Once cool, whip frosting until fluffy and pipe a dollop on top of each cookie.

Recipe by Laura Flowers

Cafe Volcano Cookies

 Café Volcano Cookies

 from Baking: From My House to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). Copyright 2006 by Dorie Greenspan.
Makes about 36 cookies

Light, bumpy, nutty and completely higgledy-piggledy-shaped, these cratered meringue nuggets are just the cookies to reach for with your last coffee of the afternoon or your last spoonful of ice cream at night. They are featherweight but packed with flavor, and I love the way they disappear in your mouth — quickly, so quickly and fizzily that if they didn't have nuts, you'd think you were eating espresso Pop Rocks. 

1 cup blanched almonds (whole, sliced or slivered), coarsely chopped

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
2. Spread the chopped almonds and walnuts out on one of the baking sheets and toast the nuts in the oven. They will need 10 minutes or less to turn golden brown, so keep a close eye on them and stir them at least twice. When the nuts are toasted, remove them — with the liner — from the baking sheet and cool the sheet. Transfer the nuts to a plate, then reline the sheet and use it to bake the cookies.
3. Put all the ingredients, including the nuts, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Set it over medium heat and stir constantly with a silicone or wooden spatula until the ingredients are just warm to the touch. Remove from the heat.
4. Drop the batter by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving about an inch of space between the mounds.
5. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When properly baked, the cookies will be puffed, cratered, shiny and dry. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them remain on the sheets for 5 minutes before gently prying them from the liners and transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature.
Storing: Kept in a cool, dry place at room temperature (they should never be refrigerated), the cookies will hold up for about 3 days. As with all meringues, humidity will make them go soggy and sticky.

Pumpkin Roll

Cake Ingredients:

3/4 Powdered sugar 

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2teaspoon salt

3 LAND O LAKES® All-Natural Eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

Filling Ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

6 tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

Powdered sugar, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F. Grease 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan; line with parchment or waxed paper. Grease and flour paper; set aside. Arrange clean thin, cotton kitchen towel on counter; sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl; beat until thickened. Add pumpkin; beat until well mixed. Stir in flour mixture. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with walnuts, if desired.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched. Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert onto prepared towel. Remove pan; carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake in towel while hot, starting with 10-inch side. Cool completely on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in small bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in plastic food wrap; refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired..

Recipe Tip
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel before rolling up cake so it will not stick.

Nutrition Facts (1 serving): Calories: 400, Fat: 24g, Cholesterol: 105mg, Sodium: 290mg, Carbohydrates: 41g, Dietary Fiber: 2g, Protein: 7g
Recipe and photo courtesy of NESTLÉ® USA and www.VeryBestBaking.com.

Cranberry Shortbread

Ingredients

For the Jam Filling:

1 large navel orange

about 1/4 cup of orange juice

1 12-ounce bag cranberries, fresh or frozen (not thawed)

About 1 cup sugar

For the Cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 stick plus 5 tablespoons (13 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar

1 large egg

 1 large egg yolk

                                                                            1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To Make the Jam Filling:

Grate the zest of an orange into a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Slice off the peel, removing the white, cottony pith that sticks to the fruit, and slice between the membranes to release the orange segments. Cut the segments into 1/4-inch wide pieces and toss these into the pan. Working over a measuring cup, squeeze the juice from the membranes -- if you have 1/4 cup, great; if not, add enough additional orange juice (or water) to make 1/4 cup -- and pour it into the pan. 

Put the cranberries in the pan, stir in 3/4 cup of sugar, set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until the cranberries pop and your spoon leaves tracks, about 5 minutes. Scrape the jam into a bowl and taste it -- if it's too tart, add more sugar to taste. Cool to room temperature. (The filling can be made up to 2 weeks ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)

To Make the Cake: 

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and smooth. Add 1 cup of sugar and continue to beat until it dissolves into the butter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the egg and egg yolk and, beating until they too are absorbed. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated; since this is a delicate dough, one that should not be over beaten, you might want to finish mixing in the flour by hand using a sturdy spatula. You'll have a thick dough, one that is quite malleable. 

Turn the dough out onto a smooth surface and gather it together in a ball, then divide in half and pat each half into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate them for 15 to 30 minutes. (At this point, the dough can be refrigerated overnight; set it out at room temperature for about 20 minutes before proceeding.)

Getting Ready to Bake:

While the dough is chilling, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9-inch spring form pan (preferably nonstick) and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. 

Work with one piece of dough at a time. For the bottom layer, either roll out the dough to size between two pieces of plastic wrap -- it's an easy enough dough to roll -- and lay it in the pan, or put the dough in the pan and press it lightly and evenly across the bottom with your fingertips. Spread the cranberry filling over the dough.

Unwrap the second piece of dough, but leave it on the plastic. Press and/or roll it until it is just the diameter of the pan. Carefully lift the dough and invert it on the filling, lift off the plastic and use your fingers to even it as necessary so that it covers the filling. Brush the top of the cake very lightly with water and sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the cake is lightly golden and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool for about 20 minutes, then run a blunt knife around the cake, remove the sides of the pan and let cool to room temperature.

COOKIES AND CREAM

What you will need

1 bag Oreos, crushed
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups milk
2 sm boxes instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 oz Cool Whip, thawed

Directions 

Cream together cream cheese, butter & powered sugar & vanilla. In separate bowl mix milk & pudding chill until set. Fold in cool whip after pudding has set. Add cream cheese mixture, layer with Oreos... Chill until ready to serve!

Sent in by: Amanda Strickland 

Mocha Pudding Parfaits ( Kraft Foods Recipe)

This is what you will need!!

1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk

1 Tbsp.  MAXWELL HOUSE Instant Coffee

1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP FREE Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

6 Nabisco Chocolate Wafers, chopped (or other cookies you have on hand)

Directions 

  POUR milk into medium bowl. Add instant coffee granules and dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping.
 
SPOON half of the pudding mixture evenly into six parfait glasses or dessert dishes; sprinkle with the chopped wafers. Cover with half of the remaining whipped topping; top with layers of the remaining pudding mixture and the remaining whipped topping.
 
REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftover parfaits in refrigerator.
140 calories each

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups whipping cream
12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Directions

Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.

In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.

In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.

Spoon into bowls or martini glasses and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish with fruit and serve.

(If mousse is to be refrigerated overnight, chill for one hour and then cover each with plastic wrap)

Strawberry Parfait

INGREDIENTS

1 package (3oz) Jello-o brand gelatin, any flavor
1 cup sliced fresh fruit
1 cup thawed Cool Whip whipped topping

DIRECTIONS
Prepare gelatin according to package directions. Chill until slightly thickened. Set aside 1/3 cup. Add fruit to remaining gelatin; spoon into 4 to 5 glasses. Chill glasses at an angle until jello is set.

Meanwhile, fold whipped topping into measured (1/3 cup) gelatin. Spoon topping mixture into glasses of set jello. Chill. Garnish

Easy S'mores

Ingredients

4 graham crackers

2 milk chocolate candy bars

12 marshmallows

Instructions

Line a cookie sheet with foil; lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.

Top half of the graham crackers with a piece of chocolate bar and a marshmallow.

Broil 3 minutes or until desired. Top with remaining graham crackers.

Healthy cookies

Ingredients

3 mashed bananas (ripe)
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups oats
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup raisins or nuts
1 cup good chocolate chunks
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

preheat oven to 350 degrees
bake for 15-20 minutes
Cool and Enjoy!

TACO STUFFED SHELLS

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

2 envelopes taco seasoning

1-1/2 cups water

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells

1/4 cup butter, melted

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS (for each casserole):

1 cup salsa

1 cup taco sauce

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1-1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

3 green onions, chopped

Sweet Baby Ray's Crockpot Chicken

What you will need

4-6 chicken breast

1 btl Sweet Baby Ray's sauce

1/4 c vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

Mix everything but chicken

Place chicken in crock pot (frozen is ok)

Pour sauce mixture over chicken Cook on low 4-6 hours

Mexican Spaghetti

What you will need

6 oz. thin spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I only had orange but any would work)

1 small can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 pkg. taco seasoning

3/4 C. water

1/2 C. salsa, I used a little more

1 1/2 C. shredded Colby jack cheese.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to pkg. directions. Meanwhile, brown ground beef in a large skillet, drain grease and add in the onion and peppers. Cook till onion becomes tender. Add in taco seasoning and the water, stir well. Add in the salsa, corn and strained pasta. Combine well and then add 3/4 C. of the cheese. Toss to combine well and pour into a lightly greased baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Serve with shredded lettuce and tortilla chips.

Credit Amanda Strickland