Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies
family recipe
makes 3 dozen cookies

1 1/4 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Shortening
1/4 Cup Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 Egg
Additional Sugar For Topping (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, beat together shortening, butter, peanut butter, and white and brown sugars.  Mix in flour mixture. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and dip the balls into additional sugar if desired.  Flatten crisscross style with a fork or ridged end of a meat mallet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or just until edges begin to brown.

My husband eats peanut butter like it's going out of style.  Do you remember that commercial where this mom sends her college daughter a jar of peanut butter and she sits around eating it by the spoonful?  That's what my husband does. Every day. 

Copycat Granite City Dip

Copycat Granite City Dip
from food.com
makes 1 1/2 cups of dip

1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Curry Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Dried Dill Weed
1/8 Teaspoon Paprika
1/4 Teaspoon Worcestershire

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Garnish with a another little sprinkle of dried dill.  For best results, chill in the fridge a few hours before serving.

I'm usually not a bit fan of copycat recipes.  I feel like the copies have high standards and they are never quite as good as the original.  However, this recipe comes pretty darn close to the real deal.  Of course it's amazing with some seasoned waffle fries, but it's also a great sandwich spread or veggie dip.  I haven't tried this yet, but I imagine that you could substitute Greek yogurt for some or all of the sour cream and mayo and it would be just as tasty!

Pink Peppermint Cake

Pink Peppermint Cake
Family Recipe

1 Box White Cake Mix
1 Stick of Butter, Sotftened*
1 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
Red Food Coloring
1 Jar of Fudge (Mrs. Richards is best!)
16 oz. Cool Whip**
1/2 Teaspoon Peppermint

Make cake mix as directed except substitute butter for oil.  Mix in 1 teaspoon peppermint and add a few drops of red food coloring.  Bake as directed on box. Let the cake cool.

When the cake has cooled, spread the fudge on top.  Mix together the cool whip, 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint and a few drops of red food coloring.  Spread the cool whip over the fudge.  Plate using your fanciest china and enjoy!

*Can substitute shortening for some of the butter for a different texture!
**Can substitute real whip cream for the cool whip.  Beat together 3 cups heaving whipping cream and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until soft peaks form.

I've been holding out on you.  This recipe is one of my favorites and I'm just now posting it!  I only have it once a year since it's the only cake that I will have on my birthday.  I'm very particular about the way it's made, it's gotta be just right!  On my 21st birthday, my family came up to visit me at college and, of course, were bringing up my cake to help me celebrate.  I had a particularly rough week and was especially looking forward to having a slice. My mom got all the forks and plates ready and I lifted up the lid of the cake and to my horror I found that it was GREEN!  Not my PINK peppermint cake!  My mom had made it with Creme De Mint instead of the peppermint extract and as a result, I had a green cake.  We still laugh about that now.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Orange Creamsicle Cookies
from The Girl Who Ate Everything
makes about 36 cookies

2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Orange Extract
2 Cups White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.  In a large bowl beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg, vanilla extract, and orange extract until smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture until combined.  Fold in white chocolate chips.  Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.  Cool for several minutes on cookies sheet before transferring to a rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

These cookies were an uphill battle.  I had to do some substituting because I ran out of butter and I realized in the middle of making these that I was being sloppy with the measurements.  Basically these had the potential to be a huge failure.  However, because I'm an amazing cook, they were infinitely successful!  And I know that when I make them again they will be even more amazing.  Also note my new stoneware baking sheet.  Now that I know not to stick stoneware directly under the broiler I think that we may have a long and happy life together.

Apple Pie

Apple Pie
family recipe
serves 8


Crust:
2 1/3 Cups Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Shortening
1/4 Cup Butter
1 or 2 Tablespoons Water

Filling:
About 6 Cups Apples, Peeled and Chopped.  We used 4 Granny Smith Apples and 2 Honey Crisp
1 Tablespoon Frozen Lemonade Concentrate
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Butter

For the crust:  In a medium bowl mix together flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening and butter.  Add water a little at a time. The dough should be pretty crumbly.  Set aside.

For the filling:  In a large bowl toss the chopped apples with the lemonade concentrate.  In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, brown sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon.  Combine sugar mixture with the apples.  Set aside.

Back to the crust:  Divide the dough into two parts, one a little bigger than the other (about 40:60 ratio).  Take the larger and roll it out on a lightly floured surface, using additional flour if needed so that it doesn't stick to the board or the rolling pin.  Carefully transfer the crust to a 10-inch pie pan.  If the dough breaks just wet your fingers with a little water and patch the crust back together.  Make sure the dough goes all the way up the sides of the pan.  Spread about a tablespoon of butter on the crust then add the apples.  Roll out the other ball of dough, same as the bottom crust and transfer carefully on top of the apples.  Cut some slits on top if yours made it all in one piece and bake it at 375 for about an hour until crust is golden brown and nice and bubbly.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

In honor of Pi Day, March 14, I thought it would be fun to have pie!  I'm visiting my parents for a few days so I suggested to my mother that we bake an apple pie since she is the resident pie expert.  Also, I don't have to do all the dishes. My mom is a serious pie baker... so are all of her sisters, my aunts.  At family gatherings we usually have about 6 different options of pie.  Minimum.  Mmmmmmm....

Cheesecake Dip

Cheesecake Dip
from tastykitchen.com
serves 8

8 Oz. Cream Cheese, Softened
1/2 Cup (1 Stick) Butter, Softened
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).  Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat an additional 3-4 minutes.  Serve with pretzels, oreos, graham crackers, strawberries, animal crackers,  teddy grahams, sliced apples, or whatever else you think would be awesome.

Cheesecake is my all-time favorite dessert.  This dip is all the flavor with little-to-no effort needed.  Try a dollop on top of a bowl of fresh fruit for a little treat or just eat it by the spoonful :)  Enjoy!

Blondies

Blondies
from smittenkitchen.com
makes one 8 x 8 pan

1 Stick of Butter, Melted
1 Cup Brown Sugar, Light or Dark
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
(I like to add:) 5 Reese's Cups, Chopped, About 3/4 Cup or 3/4 Cups Chocolate Chips, Nuts, Other Candies, or a Combination!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan.  Combine melted butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl, beat until smooth.  Beat in egg, then vanilla.  Add salt, stir in flour.  Fold in Reese's.  Pour batter into baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack before cutting them.

This is a great basic recipe to have.  It's quick and easy to whip up and it's easily adaptable to your taste.  Make this for dessert tonight!