MARTHA WASHINGTON BALLS

I got the recipe for these little candies that taste like Almond Joy candy bars from my sister-in-law.

2 boxes of confectioner's sugar
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened 
(must use real butter, no substitutes)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp pure almond extract
1-14 oz bag pkg. shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts
1-12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bar paraffin

Cream together sugar and butter in a bowl;add milk. Stir in almond extract,coconut and nuts;mix well. Form candy into 1 inch balls. Place on waxed paper and refrigerate for 3 hours. Melt paraffin and chocolate in top of double boiler, stirring well. Remove from heat but allow chocolate to remain over hot water. (If chocolate becomes too thick, return to heat for a minute or so to thin). With toothpick, dip each ball in chocolate and place on waxed paper to set.

Alternatives:
1. Just use melted chocolate chips w/o the paraffin. It is more difficult to get good coverage, messy and frustrating. You will not get the shine but you are not eating paraffin, if that bothers you.
(Shocking news: Most chocolates that you buy have paraffin mixed with the chocolate.) 
2. Use melted almond bark with a little vegetable oil or crisco added to get even coverage. Place dipped candies in the freezer for five minutes, to get the shine. (Almond bark will make the candies sweeter).

Too bad these aren't diabetic-friendly since Almond Joy is my favorite candy bar!  Enjoy some for me!

OLD FASHIONED KENTUCKY PEANUT BUTTER ROLLS (CANDY)

A friend from Kentucky posted this recipe today.  It sounds very good, too bad I am diabetic!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c water
1/2 c corn syrup, light
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
creamy peanut butter
enough powdered sugar to well coat working surface

Directions
1 First beat the 3 egg whites until stiff.
Next prepare the surface to roll out the candy. Cover the surface with wax paper and spread a thick layer of powdered sugar.
Next mix all ingredients except vanilla, egg whites, and peanut butter in a large pot and boil. Stirring continuously, until ball forms. (Like when making fudge or candies) the ball should be hard and have a soft crack. Add vanilla.
Slowly pour the mixture over the egg whites while mixing with a blender the whole time. Continue to mix until the candy has cooled and resembles the texture of marshmallow cream.
Pour onto powdered sugar working surface and roll thin (powder sugar your roller)
Spread a thin layer of peanut butter.
Roll up and cut. (Cut the pieces using a piece of thread to keep its form and layers).

NO BAKE ITALIAN CAKE

If you know me, you know I love coconut.  I will make me a sugar-free version of this!  Thanks Anna DeLong for sharing this with me!

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 small can crushed pineapple, undrained
40-50 vanilla wafers
1 8-oz. carton cool whip, thawed
2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut
12-16 maraschino cherries, rinsed

Whisk together sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Mix in pineapple with juice and set aside.

Line the bottom of a small glass baking dish (8x8 or 7x10) with vanilla wafers. Pour all of the pineapple mixture over vanilla wafers then add another layer of vanilla wafers on top of pineapple mixture. Spread cool whip evenly on top of vanilla wafers then sprinkle with coconut. Top with cherries then cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving.

LEMON CAKE WITH LEMON VANILLA SAUCE

I got this recipe from a friend.

Lemon Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze 

3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 lemons, zested
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk 
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temp (2 1/4 sticks) 
2 cups sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray or brush the pan with butter and sprinkle with flour. Zest lemons until you have 2 tablespoons. Squeeze lemons to get 3 tablespoons. Combine lemon juice and zest in a small bowl and set aside.

Next, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, mix together your lemon/zest mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. With electric mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Then at medium speed add the eggs, mixing until incorporated. Reduce to mixer to low speed and alternate adding flour and then buttermilk, mixing until just incorporated. Then mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, . Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.

Bake on center rack until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack.

GLAZE

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups confectioners' sugar (8 ounces)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, melted butter, and confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable. Once cake has cooled, pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour. Come back after an hour and pour the remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature. Cut cake into slices and enjoy!

NOTE: This recipe calls for a 12 cup bundt or tube pan. For the cake in the photo I used two 7 inch mini tube pans which was a perfect size to share one and keep one. 

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Thank you Anna Delong for sharing this recipe with us.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING 

1/3 cup peanut butter 
3 cups powdered sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk

In medium bowl, beat peanut butter and powdered sugar with spoon or electric mixer on low speed until blended. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup milk; beat until smooth and spreadable. If necessary, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time

FOOLS TOFFEE

When I showed this to my grandson who loves both toffee and saltines, he moaned with pleasure.  We haven't made it yet but plan to this week.  The recipe and photo are from Kim's Krazyness.

Fool's Toffee
(I love this stuff! Its so easy and yummy! I always make it!)

36 saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 (12 ounce) package chocolate or white chocolate chips
1 cup of your choice of chopped walnuts, peanuts, sprinkles, crushed candy, etc...

Directions:
1 Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.
2 Place the saltines side by side but not over lapping each other.
3 In a sauce pan melt the 1 cup of butter and add the cup of brown sugar bring to a slow boil stirring constantly for about 3 minutes.
4 Immediately pour over the crackers try to coat as evenly as possible.
5 Bake in the oven at 375°F for 5-7 minutes immediately remove from oven and pour the entire bag of chips over the toffee (give them some time to melt) and spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle your choice of topping over the candy and press down lightly.
6 Refrigerate till cool then remove and break into pieces and serve!

(Crushed peppermint with white chocolate chips are awesome during Christmas.