FLOURLESS FUDGE COOKIES

This is a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but good
• 1 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-process (European-style) preferred*
• 3 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
• *For darker, richer-looking cookies, substitute 1/4 cup black cocoa for 1/4 cup of the Dutch-process cocoa

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. Or line with parchment, and grease the parchment.

2) Stir together all of the ingredients till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and stir again till smooth.

3) Drop the soft, batter-like dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2" circles; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

4) Bake the cookies for 8 minutes; they should spread, become somewhat shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops.

5) Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool right on the pan.

6) Yield: 16 large (3") cookies.

tips from our bakers

• Want to make more, smaller cookies? Drop the dough in 1 1/8" balls (about 2 measuring teaspoonfuls) onto the baking sheets; a level teaspoon cookie scoop works well here. You'll make about forty 2 1/4" cookies.
• Add up to 2 cups of chocolate chips or diced walnuts to the batter. You'll lose the cookies' "no added fat" attribute, but make some very tasty cookies. With 2 cups of add-ins, you'll make about 24 large cookies, or 48 smaller cookies. Note: For larger cookies with add-ins, increase the baking time by 2 minutes, to a total of 10 minutes.
  

DING DONG CAKE

1 box (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
1 brick (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 can chocolate frosting
2 tbsp milk

Prepare and bake cake mix according to the package directions. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a wire rack.

When cake is cooled, cut in half lengthwise; return bottom half to the pan.

To make the filling, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter using an electric mixer until blended and smooth. Fold in the whipped topping. Spread the mixture over the bottom layer in the pan; top with the top half of the cake.

Stir the milk into the chocolate frosting for easier spreading. Spread over the top of the cake.

Keep cake in the refrigerator.

PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS

Another great recipe from Taste of Home.

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 pound white candy coating, coarsely chopped

Instructions
In a bowl, combine the sugar, peanut butter and butter. Shape into 1-in. balls and place on waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes or until firm.
Meanwhile, melt the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl. Dip balls and place on waxed paper to harden. Yield: 2 dozen.

GRAVEYARD DIRT

I got this from my daughter. Cute for Halloween.

Instant chocolate pudding (and ingredients on box)

8 - small (clear) plastic cups
cool whip
Oreos
ghost "peeps"
candy corn/pumpkins
1 Ziploc bag
rolling pin

Directions:

First, make the chocolate pudding by following the directions on the back of the box. Once mixed, pour pudding into individual cups and let set up in the refrigerator. I bought a small box of instant pudding so mine was set within 5 minutes.

Next, plop a layer of cool whip on top of your chocolate pudding. Place a handful of Oreos in a ziplock bag and crunch them with a rolling pin until you get something that resembles dirt. I used the minis because we can't be trusted with a whole bad of oreos in the house (plus, they're easier to crunch)! Sprinkle a generous layer of oreo dirt on top of your cool whip.

Decorate your dirt cups with ghost peeps, pumpkins & candy corn. If you're taking them on the go, place a second plastic cup on top and secure with tape.
Source:sewingbarefoot

PATTI'S PERSIMMON PUDDING

My longtime friend Patti Crane in Indiana is known for her great baking. This is her persimmon pudding recipe that many friends have requested. She is allowing me to share it here for you.

Persimmon pudding recipe...almost like my Aunt Margaret's
1 1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c.margarine melted ( I use butter)
3 eggs
1-2 cups persimmons
1 c. Milk
2t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla
2 c.flour

Mix and put in 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until done

Topping
3T flour
1 1/2c. Water
1 c. Brown sugar
1 t. Margarine ....or butter
1 t. Vanilla
Mix flour and water...cook until it forms a smooth mixture...stirring constantly
Add...sugar,margarine and vanilla
Cook until very thick
Pour over pudding and cool

Eat and enjoy!!

KRAFT FOODS CITRUS NO-BAKE CHEESECAKE

Great refreshing cheesecake recipe I got from Kraft Foods.

18

 chocolate chip cookies (2 inch), finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/4

cup  butter, melted

1

pkg.   (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2

Tbsp.  sugar

 Zest and 1/4 cup juice from 1 tangerine

2

cups   thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

1

can   (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

6

 fresh mint sprigs

MIX cookie crumbs and butter until well blended; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar, zest and juice in medium bowl with mixer until well blended. Gently stir in COOL WHIP; pour over crust. Refrigerate 3 hours.

TOP with mandarin oranges and mint just before serving.

SUBSTITUTE

Substitute reserved drained mandarin orange liquid for the tangerine zest and juice. Or, substitute fresh orange zest and juice for the tangerine zest and juice.

SUBSTITUTE

Prepare using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese.

MARVIN WILLIAMS' PECAN PIE POUND CAKE

NOTE: All words and comments are Mr. Williams'.
My famous Pecan Pie Pound Cake! Many have asked me to make this for them. So, here is the recipe. The top does taste like pecan pie on top of pound cake! 

4 stick butter 
4 cups sugar 
4 cups flour (cake or all purpose) 
8 large eggs 
8 oz cream cheese (note amount not given)
vanilla flavoring (note amount not given)
I leave my cream cheese, butter and eggs out to reach room temp. Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth, add eggs one or two at a time, then add flour one cup at a time. Last, add your vanilla flavoring. Grease and flour your tube pan and pour in batter. Sprinkle liberally with pecans and brown sugar on top. Bake on 300 degree for 1 hour and 15 minutes, increase heat to 325 and bake another 30 minutes. You can test for doneness with a wooden skewer. If you insert and cake is not done (still wet), allow to bake a little longer until skewer can be inserted and comes out dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes before removing from pan. Then, drizzle with a jar of caramel. As always, my recipes are a guide. Be creative...make it your own!

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

These recipes are from C&H Sugar. The cream cheese frosting is yummy and holds its shape well.

For the cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Red food coloring (See Kelly's Notes)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

For the frosting:
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups cold heavy whipping cream

Make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, white vinegar, vanilla extract and enough red food coloring until the mixture is well combined and reaches your desired color.

In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, 1/2 a cup at a time, mixing between each addition to avoid any lumps in the batter.

Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full with batter and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely while you make the frosting.

Make the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl, beating to combine, then add the vanilla extract.

Remove the paddle attachment and attach the whisk attachment. Stream in the cold heavy cream, whisking at medium-high speed until the frosting is thick enough to pipe. (This may take several minutes, depending on your mixer speed. Aim for stiff peaks.) Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your desired pastry tip. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and serve immediately.

Kelly's Notes:
To get the deep, dark red color in the photos, I use a gel-based food coloring. Regular water-based food colorings are less concentrated and thus require more to achieve the same rich color. If you are using the water-based food coloring in this recipe, you'll need about 3 tablespoons to achieve a good color. If you're using the gel-based food coloring, start with 4 to 5 drops and add more as needed.

This frosting recipe makes enough to pipe tall, thick swirls onto the cupcakes. If you'd rather slather the cupcakes using less frosting, divide the frosting recipe in half.