Peanut Butter Cookie Heaven

These come from my dear friend Christine. I've never actually made them (you know that I'm probably going to run right over to the store after work to pick up the ingredients to make them), but everything that Christine has ever made has been delicious and I have no doubt that these will be finger lickin' good.

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cup flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

Take dough in your hand and roll into a ball and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or a silpat

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until “almost done”

*while cookies are baking, cut large marshmallows in half or jumbo marshmallows in thirds and set aside*

When cookies have just barely turned golden brown, remove from oven and place sliced marshmallow sticky side down onto a cookie. Put baking sheet back in oven for 2/3 minutes or until the marshmallows have slightly melted. Once removed, take a spatula and press down slightly on the marshmallow. Melt chocolate chips (the good quality kind) in microwave in 15 second intervals until smooth. Take a spoonful and gently spread on top of marshmallows and let cookies cool on a cooling rack.

Apple Dumplings

I've made these 3 times in the last 4 days. That tells you how delish they are. Don't knock the recipe by the Mountain Dew and packaged dough until you've tried it. Your life will never be the same. Seriously.

Ingredients

- 2 cans of crescent rolls

- 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8ths

- 1 cup butter

- 1 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 can Mountain Dew

- cinnamon

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

- Open the cans of crescent rolls and divide along perforations, giving you 16 total pieces of dough

- Place 2 of the apple slices on a piece of crescent roll dough, roll it up, place in the pan.

- Repeat until all of the apple slices and dough is used.
- Pour Mountain Dew on top of everything.

- Sprinkle with cinnamon

- Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

- Prepare to eat lots and lots of these. You will probably fall in love.

Orange Brownies

Thanks Paula Deen for this little slice of heaven!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure orange extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 recipe Orange Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Orange Brownies:

Stir together flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and orange zest. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven, allow to cool and pierce entire cake with a fork. Spread the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting over completely cooled brownies. Cut into squares.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons orange juice

In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese together with a hand-held electric mixer. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until it is all combined and smooth. Beat in the orange zest and juice. Spread over brownies.

Mama Lovejoy's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ½ c. old fashioned or quick oats

2 c. flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter (don’t use marg)

1 c. white sugar

1 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large bag milk choc. Chips

½ bag heath chips or skor chips

** Place small amount of oats in blender and process until powdered. Pour into separate bowl. Repeat process until all oats are powdered. Set aside

**Beat butter and sugars with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs one at a time and then add vanilla.

**Add baking soda and baking powder, salt. Mix—then add the powdered oats. Mix

**Add the chips

**Add the flour. You will probably only get about half of it mixed in with you electric mixer, the rest of the flour I mix in with a spoon or my hands

**Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours…It is OK to leave overnight. Also remember to put your cookie sheets into the freezer.

**Form cookies into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-15 min.. (Usually is 13 min. for me) Cool on cookie sheet for 1 min. Then remove. Remember to chill sheet each time. This is really the secret…Makes about 4 dozen.

Caramel Bars

¾ c butter

1 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

Mix together and pat ¾ of the mixture into a 9x13 pan. Bake for 9 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Meanwhile melt In microwave, stirring frequently and not overcooking:

32 unwrapped square caramels

3 T milk

3 T butter

Pour caramel sauce over baked crust. Sprinkle with 1 ½ cups chocolate chips and crumble remaining crust mixture

over the top. Bake for 15 minutes longer at 350.

Do Not Overcook!

Cut into bars when cool

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

1st Step:

• 2 1/4 cups unbleached white or whole wheat flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter

2nd Step:

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

3rd Step:

• 1/2 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg

4th Step:

• 2/3 cup raspberry filling or seedless jam
• 1/2 cup almonds, sliced and toasted lightly

5th Step: Icing

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon milk
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare pans.
• Step One: Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar and cool butter together until dry and it resembles fine struesel. Do not go any further than this. It should not clump up in a ball. Measure out 1 cup and set aside.
• Step Two: Using the same mixer bowl with the remaining struesel mix, add baking power, baking soda, salt and sour cream and blend well. Add egg from 2nd step and almond extract and beat only until batter is smooth. Do not over mix. Pat thick on the bottom of the springform pan and about 3/4 of the way up the sides. Clean mixing bowl.
• Step Three: Using the clean mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and beat until light and fluffy. Pour into springform pans.
• Step Four: Spread 1/3 cup raspberry filling very gently over the cream cheese batter, being careful not to disturb it. Set aside. Mix almonds in with the 1 cup of streusel that was set aside at the beginning. Carefully sprinkle struesel over each coffee cake, spreading evenly. Place coffee cake in 350 degree oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until middle seems set. Cool completely before removing ring. Carefully slide cooled coffee cake off bottom onto flat cake plate.
• Step Five: Mix icing ingredients together and drizzle over cooled cake.
• Refrigerate before slicing for best results.
• Makes one 9-inch coffee cake.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

What you'll need:

-a greased 13x9 pan

-1 and 1/2 cup sugar

-1 tsp cinamon

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 crescant rolls (the pillsbury can)

-8 oz cream cheese

-1 stick of butter

Baking Instructions:

-preheat oven to 350*

-grease a 13x9 pan

-in a large mixing bowl - mix 8 oz ream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla

-in greased pan spread first can of crescant rolls (do not separate the dough. keep it as one layer.)

-spread cream cheese mixture over crescant roll layer

-layer next can of crescant rolls (do not separate the dough. keep it as one layer.)

-in a small mixing bowl - melt one stick of butter

-in a small mixing bowl - mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinamon

-pour the melted butter over entire dish

-sprinkle the cinamon sugar mixture evenly over entire dish

-bake on 350* for 30 min.

-let cool for about 10-15 min.

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup shortening

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp maple flavoring

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ - 2 cups flour

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes

Pumpkin Tiramisu

(from Kara's mom)

1 vanilla pound cake

1 pumpkin pound cake (or if you can't find one, a gingerbread cake will do)

3 cups heavy cream

1 8oz cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

2 ounces white chocolate

3 tablespoons pumpkin butter

1/4 cup apple cider or juice

If the pound cakes aren't premade, prepare as directed on the box. Beat cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Divide in half. To one half, add the melted white chocolate. To the other half, add the pumpkin butter. Cut pound cakes into 1/4 inch slices. Cut those slices in half. Line your spring form pan with parchment paper as your ingredients may be stacked higher than the edge of the pan. Line the bottom of the pan with pumpkin cake. Brush with apple cider. Cover with layer of white chocolate cream. Arrange a layer of vanilla pound cake. Brush with apple cider. Top with pumpkin cream. Continue layering until you fill the pan. Make sure the top layer is the pumpkin cream. Cover and chill overnight.