Oreo Popcorn

After a year hiatus, I've decided to return to recipe blogging! What better to start back up again than with a party treat. =)

Every time I host a party or are asked to bring a treat to a party, this is the one I always take with me and it's a HUGE hit. My sister Jill gave me the recipe, and she's a popcorn expert. If you ever want a delicious savory or sweet popcorn recipe, go to her! Anyways, this has probably been my most requested recipe from the past year.

P.S. It's also great for breakfast the next morning. Not that I would know or anything.

OREO POPCORN

• 2 bags of popped microwave movie theater popcorn (You HAVE to use this kind to balance out the sweet that is added....trust me on this one.)
• 1 package of Oreos (I like the Double Stuffed ones but really you could use any kind of Oreo. The Birthday Cake Oreos are awesome in this!)
• 1 package of white chocolate or vanilla chips

First you want to crush up that package of Oreos....either by hand or put into a Ziploc bag and crushed with a rolling pin. Either way works, just depends on how messy you want to get. Put the crushed up Oreos in a large bowl. Add the bags of popped popcorn (be sure to remove the unpopped kernels!). Next you want to melt the bag of white chocolate or vanilla chips. Follow the directions on the bag for that since every brand is different. Last, pour the melted chocolate over the popcorn/Oreo mixture and stir to coat. That's it! 

Caramel Pirates Booty

My sister-in-law sent me a recipe book that her ward made for Christmas this year and I love it! I love collecting family favorite recipes. I saw this recipe in the snack section and knew it would be perfect for that half bag of Pirates Booty sitting in my pantry. This didn't disappoint...it was very good and addicting! Joe and I didn't even share it with the kids, it was that good.

CARAMEL PIRATES BOOTY

• 8-10 ounces Pirate's Booty or other white cheese puff snack
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup Karo light corn syrup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Melt butter. Stir in the corn syrup and brown sugar until bubbly. Add baking powder. Pour over and stir into the cheese snacks. 

Churro Chex Mix

I've always been a huge fan of Puppy Chow (or Muddy Buddies) since I was a kid, but this may be even better. I love cinnamon desserts and this is just so easy to make that it makes this dessert the best!

CHURRO CHEX MIX

• 9 cups rice Chex cereal 
• 1 cup cinnamon chips 
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a small microwavable bowl, zap cinnamon chips and butter for 1 minute; stir until smooth. Microwave about 30 seconds longer if needed. Drizzle mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss the coated Chex cereal into the sugar mixture.

Grilled Bananas

Geez, it's been 3 months since I posted on here! I've been repeating a lot of my recipes lately but I have tried quite a few Pinterest recipes that I need to post on here because they've become "keepers".

This quickly became a family favorite, even with Joe who doesn't like bananas. Colton loves stuffing these and we all enjoyed eating them. Perfect for summer bbq's!

GRILLED BANANAS

• Bananas
• Toppings of your choice - chocolate chips, coconut, peanutbutter chips, Nutella, caramel, nuts, etc.

Slit the bananas in half lengthwise, but be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom. Spread apart the peel a bit and stuff full of the toppings. Place on a foil lined grill for about 5 minutes, or until the bananas are heated and the toppings have melted.   

Peach Cobbler

I've been making this recipe for years and I'm surprised I don't have it on here. Very easy recipe and this cobbler doesn't get soggy. This is a Paula Deen recipe, so you know it's going to taste good!

PEACH COBBLER

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Ground cinnamon, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt. Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Orange Brownies

This recipe originally was Lemon Brownies but I had a lot of oranges on hand and switched out the lemon juice and zest for orange juice and zest. You could probably do this with lime too...or even a combo of two or three. These brownies are very easy to make, tasted great, and were very moist.

ORANGE BROWNIES

• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• Juice and zest from half an orange (or lemon, lime, etc)

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the softened butter. In another bowl whisk the eggs with the orange juice and zest. Add to the larger bowl and mix well. Pour into prepared 8X8 brownie pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove and let cool, then glaze.

 
GLAZE

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Juice and zest from half an orange (or lemon, lime, etc)

Stir together.

Sour Patch Grapes

I'm not a big fan of Sour Patch Kids, but this recipe looked too tempting not to try. I thought they'd be a perfect St. Patrick Day treat and I was having family over, so why not experiment on them? While everyone was hesitant to try them, they ended up loving it and the whole bowl was gone before the night was over. They are very refreshing and will be a wonderful summer time snack! Original recipe can be found here.

SOUR PATCH GRAPES

• 1 bunch of green grapes (the kind you can buy at the store in the bag. If you are going to buy the container you get from Costco, then double the Jello)
• 1 large package of lime Jello

Wash the grapes and take them off their vines. Put them all in a gallon size bag (still wet from being washed) and then pour the Jello powder in the bag. Shake it all up and then place in the fridge for at least 3 hours. 

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

So from now on, just assume that all my recipes that I'm trying out come from Pinterest. This one is no exception. =) (You can find the original here)

These are so much better than regular rice crispy treats! They really do taste like cake better plus you get them yummy crunch from the cereal. I topped it with green sprinkles for St. Patrick Day and plan to make another batch for Sunday dinner.

CAKE BATTER RICE CRISPY TREATS

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/3 cup yellow cake mix (the dry cake mix, not prepared into a batter!)
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

So I have an obsession with Pinterest.com right now and found this recipe on it recently. I made it for my family this past weekend and everyone loved it! It was similar to a coffee cake, but less dense. I think it would be perfect to serve at a brunch. If you like cinnamon rolls, then you'll love this!

CINNAMON ROLL CAKE

Cake:

• 3 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp.salt
• 1 c. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. butter, melted

 Topping:

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Glaze:

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 5 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes. While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Dirt Cake

 For Colton's birthday this year I thought I'd steal a brilliant idea from Cassie and make him a dirt cake that I could put in a toy for him to eat. I wanted to put it in a dump truck like Cassie but when we were at the store Colton threw a huge fit that he didn't want a dump truck but a farm tractor instead. It's his birthday, after all, so I let him win that battle. Colton loved helping me make the cake, especially licking the spoons and putting the gummy worms in it! This recipe is very easy and requires no baking, so I will be repeating this one a lot.

DIRT CAKE

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 32 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling 
•  A fun serving dish - a toy, flower pot with fake flowers, etc.

Chop cookies very fine in food processor. The white cream will disappear. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in bowl. In a large bowl mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together. Combine pudding mixture and cream mixture together. Layer in a serving dish, starting with cookies then cream mixture. Repeat layers. Chill until ready to serve.  

Ice Cream in a Bag

Today we went to Dairy Days at Thanksgiving Point and made Ice Cream in a Bag that was so easy and fun to do. I thought it would be a really fun activity to do with kids this summer and wanted to share the recipe with y'all!

ICE CREAM IN A BAG

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup half & half
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1 cup rock salt
• 1 quart sized Ziploc freezer bag
• 1 gallon sized Ziploc freezer bag
• Duct tape

Put the milk, half & half, sugar and vanilla in the quart sized freezer bag and seal. For security, fold a piece of duct tape over the seal. Place the quart sized bag within the gallon sized bag. Pack the ice and salt in the gallon sized bag.

Seal the bag and shake for about 10 minutes. Wipe the quart sized bag to be sure the salt water doesn't get into the ice cream. Cut a corner of the bag and squeeze into Dixie cups. One bag should fill about 5 cups. Add desired toppings, eat and enjoy!

Strawberries with Sweet Cream

One of my favorite desserts is Strawberries and Cream at the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days Rodeo. It's worth going to the rodeo JUST to eat the Strawberries and Cream. YUM!! Well, this recipe is as close to theirs that I can find and I just love it. The whole family loved it and I haven't seen Colton eat so many strawberries as he does with this cream. I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman and just substituted the berry she used to one that is more readily available to me. Please try it this summer!! You won't regret it. (I'm listing half the ingredients that PW uses because this was plenty for our family, plus leftovers.)

STRAWBERRIES WITH SWEET CREAM

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 5 whole egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Fresh berries of your choice

Combine cream with half the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a strong simmer, but don’t boil.
Whisk egg yolks in a bowl (I used my electric mixer w/ whisk attachment) with the other half of the sugar. Add vanilla extract.
After whisking on medium for a minute, begin slowly pouring in the hot cream.
After all cream is added, turn off mixer. Pour mixture into the top of a double boiler (or a glass bowl fitted over a saucepan). Cook in the double boiler over medium heat. Stir gently but constantly as the egg/cream mixture slowly thickens.
Watch the mixture: if it starts to really thicken up, remove it immediately from the heat. You want this to be more of a thick, pourable cream than a thick, heavy pudding texture. As soon as you remove the pan from the heat, set the bottom of it in a bowl of ice to stop the cooking process (but be careful not to let ice or water drip over the edge of the pan.) Stir to cool. If you need to use the cream right away, keep it in the ice bath and stir to cool.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

This recipe I half-way made up. I saw a picture of a pumpkin muffin with cream cheese filling and thought that I could probably do that myself with my awesome pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe that I have. I only had half of a bag of chocolate chips so I made a dozen muffins with those and then a dozen of just pumpkin bread with pecans on top. They were both delicious!

So for the muffin, use this recipe. Then add chocolate chips (I'd recommend it) or leave it out and add nuts. Or do both if you are daring! So here's the recipe for the filling:

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix this up with your handmixer. Grease a muffin tin or insert paper lining. Fill a quarter of the muffin cup with pumpkin mix, then drop a rounded teaspoon of the cream cheese mix into the middle of the pumpkin. Finally add more pumpkin mix on top of the cream cheese until the muffin cup is about 3/4 full. You should get 2 dozen muffins with this recipe. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I recently saw this recipe being made on a local news show and wanted to try them really bad! I love lemon and ricotta so these had to be delicious. Guess what? They were! They have a different texture than most cookies because of the ricotta but the lemon in the cookie and also in the glaze that you put on top make them so light and refreshing. My family, parents, and the leaders of the Cub Scout unit I serve in all loved them too! You can find the original recipe here.

LEMON RICOTTA COOKIES

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 15 ounce container of Ricotta Cheese
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Mix in the ricotta cheese, lemon juice and zest. Slowly add the flour mixture until well mixed. Scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cookies cool completely before glazing.

LEMON GLAZE

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest

Mix together the sugar, lemon juice and glaze until creamy. Glaze the tops of the cookies and set on cooling rack to let the glaze set.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Joe and I love watching America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country on PBS every Saturday. I love watching them cook and Joe loves that they explain the scientific aspects to cooking (kinda like Alton Brown). So we saw the episode where they made these and we wanted to make them immediately!! We made them for a dinner party this past weekend and they were a huge hit! Even people who don't normally like dark chocolate enjoyed these. By browning the butter and using brown sugar it gave a wonderful caramel flavor. Definitely will make these again soon!

PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, separated
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (the show suggested Ghiradelli's 60% Cocoa chips, so that's what we used)

Adjust oven racks to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. Bake 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, about 10-14 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Zebra Nipples

Ok, if that title didn't catch your attention then I don't know what would!! These are a delicious snack that Shellie shared with during game night at my parent's cabin. Our favorite game to play with a large group is Werewolf and our favorite treat to eat are Zebra Nipples! You can use your imagination as to why they are called that. Super easy to make and they taste amazing - make them soon!

ZEBRA NIPPLES

• 1 bag waffle pretzels (square-shaped ones)
• 1 bag peanut butter M&Ms
• 1 bag Hershey Hugs

Unwrap hershey hugs. Line up waffle pretzels on cookie sheet. Place one Hug on each pretzel. Put in 200 degree oven until Hugs look shiny (about 5-7 min) Remove and put 1 peanut butter M&M down into center of Hug. (Place "M" side down for cuter presentation)

Let cool.

Cream Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Berries

Shellie was kind enough to make a yummy treat for Colton's birthday dinner while she was here and they were eaten very quickly! I had a lot of leftover strawberries so she made this dessert that was my favorite. She helped me out a lot on Colton's birthday so THANK YOU SHELLIE!! She got the recipe here at FoodNetwork.com. I think these would be perfect served at a shower or party as finger food!

CREAM CHEESE AND PECAN STUFFED BERRIES

• 20 whole large berries, hulled (she used strawberries)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut side down, on a serving platter. Carefully cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms with a criss-cross cut. Fan wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff. Using a teaspoon or pastry bag with decorative tip, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the stuffed strawberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Shellie made this one for us at the cabin too and it was gone pretty fast! The sour cream and pudding in this cake really makes it moist. Once I find my bundt cake pan (how do you lose that?!) I'm going to be making this one again!!

CHOCOLATE CHIP POUND CAKE

• 1 box yellow cake mix with pudding
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 large eggs
• 1 8-ounce carton sour cream
• 1 6-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• Sifted powder sugar
• Cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan with vegetable spray and sprinkle with cocoa powder . Combine cake mix, sugar and pudding. Stir with a fork to remove any lumps. Add oil, eggs, water and sour cream. Beat until smooth. Beat in vanilla; stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake for about an hour. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the pan on a serving dish and let the cake drop out of the pan. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar when cooled.

Strawberry Sheet Cake

I ran across this blog awhile back and thought it had a lot of wonderful recipes that I wanted to try. The first one that was put in the must-try-soon category was strawberry sheet cake. Being a Texan, sheet cake is a very important dessert that needs to be consumed often, so I was excited to see a variation of your typical chocolate sheet cake. I made it on Monday and everyone who came to my home from Monday-Wednesday had to eat it...otherwise I would have eaten it all myself! It was absolutely delicious and perfect for the summer. The icing was the most amazing icing I've ever eaten....my new favorite. Please try it soon!!

STRAWBERRY SHEET CAKE

• 12 oz .fresh strawberries, stems removed and chopped (about 3 cups)
  
• 2 cups of sugar plus 2 teaspoons
  
• 2 cups of flour
  
• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
  
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
  
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
  
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Over the chopped strawberries, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Let them sit for an hour at room temperature so they can release some of their juices. The berries should reduce to about 1 1/2 cups. In a blender of food processor, crush the berries on a low speed for a few seconds—you want them juicy but still with some texture. Take 1/2 cup of the strawberry mixture for the frosting and leave the remaining crushed strawberries for the cake.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the sugar and flour together in a bowl.

Melt the butter on low in a saucepan and then whisk it with the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and baking soda. Add the liquid to the flour and then stir in one cup of the crushed strawberries.

Pour batter into greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cake is done when a knife comes out clean from the center. Let it cool and then frost with the strawberry cream cheese frosting (recipe below).

Note: The cake will be a little brown. This, I hear, is because of the alkaline reaction of the ingredients. Do not be alarmed!

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• 1/4 pound of butter (1 stick) at room temperature
  
• 8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
  
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
  
• 1/2 cup crushed strawberries
  
• 2 teaspoons of lime juice (about half a lime)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon lime zest
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until blended. Add the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest and vanilla. Spread over cooled cake.

Note: Depending on how juicy your berries are, your icing may be runnier than usual. If this is the case, I'd add more cream cheese to thicken it up.

Honey Snickerdoodles

I ran across this recipe recently in The Deen Brothers Cookbook that I got as a gift from Shellie years ago and I don't know how I've missed it every other time I've looked in that cookbook. Goes to show that you should reread your cookbooks over and over again!! These cookies are too dang delicious. I thought that tasted like donuts, but maybe that was because I had been craving donuts. Anyways, these were easy to make and very very good.

HONEY SNICKERDOODLES

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup butter
  
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 2 large baking sheets; set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg, honey, and vanilla. Slowly beat in the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and slightly cracked on the top. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.