Dad's Apple Kuchen

1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. vegetable oil
5 peeled and cut up apples (Cortland, Macintosh, etc)
Sugar
Cinnamon

Mix the first 6 ingredients together until just blended. Spread in the bottom of a 9 inch square pan which has been greased with shortening. (Dad doubles the recipe). Press apples slightly into batter into close rows covering the entire pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for 40 - 45 minutes.

Sweet Potato Pie

• 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1/2 cup milk (or evaporated milk)
  
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

Too Much Chocolate Cake (from allrecipes.com)

I have made many cakes in my life (as you all know) but this one is my very favorite)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1-2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (mini chips work & taste best)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Ignore that last line, this cake is best topped with a raspberry sauce. I've found that topping it with fresh raspberries tastes great, but if it's not consumed that day the moisture from the cake will make the raspberries mold rather quickly.
It's best to cook some fresh or frozen raspberries over a stove until bubbly, whisk in some sugar and cornstarch to sweeten/thicken it if you want. It will thicken as it cools. Don't poor it over the cake until it is cool or it will seep into the cake.

If you'd rather do a glaze, or both (recommended) here is a top recipe:

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
2. Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

Raspberry Lemonade Pie

(from KraftFoods.com)

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Gelatin

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened

6 oz. (1/2 of 12-oz. can) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1 cup fresh raspberries

2 Graham Pie Crusts (6 oz. each)

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl. Stir 2 min. until completely dissolved; set aside. Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in concentrate, then gelatin until blended.

STIR in COOL WHIP and berries. Pour into crusts.

REFRIGERATE 1 pie 4 hours or until firm. Freeze remaining pie up to 1 week before thawing to serve.

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

4 eggs

1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided

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

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/4 cup Chopped Pecans

HEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round baking pans. Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Pour into prepared pans.

BAKE 28 to 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice; mix well. Gently stir in COOL WHIP.

CUT each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife; stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top layer.) Drizzle with caramel topping just before serving; sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate leftovers.

fruit salsa

chop into small pieces:
4 granny smith apples
4 peaches or apricots
1 box of strawberries

mix chopped fruit with one can of crushed pineapple (juice included).

for the sugar/cinnamon chips:
preheat oven to 350 degrees. cut 10 tortillas into 16 triangles. Spread each triangle tortilla into a cookie sheet. cover each triangle with melted butter. sprinkle a sugar/cinnamon combination graciously over the tortilla triangles. bake for 10 minutes.

eat the salsa with the chips for a yummy, healthy snack!

Sarah's Double Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Sarah made this for our New Year's Eve party and it was so temptingly delicious we fought over it the next day. (She used a prepared graham cracker crust which cut the preparation time in half. Note: this filling will fill two prepared crusts). She also said she would have put more of the fudge in to make it more chocolaty. :)

Crust:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

Filling:
1 cup sugar
4 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 (10 oz) white chocolate chips, melted
1 cup chocolate fudge ice cream topping, warmed

Sauce:
2 (10 oz) packages frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Heat oven to 325, stir together all crust ingredients and press on bottom of springform pan. Bake 10 minutes, cool.
Combine 1 cup sugar and cream cheese in mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy (3-4 min). Add eggs one at a time and beat, stir in melted white chocolate chips.
Pour half of cream cheese mixture into prepared crust, spoon 1/2 cup of fudge over cream cheese, swirl with knife. Top with remaining cream cheese. Spoon remaining fudge over cream cheese mixture and swirl with knife. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes. (Let cheesecake remain in oven for 30 minutes until center is set). Cool, remove from pan, refrigerate 8 hours.
Press raspberries through strainer , discard seeds. Stir with cornstarch in saucepan and cook until comes to a full boil until slightly thickened. Refrigerate until serving time.

Mom's Chocolate Christmas Cookies

1 (10 oz.) jar maraschino cherries (about 48)
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi sweet chocolate pieces
1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

Drain cherries and reserve juice. Stir together flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt. In a large mixer bowl beat butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture and blend well.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Place about 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press down center of each with your thumb. Place a cherry in each cookie.

In small saucepan combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Cook over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of the reserved cherry juice. Spoon 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, swirling to completely cover cherry.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Remove to racks and cool. Makes about 48.

freshly ground whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

2 c butter
3 1/2 c sugar
2 T molasses
4 eggs
2 T hot water
2 t vanilla
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t kitchen specialties dough enhancer
5 c whole wheat flour
6-9 c oats

Add any and or all of the following: semi sweet chocolate chips, walnuts, dates, coconut, raisins, craisins, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, etc.

Combine and blend butter, sugar, molasses, eggs, hot water, and vanilla in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients (minus the oats) together. Combine the two mixtures. Mix in the oats and optional chips/nuts.

Spread the dough evenly onto two or three cookie sheets. Preheat oven, bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Cut into bars when cooled.

BYU Mint Brownies

Sugar-n-Spice, Cougareat Food Court

MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe or purchase some chocolate frosting. You can also search the Internet for chocolate icing recipes.)

MINT ICING

5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Easy Toffee (from Amber)

I love this recipe! It's going to be a Christmas-time staple for me because it's easy and delicious. I made a pan and had to give more than half away because it made so much.

ingredients:
1 stack of saltines
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional) I prefer chopped almonds

Line a large cookie sheet with foil. Lay crackers on foil in solid cover, crackers touching. Boil butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes (start timer after it starts boiling), stirring constantly. Pour over crackers, spreading to cover them all. Bake at 400 for 5-7 minutes; do not allow sugar to burn. Remove from oven and allow to sit about 3 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over candy and spread with a spatula as chocolate begins to melt. Sprinkle on chopped nuts while chocolate is still wet. Refrigerate. Chocolate will harden in about 30 minutes to an hour and candy can be broken into pieces.

magic peach cobbler

1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. milk
1 3/4 c. sliced peaches, can use lg. can of peaches, juice and all

This is fast, easy and very good. Melt butter in a 9x15 pan. Mix sugar, flour, baking powder and milk and pour this mixture over the butter - don't stir.

Add peaches on top of this.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or brown on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar

This is Dan and Lacey's recipe (if Dan can make this, anyone can)

texas sheet cake

bring to boil:
1 c water
1/4 c shortening
1/2 c butter
1/4 c cocoa

combine:
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

add cocoa mixture to dry ingredients and blend.

beat into mixture:
1/2 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla
2 eggs

pour into a 9x15 in greased pan and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

frosting:
1/2 c butter
6 T buttermilk
1/3 c cocoa
1 pound powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

bring first three ingredients to a boil, stirring constantly. gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. pour over hot cake.

turtle cake

1 box german chocolate cake mix
1/2 c butter
14 oz bag caramels
1/4 c evaporated milk
1 c chocolate chips
1 c pecans

follow directions for cake mix. pour half in pan and bake for about 15 minutes. melt butter and caramels. add milk until smooth. sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over cooked cake bottom, and then pour the caramel mixture on top. cover with the remaining cake batter. bake for 30 minutes.

easy toblerone mousse (from Amber)

8 triangles (about 2-1/2 oz.) toblerone

1-1/2 cups cool whip

microwave chocolate for 1 minute or until melted, then cool for one minute. add cool whip and stir with whisk until blended. refrigerate at least 5 minutes.

serves 2. I like to garnish with a little toblerone triangle (you should always buy extra because you will inevitably eat a square before melting it anyway.)

tips for perfect cookies

so these are my tips for making the perfect cookie:

0 always use buttered flavored shortening instead of regular shortening

0 whip the sugar, butter and eggs until smooth before adding any flour-type ingredients

0 bake the cookies until they are slightly under-done. then, let the cookies set on the pan for about
5 minutes after baking. this makes for a perfect, soft cookie

0 if you overbake your cookies, you don't have to throw that batch away (which i always used to
do because i hate hard cookies). put them in a jar with a piece of bread for about a day. the
bread will soften the cookies. then, feed those cookies to your kids while you enjoy the perfect
batches!

do you have any tips for perfect cookies? let us know!!!

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

2/3 c white sugar
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
3 cups oats
1 c flour
1 c chocolate chips (or raisins)

mix all the ingredients. drop dough by round teaspoons onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart. bake at 375 for 9 minutes.

myra's chocolate chip cookies

1 3/4 c butter flavored shortening
1 c white sugar
2 c brown sugar
4 eggs
2 t salt
2 t vanilla
2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
4 1/2 c flour
1 bag chocolate chips

mix all the ingredients. roll dough into 1 inch balls. bake for 9 minutes at 350 degrees.