Pistachio Cake

We made this cake for my daughter’s birthday this past May. Pretty sad that I am only just now getting the recipe posted. But…you guessed it…I lost it. 🙂 We decided to make brownies with the kids tonight, which sent me digging through my recipe box for my favorite gooey brownie recipe which I have, apparently, also lost. But, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon this random list of ingredients written on the back of a birthday card envelope, and I did a little happy dance. My pistachio cake!!! Better late than never. This cake (and frosting…they must, must be served together) is to die for. One of those ridiculous desserts that make your eyes roll back into your head after each bite. So good.

Ingredients:

Cake-

1 white or vanilla cake mix

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1 cup club soda

1 (3.4oz) pkg pistachio pudding mix

Frosting-

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese

1 (3.4oz) pkg pistachio pudding mix

1 cup milk

4 oz (about half a tub) cool whip

For cake: Preheat oven to 350^F. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Bake according to box instructions (cupcake: 21-24 min, bundt: 43-48 min, 13×9: 32-35 min, 2 9″: 28-31 min, 2 8″: 32-35 min). Allow to fully cool before frosting.

For frosting: Cream together powdered sugar and cream cheese. Add pudding, milk, and cool whip (add more milk if frosting is too thick for your liking).

 

Frosted Zucchini Bars

I will never be a truly successful blogger. Want to know why? Because I get all excited about my blog for about 6 months…then I get lazy. Or busy. Or both. And my poor blog suffers. However! If you stick with me, I promise that I will get to the ever-growing list of recipes. Promise.

Anyone else have zucchini coming out their ears from their over-successful garden? Yeah…me either. We actually have a ton of tomatoes this year (the ironic thing being, I’m the only one in my entire house that eats them) but our zucchini never made it. I think there’s something wrong with us. All of our neighbors got a ton! I’ll trade a few of my tomatoes so I can make these. 🙂 My sister passed this batch along and they look so good!!! (it’s times like these that you curse the fact that your sibling lives clear across the country and you can’t skip over to have a taste)

                            

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 c. zucchini, grated

Frosting

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Blend in zucchini.
2. Pour into greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool.
3. Prepare frosting. Add more milk if necessary to get right consistency. Spread over cooled bars.

http://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/2011/07/cinnamon-frosted-zucchini-bars/

 

Lemon-Lover’s Cupcakes

School starts in 2 weeks. I am in denial. I’ll have two of my kiddos going this year – excited, but sad too! We are squeezing every last drop out of our summer  break and trying to cram in all the last bits of fun and freedom – including doing a little cupcake decorating. Does it count as decorating if you eat most of the toppings before they make it to the actual cupcake? If you love lemon (hence the name) you will love, love these babies. 

 

Ingredients:

1 medium sized lemon

1 pkg plain yellow or vanilla cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) pkg lemon instant pudding

1 (6 oz, 3/4 cup) container lemon yogurt

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

Grease and dust two 9″ round cake pans, or line cupcake cups with paper liners.

Rinse lemon and pat dry. Grate enough zest to measure 2 tsp. Set 1 tsp of zest aside for frosting. Cut lemon in half and squeeze out the juice – you will need 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp. Set 2 tsp of lemon juice aside for frosting.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, water, oil, eggs, 1 tsp lemon zest, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice in a large mixing bowl and beat until well blended. Divide the batter between cake pan, or fill cupcake liners with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350^F for 25-30 minutes for cakes or 20-25 minutes for cupcakes. Bake until golden brown and the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

8 Tbsp butter, at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice

Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl and beat until creamy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp lemon zest, and 2 tsp lemon juice. Beat until will combined. Add 1 1/2 cups of the remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Continue to add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

 

Coast Toast

This is no ordinary French Toast…I cannot impress upon you how serious I am…this is NO ORDINARY French Toast. So, so good – I actually preferred not to put syrup on mine. How many French Toast recipes can stand on their own with out a little drizzle of syrup? Not many!!! I also tried it with a fruit compote, which was super tasty – but I really just loved it plain. Perfect amount of orange snuck in there. Perfectly complimented by the dusting of powdered sugar. Just…well, perfect.

P.S. Happy Easter!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 loaf soft French bread

1 qt whipping cream

10 eggs

3/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp vanilla

2 Tbsp orange flavoring

Combine all ingredients. Pour over bread slices. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour. Remove bread and discard liquid. Spread butter on a flat grill. Cook bread until golden brown on both sides, then bake at 450^F for 5-7 minutes or until bread is puffed up like a soufflé. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Original recipe: www.brocktonvilla.com

 

Key Lime Bars

Spring has sprung, and so has my craving for all things citrus!!! Take a step out of the traditional lemon-bar box and throw in a little key-lime twist. 🙂 The crust on these almost makes me more happy than the filling – almost. Yummy.

Ingredients:

Crust –

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup pecans, chopped finely

1/4 cup flaked coconut

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling –

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

2 tsp key lime zest

1/4 cup key lime juice

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350^F. Lightly butter and 8×8 baking pan.

For crust: Sift together flour and powdered sugar. Stir in pecans and coconut. Add butter. Press lightly in pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

While crust is baking, beat together eggs, sugar, zest, lime juice, and baking powder. Pour mixture over baked crust. Bake 13-17 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and center is set. Cool completely. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I sent my sisters a text this week: “Help!” 🙂 I was pedal-to-the-metal for the first few months, making new recipes every day…but my steam is running out (it may or may not have something to do with the fact that my 7 month old and 2 year old have simultaneously decided they hate sleep) and I am finding that I am making less of a dent in all the recipes that I want to put on here. And then I had an epiphany. I have five sisters. I have five sisters that have families. I have five sisters who have families that they cook for. Jackpot. And now, I can even check my own blog for recipes that I want to try!

I love lemon and I love cookies…I’m going to have to make these soon! Thanks, Korri!!!

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Original recipe found here: http://ldsliving.com/story/64185-food-dish-cookie-recipe-contest-winner-recipe

Banana Bars

A little less good for you than straight banana bread, and a little too good to be able to eat just one. When our pan got polished off, my four year old cried. Guilt requires me to make another batch…darn.

Ingredients:

Bars-

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

2 cups mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

Mix butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Spread into a greased jelly roll pan (15x10x1). Bake at 350^F for 20-25 min. Cool and frost

Cream Cheese Frosting-

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients well and spread over cooled banana bars.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Crescent Rolls

Let the pumpkin-fest begin! I love Fall, and I love pumpkin, so I will probably make every recipe I find that mentions pumpkin…you have been warned.

Ingredients:

Rolls –

2 pkgs crescent rolls

6 Tbsp cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

Glaze –

2 Tbsp cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 375^F. To make filling, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon,  and allspice until fully combined. Unroll crescent rolls and separate into triangles. Scoop a large spoonful of filling into the center of the triangle. Roll up the crescent carefully, and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 min. Cool crescents. To make glaze, mix all ingredients until creamy. Drizzle or put glaze in a ziplock bag, snip a small hole in the corner, and pipe glaze onto rolls.

Buttercream Frosting

I am not a frosting fan. I like the kinds made with whipping cream and pudding, but regular, sugary frosting makes me gag. Too sweet and the texture is too grainy. My four year old and I make the perfect team when it comes to frosting – she scrapes it all off and I eat what she left – basically everything but the frosting. 🙂 I made this recipe because I had to make something to decorate my cake with, and the whipping cream frosting doesn’t have enough structure to it to write words with – or should I say ‘intelligible’ words. “Happy Birthday” turns into “Blah blah blob blah,” in about two seconds flat. So, I did a little searching, and settled with this recipe, not thinking much about it; only, that it would suit my purposes and that was that. And then, I made the life changing gesture of licking my finger when a little of my frosting spilled. Oh. My. Heavenly. Frosting. It is good – really, really good. I am a frosting convert.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 Tbsp heavy cream, or milk

food coloring of your choice

Beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar gradually until the sugar has been fully incorporated. Add vanilla, salt, and cream/milk and beat until smooth. Add food coloring if desired.

Original recipe found here: http://www.copykat.com/2012/02/11/cheesecakes-with-buttercream-frosting/

Strawberry-Lemon Butter Cookies

To me, these cookies scream bridal or baby shower – not sure why. They are pretty, they are small, and they are kind of fun to make. 🙂 And I can’t eat 37 of them. This is a good thing. I like them, but the buttery cookie is rich and so I am happy with just one or two.

Ingredients:

Cookies-

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 lemon, zested and juiced

2 cups flour

1/2 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350^F. Cream together butter and sugar. Add lemon zest (about 1 Tbsp) and mix to combine. Slowly add flour and mix to combine. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (about 1/2 tbsp of dough). Place about 2 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet. Use your pinkie finger to make an indention in the center of each cookie and fill with about 1/4 tsp jam. Bake 9-11 minutes.

Glaze-

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

5-6 tsp fresh lemon juice

1-2 drops yellow food coloring

When cookies are completely cook, whisk glaze ingredients together and place in a small, zip-lock bag. Snip off a very small corner of the bag and drizzle glaze over cookies.