Mini Chocolate Fudge Cookie Bites (weight watcher friendly)

I know we are all looking to eat healthier, these little cookies are perfect to satisfy any sugar craving I might have.  They are bite-size, so one is not enough.  Luckily they are only 1 point each.

1/3 cups cocoa (without sugar)
1/4 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar, white (I might try reducing this and substituting the difference with splenda or something like that)
4 oz. applesauce, unsweetened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour, white
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powder sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 375.  Coat cookie sheets with spray.  Place cocoa, margarine and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with an electric mixer.  Add applesauce and vanilla; beat to blend.  In another small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir flour mixture into cocoa batter with a wooden spoon.  Shape batter into 48 marble-sized balls  (I did a little bigger, about 1/2 a small spoon ).  Arrange 1 inch apart on cookie sheets.  Bake until set, about 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow cookies to stand for 1 minute.  Remove to wire rack and cool; sprinkle with a little powder sugar.  You can store any extra in freezer -safe containers and save for another day.

p.s. The first time I made these I made them what I thought was "marble sized" and I got like 5 dozen.  This time I made them too big and only got 3 dozen (so maybe 1.3 points per cookie, but WW rounds to the nearest whole number).

Caramel Sticky Buns

I've seen a lot of types of these recipes but I've never tried them before. I decided that I liked the idea of making it last night and having a yummy thing ready to go for Sunday morning. These are so good and we devoured it!

I found the recipe here and that's also where the picture came from.

18 frozen dinner rolls (Rhodes work perfectly)

1/2 package (3.5 oz.) butterscotch cook and serve pudding. (NOT INSTANT)

1 stick butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

chopped nuts - optional

Note from Kristen - nuts and optional don't go together for me. I used pecans.

Grease or spray a bundt pan with non-stick oil. Sprinkle with nuts. Place frozen rolls in pan. Now, sprinkle HALF of the package of pudding over rolls. Make sure the pudding is NOT the instant kind! Melt butter and brown sugar together and pour over rolls. Sprinkle with a few more chopped nuts. Cover pan with greased foil and put a dishtowel over the foil. Place in a warm place overnight (the oven works great, as long as it is turned off). In the morning, bake at 325 degrees for 1/2 hour. Invert immediately onto a large plate.

Another Peanut Butter Bar Recipe (No Bake!)

Fair warning: this recipe is sinfully delicious.

(You can find the original here.)



No Bake Reece’s Peanut Butter Bars



1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

1 lb (3 1/2 C) powdered sugar

1 1/2 C creamy peanut butter

1 C (2 sticks) real butter, melted

1 12oz bag chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark, you pick!)

2 tsp shortening



In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and peanut butter and butter and beat until combined. Press into a parchment (or waxed paper or foil) lined 9×13 pan.



Place chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture and spread out evenly. Place pan in the fridge just until chocolate is set and then cut into bars. Tip: If the bars chill until the chocolate is too hard to easily cut, use a sharp knife and score the cuts first, then gently cut through. Can be stored in the fridge or at room temp. They will stay firmer if stored in the fridge.

Moist Chocolate Cake and Creamy Chocolate Frosting

So, first of all, to make a regular, boring, store bought Devil's Food cake mix-in-a-box taste more fabulous, just add 1/2 Cup of Sour Cream. Who knew? It really works! Just prepare the batter according to package directions, then stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream, then bake.

Now on to the good part. The frosting!

I'm a little behind on the times, and have never learned how to make homemade chocolate frosting. I LOVE the taste of the homemade SO much better than the store bought stuff. So I searched the internet, and found this recipe. I made it today for our cupcakes that we had at New Beginnings. I have to tell you, it is delicious!

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar (aka powdered sugar)
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter, softened, but NOT melted in the microwave
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside. (Make sure you sift it, because I didn't, and there were a few lumps of powdered sugar and cocoa in the frosting).
In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These cookies are very delicious! My aunt made them for me while we had the babies in the NICU. I got the recipe and have made them twice in the 3 weeks we've been home.

Grandma's Oatmeal Raisen Cookies

Combine 3 large eggs with 2 cups of raisins and 1 Tbsp vanilla. Let sit for half hour to an hour.

Cream:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar

Add raisins and mix well.

Add:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups quick oatmeal

Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in sugar and smash down each ball, dipping in sugar after each cookie.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Note: I have to add a little bit more flour (1/4 cup) than the recipe calls for. Do a test cookie. first.

Valentine's Dessert

I got this recipe a few months ago after tasting it at a friends house, but just got around to making it this weekend. It seemed like a nice valentine's day dessert. It makes quite a bit, but my little family has been loving it all weekend. The almond and cherry combination is delicious, and the crust is similar to a sugar cookie....so yummy

Cherry Surprise Bars

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 can cherry pie filling

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and almond extract and mix well. Add flour and salt. Grease 10x15 pan. SPread 3/4 batter in pan, top with pie filling. Then dab remaining 1/4 batter on top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (I cooked it for 2 more minutes as it wasn't completely done), let cool 15 minutes.

Drizzle over top:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 spoons of water (I added a little more water until the consistency was right)

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cooies

These are so yummy! Super fast and easy to make. We gobbled them right up!

1 box chocolate cake mix (any variety)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 C oil
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water

1 (10 oz) bag Nestle dark chocolate and mint morsels

Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, and water until soft dough forms

Fold in morsels. Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Kristen asked me to post this recipe, so here you go, dear friend! :) I saw the recipe on The Picky Apple and knew I had to try it. They are quite yummy and I'm always willing to try a new way to bake pumpkin. Next time I make them I will bake them in a mini-muffin pan so that they are more like doughnut holes. Mmmm.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

from Everyday Food, November 2010

Makes 12

For the Batter:

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have any on hand, so I used pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg and allspice)
  
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup light-brown sugar (I only had dark-brown and it turned out fine)
  
• 2 large eggs

For the Sugar Coating:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups. Make batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Dream Cake

• Prepare one white cake mix according to directions on box.



• Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 8 oz softened cream cheese, and 8 oz thawed cool whip.



• Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled cake.



• Combine one container strawberry glaze and sliced strawberries, fresh or thawed. Spread over white layer. (I spread the glaze first then covered it with the sliced strawberries.)



• Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Easy Eclair Squares

This is one of my most favorite desserts!

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
2 cups cold milk, divided
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
22 graham crakers
4 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1-1/2 cups Powdered sugar

BEAT pudding mix and 1-3/4 cups milk in large bowl with whisk for 2 min. Stir in Cool Whip. Layer about 1/3 of the grahams and half the Cool Whip mixture in 13x9-inch pan, breaking grahams as necessary to fit; repeat layers. Top with remaining grahams.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in medium microwaveable bowl on high 1-1/2 min., stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and remaining milk; stir until well blended. Immediately spread over grahams.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours.

Carmelitas

I hope, hope, hope that Heidi Cole doesn't get mad at me for sharing this recipe. It's in her Cole family cookbook she lent to me. I'm just telling you now, DON'T make these. They are of the devil. Well, OK, make them, cut yourself a 1/4 inch square and quickly give the rest away to unsuspecting neighbors. They are like crack I tell you. Crack!

Carmelitas - Heidi Cole

1 jar Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel sauce (or other caramel topping)
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups softened butter
2 cups chocolate chips - The recipe call for semi sweet. I used milk chocolate.

Seriously! Look at those ingredients. How could you possible go wrong with Mrs. Richardson's sauce and 3 sticks of butter!

Mix together caramel sauce and flour, set aside. Combine all other ingredients, except chocolate chips. Press half of this mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips then pour caramel mixture over the chips and sprinkle the other half of the dough mixture on the caramel. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool 1 to 2 hours and cut into bars.

We let ours sit overnight. Well, ok I snuck one around 10PM. Then again at 8AM and I think they are even better the next day. Also, don't go looking at Walmart for Mrs. Richardson's. They don't carry it.

Really - don't make these!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

Why is it that I only am in the mood to bake when it is 100 degrees outside? I needed a chocolate fix and so I decided to try a recipe I found on My Kitchen Cafe.

Makes a 9x13 inch pan of bars

2 1/8 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil leaving a little hanging over the edges for easy removal. Spray foil with cooking spray.

Mix flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and fold in until just blended. Don't overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and place in pan using a spatula to smooth out the top. **I, Kristen, found that it was a very thick batter. Don't be alarmed. It's ok.**

Bake until the top of the bars are light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start to pull away from the pan. The recipe says about 24-28 minutes but I had to cook mine for about 33. I checked at 24 minutes and again at 29 minutes and then they were good to go at 33. Keep an eye on them. Cool completely and remove from pan.

These are oh so good and oh so rich. They have that slightly undercooked texture to them that I love so much because it's like eating raw cookie dough. My family gave it rave reviews as well.

Peanut Butter Bars

Let me tell you first, there were three things I loved in our elementary school's cafeteria when I was growing up: chicken fried steak, plain spaghetti noodles with shredded cheese on them (this is when I also realized my love for plain noodles and cheese), and the peanut butter bars.

I have tried many recipes trying to find the peanut butter bar recipe that tasted exactly how I remembered and lo and behold, I found it. Maybe all of you already have this recipe, but I've been in heaven all week devouring these things.

The only thing was they weren't thick enough, so next time I'll either double the recipe or make them in a 9x13 pan.

• 1/2 c. butter or margarine
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar packed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/4 c. oatmeal

Cream together first 4 ingredients. Mix in vanilla and peanut butter. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. If too sticky add a little more flour. Gradually add in the peanut butter mixture. Spread into ungreased 11x13 cookie sheet.. Bake 325 for approx 12 min. Make sure to NOT overbake. Cool slightly then spread thin layer of peanut butter over entire thing- cool all the way. Frost with favorite fudge frosting recipe. I just used the basic recipe out of the red and white checkered recipe book (what is that Better Homes and Garden?).

Blueberry Muffin Mix Cookies

We almost always make a dessert on Sunday, and it's usually brownies. But I wasn't in the mood to put that much work into it and I didn't want something too heavy. Because of a sale on muffin mixes a while ago I had a couple left in our food storage. I didn't want muffins, but I thought maybe I could make something out of the mixes. After looking online and tweaking the recipe a tad we came up with these. They were so good and light feeling.

Sorry they are blurry, but I didn't want to take another one.

Two- 7 oz packages of bluebery muffin mix

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp melted margarine or butter

Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a sprayed cookie sheet. Bake 350 for 11-12 min or when slightly gold on edge. As soon as they come out flatten with the back side of a spatula. Cool on rack for 5 min. Frost with any frosting, we just happen to have a little cream cheese frosting left in our fridge so I used that. So easy. Any muffin mix will do.

Warm Caramel Nutty Brownies

Confession: I love Pampered Chef. Specifically, I love their recipes. Everything I've tried has been divine. These brownies are no exception. Usually, I can't stand brownies with nuts. Maybe I love thee because the nuts are chopped up so fine that it's more like a crumb topping. The addition of the brown sugar to the brownie batter is a delicious touch too. You'll want some milk or ice cream to go with these because they're quite rich.

Because I'm lazy, I'm going to copy and paste the recipe directly from their website. However, I have made these without the fancy tools they've listed, and it still turns out great.

Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided 1 pkg (18-21 oz) brownie mix (plus ingredients to make cake-like brownies) 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided		1 cup salted mixed nuts, divided 5 rolls (1.7 oz each) milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels, divided (40 pieces total) Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions:
1.	Preheat oven to 375°F**. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with vegetable oil using Chef's Silicone Basting Brush. Chop 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate morsels using Food Chopper. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine brownie mix, water, oil, eggs and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar; mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate; pour batter into bar pan, spreading evenly using Small Mix ‘N Scraper®.
2.	Chop nuts using Food Chopper. Combine half of the nuts and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
3.	Meanwhile, using Utility Knife, cut 16 caramels into quarters. Place remaining 1/2 cup chocolate morsels in Prep Bowl; microwave on HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after each 20-second interval. Spoon melted chocolate into resealable plastic bag; set aside.
4.	Remove bar pan from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack. Immediately press remaining 24 caramels evenly into brownie in four rows of six caramels each. Sprinkle quartered caramels and remaining nuts over brownies. Trim corner of chocolate-filled bag with Utility Knife; drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares; serve warm using Mini-Serving Spatula. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

**When I've made these using a standard 9X13 pan, I've baked them at 350 or whatever temperature the box suggests for that size of pan. The 375 is if your cooking them with a stoneware bar pan.

Black Forest Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm all about cupcakes lately. These are from the book "101 Gourmet Cupcakes in less then 10 Minutes" by Wendy Paul. I definitely recommend getting this book- so many yummy recipes.

Ingredients

1 chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large can cherry pie filling with 1 cup of it set aside

1 12oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix in bowl cake mix, eggs, almond extract, sour cream and all of cherry pie filling except one cup reserve. Do not over mix. Place in cupcake liners or tins that are greased well- 3/4 the way full. Bake 17-19 minutes at 350. Take out and place on rack to cool completely.

To make ganache topping: place whipping cream in pan and bring to boil. Immediately take off heat and pour over chocolate chips. Stir until all melted together. Wait for it to cool a little and thicken. Frost the cupcakes making a little well in the middle to hold cherry filling. I forgot to do this in the picture above.

Place the reserve cherry filling on top of each cupcake.

The Best Brownies EVER!

Does anyone else get the urge to bake on lazy Sunday afternoons? I do, but I won't unless I have an excuse. I can't have those yummy baked goods around because I have.no.self.control. I want the weather to get warm again so we can go on walks! And maybe deliver some goodies. Tonight, I think we'll pawn these off on the in-laws.

Brownies are the perfect alternative to cookies. I'll take brownies over cookies any day. Who wants to have to keep changing out the cookie trays anyway? :) Plus, what's not to love? (*channeling best Joey Tribiani impression*) Chocolate? Good. Sugar? Good. Edge pieces? Good.

You get the point.

These are the Best. Brownies.Ever. But you don't have to take my word for it. I got this recipe from the Mormon Mommy Wars blog. You can read the post here (it's all in the comments section). They are so good because of something to do with the sugar/flour ratio. Whatever. They're just gooooooooood.

Here's the recipe:

The BEST BROWNIES EVER.


1 stick butter

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

pinch of salt

1 TBSP vanilla

Melt the butter in a pan. Dump all the rest of the ingredients in the butter pan with the melted butter. Stir till combined. Pour into lined 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Let cool 1 hour.

Yes, you do have to wait that 1 hour, at least. Trust me. Yummy.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is courtesy of Misty Stratton. Danielle brought them to Young Women's one night and they were to die for!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 Cup Butter or Margarine, softened (I used butter flavored Crisco for my first batch)
1/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 3.5oz Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
2 eggs
1 12oz Package Mint Chocolate Chips (Wal-Mart doesn't have just the plain green ones, but they do have the Andes Mint chips. I found the green mint ones at Harmons)
1 Cup nuts (optional)

Combine flour and baking soda and set aside. Cream butter, sugars, vanilla, and pudding in bowl. Beat in eggs and gradually add flour mixture. Stir in mint chips and drop onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

You can use any variety of pudding and chips. Maybe Vanilla Pudding and Butterscotch chips will be my next experiment!

Cranberry Pear Cake

This picture doesn't have the sauce on it yet. And I used the same recipe but filled three 8x8 disposable pans instead of one 9x13.

Cranberry Pear Cake

2 c flour

2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 t baking soda

1 large can pears, with juice, mashed

1 bag cranberries

Combine all ingredients. I like to add everything except the cranberries and then use my hand mixer, which effectively mashes the pears, then stir in the cranberries with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into a greased 9x13. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. (My mom swears hers bakes in 40 minutes, but mine always takes infinitely longer.) Do a toothpick test to be certain it is done.

Sauce:

3/4 c cream

1 c sugar

3/4 c butter

1 t pure vanilla extract

Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Drizzle (liberally) over individual pieces of cake and top with a hefty dollop of freshly-whipped cream.

Spudnuts

We started a new tradition making doughnuts this year! The batch is huge, I am not sure how many dozen....but you should half or third the recipe if you are only making it for your family. They turned out yummy, so I thought I would share.

Spudnuts
7 pks dry yeast
3/4 cup water
1 cup + 1 TBS sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 TBS salt
4 beaten eggs
2 cups mashed potatoes (we made the ones from the box)
1 qt. scalded milk, cooled
15 cups flour

1/2 batch fit in my Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup lukewarm water with 1 TBS. sugar. Cream shortening and sugar. Add salt, eggs, and mashed potatoes (no lumps). Mix in yeast mixture and milk alternately with the flour. Let rise until doubled(about 1 hour), roll out on floured surface 1/2 inch thick and cut with donut cutter (or a cup and a smaller circle). Place on greased wax paper. Let rise again until doubled(about 1 hour).

Frosting
12 cups powdered sugar
1 1/3 cup milk
3 tsp. vanilla

Mix and adjust until somewhere in between runny and thick. Put in a shallow bowl for dipping.

Heat oil to 375 in an electric skillet pan. Fry raised doughnuts in oil. Place on paper towels to cool a bit and drip. While still warm, dip doughnuts in the frosting on both sides. Place on cooling rack (with pan beneath). Enjoy warm or cool.