No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies

 

Ingredients

2 c. sugar
1/3 c. Cocoa
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. quick oats
1 c. coconut
1/4 c. peanut butter

Instructions

In large sauce pan combine sugar, cocoa, milk, and butter and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add vanilla and salt and peanut butter. Stir in oatmeal and coconut. If its too runny, add more quick oats to thicken. Drop onto wax paper, let cool.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

Pour cake mix into a mixing bowl. Add oil and eggs, and mix well. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased pan (I flatten them just a touch). Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.

For half of the batch I stuffed 2-3 chocolate chips inside of each ball.  Then there was a warm, gooey, chocolatey surprise when the kids bit into the cookies.

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Source:  MarthaStewart.com

OH...MY...GOSH!!!  THESE...ARE...SO...GOOD!!! 

No kidding, they're amazing!

3 cups finely ground cookies, such as graham crackers or chocolate wafers, or a combination

1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup pecan pieces (optional)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly splash a 15-by-10-inch rimmed baking sheet evenly with water, then line with parchment paper.  (I didn't have parchment paper so I used foil.)
2.  In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter until combined. Evenly press onto bottom and up sides of prepared baking sheet. Bake, rotating halfway through, until firm, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool, about 20 minutes.  (I left it in the pan to cool.  Took longer, but I was in no hurry.)
3.  Sprinkle cooled crust evenly with pecans and chocolate. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely (do not let it drip over the edges). Sprinkle with coconut.
4.  Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.  (I left it in the pan to cool overnight, loosely covered in foil.)

Allow several hours to fully cool and set up.  Then dig in!!  And share with friends--they'll love you forever!





Double Chocolate Mint Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 T. water
3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Andes creme de menthe (enough for each cookie-I used 3 packs)


Directions:
In a large heavy pan, over low heat, melt the sugar, butter, and water.
Add chocolate chips and stir until partly melted, then remove from the stove and continue stirring until all chocolate chips are melted.

Pour into a large bowl and let set for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

With a mixer, beat eggs one at a time add some of the dry ingredients. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the chocolate mixture and then continue adding the remainder of the dry ingredients, beating just until blended. Cover bowl and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Using the small Pampered chef scoop to scoop up uniform sized balls of cookie dough, and then roll them into balls. Bake 10-12 minutes (cookie will crisp as they cool). Remove from heat and immediately place a mint on the top of each hot cookie. Allow the mint to soften, then swirl mint over the cookies.
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This recipe makes about 80 cookies.

Haystacks

This is a Dearman family favorite that my most wonderful mother-in-law taught me.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I have had to actually call her and ask her for the recipe several times.  Okay, I give you permission to mock me as you scroll down and actually look at the recipe.  Yup, pretty pathetic that I can't remember it!

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 can chow mien noodles

Melt the chips in the microwave in a glass bowl.  I like to do this gradually, like in 1 minute increments at 50% power, stirring after each minute.  Once it's melted, pour the chow mien noodles into the bowl and stir it till all the noodles are coated.  Then scoop onto wax paper in small bunches.  Once they've cooled and hardened, enjoy!

Candy Cane Fudge

1 [12 oz] pkg chocolate chips
1 cube margarine or butter
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 crushed candy cane

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in microwave on defrost or medium heat. Stir throughout melting. In a separate bowl mix powdered sugar, vanilla and eggs, using electric mixer. Once melted, add chocolate mixture and continue mixing.  Place in greased 9x9 square pan.  Sprinkle crushed candy cane over fudge.  Refrigerate for approximately 2+ hours.  Cut and enjoy!

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

4 Tblsp. Cocoa

½ tsp. salt

1 cup cooking oil

1 cup water

2 eggs

½ cup buttermilk (or regular milk + ½ tsp. vinegar or lemon juice. Let set for 10 minutes)

1 tsp. vanilla

Add water, oil, and cocoa together and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and flour. Pour boiling mixture over sugar and flour. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake 20 minutes @350° in sheet cake (bar) pan. Let cool slightly, then frost.

FROSTING:

Bring to a boil:

½ cup butter or margarine

4 Tblsp. Cocoa

4 Tblsp milk

Then add:

1 pound (about 3 ¾ cups) powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Then whip together. Spread on cake.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

This is GG's special recipe. They were always good to sneak out of the freezer (she would make some and freeze them when we were coming to visit.


1/2 c cocoa
3 c flour
2 c sugar
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
Mix together in bowl. Make three depressions in mixture; put 3/4 c salad oil in one, 2 T. vinegar in one, and 2 tsp vanilla in the third.
Add 2 c cold water and stir.
Fill muffin papers 2/3 full with batter. Drop 1 tsp filling on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Cool and frost with icing recipe below.

Filling:
1- 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c sugar
Mix these together and a 1- 6oz pkg of chocolate chips

Frosting:
3/4 stick margarine
3 T sour cream
3-5 T cocoa
1 1/2 T peanut butter
Mix together and add powdered sugar till right consistency and good taste. You can add a small amount of canned milk if you need to thin it down.

Sandwich Cookies - worth the effort!

Sandwich Cookies
Beat together:
3/4 c. margarine
1 c. sugar
Add: 1 egg
Mix in a separate bowl:
1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
And in another separate bowl:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. cocoa
Alternate between pouring the two separate bowls into your original mixture: wet, dry, wet, dry, etc.
Mix together and chill. Shape into two rolls and chill again. Slice and bake as refrigerator cookies. Bake at 325 degreesfor 10 minutes. When cool, form a "sandwich" with this delicious mint frosting between two cookies.

Mint frosting
Mix together:
3 T margarine
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 T milk
Green food coloring
A few drops of mint extract

See's Fudge

Okay, so it's not really See's Fudge, but it's our version of See's Fudge. And we love it!

1 [12 oz] pkg chocolate chips
1 cube margarine or butter
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 c walnuts (optional)

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in microwave on defrost or medium heat. Stir throughout melting. In a separate bowl mix powdered sugar, vanilla and eggs, using electric mixer. (I will try this soon with powdered eggs- but we enjoyed it a million times before people worried about uncooked eggs).
Once melted, add chocolate mixture and continue mixing. Add nuts if desired. Place in greased 9x9 square pan. Refrigerate for approximately 2+ hours. Cut and enjoy!

Andes Mint Cookies

These beautiful chocolate cookies with a melted Andes mint on top are really good, probably about 900 calories each [JK].

3/4 c butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 T water
2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Andes creme de-menthe candy [enough for each cookie]

In a large heavy saucepan, over low heat, cook butter, brown sugar, and water until melted. Add chocolate chips and stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is melted. Pout into large bowl and let stand 10 minutes to cool slightly. With mixer, beat eggs one at a time. Add dry ingredients, beating just until blended. Chill dough 1 hour.
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with foil. Roll teaspoon of dough into balls. Bake 12 to 13 minutes. (Cookies will crisp as they cool) Remove from over and immediately place mint on each hot cookie. Allow mint to soften then swirl mint over cookie. Makes 80 cookies.

Mud Pie

This recipe makes 2 good sized pies.

1 large instant jello pudding [vanilla] + milk per recipe on pkg
1 large instant jello pudding [chocolate]+ milk per recipe on pkg
1 pkg [8 oz] cream cheese
2 c powdered sugar
2 c cool whip
2 cooked pie crusts

Mix puddings separately.
Layer:
1. Pie crust
2. Powdered sugar, some of the cool whip[reserve some for topping] and cream cheese that has been mixed together
3. Mix two puddings and put them together (may add chopped walnuts, if desired)
4. Cool whip
5. Grated chocolate bar on top
Refrigerate several hours.

Tootsie Rolls

Hot Fudge Sauce

Did I mention I was pregnant with Shaunika the year we lived in Kansas? I loved chocolate!

In saucepan, combine:

1 ½ c. sugar

6 T cocoa

Dash of salt

3 T water

Add and bring to boil:

1 large can evaporated milk

Boil 4-5 minutes -- until thickened.

Remove from heat and add:

4 T butter

2 tsp. vanilla

Rocky Road

In saucepan, combine:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 c. butterscotch morsels

½ c. Peanut butter

Place over very low heat and melt until mixture is blended and smooth.

Add:

3 c. mini marshmallows

1 c. salted peanuts

Mix well. Spread in a foil-lined 8-inch square pan. Chill until firm.

This was another of the things I made often when we lived in Kansas. Dad was in the military and I liked to make a plate of goodies for him to take in to share.