Caramel Matzah Crunch

Ingredients
4-6 Unsalted Matzah Squares
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375*
Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper
Line bottom of pan evenly w/matzo sheets and fill empty spaces with extra pieces
Combine butter and brown sugar in 3qt saucepan
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly
Remove from heat and pour over matzah
Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 350*
Bake 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, removed from oven, lower heat to 325* and return to oven)
Remove from oven and sprinkle the matzo immediately with chocolate chips
Let stand 5 minutes then spread melted chocolate over matzo (Optional: sprinkle with chopped nuts)
While still warm cut into square or odd shapes
Chill in refrigerator until set (Some people put in freezer and eat frozen!)

Corny Chicken Bake

Ingredients
2 boxes of cornbread stuffing mix
2 14.75oz of creamed corn
2 celery rib, chopped
4-6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 tbsp of mustard (I used Gulden's Spicy Brown)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400*
In large bowl, combine stuffing, corn & celery
Spoon into greased 9x13 dish
Top with chicken breasts
Wisk together brown sugar, butter & mustard. Drizzle over chicken
Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes

(no fail) Banana Crumb Muffins

I am not the best/biggest baker. But many, many years ago, my SIL gave me this recipe....and it is FOOL-PROOF! I won't tell you the mistakes I've made--much too embarrassing--but somehow the muffins come out yummy each and every time! Also, this is a great "Cooking with Kids" recipe.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (or not)
1/3 c butter

*Combine 1st 4 ingredients in a small bowl.
*In larger bowl, mash the bananas. Add sugar, egg and butter. Mix well.
*Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, until moist and all mixed in.
*Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

TOPPING:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbs. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs butter

*Combine 1st 3 dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 jar Peanut Butter (I use Skippy's Reduced Fat Creamy)
Confectioners Sugar
2 containers of Baker's Dipping Chocolate

Directions
In medium sauce pan, melt the butter
Add the peanut butter (yes, the entire jar!) until the two meld together into liquified peanut butter
Add confectioners sugar until consistency is solid enough to roll a "ball" in the palm of your hands(yes, your hands will get dirty and sticky and creamy...from peanut butter...how bad can it be!?!?)
Set aside these "balls" on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and then refrigerate for at least one night
Melt dipping chocolate according to package's directions
Dip balls into chocolate until covered and return to wax papered cookie sheet
Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight and have a happy chocolate rush for breakfast.

**NOTES**
I do not recommend using chocolate morsels/chips for melting or semi-sweet anything. Milk Chocolate all the way!!

This recipe will yield: 50-80 balls, depending what size "balls" you like (go ahead, insert 8th grade humor here)

When stirring the peanut butter and sugar, be sure to rest the wrist. Child labor is great to use at this point (or if you are alone, a KitchenAid mixer)

You can add liquor--kahlua or chambord-- to the mix (you wont even taste the alcohol). When people ask for the recipe it just makes it sound more grown up :)

This is not an exact measurement recipe. Somewhat vague, but once you get the right consistency, things will go from there. Lots of trial and error: In my years of tweaking this recipe, I have yet to meet a version I didn't like.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Squares

Ingredients
4 bricks of reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tubes of chocolate chip cookie dough (better to have extra than not enough, I always say!)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 340*
Grease the bottom & sides of a 9x13 pan
Spread the bottom & sides pan with cookie dough so it is approx 1/4" thick
Beat together cream cheese and eggs
Spread the mixture on top of the cookie dough
Slice the 2nd tube of cookie dough into 1/4" circles and layer on top of cream cheese mixture with the edges touching
Cover with foil and bake for 30min
Remove foil and bake for add'l 10min
Let cool and cut into squares

Oreo Truffles Again!

I made dhalpin's recipe for Oreo Truffles



Oh my, soooo good!

The boys had fun helping, mostly by sprinkling with Halloween sprinkles. I didn't freeze the insides before coating with chocolate...that was a mistake, as it was hard to get them dipped in the chocolate evenly. But they still turned out so delicious, that who cares if they didn't look perfect!

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So has anyone else tried any of the recipes people have posted here? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought!

I also tried dhalpin's recipe for Slow Cooker Breakfast Risotto with Apples. It was a HUGE hit with me and my husband, but my picky, picky, picky preschoolers wouldn't try it :( Oh well, more for us!

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients
1 bottle Peppermint extract
12 oz bag of white, milk, semi-sweet or chocolate chips
10 coarsely crushed candy canes
1 oz square of baking chocolate (white, milk, semi-sweet, or dark), different than above chocolate

Directions
Line cookie sheet with wax paper
In microwavable bowl, mix extract and chips
Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until melted smooth
Spread chocolate evenly over wax paper
Dust with candy cane pieces
Melt 1oz square of baking chocolate in microwave and drizzle over chocolate/candy canes
Refrigerate over night
Break into pieces and serve!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Here's a recipe we've made many times for chocolate covered pretzels. I use the term "recipe" loosely. I've found with three year old twins, recipes that need precise measurements are a set up for failure!

Ingredients:

Pretzels (any kind you want, just make sure they're big enough for your kids to hold part of it and dip the other part)
Chocolate chips (let's say 2/3 cup)
Sprinkles (I don't know, I just kept dumping more into their bowls as they ran out)

Directions:

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Set aside. Fill a small bowl for each child with pretzels, and another small bowl for each child with sprinkles. Set aside. Don't even think about making them share bowls, because that's just setting yourself up for fights :)

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 20 seconds at a time, stirring well after each 20 seconds, until they are melted. The chocolate will be hot, but if you take it out JUST as the chocolate has melted, it shouldn't burn your kids. At least it didn't burn mine, but as always, test it yourself before giving it to your kids.

Set the bowl of melted chocolate where each child can easily reach it. Give them their bowls of pretzels and sprinkles. Show them how to dip half of each pretzel in chocolate, then dip it in sprinkles. Set them on the waxed paper to cool and harden. Or eat them right away. Whichever.

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This recipe worked really well for us, and as you may imagine, was a big hit with the kids. Of course. Pretzels, chocolate, and sprinkles. Those are things I've never had trouble getting my picky boys to eat. On the messiness scale (from 1 to 10, with 10 being a complete disaster), I'd give it an 8. Chocolate got all over them (especially their faces), and sprinkles ended up all over the place. It was a pretty quick clean up, though, as the chocolate wiped off things easily and the sprinkles could just be vacuumed up.

It was a very quick recipe: quick set up, quick to make, quick to eat.

Homemade Butter

Have you ever wanted to make butter? Well, here's your chance. It's surprisingly easy and while not exactly quick, is far quicker than I originally feared. Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Heavy Cream
Salt (optional)
Minced Garlic (optional)
Fresh Rosemary (optional)
Fresh Parsley (optional)
Fresh Chives (optional)
Or, whatever mix ins you'd like...or no mix ins at all.

Directions:

Find a small wide-mouthed container with a tight fitting top. We used an old Avent bottle with a non-nipple top. I've heard the glass stage 3 baby food jars would be a good size as well if you still have some sitting around.

Fill the container about half full of heavy cream.

Shake. Then shake some more. Then keep shaking. It takes a while. We just kept passing the bottle around and giving it a shake. Nothing happens for a little while. Then, it starts to turn into whipped cream. Then, after it's been whipped cream for a while and you keep shaking, it suddenly "breaks". The butter solidifies and the excess liquid (buttermilk) all comes out. It takes about 10 minutes or so total.

Pour off the buttermilk, and now you have butter! You can eat it straight, or mix in whatever you'd like. We tend to do lots of herbs from the garden, but you could also mix in some cinnamon and sugar and use it to make cinnamon toast, or just a little salt to make it slightly salted. I put the minced herbs in a little bowl, and then let the kids sprinkle them into the butter and stir it all up.

As you stir in the mix-ins, more excess liquid will come out...just pour it out.

Eat the butter! You can store it for a day or two in the fridge. We never make enough that this is really an issue, though.