Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe can be found here. Delicious!

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
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MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee
⅛ teaspoons Salt

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting

Chocolate Pudding Cookies

A basic chocolate cookie. Instead of cocoa, pudding gives the cookies their chocolate flavor. The dough is stiff and the cookies don't spread much, so feel free to load up the cookie sheet. Half the recipe made about 35 cookies. I baked mine for 10 mins. and I still thought they were overcooked. I like barely cooked, gooey cookies though.

Recipe: Tasty Kitchen

4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 pkgs (3.4 oz) small instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the instant pudding until well blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Let stand on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then cool on wire racks.

Chewy, Messy, Sticky Bars

Recipe: Tasty Kitchen

The name says it all. They're definitely messy, and sticky. The crust doesn't stay together very well, but overall a good recipe. Pretty simple.

Base:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter

Filling:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cans (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Topping:
4 ounces, semi-sweet or dark baking chocolate
4 ounces, white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine base ingredients, kneading until a dough forms. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 mins. Once dough is chilled, press into a greased 9 X 13 dish and poke with a fork. Bake for 20 mins. until golden brown and firm. Set aside to cool.

Make caramel by melting all filling ingredients together, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until simmering for about 5 mins. or until it is thick. Pour caramel over base, then chill in fridge until cold.

Once cold, melt chocolate (brown and white separately) and spread into 4 alternating strips over caramel mixture. Using a toothpick, make swirls through the chocolate. Top with nuts or toffee if desired. Let cool until it hardens. Cut into slices.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

The easiest cheesecake I've ever made. And, one of the best tasting. Really good.

Recipe: Prepared Pantry

Crust:
1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 TBSP sugar

Filling:
4 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups white chocolate wafers/chips/baking bars

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a 10-inch springform pan, mix the graham cracker crumbs, butter and 2 TBSP sugar together. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan to form the crust. Put crust in refrigerator while you mix the filling.

With the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Melt the white chocolate. Drizzle the melted chocolate into the bowl while the beaters are running. Pour cream cheese mixture into crust.

Bake for 50 minutes (mine took longer) or until cake is done. Let cool on a wire rack. After 10 minutes, loosen the sides with a spatula and remove the ring. (Mine was still very soft after 10 mins. I had to let mine sit longer and it still had cracking.) Refrigerate cheesecake to cool completely.

*If the chocolate cools too rapidly, the cheesecake will be clumpy.

Popcorn Delight

This recipe was OK. I think the gooey mixes are better.

Recipe: Taste of Home

14 cups popped popcorn
2 cups salted peanuts
2 cups rice krispy cereal
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 lb. white candy coating, coarsely chopped
3 TBSP creamy peanut butter

In a large bowl, combine popcorn, peanuts, cereal and marshmallows. In microwave, melt candy coating and peanut butter; stir until smooth. Pour over popcorn mixture; toss to coat.

Spread onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets; refrigerate for 15 mins. or until set. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Makes about 6 quarts.