Class Party Cookies

I was excited to use my Christmas mini chips again when I made cookies for Travis' class party. Some of the mom's kept telling me how awesome my cookies tasted, but I have to confess, the chocolate ones were from a devils food cake mix (you just add 2 eggs and 1/2 C oil for soft, yummy cookies!) and I had an oatmeal cookie mix for the other. I can take credit for homemade frosting though!

Baby Shower Desserts

I just had to share a picture of the lovey dessert table at my sister's baby shower. I think my mom and aunt did a great job placing everything. My sister really wanted dessert bars, which was a great idea, and everything was delicious!

On the center of every plate had coconut dream bars, which I made last summer (sooo good), and they were a huge hit.

The far left was raspberry chocolate bars, which are my most favorite thing my moms makes this time of year!

The middle plate had lemon bars (the raspberries were my idea, don't they make them elegant?).

The far right were bars that I made, which had a cookie crust and coconut and chocolate and white chocolate. They were amazing!

Christmas Chocolate Chips

My mom shared some fun mini chocolate chips with me and I was so excited to use them! I made cupcake for our Sunday School class at church and made some plates for a few neighbors. Aren't they cute?
I made both regular size cupcakes and mini ones too.

Scrumptious Chocolate Mint Layer Bars

The name of these bars aren't kidding, they really are *scrumptious*! My grandma sent me this recipe and I decided it would be perfect for Travis' December work potluck. If you like chocolate and minty stuff, like Thinmints, then you'll love these! Plus they have bonus yumminess like coconut and walnuts!

Scrumptious Chocolate Mint Layer Bars

2 C cookie crumbs (it calls for Oreos, but I just had chocolate covered grahams which works too)
1/4 C butter
1 1/2 C chopped nuts
1 C flaked coconut
1 C sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 C dark chocolate chips
1 1/3 C mint chips

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in 13x9 inch pan in oven. Then mix in the cookie crumbs. Stir well and press into bottom of pan to make a crust. Sprinkle nuts and coconut on top. Pour condensed milk evenly over top. Sprinkle chocolate chips and mint chips on top and press down slightly. Bake 20-25 minutes or until coconut is slightly golden brown. Cool pan on wire rack completely, then cut into bars.

New Mini Muffin Pan

A very good friend of mine gave me a mini muffin pan last week and I was super excited to use it. So the other night I whipped up some blue berry scones so go along with our soup at dinner. They were both cute and delicious!

Walnut Rocha

Yet another opportunity to bake due to Travis' work potluck! This week I ventured into the candy zone of my Better Homes and Gardens book. Candy always sounds delicious, but it scares me because I know it can be tricky, temperamental and unforgiving. I read the recipe several times through and had all my ingredients at the ready so I would not screw it up! I also read up on testing candy at the 'soft crack' stage since I don't have a candy thermometer. And it turned out great! I wonder if I needed to cook the bottom layer just a tad longer for a crunchier texture, but it still looked and tasted great. I was kind of mad at myself for forgetting to take a picture of the cute platter I had Travis take to work, so I only got a shot of the left overs I kept for us.

Nut Rocha

2 C butter
2 C sugar
1/3 C water
2 T light corn syrup
1 3/4 C chocolate chips
1 C finely chopped nuts, I used walnuts

1. Line a 15x10 pan with foil, set aside.
2. In a 3 quart saucepan melt butter. Stir in sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook over medium high heat to boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. This is where you should use a candy thermometer and stir for about 15 minutes, until it is at 290, soft crack stage. I did the cold water test, by putting a few drops into a cup of cold water and it separates into hard, pliable threads that can't be shaped into a ball. It took a little more than 15 until it reached this stage. Mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate with bubbles over entire surface. Remove from heat and remove thermometer.
3. Carefully pour mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly. Cool about 5 minutes or until the top is set. Sprinkle chocolate and let stand 2 minutes. Spread the softened chocolate over toffee mixture. Sprinkle nuts on top and gently press them in. Let stand at room temperature for several hours until set. Use foil to lift candy out and break into pieces.

Wheat Bread in the Crock Pot

I loved this recipe! I found it in a crock pot cookbook and it was so easy! I recommend cutting this recipe in half unless you've got a huge crock pot. I am so glad I halved mine or I would have had dough everywhere. Basically, you mix the ingredients and put them in a round cake pan, which then goes into your crock pot. Simple as that! It is a little different texture, kind of like a corn bread. But we really enjoyed it with butter and it went well with our chili.


Crock Pot Wheat Bread

2 C warm reconstituted powdered milk
2 T veggie oil
1/4 cup of honey or brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 1/2 C wheat flour
1 1/4 C white flour

1. Mix milk, oil, honey or brown sugar, salt, yeast and half the flour. Beat for two minutes. Add remaining flour and mix well.
2. Place dough in a well greased round cake pan that fits in your crock pot. Cover with a well greased piece of foil and let stand for 5 minutes. Place in crock pot.
3. Cover and bake on high for 2 1/2-3 hours.