New York Style Cheesecake

I go this recipe from allrecipes.com.  It was really good.  I followed the recipe as written and didn't make any changes.  My cake did crack a little but it still tasted really good.

Chantal's New York Cheesecake

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

German Chocolate Cake

Here's the top secret Clayson family chocolate cake recipe--

German Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

3 eggs

1/2 c. milk

1tsp vanilla

3 Tbls cocoa

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 c flour

1 c boiling water

Cream sugar, shortening, and eggs. Mix in milk, vanilla, cocoa, soda, salt, and flour.   Slowly add water. Mix till smooth.  Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch rounds. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Banana Cookies

Got this recipe out of Clark Ward Cookbook from 2007.  Brad says these are in the top 3 for his favorite cookies :)

Banana Cookies
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
1 3/4 c. rolled oats
1 pkg chocolate chips (I just put in 1 1/2 cups and it was tons.... next time I might just put a rounded cup)

Bake at 400 for 14-15 minutes.

Grandma Nulph's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cube butter (1/2 cup) (don't melt)

1 1/2 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 c brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla (Watkins is the best)

1 tsp water

4 1/2 c flour

Pkg of chocolate chips

Walnuts (opt)

Cream butter, shortening and sugars. Add eggs and mix one at a time.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Add water. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake @ 350 for 10 to 20 min. 

They cook perfectly in my oven for 11 min. But at the cabin it was 10. 

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (1 Tbls + 1 ½ tsp)
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2-3 Tbls ground cinnamon

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a large bowl (I used my KitchenAid), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Combine the yeast mixture with the cake mix, salt and vanilla; stir well to combine. Stir in the flour; kneed until all flour is incorporated into the dough. The dough will be a little sticky. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
3. In a bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Deflate dough and turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Roll dough out into a large rectangle. Sprinkle/spread with cinnamon filling. Roll up dough and cut into 3/4 inch thick rolls. Place rolls in a sheet cake pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5. Bake rolls in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls are baking, prepare the frosting. In a medium bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar, 1/3 cup butter, vanilla and milk. Let rolls cool slightly then spread with frosting.

I just put the ingredients in my KitchenAid and let it do all the mixing and kneading. I did steps 1, 2, and 3 last night and then put them in the refrigerator.  The cinnamon filling mix is one I got from another cinnamon roll recipe that I really like- but it's really cinnamony.  So if you don't like to much cinnamon then cut it way back. This morning I took them out and let rise for about 1 hr.  Then I baked them about 20 min.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

I made this for my Dad's Birthday, and it turned out fantastic. Trev doesn't like peanut butter but I sure do and this was a quick and yummy treat that hit the spot.

3 packages resees peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped
1 cup milk
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 carton (8 oz) whipped topping
1 chocolate crumb crust

Cut peanut butter cups fine and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding for 2 minutes. Let stand until softly set, then fold in whipped topping. Fold in peanut butter cups. Spoon into chocolate crust. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Swirled Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Bars

I made these for a work luncheon. We topped them with a little whipped topping.   They were yummy.  Perfect for fall.

Yield:  Makes 24 bars


6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

1. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg; stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.
2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese, remaining egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth.
3. Drop cream cheese mixture in 24 evenly spaced 1-tablespoon portions over batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.
4. Bake in a 350° oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.

 Recipe from myrecipes.com

Hummingbird Cake

First off, I love the name of this cake. It's not something boring like "banana pineapple cake", even though that's what the cake is. Anyway, I had extra bananas and needed to do something with them. I found this recipe on Bake or Break. I made it and loved it.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped bananas

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9X13 cake pan. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add eggs and oil, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, pecans, and bananas.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

After cooling, frost with cream cheese frosting. Garnish with pecans, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Very yummy homemade frosting!!

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 16 ounces confectioners sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Gingerbread House Recipe

2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
2/3 c molasses
1 egg
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Roll dough in 11x17 inch greased pan.  To prevent pan from sliding while rolling out dough, place a damp terry towel under the pan and grease rolling pin.  Roll out dough until it is even. Use your fingers to ease dough into place.  Make as smooth as possible.  Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 25 min.  Place pattern on hot dough and cut out completely with sharp knife.  Remove leftover outer edges and cut through all pieces once more.  Return to oven for another 5 to 7 min.  Remove from oven, carefully loosen pieces from pan and place on wire rack to cool.  (I leave loosened pieces in the pan and they are easily removed after cooling.)

DO NOT stack pieces on one another until thoroughly cooled.  Don't store in air-tight containers, plastic bags or the freezer- it's best to let it dry out.

Frosting

2 egg whites
3 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbl lemon juice

Mix sugar slowly into egg whites.  Add remaining ingredients.  May need more powdered sugar if frosting doesn't seem thick enough.  Use cake decorating bags and large, open decorating tips to use the frosting to assemble your house.

Carrot-Banana Cake

2 cups flour
1 tbls ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c applesauce
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 c finely grated carrots
1 c mashed ripe banana
Nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12 cup Bundt pan. Combine first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in oil, apple sauce, sugars and eggs. Add carrots and banana. Blend well. Pour into Bundt pan and bake about 1 hour. Let cake stand in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool.

This cake is very moist and pretty sweet. The recipe had a cream cheese frosting. We tried it and didn't like it. I scraped it off and made a powdered sugar glaze and drizzled that one the top. PERFECT!! You could also just sprinkle it with powdered sugar. I imagine this recipe would make great muffins. Also, I don't think I even put in 1/2 cup of oil. I had some left over applesauce and put all that I had of it into the measuring cup and filled the rest of the cup with oil. I think you could leave out the oil completely and just use applesauce. It would be a little healthier.

Monster Cookies

I got this recipe from my friend, Teri, and Brad said he thinks they just might be his new favorite!

12 oz peanut butter (1 1/2 c.)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 c., 2 Tbsp, & 2 tsp. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 c. quick oats
1 c. choc chips
1 c. M&M's

Bake 350º for 10-12 minutes. This makes a TON of cookies!

Apple Pinwheels

I got this recipe from my mom, Yum!! It's like apple pie in a cinnamon roll form :)

1 stick butter
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
1 1/2 c. self rising flour*
1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. milk
2 c. finely chopped apples
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter in 9x13" pan. In saucepan melt sugar and water. Cut shortening into flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Add milk and mix until it pulls away from the bowl. Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4" thick rectangle. Put cinnamon in apples and put onto dough. Roll up like a jelly roll and slice. Put in pan and cover with sugar water. Bake 55-60 minutes.

*Note- if you don't have self rising flour, you can make it! For 1 cup of self rising: 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt

Stacey's 3 Step Caramel Brownies

These are the brownies that Stacey made for the 4th of July....yummy!!!


First--
German Choco. Cake mix
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 stick margarine/butter

Mix together place 2/3 of batter in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes.


Second--
1/3 c. evaporated milk
50 caramels or 1 package
Heat till melted. Stir together.. (warm up in microwave until melted)

Third--
Sprinkle 1 c. choco chips over baked mix, right when it comes out of oven.
Spread melted caramel over top.
Drop remaining cake mix on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, watch sides for burning.

Mexican Cinnamon Brownies

We tried these for Cinco de Mayo yesterday. Annie had a blast mixing the dry stuff together and then eating what she helped make :)

3 oz unsweetened chocolate squares
1/2 c. butter
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350º. Melt chocolate and butter over medium heat. Let cool about 15 min. Whisk eggs until foamy, add sugars and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. Stir in chocolate. In medium bowl stir flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add dry to wet and beat until smooth. Cook in 9x13 pan for 25-30 min. Makes 24 brownies.

We got this off of Family Fun's site.

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup applesauce
4 c flour
1 pkg chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and fold in chocolate chips. Bake 10-12 min @ 350° F.

Note: This recipe is also good with raisins.

Mom's Cheesecake

1 pkg graham crackers
1/2 c. butter- melted
1/2 c. sugar

2 pkg cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 - 8oz pkg whipped topping
2 cans cherry pie filling (or your favorite fruit topping)

Roll crackers until fine. Mix crackers with butter and sugar. Press into a 9X13 pan. Bake crust at 350° F for 5 min. Cool completely.

Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over crust. Chill. Cover with pie filling or other fruit.

My favorite non-chocolate oatmeal cookies

These are my favorite oatmeal cookies that don't have chocolate, super yummy!

Robin's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 c. raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
4 c. quick oats
2 Tbsp hot water
Nuts (optional)

Bake at 375º for 6 to 7 minutes. Take out of oven when very lightly brown. Will cook more as they cool. Makes a thick dough. Yield: 8 to 10 dozen

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

These are my new fav!! Mom C. used to make them when the kids were growing up but hasn't made them since I met Brad so make them and let your family or self go down memory lane :)

1 3/4 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. nuts (opt)
18 large marshmallows cut in half

Sift flour; sift again with soda, salt, and cocoa. Cream shortening; add sugar gradually. Add egg and beat well. Add flour mixture and milk alternately. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake at 350º for 8 minutes. Top with 1/2 large marshmallow and cook 2 minutes more. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Note: We add half a bag of chocolate chips to the cookie mix at the end and omit the frosting. YUM!!

Fudge Frosting

This is Stacey's recipe and Brad's favorite on yellow cake.

4-6 Tbsp milk
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil, remove from heat, then add powdered sugar until desired consistency.