German Chocolate Cake Bars

This recipe can be easily made in either a 13x9 rectangular 4-quart baker, or a 4-quart square baker. Either way, it'll feed a crowd and is a super simple dessert for any kind of celebration or family gathering.

Enjoy all the delicious gooeyness and flavor of German Chocolate Cake, but with a cake bar recipe that comes together easily in  4-quart baker or 9 x 13 baking pan- 

 

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg

Filling:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 4-quart baker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and egg. Press into the bottom of the baker. (Crust should not come up the sides of the baker.) Bake for 7 minutes and remove from oven. Crust will not look done.
3. While the crust is baking, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, egg, pecans and coconut in a medium bowl.
4. Pour sweetened condensed milk mixture over the warm crust in the baker, and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over all.
5. Bake for 24-30 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove and cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Sharp Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 cups half & half
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp orange cheddar
• 6 cups thinly sliced peeled Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 large onion, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large saucepan heat butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, salt, ground mustard and pepper until blended.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Gradually whisk in cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat.
4. In a small bowl combine both cheeses. Layer a third of the potatoes, a third of the onions and ¾ cup of the cheese mixture in a 4-quart baker.  Repeat layering two more times.
5. Pour remaining sauce all over the top.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
6. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender and the top is lightly browned.  Serve hot.

Fried Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Experiment. Try different things. Because no matter which batter you use, which stuffing you choose or which way you fry ’em – you’ll be surprised how deliciously light and addictive they are!

Here is my quick and easy recipe for Fried Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms.

Fiori di Zucchini Ripieni

Fried Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Ingredients
Filling

• ricotta cheese
• chives, minced
• parsley, finely chopped
• nutmeg
• salt
• black pepper

Batter

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup club soda, chilled
• pinch of salt

Directions

• To prepare the flowers, clean out dirt or insects from the inside of flowers and remove the stamen. Gently rinse them one-at-a-time and pat dry on towels, being careful not to damage the delicate petals. Cut any long stems to 1 inch.
• Put vegetable oil in a heavy bottom cast iron frying pan- about 1 inch deep. Heat oil to 360-365 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• In a bowl, combine a good amount of ricotta and the remainder of filling ingredients to taste. Mix well.
• Fill a pastry bag (a zip-lock bag with the corner snipped-off would be fine as well) with the cheese mixture.
• Slowly and gently, squeeze a small amount of the filling into each flower (don’t overfill) and twist the ends of flower closed. Place one-by-one on a plate.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour, club soda and salt until combined. Add more club soda to thin if needed and form a thin crepe-like batter.
• As soon as the oil is at the desired temperature, gently dip each blossom into the batter. Coat completely. Let the excess batter drain off and place into the hot oil (please be careful not to burn yourself as the hot oil could splatter).
• Repeat with each blossom. Work in small batches of 3-4 blossoms at a time. No more than that in the pan, or the oil temp will drop too much and your blossoms will be soggy, not crisp.
• Let each blossom fry for 30- 60 seconds and then turn with a small wire strainer. Fry on the other side until golden in color. Remove with the wire strainer, let drain and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Season each while still hot with additional salt.
• Continue until all blossoms have been fried. Serve immediately.

Refreshing Watermelon Limeade

Ingredients

• 10 cups seedless watermelon chunks
• 1 can frozen limeade

Directions

1. Place the watermelon chunks in a blender in small batches. Blend until liquid. Press through a mesh strainer to extract juice. Discard pulp. 
2. Add watermelon juice to your blender along with limeade. Blend until smooth. Serve over ice. 

Irish Cream Bread Pudding

Total Time:

 

1 hr, 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1  baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes, about 10 cups
• 6 eggs
• 2  cups milk
• 1  cup Irish cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the eggs, milk, Irish cream, sugar, vanilla and the salt together in a bowl. Blend well, making sure the sugar is melted.
3. Add the cubed bread to the bowl and mix well with a spoon. Let stand for 30 minutes, turning the mixture over every 5 minutes.
4. Lightly spray your Baking dish with food spray. Add the soaked bread to the baking dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread pudding comes out clean.
6. You can serve with vanilla cream or whipped cream.

Quick and Easy Mini Coffee Cakes

Dish Size:

 

12-oz. Mini Pie Dishes

These warm-from-the-oven little goodies are exactly what you need when you've got weekend house guests. They're also perfect for brunch or afternoon coffee. (My favorite part is the delicious streusel topping!) - 

 

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
• 1 (15-ounce) can fruit cocktail, drained
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg, beaten

Streusel Topping:

• 1/4 cup Bisquick Baking Mix
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together all cake ingredients.
4. Fill each of four mini pie dishes half full with cake batter.
5. Cover each with an even amount of streusel topping.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.