Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup 70%(or more) dark chocolate pieces
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup vanilla ice cream (we use our homemade ice cream but you could use any vanilla ice cream)

Melt butter and chocolates over in pot over low heat. Add sugar and stir. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir the ice cream into the chocolate mixture.

This stuff is amazing and versatile. It is great over ice cream, over desserts, or even just eaten with a spoon out of the jar!

Date Cranberry Pecan Bars

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans minus 2 tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ground flax
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Add dates, and cranberries. Put 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed in a 3/4 measuring cup. Fill rest of cup with chopped pecans, add to above mixture. Stir until well mixed. Beat eggs until foamy. Add vanilla to eggs. Then add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well. The batter will be thick.

Place batter into a greased 8″ square baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minute until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Kyle loves to add vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple to the bars, I think they are amazing on their own. Either way it's a recipe you have to try!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter made from only peanuts and nothing else)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips * see note below
2 Tablespoons shortening

Cut 15 full size foil cupcake liners to about half their height. (I used silicone baking cups and did not cut them. Once the dessert was solid I peeled the silicone cups off and stored the chocolate cups in the freezer)
In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Knead it slightly with your hands until all the sugar is moistened.
Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave according to package instructions. Or, put them in a microwave safe dish and heat on 50% power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir, and heat in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
Put one teaspoon chocolate in each foil liner and tilt the liner so that the chocolate covers the bottom and a little bit of the sides.
Place them on a plate or in a muffin pan and put them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll 1 1/2 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture into a ball and flatten it with your hands. Place it in the bottom of a chocolate lined cupcake liner. It should not touch the edges. Repeat with all 15 liners.
Add 2 teaspoons of chocolate on top of the peanut butter and spread it with the spoon out to the edges of the liner, letting it fill in around the peanut butter.
Store in the refrigerator. Eat cold or at room temperature.

*Instead of melting chocolate chips and shortening I made my own homemade chocolate - see next post*

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice and zest of one lemon (I think next time I may even do juice from 1 1/2 lemons)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
Blueberries fresh or frozen

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mix sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Mix well. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top of batter according to taste. We like lots of berries on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done.

I think this would also taste good with raspberries instead of blueberries!

Poppy seed Buttermilk Cake

1/2 cup poppy seeds
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar

Soak poppy seed in buttermilk for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), grease a 10 inch bundt pan. Mix together cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Sprinkle part of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over greased pan. This will form a thin crust over the cake. Set aside the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
Sift flour, salt and soda together. Add to butter mixture alternately with the poppy seed mixture. Blend well.
Put the batter in the pan in layers, sprinkling the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture between each layer. If you spread your batter thin, you should get three layers of cinnamon sugar. (I only had one layer of cinnamon in the middle and sprinkled the rest at the end so both top and bottom of the cake has cinnamon-sugar)
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set cake on rack to cool for one hour. Goes well with whipping cream or plain by itself!

Pineapple Crisp

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut (I used 1 cup coconut and 1/2 cup rolled oats)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained ( I used fresh chopped pineapple combined with bottled juice to make 10 oz.)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I omitted this and it was fine)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine


In a bowl, combine the coconut, flour, brown sugar, butter and salt. Press 1-1/2 cups into a greased 9-in. square baking pan; set remaining mixture aside.
In a saucepan, combine the filling ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Cool; spread over crust. Sprinkle with reserved coconut mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
If you double the recipe it fits a 9x13 pan nicely. We served this with whipped cream and it was very yummy.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake

3-4 cups diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
TOPPING:
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place rhubarb in a greased 8-in. square baking pan. In a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, milk, butter, baking powder, salt and vanilla (mixture will be stiff). Spread over rhubarb. For topping, combine sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over dough. Pour water over all; do not stir. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until pudding tests done.

The pudding forms a nice crispy top with a moist flavourful bottom! This can be served with ice cream but it tastes delicious on it's own! I think that this would also taste great as a strawberry-rhubarb pudding. I'll have to try it out come strawberry season.

Rhubarb Crunch Cake

This is my husband's all time favorite rhubarb dessert!

3-4 cups rhubarb pieces
1 small package (3 oz.) red jello (we like strawberry)
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix rhubarb and jello together and set aside. Mix margarine and sugar in separate bowl. Add eggs to sugar mixture and beat well. Stir in sour cream, and remaining dry ingredients. Fold rhubarb mixture into batter. Put into 9x13" pan. Mix together and sprinkle on top of the cake:

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. white sugar
1-2 tsp. cinnamon depending on taste (our family loves cinnamon)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional - this tastes just fine without nuts)

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 cup Nilla Wafer crumbs ( I used Oreo baking crumbs and omitted the cocoa)
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup icing sugar (I used less)
1/4 cup margarine melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine and press into springform pan. Bake 8 min at 350 degrees.

3 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened (I used 1 pkg. no name brand & 2 pkg. Philly. The no name brand did not mix as well, leaving some white cream cheese chunks. These chunks tasted good and made it look like I used white and chocolate chips in the cake!)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 cup canned plain pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

Increase oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl beat all ingredients for the cake except chocolate chips. Beat well to blend. Stir in chocolate chips, pour into crust. Bake 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 250 degrees. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes more.

For best results in cooling all cheesecakes: leave in oven with oven off and door open for 15-30 minutes, then move to wire rack. With knife, loosen from side of pan.

Cool completely, remove pan ring. Refrigerate for 24 hours or freeze for best flavour and texture. You can eat it before 24 hours if you want, will taste good the next day too!

Whole Wheat Peach Kuchen

I had bought some peaches and they were quite "woody" and not good for fresh eating. So I tried this new recipe and it turned out great! At least the peaches were not wasted!

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup ground walnuts (optional - I did not add these)
1/4 cup butter/margarine
4 cups cut up peeled peaches
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used yogurt)
1 egg
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter, until crumbly. Pat mixture over bottom and sides of pie pan. Arrange peaches in pastry, cut side down. Mix together second amount of sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle on top of fruit. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Combine last 4 ingredients and pour over hot peaches and bake 30 minutes more or until set.
Serves 6-8.

Saskatoon Pudding

3 cups saskatoons (I used 2 cups saskatoons and 1 ripe peach sliced into bite sized pieces)
juice from 1/2 a lemon ( about 1 1/2 tbsp. bottled juice)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup margarine
heaping 1/3 cup granulated sugar (original recipe asks for 1/2 cup)
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8 x 8 inch cake pan. Wash and sort saskatoons and drain well. Place fruit in bottom of pan. Squeeze lemon juice over fruit. Combine 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tbsp. flour and sprinkle over top. Set aside. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract until mixture is light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in batter alternately with milk ending with flour mixture. Spread batter over fruit. Bake about 30-35 minutes or until top of pudding golden and tests done.

Zucchini Cobbler

4 cups peeled, cored and chopped zucchini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups white flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice until zucchini is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg and cook one minute more. Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 8x10 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine flour and 1 cup sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir 1/4 cup of butter mixture into zucchini mixture. Press half of remaining butter mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Spread zucchini mixture over top of crust. Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to remaining flour mixture and sprinkle over zucchini.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden. Serve warm or cold.

This dessert tastes like fresh apple pie! Your family and friends will not be able to tell that they are eating zucchini!

Zucchini Brownies

1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix first 6 ingredients together in a bowl. Add zucchini. Add remaining dry ingredients but NOT the chocolate chips. Mix well. Spread into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of batter. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 35-40 minutes.

Vanilla Pudding

Today my Grandma Esau went home to Heaven to be with her Lord. This recipe was originally hers and passed down by my mom. I love this pudding to make coconut or banana cream pies. It's also good for just plain eating!

5 tbsp. flour (heaping)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks or 1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix flour, and sugar in microwave safe bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and the eggs, stir with whisk. Heat the rest of the milk in the microwave until hot (not boiling). Add hot milk slowly to mixture, stirring well. Place in microwave, cook on high at 2-3 minute intervals until mixture thickens. Let cool 5 minutes, stir in vanilla. Cover bowl and let cool.

Note: use 2 egg yolks if you want to put a meringue on top of pudding, otherwise I just use a whole egg.

Rice Pudding

3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries (I prefer cranberries)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 1 tsp. cinnamon or to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, cinnamon and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. If pudding is not thickening 1 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp. water can be added, heat until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

Fruit Platz

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
4 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
6 tbsp. milk
4 tbsp. butter or shortening

Sift dry ingredients, rub in shortening, until you have fine crumbs. Beat egg, add to milk and mix with flour mixture. Press into pan, pressing up enough dough to make an edge all around the pan. Arrange fruit on top. Our favorite is a combination between fresh or canned peaches and saskatoons. You can use any other kinds of fruit as well.

Top with:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter

Make coarse crumbs with your fingers and sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes until fruit is done and crumbs are golden brown.

Friendship Brownies

These are called Friendship Brownies because you can layer all the dry ingredients in a jar and give it to a friend. All they have to do is mix in the wet ingredients and bake! This was done for me at one of my bridal showers years ago.

Brownie Mix:
1 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Wet ingredients:
3 eggs
2/3 cup oil (I like to use 1/3 cup apple sauce and 1/3 cup oil)
1 tsp. vanilla

In a bowl beat eggs, oil and vanilla. Add the brownie mix, stir well. Spread into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 min.

Double Brownies and Chocolate chip cheesecake bars

I am posting two recipes that are amazing on their own, but today I tried combining them and it made an amazing birthday cake for my sister-in-law!

Double Brownies

Chocolate layer:

2 eggs
1 pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup cocoa

Beat eggs till foamy. Add sugar, flour, and salt. Melt butter and cocoa together. Add to egg mixture and blend well. Spread in greased 9 x 13" pan. Set aside.

Butterscotch layer:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Add flour, salt and chocolate chips. Stir. Spon over chocolate layer in small daubs. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Chocolate chip cheesecake bars

1-2 recipes chocolate chip cookie dough depending on size of recipe

Beat:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Put 1/2 of cookie dough in 8 x 10" pan. Spread filling over top. Crumble remaining dough over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.


Now to combine the recipes use cream cheese mixture between the chocolate and butterscotch layers of the double brownie and bake about 35 minutes till done. If you really like the taste of cream cheese do 1 1/2 recipes of the cream cheese mixture as it's not as strong when put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Easy Pear Cobbler

2 to 2  1/2 cups sliced fresh pears (I used 3 pears and it worked well)

1 cup sugar divided

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Mix pears with 1/2 cup sugar and let stand. Put butter in 2 quart casserole and place in 325 degree oven until melted. Combine all dry ingredients, including the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly combine with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325  for 50-60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.

Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.