Rhubarb Crisp

I really enjoy this time of year...all the flowers blooming, warmer weather, and gardens starting to produce delicious fruits and vegetables. This recipe reminds me of the dessert my grandmother used to make when I was growing up. I found this recipe online, to see the original recipe, click here.

Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
In mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, butter and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Press half of the brown sugar and oats mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Top with the sliced rhubarb.
In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and the 1 cup of water and vanilla. Cook together until clear, then pour over rhubarb.Top rhubarb with remaining crumb mixture and bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes.

Peanut Butter Gobs

I love peanut butter. So, one of my favorite gob flavors? Chocolate gob with peanut butter filling. Mmmm.... I still prefer the chocolate gob recipe from when I made chocolate cherry gobs. However, you can omit the cinnamon if you want when making the peanut butter gobs. I found the recipe for the peanut butter filling at Martha Stewart's website.

Chocolate Gobs

3/4 cup flour use 1 1/4 cup flour if making gobs

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon(optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, & salt; set aside.

In large bowl with electric mixer beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sour cream and flour mixture.

To make gobs: make batter as above. Line baking pan with parchment paper. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until cake springs back when lightly touched. Place rounded tablespoon of frosting between 2 cakes.

Peanut Butter Filling

2/3 cup creamy peanutbutter

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Put peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add confectioners' sugar; mix until combined. Raise speed to high, and mix until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.

Lemon Gobs

I decided to look for a good gob recipe for spring. I ended up making two different batches of lemon gobs. One of the cake recipes I made from scratch & found from the Sweet Charity Pie blog (for the original recipe, please click here.) The other recipe is a variation of my mother-in-law's gob recipe using a cake mix. On a side note, I highly recommend adding a little raspberry jam with this gob, it gives it a unique taste!

This is a picture of the cake mix lemon gob.

This is a picture of the made from scratch lemon gobs.

Lemon Whoopie Pies
adapted from the Bit Fat Cookie book via Joy the Baker
yields 6-8 giant whoopie pies

For the cookies:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
6 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 T. lemon zest, finely grated
1 egg
1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk (I use 1/2 c skim milk with 2 tablespoons lemon juice)

For the filling:
6 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 c. (6 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature (I went ahead & used 8 oz)
1 t. vanilla
1 T. lemon zest, finely grated
2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar

To make the cookies:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until smooth, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during the mixing. Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla, mixing until blended, about 1 minute. The batter may look curdled, and that's okay. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture just until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth again.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 10- 12 minutes- a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie should come out clean, and the tops will be firm but not brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice until thoroughly blended and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar (in batches) and mix until smooth. If the filling is too soft to hold its shape, chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

To assemble:
Turn half of the cookies bottom side up. Scoop about 3 T. of filling onto each. If your filling is really firm, spread it to within a 1/4" of the edge of the cookies. Gently press the flat bottoms of the remaining cookies onto the filling until it reaches the edges.
Wrap each cookie in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve cold. The wrapped cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Grandma's Gobs Lemon Cake Mix Recipe

1 box lemon cake mix

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare according to cake mix directions adding flour and baking powder. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake according to cupcake directions on cake mix. Cool. Place a tablespoon of filling between two cakes.

Strawberry Fudge Pie

This recipe comes from Pillsbury to celebrate Pi Day (3/14/10). The original recipe calls for baking this desert in a pie shell but I thought it was unnecessary so I omitted it. To see the original recipe, click here.

Strawberry Fudge Pie

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1	refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box (optional)
Brownie Layer
1	(10.25-oz.) pkg. fudge brownie mix
Cheesecake Layer
1	(8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4	cup sugar
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	egg
Topping
3	cups fresh strawberries, halved
2	tablespoons hot fudge ice cream topping (I used chocolate chips & a small amount of shortening)

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie pan as directed on package for one-crust filled pie. (Optional)
2.	In large bowl, combine all brownie layer ingredients; beat 50 strokes with spoon. Spread in bottom of crust-lined pan (or greased pie pan).
3.	Bake at 350°F. for 30 to 35 minutes or until top is shiny and center is set. If necessary, cover edge of crust with strips of foil after 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. (omit foil if not using crust)
4.	Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and 1 egg; beat until smooth. Working quickly, drop cream cheese mixture by small spoonfuls over partially baked brownies; carefully spread to cover brownie layer. Bake an additional 18 to 20 minutes or until cream cheese is set. Cool at least 1 hour.
5.	Arrange strawberry halves, cut side down, over top of cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 1 hour or until serving time. Immediately before serving, place ice cream topping in small microwave-safe dish. Microwave on DEFROST for 45 seconds. Spoon into small resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag; squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Store in refrigerator.

I hope you enjoy this fresh strawberry dessert as much as I did. Brownies and cheesecake are always a favorite of mine so combining all of these together were wonderful & easy.

Andes Creamy Mint Brownies

I found this recipe on the internet when trying to find a fun dessert recipe for St Patrick's Day. To see the original recipe, click here. The pictures I took accidentally were deleted from my computer. The only difference from my compared to the one posted is that I tinted my frosting green for St Patrick's Day. These were very easy to make & a HUGE hit with everyone.

Andes Creamy Mint Brownies

Brownies:

1 package fudge brownie mix eggs, oil and water according to package
1/2 cup Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Topping:

4 squares (1 oz. ea.) white baking chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided (may use cool whip rather than 1 cup whipping cream)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 cup Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Lightly grease baking pan.

Prepare brownie mix as directed; stir in Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips. Add nuts if desired.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake according to package directions. (I used a 9 x 13 baking dish)

Cool in baking pan completely.

Topping:

In a saucepan, combine white chocolate and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth; remove from heat. Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Refrigerate 30-40 minutes or until chilled.

In a mixing bowl, beat heavy cream, gradually adding the 2 tbsp. of granulated sugar, until stiff peaks form; fold into chocolate mixture. (May substitute this step with cool whip)

Fold in 1/4 cup Andes® Crème de Menthe Baking Chips. (May tint frosting with a few drops of green food coloring if desired)

Spread over brownies. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup chips. Cover; refrigerate.

Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Yield: 9 - 16 Brownies

Mint Chocolate Chip Gobs

This is a fun dessert to have for St Patrick's Day. I tinted the filling to a light green by adding a few drops of green and yellow food coloring when mixing the filling. No need to tint the filling, it just gives it a different look.

Mint Chocolate Chip Gobs

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chopped Andes mints

Follow cake mix directions adding flour and baking powder. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake according to cupcake directions on cake mix. Cool. Place a tablespoon of filling (recipe below) between two cakes. Makes about 18 gobs.

Gob Filling

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz Marshmallow Creme

1 teaspoon vanilla

3-4 teaspoons milk

6 drops green food coloring (optional)

2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Cream ingredients together on medium. Continue beating on high for at least 5 minutes to make a very fluffy filling.

Coconut Cake

This really isn't much of a recipe, I was just proud of myself for finally learning how to toast coconut! I wanted to find something interesting to put between the two layers but didn't have a lot of time and couldn't find anything that seemed appetizing.

Coconut Cake

1 box white cake mix

1 can white frosting

1 cup toasted coconut (directions below)

Make cake according to the box directions. I baked mine as two 9 inch cakes. After the cakes finished cooling, I frosted them by staking one on top of the other with some frosting in between.

Once I was finished frosting the cakes, I patted the toasted coconut all over before the frosting became too dry.

To toast coconut: make an even layer of coconut on a baking pan. Bake 7-12 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally to avoid burning the coconut.