Sour Cream Lemon Pie

•  1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks
• ¼ cup butter 
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

• Directions

  1. Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat, cook, and stir for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

  2. Beat yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of custard mix into yolks. Return yolk mixture to the saucepan with the rest of custard and bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest. Fold in sour cream.

  3. Pour filling into baked pie shell. Chill until set.

Jenn's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

I use elements for my cinnamon rolls from all different places / recipes, but I have perfected my family's favorite way to enjoy cinnamon rolls and wanted to put all of it here so I don't have to look so hard in the future!

Dough

I use the same dough recipe as this one. I often use half the dough for the cinnamon rolls and finish the other half as regular rolls for dinner. 

1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter

To start out: Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for 2-3 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.

We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.

Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture.

Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 7-8 additional cups of flour (including the cups you already added there will be a total of 9 - 10 cups of four). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.

At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.

Filling

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down, split in half, and then roll out the dough into a large rectangle on a floured surface. Lightly butter the dough. Mix the following ingredients together: 

1/2 c. butter, softened but not melted

1/2 c. brown sugar

2. T. ground cinnamon

1/8  tsp. salt

Mix well and spread evenly over the dough. Roll up the rectangle and cut into equal sized rolls. Allow to rise again on a greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes.

Frosting

We often double this, depending on the number of rolls. 

7 T. butter, softened

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 T. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1.5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and cream cheese together until creamy. Blend in milk and vanilla, and then powdered sugar and salt. 

We like this best when we put a thin layer of frosting on all the rolls when they are hot out of the oven. Then we reserve the rest for when the rolls have cooled.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

 These are REALLY yummy!

If you want the best pumpkin cookies you have ever had, try this recipe. 

The trick is to not over stir the wet ingredients with the dry.  

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour

• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1  teaspoon ground cloves

• 1  teaspoon salt

• 3 cups white sugar

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 2 cups canned pumpkin puree

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 package of chocolate chips

Icing:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

• 6 tablespoons milk

• ½ cup melted butter

• 2  teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• 
  

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

• 
  

• Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves,

• and salt in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Set aside.

• 
  

• Cream together sugar and butter in a mixing bowl until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

• Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla; beat until creamy. 

       Carefully fold wet and dry ingredients without over stirring.  Add chocolate chips.

• 
  

• Spoon dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.

• Bake in the preheated oven until centers are set, about 15 minutes. 

• Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.  Drizzle icing over cooled cookies.

Classic Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

• 3 cups sweetened condensed milk

• ¾ cup key lime juice

• ½ cup sour cream

• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Combine condensed milk, key lime juice, sour cream, and lime zest in a bowl; mix well. Pour into graham cracker crust; place pie on a baking sheet.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. The filling will be wobbly but not browned.

4. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool, then thoroughly chill pie in the refrigerator before serving, about 1 hour. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream, if desired.

Three Layer Oreo Pie

We made this twice for holiday events last month, and it always received rave reviews! I love when things are easy, quick, AND delicious!

Ingredients

• 32 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided 
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted 
• 2 cups cold milk 
• 2 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling 
• 1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided 

Directions

Finely crush 24 of the cookies; mix with butter. Press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate.

Pour milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.) Spoon 1-1/2 cups of the pudding into crust.

Gently stir 1/2 of the whipped topping into remaining pudding; spread over pudding layer in crust. Chop remaining 8 cookies; stir into remaining whipped topping. Spread over pie. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set.

Marshmallow Brownies

Oh, my, these are HEAVENLY! I highly recommend Six Sisters' Marshmallow Brownies if you need a treat to take to an event, share with a friend, or just enjoy for yourself! Yum!

click here for recipe

Brittany's Royal Frosting for Cookie Decorating

Brittany said: "This royal glaze icing is what I use for all my sugar cookies now. It is shiny and pretty but it dries faster. And it’s not hard like royal icing it still tastes yummy. My new favorite icing for pretty sugar cookies."

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE.

Melissa's favorite chocolate chip cookies

https://happymoneysaver.com/the-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-my-dreams-are-made-of/

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups flour 
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda 
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
• 3/4 tsp salt 
• 1 1/4 cups real unsalted butter 
• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar 
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar 2 large eggs 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 oz bag of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips or other quality chocolate chips, 11.5 . 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine and set aside. Using paddle attachment on mixer, cream butter and sugars together just until blended. Add eggs, one a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Put mixer on low speed, and add in dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in chocolate chips by hand gently. It's best to make bigger cookies for the right texture - so I would recommend using 4 Tablespoon size scoop to form your cookies. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes. I like mine to look a little undercooked in the middle, then let them finish cooking on the cookie sheet for a few minutes while they cool. Then move them to a cookie rack or plate to keep cooling. If you are freezing these cookies: Form into balls, and freeze on a cookie sheet. After frozen remove and add to a ziploc freezer bag. They will last for about a month in the freezer. To bake just take out and bake as directed, adding a few extra minutes of baking time.

Notes from Brittany: This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe that Melissa found. I cook mine for 14 mins and they turned out perfect. I also used salted butter and did not add any salt to the recipe. 

Apple Pie Caramel Apples

Melissa says, "Another recipe for the blog. I don’t know how this isn’t already on there! These are the only caramel apples we make! They are the best. You will feel like you’re in Disneyland. I also use this caramel recipe to make my caramel chocolate pretzel rods."

Click HERE for recipe!

Golden Graham S'more Treats

• 1 cube of butter
• 1 bag of marshmallows

Melt together on medium heat. (Don't let it get too hot too fast.)

Add:

• 16 oz box of Golden Grahams

Put in a 9x13 greased pan.

Add:

• chocolate chips sprinkled on top while grahams are still warm and chocolate will melt/soften. 

Cool, cut and enjoy. Usually double the recipe, of course. :) 

White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

Yield: About 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients 

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 2 tsp ground ginger 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves 
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter , softened 
• 1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp granulated sugar , divided 
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• 1 large egg 
• 1/4 cup molasses 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 3 cups white chocolate chips 
• 3 Tbsp shortening 
• Red and green candy melts (or tinted royal icing) (optional) 

Instructions 

In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Mix in egg, then blend in molasses and vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees during last 10 minutes of chilling. Scoop dough out about 1 1/2 Tbsp at a time, shape into balls then roll in remaining 3 Tbsp granulated sugar. Transfer to Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart (keep dough chilled that is not currently baking), flatten tops just slightly (to evenly level).

Bake in preheated oven 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 cup white chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp shortening at a time in microwave on HIGH power in 10 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted, smooth and fairly runny (I did batches of it because it will cool as your dipping, plus its easy to burn so you don't want to work with too much of it at a time. Then once you've used it up melt more, you may not need all 3 cups). Dip half of each cookie in melted white chocolate mixture then run bottom of cookie slightly along edge of bowl to remove excess, then return to Silpat or parchment paper to set at room temperature.

If doing the holly decoration, melt candy melts according to directions on package (I worked in small batches because it sets quickly, maybe 9 chips at a time, plus you won't need much). Pour into a piping bags fitted with a #4 tip and pipe decorations. Allow to set a room temperature.

Graham Cracker Crust #2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 9 whole graham crackers) 
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional 
• Pinch of salt 
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

DIRECTIONS

If you’re using whole graham crackers, finely crush them in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin.

Stir graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add melted butter and stir with a fork. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9” pie plate. Press hard to compact. You can use a glass to press the bottom, but use your fingers to press the sides.

To make a no-bake pie: Chill pie crust for at least one hour before filling. Cover if chilling longer. Make pie as directed.

To make a baked graham crust: Preheat oven to 325°. Bake crust for 10 minutes, until it just starts to brown. Cool completely before filling.

Swig Sugar Cookie Link

Melissa likes this Swig Sugar Cookie Copycat Recipe found HERE.

(She specifically asks on her site not to copy her recipe and post anywhere else, so I've just linked it above.)

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat Recipe

We have all had this cake. We've all made this cake. It's hard to believe we didn't have the recipe on here sooner! It is THE chocolate bundt cake recipe to have! Soooooooooooooo yummy!!


Ingredients 

• 1 pkg Devil's Food Cake Mix 
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding 
• 1 c. sour cream 
• 4 large eggs 
• 1/2 c. water 
• 1/2 c. oil  
• 1 1/2 c. mini chocolate chips 

For the frosting

• 1 (8 ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened 
• 1/4 cup butter , softened 
• 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp . vanilla extract 

Instructions 

The night before: Mix first six ingredients together in a mixer or with beaters. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased bunt cake pan (cooking spray works great). Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool for 20 minutes. Remove cake from bundt pan by placing a plate upside down over the bundt pan. While holding the plate firmly on top of the bundt pan, flip both over so the cake comes out onto the plate. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight before frosting. 

Before serving: In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Start with 2 cups then keep adding more until it is nice and thick. Spoon the frosting into a Ziplock resealable gallon bag. Clip one bottom corner of the bag. Squeeze frosting out of the bag onto the cake in strips as pictured above.

Christmas Fudge

Melissa's comments: "I made this fudge for the first time at Christmas and it turned out so good. Easy pure fudge. Lot's of people at JD's work said it was the best creamiest fudge they had had."

Click HERE for recipe source.

Ingredients 

• 2 and 1/2 cups white granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup butter 
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk 
• 12 ounce package (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• 7 ounce jar marshmallow cream (also called marshmallow fluff) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Instructions

Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a 3 quart HEAVY saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk. Use a wooden spoon to stir slowly until butter melts, scraping sides of pan to get all the sugar crystals. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly with a long wooden spoon. Once it starts boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes and turn the heat down to medium so that you don't burn your fingers off--it should be boiling the full 5 minutes. Stir constantly.

When the timer goes off, remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until all chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

Add marshmallow creme and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add vanilla and mix well.

Immediately pour into the prepared pan. Let cool to room temperature. Slice and serve! Store on the counter covered.

Recipe Notes This recipe is easy to double, just use a 9x13 pan. Microwave your marshmallow creme for 10 seconds to make it easier to scrape out. (Be sure to remove all traces of foil from the safety seal.)

Volcanoes

Brittany shared this treat. They look yummy!!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of square pretzels
• 2 bags Rolo candies
• 1 bag M&Ms

Spread pretzels on a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet.  Add a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Bake in the oven 5-10 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the Rolos soft but not melting.  Take out of oven and immediately push an M&M down into the middle of each Rolo. Cool and enjoy!

Brittany's Muddy Buddies

Brittany has revised the original recipe to be even better!

Ingredients:

• 1 regular box Chex mix
• 2 c. chocolate chips
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 1/2 c. margarine
• 2 tsp vanilla
• powdered sugar

Make normally as directed and dump as much powdered sugar as you like. Yum!

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

Melissa shared this fantastic recipe with all of us. She says they are a bit more work, but worth the effort! Click HERE for the full recipe!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies II

We made these cookies to remember dad's birthday this past weekend. I know we already had a recipe for this on the blog, but I have been wanting a softer, less crumbly peanut butter cookie recipe. This is my new favorite recipe for these cookies!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar, or as needed
• 2 (12 ounce) bags Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

Beat peanut butter, shortening, 2/3 cup white sugar, brown sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy and smooth.

Spoon flour into measuring cup (don't scoop - it adds too much flour). Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. ( I don't sift, I just mixed well.)

Gradually fold flour mixture into peanut butter mixture to form a smooth dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup white sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop dough into 1-inch balls, roll balls in sugar, and place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Open the oven door and press a chocolate kiss about halfway down in the center of each cookie. Bake for until chocolate begins to melt and lose form, about another 2 minutes. Cool on wire racks until chocolate hardens, at least 3 hours.

A few notes:

Refrigerating the dough at least 1 hour is not strictly necessary, but I recommend it because it makes the dough easier to work with when shaping balls and also helps retain the shape when baking and avoid too much cracking when adding kisses.

Prep kisses by unwrapping foils and lining them upright on a plate or cookie sheet for easy transfer to cookie dough. Baking dough too long before adding kisses can cause kisses to fall out of the cookie dough when cooled. Kisses need to bake long enough to adhere to the cookie base but not to the point that they lose shape. Do not over bake!

Stacking cookies before chocolate has fully cooled and hardened will cause them to squish and loose shape. If desired, freeze immediately when cooled. I've kept them up to 2 months and they taste as fresh as the day they were baked.

Magic Cookie Bars

My sister in law Jennifer made these for everyone on the 4th. They were DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

• Crisco Original No-Stick Cooking Spray 
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 
• 1/2 cup butter, melted 
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk 
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut 
• 1 cup chopped nuts 

Instructions

HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray. COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork. BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds. For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars.

VARIATIONS SUBSTITUTE chocolate chips or nuts with candy coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows or butterscotch chips.