Sour Cream Cake

I teach all my boys to cook since they are going to want to eat for the rest of their lives. :-) #5 is one who has really taken to baking and likes to make cookies and other treats. I gave him his first cake making lesson with this cake and it turned out really well - although there was some drama over the frosting, but that's another story!

 

Sour Cream Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. water

1/3 c. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Use a hand mixer to mix, beating on low for 30 seconds or until everything is mixed, then turning to medium and mixing an additional 2 minutes. Pour the batter into either a greased 9"x13" pan or 2 greased 8" or 9" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Watch carefully as the time gets closer as the different pans will require different baking times. Cake is done when the top springs back when touched or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Chocolate frosting:

6 Tbsp. butter, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. evaporated milk*

Cream butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and vanilla together. Slowly add the milk until you reach the desired consistency. Mix until it is smooth and creamy. Spread over cake.

*I have used regular milk when I didn't have leftover evaporated milk or a small can of it. It came out fine.

Cookie Cakes

These are some cookie cakes I made recently for people at work. No, I am not the best decorator there is, I am well aware of my deficiencies, but here they are nonetheless. The cookie recipe is here.

 

Fruit Pizza

Sometimes you want a pizza that is a little healthy. Or that you can at least pretend is a little healthy. Or you simply want a cookie with cream cheese and fruit. Whatever the reason is, this is delicious!

 

Fruit Pizza

1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough ***

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tbsp. sugar

assorted fruit

Roll the cookie dough out on a cookie sheet until it is about 1/4" thick. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is nearly cooked. Allow to cool.

Once the cookie is cool, mix the cream cheese, butter, and sugar together until it is smooth. Spread over the cooled cookie. Alice fruits and add to the top. I used strawberries, kiwi, banana, blueberries, and raspberries, but you can use any fruits you like. If you use bananas either add them right before you serve the fruit pizza or keep them cover tightly with plastic wrap so they don't brown.

*** You can also use your homemade cookie dough, like these if you want to. This time, I was a little lazy and did it the easy way.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

This dessert was not as well received as I might have liked. We had some company for dinner and it sounded really good so I made it and was so excited to serve it! Yum! Peanut butter and chocolate - how can you go wrong? Well, it's not so good if your company has peanut allergies. Oops! So we ate it after the company left and it was amazing! Just don't make it for people that are allergic!

 

 Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

crust:

25 Oreos, divided

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

Crush 18-20 cookies and mix together with the butter. Press into an 8x8 square pan and set aside.

Cream cheese layer:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, divided

16 oz. Cool Whip, thawed and divided

1 bag mini peanut butter cups, chopped coarsely

Beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and 1 c. powdered sugar together until smooth. Fold in half the Cool Whip, then spread over the crust. Sprinkle to peanut butter cups over the cream cheese layer.

1 c. milk

1 small box instant chocolate fudge pudding

Beat milk and pudding together with the remaining 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Fold in the remaining half of the Cool Whip. Spread over the cream cheese layer.

Roughly chop the remaining cookies and sprinkle them over the pudding layer. Refrigerate about 3 hours - or just eat it like we do. 

Homemade Guacamole

We are big Mexican food lovers but never really ate much guacamole until my husband joined the family. He loves it. Loves it. So when we have Mexican food at home, we usually have guacamole with it. Store bought guacamole isn't cheap so I figured I could make it for less than we buy it.Well, maybe it wasn't much cheaper but we got a lot more and it tasted better. So we're calling it a win!

 

Guacamole

4 ripe avacados

1 small Roma tomato

1/4 red onion

1 Tbsp. lime juice 

garlic salt

Cut the avacados in half, remove the pit, and scoop out the insides into a medium bowl. Mash them until they are the consistency you like. Chop the tomato into small pieces and mix. Dice the onion and add it with the lime juice and garlic salt to taste. Stir well to combine. I usually let mine sit in the fridge for an hour or two to let the flavors blend - but there is also plenty of tasting before we actually sit down to eat it!

Almond Cheesecake Cookies

Long ago, when I was still a teenager, a friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of pudding cookies. Wow - the things you could do with pudding and how it changed cookies! They are a softer cookie and all the flavors gives you so many possibilities with flavors! These cookies use almond flavoring (a favorite of mine!) and cheesecake pudding. Um, YUM! How can you go wrong with this combination?

 

 Almond Cheesecake Cookies

3/4 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

3.4 oz box instant cheesecake pudding

2 eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 bag. vanilla chips

Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add the eggs, almond, and pudding and stir. Add the flour and baking soda; stir well until combined. Add the vanilla chips and fold in. Use a cookie scoop to drop balls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes. I love to make soup in the colder months and, for me, this is real comfort food. Potatoes, sour cream, cheese... Yum! This is one that I will double or triple, then freeze for my family to eat on nights I work.

 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

4 large potatoes, baked

10 Tbsp. butter

2/3 c. flour

6 c. milk

1 1/2 c. shredded cheese

1  tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 bag real bacon bits

1 c. sour cream

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir until it is smooth. Turn heat to medium and begin adding the milk very slowly, stirring as milk is added. I add a small amount of milk, stir it in, add a small amount of milk, stir, and repeat until all the milk is added. In a bowl, scoop out all the insides of the potatoes. Add some of the milk mixture from the pot and mash the potatoes. Add additional milk slowly, mashing potatoes until it makes a thick soup, then add it to the pot with the remaining milk mixture. This mixes the potatoes into the soup better and leave some chunks without huge chunks. Add the cheese, salt, pepper, and bacon bits. Stir. Heat through and add sour cream, stirring to mix it in really well. Sprinkle additional cheese on top when serving. 

To freeze: Cool the soup and divide into freezer bags. I prefer bags to rigid containers because you can stack them up in the freezer and save a lot of room. When you are ready to eat the soup - thaw it, heat, and serve.