Valentine's Day Poke Cake

Seriously the easiest dessert recipe ever! Not to mention my kids love the whole "poke" part of making it. Once you get the basic idea for this dessert the flavor combinations are pretty endless.

Valentine's Day Poke Cake

• 1 red velvet cake (box or homemade works great)
• 2 boxes jello cheesecake pudding mix
• 4 cups of milk
• 1 small tub cool whip
• 10-15 crushed Keebler Grasshopper cookies

First step, bake your cake either according to your recipe or according to the box. Allow to cool for a few minutes and get your poking stick ready.

 I feel like such a bone head for not taking a picture of the best part of this recipe but to be perfectly honest with all the little helpers I had it would have been a challenge even if I had remembered. With the handle of a wooden spoon you want to poke several holes all over the freshly baked cake. Make sure to go all the way to the bottom of the cake pan. Next mix up the pudding and the 4 cups of milk. Once that has reached a thickened state, pour over the "holy" cake, making sure to get into all the holes. I like to take my wooden spoon and gently press the pudding over the holes just to make sure its in there. Now place in the refrigerator for at least 2hrs.



 After at least 2 hrs you can top the cake with the cool whip and the crushed cookies.

Now dig in and enjoy!!!

 

Who doesn't love cookie dough?

Do you ever have those days when your mouth is just salivating for a soft warm chocolate chip cookie, but you don't want to fully commit to making them? I am seriously have one of those days. This is a great quick recipe to satisfy that cookie craving without feeling like your playing Russian roulette with raw eggs.

 

Egg-less Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream the softened butter and brown sugar together.

 Next mix in the milk, vanilla, and salt. Finally mix in the flour and chocolate chips.

 When completely mixed grab a spoon, spatula, or whatever you want and enjoy your sweet treat. This is great on top of some vanilla ice cream too!

Scrumptiously Sweet Cinnamon Rolls

This is honestly one of my favorite recipes. My wonderful step mom gave me her recipe and after a few tweaks I have turned into our traditional holiday breakfast treat/weekend treat/midnight snack.

 

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cinnamon roll dough:

• 3 tsp yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 cups flour

Cinnamon Smear:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8oz. cream cheese
• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice

In a large bowl mix sugar, yeast and milk. Allow to sit for 5 min. Next mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, eggs, butter, and salt. It won't look very pretty but it will taste so yummy once it is baked.

Messy mix

Mix in the flour until it is no longer sticky. Allow the dough to rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. This is the part where I like to cheat a little, I preheat my oven to 200 degrees F and then turn it off once heated and place the dough in the oven. Using this method the dough has usually doubled in an hour.



non- sticky dough





dough has doubled in size.

Place the dough onto a floured surface and roll out into a rectangular shape. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13 casserole pan.

In a small bowl mix up the cinnamon smear. Once the smear is completely mixed, try to spread an even layer on top of the dough.

brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.... YUM!

cinnamon smear on the dough

This next step takes a bit of finesse, but roll the bottom edge of the dough up to the top so that you have a long log of dough. Then taking a serrated knife cut 12 equal pieces, depending on the size of your log. Mine tend to be about 1 1/2- 2 inches thick.

 Place pieces into the greased casserole dish and place into the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown on top.

 Allow them to cool for several minutes before frosting or the frosting will just melt off.


golden brown cinnamon rolls

While the rolls are cooling, make the frosting but creaming the butter and cream cheese together.

 

 Next mix in the vanilla and lemon juice. Finally add the powdered sugar until it has a smooth whipped texture.

 

 Now for the best part, top the cinnamon rolls with the frosting. These scrumptious treats are so hard to resist and go great with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

Ooey Gooey German Chocolate Brownies

I have a horrible sweet tooth, so when it comes to making something to bring to a party my first choice is some sort of dessert. My most recent party treat were these super yummy ooey gooey German Chocolate Brownies. When you need a bit of a chocolate fix and don't want to experience the death by chocolate affects from most brownie mixes this is a great option, just enough sweet frosting to mellow out the rich chocolate brownie.

Brownie Mix

adapted from (www.goodlifeeats.com)

• 12 tablespoons Salted Butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Start by melting the butter and sugar together on medium heat, do not bring to a boil. Next add the vanilla.

 

Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and mix well.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well so that everything is fully incorporated. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan.

Pour batter into pan and place in the oven for ~ 35 min. Depending on your oven you can check if they are done by placing a toothpick in the middle, if done it will come out clean. Be careful not to overcook as you don't want chocolate bricks.

Coconut and Pecan Frosting

adapted from ( nancycreative.com)

 

3 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 1/2 to 3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Mix the sugar, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes until the mixture has reached a thick and bubbly state.

Then mix in the coconut flakes and chopped pecans. Once mixed thoroughly, place in another container that can be placed into the refrigerator to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Once cooled, pour on top of the cooled brownies. Now for the important part, make sure to get a square for yourself because once you put these treats out to share they don't last long.