Single-serving Chocolate mug cake

A good and quick solution to sweet craving. Easy to make, microwave for 1 minute.

1 egg
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp peanut butter chips
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
small handful of chocolate chips (if desired)

In a small bowl, stir egg, brown sugar, peanut butter chips, flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder with a fork. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a greased mug. Microwave for 1 minute.

Peanut butter Banana Oat Cookies

Healthiest cookies, no flour, no sugar, high protein, very filling, good for breakfast or snack.

2 ripe bananas (mashed)
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1&1/2 cup quick oatmeal
1/4 cup chopped nuts (peanut, walnut.....)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix mashed banana, peanut butter, add apple sauce, protein powder, mix well.
Add oatmeal and nuts. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
Drop cookie dough, by spoonfuls, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, flatten cookies into rounds.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Caramel Apple Crisp

A recipe from Pinterest. Best dessert for a cold rainy day when served warm.

3 cup old-fashioned oats
2 cup all-purpose flour
1&1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, cubed
8 cup thinly sliced peeled tart apples (about 6 Granny Smith apples)
14 oz packaged caramel candies
1 cup apple cider
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9*13-in baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon; cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the baking dish. Layer half of the apples, caramels and 1 cup oat mixture. Repeat layers. Pour 1/2 cup cider over top.
Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining cider, bake for another 20 minutes.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

I was craving pound cake the other night and found this recipe from New Cookbook. And I made a loaf the next day. Serve with strawberries or ice cream or even syrup will be even better.

1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1&1/2 all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Allow butter, eggs, and sour cream in room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a 9*5*3-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating about 10 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, beat 1 minute. Alternatively add flour mixture and sour cream, beat until combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 70 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and serve.

Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting

A recipe from Pinterest. Delicious!

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1&1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1&1/2 cup flour

9 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup coffee, cooled (I used hot chocolate, cooled)

1/2 cup milk

For the frosting:

1 cup butter, softened

6 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1/2 cup milk plus 2 tbsp

11 oz mini chocolate chips

1/8 tsp green food color gel

For the ganache:

3/4 cup heavy cream

1&1/2 semisweet chocolate morsels

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. In a medium bowl, sift cocoa with flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside; Mix coffee (or     

    hot chocolate) together. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly  

    add dry ingredients alternating with coffee(hot chocolate)/milk blend. 

3. Pour cake batter into two baking pans (9-in round cake pan lined with parchment paper and greased, 

    floured). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. After baked, allow to cool before removing from pans.  

   Cool completely before frosting.

4. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat butter, powdered sugar and milk for 5 minutes. Add extract and food 

    coloring gel. Fold in chocolate chips. Blend well.

5. Frost first layer of cake, then top it with second layer. Completely frost sides and top of the cake.

6. For ganache, heat 3/4 cup heavy cream in saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Place 

   chocolate chips in a bowl and pour hot cream and extract into the bowl. Stir until smooth and combined. 

   Pour over cake.

Apple Crisp

Served warm with vanilla ice cream... best ever!

6 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts or flaked coconut
vanilla ice cream

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine apples and granulated sugar. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.
    For topping, in a medium bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buts. Sprinkle topping over apple mixture.
    Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla cream if desired.

Cheese Cupcakes with fruit topping

Got this recipe from Merada. If you are a cheese cake lover, you will absolutely love it! Look cute and taste amazing :)

1 small box Nabisco vanilla wafers
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 can pie filling / fruit topping (cherry, blueberry, strawberry or raspberry)
18 cupcake liners

    Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Beat eggs, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and lemon juice. Place one wafer in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Pour in cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool. Spoon pie filling on top of each cupcake. Makes 18 cupcakes.

Butterfinger Cheesecake

Thanks to Supermom Ginny for this receipe. Finally I made it for Thanksgiving dinner. People loved it!
If you like butterfinger, and cheesecake, go for it!

Ghram cracker crust:
1&1/2 cups ghram cracker crumbs
6 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
Mix them and press into 9-inch spring pan, put in freezer for 10 minutes

Cheesecake filling:
2 Lb cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sour cream
4 large butterfinger bars, broken into pieces

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar and cream cheese, blend in eggs, vanilla, cornstarch until mixed. Stir in sour cream, fold in butterfinger pieces. Pour the mixture into spring pan over crust.
   Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 225 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes. Do not open oven doors. Turn off heat and let it set in oven for 1.5 hours. Let cool in room temperature. Refridge it after it cools completely.

Pumpkin Pie

Our only treat of Halloween :) It made our night :)

1 recipe of baked pie crust (I use "Pillsbury Pie Crust")
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1&3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1&1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the crust according to the instruction on "Pillsbury Pie Crust" . Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Beat in eggs. Gradually stir in half-and-half or light cream.
Pour pumpkin mixture into baked pie crust. Cover edge of the crust to prevent overbrowning. Bake 45 minutes. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream.

Rhubarb Cobbler

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1&1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp groung cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cut up
6 cups fresh or frozen sliced rhubarb
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For biscuit topper, in a medium bowl stir together flour, 2 tbsp sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside
    For filling, in a large saucepan combine rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Keep the filling hot.
    In a small bowl stir together egg and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. (Do not overmix or the biscuit will be tough) Transfer hot filling to a 2-quart baking dish. Use a spoon, drop batter into six mounds on top of filling.
    Bake for 25 minutes.
    For cherry cobbler, prepare as directed, except for filling, substitute 6 cups fresh or frozen pitted tart cherris, and increase cornstarch to 3 tbsp.

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

What else can I make out of the blueberries we picked besides muffins? I found a recipe from New Cookbook - blueberry cheesecake bars. Umm.... yummy

2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, cut up
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 eggs,
1 tsp vanilla

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13*9 baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of the pan.
    For crust, in a large bowl stir together 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Cut in butter until fine crumbs form. Pat mixture into the baking pan, bake for 20 minutes.
    Meanwhile, in a saucepan stir together 2 tbsp sugar and cornstarch. Stir in  blueberries and orange juice. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.
    In another bowl beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp flour until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Pour the mixture over baked crust, spreading evenly. Spoon blueberry mixture over cheese layer. Use a knife to marble the mixture.
    Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Use foil to lift the uncut bar out of pan. Cut into bars. Store in a container in fridge.

Caramel-Chocolate Brownie Torte

2 packages brownie mix
1/2 cup butter
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp light-color corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

    Preheat oven to 350 degress. Grease bottom of two 9*1.5-inch round cake pans.
    Prepare each brownie mix according to package directions. Spread batter evenly into pans. Bake 45 minutes. Cool completely.
    Meanwhile, for caramel, in a saucepan, combine butter, half of the whipping cream, brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil, whisking occasionally. Reduce heat, stir in vanilla. Transfer caramel to a bowl, cool comletely.
    For chocolate, in a saucepan bring the remaining whipping cream to boil. Remove from heat, add chocolate (do not stir), let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool.
    Place one brownie cake on a plate. Top with chocolate mixture, spread evenly. Spoon 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce over chocolate, spread evenly. Spinkle half of the pecans. Add the other brownie cake, spoon the remaining caramel over top. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans.

Banana / Coconut Cream Pie

If you are a fan of banana and vanilla, this is the perfect dessert for you! You just feel so smooth, melting in your mouth when you have a bite.... Nobody will reject it

1 recipe baked pastry shell ( again, I used Pillsbury Pie Crust, bake the crust accoring to the direction on the package)

3 medium bananas (about 2&1/4 cups)
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch

2&1/2 cups milk

1 tbsp butter

1&1/2 tsp vanilla

    Bake the crust according to the direction on the crust package. Set aside to cool. Separate egg yolks from whites.
    Preheat oven to 325 degress. In a saucepan, combine suagr and cornstarch, stir in milk. Cook and stir on stove over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks with a fork, stir about 1 cup of the hot filling into yolk, slightly stir. Pour yolk mixture back to hot filling in the saucepan. Bring to boil, stir constantly. Reduce heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Keep filling warm.
    Layer banana slices over the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Pour warm filling into the crust on top of the bananas. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely. Chill for 1 hour before serving.
   For egg whites, you can use them to make meringue for pie to spread over the filling. I tried but didn't do well :( So I didn't spread over my pie. Anyone has tips for making good meringue for pie?

For coconut cream pie, instead of layering bananas, stir in 1 cup flaked coconut with butter and vanilla, and sprinkle an additional 1/3 cup coconut on top of pie filling.

Classic 3-Layer Dessert

My husband kept saying how much he loves their family traditional holiday dessert --- 3-layer dessert, which makes me curious about how it is made. I got the recipe from my mother-in-law and tried it last night. All I can say is --- it's CLASSIC! And I made my husband a happy boy :)

2 regular sized (3.4 oz) packages of Chocolate Cook&Serve pudding (JELL-O Brand, it comes in powder shape, and my mother-in-law said the instant pudding won't make the dessert as good as the cook&serve pudding does)
2 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chooped pecans
16 oz cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
1 cup confectionate powder sugar

1. make chocolate pudding layer
 Put chocolate pudding powder in a saucepan, stir in milk, cook on stove over medium heat, stir        constantly until thick. Remove from heat, cover the saucepan with a plastic wrap and put in fridge to cool, for about 1 hour.
Whip 1/2 cup of the cream, and mix into cooled chocolate pudding.
2. make the crust
Add the butter and flour in a bake-safe bowl, use pastry blender to mix, (like how you make pie pastry), until butter and flour into pea size pieces.
Add brown sugar, mix well. Stir in pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and crumble the crust with fork.  Spread half the crust at the bottom of 9*13 pan. The other half will be sprinkled on the top of the chocolate pudding later.
3. make cream filling
Add the other half of the whipping cream, cream cheese and confectionate powder sugar in a bowl, mix with an electric mixer. Set in fridge to cool.
4. Layer
Layer crust on bottom, cream filling in middle, chocolate pudding on top, and sprinkle the other half of the crust over chocolate pudding.

Here it comes the CLASSIC 3-layer dessert, AKA "Better-than-Sex Dessert", LOL.

Hot Fudge Sauce

If you are a vanilla ice cream fan, you will absolutely love this simple and wonderful recipe!

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk

    In a saucepan melt chocolate and butter over medium heat. Add sugar, stir in evaporated milk until sugar dissolves. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Boil over low heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, cool slightly. Serve over ice cream.
    I topped this hot fudge sauce over butter pecan ice cream and it was soooo yum.

Custard Pie

The reason why I made this is that I really miss a type of Chinese tart. And custard pie resembles that, so I found a recipe from New Cookbook and tried, I am satisfied :)

1 recipe pastry pie crust (I used Pillsbury Pie Crust)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups hal-and-half light cream, or whole milk

    Preheat oven to 450 degress. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry pie crust and trim. Crimp edge as desired. Line pastry with two layers of foil. Bake for 8 munites. Remove foil. Bake another 4 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
    For filling, beat eggs to get yolks in a bowl, stir in sugar, vanilla, salt and nutmeg. Stir in cream until combined. Pour filling into crust. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil (IMPORTANT!!). Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool for 1 hour before serving.

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

I baked pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake for National Cheesecake Day a couple of weeks ago. Not only did I hear of this holiday the first time, but also the style of the cheesecake. No matte of what, it turned out good. And I guess from this year I will celebrate the cheesecake day anually...

1 recipe Graham cracker crust
2  8-ounce cream cheese, softened
1& 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter

    Preheat oven to 325 degress. Prepare graham cracker crust. In a large bowl mix cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in pumpkin, spice, vanilla and salt on low speed until combined. Pour 1&1/4 cups of the pumpkin mixture into another bowl.
    In a saucepan heat chocolate and butter until melted, stirring. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the 1&1/4 cups of pumpkin mixture. Spread the mixture evenly over the crust.
    Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven. Pour remaining pumpkin mixture over chocolate layer. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool completely. Cover and chill for 3 to 24 hours before cutting. Cut into desired-size squares.
    You can also try spreading sour cream over the cake when serving. I tried that, and it was pretty good.
    Graham Cracker Crust: Lightly grease a 13*9*2-inch baking pan. In a bowl combine 1&1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar. Add 1/3 cup melted butter, mix well. Press crumb mixture evenly over bottom of the pan.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Recipe from New Cookbook, just delicious.... We have a lot of rhubarb in the yard so I made rhubarb crisp a couple of days ago, but it was too tart for me.... So this time, I tried strawberry and rhubarb together, I like it better :)

Strawberry-rhubarb pie

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch (the recipe calls for tapioca, but I used cornstarch instead)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 pound (3 cups) fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch slices, or one 16-ounce package frozen cut rhubarb
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 recipe Pastry for double-crust pie (I used Pillsbury Pie Crust, I need to learn to make homemade pie pastry though...)

    Filling: in a large bowl stir together sugar, cornstarch (tapioco), salt, nutmeg. Add rhubarb and strawberries, toss to coat. Set aside

    Preheat oven to 375 degress. Line 9-inch pie plate with one pastry. Transfer rhubarb-straberry mixture to pastry-lined pie plate. Trim bottom pastry to edge of the pie plate. Cut slits in the other pastry, place on filling and seal. Crimp edge.

    To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil. Place a foil-lined baking sheet below pie in oven. Bake pie for 25 minutes.Rmove foil, bake for another 25-30 minutes. If using frozen fruits, bake 40-45 minutes. Cool on rack.