Gooey Butter Cake

adapted from Gooey Butter Cake III by Barbara on allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix
1/2 C. butter, melted
1 egg (original recipe had 2 eggs, might be better that way)

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
3 C. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix cake mix, melted butter, and egg with a spoon. Pat into a 9x13 pan.
Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Pour over cake layer.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Artichoke-Bacon Bites

When I made this for Bunco I pretty much halved the recipe and ended up with more than enough filling for 24 chips. I suppose you could really heap it on each chip and use more. Depends on what you prefer. You can easily adjust the amounts of ingredients put into this recipe to your taste.


From The Pampered Chef - Season's Best Recipe Collection Spring/Summer 2010

24 authentic restaurant-style tortilla chips
1 can (14oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, grated (1 cup divided)
1 small plum tomato
1/2 C. loosely packed fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 C. mayonnaise
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (I used pre-prepared/crumbled bacon - from a jar found near the bacon bits at the store. It made for easier preparation, but maybe not as much bacon flavor)
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 t. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Arrange tortilla chips in a single layer on baking sheet. Finely chop artichokes. Squeeze out any excess moisture using paper towels. Hull, core and dice tomato. Chop cilantro. Combine artichokes, half the cheese, tomato, half the cilantro, mayo, bacon, garlic & pepper in bowl.

Divide artichoke mixture evenly over tortilla chips; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 9-11 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Remove to serving plate and sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve immediately

February-Knock you Naked Bars

Jena's "Knock You Naked" Bars!

One recipe of Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough
60 chewy caramels
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Make the dough and divide it in half. Add coco powder to half the recipe until it looks up to your chocolate standards. Then refrigerate until chilled at least a half an hour but I did it over night. Grease a 9x13 (or the size smaller if you want them thicker like I do) and smash the chocolate dough in the bottom. Bake it at 375 for 13 minutes. While baking start melting the caramels and evaporated milk in a double boiler. When melted until smooth, poor it over the crust carefully. Then shape the other dough into roughly the same size as the pan but slightly smaller. Place it carefully on top of the oven and then bake for another 20 minutes. Cool for about half an hour and then refrigerate for a couple hours. Then enjoy!

Five Layer Mexican Dip

Five Layer Mexican Dip

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups corn kernels (10-ounce box frozen corn)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 2 ripe avocados
• 4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
• 1 tablespoon finely diced jalapeno pepper, optional
• 3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.


Put half of the onion mixture into a food processor with the black beans, chipotle pepper, 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, cumin, water and salt. Puree until smooth. Set aside.


Add the corn to the skillet with the remaining onion mixture and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro leaves.


In a small bowl mash the avocado with the remaining lime juice. In a medium bowl toss together the tomatoes, scallion and jalapeno, if using. Season tomato mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.


Spread the black bean dip into the bottom of an 8 by 8 glass baking or serving dish. Top with the corn mixture, spreading it out to form a single layer over the beans, repeat with the avocado, then the tomatoes. Top with cheese. Serve with baked chips.

Nutella Cheesecake Bars

Nutella Cheesecake Bars

2 cups Oreo crumbs
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1/3 cup Nutella

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish and line with parchment paper, making sure that the parchment is well pressed in the corners.  Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse Oreos until they become crumbs.  Add in melted butter and pulse until moistened.  Press Oreo mixture evenly into the bottom of your baking dish.  Bake crust until set, about 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
Clean out the food processor. Add cream cheese, eggs, sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth.  Put 2/3 of the cream cheese mixture in a bowl and set aside.  Add Nutella and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to the remaining 1/3 cream cheese mixture in the processor.  Pulse until smooth.
To assemble, spread the plain cheesecake mixture over the cooled Oreo crust, being careful of the crust. Then pour the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the plain cheesecake layer and spread evenly.  Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
When ready to serve, lift the bars out of the pan by lifting up the parchment paper (it should release easily).  Cut into 16 squares and serve.

Lemon Bars

Sorry I'm a little slow ladies! Here are the recipes from January. Thank you for a fun night!

Lemon Bars

For the Crust:

• Vegetable oil, for greasing
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, diced
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

• 4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 8 lemons)

Directions

Make the crust: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with vegetable oil and line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; grease the foil with oil. Pulse the butter, flour, both sugars and the salt in a food processor until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Press evenly into the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the prepared pan, making sure there are no cracks. Bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the whole eggs and yolks, sugar and flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F. Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack, then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Pumpkin Crumble Bars

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites.

1 boxed yellow or white cake mix
1-2 sticks butter (see notes in instructions)
1 16 oz can pumpkin*
2 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/3 C chopped pecans
1/2 t additional cinnamon for topping

*This makes a dessert about an inch thick or less. That’s because I like a high topping-to-pumpkin ratio. If you’d like it thicker, use a large can of pumpkin and double the rest of the filling ingredients (Eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and spices). Leave the rest of the recipe the same.

Preheat oven to 350.

Place 2 C of the cake mix in a bowl. Cut in 3 T chilled butter. Just use your fingers to crumble the butter until it’s in small crumbly pieces. Place mixture in a 9×13 baking dish and press flat with your fingers.

Mix pumpkin, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and spices until smooth. Pour on top of the cake mixture in the pan.

Now take the rest of the dry cake mix and mix in 1/2 t cinnamon. Sprinkle it all over the top of the pumpkin mixture. Use a measuring cup so you have a rough measurement of how much you’re putting on. Here’s why:

Here’s a little something I learned after making the dump cake a gazillion times. Cake mixes all have different amounts in them! Different brands, different flavors, etc. Each one is slightly different in volume. I found one mix to have almost double the normal amount. Measuring the amount of cake mix you’re sprinkling on top will help you get the perfect topping ratio in the last step.

Next sprinkle on the chopped pecans. You’ll have 3 distinct layers now:

Here’s the trick: For every 1 C of cake mix you sprinkled on top, you’ll need 3 T of melted butter. Drizzle it right on top.

That butter is going to combine with the cake mix and make magic in the oven. Pop it in your 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or so. A knife should come out without globs of pumpkin on it and the topping should be nice and golden.

You can eat it warm, at room temp, or chilled! My favorite is actually at room temp. Put a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top. It’s also great with vanilla ice cream.