Citrus Crumb Bars

Lemon Crumb Bars

adapted from TastyKitchen

INGREDIENTS

Filling
2- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup lemon juice

Zest of lemon
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsp salt
Crumb

1.5 cups ap flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Combine milk, citrus juice and zest. Mix well and set aside.

Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly..

Press half of the dry mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk mixture over top.

Finish by sprinkling remaining dry mixture over the top of the citrus filling, and gently press.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cool completely then store in the refrigerator.

KEY LIME COCONUT CRUMB BARS

Key Lime Coconut Crumb Bars

INGREDIENTS

Filling
2- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup Key Lime juice

zest of Key Limes
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsp salt
Crumb

1.5 cups ap flour

0.5 cup oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Same as above.

I first found this recipe a couple years ago, and instantly fell in love. I was going through a lemon phase, and this recipe filled my need for all things lemon. I doubled the sweetened condensed milk and juice from the original recipe because I needed it to have a little more zip. About a year later I went through a lime phase, and revamped this recipe to be my ultimate lime dream. I think this works best with citrus fruits that are zippy! Oranges might be too sweet to for this application. I'm not sure about grapefruit, because I'm allergic- but someone should try it and let me know! This recipe is fool proof, and easy!

Hawaiian Haystacks

INGREDIENTS
Coconut Rice
2 cans reduced fat coconut milk
2 cans* jasmine rice
*use the coconut milk cans to measure rice

Chicken Gravy
1 can coconut milk, divided
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded chicken**
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup whole milk

Toppings

Pineapple tidbits
Sliced black olives
Crunchy chow mein noodles
Shredded coconut
Slivered almonds
Shredded cheese
Shredded carrots

Mandarin orange segments
Frozen green pees, thawed
Diced bell peppers, green, red
Diced tomatoes
Diced green onions
Diced celery

**Make this as easy or involved as you like. Rotisserie chicken is delicious, and so is frozen chicken made in the instant pot and shredded. I guess you could even go the canned chicken route.

DIRECTIONS

In your rice maker, combine jasmine rice and coconut milk, and cook according to package directions. The rice will be moist, and has the potential to burn on the bottom.

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 can coconut milk and sour cream. Whisk until combined and then set aside.

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter.

Add the garlic, continually moving garlic around until lightly browned. Add flour, and whisk in the pan for 1-2 minutes. The longer you cook this portion, the more flavor you will impart on your gravy.

Add salt, black pepper, and onion powder, milk, and half of the coconut milk.

Whisk until combined, and bring to a simmer.

Cook until gravy starts to thicken up, about 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in remaining coconut milk, and the sour cream.

Add chicken, and stir until the gravy has warmed through.

Place all of your toppings in individual bowls, or in rows on a sheet pan for people to pick their own toppings.

To Serve:

Bed of coconut rice, top with chicken gravy and pile toppings as high as your tummy will let you.

Classic Sandwich Bread by Lo's Kitchen

Recipe Source: Lo's Kitchen: Classic White Sandwich Bread
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups water, 115º F
1 1/2 Tbsp Instant Yeast
1/3 cup Raw Honey*
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
2 tsp Sea Salt
7 cups Bread Flour** + more as needed
OR
7 cups AP Flour
2 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten

DIRECTIONS
In stand mixer, mix water, yeast, honey, and 3 cups of flour***. Mix until combined. Cover with a clean tea towel, and let sit for 20 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size, and when stirred with have a "sponge-like" structure inside.

Add 2 more cups of flour, salt, and butter to your sponge mixture; and set your mixer to a low speed. Slowly incorporate the remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments.

When the dough seems soft, not too sticky, and is gently pulling away from the sides of the bowl, you have added enough flour. Knead for 10 minutes.

After kneading, round out the dough into a ball. Grease the bottom of a bowl, place dow in bowl, and cover. Let rise about 25-30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Grease two 9x5 inch pans.

Punch down the risen dough to release air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly flour surface, gently work dough into a tick rectangle (about 12x8") and fold into thirds- letter fold. Roll it up, and pinch the seams together, and gently thrown loaf on the work surface. Pinch seams down one more time, and gently roll against work surface to elongate the loaf. Repeat with other half of dough.

Place loaves in prepared pans, cover, and let rise for about 25 minutes, or until the peak of the loaf is just arching over the rim of the pan.

While dough rises, preheat oven to 375ºF.

Bake for 25 minute, or until bottoms are golden brown.

Remove from pans, and transfer to cooling rack. Generously lather the tops of loaves with butter.

Let cool completely before slicing.

*130 grams Yack's Unfiltered Honey

**1000 grams Lehi Mills Unbleached Turkey Flour.

    400g at sponge stage, remainder at second stage

**If using APF+VWG, add the vital wheat gluten at this stage.

White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs cold
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups Ghirardelli Peppermint Chunks
1 cup miniature pretzels, crushed
Crushed Peppermint Candies
Miniature Pretzels
Flaky Finishing Salt

DIRECTIONS
Using a paddle attachment, further soften butter until lighter in texture.
Cream together granulated and brown sugar, until pale in color. Scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Add vanilla extract, and mix to incorporate.
Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Scrape bowl between additions.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. To ensure even distribution of baking soda and salt.
Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl, and pulse until barely incorporated.
Again, scrape the sides of the bowl, and be sure to lift the ingredients from the bottom.
Add remaining flour, and pulse until just mixed. There will probably be some flour still visible.
Again, scrape the sides of the bowl, and be sure to lift the ingredients from the bottom.
Add peppermint chunks, and crushed pretzels, and mix until incorporated.
It's okay if the paddle crushes the pretzels and chunks, the broken pieces are more evenly distributed.
Using a cookie scoop, (I used a #40 scoop, which is about 1.75 Tbsp), scoop your dough.
Place balls of dough on a cookie sheet, and scoop the entire batch.
Roll the top half of the dough in the crushed peppermint candies, and top with a miniature pretzel.
Refrigerate dough for at least half an hour, up to a day. Then bake.
Preheat oven to 375° F; at least 30 minutes before you begin to bake.
Place dough on cookie sheet, at least 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until edges are lightly golden brown.
Top cookies with flaky finishing salt.

This is legitimately my new favorite cookie. I first discovered the flavor combination when I mistakenly thought my niece's favorite thing was white chocolate and peppermint- (she likes it when it's on top of very thick dark chocolate)… so I grabbed a bag of these at Costco, and then quickly became obsessed with them. My favorite flavor of Perk Energy is even inspired by those White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Crisps. So when I was making chocolate chip cookies as a request from my grandma, I figured why the heck not? I grabbed a bag of Ghirardelli Peppermint Chunks from the freezer, crushed some pretzel until I had a cup, decided they didn't look quite festive enough, and bam! my new favorite holiday cookie was born. I took them to work the next day to test on some of our clients, and by the double fisting action that went on, I knew they were winners.

Creamy Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese

adapted from Alton Brown's Stove Top Mac-n-Cheese

INGREDIENTS
3 cups elbow macaroni
1/2 stick butter, unsalted
2 large eggs
8 ounces evaporated milk
2 tsp sriracha
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper
8 ounces Monterey Jack Cheese
8 ounces Medium Cheddar Cheese

DIRECTIONS

Whisk together eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard.

In a large pot, cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot, and over low heat melt in the butter, toss to coat.

Stir egg/milk mixture into the pasta, and add the cheese.

Over low heat, continue to stir for 3-5 minutes, or until creamy.

Enjoy!

You know when the craving for a pot of creamy macaroni and cheese hits, and you're out of the boxed stuff, but you're also going to die before you can whip some homemade goodness up AND pull it out of the oven? Well, that was last Sunday at our home. Everyone was hankering for some hot mac'n'cheese, and none of us wanted to deal with the hassle of a baked mac'n'cheese, but we also didn't have any of the boxed stuff and by the time we got back from the store, even that would have been too long of a wait. So while at the store, I told my sister to throw 3 cups of macaroni in some boiling water, and we would figure it out when we got home. My niece grabbed 8 ounces of cheddar, and 8 ounces of monterey jack when she ran into the store, and we made adjustments based on what we had. I added more evaporated milk, used all the cheese that she bought, the only hot sauce we had was sriracha, and it got doubled because I didn't know how to open it. My niece who hates mac'n'cheese freaking loved this, and it was so easy that it will for sure be how we get our mac'n'cheese on from now on.

I think you could use just about any combination of cheese your heart desires.
This recipe could easily be gluten free if you used a GF pasta.

S'mores Cookies

recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

INGREDIENTS
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Hershey's Milk Chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup mallow bits
Optional:
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars
Mallow Bits
Extra graham cracker pieces

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth. Scrape down the sids, and then add the egg, and vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.

Carefully add half of the dry ingredients, and mix until a dough starts to form. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined - there should be crumbs on the bottom.

Gently fold in the mallow bits, and chopped chocolate bars. Taking care to lift all of the dry crumbs from the bottom of the bowl.

Scoop dough with your favorite cookie scoop, and plate rounded ball on prepared baking sheet. Flatten top of dough with the palm of your hand. Repeat, placing cookies about 1 inch apart.

Top dough with a pips of Hershey's Milk Chocolate, and mallow bits.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies are set. Remove from oven, and cool on baking sheet for at least 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*I used a #40 Scoop, which is about 1.75 Tbsp of dough. Which gives the perfect S'mores ratio of chocolate:graham:mallow, with the addition of a pip of Hershey's Milk Chocolate.

S'mores Cookie

Ain't nobody got time to build a fire, put out a fire, clean up the sticky mess, AND wash your hair- all in the name of eating America's favorite campfire treat, the S'more. These cookies incorporate all the best things about S'mores without all the hassle of S'mores. Truly a gift. The dough is fairly dry, so the cookie ends up crunchy like a graham cracker, and when eaten lone tastes like a graham cracker. The mallow bits are dehydrated mallows - like the ones from hot chocolate packets. So on the inside they absorb some the moisture from the dough and get soft & chewy; but the ones on the outside get a tiny bit browned, and are similar in texture and color to roasted mallows, just on a much smaller scale. The chopped Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars, and the pip get melty and gooey. Just like the mallows of your dreams, but with so much less mess. These are winners.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups sugar
1 lemon, zested
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup lemon juice
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until pale yellow and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time. Add the ricotta, and lemon juice and beat until fully combined.

To the butter/ricotta mixture, add half of the prepared dry ingredients, and mix on low. Scrap sides of bowl and add remaining half of dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Gently fold the dough taking care to scrape the sides of the bowl, to finish the mixing the dough.

Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. *I prefer a #20 scoop (3.5 tbsp), and can fit about 24 cookies on a half sheet pan. Prepared cookies sheets, and dough should be kept in the refrigerator if not in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove sheets from oven, and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. The cookies are extra delicate when warm, and the residual heat of the sheet helps to firm up the bottoms. When cookies have cooled, prepare glaze.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Dip cookies, and let glaze harden at room temperature. Enjoy!

Are these cookies a family favorite that will be gone in less than 45 minutes? Yes. My family loves them more than they love me. At least that's the vibe I get from my mother and sister. My sister has requested that if she ever marries that I make her wedding cake out of these cookies- stacked to be the cake. They are the perfect delicate little cookie. Sweet but tart, tender, moist, and just plain delicious. You should definitely make them, especially when lemons are in season. I added more flour than the original recipe calls for, and highly suggest taking care to be sure it's fully mixed. If not, the cookies will spread like the devil, and it will be a crunchy lemon sugar butter mess. Extra delicious? Yes. Beautiful cookie? heck no.

VARIATIONS:

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Berry Glaze
            Replace 2 Tbsp lemon juice with fresh berry juice of your choice.
            Strawberry & Raspberry SO good.
Orange Ricotta Cookies with Chocolate Glaze
            Replace Lemons with Oranges
            Double the zest in the cookies
            Chocolate Glaze

                        1 cup powdered sugar                            1 Tbsp butter, melted                        Orange Zest

                        2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder    1 Tbsp Orange Juice
                       
                       

Crumble Topping

Recipe from Rachel Parcell
 
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour.
Add the butter, and mix* until a crumble-y texture forms.

*You can do this with a pastry cutter, spoons, or freshly washed hands. Personally, I think it's best with a pastry cutter, because you lose less butter to your skin.

Top your favorite prepared muffin batter mix, and bake according to package directions. Let cool in muffin tip for at least 3 minutes before removing to allow to cool in a cooling rack. ENJOY!


This Crumble Topping recipe is as basic as you can get, and it is freaking delicious as is.

BASIC IS GOOD! 

You can always change it up, as you keep the basic ratio pretty similar. The more sugar/butter the crunchier the crumble, and more of a caramelized goodness will develop. The more flour you add the more sandy the crumble will be- which is good for topping juicier stuff. Swap the sugar for different blends depending on what you're going for - brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, whatever floats your boat. Adding vanilla paste is money, as is adding your favorite extract like almond, or even some citrus zest. Mix in some rolled oats, sliced almonds, or finely chopped nuts- that will give the crumble an insane crunch!

THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST…
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OPTIONS.

USES:

• On top of fruit, and baked for a delicious fruit crumble. Any fruits will do, get creative! Just cook them a little, sweeten them up a touch if they are particularly tart, and bake.
• MY FAVORITE: Grab a bag of frozen mixed berries, throw them in a pot with 1/2 cup sugar, your favorite extract, a squeeze of lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cook for a couple minutes over medium-high heat, to get the berries poppin' and to get the natural pectins in the berries. Transfer to casserole dish, top with crumble and bake at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Use it as the topping for fruit pies.
• Since there is no limit on variations, there is no limit on what you can do with it. :)

CCC: Tried + True CC Cookies by ABK

recipe adapted from: A Bountiful Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt, or coarse sea salt
12 oz chocolate chunks*

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Prepare baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.

Add eggs, beating well.

Stir in flour mixture and chocolate chips. Taking care not to over mix.

Using a cookie scoop, drop onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 7-10 minutes on a middle rack until golden brown.

Remove from oven, and cool on baking sheets for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire baking sheets to finish cooling.

*Chocolate Chunks are necessary. Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks are best. Cheap and delicious.

A Bountiful Kitchen will never lead you astray. Her Tried & True CC Cookie recipe is literally the Toll House Cookie Recipe… aka Phoebe Buffay's Grandmother's Family Recipe. However it has all the tweaks that we need for high altitude. Si swears by baking these with a convection oven, and her cookies always look beautiful; but they work just as well in a conventional oven. THIS is my go-to chocolate chip cookie.

Gingerbread Sheet Cake

Recipe Adapted from Serious Eats
INGREDIENTS
1 cup light brown sugar
3 ounces unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 large eggs, straight from the fridge
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to about 100°F
5 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour
8 ounces buttermilk

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line an anodized aluminum half sheet cake pan with parchment, then grease lightly with pan spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, five-spice powder, black pepper, and eggs. Mix on low until moistened, then increase to high and whip until foamy and thick, about 8 minutes.

Reduce speed to low and drizzle in melted butter, then add all-purpose and whole wheat flours, followed by buttermilk. Once combined, shut off mixer and fold batter once or twice from the bottom up with a flexible spatula, then scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until cake is puffed and firm (though crust will retain a light impression when pressed with a fingertip), about 20 minutes. Cool in pan until firm, top with cream cheese frosting.

I love all things gingerbread. Gingerbread cookies- soft, snappy, I'll take them all, the gingerbread churro at Disneyland, Gingerbread Spice Life Cereal… so I knew I wanted to find a gingerbread cake that will make my heart the happiest. BUT in all the recipes I tried, it just wasn't quite spicy enough. Yeah, gingerbread needs to be spicy! To balance the of the sweetness of the holidays. So, I used the cake recipe that I enjoyed the texture of the most (the addition of whole wheat flour gives it such great texture) and used my favorite gingerbread spices.

Christmas Chex Mix

INGREDIENTS

13.5 oz Rice Chex
2 cup coconut
2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup light corn syrup
1.5 sticks butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp almond extract

DIRECTIONS
Line half sheet pan with wax paper.

In a large bowl, mix Rice Chex, coconut, almonds, and dried cranberries. Set aside.

In a medium sized pot, over medium heat, bring corn syrup, butter, sugar and salt to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and add baking soda and almond extract. Mixture will bubble.

Pour over dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

Spread evenly over wax paper lined sheet pan. Cool 1 hour.

This is what I will probably eat every day in heaven, or not be allowed to eat in hell. It brings back memories of eating something very similar on cheer bus trips in high school. Only that definitely took out a filling, which then chipped a tooth, and was not nearly as delicious as this. There is just enough syrup to coat every ingredient, while still maintaining that delightful crunch from the Chex and slivered almonds. The flakes of coconut give it a "it just started to snow" vibe and complements the almond extract flavor, and the dried cranberries bring a tart sweetness and color. Definitely my new favorite.

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting

Recipe adapted from: Our Best Bites
INGREDIENTS
Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, divided
(2 sticks, and 1 stick)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 lb powdered sugar

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, heat two sticks of butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, and mixture is combined.

Turn heat up to medium high, and bring to a boil. Let mixture boil for 1 minute, pushing mixture down from sides of pot. Reduce heat, and let simmer for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, and carefully* pour into a mixing bowl to cool. While the mixture is cooling, add remaining stick of butter 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until melted.
*Hot, simmering sugar is way hotter than simmering water.

When caramel has cooled to lukewarm, carefully incorporate  powdered sugar until fluffy and soft.

Use immediately, as frosting will thicken upon standing.

Okay friends, this frosting is my new favorite thing ever. It came about because the penuche frosting from my original post with this sheet cake has a tendency to become a little grainy, and is extra sweet. So I found the recipe for brown sugar caramel frosting from Our Best Bites, doubled the recipe, and added an extra stick of butter to give the sugar something to stay dissolved in. I also omitted the vanilla, because my vanilla was lost in our recent kitchen remodel, and I haven't made my way to Trader Joe's to purchase more. The extra butter does require that the cake stay fairly cool, because the butter makes the frosting extra soft and it will melt all over the place. But if you're looking for a frosting that has a warm, caramel flavor WITHOUT being sickly sweet, this is your jam.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

INGREDIENTS
Dough

4 3/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Active Dry Yeast (2 packets)
2 cups warm water

Topping
2 cups water
4 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse, kosher or pretzel salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

In a mixer, bloom the yeast with the sugar and water, let sit for 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, and using the hook attachment, combine ingredients until it forms a dough that pulls away from the sides. Continue kneading for about 5 minutes. It should be soft, smooth, and quite slack. Cover, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, prepare the topping:

In a small pot, boil water and add baking soda, stirring until the soda is dissolved. Reduce heat to a soft simmer.

Preheat your oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into sixteen equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Pour the baking soda/water into a 9" square pan.

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28" to 30" long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops; leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the baking sheet. This baking soda "bath" will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color.

Transfer the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with salt, if desired.

Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they're golden brown.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter.

Keep brushing the butter on until you've used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but pretend you're Paula Dean, and you need butter to live.

Sprinkle with more salt, because we go hard to the paint here, and serve!

Variation: PRETZEL BITES WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Instead of twisting your ropes of dough, cut them into 1 inch pieces, throw them in the soda water for a minute, and let sit for 10 minutes, and bake for 6-7 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Momma's Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla (OR 1 teaspoon almond extract)
4 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dairy product

DIRECTIONS
In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs in one at a time until incorporated, then add vanilla.
Incorporate 1/3 flour mixture, then 1/2 dairy product. Repeat. End with flour. Be sure to not over mix.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour- use my roll out dough hack!
Heat oven to 400ºF.
Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface.
Cut with cookie cutter.
Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 3 minutes.
Bake for 7 minutes, or until bottoms are pale brown.
Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack, repeat with remaining dough.
Let cookies cool completely before topping with your frosting of choice, and ALL THE SPRINKLES.

Caramel Bugles

 Recipe adapted from Dollie Nyberg's

INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
Splash of vanilla extract
29 oz Bugles
Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS 
Prep a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and then spray with cooking spray, set aside.
In a very large mixing bowl, coat thoroughly with cooking spray, and then add Bugles. Set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together until brown sugar is dissolved.
Turn up heat to medium-high, then add sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, and honey. Bring a boil, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula (to keep the bottom from burning). Continue stirring until caramel reaches a tad passed the soft-ball stage, 245ºF with a candy thermometer.
Remove from heat, and add vanilla extract- the caramel will bubble up! Stir until bubbles subside, and then poor over Bugles.
Mix caramel and Bugles until all of the Bugles are covered in caramel goodness.  Evenly spread Caramel Bugles over your prepared baking sheet, and let until cool.
Then share with your favorite people!

I detest Bugles. I think they are one of the worst snack foods ever. However, Sister Nyberg brought these Caramel Bugles to our Ward Campout over the summer, and in love I fell. They were like crack to me, and no one else dared try them, so I got to take a lot of them home, and made a request for the recipe. The next day I had the recipe, now here I am five months later, and I have finally gotten around to making them. However, I discovered upon making them that I only had 2/3 cup of Corn Syrup- the original recipe called for 1 cup Corn Syrup, so I scrambled around for an appropriate substitute, and I ended up dumping 1/3 cup of Honey. I know that the chemical structure of the two are fairly similar, but the difference in the honey would require that I cook it just a tad bit hotter than the original recipe.
I am happy to report that I dare say this is better than the original, and you should all give it a go! I'm pretending that it is healthier, because honey is healthy. ;)

Som' Bitches

Recipe adapted from two.thirty.ate

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
28 chewy caramels, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add peanut butter and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time until combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently fold in chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.
Using a two tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out dough then flatten in the the palm of your hand. Place caramel in the middle, then fold cookie dough up, pinching the seams to create a ball. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

If you know me, then you know that Peanut Butter Cookies are always a bust with me. Not that I don't love peanut butter cookies, but because I am THE WORST at making them. No matter what I do, they always end up terrible. After that famous episode of How I Met Your Mother where we actually met the mother, and she had made these cookies. When I watched that episode, I knew that I needed to make them. But with my terrible track record, I was SO thankful that my friend Kayla would make them. She taught me how, but for some reason every time I tried, they just didn't ever work. That is until I made them during the 2016 BYU/Utah Football game. I was SO stressed, that I had to do something. So while the game may not have ended the way I wanted it to, I have these cookies to help ease my pain.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe adapted from PopSugar
  
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled slightly

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the flour and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter.

Pour buttermilk mixture into the well of the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Let sit while you pre-heat your skillet.

Heat a large, nonstick skillet to about 350 ºF. Spray skillet with your cooking spray of choice.
Dollop 1/2 cup batter onto skillet per pancake. Cook pancakes until bubbles rise to the surface and pop, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip pancakes and cook another 2 minutes.

Okay guys, pancakes are my life. I've never been great at them, which was fine because my Grandma Alice was amazing at them, and I always assumed I would find a man to love me and he would make them. You know, cause all men are great at making breakfast food. Well, I'm 27, Grandma Alice has retired from cooking, and I haven't been on a date in years. So, I had to suck it up and learn. I've made a lot of mistakes, learned that mixes are the devil, and that ain't nobody got time or the money to use cake flour, but I've found the recipe that embodies all of my favorite things about pancakes. I can now sleep a little better knowing that pancakes will be in my life for always. I may be lonely, but loneliness can be fixed with a stack of hot buttermilk pancakes.

Martha's Chocolate-Raspberry Cake

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart

INGREDIENTS

CAKE
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (61 percent cacao), melted and cooled
FILLING
24 ounces fresh raspberries (a scant 6 cups)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of coarse salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, then dump some flour in, and shake until coated with a light layer of flour. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, beat butter with sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in almond extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk in two batches. Beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in melted chocolate.

Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through front to back and top to bottom, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a small sharp knife around edges, then invert onto rack. Remove parchment and let cool completely, about 25 minutes. With a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so they're level.

Filling: While cakes are baking, stir together 3 cups raspberries, sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over high, stirring frequently and mashing with the back of a spoon, until mixture comes to a boil, 2 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring, until mixture thickens and clings to spoon, 7 to 8 minutes more. (You should have 1 1/3 cups.) Let cool 30 minutes. Stir in 2 cups raspberries, reserving remainder.

Spread half of filling over one cake. Top with second layer; spread remaining filling over top. Top with final layer, cut-side down. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with remaining raspberries.

Fact: I am terrible at reading recipes lately, and once I get the ingredients together, I put them together using whatever method would work best based on the ingredients. Which is probably how I didn't catch that this should have been made using THREE cake pans. While my cake turned out okay, using three pans would've made it so much easier with the filling and frosting. #whoopsie This cake is RICH, and slightly tangy from the raspberries. I am definitely going to keep baking this chocolate cake recipe, and the frosting is to die for! I used almond extract instead of the raspberry liquor, mostly because I didn't want to buy (let's be honest find in my home) Chambord. I do like almond with raspberry together, so I was pleased with the result.

Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe from Martha Stewart
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
Pinch of coarse salt
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (61 percent cacao), melted and cooled
3/4 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS

Sift together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Beat cream cheese with butter and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until smooth. Reduce speed to medium-low; gradually add cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Pour in chocolate in a slow, steady stream. Add sour cream; beat until combined. Frosting can be stored in refrigerator up to 5 days; bring to room temperature and beat before using.

Peach-Raspberry Dump Cake

INGREDIENTS
2 cans peach pie filling
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Spray 13x9 pan with non-stick cook spray.

Spread peach pie filling evenly across the bottom of pan.
Evenly distribute fresh raspberries over peaches.
Sprinkle dry cake mix over raspberries and peaches.
Pour melted butter all over dry cake mix.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. It will still be a little bit ooey gooey. Let sit for a couple minutes to cool and set up a bit.

Scoop out, and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.