Pecan Pie

adapted from Completely Delicious

INGREDIENTS
1 prepared pie crust in 9-inch pie dish
3 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Dash of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Then stir in the pecans.
Gently pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Bake until the edges are completely set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. 

Let cool before serving, serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS
2 cups pumpkin purée
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 425°F.

Prepare pie crust, and pie dish.

Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust.
Bake 15 minutes, then REDUCE oven temperature to 350°F; bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1-inch from crust comes out clean. Remove from oven, and let cool.

Enjoy your pie!

My nephew, Nathan, wanted to bake a pumpkin pie FROM a pumpkin. Being the amazing aunt that I am, I took that as a challenge. So, I cut up a sugar pumpkin, scraped the innards, chucked it on a baking sheet and roasted it in the oven for like an hour (until the pumpkin is fork tender) at 350ºF. When I removed the pumpkin from the oven I peeled the skin off, and went to work on pureeing that s.o.b. in my TINY food processor. My pumpkin was a little dry, so I had to add some water to get the consistency I wanted. Then I pushed it all through a sieve, because it was still pretty fibrous. The Pioneer Woman recommends freezing it in one cup increments, just so that you know how much you have. I had a little under two cups from the one pumpkin, and used it in this pie recipe. This may not be the prettiest of pies, but I still love it because of how much hard work went into making it.

Pumpkin Spice Sheet Cake with Penuche Frosting

adapted from i heart nap time
INGREDIENTS
Pumpkin Sheet Cake:
4 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour sifted
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Penuche Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS
pumpkin bars:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan, set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix eggs, oil, and sugars until sugar is wet. Add pumpkin, and stir until smooth.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin, and stir until just combined.
Spread mixture into prepared jelly roll pan. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove from oven, and cool on cooling rack while preparing frosting.

frosting:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
Stir in heavy cream. Return to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a KitchenAid, and allow to cool to lukewarm.
Using the wire whisk attachment, add confectioners' sugar until frosting has reached your desired consistency.
For a thicker frosting, add more powdered sugar; to thin it out, you can always add a bit of milk.
Frost cake while frosting is still a little warm, it will start to set up as it sits.

This sheet cake remind me of my Cedar Family. We started a tradition of eating pumpkin anything for breakfast during the Sunday Morning Session of October General Conference, and this sheet cake is perfectly pumpkin-y, and I think would make a wonderful start to any day.
The penuche frosting reminds me of my favorite baker from the Cedar Family, Kim. She always made cake for our Cedar Family Functions, and one of the first cakes she brought had a penuche frosting. Which is really just a fancy way of saying brown sugar "caramel" frosting.

Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake

adapted from recipes by Cookies & Cups and Taste of Home

INGREDIENTS

2 packages Oreos

milk

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup CREAMY peanut butter

1.5 cups powdered sugar

12 oz tub Cool Whip

1 package instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

1 package Reeses Minis

DIRECTIONS

Prepare pudding according to package directions. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth. Carefully fold in the tub of cool whip. Set aside.

Pour some milk into a small bowl. Then give each Oreo a quick dip. We don't want to soak them, but we want to at least fully immerse them.

Then lay the Oreos flat, in a 13x9 pan until bottom is covered.

Once you have a layer of Oreos, spread half of the peanut butter mixture on top of the Oreos.

Repeat Oreo process. Top this Oreo layer with prepared chocolate fudge pudding, and some of the reeses minis, at your discretion.

Repeat Oreo process, and spread remaining peanut butter mixture on top. 

Garnish with crumbled Oreo cookies, and Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Cover, and chill for at least 6 hours before serving. So the Oreos have plenty of time to soften up.

Fried Chicken Bites

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
Oil

DIRECTIONS
Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces, and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well; and add chicken.
In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch, and flour.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet, over medium heat (to about 375* F).
Carefully dredge the egg covered chicken in the cornstarch/flour mixture, and shake off excess.
Add chicken in small batches, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Then enjoy!

In high school, my favorite thing to get for lunch was 2 chicken tenders, and a 2 "potato logs" with lots of ranch from the LCL gas station. I'm 99% sure that they must have laced their ranch with heroin because I would just CRAVE those chicken tenders, and this is coming from a girl that hates breading on meat. I hate breading so much that I literally threw up the chicken parmesan a boyfriend spent hours making for a romantic dinner because I couldn't handle it.
Anyway, I was making Orange Chicken to celebrate the fact that we got custody of my niece, and as I was frying up the chicken for the Orange Chicken, I decided to taste test what I had so far, and I found the answer to my LCL chicken prayers, and these super simple Fried Chicken Bites were born.
Now all I need is some of that ranch in the tiny little cups, and my life will be complete!

Orange Chicken

adapted from Easy Restaurant Recipes

INGREDIENTS
(for the chicken)
2 pounds boneless chicken pieces, skinned
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
White pepper
Oil
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided use
1/4 cup flour
(for the sauce)
5 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
Zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon minced ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 dash crushed hot red chilies
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon rice wine
Juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS
Cut chicken pieces into 2-inch squares and place in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well; set aside.
Stir 1/2 cup cornstarch and the flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.
Heat about 1/2 inch of oil over medium heat, (to about 375* F)

Add chicken pieces, small batch at time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the sugar, white vinegar, soy sauce, water, and zest of orange.
Then set aside.
In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.

Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions.
Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds.

Add pre-prepared mixture of sugar, orange zest, vinegar, water and soy sauce, and bring to boil.

Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch into orange juice until smooth.
Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened.

Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
Serve over rice, and enjoy!

Oreo Icebox Cake

adapted from Cookies & Cups

INGREDIENTS
1- 4.2oz package Cookies & Cream Pudding Mix
2- 12 oz tubs, Cool Whip, thawed
2 packages Oreos*
Milk
Chocolate Syrup (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Prepare Cookies & Cream Pudding according to package directions. Set aside.
While the pudding is setting, pour some milk into a bowl.
Give each Oreo a quick dip. We don't want to soak them, but we want to at least fully immerse them.
Then lay the oreos flat, in a 13x9 pan until bottom is covered.
Spread one tub of Cool Whip over the Oreo layer, make sure it is even and pretty.
Repeat Oreo process, but this time, top Oreos with your prepared Cookies & Cream Pudding.
Repeat, but with second tub of Cool Whip.
Crumble extra Oreo Cookies on top.
Cover, and chill for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
When serving, you can make it extra chocolatey and decadent by drizzling chocolate syrup on top.

*You can use any kind of Oreo you want, we had the regular kind at my house, but Double Stuff would probably make this even more awesome.

The original recipe just used the Cool Whip, but I decided to replace one layer with the Cookies & Cream pudding, because I'm a classy lady, and I wanted to make it a little more Oreo-y. Also, I dipped my cookies in Lactaid, because I'm lactose intolerant, and later found out that Cool Whip now has dairy in it… but to make it a completely "lactose-free" dessert you can use TruWhip, along with replacing the milk with Lactaid. The pudding mix, and the Oreos are lactose-free ingredients. :]