Old Fashioned Icebox Oatmeal Cookies

My mother gave me this receipe she got from her cleaning lady who is from a long line of Czech families. Her cleaning lady's mother used to make these and keep them in the "ice box," so she would have them ready to bake when her children got home from school. These cookies are WONDERFUL and SO easy!

Ingredients

1 cup of shortening (my mother used 2 sticks of Smart Balance 50/50 margarine)
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of oatmeal (my mother used quick cooking oatmeal)

Directions

If you use margarine, let it come to room temperature (or you can cut it into tiny cubes and that will soften it quicker). Cream the margarine or shortening with the sugars in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture and mix well. Mix the flour, salt and soda with a whisk and then blend the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Add the oatmeal all at once and mix well with a spoon.

Turn the soft dough out onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Shape into a log roll inside of the wax paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight then slice and bake. Bake on parchment paper lined cookie sheet or one sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. When baked, remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a cooling rack. This recipe makes 30 BIG cookies.

You can slice and bake as many as you want and just store the remainder in the refrigerator still wrapped in the wax paper or plastic. You can put the wrapped cookie dough in a big Ziploc bag so it won't dry out if you are not going to use all of it soon.

Sour Cream Cake

I don't have a photo of this one. But, next time I make it, I'll take a picture to post. This is one of our famiy's ALL time favorites. It is my mother-in-law's recipe. This cake is wonderful served warm out of the oven with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. There is not a thing low fat about this cake, but it is a delicious treat!

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter, softened (told you it wasn't low fat!)
3 cups of sugar
6 eggs
8 oz. of sour cream
2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
cinnamon and sugar and shortening (for greasing and flavoring your bundt pan)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a bundt pan with shortening. Then sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon over the greased pan. Set aside.

Cream your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. If you haven't softened your butter, a tip is to cut it into tiny sqaures before you put it in your mixing bowl. Once, you've creamed your butter and sugar (beating it together until it is a creamy texture), then add your eggs, sour cream, almond extract and vanilla. Mix until well mixed and creamy. Add your flour and baking soda and mix just until well combined. Don't overbeat or it can make it tough.

Pour the cake batter into your greased bundt pan and bake for about and hour and a half or until a knive inserted comes out clean. This is easy to do and wows guests everytime!

Dorothy's Chocolate Meringue Pie

Over Easter, I was on a baking roll! (pardon the pun.) I got this recipe from a dear friend of my in-laws'. She is known far and wide as a pie maker. Everytime she comes to see my boys, she brings a homemade banana meringue pie because that is my boys' favorite. Dorothy grew up in a very large family, and her job was to make the pies for the family as a young girl. I sat and picked her brain before Easter, and this is the recipe she gave me. I made it and it turned out WONDERFULLY! Not quite at pretty as hers, but just as tasty. I need to practice on the pretty part. This recipe makes 1 pie.

Crust:

1/2 stick of crisco

1 cup of flour

Dash of salt

2 Tbsp of sugar

3 to 5 Tbsp of ice water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar together in a small bowl. Cut in the crisco and add the ice water. Roll out crust and put it in your pie plate. Poke holes in the bottom of the crust to keep it from bubbling up. Bake at 350 degrees for abotu 20 minutes until lightly brown.

Pie Filling:

3 Tbsp. of cocoa

Dash of salt
1 C. of sugar

1/4 C. of flour

2 C. of milk

3 egg yolks, beaten (save the whites for the meringue ... leave at room temperature)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 stick of butter, cut up

Mix all of the ingredients in a pan (if you have a double boiler, you can use this, but I just used my hard anodized pot) adding the butter last. Continually stir it until it comes to a boil and bubbles. Turn the heat down, continually stirring it, until the mixture thickens up like pudding. If you are using an electric cooktop, you may want to remove the pan from the burner while you stir the mixture and it thickens ... I'm used to cooking on gas which I like much better, but for the time being, we are in a house with electric burners and it is taking some getting used to.

Pour the hot mixture in the baked pie shell.

Meringue:

With your mixer (stand mixers are best for this), beat three egg whites, 2/3 cups of sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla, and 2 tsp. of cream of tartar. Beat it until it forms stiff peaks. Smooth the meringue on top of the warm pie filling, smoothing it all the way to the edge of the crust to prevent shrinking. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 8 to 12 minutes ... watching to make sure you don't burn it but that the peaks are delicate brown.

A BIG thank you to the anonymous poster who asked how much sugar was needed in the filling!!! I forgot to put that ... I surely hope no one tried to make this without the sugar. I would feel TERRIBLE! My sweet mother-in-law made a pumpkin pie one year and forgot the sugar ... not so good ... actually pretty AWFUL. Anyway, a big thanks to the commenter who noticed!

Take Along Cake

I made this cake for our church potluck, too. It was easy and SOOO moist and chocolaty without being WAY too rich. It is rich but not sickeningly rich. It was wonderful tasting and easy to "take along" because it didn't have icing (and doesn't need it). I got it out of The Cake Mix Bible.

Ingredients

1 package of Devil's Food cake mix (the recipe called for swiss chocolate cake mix, but I used devil's food)
1 twelve ounce package of semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup of miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Prepare the cake mix as directed on package. Add chocolate chips and marshmallows to batter. Pour into prepared pan. Drizzle melted butter over batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and top with pecans. Bake at 350 for 45 or 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream or cool completely in pan. Makes about 20 servings if you slice it 4 x 5.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Here is an easy way to make chocolate cupcakes even MORE special ... as if chocolate cupcakes are not special enough. I got this recipe out of the Cake Mix Bible.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1/2 C. of peanut butter
• 1 tub of creamy vanilla frosting (I've used the cream cheese frosting before and it works, too)
• Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, cut in half (enough for 1 half per cupcake)

Make your favorite chocolate cupcake mix according to package directions. Let them cool. Mix together the frosting and the peanut butter. Frost the cupcakes and top with one half of a peanut butter cup.

Tip: Put the peanut butter cups in the refrigerator while the cupcakes are baking. When you are ready to cut the peanut butter cups, they'll cut more cleanly and easily.

Low Fat No Bake Fiber One Cookies

This is a Weight Watchers recipe that are kind of like haystack cookies. I make them to get a little extra fiber into my 3 year old's diet. He could be the poster child for the dairy association! These are really great to give your sweet tooth a little fix, but are good for you and low point. If you make 24 of them they are only 1 point a piece. Not to be crude, but don't eat TOO many of these or else you'll spend all of your time in the bathroom!!!

Ingredients

1 pouch of Fiber One cereal (there are two pouches in a box)

1 ten oz. package of your favorite chips (chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, milk chocolate, etc.)

Melt the chips in a large, microwave safe bowl in the microwave. I usually heat them for a minute and stir and then heat for an additional 15 and stir ... repeating until it the chips are melted. Empty a pouch of Fiber One into the bowl and stir until the cereal is coated well. Use your cookie scoop, and scoop them out onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Pop them in the refrigerator until set.

Chewy Drizzled Cinnamon Cookies

Per your request, this one is for you, Tracey & Doug! These used to be your favorites before I made the Lemon Cheese Bars. These cookies are not some of the things I made with what I had on hand the other day, but I talked to Tracey this weekend, and she requested these. I got the original recipe from my sister-in-law, Terry. A big thanks to her! I make these throughout the year, but I always make a few batches around the holidays to give to people and for my family.

Ingredients

3/4 C. (one and a half sticks) butter, softened (this can be softened in the microwave for about 20 seconds or so on 50% power)
1 C. packed light brown sugar
1/4 C. of light corn syrup
1 egg
1 2/3 C (10 oz. pkg) Hershey's cinnamon chips, divided into 1 C. and 2/3 C. (these can be hard to find. In BCS I've only been able to regularly find them at Albertstons. Every now and then I think you can find them at HEB ... Kroger doesn't carry them even when several people have asked for them)
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. shortening
1 cookie scoop (a must for this recipe ... you can find these in the kitchen gadget section in your grocery store or at a Walmart type store and of course a kitchen specialty store)
parchment paper (you can find this with the foil and plastic wrap in your grocery store)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add corn syrup and egg. Mix well. Place 1 cup of cinnamon chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir. (it will look like it didn't melt but if you stir it, the rest of the chips will melt) If necessary, microwave an extra 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating just until chips are melted when stirred. Stir melted chips into butter mixture. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Tip: I always use a whisk to stir together flour mixtures even when it calls for sifting the flour ... it works great for this. Add the flour mixture to the cinnamon butter mixture and beat just until blended. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out cookies onto the parchment paper paper topped cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool completely. While cookies are cooling, make the cinnamon drizzle by putting the other 2/3 c. of cinnamon chips and 1 1/2 tsp. of shortening (NOT butter, margarine or oil) in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave it on high for about 1 minute and stir until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle this mixture on top of the cooled cookies. You can use a fork or spoon to do this or you can put it in a quart freezer bag and cut the corner off. I usually just use a fork or spoon to drizzle it on the cookies. Makes about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of the scoop.

Lemon Cheese Bars

Yesterday I had to bake a couple of desserts and make a salad for a ladies' church function, AND I had to fix a dinner for my family because I wasn't going to be here for dinner because I was going to be at that function. AND, thanks to tropical storm Erin, it was raining which meant I was NOT under any circumstances leaving the house with the kids to go to the store. So, I had to use what I had on hand. I'll be sharing those recipes over the next couple of days.

Anyway, here is one of the desserts I made. The original recipe came from The Cake Mix Bible. I didn't like the way the cheese part tasted, so I added a little extra. Here's my version of this recipe. As a tip, always keep cake mix on hand (I always pick up several different flavors when they are on sale for $1 a piece). You can make cookies and desserts like this when you are in a bind. Also, always keep some cream cheese on hand. I was glad I had picked up a couple of packages last time ... the expiration date is usually way out so I always pick up a couple when they are on sale (1/3 fat of course).

Ingredients

1 box of yellow cake mix with pudding in it
2 eggs
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 eight oz. package of 1/3 fat cream cheese (use full fat if you want)
3/4 C. sugar (less if you want it less sweet)
2 Tbsp. of lemon juice (more or less to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, ONE egg and oil in a large bowl; stir until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture into ungreased 13x9 pan. (This will look like it is not enough, but it is ...just keep pressing it until it is all connected ... it will be a thin layer) Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Combine remaining egg, cream cheese (I put it in the microwave for about 20 second to soften it), sugar, lemon juice, vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until smooth and well blended. Spread over baked layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake another 15 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. I made 24 bars out of this, but the original recipe said 18 (those would be really big bars).

Cool Lemon Pie

Because it has been so darn hot in Texas the past couple of days, I offer this cool, refreshing dessert. It is one of my favorite pies ever. It is also super easy and no baking is required ... meaning you don't have to turn the oven on and heat up the house when it is 105 degrees outside! It comes from Weight Watchers Quick, Light and Healthy cookbook, and if you are counting points, it is 5 points for 1/10 of the pie ... not a lot of pie, but yummy.

NOTE: Serve this pie right out of the freezer. If you let is set out before you serve it, it will be too soft ... still delicious but it doesn't look as pretty glopped on the plate instead of nice and firm in a perfect pie triangle.

Ingredients

1 (14oz) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 (6oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted (I can't find 6 oz. cans here, so I just get the bigger can and use have and freeze the other half for later)

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

1 (6oz) reduced-fat graham cracker crust

Combine Sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate; fold in whipped topping. Pour mixture into crust. Cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight. Cut pie into 10 equal slices.

Yields: 10 servings

Also, be sure to check out Shannon's recipe blog! She is a dear friend who is one of the best cooks I know! Her desserts are her specialty I think ... or maybe I just really like sweets. Anyway, be sure to check it out. Here's the link: A Dash of This and a Pinch of That

10 Cent Cheese Cake

Actually, the name of this cheesecake is Creamy, Dreamy Cheesecake. My husband's sister-in-law and I call it 10 Cent Cheesecake. Last summer she and I were at a garage sale, and I saw a really pretty pie plate. It had this recipe in the bottom of it as part of the decoration. The pie plate was only 10 cents! Thus the name. This is a wonderful recipe and not heavy like a lot of cheesecake recipes. Also, you don't have to have a spring form pan to make it. I made it last Christmas to go with the Elegant Lasagna.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (you can buy graham crackers crumbs or you could just buy a ready made graham cracker crust ... the 9 inch or bigger)
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter melted

19 oz. cream cheese
1 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use a full teaspoon)
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. If you are not using ready made crust, mix crumbs and 2 T. sugar, stir in butter thoroughly. Press into bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large mixer bowl. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Pour over cracker crust and bake one hour or until center is firm. Cool and top with sweet fruit if you like. Chill three hours.

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

These are always a HUGE hit, and a recipe I'm often asked for. They have oatmeal in them, which is good because I'm always looking for ways to get more fiber to the kids. The recipe is an old recipe from Betty Crocker and one of the few recipes I've come across that I follow exactly. You can't really experiment too much with baking. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. of sugar
1 C. of butter, softened (I usually soften butter in the microwave ... heat for about 20 seconds on 50% power)
1 egg
1/4 C. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 C. of all-purpose flour
1/3 C. of cocoa
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 C. of quick cooking oats
1 six ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Mix sugar, butter, egg, water and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls (a cookie scoop makes this MUCH faster and makes a prettier cookie) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. (I ALWAYS use parchment paper on my cookie sheet to bake my cookies on. It makes the process go MUCH faster. You can just slide the cookies and parchment sheet off onto the counter and put another piece of parchment on the cookie sheet, and it's ready for more cookies. You can find the parchment paper with the Saran Wrap and foil. If you've never used it, try it. You'll never bake cookies without it again.) Bake until almost no indention remains when touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies depending on how big of a scoop you use.