#5 & And Nieman Bars!

I find it amazing that my family and I can eat so many desserts in such short periods of time. If the dessert is really good - it will be gone in a couple hours. But, there are "8" of us to eat it all. And, we of course eat healthy & delicious meals to balance it all off. I absolutely love a good meal along with a delicious dessert. Doesn't everyone?!

Can you believe Election Day is 2 days away??!!

"Jeweled Coconut Drops"

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-3/4 cups flaked coconut, divided
1 cup seedless raspberry preserves, warmed

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg yolk, orange juice and almond extract. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in 3 cups of coconut. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle. Shape dough into 2-in. balls; roll in remaining coconut. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each ball. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Fill each cookie with preserves. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

This is a dessert I got the recipe from a friend, man is it good! Nieman Marcus Bars"
"
Ingredients:
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup melted butter
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2 eggs
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 lb. or powered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Mix together top five ingredients and press into ungreased 10 X 15 pan.
Mix together last three ingredients and spread evenly over mixture in pan
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Mounds Bars!!

Wow. This has to be one of the best recipes ever made. The chocolate topping, coconut mixture, and the graham cracker crust make it all soooo good. I doubled this recipe so I would get bigger bars, while they came out good for pictures - one big bar was making my heart burn. My brothers didn't seem to mind how big they were!

"Mounds Bars"

2 cups graham crackers, crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

14 oz. condensed milk, sweetened

1 cup shredded coconut

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 tbsp. peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together first three ingredients. Pack in a greased 9x13 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Combine milk and coconut and spread over graham cracker mixture. Bake for 15 minutes more or until golden brown. Melt chips and peanut butter and spread over cooled coconut and graham cracker mixture. Refrigerate. Serve.

***It is amazing how easy it is to melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in the microwave....I used to do it on the stove and had terrible results***

Ahh, this baseball life is so hard.

Peanutty Bars

Sorry for not posting in a-while. I haven't been baking that much as of lately. Anyway, today I made these. They are definetly for peanut butter lovers. With a graham cracker crust, a peanut butter filling, and a chocolate frosting - what isn't to like?? Have a great week and I'll see you next with some mouth - watering treats! School starts next week for me...

"Peanut Butter Graham Bars"

11 whole graham crackers

1 - 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup unsalted butter ( I used salted)

2 - 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1 - 1/4 cups chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Line a 9x13 inch pan with the graham crackers. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt, stirring until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the graham crackers and chill for 1 hour.

When the mixture is chilled, melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate over the penaut butter filling, spreading it evenly over the top. Allow the chocolate to cool until set. Cut into bars to serve.
The way Lewis sleeps. His lastest thing is taking food out of the lazy susan and carrying it around. Wierdo.

When a friend hands you a recipe...

...bake it! That is exactly what I did. The recipe was Lemon Bars, if there is a recipe I will bake let it be Lemon Bars. I love them, whether it is the crunchy soft crust, the gooey lemon filling, or the powdered sugar on top. And knowing that they are one of my Dad's favorite recipes, you gotta make them. A shout out to my good friend Miss Jocelyn for the super recipe - I know why it is your favorite recipe to bake!

See, there is that ooey gooey delicious filling..

"Lemon Bars"

2 1/4 c. sifted flour

1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar

1 c. butter

4 eggs beaten

2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Directions: Sift together 2 cups of the flour and the powdered sugar. Cut in butter until mixture clings together. Press mixture into a greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly brown. Beat together eggs, granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Sift together 1/4 c. flour and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture. Pour over baked crust. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes more. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cool, and cut into bars.

My next post will be some really cute ideas for 4th of July baking!