Chocolate Cake

(this is an all-time favorite in our group... it was also Jon and Kelsie's wedding cake recipe!)

3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
3/4 cup butter
1 2/3 cups boiling water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups rapadura (or sugar)
1/2 cup sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise (Note: This is the "secret" ingredient to making a cake moist!)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 x 2 pan.

In large bowl (or mixer), place cocoa, butter, and boiling water; with spoon (or mixer whisks), stir until mixture is smooth. Add flour; rapadura or sugar; sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise; eggs; baking soda; salt; and vanilla; beat on low speed until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. **You can also make these into cupcakes, which everyone LOVES! :-)

Bake 35-40 minutes or until done in center. Cool completely.

Rapadura Butter Frosting

2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup rapadura

In mixing bowl, cream butter. Add vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar and rapadura.

Magic Cookie bars

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 graham crackers

1 can condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit in 9 by 13 pen. Melt butter in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over butter. Top evenly with remaining ingredients. Press down firmly and bake for 25-39 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

I haven't tried this recipe, so it's not quite "tried n' true. But, don't let that stop you! =)

Fudgie Brownies

This is my family's favorite brownie recipe! It's easy to make and tastes SO good! The best part about it is, you can add whatever you like, and it always turns out great!

Prep. time - 10 min.

Total time - 35 min.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup butter, melted

-1/2 cup cocoa

-1 cup sugar

-2 tps. vanilla

-1/2 cup flour

-1/4 tps. salt

-2 eggs

Whatever floats your boat!

-1-2 cups (or more!) chocolate chips (semisweet, milk chocolate, butterscotch, mint, etc.), raisins, chopped nuts, M&Ms, Reeces pieces, mini marshmallows, etc. (It's also great plain!)

Grease an 8 in. pan or line with foil. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, and cocoa and stir until cocoa is dissolved. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and stir until well combined. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt and stir until you no longer see any flour. (Do not over mix!) Fold in whatever floats your boat! Spread in pan and cook for about twenty-five minutes. Do not over bake! Cool completely before cutting into squares. For a double batch, cook in a 9by13 in. pan and add five minutes to the baking time.

Enjoy!

~Susi

Dairy-Free Strawberry/Orange Smoothie

-1 cup water

-1 Tbs. Vanilla

-1 - 1 1/2 frozen bananas

-1/2 an orange

-A bit of orange peel

-15-20 frozen strawberries (or until desired thickness)

-Sweetener (optional)

Blend together, and enjoy!

~Susi

Strawberry Shakes

Ingredients:

-1 cup milk

-1 Tbs. vanilla

-1/2 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup honey)

-1 cup yogurt (optional)

-1 frozen banana (optional)

-5 frozen strawberries (you can add more if you like!)

-About 1 1/2 trays frozen milk (or until desired thickness)

Blend together and enjoy!!

~Susi

Homemade Ice Cream

You've had a hard day. You're tired. You need to relax and enjoy, and create some good memories. Ah, what could be better on a day like this than some nice, cool, refreshing ice cream?Shall we go to the kitchen and whip up a batch? Grab your apron and come on!

Passing your recipe cupboard, dig up Nourishing Traditions and turn to page 550:

Vanilla Ice Cream

Will make 1 delicious quart

-3 fresh, orange egg yolks

-1/2 cup maple syrup (I used 1/2 honey, but it was too sweet. Maybe try 1/3)

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. Arrowroot powder (we used about 1 1/2 Tbs. of cornstarch.)

3 cups heavy cream, preferably raw, not ultra-pasteurized (We didn't even have whole milk, so just used 2 % milk.)

Ice cream should be made with the best quality cream you can find, preferable unpasteurized. Never use ultra-pasteurized cream.

Beat egg yolks and blend in remaining ingredients. Pour into an ice cream maker and process. For ease of serving, transfer ice cream to a shallow plastic container, cover and store in the freezer.

If you want something a little different, omit the vanilla and add some cinnamon and nutmeg. When ice cream is about ten minutes from being finished, add about 1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts.

To make it extra good, serve with carob sauce or raspberry sauce.

Carob Sauce

Makes 2 1/2 cups

2/3 cup carob powder (or cocoa)

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup maple syrup

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. chocolate extract (optional)

a pinch of salt

1 cup cream, not ultra-pasteurized

Place all ingredients in the top half of a double broiler. Cook gently, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until well amalgamated.

Raspberry Sauce

makes 4 cups

1 12-ounce package of frozen raspberries

1/2 maple syrup

1-2 cups water

Place partially thawed raspberries in food processor with maple syrup and process to make a thick paste. Gradually add water until desired consistency is obtained.

And you have a deliciously healthy dessert! Serve up the creamy goodness, cuddle on the couch and watch a good old movie with the family and create a new memory!

Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup white sugar for decoration (or as much as needed)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

~Lexi

Granola Bars

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips (optional) **

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. Cream butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix in oats and chocolate chips. Press into pan. Bake 20-22 minutes or until light golden brown (do not over bake!) Cool completely before removing from pan. Enjoy!

**Instead of using chocolate chips, we like to spread chocolate frosting on top.

Yummy Fudge Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup softened butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Whisk well (electric beaters work best!)

~Susan

Chocolate Shakes

In the summer, our family enjoys many cold shakes on hot afternoons. But that's a lot of sugar, so we started trying other sweeteners. We've tried 1/2 cup rhapadura, which works really well, but it's a little too expensive. Then, we tried about 1/4 cup honey, but honey has a strong flavor and you can't sneak it in very inconspicuously. But we've found that about a 1/3 cup of agave, which doesn't have a very strong flavor, works really well. Those are the only sweeteners I've tried, but I'm sure there are more!

Here's the recipe for the chocolate shakes that we all enjoy!

1 cup milk
24 frozen milk cubes (or 'till shake is thick)
1 Tbs. vanilla (If you really like vanilla, add another Tbs. of it!)
1/2 cup sugar (or any of the above listed sweeteners)
1/4 cup cocoa (you can add more or less according to your taste)

Blend together, and enjoy!

~Susan

Peanut Butter Balls

4 cups powered sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
3 Tbs. vanilla

Mix together, knead well with hands.

Roll into balls. For dipping in chocolate, put balls on wax paper, otherwise, refrigerate.

Yummy Fudge Frosting

4 cups powered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 Tbs. vanilla
4 Tbs. milk (or until right consistency)

Mix together and beat until smooth. Roll balls in chocolate. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Carob Mountain Balls

In a bowl:

3 c. Oats

6 T. Carob Powder (or cocoa)

1/2 c. Peanut Butter (or Almond Butter)

1 tsp. Vanilla (if you like a lot of vanilla, you can add two tsp!)

1/2 c. Coconut (If you don't like this, you can leave it out)

Mix and Boil for one minute:

1/2 honey (or juice sweetener)

1/4 Butter (can you oil)

1/4 Oil

Mix together, roll into balls, cool, enjoy!

Carob powder. It has a somewhat sweeter taste then cocoa, not quite so chocolaty. I prefer cocoa, though.

Honey, butter, and oil boiling on the stove. Be careful when pouring into dry ingredients! Do not mix with your hands! (I know from personal experience.=)

Ready to roll into balls. It's easiest to mix with a fork.

Ready to eat! Enjoy!

~Susan

Apple Pie

"What's the American man's favorite dessert? Most people would agree -it's pie. And heading the list is apple pie. Followed closely by cherry pie and peach pie and lemon meringue and a lot of others. It you care about pleasing a man -bake a pie. " From a Betty Crocker Cookbook.

This is one of my family's favorite pie recipes. In fact, we've made it so many times that we children have dubbed it "apple casserole". I actually don't have the recipe with me - it's long since been torn from the cookbook with much use. But I think I have it by memory.

12 c. peeled and sliced apples (We've always added a few more cups for all the eager "taste testers".)
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbp. butter

Mix together, take a few bites, then spread in pie pan. We've used both crust and a crumble, both of which are delicious! Ali posted a great pie crust recipe a while back that will work great with this recipe. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. Let cool, and, to make it even better, serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

~Susan

Chocolate Dreams

Here is one of my favorite treats to make since it is quick, easy, and tastes great!

Mix in a saucepan on the stove top:

1/2 c. butter or oil (butter works a lot better than oil, but if you don't have any, oil works, too.)
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk (the original recipe called for 1/4 c. of milk, but it turned out crumbly.)
1/2 c. Sugar
Let boil for 1 min.

Add:
1 T. vanilla
3/4 c. peanut butter (creamy is great, but chunky works just as well.)
3 c. oats

Pour into pan and let cool.

I guess I don't have too many tips this time. Once, I tried to substitute rapadura* for sugar, but it has such a strong flavor that it ruined the whole batch. I tried it with half rapadura and half sugar and it gave the chocolate dreams a caramel taste.

*Rapadura

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here are a few secret tips for making the best flat and chewy chocolate cookies.

Cream Together:
1 c. white sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Add:
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. flour

Mix in 1 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes.

Tips:
Double the vanilla (I have it the double portion written in this recipe.)

When adding the dry ingredients, make sure to add the salt and baking powder before the flour.

When adding the flour, DO NOT put too much flour in it. The dough should still be sticky and somewhat difficult to roll into balls.

DO NOT cook over ten minutes, even though the cookies may look undone when you take them out of the oven. When they cool, they'll be very chewy!

~Susan

No Fail Pie Crust

Do you love making pies but hate making the dough? Does your dough always tear when you are trying to roll it out? This is a pie crust that will never fail!



3 cups of flour

1 cup of shortening

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 egg

5 Tbs. of cold water

1 tsp. of vinegar



Cut together flour, shortening and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, water and vinegar. Gradually add to flour mixture and stir until moistened and a soft dough forms. cut in half so that you have two disks.

Tip: when you are rolling out your dough, try to handle the dough as little as possible so that the butter does does not melt. When the pie comes out of the oven, it'll be a yummy flaky crust.

Ali