Sugar and Spice Popcorn

Credit: Unknown

Ingredients:

3 T butter
1/4 t nutmeg
2 T sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
2 quarts popped popcorn

Directions:

Melt butter in a small saucepan over med-low heat. Stir in the nutmeg, sugar, and cinnamon. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Do not overcook! Pour mixture over popped popcorn and stir until coated. Enjoy! {You may want to double this recipe... it usually disappears!}

Brownies

These brownies are perfect! I've never tasted one yummier than these. They're for chocolate lovers, but mostly for those of you who, like me, enjoy the taste of milk chocolate and a dense but soft texture. Brace yourselves! It's hard to stop eating these bad boys.

Credit: Mark Monson (via The Wilson Family Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c. cocoa
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together, then add eggs and vanilla. Add melted butter slowly. Pour into Pam sprayed 9x13 pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired, or serve warm with ice cream!

Luscious Lemon Bars

Credit: Teri Eastman

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, then add in the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Mix well. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Filling Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
6 T lemon juice, preferable fresh (which is 1/4 c + 2 T)

Beat eggs. Combine sugar and flour together, then add to the egg mixture. Mix well. Add lemon juice and mix again. Pour into slightly cooled crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before sprinkling with powdered sugar and then place in the refrigerator to chill. Delicious and simple! Fresh lemon juice really makes this recipe stand out.

Soft & Delicious Sugar Cookies

Credit: Amber Every

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking soda
6 cups of flour

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar. Add sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and add gradually to mixture. You can refrigerate the dough at this point if you would like. Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookies cutters. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes until light and fluffy, but not brown.

Lemon Raspberry Bars

Credit: Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
2 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
6 ounces fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Stir until graham cracker crumbs are moist. Press crumbs into the prepared pan, pressing the crust mixture one inch up the side of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the crust is cool, combine the egg yolks and condensed milk until well mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until mixture begins to slightly thicken. Gently fold in the raspberries. Fold carefully so you don’t break the raspberries.

Pour the lemon raspberry filling evenly over the graham cracker crust. Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set. Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least one hour before serving. Cut into bars and serve. Keep bars in the refrigerator up to five days.

Note: Use fresh raspberries and make sure you gently fold the berries into the lemon filling or you will have pink bars.

Serves 16

Sister K's Snickerdoodles

Credit: Sister K {Allen's mission president's wife}

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1 c butter, slightly softened {or half butter, half margarine}
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 3 c flour
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• cinnamon sugar mixture

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter. Make sure these have time to blend together well. Then add the eggs and vanilla.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add this mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix until the dough is just right.
3. Put cinnamon sugar mixture in a pie tin or other container. Form the dough into balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture until they're nicely coated. Arrange on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Credit: Debbie Borsick (Albertson's Online Recipes)

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 Cups flour
  
• 2 tsp baking soda
  
• 2 Cups butter, softened
  
• 1 1/2 Cups packed brown sugar
  
• 1/2 Cup white sugar
  
• 2 (3.4 oz) packaged instant vanilla pudding mix... or other flavor, if desired
  
• 4 eggs
  
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Cups chopped walnuts (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Credit: Jenn Eastman

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 C sugar
• 1 small can pumpkin
• 3 3/4 - 4 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Add can of pumpkin. Mix well. Add all dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Fruit Smoothies

Credit: Lori Frost

Ingredients:

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup frozen fruit of choice
• 3 scoops sherbet (orange or raspberry are delicious)

Directions:

Pour juice into blender. Add frozen fruit; then scoop sherbet on top. Blend thoroughly until desired consistency (add more orange juice or water to thin; add more sherbet or fruit to thicken).

Flavor Ideas:

1. For a smoothie with a "kick," try: orange juice, orange sherbet, blueberries, pineapple, and peaches.
2. For a "smoother" smoothie, try: orange juice, raspberry sherbet, bananas, and strawberries.
3. For another taste, try substituting apple juice for orange juice and use frozen vanilla yogurt instead of sherbet. Ex: apple juice, frozen vanilla yogurt, and pineapple -- along with 2 Tbsp. coconut milk -- makes a great pina colada smoothie. Or, apple juice, frozen strawberry yogurt, strawberries, and bananas makes a great strawberry banana smoothie.

Healthy Idea: Just replace sherbet with your flavor of yoplait light yogurt. This changes the texture just a bit, but it still has a delicious flavor! 3 ingredients: yogurt, frozen fruit, and orange juice. It's as easy as that!

Shan's Dark Chocolate Cake

Credit: Shannon Cornelius

Ingredients for Cake:

• ½ c. natural cocoa powder
  
• ½ c. boiling water
  
• 2 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
  
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
  
• ¾ c. unsalted butter—room temperature
  
• 1 ¾ c. sugar
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 ½ c. sour cream

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 6 ounces dark chocolate—chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp. water
  
• ¾ c. sugar
  
• 4 large egg yolks
  
• ¾ tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 1 cup unsalted butter—cut into 16 pieces, at room temperature
  
• Grated dark chocolate (optional)

Directions for Cake:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2. Whisk together the cocoa and the boiling water in a small bowl until smooth.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large deep bowl until well blended—the mixture will be dry. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour, just until well blended. Add the cocoa mixture and blend well. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan on wire racks for 20 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the racks and remove pans. Cool cakes completely before frosting.

Directions for Frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate with the water in a double boiler, set over about 1 ½ inches of simmering water, whisking until smooth. Transfer to a large deep bowl.
2. Heat the sugar with the egg yolks in another heatproof bowl over the same saucepan of simmering water, whisking constantly for about 4 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch. Whisk the sugar mixture into the chocolate mixture, add the vanilla, and beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 minutes, or until the mixture has cooled to room temperature. Beat in the butter one piece at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before frosting the cooled cake.
4. Top cake with chocolate shreds (optional).
5.Chill cake before serving.
(Courtesy of Luscious Chocolate Desserts!)

Lemon Jello Cake

Credit: Grandma "Jet" Watkins

Ingredients:

• 1 small pkg lemon Jello

• 1 cup hot water

• 4 eggs

• 1 pkg lemon cake mix

• ½ cup melted margarine

For icing:

• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar mixed with...

• ½ cup lemon juice

Directions:

Dissolve contents of Jello package in 1 cup hot water. Let cool. In mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add cooled Jello mixture and lemon cake mix alternately until blended. Then, stir in melted margarine. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. When done, puncture several times with a fork. Pour on icing while cake is hot.

Brownie Tarts

Credit: BYU Ward

Ingredients:

• 1 package chocolate fudge cake mix
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• Fresh raspberries, strawberry slices, or chocolate sprinkles
  

For Mousse Filling:

• 1 small package instant chocolate pudding mix (4 oz. box)
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 container frozen whipped topping (8 oz.), thawed

Directions:

Heat oven to 325. Combine cake mix, butter, and egg. Mix well. Use fingers to form small balls of dough and press into mini muffin pans, filling half full. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are set. *Do not overcook!! They should not be hard!!* Remove from oven and use an inverted pop bottle or water bottle cap to make indentations while the cups are still warm. Let cool in pan until set. Remove from pan and cool completely before piping mousse filling into each cup. Top each tart with a fresh raspberry, strawberry slice, or chocolate sprinkles.

For mousse filling: Whisk together pudding and half & half. Stir in a few Tbsp whipped topping to lighten mixture, then fold in remaining topping.

Peach Pie

 

Credit: Lauren Anderson

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 stick butter
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 5-6 large peaches cut up without peel
• 2 prepared pie crusts

Directions:

Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and water. Boil until thick and clear (about 10 minutes-- it should barely drip from spoon). Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients. Place in 2 pie crusts. Put in fridge for about 30 minutes. Yum!