Grandma’s Banana Pudding from scratch….there just aint’ nothin’ like this out there that tastes so good!  This is the most requested food dish that family members ask me to bring to holiday get-togethers and any other time I can.  My grandmother made some of the best treats ever and this ranks #1 on my list.  I’m republishing this due to it’s popularity so enjoy and check out her other recipes if you get a chance.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 heaping  Tbsp. Flour…and I mean heaping!
• 1/2 cup sugar or a little more;)
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• butter
• vanilla
• Vanilla Wafers (save some to crumble for the top)
• Bananas

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, mix flour & sugar then add eggs and mix well.  Start your burner and slowly add milk; a little at a time stirring constantly.  Continue stirring until it has thickened.  After thick, add butter and vanilla to taste.  I would say about 1 Tbsp of butter maybe.  I double this recipe to make a bunch so it’s hard for me to give you accurate measurements.  Not too much vanilla either or it will taste almost chocolatey.  Maybe a 1/4 tsp??  Again, not sure.  Just taste it.

You’ll want to layer your wafer cookies and bananas for a pretty presentation.  I don’t do this though..I throw in a bowl..LOL.  I refrigerate mine over night because I like it VERY cold but you should refrigerate it for a few hours.

Ingredients…..

Here’s all the good stuff cooking in the saucepan……

While you’re cooking the the stuff in the pot, you can slice your bananas and layer your wafers & bananas. Don’t forget to keep stirring your pudding though.

Once your pudding is done, add the butter and vanilla.  Remember, I double my recipe so that’s why there is more in my pudding!

Now that it’s done, you pour into your dish with your wafers and bananas.

This is where the extra wafers come in.  Crush them up and sprinkle on top.

Sprinkle and Viola!

Remember to refrigerate….once nice and cold, sit back and enjoy!!!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have to be some of the BEST cookies ever.  These cookies are slightly crisp on the outside with a soft and chewy inside, full of chunks of macadamia nuts and white chocolate.  Very drool worthy!  What is your favorite kind of cookie?

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound (2 cups) butter, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 4 ¼ cup all purpose unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounce bag) white chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 ¼ cup (4 ounces) macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

• 1. This recipe makes a large batch of 48 full size cookies. The full batch will fit in a 5 quart mixer. Divide the recipe in half if needed.
• 2. Make sure the oven keeps the right temperature. The cookies may need a minute or two more or less than stated.
• 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 4. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (no need to grease).
• 5. Measure flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and blend together. Set aside.
• 6. In a large mixing bowl, preferably a heavy-duty mixer, and using the paddle or beater attachment, beat butter until creamy.
• 7. Add brown sugar and beat again. Scrape down the bowl and add the granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy.
• 8. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
• 9. Add vanilla, beat and scrape again.
• 10. On low speed, add flour mixture 2 cups at a time, and mix well.
• 11. Mix in white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Mix only until blended.
• 12. Using a cookie scoop, place dough on prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly to allow for spreading.
• 13. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do NOT over bake these cookies. They continue to bake for a few minutes after they are removed from the oven.
• 14. Transfer to cooling racks. Store in air tight container or plastic bag to stay soft and moist.
• 15. Makes 48 warm and gooey cookies.

I enjoy making different kinds of quick breads. The flavors you see most often are pumpkin and banana. But have you tried chocolate bread? It’s so good – moist and a great combination of chocolate and cinnamon. The other thing I really like about this recipe is that it makes 2 loaves. One for you, and another one for…you! You should try to share, but it will be tough!

It’s a recipe that Starbucks gave out a couple of years ago to go with one of their coffee flavors. They even sold this bread in their stores. I think mine turned out just as fabulous and yours will too!

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
(from the kitchen of Marcus Samuelsson)

CHOCOLATE BATTER

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

COCOA-SPICE SUGAR CRUST

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• Pinch ground ginger
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 cup decorating or sparkle sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 9x5x3 in. loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

2. Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

4. Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.

That’s all – LOL! I know it’s a lot to follow, but it’s SO GOOD!! I hope you get to try it soon.

Lisa

About the Author:

Lisa from Stop and Smell the Chocolates is a married mom of one amusing son and she loves chocolate! Take a little chocolate break during your stressful day – stop by her blog and you might find a yummy recipe, a funny story, a cup of tea, a household tip, a lovely picture, or a new friend. Lisa looks forward to meeting you and sharing some chocolate!

If you would like to submit a guest post for consideration, fill out the guest writer form!

Hi, I’m Lisa from Stop and Smell the Chocolates. I’m a married mom of one amusing son and I love chocolate! Take a little chocolate break during your stressful day – come by and you might find a yummy recipe, a funny story, a cup of tea, a household tip, a lovely picture, or a new friend. I look forward to meeting you and sharing some chocolate!

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, you may be looking for a nice chocolate dessert to make (’cause every mom I know loves chocolate). This recipe is rich and delicious. The presentation is nice too. All chocolate fans will love it!

The recipe was from a magazine and sat around my house for a couple of years. I happened to have some mini liqueurs in my cupboard (either one could be used in the recipe) because I liked the bottles. I never really thought to get them all together and try it out until I had a blog full of chocolate! I’m so glad I did. Enjoy! It will be hard to share, but I highly recommend it.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 oz. baking chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons Frangelico or Godiva chocolate liqueur

Garnish:

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts or almonds
• 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together cream, sugar, and vanilla. Simmer, stirring several times, until reduced by a third, about 40 minutes.

2. Stir in chopped chocolates until well-blended.

3. Remove from heat and whisk in liqueur. Can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead (gently reheat to serve).

To Serve:
Whip the cream until frothy. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue to whip until the cream holds soft peaks. Fold in chopped nuts and chocolate bits. Place a large scoop of the whipped cream in the center of each serving bowl and pour the warm chocolate soup around the whipped cream.

Makes 4-6 servings

Guest post from Kids’ Cattle Blog sharing their love from homemade snow ice cream!  Here fella there makes it look awful good!!  Thanks for sharing with us!

It doesn’t get any easier than this guys!  Enjoy if you have snow.  We’ll be in the 80′s here today so no chance of this stuff right now for us!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 qt.clean snow
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Mix together and enjoy. We only have skim milk. I think whole milk would make it creamier.

Guest post by Rachel

Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t, but it IS delicious!

My ex-boyfriend had two favorite desserts: cheese cake and anything with peanut butter and chocolate combined. When I found this recipe (while we were dating, of course!) I couldn’t wait to make it for him. I surprised him with it on day, and I was right, he loved it – and I was quite proud of my culinary skills. Since then we’ve parted ways, but while he’s no longer in my life….these brownies are! A more cynical woman than I might joke that I kept the better part. And they are even better than ever, because I’ve added a new twist…pie!

I “cheat” a little bit on these brownies, because I use a box mix. You can use whatever brownie recipe you like – If you’re in a more authentic mood, here’s the recipe for the chocolate brownie part:

• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch process cocoa (or European Style)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips

You can read the original post here: Then I follow the following recipe for the peanut butter cheesecake part:

Peanut Butter Mixture

• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 c. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg

You get the marbled effect by pouring 2/3 of the batter into the pan, spooning chunks of the PB mixture on top of it, covering it with the remaining batter, and then swirling it around with a knife. Cool for better cutting and chill before serving. I love these brownies straight out of the freezer. They don’t tend to freeze through, just cold enough to taste fudgy!

I baked them recently for a book club meeting that I am hosting, and added a new twist. I baked it into a pie shell….yummy!!!

You can read more recipes, books, and other musings at my blog: The Rachel Chronicles
Happy baking and tasty eating!
Rachel

Photo Credit & Original recipe from: Cookie Madness

BAHAHAHHAHAHAHA…gotcha huh!  Oh….I SO crack myself up.

So my SIL read my Hershey’s post and was inspired to use some Hershey’s chocolate that she had handy in her own pantry!  You know, cookies are really easy to make, each batch usually makes a lot, and they’re always hit with everyone!

Anyways, this post here was submitted by my ever so lovely, very humorous, beautiful SIL!  What?  You never know when I might need something eh???  heehee

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 C. Butter Flavor Crisco
• 1 C. Granulated Sugar
• 1 C. Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 tbs Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 C. Flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 C. Oats (quick or regular)
• 1 C. Corn Flakes (crushed)
• 2 C Hershey’s semi-sweet Choc chips
• 1 C. Pecans
• 1 C. Coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350′. Grease baking sheet with crisco. Combine first 5 ingredients, beat at low speed mixer until well creamy. Add all dry ingredients. mix at low speed until dough is well mixed.

Using a ice cream scoop, drop 3″ apart onto greased sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes or until edges are lightly brown but centers are slightly soft. Cool 3 minutes on sheet then remove with spatula to rack to set.

Makes about 2 dozen 5″ cookies…..

Oh, hey. I’m Corrin. You weren’t expecting me, were you? This is my first guest post ever, and I’m super excited because I get to post on a blog that I’m a huge fan of on a topic that I can’t get enough of. Food!

I work in food marketing communications, which means that my clients are national food manufacturers, and I coordinate their brochures, advertising, packaging, and best of all…recipe development! We have a chef on staff who is fabulous at whipping up the best recipes that incorporate our client’s products, plus a food photographer and stylist that make sure we have the best pictures to make the recipes look as scrumptious as they taste.

The recipes that I love the most were developed for a Chicago company known for their vanilla extracts. Now, I don’t get paid enough to run around the internet plugging the company, but I do love their cookbook enough to share my favorite recipe, which just so happens to be the simplest:

Vanilla Honey Butter

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients using an electric mixer until creamy and smoother on muffins, bagels, toast, or just eat with a spoon (the most shameful, and my favorite, way to sample).

If you’d like a super special bottle of vanilla extract that was specially aged for the company’s 100 year anniversary, head on over to my blog and I will send a bottle to the first 12 people that leave a comment on any post using the keyword “vanilla.”

Corrin has a slew of blogs, her most popular being Oh, Hey, a mish-mash of pop culture, product reviews, current events, and daily life. She resides in Chicago with her paramedic husband and miniature wiener dog.