Homemade Butterfinger Bites

With all my kiddos home for the summer, I'm always looking for fun things for them to do.  For them it usually involves food.  I swear, they are eating me out of house and home already!  I've taken to calling meal time "slopping the hogs".  Not because they have bad manners (that wouldn't be tolerated), but because of the copious amounts of food they consume.  Its insane.  But I'll bet every mom in America is going through the same thing right now, so I'm in good company.

Anyway.... I love food projects that don't involve any baking and only dirty 1 or 2 dishes.  Especially since my dishwasher seems to run non-stop lately.  We all had a great time smashing peanut butter between Wheat Thins then dipping them in melted chocolate.  You won't believe how good something so simple can be.  And it makes a lot!  We got between 50 and 60 little sandwiches.  They don't go very far when you're feeding 7 hungry kids, but since they are so easy and inexpensive you can just make more!  That's what we did!

Homemade Butterfinger Bites
Makes about 50-60 bites

1 (10 oz.) box original Wheat Thins crackers
1 cup creamy peanut butter
16 ounces dipping chocolate or almond bark

Sandwich about 1/2 teaspoon peanut butter between two Wheat Thins crackers; repeat until all crackers have been used. Melt chocolate in microwave at 50 percent power for one minute; stir. Return to microwave at 30 second intervals until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Dip cracker "sandwiches" in chocolate to coat. Set on wax paper. Place in refrigerator or freezer for 10-15 minutes to set completely. Store in an airtight container.

Source:  The Blogosphere

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Fantasy Bars

These bars have become one of my kiddos favorite treats.  I make them at least every other week.  They are so chewy and chocolaty and delicious.  They are also easy.  I can have them put together in less than 10 minutes.  I send these to the neighbors, in kids lunches, and to work with  my hubby.  They also freeze well.  When I need to hide a treat from myself I freeze it.  I'm much to impatient to wait for it to thaw, but I won't eat it frozen, so it gives my hips and thighs a break!  :)  Best of all, I'll bet you have everything you need to make these little beauties in your cupboards right now.  So get hoppin'!  You can thank me later. 

**You can also make some fun variations of this recipe.  For the holidays you could use chocolate cake mix and red or green colored melting chocolate.  Valentine's Day could be strawberry cake mix and white chocolate chips, with chocolate cake and orange chocolate for Halloween.  Have fun with it!

Fantasy Bars

Makes 12-15 bars

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the dry cake mix, oil and egg in a bowl.  Set aside one cup and press the rest in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.  In a microwave or double boiler melt the chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla together.  Pour over the cake layer, then crumble the remaining cake mixture over the chocolate.  Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into squares.

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Sugar Cookie Bars

This recipe has been floating all around the blogosphere, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.  I love sugar cookies...a lot.  But they are time consuming and a lot of work.  The only time we make them is at Christmas and Valentine's, and let's face it, I'm too lazy to make them the rest of the year.  Enter Sugar Cookie Bars.  All the sweet goodness of a sugar cookie without the rolling and cutting and rolling and cutting again and again.  They are thick and chewy and sweet.  The recipe calls for lemon zest, and you can certainly leave it out, but you will be missing out on the amazing flavor it adds.  So if you have it, use it!  I've made these 3 times in the last few weeks and I'm ashamed to say that I probably ate most of them.  Give these a try, they make a ton to share (if you must).

Sugar Cookie Bars
Serves 15-20

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. lemon zest (optional but recommended)

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and stir with a whisk.  Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.  Spread onto a greased 10 x 15 baking sheet.  Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  They won't look done, so use the toothpick test.  Cool completely and frost.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. almond extract (or vanilla)
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbs. milk
Food coloring

For the frosting, combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.  Add almond extract and salt.  Add powdered sugar 1-2 cups at a time.  Then add the milk a little at a time until you reach a smooth, spreadable consistency.  You may not need all the milk.  Spread over cookie bars.

Source:  The Girl Who Ate Everything

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Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps

I was really hoping to post the soup I made for dinner, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  Its a great recipe, I think it just needs some tweaking.  Instead I have a fabulous recipe for Gingersnaps.  I've had this for years and as luck would have it, my son decided to try it yesterday.  Before now, the only gingersnaps I've ever had are the super crunchy ones that you get in a 3 pound bag at Walmart around the holidays.  Its so sad that I didn't know what I was missing.  Homemade gingersnaps are soft, chewy, sweet and delicious!  They would be amazing crumbled over ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.  But my favorite way to eat them is hot out of the oven!

Soft and Chewy Gingersnaps

3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
pinch of cloves
white sugar for rolling the cookies in

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Cream the shortening, brown sugar, molasses and egg.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Form into small balls about the size of a walnut and roll in sugar.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

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Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies

Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. vegetable shortening
• Sugar Twin equivalent to 1 1/2 c.
• sugar (or Brown Sugar Twin)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. uncooked oatmeal
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together first 5 ingredients. Sift dry ingredients together. Add oatmeal and combine all together. Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Add nuts, raisins, dates, or chocolate chips for variety.

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