Pastel Easter Candies

1/4 cup granulated sugar
Food coloring of choice
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 ounces regular cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon flavor extract of choice*
4 cups powdered sugar (1 pound)
2 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut (7 ounces)

Place 1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar in a small bowl, add a small drop of food color and stir to thoroughly mix and color the sugar. If color is too dark, add additional sugar. If color is too light, add more food coloring. *For fun, create a variety of colored sugars to match the extract flavoring used (yellow for lemon, orange for orange flavor, etc) Can also use Almond extract.

Soften butter and cream cheese, add flavor extract of choice* and powdered sugar; stir to blend. Add coconut and mix well (using clean hands or cookie dough attachment on a stand mixer).

Roll candy into small egg shapes then roll in colored sugar; place candy on a cookie sheet to set up. This is fun for the kids to help make! I will add a picture very soon!

Sugar Cookies

You know how some sugar cookies need frosting because they taste pretty much like flour? Well, these cookies stand alone. No frosting needed at all.

They are perfect!

This recipe came from my Great Grandma Genevieve Gilder that my little Genevieve was named after.

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups flour

With a mixer beat oil, butter, sugars, vanilla, cream of tartar, baking soda, and eggs until fluffy. Add flour. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Form dough into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press balls down slightly with a glass cup dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or so. The tops will not brown at all, but my bottoms did when I left them in too long, so watch them carefully. Cool on a flat surface.

And then I got creative...

This black raspberry ice cream from Dreyers is amazingly refreshing!

You know what else would be cuter? If I added a little sprinkles on the chocolate before it hardened. Or better yet, just use colored chocolate like yellow or pink or light blue. How Easter-ish would that look?!

Have fun. Get creative.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Bars

I found this on the blog: cookies and cups, this is a great blog for dessert/treat ideas!!! I made this at bunko for our dessert and it is super yummy!!!

1 16.6 oz pkg of Oreo cookies

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Preheat the oven to 325°

Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil (shiny side down) and spray with non-stick spray.
Set aside 8 Oreo cookies.

Crush the remaining Oreos with either your food processor or in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin. (I did the ziplock method)

When the Oreos are crushed transfer them into a medium bowl and add your salt and melted butter, stirring to combine.
Press your Oreo mixture into your prepared pan.
Chop your remaining 8 Oreos into coarse pieces and set aside.

In a double boiler (a bowl fitted over a pan of boiling water) add your sweetened condensed milk, the semi-sweet chips, the milk chips and the vanilla. Stir until all melty.

(OR you could do this in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted, I did it this way!)
Remove from heat

Pour your melted chocolate mixture over the Oreo crust.
Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling.

Press down gently into the chocolate topping.

Bake for 20-22 minutes in preheated oven.

Cool pan on a wire rack for approx 1 hour.

Melt the white chocolate chips.

Drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the bars.
Chill in refrigerator until completely cooled, an hour or two.

Make sure they are completely cooled, otherwise they are a bit mushy...still delicious, but hard to cut.

When ready to serve, using the foil remove from the pan and cut into squares.
Enjoy the rich chocolatey taste!!! mmmmmmmm!

Grapefruit Cake

I cringed as soon as I saw my Bountiful Basket a few weeks ago. Two grapefruits? Really? Who really likes grapefruit anyway? I can't imagine any reason to eat one....until now.

This cake reminds me of a cake my mom makes for my brother, Brian. She uses orange juice in it then pokes the top after it's baked to pour on this amazing citrus glaze. Oh man...delicious!

The best part about this cake? It tastes nothing like a grapefruit. It just tastes citrus-y. It's quite refreshing.

Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk, not skim - you need that fat in there!

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon grapefruit zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grapefruit Syrup - Oh yum!:

1 cup strained fresh grapefruit juice

2/3 cup sugar

Grapefruit Icing:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon or so fresh grapefruit juice

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and eggs with an electric mixer. Mix for about 3 minutes. Be patient....you won't regret it! Add the milk, oil, zest and vanilla. Mix well. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Pour it all into your prepped pan. Bake for an hour and ten minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

While it's baking make the syrup. Combine the juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Let cool a little.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven take a skewer and poke lots of holes about an inch deep into the top of the cake. Pour on your syrup.

Now, you have got to let it cool before removing or slicing ! or else you will have a cake that looks a lot like this....

Not pretty at all, but oh my goodness, it tastes amazing!

One last thing, make your icing. Just stir together your powdered sugar and juice. Add more juice if needed and pour it all over the top. My mouth is salivating.

So, now I will no longer make a face when I spot those huge grapefruits in my basket. I'll actually smile because they'll give me an excuse to make this cake again.