Amazing Whole Wheat Cocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (if cold cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
8oz chocolate, cut into chunks

Oven at 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing each one until it's incorporated. Mix in vanilla. Add in flour mixture and blend on low speed until barely combined about 30 seconds. Add chocolate chips. Mix on low speed until chocolate is evenly combined. Scoop mounds of dough (about 3 Tbs each) onto the cookie sheet, 3 inches apart about 6 to a sheet. Bake cookies for 16-20 minutes until evenly darker brown.

Raspberry Almond Pizza

1 lb pizza dough
¼ cup raspberry jam
1/3 cup cream cheese
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Raspberries, sliced almonds and confectioner’s sugar for topping

Oven at 450. Roll out pizza dough into a 12” round. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on a hot baking sheet until golden, about 8 minutes. Brush with the raspberry jam and bake 2 more minutes. Cool slightly. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together. Spread over the pizza and top with additional raspberries, toasted almonds and confectioners’ sugar.

S'More Brownies

10 full graham crackers, broken in half (20 squares), divided
3/4 cup butter or margarine
4 squares semi-sweet baking squares
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 full sized Hershey Bars, broken into chunks

Oven at 350°F.

Line 13x9-inch pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Place 15 grahams in pan, with sides overlapping slightly. Break remaining grahams into pieces.

Microwave butter and chocolate squares in large microwaveable bowl on high 1 min.; stir and continue to microwave at 30 second intervals and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Let cool slightly. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour. Pour over grahams in pan.

BAKE 30 to 32 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Bake 3 to 5 min. or until marshmallows begin to puff. Press reserved, broken, graham pieces gently into marshmallows. Cool. Use foil to lift brownies from pan before cutting to serve.

Coconut Drop Cookies (Vegan)

1-1/2 cups coconut flakes
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light agave or maple syrup
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, melted (butter is perfectly fine here if you don't mind using animal products)

Oven at 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large, dry skillet over medium heat, add coconut and stir constantly until flakes are golden brown. Immediately place in a large bowl, and allow to cool completely. Once coconut has cooled, whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, syrup, and margarine or butter. Stir well, then add wet mixture into the dry mixture. Mix until just combined, being careful not to over-beat. Use a 3-ounce ice cream scoop to portion out cookies, and place at least 1-1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet, fitting about nine cookies on one sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until barely browned around the edges and no longer shiny on top. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

**Note-I was pretty nervous these wouldn't turn out but they turned out just great! They are quite tasty and easily the easiest cookies I've ever made. It took me about 5 minutes max to make these and the best part is it only makes 9-10 large cookies so you are done baking one time in the oven. Try them out!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter [I used smooth peanut butter because I just can't stand the chunky kind!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk (Or vanilla almond milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Oven at 350°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Toss together the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, peanut butter, sugars, soy milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. The dough should be very difficult and moist. Using about a 2 tablespoon cookie dough/ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto sheet, flatten some with your hand. You should have about 9 cookies to a sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies have puffed a bit and are lightly browned. Allow to cool for ten minutes (Or until firm enough to transfer) before moving off the cookie sheet.
This recipe make about 2 dozen huge cookies!

**Note-Although this is a vegan recipe, these cookies are amazing! They are very tasty and stayed chewy for the week it took our little family to eat them all. I even felt good giving them to my kids as a snack since they had natural peanut butter and oats in them!

Now or Later Ginger Molassas Cookies

1 ½ c butter (3 sticks)
1 ½ c packed brown sugar
½ c molasses
2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger
2 eggs
4 c flour
1 T baking soda

If making now, Oven at 350
Cream butter, sugar, molasses, ginger and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour and baking soda. Mix well. Refrigerate dough 1 hour until firm enough to handle. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. If freezing, place on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze 30 minutes. Transfer to freezer bag. If making now, follow directions below for thawed cookie dough.

To make one dozen cookies

1. Thaw in the fridge or bake from frozen.
2. Oven at 350.
3. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15-17 minutes if frozen, 12-14 minutes if thawed.
Cool in baking sheet 2 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

**Note-I made these for Christmas cookies and the ability to freeze them was so nice. I made up the batch a few days before I wanted to bake them, froze them and the day I needed them just popped 'em on the sheet and baked. No work involved. Very handy to have on hand in the freezer!

White Chip Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon maple flavoring (If you have it, otherwise use 2 teaspoons vanilla)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) package white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine flour and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat brown sugar, vegetable shortening, butter, eggs, maple flavoring and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and chopped pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 350°F (175°C) oven for 9 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes 60 cookies.

**Note-these are probably not much different than traditional chocolate chip cookies, but with white chips and pecans which makes for a pleasant surprise.
**Note-these have tons of chips in every bite, so if you wanted, you could easily halve the amount of chips.

Easy Banana Cream Pie

1 medium ripe bananas, sliced
1 ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (Or make your own! It's easy!)
1 3/4 cups cold fat-free milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 cups thawed whipped topping, divided

Place half of the banana slices on bottom of crust. Set remaining banana slices aside. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Spoon the pudding mixture into crust. Top with remaining banana slices; cover with remaining whipped topping.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Butterscotch Blondies

¾ c butter, softened
¾ c brown sugar
½ c sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
1 2/3 c (10 oz package) butterscotch chips
1 c chopped nuts (optional)

Oven at 350. Grease a 13/9 inch pan. Beat butter and sugars in a bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, blending well. Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Makes 36 bars.

**Note-Very, very yummy blondies! The butterscotch chips really add something delicious and unusual to this dessert!

"Sneaky Dad's Pudding"

Taken directly from the book "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1 banana, cut into 4 pieces
1-2 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons flaxseed oil (or fish oil)
3-5 tablespoons nut butter (almond, cashew, peanut, etc.)
2-3 tablespoons orange juice (or other juice like apple or carrot)
2 tablespoons soymilk, almond milk, rice milk or regular milk
1/8-1/4 avocado

Puree everything in a food processor until a pudding like consistency. Makes 2 very large servings.

**Note-this "pudding" provides a great source of protein, fiber, calories and healthy fat. So sneaky!

Low-Fat Double Chocolate Brownies

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
Butter-flavored cooking spray

Oven at 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch non-stick cake pan with spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk or spatula, mix the applesauce, vanilla, egg whites and sugar until they are well combined.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir the mixture until it is just combined and no lumps remain. Pour it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chips evenly over the top. Bake the brownies for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are okay).

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow them to cool 5 minutes. Cut into 12 equal brownies.

**Note-Each brownie has 88 calories, and 1 g fat. Traditional Double Chocolate Brownies have 260 calories, and 12 g fat.

**Note-These brownies are really really moist-so moist you might have a hard time cutting them and getting them to stay together in traditional brownie squares. However you wind up serving them, they're worth it since they are so tasty and so low fat and calorie!

Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Eclair Dessert

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavor instant pudding
1-3/4 cups cold milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
24 honey graham crackers
6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
3 tablespoons butter

Beat pudding mix and milk in large with whisk 2 min. Add peanut butter; mix well. Stir in whipped topping. Layer 1/3 of the grahams and half the pudding mixture in 13x9-inch dish, breaking grahams as necessary to fit. Repeat layers. Top with remaining grahams.
Microwave chocolate and butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min., stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Spread over grahams.
Refrigerate 8 hours.

**Note-Incredibly delicious!

Basic Poke Cake

1 box cake mix of yellow or white cake, baked according to package directions in a 9x13 pan

2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) or 2 pkg. (3 oz. each) Flavored gelatin of your choice

Pierce baked cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.
Add boiling water to gelatin mix; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Carefully pour over cake layers. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Frost with frosting of your choice or with simple whipped cream.

**Note-this is a very versatile cake and can be made in nearly any combination.

Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake

¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks)
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2 ¼ cups flour
2 cups sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups buttermilk
2 eggs, room temperature

Oven at 350. Grease and flour 2 9 inch round cake pans. (For extra assurance, line the bottom of the pans with cut parchment paper.) In a saucepan, melt butter and chocolate, stirring over low heat (Or you may melt them in the microwave together for 1-2 minutes on high.)

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl of electric mixer. Add chocolate mixture, buttermilk and eggs. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, increase to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Divide batter between cake pans. Bake until cakes spring back when gently pressed about 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans 5-10 minutes and then invert on a wire rack to cool.

Frost with frosting of your choice.

Chocolale Chip Ball Suprise "Cookies"

•1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
•2 cups creamy peanut butter
•3 cups confectioners' sugar
•3 cups crispy rice cereal, crushed (recommended: Rice Krispies)
•1 cup semisweet mini chocolate morsels
•2 (12-ounce) packages semisweet chocolate morsels

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar, rice cereal and mini chocolate morsels with an electric mixer. Roll mixture into 1-inch balls and place onto a parchment lined sheet pan in the freezer. (About 30 minutes or so-just so they don't melt/fall apart in the warm chocolate) In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt semisweet morsels. Stir constantly until melted and smooth. With a fork, dip the frozen balls in melted chocolate. Place on a cool cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in freezer for 5 to10 minutes until the chocolate has set. Store the balls in an airtight container at room temperature.

**Note-we ran out of chocolate coating so some of ours didn't have any-still delishious!
**Note-we also used melted white chocolate chips to coat and those were equally yummy.

First Birthday Banana Sour Cream Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup oil

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese , softened (full fat or reduced fat)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts**

Oven at 350°F. Beat first 5 ingredients with mixer on low speed just until moistened, stopping frequently to scrape bottom and side of bowl. Beat on medium speed 2 min. Pour into greased and floured 13x9-inch pan. (Or you may choose to use 2 9-inch circle pans) Bake 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (If using circle pans, follow cooking time on box.) Cool completely.

Beat cream cheese and butter with mixer until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.

Remove cake from pan. Carefully cut cake crosswise in half using serrated knife. Place 1 cake half, top-side down, on plate; spread with some of the cream cheese frosting. Top with remaining cake half, top-side up. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting. Press nuts into sides. Keep refrigerated. (If using circle pans, frost traditionally, using nuts if wanted).

**Note-Since this was a first birthday cake for my son, we omitted the nuts.
**Note-I made this for two separate birthday parties and both time got rave reviews!

Coconut Cream Pie

Caramel Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup coconut milk

Pie:
3/4 (13.5-ounce) can (about 1 cup) coconut milk, reserve remaining for caramel sauce
1 cup milk
1 (3.4-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding
1 (9-inch) pre-made Graham cracker pie crust
1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream**
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons sweetened flake coconut, toasted, for garnish


For Caramel Sauce:
In a medium sauce pot combine sugar, 3 tablespoons water, and lemon juice. Heat over medium-high heat. When sugar turns amber in color, carefully and slowly whisk in the coconut milk. Pour caramel into a bowl that is placed in an ice bath to cool or transfer sauce to a bowl and place in refrigerator.

For Pie:
In a large bowl whisk together 1 cup of coconut milk, milk and pudding mix. Pour in enough caramel sauce, about 1/4 cup, to coat the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the filling into the crust on top of the caramel.

In another large mixing bowl that has been chilled. Whip the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form, be careful not to over beat.

Spread the whipped cream on top of the pie and refrigerate for 1 hour or until completely set. Once the pie is set, sprinkle with toasted coconut and drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce.

**Note-I'm always too lazy to make my own whipped cream and while I know it would taste better I am fine with the store bought whipped topping.

**Note-This pie is simply fabulous! It is probably one of the best desserts I've ever made!

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

1-8oz package of cream cheese, softened
½ c plus 1 T creamy peanut butter, divided
1 c cold milk
1 package (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 ½ c cool whip topping, divided
1 chocolate pie crust
3 oz chocolate (either Baker's chocolate or chocolate chips work too)

Beat cream cheese and ½ c peanut butter until well blended. Add milk and dry pudding mix, beat 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup cool whip. Spoon into crust and refrigerate until ready to use. Meanwhile, microwave remaining cool whip and chocolate in a bowl on high, 1 ½-2 minutes, or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Check after one minute, stirring after checking. Cool chocolate completely. Spread the chocolate mixture over pudding layer in the crust (on top). Microwave the remaining peanut butter in a small measuring cup, about 30 second, stir. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate 4 hours, or until firm.

Easy Chocolate Bark

1 8oz package baking chocolate (either semi-sweet, milk chocolate or white chocolate-your choice)
1 1/2 cups total of add-ins of your choice-some examples are dried fruits, nuts, cereal, or pretzels, all chopping small pieces.

Microwave the chocolate in microwaveable bowl on high 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring after each minute. Add half (of each) add-ins. Mix well. Spread onto waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining add-ins. Refrigerate until firm. When cooled and hardened, break into pieces.

Carmel Brownies

14 oz. package of caramels (unwrapped)
2/3 cup of evaporated milk (divided)
3/4 cup of melted butter
1 package of Chocolate Cake Mix (any chocolate cake mix will do, devil's food, chocolate, German chocolate, etc.)
1 cup chocolate chips

Oven at 350. Put caramels and 1/3 cup of evaporated milk in a sauce pan and heat over low heat. Stir frequently/constantly until caramels are completely melted. Set aside caramel mixture.

Mix together melted butter, chocolate cake mix, and the other 1/3 cup of evaporated milk until all blended. Spread half of mixture into bottom of greased 13 x 9 pan. The mixture should cover the entire bottom of the pan in a thin layer. (You may have to use a little more than half the mixture.) Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Pull out and let cool for about 1 minute. Then sprinkle the chocolate chips over it. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Take remaining cake mixture and drop in spoonfuls over caramel. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. . The spoonfuls will expand while baking and will cover most of the caramel mixture but not all of it. Let cool for a few minutes and serve. These keep very well in a covered container for several days.