Sugar Cookies From Scratch

I made these cookies for my niece Sophia who was recognized as student of the month!!! The recipe is very simple and easy to make.

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are truly amazing! And easy to make :) If I don't have walnuts on hand, I use macademias with white chocolate chips. You can also skip the nuts and do dark and white morsels. They come out delicious either way.

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

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.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Jell-O Dessert

1 (6 ounce) package raspberry Jell-O

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen berries, thawed and drained

2 (8 ounce) cans crushed pineapple, undrained

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

In a bowl, dissolve Jell-O in water. Stir in the raspberries, pineapple, and salt. Pour half into an 8-cup ring mold coated with nonstick cooking spray; refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm (I have no patience so I put it in the freezer for about 25-30 min LOL). Let remaining gelatin mixture stand at room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Carefully spread over gelatin in mold; top with remaining gelatin mixture. Refrigerate for 6 hours or until firm.

Moist Delicious Pound Cake

I've used this pound cake recipe for a long time. The secret to this recipe is cream cheese. It is very yummy!!! You can add chocolate chips or nuts to the batter if you'd like. I like it plain :)

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounches cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4  large eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Grease and flour a bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350F. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Beat the butter and cream cheese at high speed. Add the sugar and mix well. Add sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add to the butter mixture at low speed until smooth. Add chocolate chips or walnuts if desired and pour into bundt pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes before turning out of the pan. Cool completely. Enjoy!!!

Red Velvet Cake

This is my favorite red velvet cake recipe. It's very moist and delicious. I found that using cake flour really makes a difference in the texture of the cake. This recipe can also be used as cupcakes, of course.

2 1/2 cups cake flour
3 Tbsp baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter (not margarine)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs
1 ounce red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together cake flour, baking cocoa, salt, and baking soda.

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. With mixer on low, add red food coloring (be careful not to splash it, as it stains almost everything). Add Vanilla.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape bowl and mix just enough to combine.

Pour batter into greased pan. Bake for 30 min or until toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs clinging to it.

The Best Trifle

My friends and family love this trifle. I get many requests for it. It takes some time and effort but is totally worth it!!

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix

1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup water

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch squares.

In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.

In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

Yummy Apple Crisp!

I just made this apple crisp and it came out delicious! So I decided to share the recipe. It is super easy to make :)

4-5 sliced apples
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup soft butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375F
Place sliced apples in greased pan
Blend flour, cinnamon, butter, sugar, and oatmeal til crumbly
Spread over Apples
Bake for 30-35 min