I'm out of town for the weekend. I'll bump it again on Monday.

Dutch Oven Recipes
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Chipotle Chocolate Cake

For the Cake
2 sticks butter, unsalted
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
5 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/8 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp chipotle chile powder

For Frosting
16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
6 oz nutella
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup milk, plus extra as needed


Bake the Cake:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment. Set aside.

Place butter into a saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Do not brown. Once the butter has completely melted, add the chocolate chips. Stir over medium heat until all chocolate has melted. Do not burn chocolate. Remove from heat.

While the butter and chocolate are melting, add the eggs, brown and granulated sugars to a large mixing bowl. Beat until the sugar has completely dissolved into the eggs and the mixture begins to thicken.

In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, flour, baking powder & chipotle chile powder. Add the sifted ingredients to the egg mixture. Fold the flour in until just incorporated. Slowly pour the melted chocolate-butter mixture into the batter, folding while pouring to incorporate.

Once the all the ingredients have been completely incorporated, pour half of the batter into each of the two greased, lined cake pans. Place the pans into the upper third of a preheated 325 degree oven. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes until the cake has just set and a toothpick stuck into the middle of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs. (If it comes out with any gooey batter, let the cake bake longer, as needed.) Remove the cakes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Cool for at least 2 hours before building the cake. Once cooled, cakes may be covered and stored at room temperature for a day before finishing.

While the cake is cooling, Make the Frosting:

Add the cream cheese and nutella into a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric beat or cream with a rubber spatula until light and fluffy. Sift in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Add the milk then then gently beat to incorporate, trying not to splatter milk and powdered ingredients all over the kitchen! Beat until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the frosting is light and fluffy. Cover and set aside until ready to frost the cake.

Finish the Cake:
When ready to assemble the cake, slide a knife around the outside of the cakes to loosen. Place your choice of serving dish upside down over one of the cake pans. Flip the cake pan over (so the serving dish is underneath the cake, right side up) and gently turn out the cake from the pan. Carefully peel away the parchment paper.

Using strips of parchment paper, line the base of the cake, tucking strips of parchment just underneath the base all the way around.

Place 1/3 of the frosting on to the middle of the cake. Spread the frosting in an even layer over the cake. Carefully remove the second cake from the pan and gently place cake, parchment side up, onto the frosted layer. Peel the parchment paper off of the top layer.

Evenly frost the top and sides of the cake using the rest of the frosting. Once The cake is fully frosted remove the parchment strips lining the base of the cake. Serve and enjoy! The cake may be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate.

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Tiger Butter

1 package milk chocolate chips
1 package white candy bark
1/2 can of creamy peanut butter

Melt the white candy bark slowly so as not to burn it. Mix in 1/2 can of peanut butter and mix well so it is all smooth. Pour in 9 x 12 pan.
Melt chocolate chips slowly so as not to burn. Drop the melted chocolate in gobs on top of the white bark/peanut butter mix. Take a knife and run it through the candy to make stripes. Alternate directions. It looks like a tiger's stripes.
Place in fridge for about an hour or two to let it harden. You want it to be hard, but not so hard that you can't cut it with a knife. Cut into squares and enjoy. It's like a fudge.

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Apple Cranberry Crisp

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter flavored shortening, melted
1 tablespoon water
1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced

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DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir in the melted shortening and water to form a crumbly mixture.
In a large saucepan, mix together the cranberry sauce and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. Stir in the apples. Spread into an 8x8 inch glass baking dish. Crumble the oat mixture over the apples.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm.

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Rum Balls

One 12 oz. box vanilla wafers
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup ground pecans
1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup rum
Sugar for rolling
1. Crush the wafers with a rolling pin or in a food processor: You should have about 3 cups. In a large bowl, mix them with the confectioners' sugar, ground pecans, cocoa, corn syrup and rum. (If you don't want to use rum, use milk instead.) Form the mixture into a ball and refrigerate. When the dough is firm, pull off walnut-sized pieces, form them into balls and roll them in more powdered sugar. Makes 3 to 4 dozen rum balls.

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

* 1 box yellow cake mix
* 1 cup dark brown sugar
* 1/4-1/2 cup butter
* 1 can sliced pineapple, , drained
* 1 jar maraschino cherry (optional)
* halved walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Follow instructions on cake box for making an oblong single layer cake.
2. Prepare cake batter and set aside.
3. Cut up butter in small pieces and place all over the bottom of the oblong pan specified on cake box.
4. Sprinkle brown sugar generously over the butter.
5. Place pan on the stove (or in the oven) and heat slowly until butter and sugar melt to a liquid then remove from heat.
6. Evenly space the pineapple slices around the bottom of pan in the heated sugar and butter.
7. Place the cherries and nuts between the pineapple slices (Tho the cherries and nuts look nice and taste great, they are optional).
8. Pour cake batter on top of the pineapple/cherry/nut mixture.
9. Place in oven and bake as directed on cake box.
10. As soon as cake is done place a plate over the cake and turn upside down and carefully remove pan.
11. If you wait too long the sugar will harden and be difficult to remove.

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and my personal favorite, that everyone begs me to make around the holidays...

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Pecan Pie

For crust:
1¼ Cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ C shortening, chilled & diced
3 tbsp ice water

2 tsp butter
1½ Cups chopped pecans
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup maple syrup
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt

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ttt for Monday

FRUITY PIZZA



Ingredients:
1 Package Sugar Cookie Dough
1 8oz Cream Cheese
¼ c Lemon Juice
1cn Eagle Brand Milk
1cn Pie Filling
** Fresh Fruit of your choice (we use strawberries & banana’s)


Spread Cookie Dough in a Pizza Pan or pan of your choice and cook as directed

Mix all ingredients except Pie Filling

Pour mixture over the cookie

Pour can filling over mixture

Lay Fresh Fruit on top.


[This message has been edited by gwellis (edited 3/8/2010 4:26p).]

Banana pudding

* 8 oz of room temp cream cheese
* 14 oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
* 5 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
* 2 cups of COLD milk
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed
* 4-8 bananas, sliced
* vanilla wafers

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Then beat in condensed milk, pudding, milk and vanilla until. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping.

Line dish with vanilla wafers. Arrange sliced bananas evenly over wafers. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill for at least an hour to let wafers get soft a bit.

Tip: Dip banana slices in lemon juice before placing down so they don't brown as fast.

Rock 'n Roll Brownies
Ingredients
• 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup small marshmallows
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Nonstick cooking spray
Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 Place melted chocolate and applesauce into a bowl and stir together. Add sugar.
3 Stir in the eggs. Add vanilla and flour.
4 Add the nuts, chocolate chips, and marshmallows, and stir to combine.
5 Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
6 Pour in the brownie batter and spread into pan evenly.
7 Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Variation
Superfast Brownies: When I'm short on time, I make these Rock 'n' Roll Brownies with my favorite basic package brand. I prepare the mix as the box directs, then I stir 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, ½ cup of small marshmallows, and ½ cup nuts into the batter. To keep the fat and calorie count lower, I substitute applesauce for the oil (follow the directions on the box). Then bake according to the package directions.