Devil Dogs

Submitted by Melanie

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog. I really love her yummy recipes. I wasn't sure if I could recreate these, but I thought I would give it a try, and I did it. I made these for a church event and they were the first dessert gone. I was so happy that people liked them. My kids couldn't get enough of them. Try them out and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• ½ cups Buttermilk
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18×13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into greased sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

Allow cake to cool completely, then turn out onto a flat surface. While the cake is cooling make the frosting recipe.

Ingredients for "That's the best frosting I have ever had"

• 5 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

Preparation Instructions

In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.

To assemble the Devil Dogs cut cooled cake into rectangles (I used a round cookie cutter to make circles)

Place frosting into a frosting bag. Squeeze frosting onto one rectangle (circle) of cake. Press second rectangle ( circle) on top. Squeeze a dollop of frosting on the top piece of cake. Place a cherry on top.

Chill until ready to serve!

Knock You Naked Brownies

Submitted by Melanie

I think the name of the this recipe is a little weird, but they are so worth making. I really don't think you will want to be naked after you eat these though! I brought these to a church dinner and was asked a few different times for the recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• ⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
• ½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)
• ½ cups Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

Source The Pioneer Woman

Beef Noodle Bowls (Okay in the picture they are not technically in a bowl)

Submitted by Hannah

This yummy asian inspired pasta dish is one of our family favorites. I discovered this recipe when I gave in at the supermarket to purchasing a small Betty Crocker Pasta magazine. I had tried a couple of other recipes in the book but was not impressed until we made this little gem. It is like having a little bit of "take out" right out of your own kitchen. The recipe below has been modified to how I make it but it is very similar to the original.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless beef sirloin cut into thin strips

2 cups beef broth

1/4 of stir fry sauce (I use Kikkoman)

2 Tbsp orange marmalade

Red pepper flakes to taste

1 - 1 and a 1/2 cups snow pea pods cut in half diagonally (As you can see in the picture I used broccoli because my grocery story had terrible snow peas that week, the recipe is very forgiving)

1 red pepper thinly sliced in bite size pieces

1 lb mushrooms quartered

1 1/2 cups uncooked angel hair pasta (3 ounces)

Directions:

Spray 12 inch or larger skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook beef for only 2-3 minutes and then remove from pan. I usually let it sear on the first side for 2 minutes until brown and then turn. After the beef is removed I cook the vegetables starting with the mushrooms since they take the longest. After the mushrooms are about halfway cooked I add the red pepper strips and the snow peas. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the vegetables have finished cooking I remove them from the pan and add them to the beef.

With the pan on medium heat add the broth, stir fry sauce, orange marmalade and repper flakes ot the skillet. Heat to boiling. Break noodles in half and add to the boiling liquid and stir occasionally so the noodles do not stick together. You may want to reduce the heat to low to medium low if the liquid is evaporating too quickly or add water if more liquid is needed.

Once the noodles are cooked about 5 minutes or so or until your liking and the beef and vegetables back into the skillet. Stir together and enjoy! I sometimes add a bit more noodles and just add liquid as needed.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispy Treats

Submitted by Lisa

Now I know that we are not supposed to post recipes that say: "use a handful of this or that", well, I am anyway. : )

Really, this is not a hard thing to follow and you really can't screw it up. So give it a try.

I don't think I have made a regular rice krispy treat in a while. My kids really like it this way.

Ingredients:

2 bags marshmallows

1 stick of butter

@ 6 cups crispies (this is approximate amount, add a little at a time...leave moist)

2 handfuls of semi sweet choc chips

@1/2 c peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1. Melt the stick of butter in a large pot

2. Add the marshmallows and melt, stirring constantly

3. Once they are melted, turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter

4. Now, pour in about 3 cups of the cereal and stir it in.

5. Add the choc chips and stir a few times

6. Add enough rice cereal to make a semi moist mixture. You don't want to add too many crispies because you will end up with a very dry undesirable treat. Just add a bit at a time until you are satisfied.

7. Put mixture into a 9x13 sprayed pan and let it set up. Enjoy!!