Pecan Pie

Ingredients ■1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust (I Use "sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust" Recipe ■1 cup White Sugar ■3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar ■1/2 teaspoon Salt ■1 cup Corn Syrup ■3/4 teaspoons Vanilla ■1/3 cup Melted Butter (salted) ■3 whole Eggs, Beaten ■1 cup (heaping) Chopped Pecans Preparation Instructions First, whip up your pie crust. Next, mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl. Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans. NOTE: PIE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLY JIGGLY WHEN YOU REMOVE IT FROM THE OVEN. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes; sometimes it takes 75! Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve in thin slivers.

Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Bars

2 1/8 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 12 TBSPs butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk 2 tsps vanilla extract 1 12oz bag M&M's, divided 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the bars from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray. 2. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in 1 cup of M&M's and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle remaining M&M's on top and press in slightly. 3. Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve. Verdict: These were unbelievably soft and I just have to make sure I am patient when waiting for them to cool before attempting to move them out of the pan. I used mini M&Ms which were great. Also this was a super quick recipe which is always a bonus.

Harry Potter Butterbeer Cupcakes

Makes 18 For the cupcakes: 2 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed 3 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon butter flavoring 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup cream soda For the ganache: 1 11-oz. package butterscotch chips 1 cup heavy cream For the buttercream frosting: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1/3 cup butterscotch ganache 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon butter flavoring 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 16-oz. package powdered sugar Splash of milk or cream (as needed) For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, cream your butter until light and fluffy. Add your sugars and beat until well-combined. Beat in your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then beat in your vanilla and butter flavoring. Alternate adding your buttermilk, cream soda, and dry ingredients in batches until all are well incorporated. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch. Cool completely on wire racks. For butterscotch filling: In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove), combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream and stir until completely combined and smooth. Cool to room temperature. Fill a squeeze bottle with ganache and insert into the center of each cupcake, squeezing until filling begins to overflow. For buttercream frosting: Cream butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add in ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until reaching desired consistency. Add milk or cream by the Tablespoon as needed. Frost cupcakes and top with a drizzle of butterscotch ganache. Verdict: These are AWESOME! Only thing that needs to change is that I need to really cool down the ganache to make it less runny when putting it on the top of the cupcakes. It was a bit of a mess.

Better Buttercream Frosting

Yield: Enough to frost 12 cupcakes Prep Time: 10 minutes 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2½ cups powdered sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1. Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice. 2. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip in the mixer before using.

MIni Apple Pies

Ingredients: 8 cups of apples cut into small 1/2in bits (about 7-8 apples) 12 tbs flour 1 1/2 cup sugar 4 heaping tsp cinnamon 1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg (depending on how you like nutmeg) 4 tbs chilled butter divided into 24 equal parts 2 boxes of pie crusts (four chilled NOT frozen crusts) Directions: 1. Mix together the first 5 ingredients. Put mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and so the flavors can become great friends. 2. Lay out pie crust and cut circles large enough to fit in the muffin tin. You need to get about 6 circles per crust (4 crusts X 6 circles for 24 mini pies). 3. Spray muffin tin with non stick spray. 4. Put pie crust circle into muffin tin and press sides down to make a mini pie crust bowl. 5. Spoon apple mixture into pie crusts. 6. Put on part of the divided butter on top of each pie. 7. Top with remaining scraps of dough cut out into shapes or make a streusel topping. 8. Brush tops with melted butter if you put dough shapes on top. I wouldn't recommend it with the streusel topping. 9. Bake 20-22 minutes at 400. Let cool and enjoy! NOTE: The taste for these are right on. I didn't initially let the mixture marry in the fridge and noticed while it was good, the mixture from the fridge came out better. I also cut my apples chunks too small so they didn't puff up pretty like the picture I had found with this recipe. Lastly, I made one batch with my own crust and one with store bought. Couldn't taste the difference and since I like things easier, I may just stick to buying the crust for this one.

Mini Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients: Buns: 1 8-oz tube crescent roll dough 2 tablespoons butter cinnamon brown sugar Glaze: 1 teaspoon maple syrup 1 tablespoon milk 3/4 cup powdered sugar Directions; 1. Preheat oven according to crescent roll dough directions. Layout half of the dough (4 triangles) and pinch all the seams together. Flip over and pinch the seams on the back side together too. 2. Using a rolling pin, smooth the seams and roll the dough into a square about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with half of the butter and sprinkle with as much cinnamon and brown sugar as you want. (Make sure you don't go all the way to the top edge so it sticks together when you roll it.) Roll into a tight log and cut into 8 pieces. 3. Place mini cinnamon rolls into a non-stick sprayed mini muffin tin. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the other half of the cresscent roll dough. Bake according to package directions. 4. In the meantime, whish toether mayple syrup iand milk in a bowl. Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle ofver cinamon rolls. (I found it easier to take the rolls out of the tin and then dirzzle when they cool a bit). Note: This recipe is AWESOME and super quick.

Pancakes

Ingredients: 2 2/3 cup flour 6 tsp baking powder 1 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 4 eggs beaten 2 cups milk 2 tablespoons cooking oil (I used vegetable) Directions: 1. Whisk dry ingredients together 2. Separately mix beaten egg, milk and oil. 3. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir together until just combined. 4. Don't over mix. It is okay if it is lumpy. 5. Bake on the stove top. Depending on your pan, spray or coat with butter so they don't stick. 6. Makes about 16 pancakes. Note: This recipe made A LOT of mini pancakes. I would start by cutting the recipe in half depending on how big your army is that you are feeding.