Banana Split Cheesecake Brownie Bars

A boxed brownie mix makes these delicious bars a breeze to make, and they are something a little different than plain old brownies to take to your next "bring a dessert" event. I garnish with sprinkles for more of a banana split feel, and you can also sprinkle with some chopped peanuts if you'd like. I usually skip the peanuts if I'm bringing these to a public event.

1 box 19 oz box brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
4 eggs, divided
12 oz softened cream cheese (1 1/2 bricks)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
large, ripe banana, mashed (about 1 cup mashed banana)
1/2 cup Seedless Strawberry Jam
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional garnish)
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (optional garnish)

  Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 baking dish with baking spray.
  In a large bowl, combine brownie mix, 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 cup water and 2 eggs. Beat 50 strokes. Pour into prepared pan.
 In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and the remaining 2 eggs. Beat on medium until combined thoroughly. Add mashed banana and beat again just until combined.
 Pour banana mixture over brownies.
  Drop random small spoons of strawberry jelly on top of banana mixture, Then swirl with a knife.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts and rainbow sprinkles at this time if desired.
  Bake approx 45 minutes, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool, slice and serve.

Strawberry Snowflake Cupcakes

Red and white for Valentines Day. Strawberries and snow! These light and fluffy cupcakes are very simple to make. I started with a cake mix to make them even simpler. Don't be intimidated by the meringue icing. If you have a stand mixer, it's a breeze. A hand mixer would also work.

Strawberry Snowflake Cupcakes

18.25 ox box of white cake mix
1 can lemon lime soda
2 cups chopped strawberries (divided)
1 1/2 cups seedless strawberry jelly

Frosting:
5 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350. line 2, 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and soda. Mix until just combined. Fold in one cup of chopped strawberries.

Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

When cupcakes are cool, fill a pastry bag with a tip withe the strawberry jelly. Using a paring knife, cut a small hole in the cucake. Press the pastry tip into the cupcake and squeeze in a small amount of jelly. Note - If you don’t want to do this step, you can wait until after you frost the cupcakes. Make a small indentation in the frosting, and put a tsp or so of jelly under the chopped strawberry garnish.

To make the frosting -Put afew inches of water in a saucepan the right size to hold the bowl of your electric mixer slightly above the water. Bring the water to a boil. Combine the frosting ingredients in the mixer bowl and set it over the boiling water. Whisk it constantly until the sugar is totally dissolved, mixture is smooth and it feels hot to the touch. About 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to the standing mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, and beat on medium high speed until the meringue is shiny and will hold stiff peaks. About 5-7 minutes.

Spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a spoon or spatula. Use the back of the spoon to make it “spiky”. Garnish with remaining chopped strawberries.

Apple Walnut Skillet Muffin

Normally I make muffins from scratch, but I had some muffin mix in the pantry that I wanted to use up, and I thought I'd do something different with it. Different flavors of muffin mix would work too, and you can use a pan that is a little smaller (it just might have to bake longer). As always, real maple syrup, no fake stuff!

2 7 oz packets Apple Cinnamon Muffin Mix
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 cups granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Spray an 11" cast iron pan with baking spray. Preheat oven to 425. In a medium bowl, combine muffin mix, milk and 1/2 cup syrup. Mix until just combined, pour into prepared pan.
In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spread on top of batter.
Bake approx 25 minutes or until golden brown.
1 tsp cinnamon

Lemon Bars

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's "Baking" book. Many great recipes in that book, although sometimes things can be a little overly complicated. I melt chocolate in the microwave with no problem, where Martha would call for a double boiler. I highly recommend the book though, haven't found a dud recipe in it yet. This is the best lemon bar recipe I've ever had, although the crust is a little involved. You can mix it by hand with a pastry blender, but it would take forever. A food processor is really a must. You can use the lime called for in the recipe, or substitute with more lemon juice/zest.
I won a blue ribbon for these at the county fair (they don't care about the recipe, just the final result). These are real artery cloggers, so I don't make them very often!

• FOR THE CRUST
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• FOR THE FILLING
• 8 large eggs
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Add butter, and cut in using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas.
2. Press evenly into a 12 1/2-by-17 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cool.
3. To make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together, eggs, sugar, and flour. Add lemon and lime juice, lemon and lime zest, and salt. Whisk to combine. Pour over cooled crust.
4. Bake until center is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Will keep, in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 2 days.

Sweet Potato Dessert Ravioli with Pineapple Sauce

Sweet potatoes are a food item I'm always looking to incorporate into different dishes, because they are so nutritious and versatile. For this dish, I just bake the sweet potatoes in the microwave until they are soft, let them cool, and the skins easily peel off.

Sweet Potato Dessert Ravioli with Pineapple Sauce

2 refrigerated roll out pie crusts
2 cups cooked sweet potato (peeled and mashed)
4 oz cream cheese (half a brick)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg

4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Pineapple Sauce:
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 8 oz can of juice packed crushed pineapple
1 1/2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll the pie crusts. Using a 2 1/2 round biscuit cutter, cut as many circles as possible out of each pie crust. About 14 per crust. Place half of the circles on a large, nonstick baking sheet. Set other half aside.
In a large bowl, thoroughly combine sweet potatoes, cream cheese, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, ginger and nutmeg. Place approx 1 tbsp of sweet potato filling on each pastry circle. There will be some filling left over, but if you re-roll the pastry scraps you can make enough additional circles to use it up.
Place the remaining pastry circles on top of the filling. Using your fingers or a fork, seal the edges of the circles. Poke the top of each “ravioli” with a fork. Lightly brush each ravioli with milk, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake approx 25 minutes until golden.
Prepare pineapple sauce - In a medium saucepan, combine salt, cornstarch, sugar and pineapple (including juice). Stir over medium heat until mixture starts to boil. Reduce heat slightly and stir for 5 minutes, or until the filling has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter until combined. Serve hot or cold with Sweet Potato Dessert Raviolis.