Tag: Dessert

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Cake, Desserts, Food

Lemon Cake Mix Bars

Posted on by lmc

I bought several lemon cake mixes at the beginning of the summer as I like to make a lemon jello cake every once in a while. This week, while going through my recipe box, I remembered a quick cake mix bar that I used to make for my kids lunch box meals. It’s a moist and dense bar with a lemony glaze that packs a punch! My family likes to top this bar with a dollop of vanilla ice cream for a summer evening treat.

Lemon Cake Mix Bars

Ingredients

For the bars:

  • 1 box lemon cake mix
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup white baking chips
  • 2 eggs

For the glaze:

  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest, optional
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Prepare a 7×11” or 9×9” baking pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  1. Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. 
  2. Stir until blended. 
  3. Stir in baking chips. Pat into baking pan.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-22 minutes or until light golden brown. 
  5. Cool completely.
  6. Mix powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to make a glaze. 
  7. Pour and spread over cooled bars. Cut and serve.
Posted in Baked goods, Baking, breakfast, cookies, Desserts, Food

Easy Cherry Oat Bars

Posted on by lmc

If you’re looking for a quick and delicious recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth, this is it! These tasty bars are packed with flavor and are great for a quick, on-the-go breakfast, a packable lunch box treat, or an after dinner dessert served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If desired, switch up the filling with whatever flavors you have on hand… I’ve used strawberry- rhubarb jam, strawberry preserves, and blueberry spice spread.

Easy Cherry Oat Bars

  • 18 1⁄2ounce box white cake mix
  • 2 cups quick cooking oats
  • 3⁄4cup butter, melted 
  • 1 cup cherry preserves
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1⁄2cup  pecans, finely chopped

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray with cooking spray a 9×13” pan.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, oats and butter until butter has been evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.
  • Press two-thirds of the oat mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. (I use the bottom of a square plastic bowl to firmly pack the mixture in place.)
  • In a separate bowl, mix the preserves with water and carefully spread over the crust.
  • Add pecans to the remaining one-third of the oat mixture and crumble this over the top of the cherry layer.
  • Bake 375 for 28-35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the center doesn’t collapse when you press lightly.
Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Cake, cookies, Food

Gooey Bars

Posted on by lmc

Here’s a traditional gooey bar that uses a cake mix for its base. I’ve added pecans to the cake mix layer as I love the texture of cheese cake with an added crunch.

Gooey Bars

  • 1 package yellow cake mix
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • 4 large eggs, divided
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
  • 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 eggs. Pat into a 9×13-inch pan. Evenly press chopped pecans into batter.

In a clean bowl, mix cream cheese, remaining 2 eggs, and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer. Slowly beat in confectioner’s sugar. Pour over cake layer.

Bake 35-40 minutes; cool completely before cutting.

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Cake, cookies, Desserts, Food

Chewy Cake Mix Brownies

Posted on by lmc

Even though I have plenty of made-from-scratch brownie recipes, this is my “go to” for a quick, easy, and tasty bar. It’s a jiffy of a recipe and one of my favorites.

Chewy Cake Mix Brownies

1 (15 oz) box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7×11” baking pan. Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl; mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Transfer the batter to a greased 7×11” or 8 X 8” baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Brunch, Cake, Chocolate, Desserts, Uncategorized

Hazelnut Dump Brownies

Posted on by lmc

We had a very snowy 2021 Valentine’s Day. The light and fluffy flakes had been coming down for days and my yardstick inserted in the snow was clocking in at a whopping 17”. We had intended to go out for dinner but decided to settle in at home. I made a batch of these Hazelnut Dump Brownies to have with a scoop of ice cream for dessert.
Everything is basically dumped into a bowl, mixed together and tossed in a greased baking pan. Then, the mini chocolate chips are sprinkled over the top… easy enough! This is a super simple recipe with extraordinary results.
PS. It’s still snowing! ❄️❄️❄️

Hazelnut Dump Brownies

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, mix in the first 8 ingredients. Pour into a greased 13×9” baking pan. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.
  2. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Brunch, Cake, Food

County Fair Orange Cake

Posted on by lmc

While rummaging through some piles of paper last week, I found a county fair cookbook that I had purchased many years ago. One of the dog-eared pages held this delicious recipe for County Fair Orange Cake. Looking further, I realized it was a cake that I had entered into the fair that year. While It didn’t receive the top prize, it’s always held a blue ribbon in my book. It’s incredibly easy to make and my family loves the bright citrus flavor of the orange juice, pudding mix and glaze. Yep, it’s a winner!

County Fair Orange Cake

1 (15.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.5-ounce) package lemon instant pudding mix
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest


Orange Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon orange zest plus more for garnishing


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Add the orange juice, oil, eggs and orange zest; beat with a mixer at low speed to combine. Beat an additional 4 minutes with mixer on medium speed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Transfer to a platter and poke holes all over with a skewer. Carefully, pour warm orange glaze over the cake. Garnish with more orange zest for serving.


For the Orange Glaze: Cook the sugar, orange juice, and butter in a saucepan over medium, stirring, until the butter is melted. Cook 2 more minutes and remove from the heat; stir in the orange zest.

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Bread, breakfast, Desserts, Food

Glazed Pear Cake

Posted on by lmc

I recently purchased a bag of pears, brought them home and placed them in the fruit bowl on my kitchen table. Those pears sat there all week as the family seemed to choose every other fruit in the bowl when snacking. I watched as the pears began to get overly ripe. Not wanting to waste the fruit, I remembered an apple cake recipe that I frequently make during the fall months. I thought I could easily substitute the pears into the apple recipe. So, I peeled and chopped the remaining pears and tossed them in. I was making a Father’s Day meal and thought this would be a lovely dessert.

Well, I was right… this cake was super moist, and tasted delicious pared with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I’ll definitely be making this one again!

Glazed Pear Cake

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup oil

2 teaspoons  vanilla

3 cups  flour

1 teaspoon  salt

1 teaspoon  baking soda

2 teaspoons  cinnamon

4 cups pears, peeled and diced (apples work well too)

1 cup chopped walnuts

TOPPING:

1⁄2 cup  brown sugar

1⁄4 cup  milk

1 stick of  butter

Cake:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9X13” baking pan.   Mix all cake ingredients by hand in order the  listed. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes; remove.

Topping:

In small saucepan mix topping ingredients; bring to a slow boil for 3 minutes.

Pour over hot cake and return to oven for 4 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Bread, breakfast, Brunch, Cake, Uncategorized

Banana Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chips

Posted on by lmc

Our local market usually has a reduced-priced cart of day old bakery goods situated in the back of the store. I always make a point to stop to see what’s available to perhaps make a batch of fresh bread crumbs, garlic bread, or a bread casserole. Most times, I use the bread for a morning breakfast casserole that includes eggs, milk, sausage, vegetables and cheese. But today, I wanted to make something sweet to accompany a bit of vanilla bean ice cream that I had on hand. I also had a few bananas that were beyond their peak of ripeness.

This recipe is a keeper! Served warm with a few small scoops of ice cream, this has become a family favorite!

Banana Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chips

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups French bread, cubed

2 bananas, sliced (overly ripe, if possible)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7×11″ baking pan. In a large bowl, combine and mix eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in bread, bananas, and chocolate chips, and let sit for 5-7 minutes for bread to soak up the liquid mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until pudding is golden brown and center is set.

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, Bread, breakfast, Brunch, Cake

Banana Crunch Cake

Posted on by lmc

This semi-homemade recipe is a true winner. A few simple ingredients are combined with a basic cake mix for a light and lovely dessert. Oats, brown sugar, and walnuts are combined to make a tasty crumble. While, eggs, sour cream, bananas, and a few extracts are combined with a basic cake mix to form a simple batter. I stock overly ripe bananas in my freezer for just such an occasion. All of these ingredients are layered into a tube pan to make a beautifully textured cake.

Banana Crunch Cake

½ cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup margarine or butter

1 ½ cups (2 large) very ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup sour cream

4 eggs

1 teaspoon butter extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 yellow or white cake mix

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10″ tube pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and pecans; mix well. With fork or pastry blender, cut in margarine until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine bananas, sour cream, extracts and eggs; beat at low speed until smooth. Add cake mix; beat until fully combined. Spread 1/3 of batter in prepared pan; sprinkle with 1/3 of brown sugar crumble mixture. Repeat layers 2 more times using remaining batter and brown sugar mixture, ending with brown sugar mixture.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool upright in pan 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan; place on serving plate, crumble side up. Cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Posted in Baked goods, Baking, cookies, Desserts, Uncategorized

Butterscotch Blondies

Posted on by lmc

  While on our annual spring break visit to Disney World, we passed many bakery style shops displaying an assortment of carefully prepared baked goods and other sweet treats. Most items were meticulously iced with a thick layer of frosting representing the familiar red, yellow, black, and white colors that Mickey and Minnie traditionally wear. For my family, this thick layer of icing is a bit too much; the “sweet” on top of the “sweet” is more than we can take. Especially when there are so many other treats that entice us throughout the parks.  
This year, as we were checking out the shops, my oldest daughter spied a scrumptious square of deliciousness that reminded her of my traditional blondie recipe. Unfortunately, a layer of icing donned the top. In a disappointed tone, she asked if I might bake some blondies when we returned home. She also requested the addition of butterscotch chips. Here is my traditional recipe with a twist of butterscotch and walnut flavors.  

Butterscotch Blondies

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9″ baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and water; beat well. In a medium bowl, Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, mixing well until completely combined. Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts. Batter will be thick. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is set. Cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2″ bars.