Scarecrow Treats

These yummy treats are the perfect bar cookie for fall! They were fun to make, too! Just remember when working with the corn syrup/peanut butter mixture you have to work quickly!! If you don't, the mixture will harden and will be all but impossible to get out of the saucepan! These treats are an "active" baking project....just be aware of that before you set out to make them. The recipe comes from the Land O' Lakes website. Enjoy!

Crust:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 (18.25-ounce) package pudding in the mix yellow cake mix

1 egg

3 cups miniature marshmallows

 

Topping:

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups crisp rice cereal

2 cups salted peanuts

1 cup candy corn

 

Preheat oven to 350F 

Combine butter and cake mix in a large bowl. Beat on low speed until well mixed. Add egg; continue beating until well mixed. (You really must use a hand mixer for this step)

Press onto bottom of a greased 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven.

Immediately sprinkle marshmallows over hot, partially baked crust. Return to oven; continue baking for 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows puff.

Meanwhile, combine corn syrup, sugar and brown sugar in LARGE saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture comes to a boil (2 to 4 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Stir in cereal, peanuts and candy corn. Immediately spoon over marshmallows; spread to cover (I used a piece of parchment paper to spread mixture evenly over the marshmallows- this is a great trick when making any type of Rice Krispie treat- the hot mixture will not stick to the parchment paper and you can smooth it out perfectly). Cool completely. Cut into bars. 

 

Cheesey Mushroom Pull Apart Bread

Oh boy was this good! And it looked beautiful, too! It has several of my favorite foods combined- bread, cheese, butter, mushrooms, I mean, seriously, how could this ever go wrong!!!? The following recipe is verbatim from the Beantown Baker blog. I suggest you make this for your next get together, bring it to a holiday party, serve it on Superbowl Sunday.....or do what I did, just serve it for dinner one night. I'm not kidding, my husband and I sat in front of the tv and picked this thing apart on a Monday evening...it was delicious! Enjoy!

Mushrooms:
12 oz sliced mushrooms (buttons or baby bellas)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

Bread:
1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread (please get good sourdough from the bakery)
12 ounces Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely diced green onion
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 350F
Heat a medium skillet on medium. Add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms. Cook 4-5 minutes until they start to sweat. Add the thyme and continue to cook another 2-3 minutes. Set mushrooms aside and allow to cool.

Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.

Place loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Insert cheese slices between cuts. Pour the mushrooms between the cuts. Use your fingers to push the mushrooms down into the loaf.

Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread. 

Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted. Yum!

Halloween Rice Krispie Treat Cake

This fun little cake was a snap to make and looked adorable! The kids loved it (and so did I)! Perfect treat to make for Halloween! And please don't worry if your measurements aren't exact, Rice Krispie treats aren't rocket science......they always taste good no matter what! Enjoy!

1/4 c. butter
1 1/2 bags of mini marshmallows
9 c. Rice Krispies
1 c. candy corn
1 c. Reece's Pieces

Melt butter in a large soup pot. Once butter has melted add mini marshmallows to the pot. Stand over that pot like a mama bird guarding her nest and stir, stir, stir....don't let those marshmallows burn! Once the marshmallows have melted completely, remove the pot from heat and add 1/2 the Rice Krispies. Stir to incorporate. Add the rest of the Rice Krispies, as well as the candy corn and Reece's Pieces. Stir till everything is covered with the melted marshmallows.

Scoop mixture into a well greased bundt pan (don't have a bundt pan? You really should, but, that's besides the point. You can use a 9X13" glass dish, although it won't look as pretty). Use a piece of wax or parchment paper to evenly push the Rice Krispie treats down so they are level. Let the "cake" cool for awhile then invert onto a cake stand. Voila!

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

As you probably know if you follow my blog, I am a sucker for quick breads, especially ones that are sweet! So when I saw this recipe on Lovin' From the Oven (which btw, is a great blog- especially for baking fanatics like myself) I knew I had to make it! Yummy!!!! Blog worthy indeed! And just the type of comfort food needed at this time of year when the temperatures are dropping! Please give it a try!

3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups flour

For the swirl:
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbl cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350F

Butter and flour a loaf pan.

Mix bananas, melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbl cinnamon.

Add 1/2 of the batter to the prepared loaf pan and then sprinkle 3 to 4 Tbl of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon-sugar on top. You can use the tip of a knife to gently swirl the cinnamon sugar mixture into the batter a bit.

Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pan. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Another simple, no-brainer recipe for my busy mom friends!!! Thank you to The Girl Who Ate Everything blog for letting me swipe this recipe! Serve over brown rice with a side of roasted broccoli! Enjoy!

5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (you can cook your own or use the white meat from TWO rotisserie chickens)

1 cup sour cream

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)

1/2 cup melted butter (I only used 1/4 cup of butter)

1 T poppy seeds

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp minced garlic

1 T lemon juice

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350F

 

Place cooked cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish.

Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. Stir in the Worchestershire sauce, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Carefully pour over chicken being careful not to upset the chicken at the bottom.

In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Evenly sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. 

 

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve over brown rice with a side of broccoli.

Mummy Pizza

A simple, yummy pizza the kids loved eating! And it's just in time for Halloween! You can use whatever you have on hand for the base of the pizza- English muffins, I used crumpets, or you could even use a pack of Pillsbury biscuits! Just keep it simple and fun!

4 English muffin halves
Pizza sauce
4 pieces of string cheese for the "wrap"
4 black olives, cut into 8 slices for the "eyes"

Preheat oven to 400F

Lay English muffins on a foil lined baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Evenly add pizza sauce. Strip the string cheese into lots of "strings" and arrange them any which way on top of the pizza sauce. I like to have the olive "eyes" peeking out under the "wrap"....you really can't go wrong here....just be creative! Cook for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted a bit.

Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles

I don't even find it necessary to write an intro to this insanely yummy way to eat your green beans! I already know you are going to make them...I had you at bacon....I had you at bacon....

1 pound fresh green beans (I really prefer haricot verts- this is the French word for green beans- they are really thin. Use what you can find, though).
Package of bacon
2 Tbl butter
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 - 2 cloves of minced garlic
5 dashes of Worchestershire sauce
Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Fit a foil lined roasting pan with a wire rack.  Spray the rack with cooking spray. This step is really important. Cooking the bundles on a wire rack allows for the bacon grease to drip into the foiled lined pan (easy clean up, crispier bacon and less grease, ie. calories/fat consumption- a three part win).

Wash and thoroughly dry green beans. Season with salt and pepper. Bundle together about 6-8 green beans. Using a slice of bacon, wrap it around the center of the beans to hold it together. Lay the bundle bacon seam side down in the baking dish to hold it together. Repeat with remaining beans.


Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add butter, brown sugar, garlic and Worchestershire sauce with a whisk until melted and combined. Use a pastry brush to brush mixture over the top of each green bean bundle. Cover the bundles with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15-20 minutes more,  until the bacon gets crispy.


Try not to burn yourself while sneaking a bundle before it has cooled off! Enjoy!