Easy Peach Cobbler

There are so many recipes for peach cobbler.  I saw this recently on Tik Tok.  It uses canned peaches, but if you are lucky enough to have fresh, I'm sure it would be more delicious.  It is a little different from most I have made so I thought I would try it.  

EASY PEACH COBBLER

3 cans peaches, drained (I cut into small pieces)

3 Tablespoons flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Toss together and put into an 8 x 8 baking dish aside.

TOPPING:

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup sugar (original recipe called for this as it makes the topping like a sugar cookie) I did not use sugar.

Melt butter and stir in flour, baking powder, and sugar (if used).  Stir together until crumbly.  Pinch pieces of dough and place on top of peach mixture. I sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top.  Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned on top, 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool on cooling rack.  Serve with ice cream if desired.

CHOCOLATE COBBLER/HOT FUDGE CAKE

I have heard about Chocolate Cobbler for a long time.  I believe it is an old recipe.  Weirdly I am not a fan of chocolate but my youngest grandson prefers chocolate for dessert so for Sunday dinner I decided to try this.  It calls for quite a bit of cocoa and I feared it might be bitter, but as intensely dark as it appears I believe it works.  Served with Texas best Blue Bell ice cream finished it off nicely.

CHOCOLATE COBBLER/HOT FUDGE CAKE

First layer:

2 sticks butter, melted

2 cups all purpose flour

6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend above ingredients together and spread into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  This batter is quite thick.  

Second layer:

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1-1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 cups very hot water

For second layer, stir together dry ingredients.  Sprinkle over first layer and spread out to cover.  Pour hot water over entire dish.  DO NOT STIR.  

Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes.  Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE TRIFLE

A recent pot luck around Valentine's Day made me look for something appropriate.  I landed on this dessert from several recipes I had seen.  Yummy stuff.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE TRIFLE

1 angel food cake (home made or store bought)
2 pints frozen strawberries with sugar
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
2 8 oz. tubs of Cool Whip
2 cups powdered sugar

I used 2 loaves of angel food cake in this.  Cut up the cake into cubes.  Thaw out the strawberries.  Whip the softened cream cheese with the sugar.  Put a layer of cake followed by thawed strawberries with juice, follow with a layer of cream cheese, then a layer of Cool Whip.  Repeat for 3 layers ending with Cool Whip on top.  Slice some fresh strawberries on top for garnish.  Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding With Vanilla Sauce

I made bread pudding for a potluck dinner last weekend.  I had not made this in a long time.  Hoping to live up to expectations of a moist bread pudding, I think this was received with lots of compliments.

OLD-FASHIONED BREAD PUDDING WITH VANILLA SAUCE

1 pound bread, torn into pieces (I used Oro-Wheat Italian Bread)
4 cups half and half
1 cup light brown sugar
4 eggs

1/2 stick melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped pecans

SAUCE

1 cup half and half or milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with butter.  In a mixing bowl mix the eggs and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes at medium speed.  Add half and half, vanilla and melted butter and mix well.  Tear bread into 1 inch pieces and place in prepared pan.  Sprinkle raisins and pecans over bread. Pour wet ingredients over and let sit for 30 minutes until bread has soaked up the milk mixture.  Bake in oven for 45 minutes until middle is set, using a toothpick to test.

To make sauce, combine milk, butter, sugar and flour and cook to boiling until thick.  Add vanilla.  You can add rum or whiskey or even some maple syrup to this sauce if you like.  You can either pour the sauce over, or have it on the side.

Easy Peach Cobbler

A few weeks ago I made this for a birthday at work.  It is an easy version of peach cobbler that even Paula Deen serves in her restaurant.  It's much better when you can have some fresh peaches but canned will do okay in a pinch. 

EASY PEACH COBBLER

3 cups fresh sliced peaches (or one large can and 1 small can sliced peaches, not drained)

2 cups Bisquick mix (all purpose flour may be used, but I prefer Bisquick)

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup of sugar for batter

1/4 cup sugar for peaches (more if you are using fresh peaches, according to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Put 1 stick of butter in a 9 x 13 pan in the oven to melt.

 

In a bowl, mix together Bisquick, sugar, and milk.

In another bowl slice up the peaches into smaller chunks, add 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.

Pour batter over melted butter, do not stir.

Pour peaches and juice over batter, do not stir.

Bake at 350 until bubbly and crust rises to the top and is golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes.

Banana Pudding

I recently had my son's girlfriend's family over for dinner. This was requested for dessert. I think I have finally found my true recipe for banana pudding with this one.

BANANA PUDDING

4 egg yolks
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup granulated sugar
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 box Nilla vanilla wafers
3 bananas
Cool Whip or whipping cream for topping.

In a sauce pan mix egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, milk and vanilla. Mix well with a whisk. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat. In a glass bowl start out with vanilla wafers, then bananas, then pudding. Repeat layers. Place in refrigerator for several hours until cooled. Top with Cool Whip or whipped cream and a final layer of vanilla wafers. Even better the next day.

Hot Fudge Sundae Sauce

I love to bake and I asked my 5-year-old grandson what he wanted for dessert when coming for dinner. Thinking I could do anything he requested he said........ice cream........vanilla. So much for having to come up with a stellar dessert. Anyway, not to be deterred I pulled out a recipe I've had in my files forever for this hot fudge sauce. I did go 'all out' for my grandson in buying Gold Rim Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (a Texas tradition). Still, no sauce for him. A real purist it would seem. I think the others enjoyed the sauce.

HOT FUDGE SAUCE

2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1-1/2 cups evaporated milk (I used half and half)
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 8 minutes. This stays well in a mini-crockpot for warming.

Peach Crepes

On a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas last year I went to the Peachtree Tea Room. For dessert they have peach crepes that are filled with a cream cheese mixture topped with delicious Fredericksburg peaches. My friend brought peaches from there recently and we froze them. Crepes are not all that hard to make, but they take a light touch. I think mine turned out more like burritos! They were good, but next time I will go easier on the crepe batter I think.

PEACH TREE CREPES

Crepes:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Blend eggs, butter, milk, flour, salt and sugar together in order given. Blend or mix on high speed until well incorporated. The batter may be refrigerated at this time or used immediately.
For each crepe, put 2 to 3 tablespoons batter into a medium warm, slightly greased 6-inch to 7-inch skillet. Tilt to spread batter evenly to make a thin crepe. When the crepe is light brown, turn and cook on second side.

Cream filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

Blend together until smooth. Refrigerate until time to fill crepes.

Sugared Peaches:

Slice fresh peaches
Add sugar to taste
Macerate to make a sauce

This is easily done if your peaches are frozen as when they defrost they are soft and have quite a bit of liquid on them.

Fill crepes will cream filling. Pour sauce over top.

Pumpkin Roll

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My son and daughter-in-law hosted this year. The tables were absolutely beautiful. My son did his usual amazing job of a brined, roasted turkey and also this year there was fried turkey. Everyone brought side dishes and desserts. It was a veritable feast and then some. In addition to my usual traditional dishes I made a pumpkin roll and also an appetizer of cranberry sauce with a little 'twist' poured over cream cheese and served with crackers.

PUMPKIN ROLL

CAKE:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin


FILLING:
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

FOR CAKE:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan, line with wax paper. Grease paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly onto prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto a dish towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in small mixer bowl until smooth. Add nuts. Carefully unroll cake. Remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour, overnight is best. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. I saved just a little of the cream cheese filling for decoration.

The ingredients in this might sound a bit odd, but trust me, this stuff is good. The horseradish gives it a little 'kick' and the onion is not overpowering. I kind of reminds me of jalapeno jelly.

CRANBERRY SAUCE OVER CREAM CHEESE

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons horseradish (not the sauce)
1/4 cup sugar

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Let sit until cool. Pour over cream cheese brick and serve with crackers.

Butter Pecan Dump Cake

Dump cakes are those kind of recipes that have so many different types but usually just consist of some sort of fruit or pie filling 'dumped' into a pan, usually some pineapple added, then a cake mix and butter. This one is just a little different but is a very good variation.

BUTTER PECAN DUMP CAKE

1 (29 ounce ) can of sliced peaches with syrup (do not drain)
1 package of (dry) Butter Pecan cake mix
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1-1/2 sticks butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour peaches with juice into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over peaches. Spread coconut over cake mix and add pecans. Pour melted butter over all slowly and evenly. Bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving. Great with ice cream.

Layered Mocha Brownie Dessert

LAYERED MOCHA BROWNIE DESSERT

1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix (or recipe of home made brownies)
1 3/4 cups cold milk
2 (3.3 ounce) packages instant white chocolate pudding mix (I only had chocolate on hand)
4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons warm water
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee bars, chopped

Either make a pan of home made brownies or prepare brownies according to package directions. Bake and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch cubes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and pudding mix until mixture begins to thicken. Dissolve coffee granules in water and stir into pudding mixture. Fold in whipped topping.
(This mixture is thick since you don't use all the milk called for -- kind of like a mousse).

In a glass serving bowl, layer one-third of brownie cubes, one-third of pudding mixture and one-third of candy. Repeat layering until all ingredients are used. Chill 30 minutes in refrigerator before serving.

Catching Up

It's been a while since I posted but I've made a few things over the past few weeks. I didn't get a picture of this, but I'm sure many have made this recipe.

My son's birthday was last weekend, on the 17th. This dessert is what he requests for his 'birthday cake'. It is a layered pudding dessert that I'm sure everyone has made in one form or another. It's a great pot luck dessert and is always very good. I have a friend who uses a brownie mix for the base instead of the pecan crust and that is also very good.

CHOCOLATE DELIGHT

For the crust:
1 cup flour
1 stick butter
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Melt butter, stir in flour and pecans. Pat into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees until very lightly browned. Watch closely as this can burn pretty quick. Cool crust completely.

Next layer:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz. carton Cool Whip thawed

With a mixer blend softened cream cheese with powdered sugar, stir in Cool Whip. Spread onto cooled crust.

Next layer:
1 large package Jello instant pudding made according to package directions. You can use any flavor you like. I have made this with lemon, banana, chocolate, coconut, butterscotch. They are all good. Spread over cream cheese layer.

Next layer:
1 8 oz. Cool Whip thawed.

Spread this over pudding. If using chocolate you can sprinkle shaved chocolate or more pecans on top. If using banana you can add some dried banana chips. If using coconut, try sprinkling some toasted coconut on top. Just use your imagination.

Better 'n Punkin Pie

This recipe makes the rounds every holiday season. It goes by many names -- Pumpkin Crunch, Pumpkin Crisp, Pumpkin Dump Cake. This took the place of pumpkin pie on my holiday menu ever since the first time I made it. Have a safe Halloween!

BETTER 'N PUNKIN PIE

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter melted

Mix pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla until blended together. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Mix pecans with dry cake mix. Pour dry mix over pumpkin mixture. Pour melted butter evenly over the top. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Can serve with whipped cream or ice cream.