Coconut Whipped Cream.

This isn't so much of a recipe as a suggestion. If you like coconut, and want to try it in a completely different way, try this. You must start with full fat coconut milk, the light has too many additives that interfere with this process. 

Chill your can of coconut milk. Open, if it has seperated at all, pour in all the white stuff, none of the oily stuff. (Usually it won't seperate, as there's not as much to seperate with the higher fat cans.) Pour into a medium bowl, and whip until thick and the consistency of whipped cream. Add sugar if desired.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls.

These are, hands down, the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had or made. This post exists simply to point you to the recipe, if you've never heard of these. PLEASE make these. You won't regret it. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls 101

Notes on Cinnamon Rolls

Variations I haven't yet tried:

Orange-Marmalade Rolls

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sweet Rolls

Nutella Fudge.

I love fudge. I don't make it too often, mind you, or I'd be terribly rotund, but every once in awhile it's a nice treat. I love this recipe in particular, because it's simple. No candy thermometer required, only five ingredients (with an optional sixth). Rather quick to pull together as well, if you don't count the cooling time, (you don't have to if you don't mind rather warm fudge, but it is a lot easier to eat when it's cool). What's more, you can change the flavor to suit your tastes. The original recipe calls for peanut butter rather than Nutella, and you can change the baking chips used to any flavor you like. You could actually make chocolate-free fudge if you so desired. (Not that you should, as, well, chocolate is amazing.) Whatever your tastes, you'll find this fudge will suit them. Enjoy!

 

Nutella Fudge, from Anyone Can Cook! (Originally called Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge)

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 1/3 cups Nutella (or creamy/crunchy peanut butter, or something like)

1 7 oz. jar Marshmallow creme

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 coarsely chopped peanuts (optional, and I always skip these, as I prefer smooth fudge. Any nut will do though)

Note: Please, PLEASE measure all your ingredients out before you begin. Everything moves very quickly at the end of the recipe and you need to be able to dump things into your pan quickly.

Directions:

Line an 8 in. square pan with foil, leaving the foil to extend over the pans edges. Butter the foil, and set the pan aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar and evaporated milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until sugar mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium, continue cooking for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. 

Immediately stir in peanut butter or nutella, chocolate pieces, and marshmallow creme. Stir until the chocolate melts and ingredients are well combined. (Stirring will become difficult, hang in there!) Quickly spread fudge evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. When firm, remove fudge from pan, using the overlapping foil to lift fudge. Place on a cutting board, cut fudge into squares. Store, covered, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Rice Pudding.

This recipe is so delicious, and for a made from scratch pudding, about as easy as you can get. I love raisins in this, but you don't necessarily have to use them. The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I used 1% with no problems. Also, as I'm out of lemon zest, and lemons, for that matter, I used a bit of orange zest in its place, and you know, I think I like it better! Whatever you choose, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

The Best Rice Pudding, Scaled for 2 servings, from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

1 cup Water
½ cup Long Grain Rice
⅛ tsp Salt
1 Tablespoons Butter
¼ tsp Lemon Zest (or Orange Zest)
2 cups Whole Milk (or whatever's in your fridge)
¼ cup Sugar
¼ Vanilla Bean, split open (I used a splash of vanilla extract)
½ cup Golden Raisins (I used a mix of red and golden raisins)

Directions:

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Stir in lemon zest, salt and long grain rice and return to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer the rice, covered, until all of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, place it in a bowl and rise out pan. Add 2 cups of milk, butter, sugar and vanilla bean to the pan. Bring to a low boil, stirring often so the milk doesn’t burn. Add the cooked rice and raisins to the hot milk. Stir often, until the milk cooks down and the rice is creamy, about 20 minutes. Place in a large bowl or serving dishes to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Dutch Apple Pie.

I've been making this pie for a long time. I don't know when I found the recipe in my mom's recipe box, but I know I offered to make it for Chris back when we weren't even dating and I was supposed to come over for dinner and meet his parents. I chickened out of making it because my mom and a friend convinced me that it was too...oh I don't even remember the phrasing, but that I wasn't to give the impression that we were in a serious relationship. Oh, the sweet, sweet irony. I've since made it for my husband, his parents, and many others over the years. It is my pie specialty, and it's deceptively easy.

Dutch Apple Pie

Ingredients:

6 large baking apples (granny smiths are best, the tartness is helpful.)

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

salt

2 T. butter

______________

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. cinnamon

salt

1 c. sugar

1 c. thin creme (half & half, evaporated milk, or even whipping cream works here.)

A deep dish pie pan (regular pans work, but 99% of the time they'll overflow a bit while cooking.)

Directions:

Slice apples into baking dish. (I usually peel them first, but you don't have to.) Add sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter.

Add sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter.

Sift sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cover the apples with this. Stir in thin creme.

Cover top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. (there's no bake time on my recipe, I just check the pie around this time and make sure the dough around the apples is cooked through.

Enjoy!