Chocolate Cake

My sister made this simple and yummy cake the other day and it was enjoyed by all.

1 yellow cake mix
1 instant chocolate pudding (large or small)
2 C warm water
2 eggs
Mix and bake in 9x13 pan at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Let cake cool before frosting.

Frosting:
1 cool whip
1 C powdered sugar
1/4 C melted butter
Beat cool whip and powdered sugar till creamy before adding melted butter. Frost cake and refrigerate. Best if sits in fridge overnight.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

This is for you, Melody! These are the cookie bars I made for game night on Thursday. They are ridiculously easy and so good.

The first time I made them I followed the recipe exactly. When I made them for game night I used unsalted butter, quadrupled the salt, reduced the chocolate by 2 or 3 ounces and pressed it all into a 7x11 pan instead of 11x13. That ended up being my favorite iteration, it definitely needs a little more salt and a little less chocolate and I liked the taller bar that came from the smaller pan. When I made them again on Saturday for a BBQ I used regular salted butter, doubled the salt and did half chocolate and half butterscotch chips, which was also really good.


The original recipe is copied from here (an AWESOME recipe blog. If you're not already reading you might want to start. Everything I've tried from her blog has been a winner).

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars
adapted from 24 Hour Menu

1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional – I left these out)

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Beat butter, sugars, egg and vanilla till fluffy and add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts. Press into a greased 9×13 inch pan and bake for 18-20 minutes until light golden brown. I have also doubled the recipe and pressed into a large sheet pan (11X17) with great results.

A few tips: Don’t overbake!!! I overbaked them the first time I made them and when I actually baked them correctly the second time (perhaps even underbaked by a minute), they were 100 times better. Also, the second time I made them, I doubled the recipe and instead of adding two bags of chocolate chunks, I added one bag of chunks and one bag of mint chocolate chips. Fabulous!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This cake is RICH and super yummy. I use the PB frosting to go between the cake layers, and thee dark chocolate frosting to go on the outside. Goes great with homemade vanilla ice cream to balance it out!

Dark Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Place sugar, cocoa, and salt in large bowl. Pour in oil (do not mix). Place baking soda in medium bowl; stir in 1 1/2 cups hot water (mixture will bubble up). Add baking soda mixture to cocoa mixture and, using electric mixer, beat until cool, about 1 minute. Beat in flour, then eggs and vanilla. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.)

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Dark Chocolate Frosting:

2 2/3 cups Powdered Sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
6 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoon milk -- more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine powdered sugar and cocoa in bowl. Cream butter with 1/2 cup of the cocoa mixture in another bowl. Alternately add remaining cocoa mixture and milk; beat to spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.

~Bethany S.

Betty's Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C melted butter
2 t. vanilla
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 C oats
2 3/4 C flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4-1 C chocolate chips (depending on how many you like)
*1/2 C coconut
*1/3 C toffee bits
*1/2 C pecans

Directions:
Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Drop large tablespoon sized cookies on greased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until tops of cookies (and edges) are lightly browned.

*These items are optional...I add everything, but usually not nuts.