Lemon Sparkle Cake

I have seen this recipe in a billion different places, under a billion different names.  There is a reason for that, it is THAT good.  It is so very moist with such a delightful lemon flavor, yet a total breeze to make thanks to the use of a boxed cake mix.  Yes, I love me some doctored up cake mix recipes! 

Lemon Sparkle Cake

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 box 3.4 ounce box instant lemon flavored pudding mix
• 1 1/2 cups 7-up, Sprite, Sierra Mist, or Squirt ***please see note***
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until smooth. Pour into greased and floured 10 inch bundt or fluted cake pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Let cool and remove from pan and place on a wire rack.
You can drizzle with lemon glaze. (2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar and 1 TBSP lemon juice mixed until smooth), sprinkle with powdered sugar, thin out some lemon curd and use that as a glaze, drizzle some Limoncello over it, or serve with whipped cream and berries.  The possibilities are endless!

***NOTE***
     For the love of all mighty, DO NOT use Diet Soda in cooking.  The chemicals in them are bad enough on their own but when exposed to heat, they do some really, really scary things.  Seriously people, Google it!  I always CRINGE when I see that someone shares a recipe with Diet Soda in it....an extra 80-100 calories divided between an entire dish/dessert is not going to make that much of a difference.  Ok, off my soap-box!

This recipe has been linked up at:
Simply Sweet Home
Tidy Mom
Mommys Kitchen

The Queen's Banana Pudding

...and by the Queen, I am talking the Queen of southern cooking, Paula Deen.  This dish does look somewhat royal to me with the use of the Chessman Cookies.  It could be a yum-i-licious treat to celebrate a certain royal wedding coming up.  OK, that is a stretch.  Banana Pudding has NOTHING to do with royal weddings.  Great...now I have the image of the Queen in her hat, suit, and gloves trying to wrangle a silver spoonful of this southern staple into her mouth with the royal Corgi's gazing longingly for a bite.
OK, I need to move along...this post is getting really weird.
This is the most AMAZING Banana Pudding!  Truly decadent and scrumptious, it is a breeze to put together and a delight to eat!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Recipe Source:  Paula Deen

• 2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
• 6 to 8 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding (I used regular Vanilla)
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve

This recipe has been linked up at:
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home
Mommy's Kitchen

P.W. Cinnamon Rolls

For those of you who have made Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls, this is not a new recipe to you.
However, if you haven't, they are seriously CRAZY good.  The dough is a wonderful tender sweet dough but the coffee maple icing is what really takes it over the top.
If you happen to be someone who grew up in the 'Burg with me, one bite of these and you will be transported back to the Winnie the Pooh cafeteria and buying homemade cinnamon twists on Wednesdays.

P.W. Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe Source:  Pioneer Woman

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter (1-2 cups, divided)
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

MAPLE FROSTING:

• 1 bag Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
• ½ cups Milk
• ¼ cups Melted Butter
• ¼ cups Brewed Coffee
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

This recipe has been linked up at:
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home
Mommy's Kitchen

Bunny Bark

Here is a quick and fun Easter themed treat to make with the kiddos, you know just in case you had some time to spare this week! This recipe is totally flexible to make for all the holidays but since Easter kinda snuck up on me this year, I thought this would serve as my kids craft and special fun treat all in one! This recipe is a spin off of Recipe Girl's Halloween inspired Candy Corn Bark. But, you all know me..I tweaked, I blinged, and I came up with this! We made one batch using mini Robin Eggs and one batch using jelly beans and no one has yet picked a favorite.
So, perk up those ears and fluff that tail and whip up some of these quick yummies...just remember, bunny mask is entirely optional when munching!

Ingredients:

• 14 Golden Oreo Cookies, broken into small-ish pieces. You could use regular or the spring one's too.
• 1 1/2 cups broken pretzel pieces
• 1 pound white chocolate, almond bark, or white candy disk melts found in the bulk section of some grocery stores
• 1 cup your choice of candy. As I said, I used Robin Eggs in one batch and Jelly Beans in another. Other options would be Easter Candy Corn, Pastel M&M's, etc.
• pastel sprinkles

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Spread broken cookies, pretzels, and about 3/4 cup of candy of choice onto the waxed paper. Place the white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 minute - 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth. White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than regular chocolate. It also does that funky seize up thing if you microwave for too long too.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with a spatula if needed to coat evenly. Sprinkle remaining candy and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces. Store in air tight container.
In case you were so blinded by the cuteness of the above bunny picture, here is how my bark turned out minus the bunny! Special loves to my sweet kiddo for being my model, I will pay for your therapy if it scars you too much - xoxo



This recipe has been linked up at:
Mommy's Kitchen
Tidy Mom
Simply Sweet Home