Coconut Cake

This coconut cake is so yummy, and it's so much fun to make! I love throwing the coconut all over the cake at the end. It makes it look perfect even though my frosting techniques are not well developed. I made this for a church activity and everyone who tried it loved it!

Coconut Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (7 ounce) package BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, divided
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Prepare cake batter as directed on package; stir in 2/3 cup of the coconut. Pour evenly into two 9-inch round baking pans. Bake as directed on package. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool cakes completely.

Pour milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix and sugar. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.) Gently stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate 15 min.

Place one cake layer on serving plate; spread top with 1 cup of the pudding mixture. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the remaining coconut; cover with second cake layer. Spread top and side with remaining pudding mixture; press remaining coconut into pudding mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Homemade Oreos

A huge thanks to my cousin, Megan, for this incredible recipe. After trying these you will never want to eat a store bought oreo again. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Chocolate Cookie:
1 box Devil’s Food Cake mix
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs

Mix well until blended. Scoop out onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool completely on rack. Match two cookies together with the following cream in between:

Cream Between:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Out of This World Rolls

These rolls are absolutely to die for. They are very sweet and fluffy, perfect for any dinner, but especially holiday dinners.

Here they are waiting to be baked...

And the finished product!

Out of this World Rolls

2 pkgs. dry yeast (fast-acting works also)
1/4 cup warm water
3 eggs, well beaten
4 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt

1. Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. Combine in a large bowl the following ingredients:
dissolved yeast
eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
shortening
sugar
salt
3. Beat until smooth
4. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough
5. Cover & let rise until double in bulk
6. Punch down dough & refrigerate overnight
7. 3 hours before baking, roll out as desired. (Take about 1/2 the dough and roll out into a circle. Cut like pizza and roll pieces up fat end to pointed end.)
8. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 3 hours (preferably in a warm place).
9. Brush with melted butter
10. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes (My oven is very hot so it only took about 5 1/2 minutes to bake them. I would check around 5-6 minutes and see how they're doing.)

Celebration Chicken

What a treat this meal is. This chicken turns out creamy, cheesy, and practically perfect every time I make it. It is definitely a crowd pleaser.


Celebration Chicken

Lay 10 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in 9x13 inch casserole dish (I use frozen but fresh also works)
Season with pepper, onion salt, and paprika

Mix together:
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp minced dry onion
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese

Pour mixture over seasoned chicken and bake at 275 degrees for two hours. Serve over rice with a side dish of your favorite cooked veggies.

I make this about once a month and it is a great left-over meal through out the week. I also love that it doesn't take long to prep before I can throw it in the oven. Hope you enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

I love, love, love these creamy peanut butter cookies! They are very moist and absolutely delicious! They are also good with chocolate chips, but I prefer them with peanut butter chips!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup butter – softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ¾ cups flour

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 – 12 oz package peanut butter chips (or chocolate chips)

Thoroughly cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter. Add flour till well blended then add chips. Scoop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Dipping Pizza

2 C luke warm water

2T yeast

1T sugar

1t salt

4C flour

Mix water, salt, sugar, yeast, and a little of the flour. When it starts to bubble, you can put in the rest of the flour. Grease a cookie sheet and flour your hands. Push the dough down into the bottom of the cookie sheet (until it's flat and fairly thin). Cover with any toppings you want (no sauce though). I usually put mozzarella and parmesan cheese with pepperoni. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes maximum. Check at about 20 minutes to see how it's doing. After baked cut and dip into your favorite spaghetti sauce (or ranch dressing).

Bread Bowls

Yesterday I attempted to make homemade bread bowls! They turned out amazing! I just found a simple recipe online (allrecipes.com) and went to town. They were scrumptious.

Bread Bowls

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees)
• 1 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• Cornmeal

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, sugar, eggs, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
2. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight pieces; shape each into a ball. Grease two baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place four balls 3 in. apart on each prepared pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
3. For bread bowls, cut a thin slice off the top of bread. Hollow out bottom half, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use). Fill with chili, chowder or stew.

I think that next time I will use half white and half wheat flour and see how it goes!

I coupled these yummy bowls with a creamy corn chowder. I'm not going to post the corn chowder recipe just yet because it needs a little bit of tweaking for our taste, although it was delicious.

Artichoke Chicken

This recipe is super easy and super delicious! It is one of our favorites.

1 15 oz. can artichoke hearts (drained & chopped)

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 pinch garlic pepper or 1 clove minced garlic

Mix artichokes, cheese, mayo, and garlic. Grease baking dish & put frozen chicken on the bottom. Cover with mixture and bake at 375 for 30 minutes (uncovered). Serve with rice.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! I will never make another chocolate chip cookie recipe as long as I live. For a little variation add white chocolate chips (or any other chips/candy bits) instead of chocolate chips.

2 squares butter (1 cup) - softened
½ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 ¼ cups flour
1 – 12 oz. package chocolate chips

Cream butter with egg and sugars. Add vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix in flour and then add chocolate chips. Scoop onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool before transferring to plate.