Hawaiian Banana Flip Dip

This is by far one of my favorite dessert recipes. My dad has been making this ever since I was a little girl and I still love it today! We always called this one, "Banana Flip Dip" but my dad recently told me it's a Hawaiian dessert so we have started calling it "Hawaiian Banana Flip Dip! I have no idea where he got this recipe. He probably came up with it on his own, since that's what he tends to do!

This one can be made gluten free ONLY if you use gluten free graham crackers.

If you are making this dish, be aware that it must chill for at least 6 hours for all the ingredients to set and become firm. It will be runny and not taste great if it doesn't sit. I always let mine sit and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

This one is a GREAT summer dish! Nice and cool and refreshing! You can decorate this dish however you want. I put fresh mint leaves from the garden on this one, but you could very easily make this one look like an American Flag for a 4th of July Celebration. All you would need to do is add blueberries and strawberries!

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (if you are gluten free, use a gluten free graham cracker)
• 2 sticks of butter, softened to liquid
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 2 cans crushed pineapple (drained)
• 6 bananas
• 1 medium container of Cool Whip
• 1 small package pecan chips

Garnish with maraschino cherries

Directions

• Mix 1 stick of butter and graham cracker crumbs together.
• Pour into a 9x13 pyrex dish, spread evenly and compact firmly to form the bottom layer.
• Next, mix the powdered sugar, egg whites, and 1 stick of butter together.
• Mix on high speed for 10 minutes.
• Pour mixture evenly on top of crust.
• Slice bananas by 1/4" slices.
• Place slices on top of mixture close together so they cover the entire dessert.
• Spread pineapple evenly on top of bananas.
• Top with cool whip and sprinkle pecan pieces on top of cool whip.
• Put 6 Maraschino cherries op top.
• Chill for at least 6 hours before serving.
  
  

Apple Pie

Well - I guess I'm in the mood to share my favorite desserts tonight! I don't have many on my website, so I guess this is a good thing for my readers! It has to be the Christmas season...and the fact that I'm cooking right now in preparation for our family Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow!

My husband LOVES apple pie, so one day I decided to make one for Christmas dinner. And he LOVED it! It is now a Christmas tradition and he only gets it once a year!

I get to claim this recipe as my own, excluding the Double-Crust recipe. I found this recipe in a cookbook, but I completely re-vamped the filling; therefore, I get to call it mine :) This one is NOT gluten free (sorry guys).

This one takes some time to make. If you want to take short cuts and save time, you can buy a pie shell and a pie crust top and just make your filling. But if you make your own crust...it's so good!

Enjoy this one! We love to serve it with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream on top!

Recipe for Double Crust Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 10 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

• In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt with a hand whisk.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea sized.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the flour mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time until all the flour mixture is moistened.
• Divide in half; form each half into a ball
• On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten 1 dough ball. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter.
• To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin and then unroll it into a 9-inch pie plate (or I re-use my aluminum pie pans)
• Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it. Trim the pastry even with rim of pie plate. 
• Transfer apple pie filling (recipe below) to pastry-lined pie plate.
• Roll remaining dough ball into a circle, about 12 inches in diameter.
• Cut slits on top to allow steam to escape. Place the pastry on top of the filling, then trim 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. 
• Crimp the edges as desired (there are so many cute ways to do this!!)

Recipe for Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe for Double-Crust Pie (above) or use a store bought ready made pie shells and topping if you are short on time.
• 6 cups of thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith Apples (about 5-6 apples)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice from fresh lemon
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon milk (for topping)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (for topping)

Directions:

• Prepare and roll out pastry for Double-Crust pie (see recipe above).
• Take your Granny Smith Apples and core them and cut into slices.

• Peel the apple slices and cut slices until they are thin. Place in a large bowl.
• Take 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and sprinkle over the apple slices. Combine the apple slices with a spoon to ensure that the juice is covering all apple slices.
• In a separate bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.
• Pour mixture over apple slices and mix well until all apple slices are well coated.
• Transfer apple mixture filling to the pastry-lined pie plate. Trim the bottom pastry to edge of pie plate.
• Place on filling, cut slits in pastry and crimp edges as desired.

• Brush top pastry with milk and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. This gives your pie a nice brown topping.

Chef's Note: To prevent over browning, cover edge of pie with foil or a pie edge cover.

• Bake at 375 F for 40 minutes.
• Remove foil or pie edge cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven an cool on a wire rack.

Red Velvet Cake

I get so many requests for this recipe. My dad has been making homemade red velvet cake since before I can remember and I asked him if I could share the recipe on my website and he said YES! I have no idea where he got this recipe...and he wont tell me any details about the history.

Most of my readers probably dont know, but I have a lot of recipes that are published. I write for a magazine and after talking it over with my dad, this recipe will be published in the February publication! My dad and I made this red velvet cake for my publisher and took it over to her as a Christmas present! It's absolutely beautiful and great for a holiday celebration!

Dad and I made 2 cakes this week, 1 for my publisher and 1 for our Christmas family dinner. This one defiantly is NOT gluten free and it contains nuts. I have not attempted to make a gluten free version. Perhaps one day I will...

Enjoy this treasured recipe. We get requests to make this cake and ship it all over the US because it is so popular and tastes so fantastic! Everything in this recipe is homemade, so get ready to invest some time if you plan to make this! It takes a total of about 4 hours to make (that includes cooking and cooling time) but it is so worth it!

This recipe is fantastic for both Christmas and Valentine's Day!

May God bless all my readers! Remember - Jesus Christ is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas!!

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (two 1 oz. bottles) red food coloring
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 2 large eggs

Frosting:

• 1 full stick (8TBSP) plus 1/3 sticks butter softened
• 10 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 1 pound box confectioner sugar
• 2 cups chopped pecan pieces

Directions

To make cake:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer. NOTE: If you have a standing electric mixer, I recommend using this. The mix feature is so gentle that it will ensure that your cakes don't split on top.
• Spray three 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick coating. NOTE: If you have flexipans - I HIGHLY recommend using these. You can eliminate the spray and they pop right out - no sticking! My favorite brand is Demarle Flexipan.
• Pour batter equally into the three pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. (Test for doneness when a toothpick comes out clean).
• Cool layers on wire rack for 10 to 20 minutes.
• Carefully remove layers from pans to cool completely.

To make frosting:

• Combine butter, cream cheese and confectioners sugar in a bowl.
• Beat with your electric mixer until fluffy.
• Fold in 1 1/4 cups of pecan pieces: use to fill and frost cake when cool. NOTE: I take my pecan pieces and chop them until they are very fine.
• Decorate top of cake with remaining pecans.
• Cool 1 hour.

Chef's Note - If you have some red velvet cake that was left over in your pan when removing the cakes, take those crumbs and break apart and decorate the top of the cake. It definitely makes the cake look more festive!

Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

It's that time of year again when you can enjoy all the fall scents and tasty treats!  I love the fall season!!  I am thoroughly enjoying all the the pumpkin flavors and fall spices! As I was searching for fall recipes to try and post here on my blog, I came across this one from Healthy Happy Helpers.  This recipe is super yummy and not overly sweet.  It goes great with coffee or as an after dinner light dessert. What I love about this recipe is that it calls for carrots and zucchini and I don't feel guilty eating it!  My kiddos loved these bars!

You can make a Gluten Free version if you substitute the all-purpose flour for a Gluten Free flour. Depending on your time, you may want to skip making the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting from scratch and go buy the store bought version.  Your choice :)

Super easy and fits perfectly for the fall season!  Take these to your fall parties!  Happy baking!

Ingredients - Bars

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Ingredients - Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8oz) pkg reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees C.  in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, honey and vanilla.  Don't worry about clumps of brown sugar, those will dissolve as it sits while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Then fold in the carrots, zucchini and walnuts.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, ginger, and baking soda.  Whisk to blend together.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.  Stir just until combined.  Spread batter into an ungreased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
4. Bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
5. Once the cake is cooled, prepare the frosting.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat the frosting ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Spread or pipe the frosting over the cooled bars.  

"Not Too Tricky" Tiramisu

This is by far one of my FAVORITE dessert recipes and I dont even rally like Tiramisu.  But my dad found this recipe years ago and it is a family favorite.  Most tiramisu recipes are complicated to make...but this one is not bad at all.  The taste is addicting and you are guaranteed to love this recipe!!

Now, you can make this either Gluten Free or regular.  There are 2 brands I'm going to recommend for the lady fingers.

Gluten Free Lady Fingers:

Regular Lady Fingers:

So if you are Gluten Free, you can STILL enjoy this dessert and for those who can eat Gluten...Alessi is an AWESOME brand!  And Jellos Instant Devils Food Chocolate Instant Pudding is Gluten Free!  Check out their site:http://www.gfoverflow.com/results.php?q=brand:+Jell-O

Here is the recipe!  Enjoy - but I'm warning you...this is addictive!!

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Granules
1 1/2 cup of water
4 cups of low fat milk
2 Packages (3.8oz Each) Instant Devils Food Chocolate Instant Pudding (Yes - this is Gluten Free!!)
1 package (8 oz.) Light Soft Cream Cheese at Room Temperature
24 Lady Fingers
3/4 cup 8 oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Carton (16 oz) Lite Cool Whip Topping
1/2 tsp Cocoa Powder for Garnish

Instructions:

Mix the coffee granules with water and microwave on high for 1 min.  Leave in microwave and proceed with recipe.  Mix the milk, pudding and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl on medium speed.  Mix until well blended.  Split the ladyfingers in half length wise.  Place half of package in trifle bowl cut side up.  Drizzle 1/4 of coffee mixture evenly over the Ladyfingers.  Spread half of the pudding mixture over the Ladyfingers.  Spread 1/4 of the whipped topping over pudding.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the topping.  Repeat these layers 3 more times.  Sprinkle cocoa powder on top to garnish.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hrs.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Here in the States, it's Labor Day...so Happy Labor Day everybody!!  And what do I do on holiday when I'm off from work?  Yes, I cook :) 

My little girl brought home a book from her school library about Amelia Bedelia.  As my mom was reading this book out loud to my 2 kiddos, she read about all the things Amelia Bedelia does wrong...but the one thing she does right is make a fabulous lemon meringue pie....and I thought, it's been forever since I made a homemade lemon meringue pie!!

So here it is!  I make mine with a graham cracker crust.  If you are Gluten Free, they sell graham cracker crust mix in a box so you can make a Gluten Free pie shell!  Kinnikinnick makes a great one!

For all you non-gluten free folks, if you want to make your own graham cracker pie crust...I have a good recipe for you below or you can buy a premade graham cracker crust pie shell.

This one takes a little bit of time and is in the medium range of difficulty.  See below for the recipe and I hope you enjoy it!!

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Crust (This one is not Gluten Free):

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 8 whole crackers)
• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooked
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Lemon Filling:

• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

Meringue:

• 5 large egg white, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Place oven rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 F.

For the graham cracker crust:

1. Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and mix well.  Press mixture evenly into a 9-inch metal or ceramic pie plate and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Lemon Filling:

1. Combine cornstarch, sugar, egg yolks, and lemon juice in a medium-size heavy saucepan.  Add water and whisk until blended; use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to make sure mixture is well combined.

2. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add butter and lemon zest and stir vigorously until butter is completely melted and ingredients are thoroughly combined.

3. Pour mixture into graham-cracker crust, cover with a round of waxed paper or parchment paper, and let cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue:

1. Combine egg whites and salt in a large, clean bowl and whip with a hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

2.Remove the paper from the pie, and spoon meringue over lemon filling.  Spread meringue with a spatula so that it covers the entire surface of the pie, sealing in the filling.  Be sure meringue meets the crust, otherwise it will shrink inward, exposing filling.

3.  Bake until meringue is golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature on wire rack, the refrigerate until filling is cold, at least 4 hours.  Slice and serve chilled.  Store in refrigerator.

Apple Snickers Salad

We moved not too long ago to a new house, new city and a new neighborhood.  We have been trying to do a better job of meeting our neighbors and getting the kiddos involved with kids their age.  We were invited to our neighbor's house last night and everyone was asked to bring their own meat for a BBQ.  There were 3 other families there and each of us brought a side dish or a dessert.   One family brought this YUMMY dessert and I just HAD to share this!  This is SO great for summer time!!  Super easy - total of 15 min prep.  It's an Apple Snickers Salad!!

GLUTEN FREE Folks - Snickers bars dont have Gluten in them BUT I did a lot of research on Gluten/Snickers bars and I do not recommend you try this dish.  There was reports A LOT cross contamination. Snickers are produced on shared equipment with Milky Way bars, which contain malt.  Also - did you know Peppermint tea will help settle your stomach?  Try that if your tummy acts up.  anyway - this one is not all that healthy but tastes amazing.  I did eat this dish and my stomach was fine this morning! 

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
3 apples, diced
3 regular size SNICKERS® candy bars, frozen

Directions:

Mix together the Cool Whip and apples. Smash the SNICKERS® bars and add to the salad. Best if you allow to stand for a little while before serving.

Pistachio Pineapple Mallow Dessert

Ok –it’s time to talk about something SWEET!  Yes! It’s dessert time and it’s a more healthy dessert that tastes AMAZING!  Perfect for a spring or summer day and it turns out SO pretty!  My mom found this one from Kraft and shared it with me years ago.  This one is gluten free and high in vitamin C!  I promise – you will NOT feel guilty after eating this one!  See the nutritional info below and ENJOY!

1 pkg (4 serving size) Jell-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie filling

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
½ cup Walnut Pieces
3 ¼ cups of mini marshmallows, divided
2 tubs (8oz each) COOL WHIP Topping, thawed
3 maraschino cherries with stems

Stir the dry pudding mix, pineapple with juice, walnuts and 1 cup of the marshmallows in a large bowl until well blended.  Gently stir in 1 tub of the whipped topping.

Empty the remaining tub of whipped topping into separate medium bowl.  Add 2 cups of the marshmallows; mix lightly.

Spoon half of the pudding mixture into large serving bowl; cover with layer of half of the marshmallow mixture.  Repeat both layers.  Top with remaining 1-1/4 cups marshmallows and the cherries.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.  Store leftover dessert in the fridge.

Nutrition Info:

Per Serving

Calories 190, Total Fat 8g, cholesterol 0 mg, sodium, 110 mg, carbs 29 g, dietary fiber 1 g, sugars 21 g, protein 1 g, Vitamin C 6%DV