Apricot Soy Pork Chops

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 10 min.

Cook Time: 12 min.

Total Time: 22 min.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2-3 boneless pork chops
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup of sweet yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup of apricot preserves
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 green onion, diced for garnish

Directions:

Heat a large skillet coated in cooking spray over medium heat. Season both sides of the pork chops with sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, and garlic powder, to taste. Place into the skillet and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from the pan; keep warm.

Add the olive oil to the same skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes or until softened. Add the apricot preserves, soy sauce, and minced garlic; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until thickened. Add the pork and it's juices back to pan, turning to coat. Place onto a serving plate and sprinkle with green onions. Serve immediately Enjoy.

 

STREUSEL PEAR PIE

Ingredients

1/2 c. white sugar
2 TBSP. quick-cooking tapioca I use rice krispies
1tsp cinnamon
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
6 cups peeled, sliced, fresh Bartlett pears (ripe ones)

Streusel:
1/2 cup butter, softened a little
1 cup sifted flour
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 unbaked 9" deep dish pie shell

Preparation
Preheat over to 375 degrees F. Combine Sugar, tapioca and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in lemon juice and pears.. Cut butter into mixture of flour and brown sugar until crumbly. Turn pear mixture into pie shell. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top and lightly pat down, as pie will be full. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45-50 minutes. Cool and serve with reduced fat whipped topping or sugar free vanilla ice cream.

 

Old Fashioned Brownies with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields 12

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder*
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp milk
1 recipe Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together granulated sugar, light-brown sugar and melted butter until combine. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract and mix until blended. Add in half of the flour mixture and mix just until combine, add in milk and mix just until combine, then add remaining flour mixture and mix just until combine (batter will be very thick). Pour batter into a buttered 8x8 baking dish and spread into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 40 - 45 minutes until center is nearly set. Allow to cool completely then frost with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and cut into squares (the frosting is a must for this recipe). Store in an airtight container.

*If you want a stronger chocolate flavor, you can use 1/2 cup cocoa powder instead of the 1/3 cup listed. I just wanted a more mild chocolate flavor for this brownie so I like 1/3 cup, but I have tested out both. If you do ad 1/2 cup cocoa then reduce the flour measurement by 2 1/2 Tbsp.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
5 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium speed, whip together cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in vanilla and powdered sugar, then sift in cocoa powder and mix until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Lemon sandwich cookies

·                                                       16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature ·                            1 cup confectioners' sugar ·                            1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon) ·                            ½ teaspoon salt ·                            2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling ·                            2 table spoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling ·                            Creamy Lemon Filling (below)   ·                            Creamy lemon filling   ·                            4 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature ·                            1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest 9from 1 lemon) ·                            1 to 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

Lemon Sandwich Cookies   Makes 3 Dozen | Prep time: 45 minutes | Total time: 2 ¼ hours     1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and salt, until combined. With mixer on low, add flour 9dough will still be stiff); finish mixing with a wooden spoon. 2.       Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, pat into a disk about ½ inch thick. Wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour (and up to 3 days). 3.       Unwrap dough; place on a lightly floured piece of parchment or waxed paper. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough about 1/8 inch thick (if dough cracks, let it warm up slightly). 4.       Cut out cookies with a 1 1/2-inch round cutter (re-roll scraps once, chilling of too soft). Place 1 inch apart on two baking sheets; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until barely beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 5.       Form sandwiches: Place about 1 teaspoon Creamy Lemon Filling between two cookies, sugared sides facing out; squeeze gently. Creamy Lemon Filling 1.       In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and zest until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, missing until smooth. Mix in remaining sugar as necessary to create a firm but spreadable filling.

FRESH PEACH CRUMB COFFEE CAKE

Topping (recipe follows)

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pound ripe peaches (3 to 4 medium), peeled, pitted and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 F. Liberally butter the bottom of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.

Prepare topping; set aside.

To make the cake batter, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sour cream, eggs and vanilla and beat well. Place the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl, stirring to combine; add to the batter all at once, stirring well to combine. The batter will be stiff.

Smooth the batter into the prepared skillet. Arrange the peach slices on top in a single layer. Crumble the topping mixture into big chunks and sprinkle on top of the peaches.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with crumbs clinging to it, about 45 minutes. (The cake will remain quite moist because of the peaches, but be sure you don’t have streaks of raw batter on the toothpick.) Cool a little before cutting into wedges.

Makes 8 servings.

Topping: Place 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted salted butter in a medium bowl. Mix well to make a dense, smooth dough; set aside until ready to top cake before it bakes.

A Better Quick Fruit Cobbler

 

The following is for a 12-inch oven. This recipe can be used for just about any fruit, fresh or canned. Modify the amount of liquid, spices, etc for best results with fresh fruits.

 

2 cans (29 ounce cans) fruit with half the juice (sliced peaches in heavy syrup is my favorite).

2 cups each of: flour, sugar, milk

4 tsp baking powder

2 dashes salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

½ cup cinnamon sugar (2 Tbls cinnamon, rest sugar)

 

Preheat oven to "hot". Combine the flour, sugar, milk, baking powder, and salt and mix to a smooth batter. Add the butter to the hot oven. When melted, pour the batter in, even distributed in the butter (but don't stir). Carefully add the peaches and half the juice that was in the two cans, but DO NOT STIR IT. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of the peaches. Bake for a FULL 35 minutes, turning the pot twice ( it will look done far before it is done.) Let it cool 30 minutes before eating. Note: it is important to have the oven level to cook this dish.

 

Great grandma's sugar cookies

2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup milk

3 tsp baking powder

nutmeg

salt

61/2 cups flour

cream together sugar shortening add eggs one at a time mix well add vanilla, add milk and remaining ingredients mix well. roll out bake 350 12 min.