Cranberry almond bars

This recipe is one I make every single year when cranberries start showing up in stores! There aren't many recipes you can make using fresh cranberries, and it seems that their tartness means they always get relegated to cranberry sauce. These cranberry almond bars will make you change the way you think of cranberries though!

I think people are afraid to use cranberries in a lot of baking solely because of that tartness. Whatever goes on as this recipe bakes though, turns the cranberries super sweet! I like to add almonds because I like the unique cranberry almond flavor, but they are just as good with pecans.

I cut these into cranberry almond bars or squares, but you could also just serve it as a cake. 

The best dehydrator recipes to preserve the harvest (and a fruit roll recipe!)

As summer winds down so does the garden. Now all that's really left to do is battle the occasional pest and harvest, harvest, harvest! If you're like me you have fresh fruit and veggies absolutely everywhere!

Preserving food is kinda my thing so I did a lot of canning and freezing this year. I mean A LOT! I wouldn't want all that lovely garden produce to go to waste after all. Just when I was at my wit's end for places to put more canned jellies, sauces and pickles...I remembered the dehydrator!

I've had this dehydrator for a few years but haven't used it much for food. I use it constantly for herbs and flowers but food? Nope. I have like 3 things I make in it. Which is really silly because dehydrated food takes up much less space to store it then preserving food using any other method!

I only have a few dehydrator recipes myself but luckily, I know the right people! So I called in the big guns and asked my favorite homestead bloggers what their best dehydrator recipes were. While I was waiting, I grabbed some peaches and whipped up a batch of homemade fruit roll ups in the dehydrator.

The most unique Pumpkin recipe's ever!

It's the start of "Pumpkin everything" season! (it's the official start ya know...since Starbucks just started with their pumpkin latte, that means it's on now! LOL) The kids are always trying to get me to make new things with pumpkin....which is how I ended up making pumpkin milkshakes last year! Crazy kids! 

Joking aside, it's one of my favorite times of year! The family and I love pumpkin flavored goodies. From the normal pies and cake rolls to the more unique candies, smoothies and even donuts, we've found tons of amazing recipes this year and I wanted to share them with you.

Super easy any flavor brownies

This recipe was originally written for strawberry brownies. However, I have since used it to make more flavors that I can count! Blondies, butterscotch chip blondies, almond, confetti cake, red velvet, carrot cake brownies and more! You can literally make any flavor cake mix into 'brownies'!

This recipe is super convenient when you need a last minute dessert and want something a touch more impressive than standard brownies! I'm not stranger to using a cake mix to make other desserts, I also have a recipe for Pillow Soft Cake Mix Cookies. As with this one you can use any cake mix and there's just a few steps!  

So lets just get baking....

This recipe is a little more complex then what I normally post....but let me explain. I love cheesecake. LOVE it! I also love anything pumpkin so naturally Pumpkin cheesecake would be one of my favorites. This is guaranteed to be the easiest cheesecake you ever make...and as long as you follow the ingredients and directions, it will not fail!

I've made many cheesecakes over the years and they don't always turn out well. Cheesecake can be touchy, and I've had some serious flops. I've also found a few recipes that are just about bulletproof. This is one of them. 

I've been using this recipe since 2005. I found it in one of those holiday recipe books they sell next to the checkout in the grocery store and I've been using it ever since. You should see how dog-eared and stained that book is!

Cheesecake recipes are slightly more strict then almost anything else I make. There is no wiggle room. I can't add more of this or take out some of that...but follow the recipe exactly and you'll be in love with the results!

Never fail Pumpkin Cheesecake

Grab your ingredients, a springform pan, a bowl, a hand mixer and a spatula and lets get this cheesecake started!

Ingredients...
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice1 tsp vanilla extract (here's how I make it)
4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened 
5 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) or 2 cups of homemade pumpkin puree minus 2 1/2 Tbsp.
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar

Easy Cherry Cheesecake Dessert

This is one of those 'saw it on pinterest and just had to try it' things. except....it didn't work out so well (which explains why I'm not linking that original post). The original was thick, gluey, bland and had wayyy too much crust. I hate, hate, hate when that happens! Especially when the original recipe was accompanied by beautiful photos.

I mourned this dream of a dessert turned tasteless lump, then I got moving on fixing this thing! I took me a few tries but I added some of this, took out some of that....remade it 3 times...but I finally came up with the final product and tried it out at the church event that weekend.

It was a hit! Not only was it easy to make, but it being a no bake dessert meant that I didn't have to turn the oven on in the summer! Nothing worse than ruining all that lovely air conditioning with the oven, right?

I once destroyed a bouquet of roses because my kitchen got too hot baking in summer! Not doing that again! lol So a no bake dessert is perfect for picnics and other summer events.

Anyway, back to the event...so many people asked me for the recipe that day that I figured I better write it out so I could pass it around! Here is what I finally came up with.

Easy, soft cake mix cookies

Updated for 2024

About 12 years ago a friend brought a plate of the softest chocolate chip cookies to a party and wow, were they good! I just had to ask for the recipe. Turns out it wasn't a real recipe, but rather a boxed cake mix hack! They literally tasted like cake batter and chocolate chips and I guess it's because that is exactly what they are!

She made them with yellow cake mix and chocolate chips but since hubby and the kids are sprinkles fanatics, the first time I made them I had to make them with the confetti style cake mix. 

They were amazing! Here they are in all their 'taste like cake batter' goodness:

3 ingredient Nutella Brownies

Did you know that Nutella has most of the ingredients to make brownies in it already? It has the chocolate and hazelnut, oils and sugar! That's more than half the recipe right there! Crazy right?

But it gets better (I feel like an informercial right now: But wait! There's more! LOL) Just add flour and eggs and you can actually make brownies from it. Consider me gob smacked!

Somebody gave me this recipe years ago and I've been making it ever since because it's so easy!

Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallows

The holidays are coming which means it's time to start baking and making anything that can be prepped ahead of time. I always start with candy, since it can be stored the longest. The kids and Imake these chocolate peppermint treats to dress up our holiday hot chocolate every Christmas. They're fun to make and super simple, plus super cute and yummy!

It's really more of an assembly than a recipe, which make it perfect for little hands to help with! We made an entire tray of them to make sure we have enough for the whole holiday season.

After all...when the weather outside is frightful and you need some hot chocolate to warm up, these are a sweet treat on the side. They're also pretty good with coffee!

Decadent raspberry chocolate banana bread

Today I have one of my favorite breakfast recipes for you. It combines two of my favorite flavors into a pretty standard banana bread recipe. I've been making this for awhile (and I can't for the life of me remember where I got it since it's handwritten on a recipe card!) It is absolutely delicious though and you'll find yourself unable to stop eating it!

This is a slightly sweeter version of a traditional banana bread with chunks of fresh raspberry and chocolate throughout. I usually serve this sweet bread for breakfast, but we've had it for dessert also. Serve warm with or without whipped salted butter.

Homemade Pumpkin Caramels Recipe

Since it's Pumpkin everything season it seems only right that I would share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes with you! Pumpkin caramels! 

I've been making these pumpkin caramels for what seems like forever! I wish I could say where the recipe originated from, but I have it hand written on an index card like we used to back in the day. So there's no telling where it came from. Dang, I feel old now!😂

Anyway, this is a fun and easy recipe to make. They're a bit different from the typical pumpkin cakes and drinks and they make a yummy hostess gift for fall parties. A quick word of candy making advice: watch your temperature very closely and make sure you stir, stir, stir to prevent scorching.