Jif® Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup CRISCO® Butter Shortening
• 1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups PILLSBURY BEST® All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Sugar
• 48 foil-wrapped milk chocolate pieces, unwrapped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cream together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well.
3. Sire together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms.
4. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Top each cookie immediately with an unwrapped chocolate piece, pressing down firmly so that cookie cracks around edge. Remove from cookie sheets to cool.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 95 | Total Fat: 4.9g | Cholesterol: 5mg

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 
  
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, and crystallized ginger in a bowl; set aside.
2. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree with the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 211 | Total Fat: 8.7g | Cholesterol: 56mg

Halloween Eye of Newt

Ingredients

• 12 eggs
• 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 pinch celery salt
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 2 drops green food coloring, or as needed
• 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

Directions

1. Place all of the eggs into a large pot so they can rest on the bottom in a single layer. Fill with just enough cold water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil, then cover, remove from the heat and let stand for about 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water or add some ice to the water and let the eggs cool completely. Peel and slice in half lengthwise.
2. Remove the yolks from the eggs and place them in a bowl. Mix in the relish, mayonnaise, celery salt, mustard, and food coloring. Spoon this filling into the egg whites and place them on a serving tray. Round the top of the filling using the spoon. Place an olive slice on each yolk to create the center of the eye. Dab a tiny bit of mayonnaise in the center of the olive as a finishing touch.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 99 | Total Fat: 7.5g | Cholesterol: 212mg

Beef Bacon Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds top sirloin, lean
• 1 pound bacon
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/3 cups butter

Directions

1. Cut the beef into strips that are approximately 1 inch wide and the same length or close to the length of the bacon strip, about 1/8 inch thick. Serve hot.
2. Make the beef bacon rolls by laying a strip of bacon on a strip of beef and rolling the two meats together so that the beef is on the outside when you finish rolling. Insert a toothpick so that it goes in on the bottom left side and comes out the top right side when looked at vertically.
3. In large skillet, saute onions and butter until onions are tender. Lay a single layer of beef bacon rolls in the skillet. Brown them on medium heat, turning once or twice. Cover the skillet and simmer about 2 hours.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 579 | Total Fat: 55.2g | Cholesterol: 142mg

Crescent Mummy Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) can Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
• 2 1/2 slices American cheese slices, quartered
• 10 large hot dogs
• Cooking spray
• Mustard or ketchup, if desired

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Crescent Rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations creating 4 rectangles; press perforations to seal. Recipe Creations: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
4. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face." On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on 'face.'

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 223 | Total Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 26mg

Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll-Ups

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
• 8 thin slices cooked ham
• 4 thin slices Cheddar cheese, cut into strips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place 1 piece of ham on each triangle; place 2 strips of cheese down center of ham. Fold in edges of ham to match shape of dough triangle.
2. Roll up each crescent, ending at tip of triangle. Place with tips down on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 15 to 19 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 164 | Total Fat: 10.2g | Cholesterol: 13mg

Irish Soda Bread Cookies

Hoping to find an Irish soda bread recipe that's a little more special than the usual? You've found it! This recipe is for Irish soda bread cookies, and they're fun to make with the kids...and even more fun to eat.

Yields: 36

Cooking Time: 14 min

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ³/4 cup white sugar
• ¹/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ¹/2 cup butter or margarine
• ¹/2 cup currants
• ¹/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• ¹/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
   
2. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
   
3. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
   
4. Stir in currants.
   
5. Mix in beaten egg.
   
6. Pour in milk and mix with a fork to make a soft dough (may need a little more milk).
   
7. On a floured surface, shape dough into a ball and knead lightly 5 or 6 times.
   
8. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into squares and triangles with a knife (approximately 2 inches in diameter).
   
9. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until slightly browned

Carrot spelt cupcakes with cream cheese frosting Veg

Ingredients

• 275g/9¾oz caster sugar

• 200ml/7fl oz sunflower oil

• 4 medium free-range eggs

• about 300g/10½oz grated carrot, a little more or less is fine

• up to 150g/5½oz nuts or dried fruit (optional)

• 225g/8oz spelt or wholemeal flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp mixed spice

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the cheese frosting

• 125g/4½oz unsalted butter, softened

• 125g/4½oz full-fat cream cheese

• 275g/9¾oz icing sugar

• edible decorations (such as sugar-paste carrots or mini-chocolate Easter eggs), to finish

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line the pockets of a muffin tray with muffin cases.

2. Beat the sugar, oil and eggs in mixing bowl until smooth, then stir in the grated carrot and, if you like, up to 150g/5½oz chopped nuts, dried fruit, or a mixture of both.

3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, spices and cocoa so that they're evenly mixed, then tip this into the carrot mixture and stir well.

4. Fill the muffin papers to about two-thirds full, then bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer poked in comes out almost clean.

5. For the frosting, make sure the butter is soft, then, using a whisk or electric mixer, beat it with the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth and light.

6. Stir in the icing sugar with a spoon until it begins to come together, then whisk again briefly until light and smooth. Pipe or spoon blobs of the frosting on each cold cupcake. Decorate with sugar-paste carrots or, say for Easter, with mini chocolate Easter eggs.