Creamy Brownie Dip

This Cookin’ with Carbo dessert is perfect for the weekend or anytime:

Mark T. Carboni shares his Cookin With Carbo party recipes with Shindigz

There is nothing better than a warm brownie, until now! Join me around the dipping bowl for a creamy brownie dip that will allow you the same great brownie flavors without having to turn on the oven in the summer. It is like Growing up Carbo, when my mom would let me “lick the beaters” from the mixer. This tasty treat is perfect for your next kids birthday party, or satisfy your girlfriends chocolate craving at the next baby shower!

This no-bake Brownie Dip dessert is a chocolate lovers dream!

 

Creamy Brownie Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened

4 tablespoons butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons milk

Place the cream cheese and the butter into a bowl and mix with a hand-held mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and continue mixing. Add the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla and milk. Mix until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar or milk if needed, until the desired consistency is reached. It is ready to serve with marshmallows, cookies, wafers or apple slices.

The passion for cooking was inherited through Carbo’s maternal grandmother who inspired Mark T. Carboni (Carbo) to bring joy to friends and family through the act of preparing food and celebrations. Carbo and his partner travel to sample and learn regional and cultural differences in food. The experiences allow him to make new and exciting recipes that can be reproduce in your own home using every day products and equipment in a short amount of time. Carbo provides private cooking lessons, authored his first cookbook and keeps a highly interactive Facebook page that showcases food-talk and fun. www.facebook.com/carbocooks.

 

Carrot Zucchini Summer Squash Muffins

Heather Jurczyk from HeCooksSheCooks.com shares her recipes with Shindigz

April 25th is National Zucchini Bread Day!

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Shindigz will take ANY reason to celebrate!

And really what isn’t there to celebrate about zucchini bread? It is delicious and makes your taste buds happy. It has zucchini in it! Which, okay, may not sound like anything all that special, but really it is. With the addition of veggies in a muffin you have a healthy snack, and dare I say it, with over TWO CUPS of veggies in these muffins, you can probably eat them as a side dish of veggies and reach your Recommended Daily Allowance of veggies! If you eat the whole batch. Which once you taste these you will want to.

These tasty so delicious that they’ll be the hit at any party, from summer celebrations to bridal showers.  Or how about impressing Mom on Mothers Day, especially with the creative way you’re eating your veggies!

Carrot Zucchini Summer Squash Muffins

Everyone will want your recipe for these Carrot Zucchini Summer Squash Muffins!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 cups grated carrots, zucchini and summer squash, blotted dry.
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.
In the bowl of your mixer, add the eggs, yogurt, oil, sugar, honey and mix to blend well.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Slowly add the flour mix and blend till all ingredients are combined.

Mix the carrots, zucchini, summer squash and walnuts together and add to mixture.

Grease or paper your muffin tins. Fill each muffin almost to the top of the tin.

Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool on rack and then remove from tin.

To glaze mix 1 cup of powder sugar with just enough milk to get a thick syrup. Spoon glaze over cool muffins.

Next week –  a TWO-FER! A drink for the Kentucky Derby lovers and a dish for Cinco De Mayo!

Recipe by Heather Jurczyk, the sassy half of the  duo that make up the cooking team of He Cooks She Cooks. They have a weakness for feel good, down to earth, amazingly tasty eats that almost always include the addition of beer.

From growing their own tomatoes to brewing their own beer, they like to cook from scratch as much as possible. They know what’s important. Love. Food. Beer. Visit He Cooks She Cooks for more recipes.

Cowgirl Cookies

Ingredients

· 1 1/2 cups flour

· 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

· 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/2 sticks butter (6 ounces, 12 Tbsp), at room temperature

· 3/4 cup white sugar

· 3/4 cup brown sugar

· 1 1/2 large eggs*, beaten

· 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (we used white chocolate chips in pink, green, or white)

· 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

· 1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1 Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower third. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3 Place butter in a standing electric mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth and light, about 1 minute. Slowly add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and beat to combine, about 2 more minutes. Add half the eggs, beat, and then add the other half and beat again. Add the vanilla extract and beat again.

4 Lower the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture, until just combined. Add the chocolate chips, oats, and pecans, mixing until just combined.

5 Drop about 1/4 cup lumps of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, separated by 3 inches to allow for enough room for the cookies to spread as they cook. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, then rotate the cookie sheets front to back and top to bottom, and bake for an additional 7 to 9 minutes. Note that if you are using a dark baking sheet, it will absorb more heat, and you won’t need as much baking time. Also, the top rack will bake more quickly because heat rises.

6 Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

You’ll likely need to work in batches, depending on the size of your oven and your baking sheets.

Nate & Kenda Collier’s Cream Cheese Pumpkin Roll

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 2 tablespoons melted margarine
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered)
• chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Grease a 10 x 15 inch cookie sheet. Line with wax-paper, and grease again.
2. Mix in order: eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and cinnamon. Sift in the flour. Spread into pan and sprinkle with nuts, if desired.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
4. Turn onto a flat tea towel that has been dusted with powdered sugar. Roll from short end (10 inch side) up into the log, wax-paper, towel, and all.
5. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Filling: Make the filling just before you remove the cooled log from the refrigerator.

• Beat together the melted margarine, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.
• Unroll the log and remove the wax-paper.
• Spread the creamy filing onto cake and roll cake back up, ignoring the towel.
• Place in aluminum foil and refrigerate.
• When completely cooled, slice and serve or freeze for later.

Flour-less Chocolate Mint Cake

• 1/2 Cup plus 2 tsp. sugar (divided)
• 1 pkg. (8 squares) of Semi-Sweet Chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint
• 4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray bottom and sides of a 9 inch Springform pan with cooking spray, dust side with 2 tsp. sugar.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until both are completely melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in remaining sugar and mint.

Beat eggs in medium bowl on high speed 9-10 minutes or until eggs are very thick, pale yellow and quadrupled in volume. Add half the eggs to chocolate mixture and stir gently until well blended. Repeat with remaining eggs. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool in pain on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run small knife around the rim of pan to loosen the cake and remove rim. Cool completely and enjoy!

Oreo Peanut Butter Milkshake

• 1 Cup milk
• 3 1/4  Cups (softened) vanilla ice cream
• 1/3 Cup creamy peanut butter
• 8 Oreo cookies
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 fresh strawberries (cut in halves)

Blend all ingredients except the strawberries in a blender until smooth. Top with berries and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9×13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Applesause Squares

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Grease one 8×8 inch baking pan.
2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat well.
3. Blend in cinnamon, flour, baking soda and salt; add raisins, nuts and applesauce. Mix well.
4. Place batter into the prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Cherry Popovers

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour or all-purpose
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup pitted cherries

1. Beat the milk, melted butter, flour, and salt in a medium bowl until just smooth, then add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated. Stir in cherries. Allow batter to rest for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Butter muffin cups (or popover cups) taking care to coat the cups as well as the area around the top as well.
3. Fill cups 3/4 full (leave plenty of room), and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes longer. Do not open the oven during baking!
4. Remove from oven, pierce tops with a knife to let the steam escape, and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Purple Cow Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup grape soda
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 10 cubes ice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• milk

Directions

1. In a blender, combine grape soda, ice cream, ice cubes and vanilla. Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add milk until desired consistency is achieved. Pour into glasses and serve.