Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients
1 (18 ounce) box yellow (or white) cake mix
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
2 eggs
Directions
Turn oven on to 350°F.
Dump all ingredients into a bowl.
Get mixer out and mix it until it is mixed up good. It will look kinda grainy, but feel oily.

After it is mixed up good,grab enough out to make about a 1 inch ball in your hand and roll it around in your hand like you did with Play-Doh when you were a kid.
Place the balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Get a fork and use the tines to make a criss cross pattern on each ball by gently pressing down on the ball 2 times. Once for each direction.

Place in oven and bake for 8~12 minutes.
Remember that the shorter the baking time, the softer the cookie. 8 minutes would be the minimum though (unless you have a one of those fancy convection ovens).

Easy Bisquick Sugar Cookies

3 cups bisquick
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup water
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate, melted
Blend and drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and flatten cookies with spatula. Return to oven and bake 2 additional minutes. Remove and cool. Drizzle with melted semi-sweet chocolate.
Makes 4 dozen.

Olive Garden’s Caprese Flatbread

Ingredients
8 Roma or plum tomatoes, diced
1 garlic clove
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise (1/2 cup)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
20 medium fresh basil leaves, stemmed and chopped (about ½ cup)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
11 oz container of refrigerated thin crust pizza dough

Procedures
PREHEAT oven to 350ºF.
DICE tomatoes into small pieces. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
ADD chopped garlic, salt, pepper, ½ of chopped basil (about ¼ cup), and 4 Tbsp olive oil.
SET aside and allow mixture to marinate for 10 minutes.
FLATTEN pizza dough into rectangle pan as indicated on package, reaching to pan edges.
DRIZZLE dough with olive oil and brush it over dough.
BAKE dough at 350ºF for 10 (12) minutes on center rack.
REMOVE from oven and allow to cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
CUT garlic clove in half and rub, cut side down, onto the surface of the bread. The slight warmth of the bread will help extract the garlic flavor.
ALLOW bread to cool completely, about 10 more minutes.
INCREASE oven temperature to 450ºF.
COMBINE mayonnaise and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread onto the bread’s surface.
TOP with shredded mozzarella to evenly cover surface.
DRAIN tomato mixture and spread evenly over the bread.
SPRINKLE with grated Parmesan cheese.
RETURN flatbread to oven for 5-7 (9) more minutes or until golden, crisp and bubbly.
GARNISH with remaining chopped basil and serve.

Swedish Coconut Cookies

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 cups butter, softened
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Combine all ingredients except coconut in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (5 to 8 minutes). Stir in coconut by hand.

Divide dough in half; shape each half into 12x2-inch log. Wrap each log in plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours).

Heat oven to 350°F. Cut logs into 1/4-inch slices. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

I had to improvise a bit as my slices didn't come out well - still taste good, just look like sugar cookies *grin*

Frosted Banana Cookies

Cookie
3/4 cup butter softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 medium (1 cup) ripe/just past ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons half & half or milk
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Grated orange zest, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine 3/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add bananas, egg, orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons brown sugar and half & half. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (1 to 2 minutes). Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat until well mixed; cool slightly.

Frost cooled cookies. Garnish with grated orange zest, if desired. Let stand until frosting is set.

**Mine came out more like mini cakes then cookies - not complainin, just sayin

Mini Monkey Bread

12 Rhodes™ Dinner rolls, thawed but still cold (2 - 10count homestyle canned biscuits)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar (1 cup)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (4 t)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted (omitted)
1-2 tablespoons milk (2 1/2-3 T)
½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Cut each dinner roll into 6 equal pieces (canned biscuits is 7 pieces each – 18 of the biscuits get cut into 4 pieces each, two of them stretch out a bit cut in half lengthwise then cut each of those pieces into thirds – total of six pieces each from the last two biscuits).
In a bowl, combine butter and corn syrup and stir until well mixed. In another bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
Dip 6 (7) roll pieces at a time in the butter mixture and then in the sugar mixture. Place 6 (7) pieces in each well sprayed cup of a 12 cup muffin tin. Repeat with remaining roll pieces.
Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let double in size, remove wrap. (If using biscuit dough cover and let it sit for 7-10 minutes, uncover, put them into the oven) 
Bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes. Cool 3-4 minutes.
While they are still quite warm, take a knife and go around the edges of each well. The rolls won't stick . . . they will easily come right out. (HA! Four of mine stuck, safest bet, after going around the edges gently lift them off the bottom as well.)
Flip the pan over (don’t lay it flat, keep it slightly elevated) onto a piece of parchment paper (aluminum foil would work too) so each roll comes out upside-down. Most of the gooey caramel is resting on the bottom of the rolls and needs to seep back into the roll. Combine the glaze ingredients. Once the rolls cool slightly, and the caramel has set a bit . . . turn them right side up and glaze. (I left mine upside down, the glaze oozed underneath them. As you are putting them away give them a gentle twist in the glaze that has pooled around the roll, as you put it in your container turn it over so the freshly glazed side is up)

                

glazed while still upside-down

          

Given a gentle twist to glaze the tops

Banana Crumb Muffins

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed (1 1/3cups)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I only used 1/4 teaspoon)

Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a muffin tin (12 count), or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. (approx ¼ cup per muffin cup)

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.