Category Archives: Desserts

Toffee Crunch Buckeyes

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toffee crunch buckeyes marydukecooks.com

Sometimes it is difficult to decide what sweet treats to make at Christmas. There are so many choices that I get overwhelmed. Toffee Crunch Buckeyes are simple to make yet look impressive. With the addition of toffee, these buckeyes have a sweet candy crunch. This is a great recipe can to make with your children or grandchildren and make a beautiful presentation when boxed and given as gifts. Just in case you would like to keep some for yourself…hide them in the back of the refrigerator! (Don’t tell- that’s what I always do!)

Toffee Crunch Buckeyes

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch kosher salt
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
¾ cup toffee bits with chocolate (I use Heath Bits O’ Brickle)
10-12 ounces Candy coating (I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers
or Wilton dark cocoa candy melts)
1-2 teaspoons canola oil

With a mixer beat peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Add powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix again. Mix in toffee bits by hand. Roll into 1-inch balls or use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop. Place balls on 2 plastic wrap lined plates. Freeze 2 hours or until hard.

In a small bowl, melt ½ bag of candy melts according to package directions. Add 1-2 teaspoons oil. Start with 1 teaspoon and add enough oil until the chocolate flows smoothly in a ribbon when poured from a spoon.

Remove ½ buckeyes from freezer. Place a toothpick in center of each buckeye. Holding toothpick, dip ¾ of each buckeye in chocolate leaving a small circle of peanut butter exposed where the toothpick is. Let excess chocolate drip in bowl. Place buckeyes on a plate lined with clean plastic wrap. If chocolate begins to harden reheat briefly in microwave.

Place chocolate dipped buckeyes in refrigerator to harden. Repeat process with remaining buckeyes and candy melts. Store in refrigerator. Makes around 30 buckeyes. Enjoy!

Published in The News and Neighbor on November 29, 2017

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

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  marydukecooks.com Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars These bars are a perfect finger food holiday dessert. Cut the bars into whatever size or shape you prefer. I made several versions of this recipe trying to develop a caramel layer that would … Continue reading →

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

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                             Chocolate Caramel Brownies marydukecooks.com These bars have a divine, rich layer of caramel between layers of chocolate brownie! Chocolate caramel heaven! Chocolate Caramel Brownies 2 boxes … Continue reading →

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

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I can still remember earning enough money to buy frozen treats from the ice cream truck. It would come down our street once a week and you never knew what day or time it would appear. I kept a pile … Continue reading →

Black Bear Crumble Bars

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When Doc and I travel we stop at roadside produce markets to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and preserves. One of the preserves we buy is called black bear preserves. It is a mixture of berries that black bears love. In this … Continue reading →

Rhubarb Strawberry Upside Down Cake

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This is a gorgeous cake! It makes just enough to eat after dinner. The strawberries and rhubarb have just the right amount of sweetness and sauce. The cake is the perfect thickness to get equal amounts of topping and cake … Continue reading →

Jane’s Carrot Cake

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This is probably the best carrot cake I have ever tasted! It is from my dear friend Jane Howell. She says grating whole carrots instead of purchasing them pre-grated makes this cake exceptional.

Carrot Cake

3 cups grated carrots
2 cups granulated sugar
1¼ cups canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon iodized salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Garnish: 1/2 cup chopped pecans toasted 300ºF
for 7 minutes and cooled for top of cake

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Grate carrots with a box grater using large holes or with a food processor using grater disc, then chop strips of carrot with metal blade. Set aside. With a mixer combine sugar, oil, and eggs. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Mix. Add carrots and pecans. Mix.
Pour batter into a 9 X 13 inch pan.

Bake 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool completely. Ice with Cream Cheese Icing. Garnish with toasted chopped pecans. Slice cake cold and serve at room temperature.

Cream Cheese Icing

8 ounces regular cream cheese, not Neufatchel or low fat, softened
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Mix cream cheese and butter together 3 minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Gradually add powdered sugar on low speed mixing 3 minutes or until icing is light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again.

Variation: Divide cake batter into three 9-inch round pans that have been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake layers 300ºF for 40-45 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool on wire racks. Ice with Cream Cheese Icing between layers and on top and sides. Decorate with a ring of toasted pecans around top edge of cake. Refrigerate. Slice cake cold. Serve at room temperature. Makes one 3-layer 9-inch cake. Enjoy!

Published in The News and Neighbor on April 26, 2017

Kakie’s Peanut Butter Cookies

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My aunts, Katharyn Noble and Vorita Isaacs, didn’t have any children of their own so all their niece’s and nephews became their children. They loved us dearly and we became who we are as a result of their love. They … Continue reading →

Chocolate Mounds Bar Cake

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This cake has all the elements of a mounds candy bar. Rich chocolate cake layers with creamy coconut filling, coconut buttercream icing and topped with dark chocolate truffle ganache. Who could ask for more? Chocolate Mounds Bar Cake– Makes one … Continue reading →

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

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There is an art to making cut out sugar cookies. Most recipes call for using flour to roll them out but if you use too much flour the cookies become hard and dry. I skip the flour entirely and roll the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. That way the dough doesn’t stick to the counter and after they are cut you can peel the cut cookie dough off the plastic wrap. Parchment paper works 100% better than spraying the cookie sheet with non-stick spray. No matter how much spray I use it seems the cookies always stick. Inevitably, I tear them while prying them off the pan. The cookies will not stick to parchment paper. They just slide off!

Cut Out Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon iodized salt

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. With an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Beat 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture changes color and becomes pale yellow. Add egg and vanilla. Mix briefly. Stir flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to butter mixture gradually with a mixer. Remove dough from bowl (it may still be sticky but will firm up in the refrigerator). Cover dough in plastic wrap, press into a disc and refrigerate one to two hours or until dough is cold and stiff.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap. Roll dough in between 2 new sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8-inch thickness. (If the dough curls while you are rolling it remove the top layer of plastic wrap and place it back on the dough.) Peel off top layer of plastic wrap. Cut the cookies with decorative cookie cutters that have been dipped in flour. Place cut out dough on prepared cookie sheets. Bake 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let cookies become brown (not even around the edges). Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. Frost cookies. Enjoy!

Icing

2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 tablespoons milk

Sift powdered sugar then measure. Add remaining ingredients. Ice cookies. Tip: For added visual interest: color icing with gel colors. Ice then sprinkle with colored or sparkling sugars before icing dries.

Published in The News and Neighbor on December 19, 2015.