OrEo PuDDiNg CooKiEs

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 small package instant Oreo pudding mix

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Hershey's Cookies N Cream candy bars, broken into small pieces

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour and soda in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in pudding mix until blended, then eggs and vanilla. Add flour and soda mixture. Stir in Cookies N Cream pieces and chocolate chips. Using a cookie dough scooper, place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack. Store in air-tight container. Makes two dozen.

M&M PrEtZeL TrEAtS

1 bag Pretzel Squares, Twists, or Circles

1 bag Rolo's

1 bag M&Ms

1. Spread your pretzels out on a cookie sheet, and place one Rolo on top of each pretzel.

2. Place cookie sheet in the oven at 275 degrees for 3 minutes--just long enough for the Rolo's to get soft.

3. Remove from oven, and imediately press a single M&M on each.

4. Refrigerate until eating to make sure they are deliciously solid!

CaRaMeL aPpLe TriFLe

The recipe is from Taste of Home Holiday Magazine.

(serves 14)

Ingredients:

3 TBS butter

4 cups chopped peeled tart apples (about 5 medium)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. apple pie spice, divided

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

1 jar (12 oz) caramel ice cream topping, divided

1 carton (12 oz) whipped topping(or make homemade), divided

2 loaves (10 3/4 oz each) frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into 1 inch cubes

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the apples, walnuts, brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice. Cook and stir for 8-10 minutes or until apples are tender.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup caramel topping and remaining apple pie spice. Fold in 2 cups of whipped topping.

In a a 3 1/2 quart trifle bowl or glass serving bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, cream cheese mixture and apple mixture. Repeat layers twice. Garnish with the remaining whipped topping and drizzle with caramel topping. Sprinkle with additional apple pie spice if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

FrAnKeNsTeIn MaLLoW MoNsTeRs

These are marshmallows dipped in melted green candy chocolate and chocolate mint for the hair. Use Wiltons Glittery Gel for the scar, face, and bolts! After you dip them in the green chocolate place them in fridge for 12 min.....then dip just the tops in the chocolate and again place in fridge for 12 mins..... finish with the face.

PiNa CoLaDa sLuSh

Ingredients

• 3 cans (6 ounces each) unsweetened pineapple juice
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (10 ounces) frozen non-alcoholic pina colada mix
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tub sugar-free lemonade soft drink mix
• 6 cups lemon-lime soda, chilled

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the pineapple juice, water, pina colada mix, lime juice and soft dring mix; stirl until drink mix is dissolved. Transfer to a 2-quart freezer container. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Remove from the freezer 45 minutes before serving. For each serving, combine 1/2 cup slush mixture with 1/2 cup lemon-lime soda.

Yield: 12 servings (3 quarts). Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 cup) equals 115 calories, 1 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 20 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, trace protein.

Pina Colada Slush published in Simple & Delicious July/August 2007, p33

LeMoN CrEaM PuFFs

Ingredients for pâte à choux:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup water
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Ingredients for filling:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 12 oz. of cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/8 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Additional powdered sugar for dusting

1) In saucepan, combine butter, water and salt and bring to a boil. Add flour, stirring rigorously until the mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add mixture to a mixer, and beat eggs in one at a time until smooth. If you don’t have a mixer, mix with a wooden spoon. On a cookie sheet, drop batter by teaspoons about 4 inches apart. (I used my cookie scoop to drop the batter. I got 29 puffs) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. DO NOT open the oven to check until 25 minutes of bake time is over; the puffs will collapse if oven is opened too early. Cool on wire rack.

3) To make the filling: beat heavy cream with a mixer until whipped, and set aside in a bowl in the refrigerator. Then start blending the cream cheese with powdered sugar, adding a little sugar at a time until combined. Add 1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest. Fold in 1/3 of whipped cream by hand until well blended with cream cheese. This will help lighten the cream cheese making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream. Then fold in remaining whipped cream.

4) Carefully cut the tops off the puffs and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling to each. Dust with powdered sugar, serve and enjoy!

**If you are serving at a later time, keep the puffs and the filling separate in the refrigerator until you’re ready to combine them. That way they won’t get soggy. If serving in the distant future, the puffs can filled with filling then frozen in zip-lock bags (for up to 2 months), then defrosted at room temperature.

Recipe Source: realmomkitchen.com

LeMoN cHeeSeCaKe FrUiT DiP

1 (6 oz) container Lemon Burst yogurt
1 (7 oz) container marshmallow cream
1 (8 oz) container Whipped cream cheese
Zest of one lemon (Optional)

Pour all above ingredients into a medium size bowl and blend with a mixer until smooth. Mix in zest of one lime if desired. Serve with apples, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, grapes, etc.

Recipe Source: realmomkitchen.com