Grasshopper Fudge Cake

In honor of St. Patty's Day...I thought I'd post a GREEN recipe. Not green like in saving the planet or anything...just the color. :0)

Ingredients
1(18 1/4ounce)box Betty Crocker super moist white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons mint extract
3 egg whites
12 drops green food coloring
2(16ounce)jars hot fudge topping
8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
5 drops yellow food coloring
Andes mints candies, unwrapped and cut into pieces

Directions
1Heat oven to 350F for shiny metal or glass 13x9 pan (or 325F for dark or nonstick 13x9 pan).
2Spray bottom only of pan with baking spray with flour.
3Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil, 1 1/2 tsp mint extract and the egg whites.
4Reserve 1 cup batter; stir 3 drops of the green food coloring into the reserved batter and set aside.
5Pour remaining batter into pan.
6Drop green batter by generous tablespoonfuls randomly in 12-14 mounds onto the batter in pan.
7Cut through batters with a metal spatula or knife in S-shaped curves in one continuous motion.
8Turn pan 1/4 turn; repeat cutting for swirled design.
9Bake 28-33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10Run knife around side of pan to loosen cake.
11Cool completely, about 1 hour.
12Carefully spread fudge topping evenly over the cake.
13In medium bowl, stir whipped topping, remaining 1/2 tsp extract, remaining 9 drops of green food coloring and the yellow food coloring until blended.
14Spread whipped topping mixture evenly over fudge.
15Garnish with candy pieces.
16Store covered in refrigerator.

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

You can't go wrong with this recipe! Chocolate....Cheesecake.....Mint! Three beautiful things! And this recipe calls for semisweet chocolate, so it's not too sweet! Yum!

Crust:

20 chocolate wafer cookies

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground coffee beans

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Filling:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs, room temperature

Glaze:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon light or dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil.

For the crust: Process the chocolate wafers in a food processor with the butter, sugar, coffee, and salt until fine. Evenly press the crust into the prepared dish covering the bottom completely. Bake until the crust sets, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, up to 2 minutes more. (Alternatively put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream together in the food processor until smooth. Scrape down the sides, as needed. Add the eggs and pulse until just incorporated. With the food processor running, pour the chocolate into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake until filling puffs slightly around the edges, but is still a bit wobbly in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For the Glaze: Put the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl. Heat glaze in the microwave at 75 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the ingredients together until smooth; add the sour cream. Spread glaze evenly over the warm cake and scatter the crushed candy canes over top. Cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

Cut into small bars or squares. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Store cookies covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Ashlee side note: I usually crush my candy canes inside of a ziploc bag with a rolling pin to keep them together and tidy. It does take a while for the cheesecake to set up, so do this a day ahead to make sure it's really ready!

You can use this recipe without the candy canes for any other time of year. It's the only mint aspect of the recipe, so it would just be chocolate cheesecake bars...but that still sounds yummy too!

Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

I just came across this recipe. It's a sugar cookie, so you know it's yummy....but how cute are these? Thought I'd share. I'm going to make them to take over to the Burnham's for this Thanksgiving.

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ' n Bake™ refrigerated sugar cookies
1 container (16 oz) chocolate creamy frosting
Candy corn
Orange decorating icing
Black decorating gel
Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits

1 . Heat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies as directed on roll. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
2 . Spoon chocolate frosting into resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut small hole in bottom corner of bag. On each cookie, pipe frosting on outer edge of half of cookie. Arrange candy corn over frosting for feathers.
3 . Pipe orange icing onto each cookie to resemble turkey face and feet. Use orange icing to attach baking bits to turkey face for eyes. Pipe black gel on baking bits for centers of eyes.

Ashlee side note: This would be a fun thing to do with the kids while they wait for the Turkey to be done, or even after dinner. Just have the cookies pre-baked and let the kids make their own turkeys.