Brownies For A Crowd

We call these Funeral brownies. Kind of like funeral potatoes. My mother in law made them for funerals when she was RS president. They are easy to make and you can cut them to size for as many mouths as you need. Also great for Bake sales cut and wrapped individually.

Brownies for a Crowd

1 lb Butter or Margarine

6 Eggs

3/4 C. Cocoa

3 cups Flour

3 cups Sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla

Nuts (optional)

*Stir in a 12oz bag of Chocolate Chips for a chocolatier and denser brownie.

Beat Eggs. Add melted butter, cocoa, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour and mix well.

Pour into greased cookie sheet with sides. 11x13 pan works best.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Don't over cook. Remove from oven and cool. Frost with chocolate icing. Top with nuts.
You can also do a mint frosting. Coconut pecan. Chocolate Frosting and/or sprinkles that go with the season.

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

We went to the blessing of the Green twins and for dessert there were these cookies.  They kind of reminded me of the O Henry! bars Mom used to make, except these were soft.  We found out that Eileen's sister-in-law, Jill, had made them and she got the recipe on Pinterest (go figure).  She told me what they were called so I could look them up.

Days later, when I searched for "School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars", about 10 recipes came up.  And each one was just a little different.  Apparently we were missing out at Heyburn Elementary.  All of theses people on Pinerest were writing about how they remembered these from school when there were a kid.  I'm next to positive that, in my 6 years of school lunch experience, we never had these.  And you can be sure that now days Mrs. Obama would definitely frown on them.  There is a Ton of Butter in these (that's what makes them so good), you can never go wrong with Butter and Sugar.

Anyway, I looked through a lot of the recipes and picked the one that looked the closest to what we had eaten (and the recipe that looked easier to make).  If it's not the exact same recipe that Jill used, I think it's pretty close.  We think that the peanut butter taste was stronger in the ones that I made, but that could just be the brand I used or something.  The layer of frosting was kind of thick in some places.  So when I make them again, hopefully I won't be falling asleep, and I'll try to spread it more evenly.  Also, I might just use about 3 cups of powdered sugar instead of the 3 1/2 it calls for.

I used REAL Butter.  Make them when you have someone to share them with because this recipe makes a big pan-full.

School Lunch Peanut Butter Bars

1 1/2 C Flour

1¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Baking Soda

¾ C Butter (1 ½ sticks)

¾ C Sugar

¾ C Brown Sugar

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 C Creamy Peanut Butter (split in half)

2 Eggs

1 ½ C Quick Oats

Frosting:

½ C Butter (1 stick)

3 ½ C Powdered Sugar

2 T Cocoa

¼ C Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, 3/4 C peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Then, stir in the oats. Spread onto a greased (I used butter to grease mine) 11 x 15 Jelly Roll Pan (cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.

The frosting is a two-step process. First, whip the remaining ¾ C Creamy Peanut Butter until it becomes lighter colored and fluffy.  (another recipe said to melt the peanut butter, so I put it in the microwave for 20 seconds, stirred it, then zapped it for 15 seconds more) Carefully spread the whipped peanut butter over the pan cookie.

Then, add butter to a small sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then, gradually add the powdered sugar. Stir until thickened(I used a whisk). Pour over the peanut butter and gently spread over the cookie. Cool completely, and slice into bar cookies.

Breakfast Casserole

It wouldn't be Christmas morning at the Koyle's without

Christmas Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

8 slices bread, cubed

2 C. cheddar cheese (shredded)

20 (1 1/2-2 lbs.) Pork sausage links

4 eggs

21/4 c. Milk

3/4 tsp. dry mustard

1 can cream o' mushroom soup

1/2c. milk

Brown pork sausage links; drain and cut into chunks. Arrange bread cubes in bottom of greased 9x13 in. baking pan. Sprinkle with cheese, and then add sausage pieces on top. Beat eggs with milk and dry mustard. Pour over sausage, cheese, and bread. Refrigerate overnight. Dilute cream of mushroom soup with milk; pour over casserole. Bake 1 1/2 hours @ 300*

We usually ate it with some type of orange roll/monkey bread, orange slices, and orange juice. Oh, the memories.

*Eileen is weird and likes to do half regular breakfast sausage and half links. So that way you get a little bit of crumbled sausage or a piece in every bite.

Moose Munch

We made this for all our neighbors this year and put it in bags with a little note that said, "Just popping in to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year?" It was a huge hit!

Homemade "Moose Munch" Honey Caramel Corn
This is a copy of the famous Harry and David's Moose Munch 

Honey Caramel Corn:

• 2/3 c. unpopped popcorn
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar (you could probably use all sucanat in place of both sugars- then end product might be a bit grainier, but still good!)
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/2 tsp. salt

For the "Moose Munch:"

• 1 c. chocolate chips of choice- milk, semisweet, dark, white (Note: this becomes "Peppermint Crunch" Caramel Corn when half gets coated with white chocolate and crushed candy canes are sprinkled over it before it dries. Which is so very good, too.)
• Optional add-ins: nuts, pretzels, crushed candy canes - though if I'm using crushed peppermint, I simply sprinkle it over the coated caramel corn before it cools. We like nuts the best; cashews, almonds and macadamia. We tried M&M's but they just made a mess and melted. 

1.      Make the Caramel Corn (good on it's own, too!): Heat oven to 250 degrees. Pop the popcorn and spread it in a large, oiled roasting pan. Put the pan in the oven to stay warm and crisp (it also helps to spread the hot caramel evenly on warm popcorn).

2.      Combine the butter, sugars, honey, and salt in a large saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir while mixture melts and starts gently bubbling. Set a timer for 5 minutes and stir constantly while mixture gently boils.

3.      At the end of 5 minutes, remove from heat. Take the pan of popcorn out of the oven and pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn, stirring to coat the popcorn evenly. Add additional add-ins, ex. nuts etc.

4.      Return to oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring once at the 15 minute mark and again when it's done (a piece removed with a spoon will be crisp to the bite). While caramel corn is cooking, prep a cooling area on a counter with two large pieces of waxed paper.

5.      Immediately pour the hot caramel corn onto the waxed paper and spread evenly to cool, breaking up bigger pieces so that there will be smaller pieces to coat with the chocolate.

6.      Make the "Moose Munch:" Divide the cooled caramel corn in half. Place the plain caramel corn in an airtight container. 

7.      Melt the chocolate and pour over the other half of caramel corn (in a large bowl); stir to coat well.

8.      Spread the chocolate-covered caramel corn back onto the waxed paper and use a couple of spoons to separate the pieces as much as possible. You're aiming for individually coated pieces that will mix with the plain caramel corn. Let cool completely (I usually wait overnight to be sure).

When the chocolate is firm, mix the plain caramel corn with the chocolate caramel corn. Store in an airtight container for up to a week (I have even frozen this for a few weeks and it was still good).

Stoker Traditional Jello Salad

2 lg. pkgs Strawberry Jello
2 c. boiled water
2 bags frozen Strawberries
1 can crushed pineapple
2 mashed bananas

Mix frozen strawberries, bananas, and pineapple all together.
Dissolve jello in boiling water for 3 minutes, then mix with fruit.
Pour half the mixture in bottom of a 9x13 pan and let set up.
Spread sourcream on top of first layer then pour remaining jello over that for the top layer.
Let set up for 4 hours. Cut in to squares and serve.

Pomegranate Jello Salad

Fruit and Jello Mix:

2 -6oz packages of Raspberry Jello
4 cups Boiling Water and the drained pineapple Juice
2  mashed bananas
1 to 2 pomegranates take the seeds out and rinse beforehand.
20 oz can crushed pineapple drained.
2 small 10-12 oz. bags of frozen berries (strawberries and/or raspberries)

Filling/ Topping:

8oz cream cheese

1/4 c sugar 

1/4c sourcream

1tsp lemon juice

• Beat together well with beaters until combined well and cream cheese lumps are gone.

1 1/2c Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 T. Instant Vanilla Pudding 

2 T. Powdered Sugar

• Beat together well until large peaks form and the mixture is thick.
• Fold into the cream cheese and sour cream mixture.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

• Dissolve jello in boiling water, and then add the drained pineapple juice. 
• Add in the mashed bananas, pomegranate seeds, pineapple, and frozen berries and stir together. 
• Fill 9 x 13 pan 1/2 full of the fruit/jello mixture and put into fridge or freezer to set up.
• Make the filling/topping mix.
• Once it is set up really well. Layer with filling & top with the rest of the jello.
• Once the second layer is set up you can put the remaining of the filling on top.

Notes:  I like to use one bag of Raspberries and 1 bag of Strawberries. Frozen pomegranate seeds also work well in a pinch. I like to make the first layer with half of the ingredients and then make the second layer with the other half of the jello fruit mix when  I am ready for that layer.

Thanksgiving Dressing

Ethan emailed me wanting this recipe so I thought I would put it on here while I had it all typed up.
It is kind of a lot of work.
I cube up the bread a few days before and let it dry out really well. I usually place it on large cookie sheets and bake on a really low temp 200* a few times to help it dry out faster.
The bread is best if it is a homemade or bakery style bread. (not wonder bread that smashes flat)
The night before I dice all the celery and onions to make it go faster the day of.

2 lg. loaves of bread(cubed and dryed)
2 c. Butter
2 c. chopped onions
3-4 c. diced celery
1tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sage
2 T. poultry seasoning
3 c. chicken broth

Melt butter in a lg. pan. Add onion and celery; cook in the butter for 20 min. on a med -low heat.
In a large bowl mix the seasonings with the bread.
Pour the butter and veggie mixture over the bread, and mix all together.
Using a large spoon turn it over and over slowly adding the broth a little at a time to coat the bread.
Try not to mash or squish the bread but fold it gently all together.
Put in a large 9x13 pan. (I acctually use a larger pan 11x13) Bake at 325* for 20 minutes.
Then turn the mixture over with your spoon and bake another 15 minutes, until crisp on top.

*Since we never stuff it in the bird it is called Dressing.