Jiffy Peach Cobbler

Jiffy pie crust mix helps make this quick and easy dessert.  I got this recipe from my mother-in-law several years ago, she uses vanilla instead of the almond extract.

2 (29 oz) cans sliced peaches in heavy syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla

2 boxes Jiffy brand pie crust mix

½ cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Mix peaches (do not drain), sugar and extract and pour into baking dish. Prepare pie crust mix using the box directions ( I like to use milk instead of the water). Roll out the dough and place on top of peach mixture. Pour melted butter evenly over the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream or cool whip.

*** for a nicer presentation you can roll the dough into strips and form a lattice pattern***

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s about time for a recipe–the Fall season puts me in a baking mood.

So many of my favorite recipes have stories that go with them, as I’m sure yours do too. Family and friends connecting through food is really universal.

I don’t think there has been a year that we haven’t had pumpkin bars several times during the holidays. If you ask my kids what their favorite food is in the Fall, these are at the top of their list.

In fact, when the kids attended a small Christian school they had a Thanksgiving feast each year, and I volunteered to make these as the dessert for the whole school.

Mom tip: Volunteer in a BIG way and it can sometimes carry you through the whole year or at least a semester.

I did this for 4 or 5 years and the girls loved to help me make them the week before the feast. Assembly line style, we made between 10 and 20 jellyroll pans of pumpkin bars and froze them. The day before the feast, we mixed up and slathered the bars with the most delicious frosting.

Yes, that is a hand mixer you see Roger Leroy using.

Yes, it is true that I got through 19 years of marriage and 4 children and did not own a KitchenAid mixer until Christmas two years ago when PhilBillPaul found that the hand mixer was too strenuous for him. So he bought me a KitchenAid. Go figure.

In his defense, I was really fine without one.

Mr. Handy PhilBillPaul even made a special tray for me to slide the disposable foil pans onto and carry into the school three pans at a time. Sometimes he scares me with his handy creations.

One year my former next door neighbor offered to help. She made half the bars and I made the other half. Then we loaded up our vehicles and delivered them to the school.

Her two youngest children were obviously assigned the important job of guarding the pumpkin bars until we were ready to head to the school.

These pumpkin bars began with one neighbor bringing one pumpkin bar over on a little dessert plate to share with me. A small gesture that she may not even remember but I loved the pumpkin bar so much that I asked her for the recipe. She sent it over handwritten on a recipe card. Here it is:

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Pumpkin Bars
Sue Domian

4 eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 1 can pumpkin. Mix together.
Add: 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon.

Mix together well. Bake in a greased / floured jellyroll pan at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Frost when cool:
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, 3/4 stick margarine or butter, 1 tbsp milk,
1 tsp vanilla, 1 box powdered confection sugar

Keep bars refrigerated.

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I have lost count of how many people I have shared the recipe with. In the final year at their school, I printed the recipe on card stock so the school would have a stack to pass out when moms asked for it. They are that good!

Do you have a favorite recipe that has become a tradition in your family? Let’s swap some recipes in the comments so we can all add a new recipe or two to our menu this year.

Sherra Humphreys
Reprinted with permission from SherraLifeLessons

Judy’s Apple Dumplings

Who would have thought Sprite or Mt. Dew could put a whole new spin on apple dumplings.  When my mother-in-law, Judy, makes this quick dessert it does not last long.  Have the vanilla ice cream on hand!

2 (10 oz) cans of refrigerated crescent roll dough
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 16 pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (12 oz) Sprite or 7-Up. Mt. Dew can also be used.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 baking dish.

Cut each apple into 8 wedges. Separate crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in baking dish.

Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in sugar and cinnamon. Pour over apple dumplings. Pour soft drink over dumplings.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Cherry Dump Cobbler

Loi Palmer, April 2006 MMCW
1 can crushed pineapple, 1 can cherry pie filling, 1 yellow cake mix, 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup coconut, 1/4 cup chopped pecans.

Dump pineapple and cherry pie filling into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle dry cake mix over the top of the cherry mixture. Melt one stick of butter and drizzle over cake mix. Sprinkle on coconut and pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream

Peach Delight

Loi Palmer, April 2007 MMCW
1 large can crushed pineapple with juice, 2 small packages of peach Jello, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 cup chopped pecans, 8 oz Cool Whip.
Heat the pineapple in a medium sauce-pan. Add Jello; dissolve and set aside to cool. Mix in buttermilk, Cool Whip and nuts. Pour into a 9 x 13 glass pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This can be made a day in advance.

Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert

Loi Palmer, June 2005 MMCW
24 ice cream sandwiches, 1 jar fudge ice cream topping, 1 jar butterscotch or caramel ice cream topping, 1 large Cool Whip tub, 1 cup roasted/salted peanuts or your favorite candy bar cut up.

Unwrap 12 ice cream sandwiches and line a 9 x 13 casserole pan. Drizzle fudge topping followed by caramel topping on sandwiches. Spread half of the Cool Whip on the sandwiches. Unwrap remaining sandwiches and make a second layer. Top with Cool Whip. Drizzle with fudge topping and sprinkle on roasted peanuts or your favorite candy bar.

Keep in the freezer until ready to serve. Cut into squares. Your friends will start to call you Martha. This is an excellent summertime dessert. It can also be made in advance and will store in the freezer for up to 3 months.