The Best White Cake Recipe (Ever)

Serves 12

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 Sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable Shortening
3 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs,  room temperature
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray or coated well with shortening or butter and floured, taking care to remove all excess flour.

Cream together butter and shortening until light and fluffy with an electric mixer.  Slowly add sugar one cup at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each cup before adding another. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter and shortening mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Add vanilla extract.  Beat cake batter on high speed for about 5 seconds to fully incorporate all ingredients.  Stop mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl, making sure to have all ingredients mixed well.

Evenly distribute cake batter between cake pans and place pans into oven.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove and allow to cool slightly in cake pans for about 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Frost cake as desired. 

(I did them as cupcakes, they did NOT turn out very pretty...)

Magleby's Chocolate Cake Recipe

Magleby's Chocolate Cake Recipe

1 cup butter
1 cup BOILING water
5 Tbsp. Heaping Cocoa
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. Baking Soda (Dissolved in a little water)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Sour Cream

Mix in butter, water, and cocoa together, then add the dry ingredients.  Mix the eggs, soda, and vanilla in a separate bowl and add to the mixture.  Lastly, gently mix in the sour cream.  Do not overmix.  Bake in two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans (buttered and floured) for 50 minutes at 325 degrees.  Remove from pans and chill when they are baked through.  (Maglbey's freezes theirs.)  Cut the edges off and frost the cake.
(Given to me by my mom, don't have the reference for it.  Sorry...)

Gran's Apple Cake

This is a recipe my Aunt made and we had it when we were visiting.  it was SO good, we had to get the recipe. So here it is...  Totally awesome! 

Ingredients

• 1-2/3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups chopped peeled tart apples
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• FROSTING:
• 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to applesauce mixture and beat until combined. Fold in apples and pecans.
• Transfer to a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar (mixture will be soft). Spread over cooled cake. Yield: 18 servings.

Nutritional Analysis:One piece equals 241` calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 32 mg cholesterol, 283 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1-1/2 fat, 1 fruit.

This recipe was from Taste Of Home.  We made it without the frosting, and it was INCREDIBLE.  Honestly, one of my favorite cakes ever.  It is about 5 points per piece...  But with some light whipped topping on it, it is AMAZING!!  

Skinny Monkey Cookies

Mom made these cookies 3 nights ago and I was scared.  I was VERY scared to try them because I am not the BIGGEST fan of a strong banana flavor.  But when they sat for overnight, they were much better. 

What you need:

3 Bananas
2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/3 Cup unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Dash of Cinnamon (This is optional)

The Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mash the bananas in a large bowl, than stir the remaining ingredients.  Let the batter stand for about 20 minutes, then drop by the spoonful onto a ungreased cookie sheet.  You can sprinkle them with cinnamon now, should you wish.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. 

These are only 1 point!  And it really kills the chocolate craving IF you don't eat them right out of the oven and you let them sit overnight.  I tried them warm, and I did NOT like them at all.  Tried them just cooled off and I didn't like it either.  Tried them the next day when I was DESPERATE for chocolate, and they were good.  Don't expect them to be sweet like a normal cookie, they aren't.  But they are very good for when you need energy and don't want to use too many points.

Thanks Key Ingredients for this recipe!

Enchilada Stack

Mom found this on Pinterest, and it was listed as 12 points.  She entered the ingredients, and it ended up being 7 points being cut into 8 pieces and was 7 points when it was cut into 6... So it's a good dinner. And it's really yummy!

Ingredients:
1 pound hamburger
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Frozen Corn
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
1 can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1 can 10 ounces Enchilada Sauce
9 corn tortillas, 6 inches in size
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
3 medium green onions, sliced

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a deep dish pie plate with cooking spray.  Now you are ready to get cooking!

Cook the beef and the onions, and than drain the mixture.  Stir in the bell pepper, corn, taco seasoning mix, tomatoes, and enchilada sauce. 

Spread 1/4 of the mixture in a thin layer on the pie plate.  Top with 3 corn tortillas, and overlap it with 1/4 of the beef mixture and 1/3 cup of cheese.  Repeat this layer 2 more times, and end with the cheese on the top.

Bake this for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly brown. 
Let it sit for about 5 minutes before you cut into it, even though this is hard to do.  (Especially when it's 7 at night and you are ready to grab a fork and dive into it even though it's molten lava on your tongue fresh out of the oven...)

Top each piece with sour cream and green onions. Enjoy!

I was skeptical about it, but it was really good.  We used red and orange bell peppers instead, and it really made for a lighter taste than the green which can be aggressive at times.

(While I LOVE to give credit where credit is due, if I get a recipe from my mom I don't know if I can link it back. SO if you find the original site, please let me know so I can link it.  Thanks guys!)

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Carol Georges gave this recipe to my mom. They are REALLY Yum!  It's easy to make too, just addictive... So be careful.

What you NEED:
1 box Strawberry Cake
(Oil, water, 3 eggs)

Frosting:
2 8oz packages cream cheese
1 packet Kool Aid Lemonade
1 7 ox container marshmallow crème
1/3 cup powdered sugar
8 oz Cool Whip topping

Make the cake as directed on the box.  We did them as cupcakes, but you can do it as a sheet cake, a layer cake, or however makes you happy.  The layer cake is really good, this is how we originally had it and wanted the recipe.

Once the cake/cupcakes (whatever kind you make) are cooked and cooled, than you want to prepare the frosting.

The frosting is done like this:
Set the cream cheese on the counter so it is softened.  You don't want to try to use it cold, it doesn't mix as well and leaves balls of cream cheese in your frosting... not so yum.  Cream together the cream cheese, lemonade powder, and yellow food coloring until it is smooth. (the food coloring makes it the vibrant yellow, if you want it.  If not, don't worry about it.  It tastes good without it!)  Once this is smooth, beat in the marshmallow crème and powdered sugar.  Incorporate this well.  You want to make sure it's smooth too.  Than you want to fold in the whipped cream.  (Mom got mad at me for putting it in the bowl and beating it, but it worked out... It was still smooth and yummy!  But you can "fold it in" should you want to.  I just didn't want to wait.)  

Frost your cake and put it in the fridge.  This will allow the flavors time to mix and be YUM when you serve it. 

If you make cupcakes, you will have a TON of frosting left over.  SO, you can always TRY to make 2 boxes or you can TRY to figure out how to cut the recipe in half.  Not too hard, unless you look at the powdered sugar... I'll put pictures up as soon as I can. :) 

Try these, and enjoy them!  They are REALLY good!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

These were from the Texas Recipes site on Facebook, from my Aunt. The recipe is as follows:


Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Ingredients:

for the Pancakes:

4 cups all-purpose flour8 tsps baking powder

2 tsp. salt
4 cups milk
4 tbsps vegetable oil

4 large eggs, lightly beaten



for the Cinnamon Filling

1 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tbsp ground cinnamon



for the Cream Cheese Glaze

1/2 cup butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla


Directions:


To make the Cinnamon Filling:

Mix the three ingredients together. Place in a disposable piping bag and snip the end off or 

put in a Ziploc bag and snip the corner off.

To make the Pancakes:

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir them 

together until everything is moistened leaving a few lumps.


Heat your griddle to exactly 325 degrees. You don't want these too cook too quickly, and 

you won't want your cinnamon to burn. 


Make desired size pancake on greased griddle and then using the piping bag and starting at 

the center of the pancake, create a cinnamon swirl. Wait until the pancake has lots of bubble 

before you try to turn it. You will find that when you turn it the cinnamon swirl will melt. 

The cinnamon will melt out and create the craters which the cream cheese glaze will fill.


(IF You don't want the cinnamon to melt out, cover this with some batter to seal it in.) 

To make the Cream Cheese Glaze:

In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and cream cheese and then stir together. Whisk in 

the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a little milk if needed to make

it a glaze consistency. 


Place pancake on plate, then cover with cream cheese glaze.

(The pancakes are 4 points, and the cream cheese glaze is like 2 points for a Tbsp. SO plan
accordingly if you are counting points.)