"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake and Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour baking pan(s) of your choice.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake according to "variation" you choose or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

There are not enough words to describe how YUMMY this recipe was!!! I admit, I have ALWAYS fallen victim of using cake mixes, but NEVER AGAIN! This homeade goodness was AWESOME! Without the "box cake" taste! And the frosting....OH....MY....WORD....is all I can say!!!! I made cupcakes using the recipe and they turned out PERFECT!!! This is another Hershey's recipe.

Peanut Butter Kisses

Ingredients:

• 48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350-375°F (depending on how hot your oven cooks). Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

**These little guys are AMAZING and SO EASY to make!! Recipe from: Hershey's

Chicken Caesar Tetrazzini

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
2 cups shredded or cubed chicken (cooked)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup Caesar Dressing
1 jar (4.5 ounces) sliced mushrooms (drained)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and combine with chicken, broth, dressing and mushrooms in a large mixing bowl. Place mixture in a 2-quart casserole dish. Mix together cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over spaghetti mixture. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Enjoy!!!

** Rotisserie chicken is really easy to use with this recipe and is very tasty too!! One rotisserie chicken yields approximately 3 cups of chicken.

Herb Monkey Bread

Ingredients

1 stick butter melted, plus 1/4 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
2 packages biscuits

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine cheese and Italian seasoning. Roll each individual biscuit into a ball. Dip each piece in the 1 stick of melted butter, then coat with the cheese mixture. Place dough into prepared pan; overlapping will occur. Bake bread, 30 to 35 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning, if needed. Let cool in pan, 10 minutes; invert bread onto a serving plate. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup melted butter on top and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

**This was SUPER!!! Who would have thought monkey bread for dinner!! What a fun twist to the traditional breakfast monkey bread!! YUM!

****UPDATE***** I made this again for breakfast, but substituted ingredients (cheese and seasonings) with 1 cup sugar and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon. I omitted the extra butter and sprinklings after cooking. It turned out AWESOME!!!! A little easier and a LOT less time consuming than my original breakfast Monkey Bread recipe, and I think it might have even tasted a little better:-) The hubby was VERY impressed:-)

Sausage-Cheese Muffins

Recipe from: myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (1-lb.) package ground pork sausage
• 3 cups all-purpose baking mix (Bisquick)
  
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (10 3/4-oz.) can condensed cheese soup
• 3/4 cup water

Preparation

1. Cook sausage in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and cool.

2. Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

3. Stir together soup and 3/4 cup water; add to sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups.

4. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

**YUM, YUM, YUM!! I made these for a Christmas brunch this year and they were "oh so good"!! VERY similar to a sausage ball, but more like a muffin. These would be perfect for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast!! I used mini-muffin tins, but they can also be made in large muffin tins as well, filling them 3/4 full. Yield about 12. Enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff

Recipe from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  
• 1/8 cup margarine
• 1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (cubed)
  
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup white cooking wine
  

Directions

1. Put chicken, margarine, dressing mix, soup, and white wine in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Add cream cheese and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through (melted) and warm.

**This recipe was outstanding! I LOVE crockpot recipes! I served mine over wide egg noodles. After the chicken mixture was finished cooking, I shredded my chicken using two forks, poured over noodles, and mixed. I served it up with a Cesar Salad and bread! YUM!!!!

Melt-Away Butter Cookies

Recipe by: Southern Living

1 1/4 cups Butter; softened
3/4 cup Powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
food colorings (if desired)

Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour, and mix well. Stir in flavorings and food coloring (if you choose to use it). Use a cookie gun to shape dough. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Optional Toppings:
CHOCOLATE-TIPPED BUTTER COOKIES: Melt together semisweet
chocolate morsels and shortening. Dip half of each prepared
butter cookie in chocolate mixture. Roll chocolate-dipped
portion in finely chopped pecans. Place cookies on wire
racks until chocolate is firm.


**These little guys are AMAZING!!! They will seriously melt in your mouth and are quite addicting! Very cute when decorated with sprinkles! But also can be jazzed up by dipping them in chocolate and even rolling them in chopped pecans! The recipe does call for them to be made with a cookie gun to shape them, and I highly recommend that. I did not have a gun the first time I made them and just dropped them on the cookie sheet, and they were not very good as the ones I had originally tasted (very floury tasting). Sooooo, my SWEET husband surprised me with this cookie gun from Williams Sanoma! He's a keeper:-)