Chess Squares

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I do not know why, but I want to say the name of this recipe in the way Spongebob would do it. Okay, I do know why. It is because his last name is Squarepants and the title has the word “square” in the name.

Don’t leave me hanging. Let’s do it together in a nasally twang, shall we?:

“Cheeeeeesss Squuuuuuuuaaaaarres.”

Whew! I feel better. Although, any recipe that starts with a paragraph about a children’s cartoon and then proceeds to use the verse, “nasally twang” generally isn’t something that wets one’s appetite. Sorry about that.

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I had first seen this recipe on Pinterest and then looked it up on the internet. I found it on so many sites, with no one really knowing where the recipe originally came from. I followed the Duncan Hines’ version, but used butter instead of margarine.

I generally do not post directions if it is not my recipe, but in this case I will. I needed to mention a few tips in the directions below that were not found in the recipe I followed. This is not my original recipe. It is someone else’s. Perhaps a certain sponge’s who dwells under the sea?

Ingredients:

1 package of yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick of melted salted butter
8 oz. of softened cream cheese
1 pound (16 oz.) powdered sugar

Directions:

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you have a convection oven then preheat to 325 degrees F.

In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a bowl, beat together one egg, cake mix and melted butter.

Press the dough into a greased 9 X 13 baking dish. I like to use a clear one, because it is pretty seeing the different layers.

Set aside 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar.

Combine the remaining powdered sugar, two eggs and cream cheese in your stand mixer or in a bowl with your hand mixer on medium speed until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.

Pour the mixture over the dough in the 9 X 13 pan.

Bake for thirty five minutes.

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Remove from the oven and let cool for forty five minutes. Sprinkle the powdered sugar you set aside earlier over the dessert.

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Check.

Cut into squares.

Check.

Serve (refrigerate remaining dessert).

Checkmate.

Crown yourself King Of The Sea and keep this yummy indulgence away from Patrick and Mr. Krabs. You will not want to share this.

Peach Cake

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This recipe is from Ina Garten. I originally shared this recipe when I made it with strawberries in my Strawberry Cake post.

My husband’s favorite dessert is this cake. When peaches are in season, I have to remember to make it. I like to keep him happy. You know the saying, “Happy husband, Happy WO-man.” Or “Happy Husband, Happy Homeland.” Oh nevermind, you know I am horrible at jokes.

Anyhoo, off to bake a cake:

Ingredients:

1 stick softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar (divided into one cup and half cup)
2 extra large room temperature eggs
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large peaches, pitted, peeled, sliced into wedges

Optional:

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I do not like nuts in my desserts, so I omit these. They are part of her recipe. You can add them if you please).

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I just follow her very easy recipe. Seriously, this might take five-ten minutes to make. Then you just have to wait for it to bake. I am not posting the recipe, because I just want to share what I like to make. I did not invent this, so ethically and legally I cannot post the full details. However, bliss is just a click away. ; )

I bake mine for one hour and fifteen minutes. She says to bake it for 50-55. This has never been the case for me. I serve it warm, in a bowl, with vanilla ice cream on top.

I promised my husband I would bake him this cake last week. At 8:30 at night, I remembered. I started the cake and realized I only had one egg. Therefore, I halved the recipe in these pictures. If you follow the true recipe, your cake will look much more impressive.

Regardless, it ended up being fantastic. It still took one hour to bake. So, he ended up getting his much needed dessert at 10:00 that night. He ate this for lunch the next day. Uh oh, my bad habits are wearing off on him!

And being that it was 10:00, I forgot to take a final picture. This is a bummer, because the best part about this recipe is how it puffs up like magic in the oven. (Eventually, I will update with a pretty picture of the real deal. But I wanted to post this recipe while peaches are in season.)

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Hence, the final picture in bed (with cinnamon ice cream).

Oh well, I can’t think of a better way to end the night.

Applebee’s Triple Chocolate Meltdown

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Okay, first, I have only been to Applebee’s once.

And I have never eaten this dessert there. I do not know how this at-home version compares.

My son bought me this cookbook. This is the recipe he wanted to try out. For Mother’s Day. Which is very sweet.

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I followed the recipe. Actually, my kids followed the recipe. I just supervised.

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We did not make the chocolate sauce in the recipe. I hoard these little jars. Why mess with perfection?

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Even though it was Mother’s Day, I still could not indulge all of the way. I tried to find the calories for this dessert. Applebee’s website states this dessert is 980 calories.

Say what?!

Chocolate has calories?

I had half of a serving. Meaning it took up almost half of a full day’s worth of Weight Watcher’s points.

But, mmmmmmm…

Was it worth it?

OH YEAH…….

Cool Whip Cookies

When I first heard about these cookies, I was intrigued. Imagine… A box of cake mix and cool whip. Dreams do come true. But I was skeptical. I have been a victim of that whole soda pop cake. You know, you take a bottle of 7up and add it to cake mix. Ugh, it was so disgusting. No, it did not taste like cake. Not a little. Not a bit.

But this recipe made more sense. Afterall, cool whip is made from oil. And each box of cake mix calls for oil. I promptly tried it out. I always buy cake mixes when they are on sale for $1. The cool whip was also $1. These cool whip cookies ended up costing just a little over $2 after adding eggs.

I followed the directions from this website

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I added my cool whip to the cake mix. Then that spatula and I had a very intimate moment. I am ashamed to say the things I did to that poor spatula…

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Now, these cookies were not the best cookies I have eaten. But they were the easiest cookies I have ever made. Would I make them again? Well, yes. I never post any recipe I would not make again. Believe me, I have saved you from some doozies. I would try a Devil’s Food cake mix next time. The lemon was a little artificial tasting. But my son just came into my bedroom where I am writing this post. After a big dinner and one of these cookies, he just asked, “Can I have another lemon cookie?”. So, there you go. From the mouths of babes again… I tell ya, they always tell it like it is.