Almond Joy Bars

 I know there are many of you out there who adore coconut as much as I do. These Coconut Cream Cupcakes along with this Easy Coconut Cream Pie and this fantastic Coconut Ice Cream (Almond Joy Sunday) are a few of my very favorite desserts of all time. If there is coconut in something I am bound to fall head over heels in love with it, I’m afraid. I wish I could say the same thing for carrots or broccoli. I really do. However those two definitely have an important time and place. See my favorite way to cook them, here and here. (Yes, I did just give a shout out to vegetables in a post dedicated to coconut and chocolate. 🙂 I am an equal opportunity writer, I suppose you could say!)

These Almond Joy Bars are a delight, my friends. A buttery shortbread/almond crust is covered in a sweet coconut filling and topped with milk chocolate and toasted almonds. They are a nice sturdy bar and would be fabulous to take along to any of your summer gatherings. (Or in winters, spring or fall as well). 🙂

Hope some of you get a chance to try them!

Ingredients

1 1/2 C sliced almonds

1/2 C butter

1/2 C brown sugar

1 1/2 C flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 (14 ounce) bag of sweetened coconut

1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 C milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place 1 1/2 C sliced almonds on a large cookie sheet. Allow them to toast in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until slightly golden. Keep an eye on them. Some ovens cook more quickly than others and the cooking time here may be less in your oven. When they are nice and golden brown allow them cool on the counter.

3. In a large mixing bowl or your stand mixer place 1/2 C softened butter, 1/2 C brown sugar. Beat until well combined.

4. Add 1 1/2 C flour and 3/4 tsp salt. Mix just until combined. The mixture should still be a little bit clumpy.

5. Add 1 C of the toasted almonds to the mixture and mix just until combined.

6. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Press the crumbly mixture into the pan and bake for 5 minutes.

7. Pour 1 (14 ounce) package of sweetened coconut flakes into a medium sized bowl. Pour 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk over the top and add 1 tsp vanilla. Stir them well to combine.

8. Carefully spoon the coconut filling over the warm crust.

9. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the coconut is toasted and golden.

10. In a glass measuring cup place 2 C milk chocolate chips. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

11. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the bars and spread it about evenly with a knife.

12. Sprinkle the remaining toasted almonds over the top.

13. Allow the pan to cool, then pop it in the fridge for about an hour to allow the chocolate to set.

14. When you are ready to serve, grab hold of the foil and remove the dessert from the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut them into bars.

Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Lasagna

 This chocolate peanut butter lasagna has a creamy, mousse-like filling made with peanut butter, cream cheese, and whipped cream. It’s followed by a layer of fluffy vanilla and chocolate pudding and topped with Cool Whip. My grandma’s recipe (also called chocolate peanut butter dream) is one of my favorite no-bake desserts of all time.

If you love easy recipes, make sure you check out our peanut butter pie, jello pie, peanut butter no bake cookies or our Better Than Sex Cake.

INGREDIENTS

1 packet of instant vanilla pudding

1 packet of instant chocolate pudding

½ cup peanut butter

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz cool whip

½ cup margarine

3 cups milk

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup crushed dry roasted peanuts

1 cup flour

INSTRUCTIONS

With a fork, mix one cup crushed dry roasted peanuts with one cup flour and half a cup of margarine.

Pat onto the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes and then let cool.

Mix 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, 8 ounces Cool Whip and one cup powdered sugar together. Spread over cooled first layer.

Mix one small package instant vanilla pudding and one small package instant chocolate pudding together with three cups of cold milk. Spread on top of the second layer.

Finally, spread 8 ounces of Cool Whip over the third layer. Sprinkle with grated chocolate and crushed peanuts.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Vanilla Crazy Cake

 This easy recipe for vanilla crazy cake is made with only pantry staples. It’s also known as wacky cake or depression cake. This recipe originated in the depression era and is a white cake without eggs or milk that’s still moist and delicious! 

Vanilla crazy cake is a twist on the original Crazy Cake, which is chocolate flavored. Along with Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, all of these desserts can be made with ingredients that you already have on hand.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup water cold

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an UNGREASED 9X9 pan add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Using a whisk stir together the ingredients right in the pan to kind of sift it all together.

Next using your fingers or a spoon make a good sized well in the middle and two smaller wells one on each side of the center well.

Place the vegetable oil in the center well.

Place the vinegar in a small well and the vanilla in the other small well.

Pour the cold water over all of the ingredients.

Using the whisk, stir until combined. You can also use a spoon to get into the corners and further mix until smooth. If there are bubbles in your batter, gently tap the pan on the countertop to release the bubbles.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven to cool completely before serving.

Ice with frosting or powdered sugar or plain.

Caramel Apple Dump Cake

 This caramel apple dump cake combines layers of sweet apple pie filling and gooey caramel, for a cozy dessert you’ll want to dive into year-round. Plus it’s easy to make: simply dump all of the ingredients in a casserole dish and bake it!

It doesn’t get any simpler than a dump cake! Try these one pan, dump-and-bake favorites: Apple Dump Cake (only 4 ingredients) and Pumpkin Dump Cake (only 5 ingredients).

INGREDIENTS

2 (20 oz) cans apple pie filling

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 bag Werther's Original Chewy Caramels (10.8 oz bag), cut in half

1 box super moist butter yellow cake mix

3/4 cup salted butter (1 1/2 sticks) cut into 15 squares

vanilla ice cream for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray

Dump both cans of apple pie filling into the baking dish. Sprinkle allspice and cinnamon over apples. Stir to mix. Smooth with a spatula.

Cut ½ of the bag of caramels in half. Sprinkle them over the top of the apples

Top with DRY cake mix. Smooth with a spatula.

Evenly add cold butter pieces to the top of the cake.

Place in the oven and let bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Rotate pan half way through cooking. The cake is done when the sides of the cake are bubbling and it is golden brown on top.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake

 My grandma’s oatmeal cake might be classed as a ‘lazy cake’ but it is far from bland. Super easy to bake from scratch, this oatmeal cake recipe has been a family favorite ever since I can remember.

I love that the cake manages to stay moist, even when you bake it because the oats have been soaked in the boiling water. The flavorful layer cake is topped by a thick layer of creamy white frosting. For me, the frosting is always the best part of this oatmeal cake.

INGREDIENTS

For the oatmeal cake:

1 ½ cups of boiling water

1 cup of quick oats

1 ½ cups of shortening

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of white sugar

2 eggs

1 ⅓ cup of flour

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

For the frosting:

1 cup of milk

½ a cup of flour

1 cup of powdered sugar

½ a cup of margarine

½ a cup of shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

For the oatmeal cake:

Pour boiling water over the oats and let them sit for 20 minutes.

Cream shortening, then add sugar and rest of cake ingredients. Mix in the oats.

Use baking spray to evenly coat a 9×13 pan and then pour your batter in.

Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

For the frosting:

Cook the milk and flour until they’re thick and then cool.

Cream together with the sugar, margarine, and shortening, then add vanilla.

Spread evenly over cooled cake and enjoy.

Jello Poke Cake

 This quick and easy Jello poke cake is a family favorite for good reason. It’s a vintage dessert from my grandma’s recipe box that is perfect to serve year-round since it’s so effortless to make.

After baking, you’ll have a perfect, moist cake that you poke holes in before pouring Jello on top. A layer of Cool Whip serves as a light, fluffy frosting. The result is a gorgeous poke cake that melts in your mouth. For another easy dessert recipe that uses jello as an ingredient, try our jello pie!

INGREDIENTS

1 box white cake mix + ingredients called for on box

1 3.3 ounce package strawberry jello

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup cold water

8 ounce tub of Cool Whip

fresh strawberries for garnish if desired

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare cake to directions, and after baking poke holes throughout the cake with a fork.

Mix boiling water with Jello and stir until dissolved, then pour in cold water.

Pour Jello over the entire cake, allowing to seep into holes.

Cover with Cool Whip.

You can also add fresh fruit to the top before slicing and serving!

No Bake Eclair Cake

 An éclair cake is simply a chocolate éclair but bigger and better—in cake form. It’s stacked in sweet, creamy, delicious layers of pudding and graham crackers. The chocolate frosting finishes it off, creating a decadent éclair cake that is so easy to make.

My favorite part is you don’t even have to use the oven. It’s a no-bake layered dessert, so I just make the cake the day before, pull it out of the fridge, and it’s ready to serve. For other no-bake treats, try our no bake peanut butter pie and our jello pie and icebox cake recipes. So delicious!

INGREDIENTS

1 box of cinnamon graham crackers

2x 3.4 oz boxes of French Vanilla Instant Pudding

12  oz  of Cool Whip

3 1/2  cups  milk

1  tub dark chocolate frosting

INSTRUCTIONS

Spray a 9×11 pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix pudding and milk using a mixer, then fold in Cool Whip using a spoon.

Next, layer graham crackers along the bottom of the pan covering the entire bottom.

Divide the pudding mixture in half and spread the first half on top of the graham cracker layer.

Next, spread the second layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding layer.

Lay a final layer of graham crackers.

Microwave the dark chocolate frosting for 20-30 seconds to make it easier to spread.

Spread the warmed frosting over the top layer of graham crackers evenly, then refrigerate for 24 hours.