Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
10 ounces marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups Rice Krispies® cereal

Instructions
1. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Stir in vanilla then remove from heat. 

2. Add cereal and stir well until coated. 

3. Spray 9 by 12-inch baking dish with cooking spray and spread cereal mixture into dish.  Press down with wax or parchment paper.  Cool completely then cut into squares for serving. 

Photo

Comments
This recipe is from ricekrispies.com.  Everyone knows how to make these, right?  They don’t really even need a recipe.  However, I haven’t been able to eat these for years and years and years, since Rice Krispies® have had high fructose corn syrup in them until recently.  I actually saw an ad on the TV at the gym (of all places) announcing the Kellogg no longer uses HFCS in their “grain” cereals.  I rushed out to the store to see if this could possibly be true and came home with a box of Rice Krispies® and a bag of marshmallows.  I am a happy camper!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
12 ounces mini croissants (I used the cute, little croissant muffins that my store sells.)
1/2 cup Nutella spread
2 bananas, sliced into 1/4- to 1/2-inch disks
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cream or half and half
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten

Instructions
1. Butter 9 by 9-inch baking dish. 

2. Slice croissants in half and spread with Nutella.  Place in baking dish then scatter banana slices over top.

3. In medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, sugar, and eggs.  Pour half of milk mixture over croissants.  Place remaining croissant halves on top then pour in remaining milk mixture.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight, pressing down occasionally to soak croissants. 

4. Move oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350*F. 

5. Bake until egg is set, about 30 minutes.  Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving. 

Photo

Comments
This recipe is from Serious Eats.  I made is on a whim one day since, by some miracle, I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand.  It was really delicious and we all enjoyed the treat!  I could see making this with some other sort of fruit as well, perhaps Strawberries?  Yum. 

Ingredients
For the crust
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

For the pumpkin layer
15 ounces pumpkin
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cups heavy cream or half and half

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Add flour, powdered sugar, pecans, and salt to food processor bowl.  Process until nuts are chopped and all ingredients are combined.  Add cubed butter and pulse until the texture of cornmeal.  Press into 9 by 13-inch baking pan and bake for 12 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, add all ingredients for pumpkin layer into food processor bowl and process until smooth and combined.  Pour pumpkin mixture over shortbread crust and spread evenly with spatula.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until center has set.  Let cool then refrigerate until ready to serve. 

No photo

Comments
This recipe is from Perfecting the Pairing and I made it to take to Christmas with my parents.  It was really awesome.  If I could change it at all, I’d try to put a cream cheese layer in there somewhere to be more like the pumpkin squares I loved as a kid, but this pretty much just rocked.

Ingredients
8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
3 large eggs, beaten
Pinch of salt
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 piecrust (storebought or homemade, I used Pillsbury)

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F.  Place piecrust in pie plate and bake 10 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, beat butter in mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.  Mix sugar with cornmeal in small bowl and add to butter.  Continue mixing on low speed and add eggs, salt, buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, and vinegar. 

3. Pour filling into the piecrust and bake until brown on top and set, about 45 to 50 minutes. 

No photo!

Comments
This recipe is from Alyssa B. Young.  Sadly, over the holidays, I neglected to take many pictures that I should have taken.  You can follow the link for the original recipe’s great pictures instead.  This pie was really yummy and we enjoyed it for our Thanksgiving feast.  The recipe is also super simple, which is a plus!

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup (Grade B preferred)
1 cup bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp

Instructions
1. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. 

2. Add butter and sugars to mixing bowl.  Cream at medium speed for three minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla, egg, and maple syrup and continue mixing until well incorporated.  Stir in the bacon pieces.  Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

3. Heat oven to 350*F.  Using

4. Using a #20 ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), scoop 6 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet.  Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Rotate the sheets halfway through cooking for even browning.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.



Comments
This recipe is from Simply Recipes, but modified by me to add bacon.  This probably sounds like a weird combination of flavors for a cookie, but a friend of mine requested that I make these for him for GenCon this year.  I tried out a few recipes and ended up going with this one due to the great maple flavor and texture of the cookies.  They’re chewy and delicious.  I ordered Grade B maple syrup from Amazon and it worked very well, but I can’t tell you how regular Grade A would have been instead. 

Shown here with Chocolate Chip Cookies and Bacon Chocolate Cookies.  The Maple Bacon are the pale ones in the middle.