Easy no bake squares

This recipe requires a bit of prep work, but the overall effect is worth it.  You're going to need the following:

1 cup light corn syrup (the clear stuff)
1 cup sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups crisp rice cereal
3 cups corn flakes (I used bran flakes and you can't tell the difference)

3/4 cup butter or margarine
3 cups icing sugar
2 boxes vanilla pudding mix
1/4 cup milk

2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter or margarine

Line a cookie sheet (the one with a rim) with aluminum foil.  Spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.  In a saucepan dissolve sugar into the syrup under medium heat.  Just before coming to a boil add the peanut butter and reduce the heat to low.  Please be careful as you're working with hot sugar.  Don't plop all the peanut butter in at once.  You'll get splashing and maybe some nasty burns.  Stir the mixture until the peanut butter is incorporated into the sugar.  Quickly add cereals and evenly coat.  I transferred everything to a large bowl and made sure all was coated.  Spread this mixture onto the cookie sheet, working quickly.  I used a silicone spatula to move things around.

In another saucepan melt the 3/4 cup of butter.  When fully melted whisk in the icing sugar.  It start to thicken fairly quickly.  Add the milk and puddings until smooth.  Now spread quickly this mixture over the first layer on the cookie sheet.  You need to have a spatula to spread things fairly quickly because the mixture will cool and be hard to move around.

Lastly, add the remaining butter to a microwave safe dish to melt.  Then add the chips to the melted butter and let rest a minute or two.  You could do this on the stove in another pot if you like.  If the mixture is too thick, just add a little bit of milk to thin it out.  Maybe a tablespoon.  If you add too much the chocolate will seize and it won't look pretty.  It should be thin enough to spread on the top of the other two layers. 

Place the pan in the fridge to chill, about 30 minutes.  Remove from fridge and cut into squares. 

You could change it up a bit and use chocolate pudding mix, or peanut butter chips on top.  Something to think about.

Raisin Cinnamon Buns

So, a little boredom is a dangerous thing.  When I get bored I bake.  It's the one thing that I know how to do and do it fairly well, if I do say so myself.  Today I made two batches of cinnamon buns, and they turned out pretty well.  Instead of just using raisins like most, I've used a raisin paste.  It's basically the same thing, but you chop up the raisins until they resemble a paste.  This was spread on the dough with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  The main different from the paste to using just the raisins is that you can get more of the raisin flavour throughout the bun, instead of just getting a hit of raisin every time you bite into one. 

Here they are:

I put them in a 13X9 pan, so they squished together as they proofed.  Now to just have only one to snack...

Maple Pecan Tart

I adapted this tart recipe from another pecan pie recipe that I found.  You'll need:

One pie shell, unbaked.  I used Pillsbury's roll out one just because I was given some.
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups whole pecans

Gently press pie shell into a 10 inch prepared tart pan.  I use a pan that you can take out the bottom, so it's easier to release the tart.  You may need to stretch the dough a bit to get it up the sides.  Combine all other ingredients except the pecans.  Mix well.  Pour into shell, leaving a couple of tablespoons of mix in the bowl.  Add pecans to the bowl and stir to coat. 

This part is a little time consuming, but worth it in the end.  Take each pecan and starting from the outer rim, place each pecan individually on top of the batter.  Each should float on the batter nicely.  Continue, making a nice pattern.  If you don't want to do this I suggest using crushed pecans and sprinkling them lightly on the batter, but the effect is not a nice.

Place in a preheated 350F oven and bake for one hour.  Cover the tart with foil after 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning.  Let cool on a wire rack completely before removing it from the pan.

Serves 12-15.