The Chef Is In The House: Fun Recipes That Will Wow Your Friends

By Francine Fluetsch on May 22, 2014

This article is brought to you by CORT, a subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway and the world’s largest furniture rental and relocation services company. To learn more about how we can help college students like you, click here.

image via www.cakespy.com

Do you love yummy treats? Want to wow your friends? Then this article is for you. Making desserts from scratch may take more time than simply going to the store and buying it, but everyone knows that homemade just tastes so much better! We aren’t talking mixes here people.

Here are some easy and tasty recipes for you to follow and try out. Most of them are family recipes that I’ve tried out myself, along with some very promising ones that I have yet to try. You’ll be a baking expert in no time. So, let’s get started.

 Banana Bread:

image via www.whatthehartlikes.com

This one is practically guilt free and is super tasty. I got the recipe from my aunt, who cut down the sugar and still made it taste wonderful. Here’s what you need:

3 or 4 ripe bananas (smashed)

1/3 cup melted butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg (beaten)

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 ½ cups flour

*I also add some chocolate chips, so if you like chocolate, I’d recommend it!

 Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter into mashed bananas. Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle baking powder and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour slowly and mix. (Add chocolate chips). Pour into a buttered loaf pan. Bake for one hour.

Though the bake time of this is long, the actual process is really simple. This is especially perfect for when you have bananas that are far too ripe to eat plain, and for when you want to make something tasty and sweet that can be enjoyed for breakfast, or as a snack throughout the day.

Awesome Blueberry Muffins:

image via www.momadvice.com

This recipe was given to my mom by a neighbor and they are fantastic. Don’t like blueberries? You can easily substitute them for apples, chocolate chips, whatever you like in your muffins, while using the rest of the recipe as the base.

You will need:

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flour

½ cup milk

2 ½ cups blueberries (mash ½ cup with fork)

* If you are substituting blueberries for something else, eyeball the mixture to see how much you should add.

Steps:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 regular muffin molds (or put in muffin holding paper). Beat butter until creamy; add sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla, baking powder and mashed blueberries. Fold in ½ of flour, add milk, then add remaining flour. Fold in blueberries. Bake 25-30 minutes.

I usually sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar when they are out of the oven.

Fudge Frosted Brownies:

image via simplythisandthat.blogspot.com

This one is for you chocolate lovers. It is a pretty straight forward recipe, you just have to be careful with the frosting.

 You will need:

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1oz. squares unsweetened chocolate (melt)

½ cup sifted flour

 Steps:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until blended. Add chocolate and vanilla. Add sifted flour a little at a time. Pour into 8X8X2 pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool before frosting.

 Frosting:

1 cup sifted confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 tablespoons cream

1 tablespoon butter

Put all the ingredients into a pan and heat over the stove until mixture boils around the edge of pan. When you first pour it in, it is going to look really solid and nothing like frosting, but I promise it will! Just keep mixing. Be sure the brownies are fully cool before you pour the frosting. Have someone help you do the frosting, because once it is off the heat, it dries extremely quickly and you want it on those brownies.

Marble Cake:

image via www.bubblews.com

Can’t decide on chocolate or vanilla? Why not both? This is the perfect cake for when you are feeling like something sweet but not something super heavy or filling.

You will need:

2 sticks of butter

1 ½ cups sugar

5 eggs

½ cup milk

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 grams of dark chocolate (melted)

 Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add in butter, sugar and five eggs. Mix well. Add in the milk, and flour slowly, stirring in between pours. Add in the baking powder and salt. Half the dough! Add the vanilla to one half, and the chocolate to the other half. Fill dough into greased loaf pan; one spoonful of vanilla dough, one spoonful of chocolate. At the end, pull a fork through in a zig-zag motion. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Add confectioners sugar on top after cooled (optional).

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies:

image via cascadealt.org

I mix it up every time I make cookies, since all recipes are different, but this one claims to be the best of the best. Here’s the link, along with the reviews, and they look really promising!

 Rice Crispy Treats:

image via oneordinaryday.wordpress.com

Who says these are only for little kids? These are really simple and yummy treats that are super fun to make! Get some friends together, make some treats and enjoy. Here’s the recipe. Feel free to add some M&M’s to add some chocolate to the mix.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies:

image via www.withsprinklesontop.net

I’ve never made these, but I really want to! Combining two awesome cookies? Sounds delicious to me. So if you are feeling adventurous, this one is for you. Here’s the link.

So what are you waiting for? Get in the kitchen and get your bake on!

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