Carrot Poke Cake

shared by Dara P. (who described it as "oh my!")

Ingredients:

1 boxed carrot cake mix, baked in a 9x13 pan according to pkg. directions & cooled
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. Cool Whip
10.6 oz Cool Whip Cream Cheese Frosting (Vanilla can be substituted)
6 oz  of whipped cream cheese
½ cup caramel sundae sauce
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

1. Bake and cool the cake according to the package directions.
2. Leave the cake in the baking dish.
3. Using a the handle of a wooden spoon, poke about 20-25 holes in the cake making sure to evenly distribute them.
4. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top of the cake.
5. In a large bowl, beat together the cool whip, frosting, and the whipped cream cheese until smooth.
6. Spread frosting over top of the cake.
7. Pour the caramel sauce on top of the cake, and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
8. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Dara's changes:  omitted the sweetened condensed milk because I knew the frosting would be rich !! The other difference I did was I added an extra egg to the cake mix, took out the oil and put in sour cream and instead of water I did 1%milk and I added a box of cheesecake pudding

White Chocolate Pecan Craisin Cookies

shared by Patty H.  (these have a great flavor - I couldn't eat just one!)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 T. vanilla

1 cup Craisins

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.     Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

3.     In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

4.     Slowly add the flour mixtures to the cream mixture. Stir until almost incorporated. Add the Craisins, white chocolate chips, and pecans. Mix until everything is just together.

5.     Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake at 350 F for about 12 minutes.