Coconut Pecan Cornbread

1 pkg. Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup powdered sugar
cream (milk or water if you want)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix muffin mix according to package directions.  Stir in coconut and pecans.  Pour into 3 mini-loaf pans.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Mix the powdered sugar with the cream (milk/water) using just enough to allow it to melt and drizzle.  Spoon over hot bread.  Sprinkle with more coconut and chopped pecans (optional)

Comment:  My order at a nearby BBQ house came with a sweet mini-loaf of cornbread.  I don't normally like sweet cornbread but gave it a try.  As I took a bite I noticed how moist it was and that it wasn't very grainy.  This made me start thinking about how good this would be with coconut and pecans added making it a dessert instead of just a bread.  I remembered how sweet Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix is and decided to give it a try.  I didn't hit the nail on the head, but I came close.  The Jiffy Mix did have a bit more of a grainy texture but it still worked beautifully.  And my food testers loved it too!  One stood eating her whole loaf while we were standing there talking about it.  She said it was that good.

Coconut Pecan Bars

Crust:
1 cake mix1 stick melted butter, cooled

1 egg, slightly beaten

Top:
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Pour cake mix, butter and egg into a bowl.  Mix well.  Press into baking dish.  In a medium size sauce pan on medium high heat combine coconut, nuts, sugar and water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until mixture starts to thicken.  Remove from heat.  Cut cream cheese into chunks and add to mixture.  Stir until melted and blended.  Stir in vanilla.  Spread evenly over cake mix.  Bake 30 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Cut into bars.  Makes about 24 bars.

Comments:  I found this recipe online and since it had some of my favorite ingredients - coconut, nuts, cream cheese - I had to make it.  For my cake mix I used Butter Pecan.  Also, I had a couple bags of walnuts and only 1 bag of pecans so I used walnuts instead of pecans.  And believe me, I couldn't tell the difference I have a feeling due to using the Butter Pecan mix.  I also used rum extract instead of the vanilla, only because I had about 1/2 tsp. left and needed to use it up too before buying more.  I don't think the rum made that much difference, if any, in taste.  The recipe said to reduce heat and simmer until it starts to thicken.  Mine never did thicken so I added the cream cheese after most of the water had cooked out.  No matter what, this dish came out delicious!  My lucky food testers all had nothing but praises for it and one question.  When will you make this one again?!

Coconut Pecan Bars

 

Crust:
1 cake mix
1 stick melted butter, cooled
1 egg, slightly beaten

Top:
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Pour cake mix, butter and egg into a bowl.  Mix well.  Press into baking dish.  In a medium size sauce pan on medium high heat combine coconut, nuts, sugar and water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until mixture starts to thicken.  Remove from heat.  Cut cream cheese into chunks and add to mixture.  Stir until melted and blended.  Stir in vanilla.  Bake 30 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Cut into bars.  Makes about 24 bars.

Maple Pecan Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

In a large bowl mix butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Beat in maple flavoring.  In another bowl mix baking soda and flour.  Add to egg mixture about 1 cup at a time beating until blended.  Refrigerate dough 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Spoon out dough forming into a ball about the size of a large walnut.  Place on cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 or until lightly browned.  Makes 3 to 4 dozen depending on size of cookies. 

Comments - This started out from a recipe for Mapledoodles but I made a few changes along the way and added the pecans.  I also eliminated the topping and glaze.  I chopped my pecans until they were very fine but you can buy pecans that will work which are already chopped.  They are called cookie chop.  These would be great with coconut too.

Pecan Pie Cupcakes

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs

Peheat oven to 35 degrees.  Line mini muffin tins with paper liners or spray tins with non-stick spray with flour.  Mix all ingredients together.  Fill each tin 3/4 ful.  Bake 15-18 minutes.  Make 24 - 28 mini muffins.

Comments:  I found this recipe on Pinterest where it had been submitted by Lick the Bowl Good.   It looked so good I had to give them a try.  The only changes I made at all to the recipe was to use the paper liners.  I'm sending a batch of these to a friend who had a birthday yesterday and loves pecan pie.  I have no doubts she will be tickled with these.