Dessert casseroles conquer the winter blues

photo by ninjapoodles

This time of the year, daylight quickly turns to dusk. We crave the warmth of comfort foods. It’s time to showcase one of your winter assets — desserts baked with love. You can create unforgettable memories for your family by baking dessert casseroles such as cobblers, crisps and cakes. One-dish desserts are perfect for snow days, or let one bake while you sit down for dinner, and it’ll be hot and ready to serve not long after you’re done.

Short on time? No problem. Bake a dump cake. It doesn’t sound appealing, but it tastes delicious. It’s a quick-and-easy dessert to make with kids. The ingredients have simple measurements and are literally dumped into the same pan you bake in, so there’s very little mess to clean. You can substitute different fruit fillings, puddings and cake mixes, so you can tailor it to fit your mood. With cake mixes frequently on sale and the recipes containing many ingredients already in your pantry, it’s frugal, too.

Peach Dump Cake

2 (16 ounce) cans peaches in light syrup
1 (18-1/4 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
ground cinnamon and brown sugar, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F. Dump peaches into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan. Cover with the dry cake mix and press down with a spatula. Slice small sections of butter and place on top of cake mix. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and brown sugar. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Submitted by Denise, Illinois

Cherry Dump Cake

1 (21 ounce) can cherry-pie filling
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (18-1/4 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 cup margarine, melted
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Layer cherry-pie filling and drained pineapple. Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top of the fruit. Pour the melted margarine over the cake mix, and sprinkle coconut and pecans on top. Bake for 50 minutes.
Submitted by Lisa, Texas

Chocolate Pudding Dump Cake

1 (18-1/4 ounce) box chocolate cake mix
1 (6 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, sugar and water. Fold in the sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour into pan.
Bake 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Sift powdered sugar on top.
Submitted by Jeanie, Pennsylvania

Apple Crisp

3 Granny Smith apples
cinnamon, to taste
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel, core and slice apples. Place apple slices in a greased 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and 1 to 2 tablespoons water. In a medium bowl, mix together sugar and flour; stir in butter. Crumble over apples and pat down lightly. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.
Submitted by Michelle S., Massachusetts

Posted by Sara Noel on January 31 2008. Filed under Frugal Cooking.
Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with United Media. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook.