Hillman Family Recipes

This is a very rich, dense cake.  The original recipe has a cream cheese frosting, but we prefer a dollop of whipped cream or whip topping. We made this for a Hansen Family Game Night and my dear sister-in-law, JaNae, said, "Esther, I want you to make this for my birthday." I told her I would get her the recipe, but she said, "No, I want you to make this for me."  I missed it this year, but I owe you a birthday cake, JaNae! Preheat oven 350 1 pkg devil's food cake (any brand) 1 pkg instant chocolate pudding (small) 1 C sour cream 4 large eggs 1/2 C water 1/2 C oil 1 1/2 C mini chocolate chips Whipped Cream, whip topping or your preference of topping 1. Using electric mixer, beat first six ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.   2. Pour into greased  bundt cake pan.  Bake for 45-50 minutes.   3. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.  Remove from pan. Allow to cool completely before putting frosting or toppin...

This recipes I adapted from our White Chocolate Chip cookie recipes.  I put it here for convenience and so I don't have to tell people the changes when they ask for the recipe. Preheat oven 350. 1 C butter 3/4 C sugar 2/3 C brown sugar 1 t vanilla 2 eggs 2 1/4 C flour 2/3 C baking cocoa 1 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 3/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips 3/4 C mint chips (I use Guittard green mint baking chips) Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking cocoa, baking soda, salt). Stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies on a cookie sheet and flatten before baking. Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes (my time is 9 min 30 secs). To make soft cookies, allow them to stay on the pan at least 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

This is a simple, delicious cheesecake to make in your Instant pot. We like the size - not too big and not too small. It surprised me that my kids enjoyed cheesecake. Crust: Make your favorite crust (graham cracker, Ritz cracker, etc.) Filling: 16 oz cream cheese, softened 2 T sour cream 1/2 C sugar 2 eggs + 1 yolk 1 t vanilla pinch of salt 1. Cream cream cheese with a mixer. Add sour cream and cream again. 2. Add 1/2 C sugar and mix until smooth. 3. Beat in 1 egg at a time and add vanilla and salt with yolk. 4. Pour over prepared crust in a 7 inch removable bottom or springform pan that fits in Instant pot.   5. Pour 1 C water in Instant pot and place trivet in the bottom.  Make a foil sling (long foil folded over twice) and place sling and pan into Instant pot.  6. Put lid on (making sure foil sling isn't stuck between lid and unit) and cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes (35-40 min).  7.  Allow for a 7 minute natural pressure release ...

Liam came home from preschool so excited about playing with moon sand.  He told me, "We have to make this.  My teacher said all you need is oil and flour.  We have that!"  He was so excited and preceded to pull out the flour and oil from the pantry.    8 C flour 1 C oil (baby oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, etc) In a large container, mix together all the flour and oil.  Mix until all the oil is incorporated.  It will look like flour, but you can mold it with your hands. Happy building! Note: if you need to make a little bit more moon sand because some escaped on to the floor, the ratio is 1:8 for oil:flour (i.e. 2 T oil to 1 C flour, 1/4 C oil to 2 C flour ).  

I like this dip for raw vegetables.  Hopefully, my kids will try it one day! It got the recipe from this recipe at  AllRecipes.com , but tried it without the season salt since I didn't have it.  Let me know if you tried it with the season salt and really liked it. I also halved the recipe below. 1/2 C mayonnaise 1/2 C sour cream 1/2 t dried minced onion 1/2 t dried parsley 1/2 t  dried dill Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

We love the simple ingredients of this rub.  We use it on our smoked pork shoulder. The original recipe is from Hey Grill, Hey .  1/4 C brown sugar 1 T coarse salt 2 t black pepper 2 t smoked paprika 2 t garlic powder 2 t onion powder 1 t ground mustard 1/2 t cayenne pepper In bowl, combine all ingredients together and stir well.  Store in air tight container and can last up to 6 months.  Note: For our smoked pork shoulder, preheat smoker for 225.  Cover raw pork shoulder with yellow mustard. Season all sides with 1/4 C of the above rub. Put fat side up on preheated 225 smoker.  Cook until at least 195 F (we do 201 F), which can take 15-20 hours. After it reaches that temperature, wrap in tin foil and let rest for 1 hour at least before shredding.  After shredded sprinkle with 1-2 T above rub. Enjoy!

I love the different possibilities of flavors that this recipe has. It is a favorite in our family.  The first time we had it was from my sister, Lara.  4 oz whip topping (Cool Whip or store generic brand) 4 oz yogurt (strawberry, vanilla, any flavor you like) Fold together the two ingredients.  Once combined, put in a container and chill for 30 minutes. Enjoy with fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries, etc) or put on pancakes and waffles.  Note: For St. Patrick's Day, we made green fluffy dip with key lime yogurt, whip topping, and green food coloring.