Yellow Cake Made from Scratch


Ingredients
2 cups all-purposeflour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoonsalt
1 teaspoonvanillaextract
3 eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just to combine. finally, stir in vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost and enjoy.
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No-Bake Energy Bites Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
1 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
Method:
Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed.  Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.  Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like.  (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.)  Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Makes about 20-25 balls.
Ali’s Tip:
Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients!  Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter.  And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed.  I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey’s thickness helps hold things together.
Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:
chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
chopped almonds, pecans, or sunflower seeds
other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, etc.)
Update: Many of you in the comments have asked about substitutions for other ingredients.  The joy of these bites being “no bakes” is that this recipe is super flexible.  If you end up needing to omit one of the dry ingredients (such as coconut or flax), just add in some extra of whatever other dry ingredient is remaining (for example, the oats).  If you feel like your energy bites are too dry, just add in extra honey or peanut butter.  Enjoy!!!
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