Christmas Butter Cakes

This recipe for buttery, almond-flavored squares of deliciousness was adapted from Culinary in the Desert, who adapted it from Land o' Lakes.
The only modification I'd suggest is to just use a 9 x 13 pan - you might have too much frosting, but I thought the bar thickness was about right using those dimensions.

For the dough

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons (about 2/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond extract
pinch salt
4 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons milk

To prepare the dough

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Scoop mixture into a 10" x 15" (Note: I used a 9 x 13) baking pan coated with cooking spray, then spread to an even thickness. Place into the oven and bake until set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and set pan on a wire rack to cool completely.

To prepare the frosting

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, almond extract and salt until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar. Gradually add enough milk until you get a spreadable consistency. Spread frosting over the cooled slab of baked bars. Slice into 24 bars. Decorate as desired -- I used Wilton's Christmas sprinkles.

Makes 24 bars.

Ricotta Almond Cake

This is a great recipe -- incredibly moist, dense crumb, subtle almond flavor. The ricotta layer sinks to the bottom, leaving you with a moist yellow cake underneath a delicious ricotta layer on top.
Very versatile too, as it can be the base for fresh fruit, or you could frost it, top it with a glaze, slivered almonds, etc.

1 box butter recipe yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk*
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

* Add 1/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup flour for altitude

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a bundt pan.
2. Combine cake ingredients, beating until smooth, and pour into pan.
3. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, eggs, almond and vanilla extracts. Mix until smooth. Gently drop by spoonfuls on top of uncooked cake.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours**, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Sprinkle cooled cake with confectioners sugar, almonds, fruit, etc. (I used a simple glaze of powdered sugar, almond milk, and almond extract). Keep refrigerated.

**At altitude, this only baked for 45minutes, so watch it closely!