Heidi Bakes

Red Velvet Layer Cake from Food Network magazine

2012-01-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from the January/February 2012 issue of Food Network magazine. I've made many of red velvet cake recipes but wanted to try a new one. This one was delicious. I like the fact that it has butter and also oil in the recipe. I like the moistness that oil brings to a cake but I love the taste that butter adds. I pretty much followed the recipe but I made a double recipe and divided the batter among 3 deep 9-inch pans. The layers were pretty thick. I leveled them after baking and cooling and they were still a pretty good thickness. The recipe calls for apple cider vinegar but I used regular white vinegar. Besides that, I followed the recipe. Notice that the recipe calls for sifting the cake flour BEFORE measuring. This is an important step because if you measure before sifting, you will end up with quite a bit more flour then the recipe needs and your cake will end up dry. I guess if you absolutely do not want to measure after sifting, then use less flour than 3 cups. You don't want a dry cake. Also, make sure you remove the cake from the oven while you still have moist crumbs attached to your tester toothpick. The residual heat will continue to bake your cake and again, you don't want to end up with a dry cake. This cake also had an icing recipe along with it but I chose to use my own cream cheese icing recipe. Another good icing recipe to use with red velvet cake is the old fashion boiled kind of icing. If you have never tried the old fashion boiled icing, you need to make it at least once. It is very silky smooth, non gritty, not sweet and just plain delicious. Here is a link below for the recipe.

Boiled Icing

But anyway, either the cream cheese icing or the boiled icing will work for this wonderful red velvet recipe. It's an absolutely delicious recipe and would be delightful for Valentines Day as either a layer cake or cupcakes.

I had a difficult time photographing this cake. First of all, the natural lighting in my house is horrible but outside is a very gray and extremely rainy day. So I had to mess with the brightness function on my photos while downloading them and the result was just not good. I need to get some good tips from others about good lighting because what do you do when natural lighting is just not available? In Seattle, we don't get a lot of bright days. I need some other options.

Red Velvet Layer Cake
Food Network

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pans
3 cups cake flour (sift before measuring)
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon red food coloring
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper; butter the parchment. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Beat the granulated sugar, 12 tablespoons butter and the vegetable oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, until just combined.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on racks, then turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely.

Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies

2012-01-16T11:17:00.000-08:00

I purchased a 10 lb bag of C&H Granulated Sugar over the weekend and this recipe was on the back of the bag. It's a soft sugar cookie with a buttercream icing. It's really tasty and sweet! You don't have to chill the dough, so that's nice. It's not the sort of dough you can roll out and cut into shapes. I simply scooped it out of the bowl and right onto my parchment lined cookie sheets. The icing recipe is pretty basic except that it calls for cream of tartar. I'm not excactly sure what that ingredient does to the icing but it was good. The icing recipes calls for water but I used milk instead. Besides that, I followed the recipes!

Enjoy!

Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies

C&H

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups butter

2 eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Buttercream Frosting for Cookies:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 pound powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 cups)

2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract

1 teaspoon water (I used milk)

Food coloring

Oven to 350 degrees

Combine granulated sugar & butter and beat until creamy. About 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time beating after each addition. Add vanilla. In separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture one cup at a time and blend till incorporated. Roll into balls or scoop and place on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake about 10-15 minutes until the edges are light brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack. Frost with buttercream.

Makes 24 to 30 cookies

Buttercream:

In a large bowl, beat butter till smooth. Add cream of tartar. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time blending till fully incorporated. Add extract & water. Whip frosting at a high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add food coloring.

Pecan Squares

2012-01-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well this is unusual for me. I made something with nuts! I had a large Costco size bag of pecans that I wanted to use up. I had bought it before Christmas but didn't get around to using more than a quarter of the bag. This recipe looked delicious yet simple. And it was....both delicious and simple. The only thing that I might, might change, would be to add more syrup to the pecan mixture. I would probably make about 1.5 recipes of the syrup mixture before adding the 3.5 cups of pecans. It's delicious as is, but a bit more gooey-ness might be better.

This is the 3rd recipe in a row that I've posted, that has come from myrecipes.com. It's not that I'm particularly crazy about that site. I just happened to come across 3 awesome recipes that I wanted to try and they all turned out perfect. That's unusual! I have had more than my fair share of flops. That's for sure.

Basically, these bars are like little pecan pies in a square. The recipe calls for honey but I'm sure corn syrup would work just as well. In fact, I might even like corn syrup better. I'm not that fond of baking with honey but I used it anyway. The crust on these bars is very basic but very crispy, delicious & buttery. The recipe says to let the crust cool before pouring on the filling but I poured the filling in right when the crust came out of the oven and it turned out fine.

Pecan Squares
myrecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup butter
3 tablespoons whipping cream
3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Sift together 2 cups flour and 2/3 cup powdered sugar. Cut in 3/4 cup softened butter using a pastry blender or fork just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat mixture on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool.

Bring brown sugar, honey, 2/3 cup butter, and whipping cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in pecans, and pour hot filling into prepared crust.

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Cool completely before cutting into 2-inch squares.

Chocolate swirled poundcake

2012-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

This is probably the best poundcake I've ever made. Honestly, it is so delicious. I did not follow the recipe exactly as written but I really like my results so I would suggest trying it with the changes that I made. The recipe did not suggest cake flour & it did not say to sift the flour but I think both of those changes were the reason my cake had such a soft & velvety & delicate crumb. Perfect texture. Not too light & fluffy but not dense & heavy either. The recipe called for simply "milk" but decided I would use buttermilk instead. I made my own by combining 3/4 cup whole milk with about a tablespoon of white vinegar. I was always told that vinegar in a cake results in a nice tender crumb. And my last change was to add a bit more vanilla and also to add almond extract. I don't know if the almond made that much of a difference but I liked the pronounced vanilla flavor.

In the past I've always had a difficult time deciding when to take a poundcake out of the oven. It seemed that the outside always got too brown before the inside was fully baked. I think it was not a problem this time because of the low oven temp. 300 degrees is on the lower end for baking a cake, so my cake baked slow & steady and the outside did not brown too much. The whole cake baked at the same rate. I removed it from the oven when there were VERY moist crumbs attached to a wooden skewer. I realize that a cake will continue to bake after removed from the oven due to the residual heat and since a poundcake is such a deep and dense cake, it certainly retains a lot of residual heat. I didn't want my poundcake to be overbaked or dry so I was sure to remove it when very moist crumbs appeared on the wooden skewer. (the texture was kind of in between batter & crumbs when tested in the center)

I didn't really measure my chocolate sauce or my 1 cup of batter that I combined it with so I might have had more like 1.5 cups of chocolate batter. But I layered it and swirled it and then gave the whole filled pan a few good firm raps on the counter to remove air bubbles. Then I placed the whole pan on a rimmed cookie sheet in case it leaked at all (it didn't, but I think the cookie sheet prevented the bottom from over browning).

This is such a simple recipe and was really quick to put together. The actual "baking it" is what took so long. The recipe calls for 1 hour & 40 minutes but I think mine came out of the oven right around 2 hours. TWO HOURS to bake a cake!!! Wow! But it is very worth it. Just delicious!

Chocolate Swirled Poundcake
myrecipes.com

4 sticks (2 cups) butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour (I used 2 cups cake flour & 2 cups AP - then sifted)
3/4 cup milk (I used "buttermilk" made with 3/4 cup whole milk with a bit of vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I added more vanilla & also used a teaspoon of almond extract)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup (I just used the Hershey's in a squeezable plastic container)

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Add flour to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Combine 1 cup batter and chocolate syrup, stirring until blended.

Divide remaining batter in half; pour 1 portion into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Spoon half of chocolate batter on top; repeat layers. Gently swirl batter with a knife.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on the rack.

Red Velvet Brownies

2012-01-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my word these are yummy! I wasn't so sure when I first pulled them out of the oven. I thought they were overbaked because the top had kind of a crust over it. I figured the whole pan would be dry. However, underneath that crust was a very moist and fudgy crimson brownie. Really really tasty. I found this recipe on

myrecipes.com

This recipe was sure easy to throw together but it takes a long time for them to cool before they slice nice & neat. Some of my family would have preferred them un-iced but I can't imagine red velvet cake without icing so I had to add it. I spread the cream cheese icing on while they were still warm. I like it when the icing gets really thin and warm and then settles into a nice smooth flat top when cooled. The original recipe had mentioned garnishing the top with white chocolate curls which would have been delightful but I didn't have any white chocolate. When I first pulled these out of the oven, I figured these would be just like a red velvet cake but simply spread into a flat pan and served horizontal. I was wrong. These definitely do not have the nice soft texture of a good red velvet cake. They are dense and fudgy and have slightly more chocolate flavor than your average red velvet cake. I didn't measure my chocolate very accurately before melting it so I could have been a little heavy handed with the amount. But whatever....they still turned out heavenly and I will definitely be making these again. These brownies would be wonderful to give as a gift or bring as a casual dessert for a party. They are so pretty to look at with their deep beautiful red color. I bet they'd be even more stunning with some sort of garnish or decoration on top.

Enjoy!

I didn't use a specific cream cheese icing recipe. I literally just threw a chunk of cream cheese into a bowl, added some softened butter, clear vanilla, cream & powdered sugar. I added powdered sugar & cream until I reached desired consistency. I always make brownie icing a fair amount thinner than I would cake icing. I like it to be nice and smooth on top.

Red Velvet Brownies
My Recipes

1 (4-oz.) bittersweet chocolate baking bar, chopped
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (1-oz.) bottle red liquid food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Gently stir in flour and next 4 ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350° for 44 to 48 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 2 hours).

4. Lift brownies from pan, using foil sides as handles; gently remove foil. Spread cream cheese frosting on top of brownies, and cut into squares.

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake

2011-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't baked a cheesecake in awhile. I've had 4 blocks of cream cheese sitting in my fridge for a couple of weeks (it was a good sale) and cheesecake is a good way to use them all at once. This recipe is loosely based on a recipe that I came across on allrecipes.com:

chocolate cookie cheesecake

I made so many changes though that it's not really the same recipe. I just liked the idea of it so I used the recipe as a foundation. The original recipe uses a 10 inch springform pan but all I had was a 9 inch springform pan so I had to make a parchment collar for my pan. It's the first time I made one for a cheesecake and wasn't sure how it would work. I thought for sure that the weight of the ingredients would collapse it. But it didn't. In fact, even if all the ingredients had fit nicely into my 9 inch pan, I would still have wanted the parchment collor. It peeled away so nicely after I unmolded the cheesecake. It was just a really neat removal with no pieces sticking to the side of the pan for once. I think I will use the parchment collar method from now on. Plus, in the past I've had the problem of a slight metal flavor in my cheesecake crust and with the collar, it doesn't happen. My cheesecake and then the added chocolate topping went well over the top of the pan and the parchment collar kept it securely in place. No spillover at all. So I recommend using the collar next time you make any sort of cheesecake. I simply used 2 long strips of parchment and kind of "glued" them into place using my pastry brush with some Crisco. The parchment strips reach all the way to the bottom of the pan and rise about 2 inches above the rim of the pan. I then put Crisco on top of the paper as well as the bottom of my springform pan even though it has a non stick surface. My layer of Crisco was very light.

As for the crust, I know plenty of recipes that use Oreo cookies in the crust and they usually use melted butter or added sugar. First of all, Oreo cookies are so sweet on their own, I definitely do not think that extra sugar is needed. Second, the filling in Oreos acts like a binder so I didn't think the melted butter was neccesary. The finely ground Oreos, by themselves, made the perfect crust. At first they seemed a bit loose while pressing them in the pan but I just very gently pressed them into place and then slowly transferred the pan into the oven to bake the crust for 10 minutes. After baking the crust was more sturdy. And because I had Crisco lightly coated parchment lining the pan, the crumbs stayed in place pretty well. That was another good reason for the Crisco. I've always had a difficult time getting crumbs to make a nice wall up the side of a springform pan. The Crisco again acted like a "glue" in attaching the crumbs to the side.

The cheesecake filling was very basic and easy to put together. I usually always use my paddle attachment on my mixer to beat my ingredients but this time I used my whisk attachment. I thought it mixed the ingredients a lot more thoroughly. I think I will use the whisk attachment from now on when I make cheesecakes. It seemed to be smoother with a lighter texture. The flavor was wonderful. I probably put a bit more vanilla in than the recipe states. I usually don't measure. I just pour. I used a big blob of vanilla paste in it as well. Love those little vanilla bean flecks!

After I poured half the cheesecake batter on top of the crust, I added an even layer of Oreo chunks. But for some reason, after cutting the cooled cheesecake, the middle seemed to not have many Oreo pieces. Not sure what happened there. The edges had the majority of cookies...but it was still good!

I only had the hot cheesecake sitting on a wire rack to cool for about 15-20 minutes before I added the chocolate topping. Oh...maybe it was more like 30 minutes. I made the chocolate topping and waited till it wasn't so hot before I poured it on top. And to make things easier, I made my topping in the microwave using the defrost setting and stirring every 30-60 seconds. It didn't take too long. I just threw the chips & whipping cream into a large Pyrex measuring cup and frequently stireed. You can of course use all semi sweet chips for the topping but I wanted mine a bit sweeter so I used a mixture of both semi sweet & milk. Since my pan was only a 9 inch, my chocolate topping was very thick!! You can either make less topping or use a bigger pan if you would prefer a thinner topping (I don't know why you'd want thinner but....).

I tented the whole warm cheesecake with it's topping with a big piece of foil and put it on a rack on my covered front porch to cool over night. It was about 36 degrees last night. It set up nicely and sliced very cleanly in the early afternoon. So I had it sitting for about 15 hours before slicing.

This is a very rich cheesecake so slice small pieces! It's a great cheesecake and would be fun to play around with different combinations. Maybe different Oreo flavors or maybe Nutter Butter sandwich cookies! All sorts of possibilities. Even though the recipe looks somewhat time consuming and/or complicated, it's not. It pretty easy and VERY yummy and worth it!

Parchment collar. VERY useful

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake
Based on this recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (finely ground)
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (Big rough chunks)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups chocolate chips (I used 1/2 semi sweet & 1/2 milk choc)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1.Firmly press the finely ground cookie mixture evenly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually mix in 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/3 cup whipping cream, flour, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Pour 1/2 of batter into prepared pan. Top with the 1 1/2 cups big cookie pieces; pour in remaining batter over the cookie chunks.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-60 min until cheesecake seems set but a little loose in the middle. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool. Begin making chocolate topping.
4. Combine 3/4 cup whipping cream and chocolate chips in a saucepan; stir over low heat until chocolate melts, and then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour mixture over cheesecake while still warm. Refrigerate until serving time.

Breville Pie Maker from Williams Sonoma

2011-11-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

My birthday was on Friday - 11/11/11. I received this much wanted Breville Pie Maker. I've had my eye on this for quite some time and have read all the reviews on it and was anxious to try it myself. Today was the day! This pie maker is only sold at Williams Sonoma and it's now on sale for $99. I wanted my first pie making experience with my new machine to be really easy, so I purchased the refrigerated Pillsbury pie crust. I also purchased 2 cans of Wilderness pie filling - raspberry & cherry. I started out by very lightly seasoning the non stick surface with vegetable oil. Then I plugged it in to preheat.

I know these photos are dark and not so good but I was so excited to post my experience that I had very poor light and just went with it. Anyway......I simply unrolled the crust, used the cutter that's inluded in the box (1 size for the bottom crust & another for the top crust). It was so easy to cut the bottom crust, place it on the non stick surface and then softly push it into the mold with another plastic gadget that they include for just that purpose.

Once all 4 of the bottom crusts were in the wells, I placed 1/3 cup of filling into each well. That's how much the instruction book says to use. They warn against too much filling because of overflowing.

Afterward I felt like I could have added a bit more.

I missed photos of some steps, but after you fill each bottom pie crust with filling, you place another circle of pie crust on top of that. You do not have to press or crimp the edges because the machine does that as you close it while baking. The machine fully closes and locks while baking. I baked mine for about 15 minutes.

I should have taken my pies out sooner but the top of my pies still had a soggy patch of crust so I had to keep them in and now the edges are too dark. Not sure how to remedy that but I just need to play around with it more. I tell you one thing, I really did NOT like that Pillsbury crust. I will not purchase that again! I will try another brand or try making my own.

This is the only pie that had a bit of seepage. I don't think it was overfilled. I think the edges didn't crimp tightly on this one.

The bottom crust was perfectly done and the top of the crust was fine. It was only the edges that were too done.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my new pie maker so far. I just need to figure out how to prevent the edges from getting so brown. I received a book with it that was written especially for this machine. It has everything from fruit pies, to savory chicken pot pies to quiches and mini pizza pies. I can't wait to try them all. I will be sure to post again when I make something else. Here is the link below to Williams Sonoma.

Breville Pie Maker

Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies

2011-11-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal cookies! Total comfort food. I've been wanting to make this recipe and yesterday seemed like a good day. Of course I made some changes to the recipe but they were not changes that affected the outcome too much. I did not add pecans but added raisins instead. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon with the flour mixture.(so many oatmeal cookies recipes do not include cinnamon and I think that it's just a necessity with oatmeal cookies!). And lastly, Pioneer Woman rolled her dough into a log and then sliced the cookies. I just used my cookie scoop. I know a lot of people will be disturbed by the fact that there is no butter in this recipe - just shortnening. I do not have a problem with using shortening occasionally and it really adds to a pleasant texture. You will not miss the flavor of the butter. These cookies have a lot of flavor and a great texture. The outside of the cookie was really crunchy and the inside slightly chewy. The longer you bake them, the crunchier they become throughout. After mine sat overnight, they became a little softer but still really really wonderful. I highly recommend this recipe. I will definitely make it again. Oh, and it's a very quick dough to throw together and easy to handle. You will love them.!

Enjoy!

Check out the Pioneer Woman's website for more awesome recipes. (Her angel sugar cookie recipe is one of my favorites).

The Pioneer Woman

Oatmeal Crispies
Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 cup Shortening (Crisco)
1 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 cup Sugar
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 cups Quick Oats
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans

Preparation Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening with both sugars until well combined.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs together. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add to the shortening/sugar mixture and mix well.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Mix carefully into the egg/shortening mixture until well combined. Now add the quick oats and mix well again. Finally add the finely chopped pecans and mix well to combine.
Divide the dough in half and place each half of the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log and then wrap it tightly in the waxed paper. Now you can either chill or freeze the dough until later or you can go ahead and slice the dough evenly into cookie rounds.
When you are ready to bake them place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until they are golden brown.

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

2011-09-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

I normally don't like to write a post if my photos totally suck but the fact is, this cake was so darn delicious that I took a couple of crappy photos in bad evening light and...well..here they are. I wanted everyone to have this wonderful spice cake recipe that I came across on the blog:

The Hungry Mouse

This recipe is easy to throw together and results in a tender, very flavorful, not too spicy cake. I made a double recipe and ended up with a very full 13x9 inch pan AND a 6 inch round cake pan. The cake is delicious by itself but the cream cheese icing really compliments it well and made it that much better. I skimped a bit on the spices in the cake because it sounded like so much spice. I barely put any cloves in because it's such a strong spice. I put half the amount of ginger in because I ran out but the rest of the spices were the correct amounts.

Buttermilk Spice Cake

2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 Tbls. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
8 Tbls. butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Old-Fashioned Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 pound cream cheese
12 Tbls. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 pound powdered sugar

Set oven to 350 degrees
Spray 8x8 inch pan with oil

Toss all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir thoroughly.
Add butter & buttermilk.
Beat to incorporate & mixture becomes fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until tests done with a toothpick.

For the icing, mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. (I added whole milk to my icing because I wanted a thinner consistency). The hungry mouse gives icing directions in better detail.

Pig Candy

2011-09-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is different for me to post something like this. I mean, yes, it is sweet...but it's also spicy and it's bacon. I'm sure many folks are sick of the whole bacon craze going on but I never dabbled in it, so this was it. It looked easy enough and although I personally am not into bacon, or into spicy things, I have a friend who is, so I made it as a gift. And yes, it was indeed easy and kind of fun to make! I found this recipe as I was browsing Tastespotting. The photos posted on the particular blog on which I found the recipe, are fantastic! My photos give you an idea of what to expect but I didn't put too much thought into setting up a good shot.

Pig Candy....isn't that a funny name? It made me laugh. Pig Candy is really tasty and I can see why so many people like it. Some Pig Candy is made with just brown sugar, some with brown sugar and black pepper. Mine is made with brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Whoo! That cayenne pepper definitely adds a kick. My bacon took a lot longer to bake than the recipe calls for. I thought about removing it from the oven sooner but I was concerned it would not be crisp enough. I'm glad I left it in. It might have something to do with the fact that the bacon I used was thick cut. In fact, I even placed the whole pan under the broiler at the very end to get it extra crisp. It didn't get so crisp that it snapped but the edges were slightly crisp. My bacon never lost it's stickiness. Even when thoroughly cooled it was still slightly sticky. I put a very thick coating of brown sugar/cayenne pepper onto each strip of bacon. As it was baking, a lot of it dripped into the pan below. After it baked and the sugar became super crunchy & carmelized, it came off in chunks from each slice of bacon. There was still a bit of the mixture attached but most ended up in the pan. I'm not sure how to prevent that but it still had an awesome sweet/spicy flavor. After it cooled, I cut mine into small pieces and put them in a Mason jar with a lid on it and a nice big ribbon around it!

The instructions say to coat each slice with the sugar mixture until you can't see the bacon underneath. That used up a lot of the mixture! In fact, after I coated one side, I had to mix up some additional mix to coat the other side.

Pig Candy
The Kitchy Kitchen

Ingredients:
For 4

8 strips thin cut bacon
1 cup golden brown sugar
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
Turn the oven on to 350 F. Meanwhile, blend the sugar and pepper together in a bowl. Taste it. If it’s too spicy, add more sugar, not spicy enough, add more cayenne. However, the spice does become a little more pronounced after being cooked, so be aware of that. Lay the bacon on a cooling rack placed over a baking pan lined with aluminum foil (these means minimal clean up!). Cover each slice of bacon with the brown sugar mixture. It should be an even layer, thick enough so that you cannot see the bacon through it (about 1/8 or ¼ of an inch). Place the bacon in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar is completely browned, and the bacon has curls at the edges and appears mostly cooked. Remove the bacon from the oven and flip. Cover the bacon with the rest of the brown sugar mixture, and pop back in the oven for another 4-6 minutes, or until the bacon appears fully cooked, like crunchy, but not burnt. If the bacon seems underdone, just leave in the oven for a minute or two more.

Let the bacon cool on the rack for at least 15 minutes to let the sugar harden a bit before you start cutting the pieces. I find it’s easiest to use a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the pieces over the serving bowl.

Trisha Yearwood's Brownies

2011-09-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

This is such an easy brownie recipe. It's absolutely delicious. The chocolate is not super dark, but it's not as sweet as milk chocolate either. The texture of these brownies is a cross between fudgy and cakey. Of course they will be fudgier if you take them out of the oven earlier. Mine have a slighty crunchy outer crust with a soft fudgy center. They developed a nice flakey crackly top which to me is a sign of a GOOD brownie. I covered the top of mine with a buttery chocolate icing that was fairly thin while warm but firmed up and became fudge like when cooled. I know when you read the ingredients of these brownies, your eyes will go to the "shortening". Mine did. There is no butter in this brownie recipe. I was not sure what this omission would do to the texture or especially the flavor, but I wasn't disppointed. These are so tasty. I made sure that I removed my brownies from the oven before they tested done. I did the toothpick test but there were still very sticky wet crumbs on my toothpick when I removed the pan. I hesistated and almost placed the pan back in the oven but I'm glad I didn't. When these were completely cooled they were perfect!! I will definitely make this recipe again. Oh, I wanted more brownies than an 8 inch pan but there did not seem to be enough batter in a double recipe for a 13x9 inch pan so I made a triple recipe and it was a perfect amount for a 13x9 inch pan.

Trisha Yearwood's Brownies

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans (I did not add nuts)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease the bottom of an 8x8x2-inch pan.

Melt the chocolate and shortening together over simmering water or in the microwave.
Cool slightly. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs well.

Add the sugar and combine thoroughly, then stir in the chocolate mixture.

Sift the flour together with the baking powder and salt, then stir into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the nuts and vanilla.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

After cooling for about 20-30 minutes, spread icing on top and let cool completely before cutting.

Chocolate Icing for Brownies
1 stick butter, melted
4 cups powdered sugar (add more if you like thicker consistency)
½ cup baking cocoa
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla flavoring.

Directions:
In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and mix until smooth. It's ok if icing seems somewhat thin, it firms up when thoroughly cooled.

Cinnamon Quick Bread

2011-09-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

I was excited to try this recipe. I came across it on the blog...

Closet Cooking

It was also on 2 other blogs and they all raved about it. I liked it but I wouldn't rave about it. After it baked and cooled a bit, I drizzled some vanilla icing on top and that's when it became really tasty. Almost like a cinnamon roll. I definitely think it was better with the icing.

The bread was easy to put together, as are most quick breads. The cinnamon/brown sugar filling was super potent. At first it seemed like way too much cinnamon but after eating the results, I would say it's just right. Most of the cinnamon mixture that I sprinkled on top of the loaves before baking came off when I popped them out of the pan but there was still plenty left. The other blogs had made one or two big loaves, I made 5 mini ones with a double recipe. I tell ya one thing, my house smells absolutely heavenly right now! I think these would be really good in muffin form. Oh, and I should mention that I did not add the lemon zest at all. I just could not imagine the combination of lemon & cinnamon. Lemon zest has such a strong flavor that I didn't want it to compete with the cinnamon flavor.

This is before I figured out it would be better with vanilla icing. Fair...but not really good.

I cut some slices while still really warm and the cinnamon/brown sugar filling was caramel like in texture and kind of oozing out! Mmmm... so good!

My simple vanilla icing consisted of powdered sugar, whole milk and some vanilla extract.

Cinnamon Bread

From: Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup brown sugar
2 heaping tablespoons ground cinnamon
Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in another bowl.
3. Beat in the eggs, salt, vanilla and lemon zest.
4. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Mix 1/2 of the buttermilk into the wet ingredients.
6. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
7. Mix the remaining buttermilk into the wet ingredients.
8. Mix 1/3 the remaining dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
9. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
10. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
11. Pour 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture on top.
12. Pour 1/3 of the batter on top.
13. Pour 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture on top.
14. Pour the remaining batter on top.
15. Pour the remaining cinnamon mixture on top.
16. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean, about an hour.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

2011-09-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes is the one that uses vanilla instant pudding in the recipe. Today I tried that same recipe with chocolate instant pudding and an addition of unsweetened cocoa to intensify the chocolate a bit. These were a HUGE hit! Chocolate overload! While these were baking, it was a bit difficult to tell when they were done because you couldn't see the edges turn light brown. I had to lightly feel the edges to see if they were set. I experimented a bit. When the edges were fully set, the cookies were wonderful with a cakey sort of texture. When the edges were only slightly firm, the cookies were more fudgy on the inside. That's how I liked them best. But both textures were great. This is a super easy recipe. The dough is nice and soft and scoops out nicely with a metal scooper. I bet these would be good with mint chocolate chips as well.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven.

Trisha Yearwood's Chocolate Poundcake

2011-09-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Borders Books is going out of business, as most of you know. When they marked all the cookbooks down to 50% off, I bought both of Trisha Yearwood's books. I'm not a fan of her music but when I picked up her cookbooks and flipped through the pages, I was instantly taken with her down home recipes & simple ingredients. Of course I enjoy all of the baked goods but her dinner recipes also look relatively easy and downright delicious.

This chocolate poundcake is my first recipe from her books. I really loved this recipe. The result is a very dense not too dark chocolate cake with a nice crunchy top. You know how brownies form that lightly crunchy, crackled looking top? That's what this pound cake did. So the top of it has an entirely different texture than the inside and the combination is wonderful. I couldn't find my bundt pan so I used my tube pan (the kind you make angel food cake with). I sprayed it well and after removing the cake from the oven and letting it cool for 30 minutes, it popped right out of the pan. I watched the cake very closely during baking and took it out a little before it tested done and I'm glad I did. The residual heat baked it the rest of the way. I think it would have been too dry had I left it in the oven longer. The texture is very dense. It's a sturdy cake. I sifted the cocoa/flour mixture 3 times which made the cake have a nice fine crumb. The only thing I think I would change next time is I would probably bake it on a higher rack. The bottom got a bit too done. I had my tub pan set on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven. I think I will place it in the upper third next time. If you decide to make this recipe, take the cake out before you think it's done. Look for very sticky crumbs. If you pull the toothpick out of the middle of the cake and have no cumbs stick to it at all, it's probably already too done.

My only change to this recipe is I added a large handful of See's Candies Semi Sweet Discs. They are like really big chocolate chips and the quality of See's Candies is out of this world!

Chocolate Pound Cake

Trisha Yearwood

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease & flour a 10 inch tube pan

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & cocoa together 3 times. Set aside.

Cream the butter, shortening & sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture & the milk, alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Add the vanilla.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 1 hour (My cake baked for about 1 hr & 20 minutes). Check for doneness with a toothpick. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 1 hour before turning it out to cool completely.

Orange Chiffon Cupcakes with White Cloud Frosting

2011-08-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

I don't often make orange flavored treats and I don't know why I did today except that it just sounded refreshing, plus I had a lot of oranges that needed to be eaten!

This recipe is off of the Crisco website. It uses oil instead of butter for the fat in the cake. I really love cakes that use oil. Although butter makes for better flavor some of the time, oil makes a light & moist texture and if it's already a heavily flavored cake (such as chocolate or banana or orange) then you won't miss the butter flavor. The texture of this cake is light with a fine crumb and very moist. The light texture is aided by the whipped egg whites folded into the batter.

The flavor of this cake is VERY orangy. To tell you the truth, I think it has a bit too much orange flavor in it. Orange rind has an overpowing flavor and although this uses only 1 teaspoon, I think it's a bit too much. Next time I would use 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel. It's not a very sweet cake either but by the time you put icing on it, it's just right. I did not use the icing recipe listed along with the cake recipe. Oh, one more thing about this cake, (I made cupcakes and a single layer 9 inch cake), it shrunk in the pan and sunk in the middle when cooling. The cupcakes sunk quite a bit in the middle, which I covered up with the icing. So it wasn't the prettiest cake by itself but it can be easily disguised with the right icing!

I used an icing similar to 7 minute icing except easier. I think it's a pain in the butt to heat the egg whites & sugar & cream of tartar on the stovetop and then use an electric handheld mixer to whip the ingredients for 20 minutes, because that is how long it usually takes my SEVEN minute icing to be finished! So this icing recipe is from one of my old Pillsbury cookbooks and it's quicker and easier than the 7 minute icing. I flavored mine with clear vanilla extract & a touch of orange extract.

Orange Chiffon Cake
Crisco

Ingredients:

2 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Crisco® Pure Canola Oil (I used vegetable oil)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with flour no-stick cooking spray.

2. Beat egg whites with 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and glossy but not stiff. Transfer to another bowl.

3. Combine cake flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add orange peel, orange juice, milk, oil and egg yolks. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bottom and sides of bowl often. Fold egg whites into batter until well blended. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center springs back when touched lightly and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

White Cloud Frosting
Pillsbury

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup

In small deep bowl, beat egg whites, salt & vanilla extract at medium speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at highest speed until soft peaks form and sugar is dissolved. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring corn syrup just to a boil. Pour in thin stream over egg whites, beating at highest speed until mixture forms stiff peaks.

Ultra Soft Sugar Cookies

2011-08-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe on a blog.

Hostess With the Mostess

It seemed so simple and sounded so delicious. I've attempted making soft sugar cookie before and have not found a successful one yet....until this one. And when I say "soft" I mean ultra deliciously soft. Fragile, almost. They do become a bit sturdier if you bake them longer but then you sacrific the super soft texture. I just used a simple buttercream icing to top them with and I made the icing fairly thin so it would easy to spread on such delicate cookies. It developed a little bit of a crust after sitting (which I love!) but I made it thin enough that even after sitting for a few hours, I still couldn't stack them without smooshing the icing.

The only 2 changes I made to this recipe were to add a splash of almond extract along with the vanilla & I baked mine at 375 instead of the 400 the recipe suggests. Oh, and I didn't flatten the balls of dough before I placed them in the oven. I used my cookie scoop so all the cookie balls were uniform in size. The dough scooped easily. I didn't chill it at all before hand. It was pretty warm in my kitchen so the dough was not stiff at all. I can't imagine it would be easy to roll out at all. I would definitely chill it before I attempted something like that.

I've shared how soft the cookies were but I need to mention they were not dry at all. I'm sure that's due to the slight underbaking of them. They weren't moist either but just kind of soft & cakey. The flavor was just right. I can imagine that adding a vanilla bean would be awesome! Or even other extracts - like maybe lemon or coconut.

I highly recommend this recipe if you are into soft cookies. If you are shipping them then it would not be a good recipe. They are indeed fragile and can't be handled too much. But they are sweet and pretty and just plain scrumptious!

Enjoy!

THE BEST FROSTED SUGAR COOKIES*

Hostess with the Mostess blog

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400º.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl & set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until mixed well. Add the dry ingredients in slowly & mix well. Chill for at least an hour to stiffen the dough. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin & cut shapes with cookie cutters OR form dough balls and flatten into thick circles with your hands..

Bake 8-10 mins or until just the edges of cookies start to turn a very, very light golden brown. Don’t over-bake. For an extra-doughy consistency, remove the cookies before the edges start to brown..

*****.

Cherry Berry Pie

2011-06-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

I've said it before. Pies are not my thing. I DO love eating them, I'm just not good at making them. Every once in awhile I think "I'm going to try again!". I see some good looking recipe and I get motivated to suceed at making an awesome pie. This newfound motivation happens every year or so. Yesterday I saw this pie on the cover of Family Circle and the urge struck!! This pie turned out to be...just ok. I won't even blame the recipe because I'm sure the results are due to my lack of pie making skills. It is certainly an edible pie and some might even think, quite good but it was very middle of the road to me.

For one, I think the filling had a bit too much thickener BUT I will say, that I chose to add a bit more thickener than the recipe called for because I've had pie disasters in the past where there was not enough thickener and it flowed like a river when I cut into it...and that's after the pie had cooled! This pie sliced a little too neatly. It wasn't quite "jelled" but it was a little too firm for my taste. It should have oozed more when I sliced it. There was no oozing at all.

Also, the flavor was quite bland. Now, that could have been the quality of fruit I was using. I used frozen cherries and blackberries & raspberries from the supermarket. Not tasteless fruit but not super concentrated flavor either. I added vanilla and a bit of almond to the filling which the recipe did not call for and I think it helped a bit but still was lacking something. Tartness, maybe? Yeah, I think that's it. Berries naturally can be a bit tart, even when sweetened but this filling lacked that.

The crust, well, I used a Marie Callanders frozen crust. Yep. I didn't make a homemade crust. I happen to like the Marie Callanders crust and it sure was easy to pull it out of the freezer, slop some filling in there and cover it with the already rolled out 2nd crust.

This pie recipe is slightly adapted from the cover of the Family Circle July 2011 edition. It's the pie on the cover and theirs looks beautiful! I doubled the filling recipe and made 2 pies. One of mine had the lattice top and one did not. They are both pictured below! Of course I cheated with the lattice and didn't weave. Just laid them down on top of one another. Lame, I know.

Cherry Berry Pie

Filling:

3/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1/3 cup quick cooking tapioca

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups cranberry juice blend

3 cups pitted fresh sweet cherries (or a 16 oz package frozen, thawed 1 hr)

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (6 oz container)

1 egg yolk mixed with water

In medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup of the sugar, the tapioca, cornstarch and salt. Whisk to blend. Add juice and stir till smooth. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cherries and raspberries.

Put cooked filling into pastry lined pie plate. Cover with another pastry crust. Fold edges under and crimp together. Brush the top with egg yolk/water mixture and then sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. Cover pie edges if browning too quickly during baking. Cool at least an hour before slicing.

Chocolate chocolate chip mint cookies

2011-06-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made those chocolate chip cookies that are made with the instant vanilla pudding mix? Those are some of my favorite chocolate chip cookies and every time I make them, people swoon! They turn out perfect and delicious every time. Well, this recipe is based on that one. Except this one uses chocolate instant pudding mix, a bit of unsweetened cocoa to deepen the chocolately-ness and a couple of large handfuls of broken up Andes Mints. You know those little flat chocolate & green mints you get in some restaurants after dinner? Yeah, those. It took forever to unwrap all of those little mints. The cookies definitely benefitted from the addition of plain chocolate chips too. If I would have used all mints, it would have been too minty.

These cookies were so fragile after emerging from the oven. You couldn't even lift one off the parchment for a good 1/2 hour. I think because the Andes mints melted into such a liquid state, that they kind of had to harden again before you could lift the cookies.

This is the 2nd mint cookie I've made in a month. That's totally unusual. I normally don't ever eat anything mint.

If you like chocolate mint, then you will love these soft chocolately cookies. There is no crispness or even chewiness to these. They are cakey and soft with a deep chocolate flavor with a nice hint of creme de menthe flavoring.

Enjoy!

Chocolate chocolate chip mint cookies

4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dutch processed)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used half semi sweet half milk chocolate chips)
2 boxes of Andes mints, broken into small pieces

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, unsweetened cocoa, salt and baking soda, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips & Andes mints. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven or until edges are set.Cookies will be very fragile for awhile till they cool. Cool on a wire rack.(I felt the edges & when they were no longer super soft, I removed the cookies from the oven)

Notes: I always always line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. I bake the cookies on the parchment, then after removing the cookie sheet from the oven, I simply slide the piece of parchment off (with the hot cookies on it) right onto a large cooling rack to finish cooling.
As far as parchment goes, I buy a 1000 pieces of the full sheet parchment at a restaurant supply store for about $60. The box is heavy and the sheets are kept flat (as opposed to a large roll). The box lasts for over a year. I have to trim the paper to fit my 3/4 sheet pans, which I use for baking cookies. I highly recommend buying parchment this way. WAY less expensive than purchasing it in the store. I also have bought 1000 sheets this way online. I think the website was...Surfas... or something like that. If you happen to bake often, you need to invest in some good quality and inexpensive parchment.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-06-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

This recipe is kind of a repeat of one of my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipes. The only difference is I substitued some whole wheat flour for a lot of the all purpose flour. Makes them a bit more healthy I suppose. It's never a good idea to use entirely whole wheat flour in a recipe. The general rule of thumb in to replace only half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat. They say you are suppose to add more liquid when you do that & more baking powder or soda but I didn't do that and it worked fine. I always add more chocolate chips than a recipe calls for but that's your call. I never add nuts either but I'm sure lots of folks would want them. I use a mix of semi sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips - thats my favorite! The shortening in this recipe might freak some people out and I suppose you can use all butter but I was pretty impressed with the results of these when I use shortening. It makes your cookie not spread so thin. Makes for a thicker cookie - which I like.

Better Homes & Gardens Chocolate Chip Cookies Made with Whole Wheat Flour

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 12-ounce package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips

Directions
In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Add both the all purpose flour & whole wheat flour & mix till combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 60 cookies.

Chocolate mint cream sandwich cookies

2011-06-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

These cookies were not planned out. They just kind of evolved. I just felt like baking something. Do you ever get that urge? I do quite often and on this day I felt like baking chocolate chocolate chip cookies. I chose a recipe from Food Network for no other reason than it's the first recipe I came across online. It got good ratings and I can see why. Perfect amount of chocolate. They were soft & chewy and very easy to make. I had 1 stick of butter left after making the cookies so I figured...why not make some quick buttercream. I never make mint anything so I'm not sure why I thought of adding peppermint oil to the buttercream but I did. I figured the mint buttercream had to be green so people would more likely assume it's mint. I wish I would have had a more irish cream flavor mint but I don't. I thought of adding straight Baily's to take the place of the milk & the extract but I didn't want to have alcohol in the cookie. So peppermint oil it was.

I added the green sprinkles on the sides so that when I packaged individual sandwich cookies in cellophane bags, the icing on the sides wouldn't stick to the bag. I piped a good amount of buttercream for the filling. So much so that when you bit into the sandwich cookies, the icing kind of oozed out on the sides. Total yum.

I like homemade sandwich cookies. They take a little more effort than just baking the cookies but they just look so complete & yummy. These are rich and filling and toothachingly sweet but they are oh so delicious!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food Network

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chocolate chips, 2 Hershey's chocolate bars, chopped or M&M'S
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another large bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined. Stir chocolate chips and walnuts, if using, and stir to distribute evenly.
For cookies: Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.

The simple buttercream I made consisted of:

1 stick of softened butter
A couple of drops of peppermint oil (you can use any flavor extract)
About 4 cups of powdered sugar
Enough milk to reach desired consistency

Combine the ingredients and beat until smooth

Blueberry Muffins

2011-05-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

There was a good sale on blueberries at Fred Myers. I bought too many. The result? Muffins. I love a good blueberry muffin. The only thing is....these were ok quality of blueberries but they certainly weren't flavor packed. The muffins came out beautiful and tasted delicious but the blueberries could have had a bit more flavor & tartness. They were a bit watery.

This recipe is a combination of about 4 or 5 recipes so I cannot claim any one source. Although the base started with America's Test Kitchen best blueberry muffins. They gave me the idea of making a quick concentrated blueberry jam to swirl through the muffins before baking. That was a great idea. I also added several handfuls of fresh blueberries. Then I topped them with a cinammon, oat, brown sugar crunchy struesel. I used my large muffin pan that creates really big crunchy golden brown extended muffin tops. I love that pan. I don't even use liners. I simply spray it well and pour in the batter. My muffins always pop right out. I think I bought them at Williams Sonoma years ago.

If you are looking for a super quick muffin recipe, this one is not quite that. I mean, it's quicker than making cookies or a layer cake, but usually muffins are a dump in a one bowl thing, give it a quick stir and you are done. These are a bit more time consuming because I made the blueberry jam first, then the struesel, then the batter..but still...not too bad of a time stealer. They are certainly delicious. It would be fun to play around a bit with the recipe...maybe use raspberries instead? Or use almond extract? Maybe even lemon extract? Add nuts to the struesel? There are a lot of possibilities. But with all the luscious berries coming into season, it's nice to have an awesome muffin recipe around.

Blueberry Muffins

4 cups fresh blueberries
Zest from half of lemon
2 1/2 cups sugar, plus one tablespoon
3 cups AP flour
2 cups wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (probably could use a bit more vanilla)

Set oven to 425 degrees
Adjust the rack to middle in the oven
Spray muffin pans or line with papers
(This recipe made 14 jumbo muffins for me)

Bring 2 cups blueberries, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced, about 6-8 minutes (this step of reducing took me about 15-20 minutes). Transfer to bowl and cool to room temperature, 10-15 minutes.

Whisk all purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl (I sifted my dry ingredients). Whisk remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be very lumpy with spots of dry flour; do not overmix!

Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure eight motion. Sprinkle a bunch of struesel on top of each muffin (I used about 2 tablespoons per muffin - struesel recipe below)

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, about 17-19 minutes (depends on the size of your muffins.mine took a lot longer), rotating muffin tin (front to back) halfway through cooking time. Cool muffins in tin for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 more minutes before serving.

Struesel Recipe (this recipe made a lot of struesel, I had about a cup left over)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinammon
2 cubes butter, cold & cut into pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashion oats

Combine all of the ingredients (except the oats) in a food processor and whirl till small butter lumps remain - about the size of peas. After processing, whisk in the oats.

Flour's Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2011-05-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is the 2nd recipe from my new cookbook, Flour. I was really excited to try this recipe, as I am about every new chocolate chip cookie recipe I make. I did not care for this recipe. My cookies were super flat and somewhat greasy. Maybe it was the 2 things I did differently than what the recipe called for? The recipe suggest leaving dough in the fridge overnight or for several hours. I left mine in the fridge for 2 hours. I also switched the amount of semi sweet & milk chocolate added to the dough. The recipe adds more semi sweet than milk chocolate and I did the opposite because I had more milk chocolate. The texture of mine, even though I baked them until they were much browner than I usually prefer, were very soft & chewy. The large cookies were so pliable that they bent really easily when stored in a ziplock bag.

I'm not sure why mine weren't that terrific but that is just my opinion. My kids & husband loved them.

I still haven't finished browsing through this book. I read cookbooks like most folks read novels. I curl up in bed or on the couch and read every single recipe! I love the little story that the author tells with each recipe. I wish I could actually visit her bakery in Boston!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Flour

• 1 cup (2 sticks; 224 grams) unsalted butter

• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (175 grams) light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cup (175 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (160 grams) bread flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups (9 ounces; 250 grams) chopped semisweet chocolate
• ½ cup (2.5 ounces; 70 grams) finely chopped milk chocolate

If you're baking the cookies on the same day you prepare the batter, heat the oven to 350 degrees and position a rack in the center of the oven.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mixing by hand with a wooden spoon), beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about five minutes. Stop the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle itself a few times; the sugar and butter love to collect here and stay unmixed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract on medium speed until thoroughly combined, two to three minutes. Again scrape the bowl and the paddle to make sure the eggs are thoroughly incorporated.

Mix together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda and salt. Add both chocolates to the flour mix and toss to combine. Turn the mixer to low speed (or continue to use a wooden spoon if mixing by hand) and slowly blend the flour-chocolate mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Mix until the flour and chocolate are totally incorporated and the dough is completely mixed.

For best results, scrape dough into a container and let rest in the refrigerator for a day before baking. The next day, heat the oven to 350 degrees and position a rack in the center of the oven. Drop the dough in ¼-cup balls onto a baking sheet about two inches apart. Press dough balls down slightly with the palm of your hand. If the batter does not fit all on one tray drop cookies on a second baking sheet and bake when the first tray is finished. If you have only one sheet tray, bake one batch and then cool the tray by running it under cold water before baking a second batch. Bake until cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days. The unbaked dough can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

Chocolate Birthday Cake with Crispy Magic Frosting

2011-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Chocolate cake made with oil as opposed to butter always turns out so well for me. I have it in my mind that butter is better and I certainly have made some wonderful cakes using butter but using vegetable oil results in the most moist and best textured cakes I have ever made. Butter always gives baked goods wonderful flavor but since chocolate cake has such a strong flavor as it is, the butter flavor is not missed. This chocolate cake recipe is similar to a few others that I have made. I have not looked but maybe it's the identical recipe that is on Hershey's website. Where ever it comes from.....it's delicious. I found it on a blog yesterday via tastespotting. I had been trying to think of a good dessert to make for a dinner party I was having and I instantly decided on this cake. Seemed easy, I had all the ingredients, my kids would love it and it's just a good old fashioned chocolate layer cake - nothing fancy, just good chocolate cake. I highly recommend this recipe. Just the right amount of chocolate. It didn't specify the type of cocoa powder to use in the recipe so I used my Penzey's dutch process powder. Good choice. I made a double recipe because I wanted a nice tall triple layer cake. It made 3 pans - 9 inch layers and one 8 inch pan that I used for a tester. It didn't dome in the center so I did not have to trim the top and I removed the cake from the oven when very moist crumbs were still on the toothpick.

As for the icing, I had just bought my new "Flour" cookbook on Friday and I was itching to make something from it. I chose the "Crispy Magic Frosting". The book claims that if the frosting sits for awhile, it will develop a slight crispness on the outside. I don't know if it's because I covered my cake with a cake dome, but my icing did not get crisp at all. I made it last night and the icing is still is as soft and smooth as when I frosted the cake. This icing is like a true buttercream made with egg whites & sugar cooked over the stove and then whipped in a mixer while butter is added. Get this, I doubled the recipe for this icing and that means that I used SIX whole sticks of butter just for the icing!!! Wow!!! And I used all but maybe 1/4 cup of it. I cannot get over that 6 sticks went into the bowl!!! The icing was so wonderful. Silky silky smooth with a slight whipped texture. Not too sweet and NO grittiness whatsoever. Nice vanilla flavor - would have been great using vanilla bean I bet. It was kind of fun to make. Not as quick as an American buttercream (softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a touch of milk) but the results are so special and so silky that you need to try this icing recipe at least once. VERY highly recommended.

Stay tuned for more recipes from "Flour"!

Chocolate Birthday Cake
Marcus's blog

2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder, plus for dusting
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and dust two 9-inch baking pans with cocoa powder and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Stir to combine.

In a steady stream, add the liquid ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir on low to combine. (The batter will be thin.) Pour the batter into prepared pans. Rap the pans lightly on the counter-top to release any air bubbles inside.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pans to the racks.

Crispy Magic Frosting
From Flour

•2/3c granulated sugar
•2 pasteurized egg whites
•1 1/2c (3 sticks) of room temperature butter, very soft.
•1 2/3c confectioner’s sugar
•1/4t kosher salt
•2T milk
•1T vanilla extract

In a heatproof bowl, whisk the sugar and egg whites. Fill a saucepan half full with water and bring to a simmer. Set the bowl over the water but do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water. Whisk for 3 to 5 minutes or until the mixture is hot to the touch. It will thin as the sugar melts, and will also get slightly foamy and lighten as you whisk.

Pour the mixture into a standing mixture and beat at medium-high speed for 6 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick and white like a meringue and is cool to the touch. It will be white and glossy. At medium speed, add the butter a few chunks at a time, beating for 3 to 4 minutes or until it is all incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients, and beat until smooth and satiny. (If not using immediately, transfer to an airtight

Salted Nut Bars

2011-05-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

The most difficult thing about this recipe is unwrapping all of the little caramels. Other than that, this recipe is a breeze. Three ingredients and about 20 minutes of your time and you are finished. Of course you must wait about 2 hours to cut the bars.

The orginial Martha Stewart recipe called for dry roasted peanuts. I used cocktail peanuts which are a lot more oily and do not have such a strong taste and I also added cashew pieces. I was very happy with the results. A double recipe of this makes a perfect 13x9 inch pan. Make sure you are pouring the melted caramel into a well greased pan. These are ultra sticky!! I cut them with a very large sharp knife that I sprayed the blade with Pam. They sliced very easily and neatly. I think I'm going to individually wrap mine in wax paper squares. These photos show the nut bars cut into pretty large pieces but I think I'm going to cut them down into mouth size pieces. They are very sweet and rich and I think one big mouthful is perfect. Plus, when you do try and take a bite of the big bars, they streeeeeetch out really far! There is no way to eat them daintily. I can imagine that if it's warm at your place, these would need to be stored in the fridge. The caramel is firm but still impressionable.

Salted Nut Bars
Based on a Martha Stewart Recipe - "Salted Peanut Bars"

2 1/4 cups coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts (I used cocktail peanuts & cashew pieces)

50 store bought soft caramel squares, unwrapped (14 oz)

1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Lightly coat an 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Line with parchment & spray again. (I doubled the recipe and used a 13x9 inch pan with a foil lining, heavily sprayed). Cover with 1 1/4 cups peanuts.

Melt the caramels & the marshmallows with 1 tablespoon of water over medium heat until smooth. Immediately pour over the nuts in the pan. Then top with remaining nuts.

Let cool until set - about 2 hours. Then cut into bars.
Store in an airtight container with parchment separating the layers for up to 2 days.

Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with White Icing

2011-05-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

The icing that I used on this dark chocolate cake was delicious. I never thought I'd like an icing that has so much shortening in it. It calls for a full 2 cups shortening but I used 1 cup butter & 1 cup shortening. I just love the taste of butter too much to not use any. The heavy whipping cream that I used in it made it so lucious and creamy. I beat it on high for a long time and it became so light and fluffy. I used clear vanilla so it was almost completely white. If I would have used the full 2 cups of shortening it would have been ultra white. I would definitely make this wonderful icing again. I tried to capture it's whipped texture in the photos.

The chocolate cake I had made previously, years before. On my notes, I had written that it was very moist and delicious. This time, I thought it was just ok. It was a perfect amount of chocolate and the crumb was nice and tender and fine but it didn't have a really moist crumb. I know I didn't overbake it because I was sure to remove it from the oven when there was moist crumbs on the toothpick. Maybe it had too much flour...although I had measured carefully. But....it was certainly delicous, just not perfect. I had made it for a birthday cake and everyone raved about it. I found both of the recipes on allrecipes.com.

Dark Chocolate Cake
allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups boiling water

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 - 9 inch round cake pans. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Rick's Special Buttercream Frosting
allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups shortening (I used 1 cup butter & 1 cup shortening)

8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

2. Add salt, vanilla, and 6 ounces whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional 2 ounces whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy

Brown Sugar Cookies

2011-04-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning on making sugar cookies but this recipe caught my eye. It seemed simple and delicious and something my kids would eat! Originally I was planning on making a 3 layer lemon cake that I found on a blog but then I realized that nobody in my family would eat it and I get tired of taking entire cakes or batches of cookies to work. I should make something that my family would like....as limited as that is.

These brown sugar cookies are crispy on the edges and brown, chewy and caramel tasting in the middle. The recipe doesn't call for rolling the dough in sugar or sprinkling it on top before baking but I like that extra crunch of sparkling sugar so I added a bit before baking. These cookies are indeed easy to bake and very delicious. There is no granulated sugar in this recipe so the brown sugar creates a deep caramel taste. Really really satisfying! I was going to sandwich them with some dulce de leche but figured that would make them too soft because there is no one to eat them all in the next several hours. They are wonderful by themselves!

Brown Sugar Cookies
Crisco.com

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

1. HEAT oven to 350ºF.

2. BEAT together shortening, butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.

3. SHAPE dough into 1-inch balls or use small cookie scoop. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

4. BAKE 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack after 1 minute.

Jam bars - Mango & Raspberry with coconut added

2011-04-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've made jam bars before. For such a simple cookie, they are completely delicious! They are honestly one of my favorite cookies to eat. I have the most difficult time leaving these alone. I ate 4 of them just during the photography session! But anyway, the recipe on realsimple.com was for raspberry jam bars. I made 2 pans. In 1 pan I used raspberry jam and the other I used mango jam. I had never even seen or bought mango jam before, but it caught my eye when there was a good sale on it at Bartells so I had to try it. Jam bars seemed like a good way to use the whole jar at once. After I had assembled both of my pans of jam bars, I had the idea of sprinkling the top with shredded coconut. Wow! That was sure a good addition! I can't decide which one I enjoyed more but the combination of raspberry & coconut has always been a good one (Hostess Tiger Tails anyone?) But the combo of mango & coconut seemed so tropical and refreshing and it WAS indeed! Of course, this recipe with no coconut added is wonderful as is but I just wanted to try something a little different. I added a little notation down below, right next to the ingredient of lemon zest. I added about 2 TEASPOONS of zest and I still thought that was too much so I can't believe the recipe requests 2 tablespoons! That would be way too much! Actually, I don't think I would add it at all next time or if I do, I will add only 1 teaspoon.

Another nice thing about jam bars is that they are so speedy to put together. They DO take a long time to cool before you can cut them neatly but they require few ingredients and the preperation is just quick and easy.

So if you have any jars of jam you are keeping in the cupboard with no use in mind, try these jam bars. I didn't bother measuring the jam, I just used the entire jar of Smuckers jam. It seemed like the perfect amount. Next time I might try the sour cherry jam in these bars!

Jam Bars
From Real Simple Magazine

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups quick oats, such as Quaker

2 tablespoons lemon zest (I think that 1-2 teaspoons is adequate)

1 1/2 cups raspberry jam (or any other flavor jam)

About 1-2 cups coconut if you desire

Directions

1.Heat oven to 350° F. Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times until the ingredients are combined and a crumbly dough is formed. Add the oats and lemon zest. Pulse quickly twice to combine.

2.Press 2/3 of the dough firmly into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Spread the jam evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough over the jam, gently pressing down. (At this point I sprinkled the top with shredded coconut)

3.Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into 24 bars. Store in airtight containers

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

2011-04-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

This is sad. I mean, just look at these cakes. Not one of them came out of the pan smoothly. The real sad part is this is one of the best tasting pound cakes I have ever made. I LOVE this recipe! It's from one of my very all time favorite cake books:

Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.

I've had nothing but luck with that book. Southern Cakes makes their brown sugar poundcake recipe in a traditional bundt pan, but I prefer to make my pound cakes in little loaf pans. I usually end up giving 75% of my cake away so mini loaves are just so easy to wrap up for gifts. Plus they slice so nicely. I've made many pound cakes before but this is my first brown sugar pound cake. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as far as taste and texture. Well, the flavor ended up being such an intense caramel flavor. It's just an unbelievable difference that the brown sugar makes compared to granulated sugar. The texture was very surprisingly soft & fluffy. I thought it would be dense and heavy. Not at all! I'm so in awe of the flavor of this! I originally planned on drizzling it with a caramel glaze after it cooled but since it turned out so shabby and just plain horrible looking, I didn't waste my time or ingredients. All the cakes in these photos are the ones that came out of the pan. There were 2 other loaves that totally came apart when I tried to remove them from their pans. My loaf pans are non stick, I sprayed with Pam AND I lined the bottom with a parchment strip which is what I always do with quick breads or cakes that I make in these pans. I didn't let the cakes sit too long after removing from the oven because I noticed the sides were fairly caramelized near the edges of the pan and were becoming quite crispy and really sticking to the edges. I had to run a very sharp knife along the edges and I thought that would result in a smooth removal. Not so. I've never had a cake stick so horribly. It's just a shame because this cake is so damn good. I hope someone else could try this recipe and have a better presentation. Let me know. Next time I bake this cake, I might skip the Pam spray and actually grease the pans with Crisco & flour. Any other suggestions? But please know, as shabby as these little loaves look, they are so delightfully delicious! Just plain scrumptious!

Brown Sugar Pound Cake
From Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk (whole)

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter, softened (unsalted, European)

One 1-pound box (about 2 ¾ cup) dark or light brown sugar

½ cup sugar

5 eggs (room temperature)

HEAT THE OVEN to 325 F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube or bundt pan. (I used 7 mini loaf pans)

COMBINE the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk and set aside.

IN A LARGE BOWL, beat the butter with a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy (about three minutes). Add the brown sugar in 3 batches, and then add all of the white sugar, beating well after each addition.

ADD THE EGGS, one by one, beating well after each addition. Add half the flour, and then half the milk, beating at low speed only until the flour or milk disappears into the batter. Add in the rest of the flour, and then the remaining milk, in the same way.

QUICKLY SCRAPE THE BATTER into the prepared pan and bake at 325 F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the cake is nicely browned at the edges, springs back when touched lightly at the center, and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

COOL THE CAKE in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel for 20 to 30 minutes. Loosen the cake from the pan with a table knife, and turn it out onto the wire rack or a plate to cool completely, top side up.

Lemon Crumb Muffins

2011-04-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Are you a lemon fan?? Well then these are the muffins for you! There is lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon extract in these. The glaze that is spread on top after the muffins are baked makes for a nice tart but sweet bite! The edges are super crunchy and the muffin itself is moist with a fine crumb and lots of deep lemon flavor. This recipe makes a lot of muffins so I suppose you can make a half recipe. Don't forget the struesel topping or the glaze. They are both important to the taste & texture of these little gems.

So good! Great with a nice hot steamy latte or cold class of milk. I used half cake flour & half all purpose but I'm sure it would work with all of one or the other.

Lemon Crumb Muffins

3 sticks butter, melted (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 cups granulated sugar
2 cups sour cream
6 cups flour (I used 1/2 cake flour & 1/2 all purpose)
8 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 T. Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon salt
Zest from 5 fresh lemons

Sift all dry ingredients together into a very large bowl. Grate the rind of 5 lemons, set the lemons aside. Whisk eggs and add sour cream, melted butter, oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract & lemon extract; whisk until smooth. Fold in the lemon zest. Fold all wet ingredients into the dry. Blend well.

Streusel

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 stick butter, softenend

Mix sugar and flour together. Add butter. Work into dry ingredients until crumbly. (I did this part in a food processor)

Lemon Glaze

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Stir together until all of the sugar is dissolved. (I put the mixture in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwaved for 30 seconds. Sugar disolved completely)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray muffin tins and fill with batter. Top each muffin with 1 tablespoon streusel and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. (My muffins were huge so I had to bake for longer but I kept checking with a toothpick until moist crumbs were evident)

Remove muffins from oven. After 10 minutes or so, pop them out of the muffin tins. Place on a rack with a piece of parchment or wax paper or even foil underneath to catch the dripping glaze. Glaze the top of each muffin with a bit of glaze. (I ended up making another batch of the glaze because I wanted to make sure that each muffin got a big spoonful)

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-04-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

For all of my fellow bakers, let me ask you this..... Do you ever get sick of making chocolate chip cookies? I personally find it so familiar and comforting to make them. I'd rather bake chocolate chip cookies then anything else. I can't possibly make them too much and there are SO many different recipes to try. It seems everyone is always trying to achieve the "best" cookie. All of the recipes are somewhat similar and I swear to god that I have made the same recipe 50 times but each recipe is called something different and from a new source. I get so excited every time I come across a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. I always have such high hopes. Always hoping that this next one will be "the one"!! But the problem is, I'm not sure what exactly that means and I know that means different things to different people. I value the qualities in almost each and every recipe. I love thin cookies, thick cookies, crisp cookies, chewy cookies, slightly underbaked, semi sweet chips, milk chocolate chips the list goes on. For THIS post I really mixed it up. I took an awesome regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and added some broken Oreo bits along with some milk chocolate & semi sweet chocolate chips. I thought it would be interesting but had no idea how wonderful they would be. I love this combination!! The cookies I made are huge and soft & chewy. I would definitely make these again. It's up to you how many Oreo cookie bits you want to add. Since I just kind of invented the recipe as I went along, I just kept adding cookies till it looked about right. I'd say there are about 25-30 cookies in there. I used regular Oreos, not double stuffed but I'm sure those would work really well. I also added 1 bag of Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips & 1 bag of Guittard Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (Bartells has Guittard chips on sale right now for $1.99 a bag! That's an awesome deal!). You can also totally leave out the chips and add only Oreos. I recently read another baking blog where the woman added a bunch of Oreos along with cookies & cream white chocolate discs. That's sound delicious! It's so fun to experiment with chocolate chip cookie possibilities! You can experiment with your personal favorite cookie recipe but I will post below the one that I used for these cookies. It's definitely a good one!

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups butter, softened (4 cubes)
2 cups white sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (1 bag)
2 cups milk chocolate chips (1 bag)
About 25-30 Oreo cookies broken into small pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips & Oreo bits. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned

Old fashioned sugar cookies with buttercream icing

2011-04-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

These cookies smell sooo good! Buttery & sugary! They are soft & sweet with lots of vanilla flavor. I found this recipe in my huge disorganized recipe binder. Lord only knows where I got it but I decided to try it. At first I was not so sure about the sugar cookies. I did not sprinkle the tops with sugar because I knew I was going to ice them so they were quite plain when they first came out of the oven and cooled. But after I spread some sweet vanilla buttercream on the top, it all came together and tasted delicious. They totally remind me of those big pink cookies you can purchase in delis or coffee stands - I think they are called "Uncle Seths". The texture is soft but not chewy with no crispness at all, not even the edges. I used more vanilla then the recipe suggested because I wanted a deep vanilla flavor. I also added the seeds of one whole vanilla bean. I suppose you could use some almond extract also. I'm not sure this would be a good sugar cookie recipe to roll out and use cookie cutters because all I did was scoop out the dough with my cookie scoop and flattened the ball slightly before baking. But the dough did seem pretty non-sticky, so it might roll out nicely. This recipe specifically states to use COLD butter so that's why the dough is nice and cold and not sticky. It has a little different mixing instructions then most sugar cookie dough recipes - there is no creaming of the sugar & butter.

So if you are looking for nice & thick & soft vanilla sugar cookies, then look no further. These are easy and delicious!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

6 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
4 sticks cold butter, cut into thin slices
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and add the cold butter slices. Use the paddle attachment and mix sugar & butter till it resembles coarse meal. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda & cream of tartar.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time and beat until well blended. Continue mixing for another 3 or 4 minutes (supposedly this additional mixing time adds to the texture).

Roll the dough into balls or use a cookie scoop. Place onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly. You can now sprinkle with plain or colored sugar or leave plain if you are going to ice. Bake until the cookies are light brown around the edges about 12-15 minutes.

The buttercream icing I used is simply a combination of 1 cube of butter, clear vanilla, about 4-5 cups powdered sugar & enough milk to achieve desired consistency plus food coloring of your choice.

Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

2011-04-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

The last chocolate chip cookies I made, that I LOVED, were from my ancient Better Homes & Gardens cookie book. I was so impressed with that recipe that I had to try another recipe from that book. Here it is! Toasted oatmeal cookies! I made mine into oatmeal raisin but their recipe had called for chopped dates. I prefer raisins. I figured that these would be crunchy cookies. I guess because I toasted the oatmeal first - I was thinking like granola type crispness. I don't know why I assumed that but these were very very soft & chewy. No crispness at ALL. These cookies have so much flavor. Really deep flavor with all the right spices. I feel that the nutmeg was a bit too strong. Still wonderful but I would reduce the nutmeg by 1/2 next time & maybe up the cinnamon amount a bit. I can't say that toasting the oatmeal made that much difference in the flavor but they were definitely delicious. Actually, for being oatmeal cookies, these really don't contain that much oatmeal. And because the cookies have shortening in them instead of butter, that is another reason I thought that they might be crisp. Not sure why the recipe calls for shortening and not butter but I used the plain white Crisco. I'm sure butter would work just fine also.

So if you like your cookies soft & chewy with a good amount of spice, then these are your kind of cookie!

Enjoy!

Toasted Oatmeal Cookies
Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients:

- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cup flour (all-purpose )
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 cup shortening
- 1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. SPRINKLE oats in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 375 oven about 10 minutes or till lightly toasted, stirring once. Place in bowl. Stir in sour milk or buttermilk and let stand a few minutes 2. BEAT together brown sugar and shortening till combined. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; beat till combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla till combined. Stir in oat mixture. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Stir in raisins. Drop by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. 3. BAKE in a 375 degree oven about 10 minutes or till edges are golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

These cookies are ridiculous. Delicious? Yes. Huge? Yes. But just over the top ridiculous! First of all, mine resulted in a WAY bigger cookie then the blog on which I found the recipe. The whole idea is to surround an Oreo cookie with a bunch of cookied dough before you bake them. I could not properly and entirely cover the Oreo without using about 1/4 cup of dough. Honestly. Maybe my dough was way too sticky but even after I thoroughly chilled the dough, I still had tennis ball size dough chunks on my cookie sheet. But the point is, these were still delicious. Really really awesomely delicious. The recipe had called for Double Stuffed Oreos but all I had were regular single stuffed Oreos. Other than that, I follwed the recipe exactly. The chocolate chip cookie recipe was good in itself but the excitement was in adding the Oreo. It was just a fun project. A very messy project, but fun. Oh, I guess I might have added more chocolate chips than called for but after adding the appropriate amount, it didn't look like enough so I tossed more in. I made a double recipe and it only made a couple of dozen cookies but then again, mine were so monsterously huge that it used an awful lot of dough for a single cookie.

I don't know if I'd make these again because my Oreos kind of got lost in the sea of chocolate chip cookie dough so really, what was the point? But I totally enjoyed these cookies and if you can make them a more reasonable size, they would be a wonderful combination of flavors & textures. Let me know if you try them. They seem to be all the rage lately. I looked at "cookie" recipes on Tastespotting and saw about 4 different posts for these in the past few months. I just had to try them!!

This photo kind of shows you how large these cookies are compared to a standard Oreo. And the cookies that I chose for the photo shoot were some of the smaller ones! The bigger cookies spread about another inch. Huge! They were nice & thick cookies too! The kind you can really sink your teeth into.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the blog Very Culinary

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 3 1/2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.

With a cookie scoop, form balls with the dough.

Place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.

Place onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Perfect Snickerdoodles

2011-03-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed these cookies. I came across this recipe via Tastespotting. It's from a blog called Bakergirl. I had never visited that blog but I will be definitely checking out her other recipes since this one was so awesome! I was intrigued by this recipe because it called for salad oil along with the butter. I had previously baked some sugar cookies from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook that used oil and those cookies were just absolutely delicious! Also, this snickerdoodle recipe called for powdered sugar along with the granulated sugar. Interesting. Had to try it. I think you can imagine the texture. Powdered sugar in cookies results in a much more delicate and crumbly cookie. Crisp...yes...but a very delicate and melt away texture. Very light with a crisp edge and a somewhat thick and fluffy center. I did not flatten my cookies as much as the recipe said to but I did press down on the dough ball just a little bit. I baked some batches longer than the others and they were just as good, just a little crunchier. You have to be careful when packaging these cookies because they are somewhat delicate and the edges crumble easy when they are stacked against one another. This recipe has the traditional cream of tarter that other snickerdoodle recipes call for. I HAVE tried recipes for snickerdoodles that don't have cream of tarter, and it's just not right. It definitely adds something tangy to the flavor and crispness to the texture. Don't leave that important ingredient out. Oh, I know one change I made. I added about 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. I can't believe the recipe doesn't include that! So needed!

If you like chewy snickerdoodles, then you will not like these. Try this recipe if you want a crisp, thicker, somewhat fluffy middle cookie. I think you will enjoy this recipe. I know I will definitely be making it again!

Enjoy!

The Perfect Snickerdoodle

as found on: Bakergirl blog

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup salad oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar & 1 tablespoon cinnamon for rolling cookies in
(I added 2 teaspoons of vanilla even though the original recipe did not call for it and I think it's a MUST!)

Preheat oven to 375°F. (Mine turned out better with a 350 setting)

Beat together butter, salad oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and eggs (& vanilla!). In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Slowly beat flour mixture into the butter mixture.

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, then roll each in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls 3 to 4 inches apart on baking sheet. With a flat-bottomed glass dipped in cinnamon-sugar, flatten each ball to about 1/4-inch. (I didn't quite flatten so much and I just used the palm of my hand. The dough didn't stick to my hand since it had been rolled in sugar & cinnamon).

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. Cool and then serve.

Better Homes Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've had my Better Homes & Gardens Cookie Book for years. Probably 15 or more years. It was one of the first baking books I bought. After that I went on to purchase more baking books that were fancier & not so unexciting. In fact, I kind of snubbed my nose at my Better Homes book (along with my Better Crocker). I hadn't even looked in my Better Homes book for years & I'm not sure why I picked it up yesterday but I did and I came across this basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. I guess the big difference in this recipe for chocolate chip cookies and ones that I usually try is that it calls for shortening. The recipe also calls for adding the baking soda in with the butter - not with the rest of the dry ingredients. That's different. I had no idea how much I would LOVE these cookies! They were close to perfect. I would definitely make this recipe again. Thick, chewy with slightly crisp edges. Just wonderful. The recipe also called for the options of nuts - which I never add and didn't this time. I think I added slightly more chips than called for but hey, that's what I always do.

So if you have the urge to bake up some major comfort food, specifically chocolate chip cookies, try this recipe! Easy & delicious!

Enjoy!

Better Homes & Gardens Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 12-ounce package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions

In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate pieces

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 60 cookies.

Coconut cupcakes in tulip papers

2011-03-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

This recipe started with "my now favorite white cake recipe".

http://heidibakes.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-now-favorite-white-cake-recipe.html

I had a party at my house on Saturday night and wanted to bake something with coconut in it. My family does not like coconut so I don't often bake with it because I love it and I don't want to be the only person eating it! I decided on coconut cake. Then I remembered I had bought these darling pink tulip cupcake papers at Michaels the other week and my thoughts went to cupcakes. My favorite white cake recipe uses a cake mix and I figured I could use that as a base recipe. Yes, I do like to bake from scratch but this cake recipe that I had found on Cake Central years ago is such a winner that I wanted to start with it. I changed the water it called for to coconut milk and instead of almond extract, I used coconut (along with some vanilla extract) plus I threw in a large handful of shredded sweetened coconut. Then I made a cream cheese buttercream with a touch of coconut extract and sprinkled some more shredded coconut on top. These cupcakes were sooo delicious. You can easily cut this recipe in half but I made the whole thing and it made 24 very full cupcakes AND a double layer 8 inch cake. I filled my 8 inch layer cake with a thick layer of raspberry jam then iced the outside with the cream cheese icing and sprinkled the whole thing with shredded coconut. I love the combination of raspberry & coconut. I'm thinking I could have pulled out a plug from the cupcake and put a teaspoon of raspberry in there before icing them...hmmm? That would have been delicious.

But anyway, this was a lovely textured cake. The shredded coconut made it a bit "shaggy" when you sliced it and you can easily leave out the coconut but the 1 teaspoon of coconut extract was the perfect amount. Very subtle flavor and I suppose you could up the amount of coconut extract to 2 teaspoons.

If you are not opposed to using a doctored cake mix, then I highly recommend this recipe or the white cake recipe that I have linked above. I don't think you'll regret it! Oh, and be sure you use the white cake mix that does not have the pudding already added, such as Duncan Hines. That will give you the best result.

If you want tulip cupcake papers, I found these at Michael's Craft store but I also saw them at Joanne Fabrics & Crafts. They came in lavendar & yellow also. I think they are Wilton brand and they come in a box of 24 papers. Aren't they just too cute? Everyone at the party was ooohing and aahhing about them. Very spring like. Oh, and the pink flowers that are on top, I bought in bulk from http://www.cakedeco.com/. They are gum paste flowers.

Enjoy!

Coconut Cake

•2 boxes white cake mix

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teas. salt

8 egg whites

2 2/3 cups coconut milk (I used a whole can then made up the remainder with water)

4 Tbls. vegetable oil

2 cups (16oz carton) sour cream

2 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1-2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Instructions

Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

These are a wonderful basic comfort food kind of cookie. I really like my oatmeal cookies with cinnamon & raisins but I decided to try them with chocolate chips this time. They were wonderful. I really love the thickness of this cookie. They are thick & chewy but the edges have a really nice crunch to them. I used a scoop to make all of my cookies even size. I made some pretty small cookies & also some really large ones. I liked the texture of the large cookies better. The small ones baked up more cake like but the large cookies had the crunchy edges & the chewy center. I think I would have liked a mixture of milk chocolate & semi sweet chocolate chips but all I had was the semi sweet so I went with those.

The only change I made was adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract. I'm always amazed by how many baking recipes do not include vanilla. I think almost everything is better with vanilla extract added and these definitely were.

If you are looking for a good thick oatmeal cookie recipe - try this one! And if you don't want the chocolate chips in them, then add raisins & cinnamon instead or nothing at all. Plain oatmeal cookies are awesome as well. With a full 2 cubes of butter in this recipe, they are plenty tasty!

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies
From Baking Illustrated

1 1/2 cups FLOUR

1/2 teaspoon SALT

1/2 teaspoon BAKING POWDER

8 ounces (2 sticks) UNSALTED BUTTER, softened

1 cup LIGHT BROWN SUGAR, packed

1 cup GRANULATED SUGAR

2 large EGGS

3 cups OATS

1 1/2 cups CHOCOLATE CHIPS

(I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract)

1. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees, and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, by hand or by mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars and beat the mixture until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

4. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or a large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

5. Place dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets by large spoonfuls (about 2 tablespoons each), leaving at least 2 inches between.

6. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Slide cookies (on parchment) onto cooling rack. Let cool, and store in airtight container.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

2011-02-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

This won't be a long post because this cake just did not do it for me. I've had this recipe for awhile and was excited to try it. It sounded wonderful. It indeed was super easy to throw together but the end result was not too good. Now, that's not to say that others didn't like it. I took it to work and my coworkers raved about it. They said it was basically like a cinnamon coffee cake. It's a dense cake - kind of gummy if you ask me. Very moist but didn't taste like a cinnamon roll to me, at all, which I think it's supposed to.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

3 cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup (1 stick) real butter, melted

Topping:

1 cup (2 sticks) real butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In an electric or stand mixer mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla. Once combined well, slowly stir in the 1/2 cup melted butter. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix the 2 sticks of softened butter, brown sugar, flour & cinnamon until well combined. Drop evenly over cake batter by the tablespoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out nearly clean from center. You want to make sure it's done. I like most things underdone but cake is not one of them.

4. Place powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Death by Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

2011-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs.

Stephanies Kitchen

One of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes is made with instant vanilla pudding mix so I thought one made with instant chocolate pudding mix would be wonderful as well. I liked this recipe but I didn't love it. My family loved them but didn't rave about them. These are indeed chocolately but they do not have that fudgy center like some of the chocolate chocolate chip cookies I've made. I tried underbaking them a bit and it helped a small amount but they still weren't smooth & fudgy inside. I guess I was trying to achieve something that these cookies weren't meant to be. These just have the same texture as a regular chocoalte chip cookie...but they are chocolate. Very good! And easy to make. No need to chill the dough. They don't spread much either.

I used half semi sweet chips & half milk chocolate.

Enjoy!

Death by Chocolate Chocolate Cookies
From Stephanies Kitchen

recipe makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3.9 oz package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups of mix-ins (I used 1 cup of milk chocolate chips and 1 cup of semi-sweet chips)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl often. Add the vanilla and pudding mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in your choice of mix-ins. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. Don’t over bake.

Hallelujah Banana Bread

2011-02-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how I came across this recipe but I think I found it on a blog via Tastespotting. But anyway, it sounded too interesting to pass up. The article below tells how this recipe came to be.

http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/headlines/20100511-Bake-the-perfect-banana-bread-4040.ece

The odd thing is, that article does not include the recipe. Strange. I found it on the same website but published a different day. It's a really wonderful and easy to make recipe. I would say it's right up there with my favorite banana bread recipes. I like it because the butter is melted, therefore you don't have to cream the butter and sugar together. I did not add any nuts but I did add some cinnamon to my bread. I realize my photos kind of suck but that's as good as I can do today. It's so rainy and gray outside today - good banana bread making weather.

Hallelujah Banana Bread
http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/food/latest-recipes/20100511-Hallelujah-Banana-Bread-3892.ece

from the Dallas Morning News

2 c flour

1 c sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts (I did not add walnuts)

2 eggs

1 1/2 c mashed bananas (about 4 small bananas)

1/4 c sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 stick (1/2 c) butter melted, and brought to room temp.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt. Mix well and toss in the walnuts to coat. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, add the mashed banana, sour cream, vanilla, and butter. Stir well to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet mixture and stir well until thoroughly combined. Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if it seems to be browning too quickly. Reduce heat to 325 and bake about 20 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center comes away clean.

Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

2011-02-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

I've once again been away for awhile. This time for a horrible reason. My father had a massive heart attack on January 9th & passed away on January 13th after being in a coma. It has been the worst month of my entire 44 years. I'm so sad and my family is devastated. Luckily I live directly across the street from my parents and so I've been helping my mom with all sorts of things that my father used to do. I've had the past 3 weeks off of work and so I HAVE been baking but just not taking the time to post anything. I must post this delicious oatmeal cookie recipe though. It's from my latest Cooks Illustrated magazine. My husband only likes crunchy cookies and has been begging me to make oatmeal raisin and when I came across this recipe, I knew I had to make it. They are wonderful and crunchy. After being stored in a ziplock bag for a day, they were still slightly crunchy but the middle was mostly chewy. The recipe does not call for cinnamon but I think its a must. It also did not call for raisins but I threw in a big handful. Soooo good! I made a double recipe of these and it really didn't produce that many cookies. These cookies were a huge hit with everyone. So many folks have asked for the recipe...so here it is!

My father would have loved these! Oatmeal raisin were his favorite. Love you Dad!

Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

Cook's Illustrated

Makes 24 cookies

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks), softened but still cool, about 65 degrees
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon (recipe did not call for it but I belive it's a necessity in this recipe - sift with the dry ingredients)

Recipe also did not call for raisins but I threw in a big handful.

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.

2. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars at medium-low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl again. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth, 10 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oats and mix until well incorporated, 20 seconds. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

3. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons (or use #30 cookie scoop), then roll between palms into balls. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 21/2 inches apart, 8 dough balls per sheet (see note above). Using fingertips, gently press each dough ball to 3/4-inch thickness.

4. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are deep golden brown, edges are crisp, and centers yield to slight pressure when pressed, 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely on sheet. (The magazine mentioned that these cookies will become more crispy if you make sure you cool these completely on the cookie sheet after removing them from the oven)

Classic Diner Cheesecake

2011-01-02T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is one of the creamiest cheesecakes I have ever eaten. I'm surprised that it sliced so neatly because the texture was ultra smooth and creamy. I found this cheesecake recipe in a book called Diner Desserts, by Trish Boyle. This book had been in storage so I have not used it for years. It was fun to open it up and look at it again. It seemed brand new to me.

I think this cheesecake is the only one I have ever baked that did not end up with a crack in it. NOT ONE single crack! Flawless. Not that that has anything to do with a cheesecake's flavor or texture, but it is one of those often elusive goals that cheesecakes bakers strive for. I made a little more of the graham cracker crust mixture than called for because I wanted a crust on the sides as well. The recipe does not mention to spray or grease your springform pan, but I did even though it's non stick. I ended up baking my cheesecake a lot longer than the recipe calls for and it probably could have used about 5 more minutes of baking.

This is a wonderful cheesecake recipe. If you like the more dry crumbly texture of a classic cheesecake, then you won't like this one. It's so creamy and smooth with big vanilla flavor. In fact, I added the scrapings of 1 vanilla bean along with the pure vanilla extract.

Since we have moved, I have taken dozens of boxes out of storage. Last week I came across this retro diner cake dome. Perfect for this classic diner cheesecake!

Classic Diner Cheesecake

from Diner Desserts by Tish Boyle

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon zest (I did not add this)

Directions:

To make graham cracker crust, preheat oven to 500 degrees.

In bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs & sugar. Add butter & toss all together with a fork. Pat the mixture into a 9 inch springform pan.

To make cheesecake filling:

Stir together in a bowl, the flour & sugar. Set aside.

In an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually add the sugar/flour mixture, beating on low speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time. Scrape bowl as necessary. Beat in the sour cream, heavy cream & zest. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 10 minutes at 500 degrees. Reduce heat to 200 and keep oven door open for a couple of minutes to let some heat escape. Close the door and continue to bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour. Turn oven off and prop open door with wooden spoon. Leave cheesecake in the warm oven for an additional hour. Transfer cheesecake to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate cake, covered with plastic wrap for at least 4 hours before serving.

Pioneer Woman's Angel Sugar Cookies

2010-11-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

Have you ever visited the Pioneer Woman's blog?

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

I'm just amazed by her and her story. I received her cookbook for a gift recently and enjoyed reading it cover to cover. These angel sugar cookies are the first recipe I've made from her book. These are simply DELICIOUS! They are not the roll out, cut into shapes, kind of sugar cookies. They are extremely fragile. You just scoop onto the cookie sheet and flatten with a glass and sprinkle with sugar. The texture is so light and crispy. It's almost like they shatter when you bite into them. I suppose you can play with the flavor of them a bit. I used a vanilla paste and a flavoring called "Princess cake & cookie" flavoring. It's kind of a slightly nutty, vanilla-y flavor. Taste kind of "bakery like", if that makes sense.

I highly recommend these delicious sugar cookies. They are out of this world and easy to make. Also, check out Pioneer Woman's blog. She has so many wonderful recipes on there.

Here is the Princess cake & cookie flavoring. I love using these bakery emulsions. I have it in about 10 different flavors. It's really intense flavoring. Same consistency as corn syrup - really thick. I use it in place or along with extract. This brand normally is pretty expensive - almost $10 a bottle but I found them, of all places, at Ross Dress for less! They were $2.99 a bottle! What a find!

Along with my great Pioneer Woman cookbook, I got this gorgeous cake dome for my birthday. It's so beautiful and I'm so scared I will break it!

It's difficult to capture the deliciousness of these cookies because they look so non-exciting. They were kind of hard to photograph. So even though they don't have much eye appeal, they are one of the best tasting cookies I have ever made.

Pioneer Woman's Angel Sugar Cookies
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/my-favorite-sugar-cookies/

Ingredients

■2 whole Large Eggs

■1 cup Canola Oil

■2 sticks Butter, Softened

■1 cup Sugar, Plus Extra For Sprinkling

■1 cup Powdered Sugar

■1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

■4 cups Plus 2 Tablespoons, All-purpose Flour

■1 teaspoon Salt

■1 teaspoon Baking Soda

■1 teaspoon Cream Of Tartar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together eggs, oil, butter, sugars, and vanilla.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate dough one hour.

Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Smear a dab of butter all over the bottom of a glass, then dip the glass in granulated sugar. Use the glass to flatten each ball of dough, dipping again into the sugar each time. Repeat until all are flattened.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies are just barely turning brown. Don’t overbrown!

Allow to cool before eating. Cookies are ultra crumbly!

I will be back soon!

2010-11-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I have not deserted my blog! I intend to be back soon. My family has moved, and the packing, moving & unpacking have exhausted me and have taken up every extra second I have.

Stay tuned folks!

Blackberry coffee cake

2010-09-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile. The end of summer was super busy and then came the beginning of school. I have 3 boys - 10 yrs, 6 yrs & 5 yrs - and this is the first and only year they will all have the same schedule in the same school! Yeah!

Yes, I have been baking a LOT these past several weeks but have not taken the time to take pics or to post. Here is a delicious coffee cake made with fresh blackberries. It's not a super sweet cake because the berries are not sweetened before they are added. But, I did also make this with fresh raspberries and my raspberries were very tart so after I sprinkled the batter with the raspberries, I dropped some dollops of raspberry jam on top before I added the streusel topping. Wow, that was a good addition! But for this recipe, it's straight blackberries and it's delicious! Make sure to use the toothpick test because you need to make sure that the cake part on the bottom is thoroughly baked. I find it easiest to line my 13x9 inch pan with foil but you can also just pour the batter straight into a sprayed pan without the foil and serve right from the pan after it's cooled. Might be nice to experiment with slivered almonds on top or almond extract or maybe walnuts or pecans. Of course different berries will work nicely as well. Both times I have made this, I used fresh berries. I have not tried frozen berries so I'm not sure how they would work - unless they were thawed and drained first, then I suppose it would work. I bet this would also work with just a jar of jam or maybe a can of pie filling. Mmmm, cherry pie filling would be wonderful, I'm sure!

Fresh Blackberry Coffee Cake

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted,

1 cup (2 sticks), room temperature

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

3-4 cups blackberries (I used fresh - not sure how frozen would work)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Prepare 13x9 inch pan by lining completely with foil and spray the foil with nonstick spray.
2.Make topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt & 1 teaspoon cinnamon; add 2 cups flour, and mix with a fork until large moist crumbs form. Refrigerate topping until ready to use.

3.In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture. Spread batter evenly in pan; sprinkle with blackberries, then chilled topping.

4.Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using foil overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into squares.

Chocolate chocolate chip zucchini muffins

2010-08-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a good way to use up those extra zucchini. This is a recipe from the King Arthur Flour website. It's supposed to be a 13x9 inch cake but I made it into muffins and it worked wonderfully. I used a small amount of the King Arthur Flour black cocoa powder, so my muffins were a deep chocolate. Not too sweet and deliciously moist. Shredded zucchini is usually visible in my bread or muffins but this time the zucchini could not be seen at all (a good way to hide the veggie!). I passed these huge muffins off at work as healthy breakfast fare but in reality, they are basically just a big piece of unadorned chocolate cake. The big Guittard milk chocolate chips that I added to the top before baking were a nice addition. They added some texture. I like the fact that this recipe uses oil AND butter. The oil adds incredible moistness and the butter adds wonderful flavor. This recipe makes perfect muffins but would also work as a quick bread or a cake. Chocolate icing would be great on it too...or maybe cream cheese icing!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

from King Arthur Flour

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt

2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa

2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty

2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10" zucchini, about 12 ounces)

1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lighlty grease a 9" x 13" pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.

Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. top befoto the t(I added milk chocolate chips to the top before baking) Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, till the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set.

Clear Vanilla Extract

2010-08-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

I agree that pure vanilla extract is usually best. I make my own in fact and it's delicious and so fragrant. But I DO think that clear vanilla extract is a necessity sometimes when you want a pure white color in your cakes or icings. If it's a quality brand, I don't mind the taste of it at all and it does not taste artificial to me. I came across Adams extracts last year and purchased a LOT of items from them including a GALLON of clear vanilla. It was quite the bargain at $28 (I think shipping is about $7.00). They offer many different sizes. In fact, they offer a large variety of different extracts in all sizes and I have had a lot of luck with their products. I have also purchased their pure vanilla extract and it's excellent. Their coconut is also really good. I just wanted to share my experience with their clear vanilla since I know a good brand can be difficult to find. Check out their site!

Adams Clear Vanilla

Pineapple coconut zucchini walnut bread

2010-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

This was pretty good quick bread. I think the recipe needs more spice. Not necessarily different spices, just more of the same. I doubled the amount of spice and it was still pretty subtle. Make sure you bake it thoroughly. I always tend to take my cakes & quick breads out slightly before they actually test done but this bread is so moist that it got a little bit too moist after sitting for a day. The coconut is a wonderful addition. I'm sure this would make a great breakfast muffin. I'm usually not one for nuts but the walnuts were perfect for a bread like this. They really added a nice texture and flavor. Some of my loaves were left nutless for those who prefer it. As for the pineapple, I had to use a combination of crushed and tidbits. That was all I had. I thought I would really enjoy the bigger chunks of pineapple but I think I prefer the crushed.

Pineapple Coconut Zucchini Walnut Bread
allrecipes.com

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups grated unpeeled zucchini

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl until well blended; set aside.

2.Whisk eggs, oil, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in sour cream, vanilla, zucchini, pineapple, and coconut. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing just until moistened. Divide batter between the prepared loaf pans. (I added a bunch of walnuts to the top of the batter in some of the pans before placing in the oven. Just layed them right on top.)

3.Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Apple Crumb Squares

2010-08-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

I was very disappointed in this recipe. I was certain that these were going to be a hit. But...sigh....they suck. I found the recipe in my lastest Family Circle magazine. So in other words, do not make this recipe! They make look not so bad, but the texture was awful. The almond flavor in the crust was too strong. I'm not sure if they were a bar cookie or a crumb cake. The topping was flavorless and the apples seemed to have just disappeared into the cake.

Ok, I'm not even going to waste my time typing anymore. Maybe the next post will be a sucess.

Apple Crumb Squares

Family Circle

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup apricot preserves, melted

Crumb Topping

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup light-brown sugar

1-1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Cake: Beat together the butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in almond extract. On low speed, beat in flour and salt until just blended. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Fan apple slices over top, then brush with preserves. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Crumb Topping: Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir in the butter until mixture is moistened and clumps together. Sprinkle evenly over cake. Bake for an additional 35 minutes. Remove pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Dust with confectioners sugar and cut into 24 squares.

Crisp Sugar Cookies & decorating sugar cookies

2010-08-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Before you go getting excited about finding a delicious new crispy sugar cookie recipe, I must tell you that these were not good. In other words, they suck. I thought they looked pretty with their bright purple sparkling sugar (what a waste of good Dean & Deluca sugar) so I took photos but I will not recommend that you make these. If you are looking for a good recipe for crisp sugar cookies, then look at this post:

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

The vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe is good if you want a delicate but crispy sugar cookie. They turn out great if you just scoop balls of dough & flatten with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar. Then sprinkle with a little more regular or sanding sugar. Now, if you are looking for a sugar cookie recipe that is good for rolling out and cutting with cookie cutters, then try this one:

No Fail Sugar Cookie Recipe

A couple of years ago, I had a little cookie decorating business and the No Fail recipe is what I'd use every time. It's a really good recipe for detailed cookie cutters. So for most people, that means Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, Birthdays...those are the occasions when folks usually bake & decorate pretty cookies. I still have hundreds of cookie cutters & decorating tools & tips & colors & books....anything to do with cookie decorating. I learned a lot by trial and error so if you have any questions about decorating cookies or need ideas, I'd love to hear & help. I was so obsessed with it for years. I love the creative side of it but ya know, each order took SO long. It would take an entire weekend to make & decorate & package a few dozen cookies. Of course I would spend almost as much time packaging the cookies as I did decorating them. So check out the link above that will take you to some of my decorated cookies. Hope it gives you some ideas. It's a lot of fun to decorate cookies. Each cookie is like a mini work of art but first you need to start with a good cookie base - a sugar cookie that is sturdy as well as delicious and unfortunately, this sugar cookie recipe is not it! Try the No Fail Sugar cookie recipe (link above) for decorating cookies or the vanilla bean sugar cookie (link above) for a good delicate crisp cookie.

The texture of these cookies is just......umm....bad. First of all, I think the recipe includes way too much flour so it results in a dry dough. Second, the edges may be slightly crispy but the center is chewy & kind of tough. The flavor, blah.

Crisp Sugar Cookies
allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut out cookies into desired shapes and place 2 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Double Chocolate Cookie Bars

2010-08-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

This is a similar recipe to one I previously posted. I just love these cookies! Super easy to make and so chocolately and delicious! I added a bit more Oreos on top than recipe called for. Everyone loves these treats. Try them! Just make sure they are totally cool before you cut them.

Double Chocolate Cookie Bars

allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

24 chocolate sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Set aside 6 cookies and grind the rest in a food processor or blender. In a small bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and butter until well blended. Press into the bottom of an 11x13 inch pan. (Note: I made a double recipe and used my 12x16 Wilton pan and it fit perfectly. I would think that a 13x9 inch pan would work better for a single recipe?.)

3. Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla. Stir frequently until smooth. Spread evenly over the crumb crust. Sprinkle the remaining cup of chocolate chips over the top. Break remaining cookies into pieces by hand and sprinkle over the top.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

2010-08-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

These oatmeal fudge bars look delicious but honestly, they just didn't do it for me. They were just so so. The surprising thing is, these won the grand prize in a bar cookie contest for Cook's Country magazine. I made a double recipe and baken them in a 13x9 inch pan. Below are some notes about the recipe taken from the magazine.

A chewy crust, dense filling, and crunchy topping give these bar cookies a nice contrast of textures. Our tasters liked this recipe sent in from Barb Schaecher of Kansas City, Mo. so much, they awarded it the grand prize in our bar cookies recipe contest.

Test Kitchen Discoveries

•Using instant coffee here deepens the chocolate flavor without calling attention to itself.

•If you’d like a fudgier center, decrease the baking time.

•The brown sugar needs to be firmly packed into the measuring cup for an accurate measure. Fill the correct dry measure with the brown sugar and use the next smallest cup to pack it.

•Spray the baking pan with cooking spray and line with aluminum foil, allowing excess to overhang pan edges. Spray foil with cooking spray—once cookies have been baked and cooled, use the foil overhang to easily lift the bars from the pan.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Cooks Country

Makes 36 bars

Crust and Topping:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly

Filling:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules or espresso powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons unsalted butter , chopped

3 large eggs

1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 9 by 9-inch baking pan (see note below). Whisk flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Stir in butter until combined. Set 11/4 cups oatmeal mixture aside. Press remaining oatmeal mixture firmly into prepared pan. Bake until light golden brown, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.

2. For the filling: Whisk flour, sugar, instant coffee, and salt in bowl. Melt chocolate and butter in large bowl; whisk in eggs, then stir in flour mixture. Pour filling over cooled crust and sprinkle with reserved oatmeal mixture.

3. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares.

Note: For all bar cookies, line baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing excess to overhang pan edges. Spray foil with cooking spray. When bar cookies are cooled, use foil overhang to lift bars from pan. All bar cookies can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping

2010-08-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

This was an excellent banana bread recipe. It turned out to have the perfect amount of banana flavor and was actually light & fluffy & more cake like than quick bread texture. The sprinkle of sugar & cinnamon on top turns into a crisp & sweet topping. The honey was an interesting addition but to tell you the truth, you cannot detect the honey in it at all. It's always nice when a quick bread recipe has oil instead of butter. It's so much quicker to throw together and it adds tremendous moistness without being greasy.

I highly recommend this wonderful banana bread!

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping
Bon Appetit

Ingredients

•1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

•1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

•2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1/2 teaspoon salt

•1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)

•2 large eggs

•1/2 cup vegetable oil

•1/4 cup honey

•1/4 cup water

•2 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

Preparation

•Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9x5x3-inch metal baking pan. Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk next 5 ingredients in large bowl until smooth. Add dry ingredients; stir to blend. Transfer batter to pan. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and brown sugar; sprinkle over batter.

•Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool bread in pan 30 minutes. Turn pan on its side; slide out bread, being careful not to dislodge topping. Turn bread right side up and cool completely.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Glossy Chocolate Icing

2010-08-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about this cake. It is indeed delicious. It's a dark chocolate cake and it's moist and dense without being too sweet. I was excited about making this icing. I have always wanted to find a chocolate icing recipe that resulted in a silky smooth glossy icing. This one sounded like a hit. It was really tasty but my icing never fully thickened up. I have no idea where I went wrong. I followed the recipe exactly but the final consistency was a thick ganche like texture - even after sitting in the fridge all night. I used it anyway and as you can see from the photos, it really didn't stay put very well. The sides of the cake kind of sagged.

The photos show little tiny bumps in the icing but for some reason, they were not evident in your mouth. I guess that was the cocoa powder. Maybe I should have sifted it first. But anyway, this cake is delicious and easy to make. There are surprisingly no eggs in the recipe. I thought that was kind of strange but it worked. If you like a sweeter milk chocolate cake, then you won't care for the darkness of this cake. (I personally like a sweeter cake myself) The icing really makes it dark. It's a good basic chocolate cake recipe and if you are able to make the icing work, then this recipe would be an awesome one!

Chocolate Cake

Cuisine at Home

Whisk Together:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. baking soda

1 t. table salt

Combine; Add:

2 cups hot water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 T. white vinegar

1 T. instant coffee granules

1 T. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Spray two 8" round cake pans with nonstick spray.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Divide batter among pans, then bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool cakes for 15 minutes on a rack, then invert them onto the rack.

Glossy Chocolate Frosting

Makes: 4 Cups

Melt:

1 stick (8 T.) unsalted butter

Stir in:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch salt

Combine; Gradually Add:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sour cream

1 t. instant coffee granules

Off Heat, Add:

2 t. vanilla extract

Melt butter in a large saucepan.

Stir in sugar, cocoa, and salt.

Combine cream, sour cream, and instant coffee in a large measuring cup, mixing until smooth. Gradually add cream mixture to chocolate until blended. Cook until sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth and hot to the touch. Do not boil.

Off heat, add vanilla. Cool icing at room temperature until spreadable, about 3 hours. Frost cake.