Abby Sweets

Secret Recipe Club-Quick StrawberryShortcakes

2011-07-18T07:45:00.001-04:00

This month I joined in with the Secret Recipe Club hosted by Amanda from Amanda's Cookin'. Each month you are assigned a blog, make something from the blog and post it on a certain day, like today. The secret? You don't tell until posting day.

So, who was my blogger, well that would be Wendy, from The Weekend Gourmet. One of the great things about a bloghop is that you are introduced to blogs that you may not know exists, I had no idea about Wendy and I am so glad I do now! Go check her out, she has alot of great looking stuff!

I decided to make her Shortcut Strawberry Shortcakes, and is exactly what they are. I did change a couple things, just to make it a little simpler..isn't that what "shortcut" means? To make it more simpler?

Wanna join in on the fun for next month? Just go here to sign up!

Shortcut Strawberry Shortcakes
By: Wendy, at The Weekend Gourmet

1 container of strawberries, sliced
Sugar
1 container of Grands biscuits
Cool Whip

At least one hour before serving, mix your strawberries and sugar together and put into the refrigerator. I sprinkled my strawberries with about a tablespoon of vanilla sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and sprinkle the top of the biscuits with some more sugar, again I used vanilla sugar and bake the biscuits 8-10 minutes, or until done. Let cool slightly.

Split your biscuit, top with some of the strawberries and Cool Whip. There you have it! Easy Peasy!

50 Women Game Changers in Food-#4 Martha Stewart's Velvet Cocoa Cake with Instant Buttercream

2011-07-01T07:17:00.004-04:00

Last week I came across Mary at One Perfect Bite, she and a few other bloggers have decided to tackle the list from Gourmet of the top 50 women chefs. For the next 46 weeks, I plan to go along with them. There are some on the list that I have not heard of, so I hope to learn a little bit along the way. I have missed the first three being 1-Julia Child, that is no surprise to me, 2-Alice Waters, and 3-Fannie Farmer. This leads us to #4, Martha Stewart.

Martha is one that you either love or hate. I like her, although she will not be the first one that I run to for a recipe as I have not had much luck with her recipes. Although this chocolate cake is a keeper. The one reason that I decided on this cake was because of the frosting, there is no powdered sugar, marshmallow cream takes the place of it and if you know me, I can't turn down anything that has marshmallow in it.

Next week: M.F.K. Fisher

Wanna see more of Martha:

Mary-One Perfect Bite

Val-More than burnt toast

Taryn-Have Kitchen will Feed

Susan-The Spice Garden

Claudia-A seasonal Cook in Turkey

Heather-Girlichef

Miranda-Mangoes and Chutney

Jeanette-Healthy Living

Velvet Cocoa Cake with Instant Buttercream Frosting

By: Martha Stewart

For the cake:

12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

For the frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 jars (7.5 oz each) marshmallow cream

2/3 cup cocoa

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

1 Tbsp vanilla

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Beat in vanilla.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions,alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape bowl as needed.

Pour batter into pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before inverting cakes onto wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream:

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and marshmallow cream until fluffy. Beat in cocoa, chocolate and vanilla.

Place 1 layer on platter and spread top with 1 cup buttercream. Place the second layer on top and frost entire cake with remaining buttercream.

Taco Pasta

2011-06-30T08:05:00.000-04:00

With a family of 5, I am always on the look for low cost and filling meals. I am on a budget that I have to stick with. We don't eat out for a couple of reasons, 1-we really can't afford it, and 2-I can recreate the meals that we like from restaurants for a lot cheaper. This Taco Pasta is a low cost meal and it makes alot, enough to feed my family and have plenty left over for lunch or dinner, if we choose to do a "fend for yourself" night. If you are a smaller family, you can cut the recipe in half. Enjoy!

Taco Pasta

1 lb ground beef
16 oz small dry pasta. any shape
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups salsa
2 packets taco seasoning
8 oz block cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
Shredded cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the ground meat and onion over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Once the meat is cooked through, drain off the excess fat and mix in the garlic. Cook the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the salsa and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and pasta water and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Top with shredded cheese and cover with lid just until the cheese is melted.

Top with sour cream and more salsa, if desired.

Peach Amaretto Jam

2011-06-27T07:20:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago Ball Canning sent me a sample pack of their Small Batch Pectin, I knew right off what I would be making with it. I figured I would make a small batch in case it was just nasty...I know, how could peaches and Amaretto not be good, right? Of course, this is delish and what I now think of as Summer in a jar! Enjoy it on your toast, homemade biscuits (or store bought), thumbprint cookies, or really just from the spoon!

Peach Amaretto Jam

2 cups peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped--I like mine a little chunky
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 package Small Batch Pectin
1/4 cup Amaretto

Mix the peaches and pectin together in a large pot on medium high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Once to a boil add your sugar and amaretto and bring back to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Ladle into your jars, wipe the rims, put on the lids and rings and process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Remember to start timing with the water returns to a boil in the water bath.

Double Chocolate Coca Cola Cake

2011-06-21T15:19:00.003-04:00

Try saying that 3 times fast! The only thing that I can say about this cake is YUM! It was gone overnight in my house. Although, I am not sure about the Cola, you really can't taste it. Maybe it helps with the moistness, not sure but I will be making this over and over again!

Double Chocolate Coca Cola Cake
1 cup Coca-cola
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
3 Tbsp cocoa
2 cup sugar
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan, bring Coca-Cola, oil, margarine and cocoa to a boil; mix
the sugar, flour and salt, Pour in the boiling liquid and beat well. Add
the eggs, buttermilk, soda and vanilla and beat well. Pour into a greased
and floured sheet cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Frosting:
1/4 lb. margarine
3 Tbsp cocoa
6 Tbsp cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. confectioners' sugar

In a saucepan, combine butter, cocoa and milk and heat until the butter
melts. Beat in the remaining ingredients, and spread on the hot cake. Cool
and cut.

Honey Rolls

2011-06-08T19:33:00.002-04:00

I cannot tell you how excited I am that these actually turned out and taste fantastic! One of my personal goals is to make yummy tasting bread that is fluffy and yeasty...these were all of those! These have a hint of sweetness due to the honey you add in the dough and the honey and butter mixture you brush on the top before you bake them, although despite the sweetness, I think this bread would be great as a loaf for your favorite sandwich!

Honey Rolls
Yields 12 rolls

2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup honey, plus 1 Tbsp for brushing
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add the honey, salt and egg to the yeast mixture and stir until blended. Add 3 cups flour and mix until the dough comes together, it will be sticky. On a lightly floured surface knead the dough until soft and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding more flour to keep the dough from sticking if necessary, being careful not to add too much flour. The dough will become more workable the longer you knead it. If you have a stand mixture, attache the dough hook and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, or until it becomes elastic.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 2 hours.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape into round balls and place in a lightly greased pan. Cover and let rise for another 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and the 1 Tbsp honey. Brush over the rolls and bake 10-13 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Strawberry Mango Salsa

2011-06-06T07:48:00.001-04:00

I have been kicking myself all weekend because I did not make this sooner. I saw this recipe about a month ago from Maria and just couldn't get it out of my mind. I knew that I would have to make it so my brain could rest. Just for the record, it has still haunted me because I have ate it all weekend and can't wait to make another batch. It has that sweet/spicy combo that I like and is a great snack (or meal) on these hot days. Make it, you will love it!

Strawberry Mango Salsa
From: Two Peas and Their Pod

1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 medium mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 half of a large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 of a purple onion, chopped
1/2 of an avocado, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

I like my chunks in the salsa on the small size, so chop them how you like them. :)

Mix all the ingredients together and toss to coat with the lime juice. Enjoy!!

I'm back and I brought you a Peach Pie Bar

2011-05-26T15:46:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it myself, I am posting a blog post! It has been way too long, how is everyone?...that is if I have any readers still lurking around these parts. Well, let's not waste any time and get to these bars. Tennessee weather is so strange this year. This past winter we had so much snow. Not like blizzard snow, but for TN when you have and inch or two several times in the season, that is alot. And what happened to spring? One day we are in the 50's and the next we are in the 90's. There is no in between. So with the 90 degree weather, I want the summer fruits. There is a roadside stand that have fresh peaches from South Carolina and I just had to have them, so glad I didn't skip them..they hit the spot. We made peach jam, peach amaretto jam, sliced some up to freeze, some to eat by themselves and these bars. These bars are quick to throw together and a few ingredients. Perfect for an afternoon snack, or breakfast :), they won't last long.

Peach Pie Bars

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

In the bowl of your mixer, dump in flour, sugar, and butter. Beat with the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes until the dough comes together in small chunks.

Press half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Set aside the remaining dough.
Bake the dough for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Let cool for 10 minutes.

For the filling:
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 cups peaches, peeled, sliced and coarsely chopped

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, sour cream and flour to the eggs. Mix well and then fold in peaches.

Pour mixture over baked crust and spread evenly.

Sprinkle the reserved dough on top of the peach mixture and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Let cool one hour before serving.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies Finale

2010-12-17T07:55:00.002-05:00

This is the final week of the 12 WOCC, and although I don't have a cookie for you, I am linking up so that I can see what everyone else baked!

Thank you so much for baking along this year, it was a ton of fun and so many new recipes to try!

Happy Holidays!!!

Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Holidays....

2010-12-08T13:53:00.002-05:00

The holidays are here and upon us and I honestly am having a hard time finding the time to even sit and think for a few minutes to myself. With that said I am taking a break until after the first of the year. I know, my fellow cookie bakers, I am bailing on you the last 2 weeks, and I am sorry, but honestly don't see cookie baking in my future until the week of Christmas. The next 2 weekends I am out of town and with holiday parties, kids chorus concerts, high school wrestling...they come first and then baking is second. That is just life for me right now.

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thumbprint Cookies-Week 10

2010-12-03T08:13:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite cookies...I know, I say that alot, is thumbprint cookies. I am not sure what it is about them that I will choose first off of a goodie tray. I have shown you the Butter Meltaways that were filled with that sweet cream cheese filling, this week I am going with a butter cookie filled with your choice of jam. I have used raspberry, strawberry and apricot and all of them went well together, although my preference would be the tanginess of raspberry.

So here we are at week 10, only 2 more to go. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far!

Giant's Thumbprint Cookies
from: Gale Gand

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, soft insides scraped out
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup jam of your choice

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 3 sheep pans or use 1 pan and bake the cookies in 3 batches.

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer) until fluffy. Add the vanilla scrapings and salt and mix until incorporated. Add the flour and mix at low speed until incorporated.

Using your hands, roll the dough into golf ball size balls and arrange them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet flattening them out a bit as you go. Using your thumb, press the top of each cookie to make a shallow well. Roll your thumb back and forth to widen the well. Using a small spoon, fill the wells with jam.

Bake until very lightly browned around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Store in an air tight container.

Week 10 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Hot Cocoa Bread-Week 9

2010-11-29T07:56:00.007-05:00

I know, I am late. I am sorry. With the Holiday and family gatherings..time just got away from me. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I did, and I am sure I added a few pounds around the waistline as well.

This week I decided to do a quick bread. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Allison from Lake Champlain Chocolates asking if I would be interested in sampling some of their cocoa. It is organic and Fair Trade and would be perfect for any baking that I would be doing. Of course, I would love to try it!! And since this bread only uses cocoa, it would be perfect and I was not disappointed! I will be making this bread in mini loaf form, and will add a chocolate ganache to the top and add some mini marshmallows. My boys loved this so much that they finished the loaf in a day, and it was a big loaf! The recipe warned that it would make a big loaf to use the biggest loaf pan, I used the biggest one I had, and should have split it into 2 loaves. It overflowed from the top and took a little longer to bake.

This week is the first of December which means that we only have 3 more weeks of cookies left! And I need to tell my fellow cookie bakers, that I have not been ignoring your posts. My work place has decided to put a new firewall on our computers..which enables me to comment. I can look all day, but it blocks me to leave a comment. Once I get home for the day, the mommy in me takes over and I don't get alot of time to be online to comment. I mean, what do they expect me to do here?? work?? :)

Now, I have a surprise for you...keep reading on down and you'll see!

Hot Cocoa Bread:

from: Chickens in the Road

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Combine cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Cream with a mixer. Add egg and vanilla. Mix again. Add the cocoa powder and about 1/2 cup of the buttermilk; mix well. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the marshmallows) and stir to combine. Stir in the marshmallows.

Spoon into a greased loaf pan. This makes a large loaf–use your largest loaf pan.
Bake at 350-degrees for one hour.

Storey Publications sent me a copy of this book, A World of Cake to review. It is beautiful! I have to admit, I love a book with pictures...probably, if you don't have pics in the book...I am going to pass it up. The book gives you a world tour in cake form...have you ever wondered how they make the moon cakes that you see on blogland?? The recipe is in the book...funnel cakes?? it's there...name the cake, it is in there! You want a copy??? Just leave me a comment on this post. Tweet it, Facebook it...blog about it, come back and leave me another comment for more chances.

I will draw the winner and announce on This Friday's, December 3rd, cookie post.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies-Week 8

2010-11-19T11:30:00.002-05:00

I have to be honest, there has been nothing baking in my kitchen this week. So, I thought we could take a trip down memory lane. I made these last year and they quickly became one of my favorites. If you need a recipe that will make alot of cookies...say 6 dozen...this one is for you!

Want the recipe? Go here.

Happy Baking! Make sure to check out the other cookie bakers!

Week 8 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Butter Meltaways--Week 7

2010-11-12T00:04:00.001-05:00

Can you believe that we are over half way mark? Week 7 and we have 5 more weeks to go. I make these every year for Christmas, these are the ones that will always be on my goodie trays. They are simple and quick and delicious!

Butter Meltaways with Cream Cheese Frosting
By: Paula Deen

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup confectioners sugar

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy.

Separate dough into 4 equal parts and roll each into a smooth log. Wrap each log in flour dusted wax paper. Chill dough for at least 6 hours. After six hours, allow dough to sit out for 15 minutes to soften.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets.

Slice dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting:
1 cup confectioner sugar
1 (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 to 1 drop food coloring

In a medium bowl, combine all frosting ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Pipe or dollop a small amount on top of cooled cookies.

***Here are my notes on this recipe. This recipe calls to make 8 dozen cookies. That is why you roll it into logs. I did not do this. I also did not chill my dough. Once it was mixed, I rolled it into 1 inch balls with floured hands and it worked fine. When I roll it out and cut into shapes, then I chill it, but not for 6 hours. Only until it is firm enough to roll.***

Week 7 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Bars-Week 6

2010-11-05T08:19:00.007-04:00

Oh my people, we are at week 6 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas cookies! I thought all week that this is week 5, it has been that kind of week. These weeks just keep going by quicker and quicker! I don't know about you, but I am excited to see all the Christmas decorations going up in the stores and I have noticed the holiday commercials starting to show up. :)

This week I needed something comforting and easy. I went back to the Oatmeal Raisin cookies I made for Week 2, subbed the raisins for dried cranberries and added some dark chocolate. I think I like cookie form better than the bar form, but the hubby loved them, even though he doesn't like cranberries.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars

Adapted from: Quaker Oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Heat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats, cranberries and chocolate; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Potato Candy-Week 5

2010-10-29T07:58:00.005-04:00

One of things that I remember my mom making every Christmas is this potato candy. She learned from her granny, who is someone I wished I could have known. I hear I am just like she was. Before now, I never could get this candy to turn out. It is strange to me how when you add powdered sugar to a boiled potato, it liquefies...resulting in adding more sugar until it becomes a ball of dough. So before now, I would cheat. I would take a can of vanilla frosting and a 1 lb box of powdered sugar mix it all together until a ball would form. Hey, it worked for me and my mother would always say "your granny would not be proud", in my defense, I never met the woman so how would I know? She should have left me some sort of book. :)

Week 5 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies is here and that leaves 7 more weeks of some yummy things! I can now say that my Great Granny would be proud of me for making this the way she would. I now don't have to buy the canned stuff, because I now have the potato candy making as a success!

I think I should go ahead and tell you that I don't have an exact recipe, I'll just kind of explain how I did it. :)

Potato Candy

1 small potato, peeled, quartered and boiled until done

2lb bag of powdered sugar

Peanut Butter

Put the cooled potato in a medium bowl (I used my mixer with the paddle attachment) slowly add the powdered sugar, the potato will become liquefied, keep adding the powdered sugar until it forms a ball. You won't use the whole bag of powdered sugar, but you may need a little more or less than the 1 lb box. Once you have a ball, lightly dust your workspace with the powdered sugar and roll out the dough to the thickness that you like. Spread with peanut butter, and again, this is to your liking add as much or as little, just make sure that if you add more that your seam is sealed so it doesn't leak out when rolled up. Roll you dough pinwheel style and once rolled slice into slices.

Week 5 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Maggot Pudding with cockroaches for The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop

2010-10-26T19:45:00.002-04:00

Day 2 of The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop and I give you maggot pudding with cockroaches. Sounds delicious, huh? Don't be afraid...it really is tasty!

Make sure to visit the links on the sidebar for more Halloweenie treats!!

Maggot pudding with cockroaches

1 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup rice
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup fat free milk
3 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup cranberries, or more for your tasting

Put the water in a medium saucepan and heat on medium heat until boiling. Add rice and salt and cook until water is absorbed, about 30-45 minutes. Add the milk, honey and cranberries and cook for 10 more minutes until thickened and creamy. Serve warm or chilled.

Orange Chocolate Dirt Balls-The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop

2010-10-25T07:52:00.004-04:00

It is day 1 of the #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop hosted by Renee from Flamingo Musings, and it is sure to be a ton of fun and give lots and lots of those Halloween treats that we love...either it be simple and sweet...or gross, either way..check out the linky on the sidebar and see what 17 other bloggers are coming up with.

For today, I chose to go a little short and sweet but something that just says Halloween when you look at them. Orange chocolate dirt balls, or oreo bon bons. When I think of Halloween, sweet comes to mind...chocolate, candy bars...the sticky gummy candies..cookies. So what better way for me to kick off this week than these little balls. You have the darkness, the blackness...from the oreo cookies and then the hard shell of the orange chocolate...the perfect colors for the day right?

Dirt Balls

1 package of oreo cookies
1 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 package of white chocolate melts, I used Wilton Candy Melts

Put all the Oreo cookies in a food processor and process until all cookies are finely crushed. Put into a medium bowl and mix with the cream cheese. Roll into balls and put onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Melt the candy melts in a double boiler and dip the oreo balls until completely covered. Place back on the waxed paper and let sit until the chocolate is set..or if you are like me and not that patient..put into the freezer for a minute or two.

Candied Ginger Butter Cookies-Week 4

2010-10-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

A few week ago Beth sent me a package of candied ginger. I wasn't sure what I would do with it so I thought I might just munch on it...have you ever tried it?? Boy, does it have a bite to it! I don't think that will become my snack of choice. So, while flipping through some old magazines, I came across this cookie and knew that it would be perfect to use the ginger and this weeks cookie.

Yes, we are at week 4 of cookies and I am still just as excited each week as the first to see what everyone comes up with. This cookie was not at all what I expected, but you know what? I love it! It is kind of like a spiced up shortbread, but soft and chewy in the middle. And you know, I really like the bits of the ginger in them. I will be making them again and think I will add a little more of the chopped candied ginger.

Candied Ginger Butter Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 tsp shortening

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in the ground ginger, the cinnamon, and salt until combined. Using a wooden spoon, gradually stir in flour and the crystallized ginger.

Divide dough in half. On the prepared cookie sheet, press one portion of dough into a 10x2 1/2 inch rectangle. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until top is golden brown and edges are set. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2 inch wide sticks. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a small bowl in the microwave until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and let stand until the chocolate sets.

Week 4 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Peach Crumb Pie Bites

2010-10-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

With it finally feeling like fall here, this week anyways, we did have a few days last week with temps back near 90. I wanted to have one last taste of Summer and these hit the spot. With them being two bite size, just grab and go, only I grabbed and went several times! Although I went with peach filling, you can always change up the fruit filling..apple, cherry, pear..whatever your tastebuds are calling for!

There are a couple of things I will tell you about the recipes. The dough recipe makes 24 mini pies. The filling recipe makes about double of what you need..so make it and freeze half, or double your dough and make more of these babies...I am sure you won't get any complaints. :) And the crumb topping makes double of what you will need too, so you may want to half that recipe.

Peach Crumb Pie Bites

Dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powder sugar
1 cup flour

Filling:
4 large peaches, peeled, pitted, and finely chopped
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Crumb topping
1/2 cup flour
1/4 sugar
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Crust:
Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and mix scraping down the sides until just combined. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Scoop and roll into small 1 inch balls and place in the cups of an ungreased mini-muffin tin. Press in the bottom and up the sides of the cups in the muffin tins. Set aside the shells. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Filling:
Put the peaches, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until peaches are tender, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

Crumb topping: Mix the flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl with a fork. Cut the butter in using two butter knives until it resembles small peas.

Place a small scoop of the peach filling into each mini shell, filling to the top. Sprinkle on a good amount of the crumb topping pressing slightly to adhere. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and the shells are a golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 3 minutes. remove them from the pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.

Whoopie Pies-Week 3

2010-10-15T00:02:00.002-04:00

This week I chose to go with whoopie pies. It is my son, Blake's, birthday so these were perfect for today. There are so many ways you can make them. I have made them before a while back, but wanted to go with a "cake" flavor this time around. You can definitely make these festive using Christmas sprinkles or color the batter. The filling possibilities are endless as well.

So, here we are at week 3, leaving 9 more to go!! There are over 50 cookie bakers, so that is alot of cookies each week! I don't think that any of us will have any trouble making our trays for this year!

Birthday Cake Whoopie Pies

For the cookies:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the bowl, alternating with with the milk, and beating each addition just until incorporated.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop your batter and place an inch or two apart. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are set (they should not brown.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with any remaining batter as necessary.

Buttercream:
1 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Cream the butter and vanilla together, gradually add the powdered sugar and milk until you get the consistency you want. Add more as needed.

Chocolate Buttercream: Use the above recipe and add 4 heaping Tbsp.

Week 3 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies-Week 2

2010-10-08T00:02:00.001-04:00

Here we are at week 2, and that leaves 10 to go...10 week until Christmas!! I have a confession..until now, I have never made an oatmeal raisin cookie. I have been married 16 years and these are the hubby's all time, hands down favorite, and I have never made them! I have not been a very good wifey. :) I guess the reason for that is because I never really like them. I think it's funny how your likings change. I eat things now that I would have never touched maybe 10 years ago. It's a funny thing. :)

Although, I love a good goodie tray with all kinds of fancy things, I also think that sometimes simple is best. I think that every tray should have a simple chocolate chip cookie and now I think they need a simple oatmeal raisin cookie. These cookies are soft and chewy..sweet with a hint of cinnamon and they are just as good the next day.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
From: Quaker Oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Week 2 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

Chocolate Bundt Cake and Peanut Butter Glaze

2010-10-04T08:57:00.000-04:00

I needed something fairly quick and simple to make for our game day party on Saturday. Cake seems to go well for both the adults and kids and what better combo than peanut butter and chocolate? This seems to be my go to chocolate cake recipe when I want to make a bundt cake. It is from Askinosie Chocolate and is fabulous! I am out of their cocoa (I guess I should order some!), so I used what I had in the cabinet and it worked out fine. The PB glaze is something I just kind of winged, so we'll just have to go with it. :)

Askinosie Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 Tbsp (heaping)Askinosie cocoa powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. (I used a bundt pan)
Mix sugar and flour together in a large mixing bowl, set aside. Melt butter in a small pan on the stove. Add vegetable oil, cocoa and water. Bring to a boil. Pour cocoa mixture into sugar/flour mixture. Mix for 5 minutes. Add buttermilk, vanilla, salt, baking soda and eggs and mix again until thoroughly combined. Pour into baking pan, bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cake cool completely before serving.

Peanut Butter Glaze
Basically, here is what I did...heated about 1/2 cup milk and mixed in 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter until smooth. I dumped some powdered sugar in the mixer bowl...probably around 2 cups?? and then I just added the pb/milk mixture until it came to the consistency I wanted. Simple enough, huh? :)

Week 1--Cheesecake Cookies

2010-10-01T00:04:00.001-04:00

I know it seem crazy to be talking about Christmas already, but I believe that you can never have too many cookies around the holidays. You may remember last year there was only a handful of us that baked, but I am so excited that this year we have close to 30 of us baking along...I can hardly stand myself thinking of all the cookies that will be made!

We are a family of cheesecake lovers, what better way to start off the first week with a cheesecake cookie? No better time than the present I say. I liked these cookies and will probably make these for my goodie trays this year. The texture reminded me of shortbread with a little tanginess (is that a word?!) from the cream cheese that is added. You could also roll these in any type of coating you want, I chose to go basic with graham cracker crumbs. You could also put some chocolate in the middle..I may go with a rolo candy in the middle the next time. The possibilities are endless on topping/filling combinations. Happy Cookie Baking!!!

Cheesecake Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
Graham Cracker Crumbs, for coating

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. Mix in vanilla extract. Stir in the flour until well combined.

Scoop the dough and form into 1" balls. Roll in graham cracker crumbs so cookie is covered.

Place covered cookie balls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

Week 1 Twelve Weeks of Christmast:

Pineapple Upside Down cupcakes

2010-09-29T08:01:00.000-04:00

Some people like, some people don't..I happen to love pineapple upside down cake. This was one of our desserts over the weekend, and it was so nice that you could just pick one up and go instead of having to cut a piece of it from a cake. I did have one little issue, I think I put too much of the brown sugar mixture in the bottom because it ended up coming out of the tops of the muffin pan and down in my oven causing my kitchen to look like we were in a fog..but it didn't effect the taste of these. They still had that sweet topping that we all love!

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
12 pineapple rings, I used pineapple chunks
12 maraschino cherries

Cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup pineapple, juice, reserved from can
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with baking spray or grease with butter. Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice for the cake batter. Combine brown sugar and melted butter in a small bowl. Evenly divide among each of the muffin cups, about one teaspoon per cup. Cut about 1/3 out of each pineapple ring and arrange over the brown sugar mixture...this is where I just placed the pineapple chunks in a circle. :) Add a cherry in the center of each ring.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Add butter, pineapple juice and vanilla and beat on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat two minutes. Add the egg and beat in until well incorporated. Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Bake approximately 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes five minutes in the pan and then flip onto ta platter or covered rack.

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

2010-09-23T00:02:00.000-04:00

Normally I would only post something sweet, but I thought these deserved a posting. :) As I said before, we had a "glutton buffet" over the weekend and these were one of the finger foods that I made. I saw these on Megan's Cookin' and knew that I would make them at some point. We are always making some sort of finger food, whether it be for a football game or over the holidays. These were perfect little bites....popular with the 10 kids that were at my house and the adults munched on them too. I did make a couple of little changes, I doubled the recipe to make 4 dozen mini's and added some pizza seasoning to the mix. Not a fan of pepperoni? The combinations are endless in these. Serve with a side of marinara sauce and enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Bites
adapted from: Megan

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
2 cups pepperoni, chopped
1 1/2 tsp pizza seasoning

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a mini muffin tin.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and pizza seasoning; stir in the milk and egg.

Stir in the cheese and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups.

Bake until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes.

Chewy Sugar Cookies

2010-09-21T08:45:00.000-04:00

While I was on my blogging break, it was like the baking bug just bit my right leg off..truth is, I stress bake. Being in my kitchen is therapy, I think I have admitted that before, and I just couldn't stop. Luckily, I did take pics and hopefully will get those posts up. I found these cookies over on My Baking Addiction, Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies. I love lemon, anything lemon and will probably pick a lemony dessert over a chocolate one, so I knew that I had to try these. This cookie is kind of bittersweet for me...disappointed that the lemon really didn't come out in these..and that is probably mostly my fault. I didn't add the lemon zest. But, the batter was wonderful..lemony, sweet..just want I needed in a cookie. BUT...after baked..you couldn't taste the lemon at all. Bummer. But, I do have to tell you that this was probably the best chewy sugar cookie I have had. I normally won't ever choose a sugar cookie because they always seen crumbly and dry to me. Not these, they were delish and the kids and hubby gobbled them up.

Chewy Sugar Cookies
adapted from My Baking Addiction

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar.

Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Makes approximately 24-30 cookies depending on size

2 weeks and counting.....

2010-09-17T00:02:00.041-04:00

We are now on the count down for the first week of the 12 weeks of Christmas cookies bake along. Here is who I have so far that is going to be cookie baker for the next 12 weeks.

Barbara from Barbara Bakes
Megan from Megan's Cookin
Megan from My Baking Adventures
Jamie from Mom's Cooking Club
Tracy from SugarCrafter
Beth from You Know What you Oughta Do
Heidi from With Thankful Hearts
Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness
Katy from Alphabet Soup
Tania from Love Big, Bake Often
Avril from Baking and Creating with Avril
Tracy from Mid-Western Girl with a Texas Address
Randi from Little Food, Lot of Flavor
Lina from Crustabakes
Stephanie from Bite by Bite
Lisa from Sweet as Sugar Cookies
Chaya from Chaya Comfy Cooks
Bree from Baked Bree
Megan from Less Than Adventurous
Pam from From Apples to Zucchini
Melynda from Melynda's Muffins..errr..Food Madness
Dajana from Baker's Corner...Somewhere in my Kitchen
Jennifer from Maple n' Cornbread
Chip from Cooking with Chip
Trisha from My Hobbie Lobbie
Katrina from Baking and Boys
Renee from Flamingo Musings
Krista from Meet the Swan's
Amanda from Fake Ginger
Wende from The Rickett Chronicles
Joy from Joy's Misadventures
Mary from Bites and Bliss
Diana from The Iron Maiden
Maggie from Ceo A's Draiocht
Cara from The Boys Made Me Do It
Erin from Making Memories
Rachael from Rachael Raves
Hannah from City Baked
Sue from Munchkin Munchies
Katie from Level 2 Mommy
Samantha from Bikini Birthday
Bonnie from City Home Country Home
Beth from A Nutmeg Kitchen
Louann from Louanne's Kitchen
Marcellina from Marcellina in Cucina
Lee Ann from C'est si bon Sweets and Treats
Alexandra from Peace Love Sprinkles
Martha from Seaside Simplicity
Mickey from Monster Mama
Rachel from Rachel's Bite
Tamy from 3 Sides of Crazy
Manoela from Dessert First

If I left you off, please, please, please forgive me!!! Also, if you haven't received an email from me, let me know. I have a couple of pieces of info to pass along! I am super excited! :) Start looking through those cookie recipes girls, I have cookie trays to start planning!

As I mentioned before the hubby told me I needed to start blogging again. It is so true. Isn't it funny how blogging becomes a part of you? I love blogging, love the friends that I have made and the ones that I haven't yet and I miss it. But, I also realize that you have life to live. Life just happens. I have to find that balance.

So, today is my anniversary. I have been married 16 years today! Wow, the time flies. Tomorrow TN plays FL and honestly, we are going to lose. And if I am being honest...I don't really like to watch football on TV..I just like to get together with great friends and eat. This weekend is not different, I have officially named it "Glutton Buffet Day" because yes, my friends, we have that much food planned and I will probably gain 10 pounds. So, I should have something new to blog about next week. :) Have a great weekend!

Just curious.......

2010-09-13T11:44:00.003-04:00

What does it mean when your hubby tells you that you really need to start blogging again?? That is makes you happier???

I'm thinking he just misses the goodies!

Hey there!

2010-09-07T13:56:00.005-04:00

Did you think that you could get rid of me that easy? Just kidding. I got an email from Barbara, who got an email from Jamie, asking if we would be cookie baking again this year. Remember our 12 weeks of Christmas cookies? I know...it is crazy to even be thinking of this with temps still in the 90's...but...it is that time to start thinking.

Put on your cookie thinking hats and bake along with us this year. The first post will be on Friday October 1st and each Friday after that with our last being on December 17th. Yep..that is 12 weeks.

I need to add a couple of details. You get to choose whatever you want to make for that week. I know that I have a ton of recipes bookmarked, printed, ripped out of magazines. This is the time to try them out. Also, if you want to make a bar, or even a candy for that matter..if it is something you put on your goodie trays, we want to know about them. :)

Will you be cookie crazy with us? You know you want to....oh, and I need some new cookies for my trays this year. :) I hope you will! If so, comment here or shoot me an email, I would love an email. :)

Let's chat.....

2010-08-30T13:43:00.002-04:00

I think it has come to the time that have to admit that I need a break from this little blog. I have put it off and put it off, but since it has been a month since I have posted last, it is time. There are some things going on my my little life that require my time and attention and I don't see it lightening up any time soon.

When I started blogging I never expected that I would make so many friends. Blogging friends are the best! :)

So, I will leave it as this.....I will still be around reading the updates from you and at some point I hope to be back.

Happy Baking!!

Blackberry Pie Bars

2010-07-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Blackberries are in season here right now, and since I have a great hubby that works outdoors...he finds the best blackberry patches that are just there for the picking. There is just something calming to me about berry picking or any kind of picking for that matter. I could pick for hours and I did just that with these berries. It makes me happy! :)

We had a cookout with our church this past Sunday and had so much fun! I made these to take. I don't know..but when we have a get together and I need to take something, bars always come to mind. They are easy to just pick up and go.

These bars have a sweet crust with a moist, gooey filling and then the crunch on top. I will make them again and probably try different berries in them or maybe peaches!

Blackberry Pie Bars

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
Zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt

1. Rub zest of lemon into sugar using the back of the spoon creating a lemon scented sugar.

2. In the bowl of your mixer, dump in flour, sugar/lemon zest mixture, butter and salt. Beat with the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes until the dough comes together in small chunks.

3. Press half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Set aside the remaining dough.
4. Bake the dough for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Let cool for 10 minutes.

For the filling:
2 large eggs1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 cups blackberries (if using frozen, thaw and drain first)

1. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, sour cream and flour to the eggs. Mix well and then fold blackberries.

2. Pour blackberries over baked crust and spread evenly.

3. Sprinkle the reserved dough on top of the blackberry mixture and bake for 50-60 minutes.

4. Let cool one hour before serving.

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

2010-07-24T20:03:00.005-04:00

For the past couple of days I have been craving a chocolate butter cake with vanilla bean butter cream frosting. Why? I have no earthly idea..but I am so glad that I finally caved. These cupcakes turned out just what I wanted...moist, buttery,chocolaty, light...I could go on and on. The recipe also made a ton! I ended up baking 2 dozen regular sized cupcakes and 3 dozen mini's..you know, I had to make sure that there would be enough to go around! :)

The butter cream is just a simple butter cream, and I used vanilla bean paste to get the vanilla bean flavor and the little specks in the frosting. Those little specks make me happy! I like it because you don't have to scrape the actual vanilla bean, and it is cheaper and goes a little further.

The weather here has been just plain hot! For the past 2 days the heat index has been at least 105. That is just way too hot! So, these little babies are helping me beat the heat. I mean, what can be better? Sitting in the AC, eating cupcakes? I can't think of anything better...other than maybe sitting by the ocean eating a cupcake. :)

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners.

In a heatproof bowl place the chopped unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and cocoa powder and stir until they have melted. Set aside to cool while you make the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.

Add the milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly into lined muffin tins. Bake the regular sized cupcakes for 12 minutes and the mini's 8-10 minutes.

Vanilla Bean Butter cream:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or one vanilla bean scraped
2 lb bag of powdered sugar
milk

Cream the butter and add the vanilla bean paste and mix until combined. Gradually add the powdered sugar and add milk as you go along to get the consistency you want.

An idea of sort......

2010-07-23T08:39:00.002-04:00

As some of you already know, I have a huge addiction to food magazines. I can't help it, but I figure there are worse things that I could be addicted too. While I was looking through them, I had a thought and thought that I would just throw it out here and see if anyone is interested.

I am wondering if you (anyone) would be interested in doing a food magazine swap. I don't know..every month or so, we would swap 2 or 3 magazines with a partner. The only thing that you would be responsible for would be the postage. What do you think? Something you might want to do? Let me know!

2010-07-19T20:07:00.003-04:00

So....since I haven't really been baking anything, I thought I would just pop in here and give a little update on the garden. This is my first garden and I am super excited with the produce that I have gotten from it and what I am still getting. The picture above is what I harvested today. I planted cucumbers, spinach, squash, zucchini, green beans, okra, brussel sprouts and tomatoes. The spinach didn't make it and the squash and zucchini are about done too. The okra is just now starting...and I really don't know what to expect with the brussel sprouts. I have never seen them grown, so it is a watch and see kind of thing.

I have enjoyed everything in my garden..from tilling the ground to planting the seeds. Watching them sprout and now getting to harvest. My kids have enjoyed it and it makes me happy to see that they are eating from our back yard. It is such a good feeling to know that we grew it and there was nothing harmful added to it. If you have ever watched Food Inc., then you know what I am talking about.

I am already planning next years garden and planning to expand it. I would highly suggest to anyone to is questioning the idea of a garden...do it! The benefits from it....well, it just makes you smile!

I hope everyone is having a great Summer! My kids head back to school in about 3 weeks..so we are enjoying every last minute that we can!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T09:50:00.002-04:00

How about celebrating with this Red, White and Blue Cream Cheese Poundcake, except I used blackberries instead of blueberries. The cream cheese makes this cake dense and moist, with the tang of the cream cheese, mixed with the sweetness of the berries and you can't resist another piece! This is another link that Beth sent my way and you can find the original recipe here.

Happy 4th of July!! Have a safe and fun day celebrating our freedom!

Red, White, and Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, but not quite room temperature

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened slightly

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

6 ounces raspberries

6 ounces fresh blueberries---I used blackberries

lemon glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, and place on a cookie sheet.

2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese. Pour in sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated.

3. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

4. Fold berries into batter.

5. Distribute batter evenly into pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely. Drizzle with lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add more juice or cream as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

Smore's Sandwich Bar Cookies

2010-06-15T07:30:00.000-04:00

I have been away from The Cookie Carnival for some time now and when I got the email from Tami showing the new cookies for this month I knew I would be making these as soon as I could! You see, I have an addiction to gooey, roasted marshmallows. I just can't help myself when it comes to them...not sure where it comes from. Tami decided that for the Summer months we will have a kid friendly recipe along with the normal cookie recipe. As you can see, I went straight for the kid friendly one and let me tell you...I am so glad that I did. I couldn't get Abby or my boys in the kitchen to help me with these, but that's quite alright, they did their share in eating them! Seriously, these are amazingly good! Healthy, not so much...but honestly, it's worth the splurge!

I did have to improvise on a couple of things...I didn't have any Hershey bars, so I used semi sweet chocolate chips and no mini marshmallows, I had the large ones and just lined the top. I'm thinking next go around will have to include homemade marshmallows, you just can't go wrong with them.

S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies
From: Hershey

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Mini Milk Chocolate Bars OR 5 HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Bars (1.55 oz. each)
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8-inch square baking pan. 2. Beat butter and sugar until well blended in large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of dough in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes. 3. Sprinkle mini chocolate bars over baked layer or arrange unwrapped chocolate bars over baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. 16 bars.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2010-06-08T19:32:00.003-04:00

Last week Abby had her tonsils and adnoids out. It really has been alot tougher than I thought it would be. She has lost over 5 lbs and still isn't eating and the fever came back yesterday. Do you know how hard it is to get a 9 year old to eat nothing but soft things, when the said 9 year old doesn't really like jello, ice cream, pudding? Let me just say that she is growing tired of mashed potatoes.

Last night while we were talking about what she wanted to eat, she said that she was craving a warm, chewy chocolate chip cookie. I then remembered these bars that I had bookmarked from Donna of My Tasty Treasures. I thought maybe the edges of the cookies would be hard on her, and the bars would be a little easier. I still don't know the verdict of that yet, because the craving left her as soon as it came to her.

I did have to modify a couple of things...I didn't have any brown sugar, so I googled the substitute for it and you can mix 1 cup sugar with 2 Tbsp of molasses, I had some left from my gingerbread at Christmas, and you know what?? You can't tell a difference in the taste. My bars came out just a little bit dark from it..but no change in the taste. The recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, I had a cup of mixed peanut butter and chocolate chips, so I threw them in with some chopped up semi sweet chocolate and a bar of my dark chocolate that Beth sent me. Worked out perfectly! And with not having to wait for you butter to soften, you just melt and mix...go ahead and make some for yourself.

Chocolate Chip Bars
From: My Tasty Treasures

2 ⅛ cups (10 ½ ounces) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
½ (3 ½ ounces) cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24–28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-06-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

The kids are out of school and we are just enjoying the weather. I can't believe that it has been over 2 weeks since I have posted last, but sometimes life just happens.

I found these cookies from Amanda's Cookin' and knew that I had to make them. Peanut butter cookies, or if I am being honest, anything with peanut butter is my all time favorite. These were quick to mix together with a short bake of 8 minutes and they were perfect. Soft and chewy, just what I needed!

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
From: Amanda's Cookin'

1/2 cup shortening (or butter flavored shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls (using a cookie scoop works great) 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to cool completely.

Strawberry Turnovers

2010-05-12T09:10:00.001-04:00

Spring has arrived here and the weather has been beautiful. We are having a blast just being outside and enjoying it. With that said, there hasn't been alot of activity in the kitchen. I have had this craving for a strawberry fried pied, but seeing how that really isn't the healthiest thing, I opted for this strawberry turnover. These turned out tasty and low sugar, which helps with the blood sugar levels. This recipe could be adapted to any fruit or filling of your liking.

Strawberry Turnovers
From: Cooking Light Desserts

1 lb strawberries, lightly chopped
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar, or regular sugar

4 (14x9 inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Butter-flavored cooking spray

1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp water
1/8 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the strawberries and sugar into a bowl, and mix until combined.
Place 1 phyllo sheet on a damp towel (cover remaining dough to keep from drying out). Lightly coat with cooking spray. Place second phyllo sheet over first sheet, lightly coat with cooking spray. Cut stacked sheets lenghtwise into 3 equal strips (each about 4 1/2 inches wide).
Working with 1 strip at a time (cover remaining strips), place 2 Tbsp strawberry mixture at base of strip. Fold the corner over strawberry mixture to form a triangle. Continue folding triangle back and forth to end of strip. Place triangle, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining 1 phyllo sheets and strawberry mixture. Coat triangles with cooking spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan, and cool 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Combine powdered sugar, water, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Drizzle sugar mixture evenly over turnovers.

Our first garden!

2010-05-05T10:10:00.003-04:00

This year will be our first year planting a garden. I am enjoying watching the excitement in my kids! I didn't think that they would care at all about it, but to my surprise, they are just as excited as I am! Now, let's just pray that it all grows!!

No Bake PB/Chocolate Bars

2010-04-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

You know those famous little no bake cookies?? These kind of taste like those...only deconstructed. I found these over at Buns in my Oven, and no it's not that kind of bun! There are tons of great looking recipes on her site, so go and check her out if you haven't already. The one thing that caught my eye with these is the small amount of sugar that you add to the mix.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and oats. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Press half of mixture in to the bottom of a buttered 8 x 8 dish.

2. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the crust, reserving a couple of spoonfuls to drizzle over the top.

3. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate and peanut butter, pressing gently to form a crust. Drizzle the remaining chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars.

4. Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

Banana Bread

2010-04-20T19:10:00.000-04:00

To be completely honest, there is nothing special about this banana bread. It is simple, moist, flavorful but nothing that just screams "make me". I did cut the sugar and added in some peanut butter and chocolate chips to the mix and it turned out great. So, here's the thing..if you have some bananas laying around that need to be used, make this bread. You won't be sorry.

Banana Bread
3 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup PB and chocolate chips, or chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash up bananas and mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until combined. Mix in the melted butter. Fold in PB and chocolate chips or nuts, if using.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

2010-04-18T20:52:00.002-04:00

I am currently addicted to Cooking Light Magazine. There are so many great looking recipes and all that I have tried have come out tasty. I have tried a couple of dinner recipes and they have turned out as well. This is another great one that will be made over again. You really can't go wrong with a slightly crunchy top with moist cake in the middle and as the base a warm pool of chocolate lava. Top it off with some no sugar added vanilla bean ice cream and you are still within the limits of still being a little bit better for you.

I should mention that this recipe was originally Mocha Pudding cake, but since the hubby and kids are very fond of mocha, I left that part out. :)

Chocolate Pudding Cake
From: Cooking Light

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar, divided
6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp instant coffee granules
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk--I used fat free milk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking Spray
1 Cup boiling water
Vanilla love fat ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, coffee granules, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Combine milk, oil, and vanilla in a bowl; add to flour mixture, and stir well. Spoon batter into an 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine 1/3 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp cocoa. Sprinkle over batter. Pour 1 cup boiling water over batter (do not stir). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center (cake will not test clean when a wooden pick is inserted in center). Do not over bake. Serve warm with ice cream.

Note: This recipe is easy to double. Spoon into a 9x13 inch baking dish; bake at the same temperature and time/

Triple Chocolate Cake

2010-04-11T11:08:00.004-04:00

Can something this decadent be delish and still be not bad for you? The answer is YES!! I found some old Cooking Light magazines at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago for 25 cents, so I had to buy everyone they had. This recipe was in one of them. With trying to watch my blood sugar and eat healthier and getting my family eating healthier I knew that this one was one that I would have to try. Everyone in my little clan has a sweet tooth, so trying to find the balance between having the sweets and still being somewhat healthy has been some sort of a challenge. This cake was the perfect thing for the weekend. The texture is a little "spongy" as Blake my 12 year old described it, and the batter is a little thicker than a normal cake batter would be.

Triple Chocolate Cake

By: Cooking Light

1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake mix--I used a dark chocolate mix

1 cup fat free sour cream

1/3 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp almond extract

3 large egg whites

1 large egg

1 (3.9 oz) package sugar free/low calorie chocolate pudding mix

Cooking Spray

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

4 tsp fat free milk

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at low speed for 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour the batter into a 12 cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar and 4 teaspoons of milk in a small bowl, and drizzle over cake. Let stand 10 minutes. Place chips in a small heavy duty zip top plastic bag; seal. Submerge bag in very hot water until chips melt, or microwave at medium high for 1 minutes. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag, and drizzle chocolate over cake.

Low Sugar Pineapple Pudding Cake

2010-03-31T16:04:00.003-04:00

I get daily emails from Taste of Home and this was one that I got earlier this week. I knew right then I would make it. This cake is on the healthy side and all the kiddos, including the hubby, liked it too. The recipe originally called for pineapple..and while that is good too...I could so see this with fresh sliced strawberries or bananas, even peaches. I think whatever fruit you like, it would go well with this dessert.

Pineapple Pudding Cake
From: Taste of Home

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups cold fat free milk
1 pkg (1 oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 pkg (8 oz) fat free cream cheese
1 can (20 oz) frozen fat free, sugar free whipped topping, thawed

Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions; pour into a 13x9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in pudding mixture until blended. Spread evenly over cake. Sprinkle with pineapple; spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate until serving.

Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake

2010-03-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

With Spring here and the warmer weather showing its presence, what better way to celebrate than with a light and airy angel food cake with fresh berries? With trying to incorporate more healthy desserts in our lifestyle, I found this recipe from Cooking Light and just added in some vanilla bean. I love the extra vanilla that a vanilla bean gives.

I have talked to people that thought angel food cake was a hard thing to do, but it's really not. With just 6 ingredients, and you should have them all in your pantry, you can whip up this cake in no time and would be perfect a perfect dessert for the Easter weekend!

Angel Food Cake
From: Cooking Light

1 cup sifted cake flour, or all purpose
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
10 egg whites
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract, or 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp at a time, beating until soft peaks form. Sift 1/4 cup flour mixture over egg white mixture, and fold in. Repeat procedure with remaining flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Fold in vanilla.

Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cake springs back with lightly touched. Invert pan; cool 40 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula; invert cake onto a serving plate.

Chewy PB Chocolate covered Raisin Granola Bars

2010-03-16T13:10:00.000-04:00

Last week Megan shared this recipe that she found from Passionate About Baking. Now, I don't know how I had never seen her before, but I am so happy that Megan pointed me in that direction! With trying to be healthier and sounding like these were delish, we set out to make them. You can substitute any flavors that you like, so I just went with what I had on hand, so I wouldn't have to make an extra trip to the store. I chose peanut butter, chocolate covered raisin. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but they turned out pretty tasty. The hubby liked them and the kids gobbled them up.

Thick and Chewy Granola Bars

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor or blender)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts
1/3 cup peanut butter6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 7″ x 11″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter, syrup or honey, and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on them. They’ll still seem soft and almost under baked in the center when you take them out but do not worry, they’ll set completely once they cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way.)

Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rollups

2010-03-13T17:19:00.002-05:00

I have made these for a few years now and thought that I would share with you. This has only a few ingredients, easy to put together, but takes just a little prep time. And just for the record, I don't think that you could make it healthy. I did use low fat cream cheese, but honestly, I don't think that really made a difference in these...once you read the recipe you will understand why.
Oh, and I really don't have complete measurements..you just kind of go with it.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rollups

1 loaf of white bread
block of cream cheese, at room temperature
melted butter
cinnamon/sugar mix..I just dumped some of both until I thought it looked good

Cut the crust off of the slices of bread and flatten with a rolling pin. Spread with a thin layer of cream cheese and roll up. Cut this roll into 3 pieces. Dip the rolls into the melted butter and then coat them with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake for 15-17 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Enjoy!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

2010-03-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

As I am on the mission of eating healthier, making healthier meals for my family, I am learning some things as I go along. First, I think that you have to change your mind set before you try something. Normally, I would have my mind set for the sweetest, richest taste when I would eat something sweet. Not the case when you are trying to make things healthier. Not that it is bad, because these bars are actually very tasty, it is just different. Secondly, the textures are different. I have been using whole wheat pasta for my meals, and it although it tastes fine, the hubby doesn't like the texture. Again, I think that you have to just set your mind that it will be different.

Megan posted about these bars last week and they were on the line of healthiness that I wanted, but also was a tried and true recipe that had a great review. Loving to bake, I need to be able to still be in my kitchen baking up treat for my family, but need to incorporate the health factor. These were just the treat! Although, I did sub a few of the ingredients to help keep the blood sugar down...they were just as tasty!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
Adapted from Megan's Cookin

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons skim milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, honey, brown sugar, egg whites, milk, vanilla and salt.

Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.

In a separate bowl, combine old-fashioned oats, flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Add to liquid mixture. Transfer to a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool until firm. Cut into squares and store tightly covered.

Oatmeal and Apple Muffins

2010-03-04T09:05:00.000-05:00

Maybe I have said before, I really can't remember, I am diabetic. Type 2. My blood sugars tend to run higher than they should. So when my friend Beth announced that she too was a "denyabetic" and that new changes were going to be made, that motivated me to make changes as well. I have 2 sons. My oldest one, Shane, is tall and skinny as a pencil. With his shirt off, you can count his ribs. My second son, Blake, is a little shorter and chunkier. He is my total foodie kid. Will eat anything, or at least try it. He told me last week that he was embarrassed by his body image and wanted to slim down. This is the other reason to get me thinking of a more healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. I worry about eating disorders, and know that it doesn't just choose females.

In between doing our daily "check ins" with each other, Beth sent me this link for these muffins. They use very little sugar..1/4 cup for 12 muffins! And I think that next time I will sub in honey instead of the sugar. This recipe only uses 1 cup of flour..next, maybe wheat flour. But the one thing that I liked about this recipe is that she gave us add in combo's and the amounts to use. I chose to chop up a granny smith apple and throw it in. These muffins are really, really good. They have been good for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Basic Recipe
Adapted from: Simple Bites

Be sure to read the recipe all the way through before getting started. You will note that the oats soak in the milk 1 hour prior to assembling the rest of the ingredients, so take that into consideration before starting out.
Makes 12 medium muffins

1 cup milk*
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 large egg, at room temperature
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, freshly ground
add-ins of your choosing (see above suggestions)

Combine milk, vinegar and oats in a large bowl and let stand one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a twelve-cup muffin tin and line with cupcake papers.
Crack the egg into the oat and milk mixture; add brown sugar and mix to combine. Stir in melted butter.

Sift remaining ingredients into the bowl: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, & spices. Gently fold into batter, taking care not to over mix.

Sprinkle add-in and flavorings of your choice and combine muffin batter gently.

Use a large ice cream scoop or 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop batter into muffin tins. Bake until light brown and tops spring back when gently touched, about 10-12 minutes. Note: Muffins will take slightly longer to bake if you are adding fresh fruit such as blueberries or rhubarb.
Remove from oven and cool in tins. To remove, run a sharp knife around the edges and pop muffins out. Enjoy!

*You may also substitute 1 cup buttermilk, and then omit the vinegar from the recipe.

One-Bowl Oatmeal Muffins: Flavor Combinations
1 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen & ½ cup Dark Chocolate, chunks or chips
¾ cup Diced Apple (Granny Smith or Russet) and ½ cup toasted Walnuts, roughly chopped
¾ cup Dried Cranberries & ½ cup toasted Pecans, roughly chopped
¾ cup White Chocolate, chopped or chips & 1 cup Blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup toasted unsweetened Coconut & ¾ cup Peanut-Butter Chips
1 cup diced Rhubarb, fresh or frozen & ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom, freshly ground
¾ cup Dates, pitted and chopped & ½ cup Pistachios
¾ cup Golden Raisins & ¾ cup grated Carrot

Babka

2010-03-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I had a second bake along with Laurie. A while back we made croissants and Friday she mentioned baking Babka. Now, let me start off by saying...I had never heard of this, let alone know what it should look like or even taste like. So, of course, I was in. It wasn't hard at all, just time consuming. You have 3 different 2 hour rises, it is pretty much, mix and wait...3 times..then you can bake it. I decided on the basic cinnamon raisin filling, but really the filling possibilities are endless. Will I make this again...probably.

Cinnamon-Raisin Babka

Adapted from “The Art of the Dessert,” by Ann Amernick ( John Wiley, 2007)
Time: About 2 hours plus at least 5 to 6 hours’ rising

FOR THE DOUGH:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 ounce or 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, or 1 cake (0.6 ounces) fresh yeast
1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature
1/2 cup eggs (whole eggs or just yolks)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, preferably high fat, at room temperature, plus
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Flour for dusting

For the filling:
1 cup sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 cups large dark raisins

For the streusel topping:
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled.

1. To make dough, combine flours, salt and all but 1 tablespoon sugar in mixer fitted with dough attachment and mix on medium speed. In a small bowl, stir yeast with one tablespoon warm water and reserved tablespoon sugar just until sugar and yeast have dissolved. Reduce mixer speed to low, add yeast mixture, milk, eggs and vanilla. Beat until dough is shiny and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Add one stick butter by spoonfuls until thoroughly incorporated, then beat on low speed for about 5 minutes. When finished, dough should be silken and rich like very thick ice cream. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. When dough has doubled in size, after 2 hours, flour a cutting board and your hands. Then push dough down on board, cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.

3. To make streusel topping, in a small bowl mix flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add cold butter and using your fingers, mix together until crumbly. Set aside.

4. To assemble, line one Bundt pan or two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans with parchment paper, not letting paper come more than 1 inch above top of pans. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle.

5. In a small bowl, stir sugar and cinnamon together. Place raisins in another bowl and plump with 1/2 cup just- boiled water for a few minutes, and drain.
Sprinkle half the cinnamon-sugar mixture on one piece of rolled out dough and then half the raisins. Repeat with remaining dough. Beginning with long side, roll dough up tightly and fold in ends. Twist babka lengthwise to create a spiral, holding one end of babka in each hand. Place twisted babka in half the prepared Bundt pan or in a loaf pan, pressing dough firmly into pan. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Brush babka top with melted butter and sprinkle with half the streusel. Repeat with second half of babka dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let loaves rise at room temperature until they reach top of pan or about doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

6. Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Allow babka to cool for 30 minutes before cutting. Slice babka and serve.

Yield: 1 large Bundt babka or 2 loaf babkas.

Hot Chocolate Souffle

2010-02-22T19:09:00.003-05:00

I found this recipe a few weeks ago from Taste of Home, and knew as soon as I saw it I needed to make it. I love Taste of Home recipes, they are simple, tried and true recipes and most of the time, I am not disappointed by them.

Over the weekend, we had a little heat wave. It was in the 60's and sunny. Of course everyone in TN was out and about, wearing their capri's and flip flops and planning to cook out for dinner. We had some of our best friends over on Saturday for burgers and I made these for dessert, the recipe says that it will serve 12 and that was one to feed everyone here. While the guys were at the grill, I melted the chocolate and butter, mixed all the other ingredients together, put them in the ramekins and baked while we ate. These were the perfect dessert for the evening. The marshmallows got all toasty, my favorite part, and we all decided that next time I will add crumbled graham crackers and more marshmallows and make it a smore souffle. :)

Just a work of warning, make sure that you eat them immediately, or they will deflate and the marshmallows fall through. Still tastes the same, just a little flat!

Hot Chocolate Souffle

1 cup butter, cubed
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini marshmallows
4 1/2 tsp cinnamon-sugar

Grease the bottoms only of twelve 6 oz ramekins; set aside. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Set aside

In a large bowl, beat eggs and yolks on high speed on 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture. Combine flour and baking powder; beat into egg mixture just until combined.

Fill prepared ramekins half full; sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar; serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers...if there are any!

Dorie's Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

2010-02-15T17:01:00.000-05:00

What can I say? I do love me some cheesecake! And this one did not disappoint. This one was made from Dories, BFMHTY...I present to you, Tall and Creamy Cheesecake. And that is exactly what it is! Tall and Creamy! Of course, the strawberries and chocolate drizzle doesn't hurt it either!

French Bread

2010-02-03T16:04:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to make Julia Child's Soupe A L'oignon, or french onion soup, for some time now, but really wanted to try my hand at making french bread loaves when making it. I bought this magazine, Taste of the South, over the weekend and found a recipe for the french loaves. This was my first time buying this magazine, and I am glad that I did. I may have to subscribe, just to help feed my addiction!

The bread was not that hard to make. I did learn that I need to split my dough more evenly..I ended up with a small loaf and a larger loaf,and not to use so much flour when forming into the loaf. But, other than that...it was a cinch to put together and was delicious! I ate 3 warm slices with a little butter before I even got to the soup. This was also a great time to teach Abby how to knead. I think she enjoyed it as much as I do.

Oh, and about the soup? Fantastic! Jamey gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a Christmas gift. This is the first and only thing so far that I have made from it. It really made me want to dive into the book and make almost all of it. I have to say though, I draw the line at brains...yes, it tells you how to cook and clean them. Oh, and don't get me started on the aspic either..just can't bring myself to it. But, for the most part, it is stuff that I would make.

French Bread

From: Taste of the South

2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp sugar

1 (.25 oz) package active-rise yeast

3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1 Tbsp salt

5 1/2-6 cups bread flour, divided

1/4 cup cornmeal

In a medium bowl, combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy, approximately 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a large stand mixer, combine yeast mixture, 1 Tbsp oil, salt and 3 cups flour. Using the dough hook attachment, beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make s stiff dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, approximately 1o minutes.

Grease a large bowl with remaining 2 Tbsp oil. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size. About 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down, and divide in half. Shape dough into 2 (17x3 inch) loaves.

Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cornmeal. Place each loaf on a prepared baking sheet. Make 4 cuts diagonally across the top of each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake until crispy and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Still here and Chocolate Milk

2010-01-31T14:39:00.004-05:00

I am still here, just haven't been in the kitchen here lately. I have been cooking dinners for my family, but honestly, they have not been the healthiest and mostly frozen foods!! Yes, I said that out loud. I will be back in a couple of days with Hot Chocolate Souffles!

This is Abby over the summer, we visited the Sweetwater Cheese Farm and got to tour the farm with all the cows. The babies were so cute. Anyways, back to the chocolate milk..I have pondered this for a while now and Abby has started a blog. Chocolate Milk. If you want to read the ramblings of and excited 9 year old little girl, go and check it out. She is going to start a program at school called Cardiac Kids and I am encouraging her to post about her nutrition lessons. She will be posting recipes as well. I am excited for her and love that she is excited about it as well.

This weekend, we had our first snow storm. I say storm, because we normally do not get any snow. We got about 4 inches of snow and then it starting with the freezing rain. Luckily, today is going to get to almost 40 degrees and sunny and should start melting this stuff off. I will leave you with a picture of what I saw this morning when the sun decided to show its face.

Yogurt

2010-01-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

I am trying to be more frugal in my household. While blog surfing frugal blogs for tips, ideas, recipes..I came across The Frugal Girl and found this recipe for homemade yogurt. She used a gallon of whole milk and a cup of plain yogurt and that ends up making a gallon of yogurt. The verdict? It is good and cheaper than if I was to buy a gallon of yogurt. This yogurt is not as thick as what you would buy, and I am guessing that is because it doesn't have all the preservatives and whatever else is added to it. But, it is thick enough that you can eat it with a spoon with no problem. You do need to know that it does take a little while to make it, once it is in the jars, it has to sit for 3 hours before being put into the refrigerator. Will I make it again. Yes!

Homemade Yogurt (makes 4 quarts, which will keep for at least a month in the fridge)

For vanilla yogurt directions, see the bottom of the recipe.

Ingredients
1 gallon of milk

1 cup yogurt starter(you can use a small cup of plain Dannon or Yoplait yogurt, or you can use a cup from your previous batch.)

1. Place four quart glass canning jars, four lids, and four screw-tops in a large pot. Fill with an inch of water; cover with lid and heat to boiling. Boil for ten minutes. Leave the lid on the pot and move it off the heat until you are ready to use the jars.

2. Pour one gallon of milk into a large, heavy bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven. Heat the milk to 185-195 degrees Farenheit(90-90 Celcius).

3. Place the pot in a sink filled with cold water and let the milk cool to 120-130 degrees farenheit(50-55 degrees celsius)

4. Stir one cup of yogurt starter into the cooled milk, using a whisk. Stir well to ensure that the starter is thoroughly incorporated into the milk.

5. Pour the milk into jars, and put the lids and bands on. Place them into a cooler.

6. Heat one gallon of water to 120-130 degrees F(50-55 degrees C) and pour into cooler.

7. Shut cooler lid and leave in a warm place for three hours. When the three hours are up, place the yogurt in the refrigerator.

To make a delicious vanilla version of this yogurt, add 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar to the four quarts of milk when it’s cooling in the sink. Then stir in 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla, depending on your preference, and proceed as usual with the recipe.

Trail Mix

2010-01-18T08:25:00.001-05:00

This stuff is truly addicting! I made this last week and it only lasted 3 days! My kids loved it, the hubby liked it, and I loved it. I saw this chic on Foodtv make it, on the show that only uses 5 ingredients. I checked out the recipe online and read the reviews, they were all good reviews, went out to buy the stuff and made it. It was simple and didn't take alot of time at all. And, hey, it's healthy for you!

My husband is leaving for Haiti sometime this weekend. He is the 3rd group that will be rotating to go from our church. The first group leaves tomorrow. I am not sure what the plan is, they probably don't know until they get there, but I do know that they will be up in the mountains, not in PAP. Our church "adopted" and orphanage in Coq Chante, that housed 18 girls. The youngest, Atanie, didn't make it out. She was 4. The orphanage is destroyed. Here are a couple of pics.

Before the quake:

And after..

Even when these girls have lost everything, they are still joyful. They are scared, but it amazes me how they just continue to go. I am asking that you pray for safety for these guys that are going to help,and also all the relief workers that are there and will be going.

Ok, so back to this trail mix..it is super yummy, healthy, filling and addicting. I am making more this week! I think that you could probably use any type of dried fruit that you want, but I liked the tartness of the cranberries.

Cranberry Trail Mix
2 cups baby pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
6 tablespoons pure Grade B maple syrup
Coarse salt
1 cup dried cherries or cranberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
In a large bowl, toss the pumpkin seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds and the syrup until evenly coated. Spread the nuts and seeds out, in an even single layer, on the lined baking sheets and season with salt to taste. Bake the nuts, stirring several times with spatula or wooden spoon, until just golden, about 20 minutes.
Cool the nuts completely on the pan, then add the cherries and toss to combine. Store cooled trail mix in an airtight container at room temperature.

Croissants

2010-01-11T15:08:00.000-05:00

One day last week, while on Facebook, Laurie mentioned that she might be making croissants this past weekend and wondered if anyone would join her. Now, I have always wanted to make them, but had only heard how hard they were to make. So, I said that I would join her. We decided on the recipe from Michel Roux and I am glad that I finally made them. Other than the time constraint to make them, they were fairly easy. I did stuff a few of them with chocolate chips and those were yummy, but I also liked the plain ones with a drizzle of honey! I will make these again and probably fill with some different things..like strawberry jam and cream cheese! Yum!

Croissant Dough
From: Michel Roux

2tsp of active yeast, I used 1 packet of yeast
350 ml milk,or 1 1/2 cups--next time I will warm just a little
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 sticks butter, cold but not too hard

Egg wash, 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 Tbsp milk

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Combine 2 1/2 cups of flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl; then pour in the milk mixture, allow the mixture to rest for 30 minutes. Add the remaining flour and stir until it begins to pull away from the sides. Cover the bowl and leave it to rise in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size. **If you have a stand mixer, you can mix it with the dough hook*
Punch down dough by flipping it over with your hand, but do not overwork it. (It is really wet and sticky) Cover the bowl again and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. (I left mine overnight and it wasn't sticky at all the next morning)
Shape the butter into a flat 5x7 rectangle. **I put the butter in between to pieces of cling wrap and beat it and rolled it with my rolling pin! ha!**Punch down dough by flipping again and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a rectangle and roll it out into a larger rectangle. Place the butter in the center of the dough and fold the corner flaps over to completely enclose the butter.Lightly flour the work surface, roll the dough out to a 24x12 inch rectangle. Fold in thirds, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Give the chilled dough a quarter turn, roll out the rectangle, fold into thirds again, wrap and refrigerate again for 30 minutes.Roll the dough in the opposite direction as before, fold into thirds again, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but no more than 60.**This keeps the butter cold and gives croissant the flaky layers**
Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough out to your rectangle, I rolled mine until it was about 1/4 inch thick. Cut this rectangle into thirds, long ways, so that you have 3 long strips. Cut the strips into squares, then the squares in half diagonally, this gives you the triangles. Make sure your surface is floured, or they will stick. :) Make a 1 cm cut in the middle of the bottom of the triangle. Pull the 2 base points to lightly separate and roll to form the crescent. I found that this did help it shape better, but you don't have to do this part. If you are going to fill them with anything, do it before you roll it.Put the croissants on a baking tray and lightly brush with the egg wash. Put the croissants in a warm place to rise for 2 hours, or until almost doubled.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, brush croissants with egg wash again, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Mine baked in about 13 minutes because I didn't want them to get too brown.

Snow Day!

2010-01-08T11:34:00.005-05:00

Chocolate Cream Pie

2010-01-05T16:15:00.003-05:00

I love in the movie Julie and Julia where Julie says.."when you are having the worse day in the world and you can come home and know that if you mix chocolate with egg yolks and sugar that it will make chocolate cream pie and all is better" I know that is not word for word, but you get the picture. Saturday was just one of those days. It was cold, I didn't feel the best, needed to get laundry done...had to go try on bridesmaid dresses..yada, yada.... But, I remembered this and as you know being in the kitchen is my stress reliever. So, I came home, melted some chocolate, mixed with some egg yolks and sugar, heavy cream....and viola! Chocolate cream pie and it did make me feel a little better. It didn't get my laundry done though.

I used Dorie's recipe for Chocolate Cream Tart, I knew it would be a no fail recipe. And, well...I cheated a little, I used a frozen Pillsbury pie crust. Sometimes you just have to, ya know?

Over the holidays I did some thinking about the blog. I want to make a few changes. When I first started this blog, and really, up until now, it has been a baking blog. Who says that it has to stay that way, I mean, this is my little blog..so maybe I will start putting in some meal planning? I don't know. My daughter, Abby, wants a blog. She is 9. I'm thinking that she will be my guest blogger, every now and then. So, there are a few of my ideas.

Happy New Year! I hope it has started off with a great start!

A little break..

2009-12-27T19:25:00.002-05:00

I hope all my blogger friends have had a wonderful Christmas and will have a Happy New Year!! I will be back after the new year, hopefully, with a couple of changes!!

Happy New Year!!

April

Christmas Cookie Finale-Gingerbread Men

2009-12-18T00:02:00.002-05:00

Well, now, the past 12 weeks have past by so quickly, haven't they? Luckily, my family loves cookies and they didn't get tired of them, they are actually wondering which ones are next!

I am a firm believer that gingerbread men are a must on a cookie platter! They just make me smile when I see them. And maybe everyone doesn't like gingerbread, but they are so festive who can resist biting off their head or arm or maybe even the leg? :)

I have had so much fun baking along with Megan, Barbara, Megan, Kim and Denise these last weeks! You never knew what would be their choice of cookie each week and all of them are on my to make list! Thank you for cookie baking with me!!

Gingerbread
2/3 C brown sugar, packed
2/3 C molasses
1 t Ginger
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t crushed cloves
3/4 T baking soda
2/3 C butter, softened
1 egg
5 C all purpose flour

Heat brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves to boiling point. Remove from heat, add baking soda, and pour over butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir until butter is melted, then stir in egg and flour thoroughly. Knead for a few minutes, then gather dough into a ball. Refrigerate dough until firm enough to roll easily. Roll on a lightly floured board and cut with shaped cutter of choice. Place on greased cookie sheet or parchment and bake in 325 degree oven for 8-12 minutes.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

2009-12-16T20:50:00.003-05:00

How cute are these? I saw them on Giverslog and knew that I wanted to make them! Abby and I made them yesterday for her class and I can't wait to make more of them and play with it a little. We made these in ice cube trays, but want to try them in a sucker mold.

Instead of a packet of hot chocolate, you use one of these in a cup of hot milk! It can't get any easier than that! I did see somewhere where they flavored the white chocolate with raspberry oil, so they had raspberry hot chocolate on a stick! I am thinking peppermint! :)

Hot chocolate on a Stick

8 oz chocolate, any kind, milk, semi sweet, white
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once it is melted, remove from the heat and add the cocoa, sugar and salt. Mix it until it is all combined. It will get really thick...like a frosting consistency. Once it is all mixed put the mixture into a baggie and snip of the corner and pipe it into your mold. I used a standard ice cube tray. Tap the ice tray on the counter to smooth it out and so that it can settle . Insert a stick and put it into the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate hardens. Decorate it by dipping it into other chocolates or leave it plain.

Stir the stick into a 1 cup of hot milk, until it is dissolved.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies-Week 11

2009-12-11T00:02:00.000-05:00

We are at week 11, just one more week to go! I still have so many more cookies that I want to make!!

This week I give you one of my favorites! These are really easy to make and will add a little wow factor on your platter. You can add the chocolate drizzle or leave them plain. Just make sure that you really drain and pat your cherries dry before you wrap the dough around them, or it won't stick.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

1 10oz jar maraschino cherries with stems, drained and juice reserved

1 Tbsp cherry juice

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in the egg and 1 tsp reserved cherry juice. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer, stir in any remaining flour with wooden spoon.

Shape a scant 1 tsp of dough around each cherry. Place in 1 inch paper or foil baking cups and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the top looks dry.

Top with melted chocolate or your favorite chocolate glaze and top if sprinkles, if desired.

Sugar Glazed Almonds

2009-12-06T09:55:00.005-05:00

Why is it that we only make tons of baked goods and candies at Christmas time? Sure, we think of then at the other holidays too, but for the most part at Christmas we make triple the amount. Don't get me wrong, I love it! I have made these for years. They are simple, and you can change up the flavor..add some orange zest, add some cinnamon or even rose water. Or just leave them plain and they taste like a honey roasted peanut, only in almond form.

Would someone please take them away from me, I can't stop eating them!!

Sugar Glazed Almonds

1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole almonds

Set aside an ungreased baking sheet. In a heavy 2-quart skillet, combine water and sugar. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Add almonds and stir continuously. Reduce heat to medium and stir almonds until mixture foams and turns to sugar. (This takes about 10-15 minutes.) Continue stirring as almonds become coated with sugar; sugar will begin to remelt and caramelize on the almonds. Remove from heat and turn out onto baking sheet. Using 2 forks, separate almonds into single nuts. Cool.

Variations:
For Glazed Orange-add 2 Tbsp grated orange zest at the beginning of cooking.
For Cinnamon-Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon at the beginning of cooking.
For Rose Water-At the end of cooking, sprinkle nuts with 2 tsp rose water and stir well.

Orange Vanilla Shortbread

2009-12-04T00:02:00.000-05:00

We are at week 10 of thee 12 weeks of Christmas cookies. When we first started this, I thought it would take forever to finish it up, but now we only have 2 more weeks! There have been so many great cookie recipes during this and can't wait to see what the next weeks bring!

I saw this recipe in Sherry Yards book The Secret of Baking and was curious about the use of Orange Blossom Water. I had never seen it, much less needed to use it in a recipe. I knew that I wanted to try it. That was about a year ago. I don't know why I haven't made them sooner. I really like the flavor of them. They have a base of orange flavor with a little hint of a floral scent. And then the vanilla mellows it all out. The recipe said to roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into a shape, freeze for 15 minutes then bake. I chose to bake them in an 8x8 square dish and cut them into squares. They turned out a little more fluffy than the shortbread that I have made before. Maybe it is because I didn't roll it out? Not sure, but they still taste yummy! I think I might like to make this recipe and adapt it to this flavor.

Remember to see what Megan, Barbara, Megan, Denise and Kim baked up this week!

Orange Vanilla Shortbread

By: Sherry Yard

2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 Tbsp finely grated orange zest

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp orange flower water

1 large egg, at room temperature

Sift together flour and baking soda in medium bowl and set aside

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and scraped seeds from the bean, orange zest, salt and orange flower water. Cream on medium speed until it is smooth and lump free, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.

Add the egg and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough will be gooey. Remove the dough from the mixer, scrape it onto a sheet of plastic film, press it into a 1/2-1 inch thick disk, wrap tightly, and chill for at least 1 hour. At this point, the dough will keep nicely, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until you can slice it.)

Dust a work surface lightly with flour. Place the dough between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment paper, roll it out 1/4 inch thick, and freeze it for at least 2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

When the dough has frozen, carefully peel off the parchment and place the dough on a work surface dusted lightly with flour. Dip a 3 inch round cookie cutter in flour, then cut out the cookies. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets, alternating the rows like a checkerboard. Return the dough to the freezer for 15 minutes or more whenever it becomes too sticky to cut.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges, turning the sheet front to back halfway through the baking. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment directly onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving or 30 minutes before storing the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

Cake Cookies-Week 9!

2009-11-29T14:00:00.002-05:00

I saw this recipe for these cookies in a magazine that called for a cake mix, an egg, and a carton of cool whip. The cool whip got the best of my curiosity and I had to try them out. They turned out so good that a friend and I made 4 different flavors and each batch made 4 dozen, so I was stuck with 16 dozen cookies! There could be worse things, I guess. :)

These cookies are really soft and chewy, a little messy because of the powdered sugar, but so worth it. These will definitely be going on my platters! The cake mixes we used were chocolate fudge, strawberry, orange and spice cake. I have a lemon to make and I want to try pineapple upside down.

We are coming along with out 12 weeks of Christmas, we are at week 9 and have seen some really awesome cookies!

Cake Cookies

1 box cake mix, any flavor

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

2 cups powdered sugar

Mix the cake mix, egg, and cool whip together until combined. This will be thick, but not so thick that you can roll it into balls. Put the powdered sugar into a shallow bowl.

Once you mix the dough, put the scoops of dough into the powdered sugar and roll it to coat. You can shape it once it is covered with the powdered sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

This week, I asked the hubby what kind of cookie he wanted and he wanted something with peanut butter and chocolate. Honestly, I wanted him to tell me something that was sort of a challenge for me to find a recipe for this week, but I guess you really can't do that with cookie. I guess this really was a little challenge for me, because I haven't found that perfect peanut butter cookie recipe yet. This one is close, and will do, but I am always looking for new ones. :)

I found this recipe in one of my cookie magazines and was curious about it because there is no butter, I am guessing that the peanut butter takes that place, and there is only 1/4 cup of flour. This told me that it would probably be moist and chewy in the middle. And yes, I was right. With little spreadage, and a crisp outside, with the chewy in the middle, they did hit the spot. The first thing that came out the oldest sons mouth as soon as he popped one in his mouth was, mmmmmmm. I took that as a thumbs up! Will these go on my cookie platters? Probably!!

Don't forget my other cookie baker's this week, we are almost to the end girls! :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, and baking soda until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Stir in flour and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet (do not use an insulated cookie sheet); flatten slightly with fingers.

Bake in preheated oven about 10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and lightly browned around edges (centers will be soft). Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; cool completly. Makes 2 dozen.

Cinnamon Bun Scones

2009-11-16T15:15:00.002-05:00

I am a firm believer in homemade scones. The ones that you buy out at the store or coffee shops, that are dry and crumbly and make you choke, are just not for me. Now, the hubby on the other hand, isn't really a fan at all of scones. He calls them fu-fu food. Let me rephrase that..until now, he was not a fan. I think that he ate half of them, and my boys ate them for breakfast this morning. I am positive that they will be requested again and again. :)

I found this recipe from the book A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman. I have made a few things from this book and so far so good. If you haven't seen it, you really should. It is full of yummy, yummy things! I didn't follow the directions exactly, though...but they still came out great. The directions say to mix the dry ingredients in the food processor, dump them out and make a well in the center, then put the wet ingredients and combine. I bypassed all of this and mixed everything in my mixer with a paddle attachment. It mixed up perfectly! :) You also scoop these out with an ice cream scoop, so I am thinking mini's would be great too!

Cinnamon bun Scones

By: Marcy Goldman

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

3/4 to 1 cup whipping cream

Cinnamon Dip

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar

Whipping cream or milk, as required

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper. Arrange oven rack to upper third position.

In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and blend briefly. Add butter and pulse to make a coarse, grainy mixture.

Turn out mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in center and stir in vanilla, eggs, and whipping cream to make a soft dough. If it is stiff, add more cream.

Using an ice cream scoop, deposit 15 to 20 scones on prepared baking sheets,or use a smaller 2 Tbsp cookie scoop and deposit 3 dozen baby scones.

Bake until scones are puffy and golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, for Cinnamon Dip, whisk together all ingredients until you have a thick but drippy glaze. Add more confectioner's sugar or cream as required.

Cool scones to warm and then dip into Cinnamon Dip. Dip scones again once topping is set.

Vanilla Bean Angel Pillows

2009-11-13T00:02:00.001-05:00

I chose this cookie recipe from last years Better Homes and Garden Christmas Cookie magazine. I'm glad that I keep these year from year just for this reason..even if it is 8 years from now, I now that I will find something that I haven't made yet or maybe I will have made the same recipe 10 times. The bottom line here, I guess, is that I really have an addiction. I just had this conversation this week with a friend, and I am glad to know that I am not the only one with this problem. :)

I love the look of the vanilla bean speckles! :)

These cookies are just what the title describes, vanilla bean pillows. They are light and crumbly and sweet, but more buttery than sweet. Once you bite into it, the vanilla sugar on the outside sticks to your lips and chin...really, it get everywhere..but I think it just adds to the yumminess! The recipe said that this would yield 28 cookies, and that is exactly what I got. I normally go for the ones that make more than that, but I couldn't pass these up. These will be going on my platters this year, and maybe I will roll some of them in red and green sugars.

Don't forget to see what Megan, Barbara, Megan, Kim, and Denise baked up this week!

Vanilla Bean Angel Pillows

From Better Home and Gardens

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

1 cup cold butter, cubed

1/4 cup vanilla sugar*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cover and process until combined.

Using the tip of a sharp knife, scrape pulp from vanilla bean. Add vanilla pulp to the flour mixture; add butter. Cover and process with several on/off pulses until mixture starts to cling, stopping once to scrape bowl. Gather mixture into a ball.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven about 12 minutes or just until edges start to brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool for 5 minutes.

Place vanilla sugar in a small bowl. While cookies are warm, roll them in vanilla sugar to coat. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes about 28 cookies.

*To make vanilla sugar, in a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 week, giving it a shake every once in awhile.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

2009-11-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

I probably think that these are the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever had! I made these with my friend, that I do the dinner club thing with, and we froze them. We made up the dough, let it rise, rolled it out and put the butter, sugar and cinnamon, rolled them back up, gave them a quick slice. We then put them in our pan and stuck them in the freezer. I had no idea if they would turn out or not. I pulled them out of the freezer about an hour before I was going to bake them. They thawed out in this hour and had just started to rise some more when I put them in the oven for their 15 minute bake. They puffed up perfectly! I had 20 of them in my pan and every one of them were eaten! I will now have them in my freezer at all times!!

One of the things that I really liked about this recipe was that 1.)it was simple and 2) this recipe makes a ton of them! The only thing I changed on this recipe was the maple glaze. I just went with the standard vanilla glaze, I am thinking a cream cheese glaze next time will be in order!

With The Pioneer Woman's book just coming out, this was the perfect time to try these out. The only thing that I have seen on her book is that it is wonderful! I'm thinking that I am going to have to bring one home to be part of the family! :)

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

1 quart of whole milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8+1 cups of all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 "scant" tsp baking soda
1 heaping Tbsp of salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups melted butter
1 cup of sugar
generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. "Scald" the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but not hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it-overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to splurge out of the pan, just punch it down.)

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 Tbsp of melted butter in seven round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them int he buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Maple Frosting

1 bag of powdered sugar
2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1/8 tsp salt

Mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting! :)

2009-11-06T00:02:00.001-05:00

This week I chose to go simple. The classic chocolate chip cookie. I made this recipe from Emeril Lagasse's book, There's a chef in my Soup. This is the only recipe that I have made from this book, and probably won't make them again. The taste is fine, but it is just now what I want in a CC cookie. I want a slightly crisp outside and a chewy middle. These just were all crunchy.

I also did a little experiment. Normally, I only will bake on my baking stones. I love them, the bottoms don't burn. I baked half on the baking stone and the other half I baked on parchment paper on a regular aluminum cookie sheet. Here are the differences I found, the ones on the stone didn't brown on the bottoms, but they did spread. The ones on the parchment, stayed more round with hardly any spreading, but they did brown on the bottom. I am curious on how you bake your cookies? I would love to know!

Make sure to go and see the other cookie bakers!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Emeril
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla1 large egg
1 1/2 cups chocolate chip cookies

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream the ingredients on high speed. Scape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the vanilla and egg and mix on medium speed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until batter is stiff-don't overdo it.

Turn off the mixer and, using a large spoon or plastic spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Using a tablespoon, scoop about 2 spoonfuls of the dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, keeping the scoops about 2 inches apart. Using your fingers or the back of the spoon, press down on each ball of dough to slightly flatten.Bake on 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly brown.

Granola Breakfast Bread

2009-11-04T15:31:00.002-05:00

This is the time of year when I want to make bread the most. Any type of bread will do, as long as I am making it. I found this recipe in Dorie's book BFMHTY and it is originally called Oatmeal Breakfast Bread, but I have some left over granola from Bear Naked, btw, if you haven't tried their granola, you should, it is fantastic! But, as I was saying, I had this leftover granola that is vanilla flavored with some almonds and thought it would work just fine...it did! I also left out the dried fruit, just because I didn't have any, but the next time this is made, I am going to add it. I know it will make it even better! I made 4 mini loaves from this one batch, which means that I can get 4 neighbor gifts out of it. That is if I can keep the hubby and kids out of it...or myself!!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
By: BFMHTY

For the topping:
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans
1/4 tsp cinnamon

For the bread:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
1/4 cup buttermilk or whole milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup diced dried figs, apples or apricots or moist, plump raisins
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan, or a mini loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To make the topping: In a small bowl, using your fingers, toss together the sugar, nuts and cinnamon until evenly mixed, set aside.

To make the bread: Whisk together the eggs, applesauce, oil and buttermilk until well blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Remove 1/2 tsp of the mix and toss it with the fruit, just to coat; set aside. Stir the oats into the bowl. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and, using a large rubber spatula, stir just until everything is evenly moistened-this is a case where less is more, so don't overdo the mixing. Scatter the dried fruit over the batter and stir to blend. Scrape the batter into the pan and sprinkle over the topping, tamping it down very lightly with your fingers so it sticks.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is beautifully browned and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the bread to a rack to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

**Since I made my loaves in a mini loaf pan, it baked in about 30-35 minutes.

Peanut Butter Blossoms- Week 5

2009-10-30T00:02:00.002-04:00

We are at week 5 of the Christmas cookies, and it amazes me how fast time flies! Sometimes, I am in need of a quick cookie recipe that I can just throw together. You know, those that you have all the ingredients in the pantry and you don't need to wait on the butter to soften to room temperature? This cookie is that one.

My friend and I have started this dinner club and the whole point of it is to fellowship with each other and make meals for the freezer. A couple of hours in and we had 3 meals and bread sticks for our freezer. While we were busy making dinners, the hubbies and kiddos needed something sweet. These were the perfect thing. They were quick to make and put into the oven, and I think that they disappeared just as quick!

Wonder what my other cookie bakers have made this week?

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Makes 4 dozen

1/2 cup shortening3

/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp saltgranulated sugar

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, beat shortening and peanut butter together until creamy. Add both sugars, beating until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beating dry ingredients into wet mixture until dough forms.

Using your hands, shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll shaped balls in granulated sugar; turning completely to coat. Place sugared balls of dough into a greased mini muffin pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies turn a very pale brown. Immediately remove pan from oven and press a kiss into the center of each cookie. Carefully remove and place on wire rack to cool completely.

French Macarons-Daring Bakers

2009-10-27T00:05:00.001-04:00

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was excited about this challenge, I have been wanting to make these for a long time. But, as it looks like my little bites of heaven turned out..unfortunately, they did not. This picture is as good as it gets, my friends. The taste was wonderful, looks like I did get the feet, or I should say more of a ruffle...but every one of them stuck and crumbled.

I won't give up on these though. I will try again...someday. :)

Chewy Chocolate Cookies-week 4

2009-10-23T00:02:00.001-04:00

This week I chose to make these cookies from the new Holiday Taste of Home Magazine. I love this time of year when all the holidays start, although, I wish it didn't come and go so fast. I made these cookies three days ago and they are still chewy in the middle. I am guessing that it is from the 2 1/2 sticks of butter it uses!! Oh well, I didn't say that they were healthy! :)

My one gadget that I have to have when I am making cookies is my little cookie scoop. I use it with almost every cookie that I make, unless it is a slice and bake, but you know, sometimes I am a little impatient to let my dough chill, and I use the scoop anyway. With this batch of dough, I got 6 dozen cookies out of it! So, if you need a good cookie that makes alot, this one is it!

Need some more cookie ideas? Check out my other cookie bake along friends! They are listed on my side bar.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

1 1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, cocoa,, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on pans for 1 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutella Swirl- Week 3!

2009-10-16T00:02:00.001-04:00

I have a confession, I adore Nutella. I actually have a problem. I could eat it on anything, really, my favorite way is right out of the jar with a spoon. When I saw these from The Doubled Dipped Life, I knew I had to make them for this weeks cookie recipe. Actually, these looked so good, Barbara had the same idea that I did!

I had a little trouble with these cookies. I found the dough to be really soft and sticky. I chilled it for a good 30 minutes before rolling it out. Once I started to roll it out, I had to add more flour. Once I finally got it rolled, without sticking, I went to spread the Nutella, this took a little patience. I would start to spread it and my dough would rip. Finally, I got it spread, and rolled the dough, I stuck the roll in the freezer for about 20 minutes to make for easy slicing. My roll was really skinny, but they baked up nicely. After slicing, I got right at 20 cookies. The taste, I wasn't crazy about them. I don't know what it was..maybe I was just frustrated with my dough sticking..but, today, they are really good! I'm glad I didn't throw them out!

Make sure and check out Megan, Barbara, Megan, Kim and Denise to see what they have baked up this week!

Nutella Swirl Cookies
From:The Double Dipped Life

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 heaped cup sifted all purpose flour
1/4 cup Nutella
2-3 Tbsp chopped toasted hazelnuts, I left these out

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the butter and sugar together until creamy. Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla. The mixture should be light and well combined. Stir in the flour and refrigerate dough for at least 15 minutes for easy rolling.

Next, roll out the dough into a rectangle of 1/4 inch thickness. Spread the Nutella, leaving 1/4 inch space on all four sides. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts over the Nutella. Roll up the dough jelly roll style. Refrigerate another 10 minutes before slicing. Slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. Put on baking sheet about 2 inches apart and bake 12-15 minutes until slightly golden around the edges.

Snickerdoodle Blossoms

2009-10-12T19:58:00.005-04:00

I first saw Denise make these,then Ingrid twisted my arm to make these, so I really had no choice but to make them. I am glad that I did! Who doesn't love snickerdoodle cookies and who doesn't love chocolate? You add them together and you have one to die for cookie!!

These little blossoms are a little work, but not anything that will make you just hate to make them. Mix the dough and let it chill for a good 30 minutes. Don't skip this step, it is a little sticky if you don't. Roll into balls, roll them in cinnamon sugar and bake them. I used my handy little cookie scoop and got 4 short of 4 dozen cookies, I could have gotten 4 dozen if I watched my scooping..some of them were a little on the chunky side.

I'm thinking that these will make it on my cookie platters this year!

Snickerdoodle Blossoms

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed, brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
48 milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Heat oven to 375.
Combine 1/2 cup white sugar,brown sugar and butter in large mixing bowl.

Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, vanilla and salt; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; and add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 1/2 hour. I recommend doing that, makes it easier to handle. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough balls into cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place balls in mini muffin tins. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately press 1 chocolate kiss in center of each cookie and sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over them while they are still warm. Remove from pans; cool completely on a wire rack.

Orange Chunk Cookies- Week 2

2009-10-09T00:02:00.000-04:00

This week I chose to bake Orange Chunk Cookies, they should have been chip, but my grocery store didn't have white chocolate chips, WHAT?! I know, so I had to substitute a bar of it and chunk it up. That just added to the fun, I don't know why, but food prep makes me happy. The more I can chop, the happier I am. I know, I have issues!

So, here we are at week 2, and that means 11 weeks until Christmas now and I don't have the slightest idea of what I will be buying the kids. I asked Abby what she wanted and she said "Joy". I said, "Joy, as in happiness? Are you not happy?" She said, yes, I am happy, but that is what I want. Crazy child!! Maybe I'll get something that has JOY written on it and stick it in her stocking.

On to the cookies, I liked them, the hubby and kids liked them. The hubby was a little concerned of the orange, he doesn't like orange flavored things, but the orange flavor was subtle. It mostly tasted like a white chocolate chip cookie and once you chewed it and swallowed was when you get the hint of orange. So, I would give this cookie a thumbs up!

You also need to go and see what Megan from Megan's Cooking, Barbara from Barbara Bakes, and Megan from My Baking Adventures is joining us as well!

Orange Chunk Cookies

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 cup (6 oz) white chocolate chips
1 Tbsp grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into small bowl. Beat the butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and mix well. Gradually add the flour mixture, until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips and zest. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Martha Mondays-Warm Vanilla Cider

2009-10-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

This weeks Martha Monday was chose by Teresa of A Homemade Life in Iowa. She chose this cider from the October issue of Martha's magazine. I made it this morning and it was perfect since it is finally starting to feel like fall here. This recipe called for fresh apple cider, so I went to the local fruit and berry patch here to pick it up. I got there just in time, I got the last gallon! It is some good stuff, and I wasn't sure on how it could get any better. Well, it did! This warm vanilla cider was perfect! Warm, with a little bit of spice and a little bit of comfort from the vanilla bean. The only thing that could have made it better would to have been to top it with whipped cream.

Warm Vanilla Cider
By: Martha

6 cups fresh apple cider
2 nutmeg seeds
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Put all ingredients in a pot. Simmer for 15 minutes, discard the solids and serve.

Cinnamon Crisps-Week 1

2009-10-02T00:02:00.001-04:00

I know this is crazy, but do you realize that there is only 12 weeks until Christmas? When you look at it that way, it seems like it is so close, I guess it really isn't that far away. This brings me to this...12 weeks of Christmas cookies. I do alot of baking at Christmas and always wait until the last minute to try to get it all in, and then I am left with no time to try new recipes. So this should fix that problem. A batch of cookies a week, I think I should be able to keep up. :) Megan is baking along each week as well, so I am hoping to get some new ones from her too! If you have a cookie/bar that you want to share feel free!!

Every year I look forward to the new Better Homes and Garden Christmas Cookies magazine. It is out by the first of October every year and it is loaded with cookie recipes. Any where from drop cookies, to cut outs, to bars...to layered cookies. I have them from the past 12 years. I love them and can't make myself part with them.

These cookies are really good. Crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, even when they have cooled completely. The picture of these in the magazine, showed them rolled in pearl sugar. I love the look of this, but can't find it here...it is on my "look for and buy" list. Instead of the pearl sugar, I rolled these little babies in granulated sugar and I liked the extra sweetness and glisten that it gave. The addition of molasses in this mixture reminded me of gingerbread, only you don't add any ginger, cinnamon is the only spice in these. So here we have it, cookie #1 in the 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies challenge.

Cinnamon Crisps

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup light molasses
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
pearl sugar or granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.

Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until well combined. Add egg; beat until blended, then beat in molasses. On low speed, beat in flour until just blended.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies are light brown around edges and tops crackle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Martha Monday-Apple Brown Betty

2009-09-28T13:40:00.004-04:00

This week was my choice for Martha Monday. I normally will make apple crisp when it comes to making apple dessert. My hubby on the other hand has always talked about making Apple Brown Betty, his grandmother always made this. I had not ever heard of one, until he talked about it, much less ever made or eaten one. So for my choice, I thought I would go with Martha and try it out. Honestly, I was disappointed in it. For my apple crisp, I would top it with butter, flour, sugar, maybe some oats in there. The topping and filling for this brown betty was toasted bread crumbs, although, I think I could get past that, I think that the flavor was kind of bland. Not real sweet and I really couldn't taste the spices. I am thinking that I am going to have to pay the GM a visit to see how she made her brown betty and compare.

Apple Brown Betty:
By: Martha

4 to 5 slices white sandwich bread (about 4 ounces total), torn into large pieces
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 pounds Gala apples (about 6), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup packed light- or dark-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for serving (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, pulse bread until coarse crumbs form (you should have about 2 cups). Spread breadcrumbs on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely. Transfer to a bowl, add butter, and toss until coated.
Meanwhile, place apples in a large bowl, and toss with lemon juice. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and half the breadcrumbs. Transfer mixture to an 8-inch square (or other shallow 2-quart) baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining breadcrumbs. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake until fruit mixture is bubbling, about 40 minutes. Then remove foil, and continue baking until breadcrumbs have browned and apples are easily pierced with a paring knife, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Top, if desired, with vanilla ice cream sprinkled with cinnamon.

Daring Bakers go French!

2009-09-27T00:02:00.000-04:00

I am back from a 3 month hiatus from the Daring Bakers. If you haven't heard of them, you really should check them out. It is a great way to learn new things, such as this month....puff pastry!!! I really didn't expect it to turn out, but it did, and I am a giddy little girl!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I was surprised at how easy this really was. A few basic ingredients and a little bit of time and there you go. I did break mine up into 2 days. The first day, I mixed the dough, beat the butter, rolled and folded the dough a total of 6 turns, while tweeting with Megan and Barbara. These 2 girlies were a blast to bake along with. Then, I let the dough chill over night. The next day, gave it a good roll out, cut into shapes and baked.
The next step was to decide on a filling. This was the hardest part! I decided that I would go with a cinnamon pastry cream with sauteed apples. Fall is finally here and thought this is a great way to celebrate! Well, I had a little issue with the pastry cream...it clumped,but it still stated good. So, I let it chill overnight and when I came back the next day, it was hard as a rock!!! I probably cooked it too long and didn't temper the eggs good enough...so...plan B. Cinnamon whipped cream with sauteed apples, just as good!

Here it is...Vols-Au-Vent with Cinnamon Whipped Cream topped with Sauteed Apples!

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients:2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour

1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)

1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water

1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.
Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Cinnamon whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream

3 TBSP sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Whip the whipping cream on medium speed, gradually add in the sugar and then add in the cinnamon. Whip until stiff peaks form.

Sauteed Apples (I could eat these by themselves!)

1/4 cup butter

4 large tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples and cook stirring constantly until apples are almost tender, 6-7 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to skillet. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve.

Peanut Butter Brownies

2009-09-24T17:00:00.003-04:00

Peanut Butter is one of my favorite things. I don't like to eat it straight from the jar, but I love it in pies, brownies, cakes...anything baked. These little babies made me very happy, they are moist and chewy.

Are you familiar of the food event Cooking with Alicia and Annie? I have known about it for a few months now, but this is my first time participating. If you don't know about it, check it out. You just choose a recipe from Alicia or Annie, make it, post about it, comment on the blog that you made it, and you are in the drawing for a monthly prize. Not too bad, huh?

I found these brownies on Annie's blog. There are so many things that I want to make from her blog and Alicia's as well!! So many recipes, not enough time!

Peanut Butter Brownies
From: Annie's Recipes
3 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips--I left these out

Instructions
Cream together shortening and sugar. Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients then fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until done.

Cookie Carnival-Black Bottom Coconut Bars

2009-09-22T20:22:00.001-04:00

Kate from The Clean Plate is back, and is kicking off the Cookie Carnival after a short break. She chose these bars by Martha. I am not a huge coconut fan, but I had some coconut in the cabinet that needed to be used. This was a great way to do that. This recipe is simple enough and doesn't take much time putting it together. What you can expect from these bars is, a moist chocolate brownie base, with a chewy coconut topping, kind of like a Mounds candy bar in brownie form. It was a good choice!

Black Bottom Coconut Bars
By: Martha Stewart

FOR CHOCOLATE BASE
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

FOR COCONUT TOPPING
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 package sweetened shredded coconut (7 ounces), 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling

Directions
For chocolate base: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a slight overhang; butter bottom and sides of foil (not overhang).

Place butter in a large microwave-safe bowl; melt in microwave. Add sugar and salt; whisk to combine. Whisk in egg, then cocoa and flour until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake just until sides begin to pull away from edges of pan, 10 to 15 minutes (do not over bake). Let cool slightly while preparing coconut topping. Keep oven on for topping.

For coconut topping: In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla. Gently mix in flour and coconut (except 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling).

Drop mounds of mixture over chocolate base; spread and pat in gently and evenly with moistened fingers. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup coconut.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Lift cake from pan, peel off foil, and cut into 24 bars. Store in an airtight container 3 to 4 days.

Martha Monday-Donation Bag

2009-09-22T11:39:00.003-04:00

Here we are again for Martha Mondays, and I have to tell you that I completely slacked this week. This weeks assignment was to designate a place for a donation bag, this was one of Martha's organization tips for the day. This is a really good idea and really doesn't take much effort. Just hang a bag by the back door or inside your pantry, where ever your heart desires, and fill it with the items that you want to donate. Food items for the local food pantries, or clothes that you kids have outgrown to donate to the shelters or good will.

This week flew by for me with the boys running cross country and Abby cheering, so honestly, I didn't even think about this assignment this week. But, after looking at everyone being organized, I am completely jealous BTW, it has made me want to go home and clean out the cabinets and drawers in my kitchen. I can't motivate myself enough for the kids closets just yet. :)

Saturday Night

2009-09-20T18:13:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday night, we had friends over and what better way to finish off the night with chocolate fondue? in fountain form! You can find these little home fountains just about anywhere these days and they are inexpensive. Adults love it, kids love it..just don't worry about the mess it will make though. :)

We had marshmallows and strawberries....

and you can't forget peanut butter balls!

I could do this every weekend!

Peanut Butter Balls:

2 sticks margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 (16oz) box powdered sugar

Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a large pot. Stir in vanilla and powdered sugar until combined. This will make the dough thick. Roll into balls and put on wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator. Dip into melted chocolate.

Martha Mondays-Molasses Spice Cake

2009-09-14T16:37:00.003-04:00

This is my first week of the group Martha Mondays. This group was created by Martha and Me. I think that I liked this group because 1) it is laid back, if you need to miss, it's ok! and 2) it is not only cooking/baking, but also crafts.

This weeks assignment was chosen by Pru of My Life-Pru Singer and she chose this cake. This cake made me excited when I saw what it was. I am ready for fall and this cake just screamed fall to me.

So, the verdict? It's ok. The cake is moist and has the right amount of spice. A couple of the girls didn't like the cream cheese frosting, because you add sour cream and they thought it was too sour. You can definitely taste the sour cream come through, but I liked it. It is not very sweet, but the brown sugar glaze gives you the sweetness that you need. Oh, and I should warn you...if you are watching your calorie intake, this is not one that you will want to make. I can just feel the bulges in my thighs getting bigger just by thinking of the amount of butter that went into this! :)

Will I make this again? Probably not. But, I'm glad I made it. So far, one of the kids likes it, and will be a great after school snack!

You want the recipe? You can find it here.

Lightened Up Lemon Bundt Cake

2009-09-09T15:29:00.002-04:00

My mom gets the weekly Woman's World magazine. You can bet on it, every Sunday she makes her trip to the Walmart and this is in her cart when she checks out. I like this magazine too. It has little stories, tips, recipes and there is always a lightened up recipe. I have made muffins and bread from this magazine and knew that I would want to make this lemon cake. This was another one that I wasn't disappointed with.

Lightened Up Lemon Bundt Cake
From:Womans World Magazine

4 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups refrigerated liquid egg substitute
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 container (6oz) low fat lemon yogurt
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and soda; reserve. On medium-high speed, beat egg substitute, sugar, oil, yogurt and 1/2 cup lemon juice until combined. On medium-low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in zest. Pour into pan. Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. Remove from pan to rack; cool completely. Whisk together confectioners sugar and 3 Tbsp lemon juice until smooth; poor over cake.

Gale Gand's Deep Chocolate Shortbread

2009-09-02T16:32:00.002-04:00

I must be on a chocolate kick, because, it seems that the last few things that I have posted about is chocolate. Well, I guess you really can't go wrong with it. I found this recipe on the Splenda site and figured that if it is from Gale Gand, then it must be ok. I love shortbread and the thought of making it a little healthier, I couldn't pass it up. The verdict? It is good. I made this yesterday and tried one right after it came out of the oven, and thought..this really is not good. But, today, it is so much better! I'm glad that I didn't just trash it!

Gale Gand's Deep Chocolate Shortbread

From: Splenda

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup Splenda

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup, plus 2 Tbsp AP flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the butter, Splenda, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Mix, using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and creamy. Add cocoa powder and all of the flour. Mix until just blended.

Remove dough from bowl and form into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the parchment lined pan. Roll the dough into a rectangle approx. 6 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Pierce the surface of the dough with a fork all over. This allows the air to escape during baking preventing air pockets from forming.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes baking. Remove shortbread from oven immediately cut into 24 fingers or rectangles while shortbread is still warm. If allowed to cool, the shortbread will not slice well.

World Peace Cookies

2009-08-27T16:40:00.003-04:00

Why, oh, why have I not made these before now? That is what I keep asking myself! These cookies are that good! Megan has raved about these, Maria made these not too long ago and loved them too. So, I asked myself, why haven't I made them? I am still kicking myself in the back end for not making them before now. I do have a confession about them though, I didn't let the dough chill. And you know what? They still turned out great! I will be making these over and over again!

World Peace Cookies
From: BFMHTY
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel.

Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Mississippi Mud Cake

2009-08-24T17:05:00.003-04:00

This cake is what I will normally turn to when I need a quick dessert to take somewhere. This cake is really rich, so only a little piece is all you will need to satisfy that craving. I made this recipe before, but in cupcake form and it turned out just as good! I really don't think that you can go wrong with chocolate, pecans and marshmallows. Don't have time to make your marshmallows? no worries, store bought will do just as good here!

Mississippi Mud Cake:

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 all-purpose flour
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecan
4 cups miniature marshmallows

Chocolate Frosting:
1 (16oz.) package powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

Combine butter and coca in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter melts.

Remove from heat; transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and eggs; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add flour, salt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for the cake. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over hot cake. If making the cake, immediately spread frosting over marshmallows.

To make the chocolate frosting:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth, adding an additional tablespoon of milk if frosting is too stiff.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2009-08-20T16:13:00.003-04:00

My family is a family full of muffin lovers, especially warm right out of the oven with a little bit of butter that is melting....ok, let me get back to this muffin.

This is from BFMHTY by Dorie. Love them. Nice and chocolaty, moist and dense. This is one great muffin!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins
From:BFMHTY

6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet

Melt the butter and half the chopped chocolate together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; or do this in a microwave. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Jam Exchange

2009-08-18T15:26:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago Steph from Steph Chows announced that she was having a jam exchange. I have participated in exchanges like this before and loved it. What's not to love? You get to be in the kitchen making some concoction, mail it off and you get some back in return.

Today my package came from my secret partner...Diana from A little bit of Spain Iowa. I didn't even know of her until now! If you haven't visited her, you should! And now, here is what she sent me!!

Look how cute the labels are!! Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Diana sent me 2 jars of this! Strawberry Honey Jam with a hint of chamomile!! I cannot wait until she perfects this recipe and shares it with us! Not that I am not just completely impressed with this jam, but she also sent me a jar of this.....

Did you see what this is???? Homemade Apple Pectin!!! I didn't even know there was such a thing! I am now ready to get to making some more jam using it!

Thank you Diana for a great package! And thanks to Steph Chows for putting this together!

Zucchini Bread

2009-08-13T16:31:00.004-04:00

This is just your average zucchini bread, nothing special. But, that shouldn't scare you away from it. This bread is sweet, moist, and full of spices. This loaf makes 2 regular size loaves or I ended up getting 1 regular loaf and 4 mini's. Just enough to share with a friend, or stick in the freezer for a later time!

Zucchini Bread
From: Southern Living

3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 large)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Stir in zucchini and pecans.

Spoon into two lightly greased 8 1/2-4 1/2 inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2009-08-10T16:32:00.002-04:00

School here starts next week, and I can honestly say that I am ready for it. I like the routine of everyday, just being structured. And that also means that I have more time in the kitchen. I have slacked this summer, but hey, you have "life" that has to be lived.

I have seen these blondies floating around the blogosphere. Ingrid made them, and then Donna made them, you see, they both twisted my arm to make these. I am really glad that they did! These are perfect for an after school snack, for the lunch boxes, or really just any time of the day!

Snickerdoodle Blondies
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Coffee Cake Muffins

2009-07-23T17:48:00.003-04:00

I have done it again, staying away for too long! This summer is just flying by, and that doesn't leave a lot of time for being in the kitchen, and I am missing it! I need my therapy sessions! These muffins are easy to put together and very, very good! They are moist, dense, and you have a swirl of cinnamon in the middle, well, I say the middle...but some of my swirls were more near the bottom of the muffin than the middle, but that didn't change the taste at all. Spread the warm muffin with a pat of butter and you have total comfort!

Coffee Cake Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine first 3 ingredients; set aside.

Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together the egg, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Place paper cups in muffin pans, and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon batter into each of 12 cups; sprinkle evenly with half of brown sugar mixture. Top evenly with remaining batter, and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Twd-Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies

2009-07-08T11:13:00.002-04:00

Better late than never, huh? Can we pretend that it is Tuesday? Ok then! These brownies are fantastic! Gooey in the middle with a paper thin crust on the top. Love them!!!! You can find the recipe on pages 96-97 in BFMHTY.

I'm back with a Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake!

2009-07-02T17:12:00.002-04:00

I have been away from here for way too long! I don't intend on staying away like this again, I have missed you guys! So, what better way to make a come back than this pound cake? You will want to try this one! I am not really a coconut lover, it seems that the older I get, the more I can tolerate it, but I really think that I could eat this whole cake. Maybe because it makes me think of a tropical island. Not sure, but I really like it! Sweet, coconutty, moist...just delicious!

I hope you all have a safe and fun holiday!!

Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 8oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups flaked coconut
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract

Beat butter, shortening and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition just until yellow disappears.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in coconut, vanilla, and coconut extract.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 30-40 minutes (mine only baked for 1 hour and 10 minutes), or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10-15 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.