Cinnamon Swirl

This is yummy and cake-ish ... like a coffee cake.  Mmm.

(I'm pretty sure the original came from allrecipes)

Batter
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 envelopes rapidrise yeast
1/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c milk (warm, 120-130*)
1/4 c butter, melted
1 egg

Cinnamon Topping
3 tbsp butter, soft
3/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing
1 c powdered sugar
1 to 2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix batter ingredients in a pre-sprayed 8x8 baking dish, let rest for 10 minutes.  Combine cinnamon mixture in a small bowl by mixing with a fork.

Top batter evenly with cinnamon topping.  Using fingers, poke topping thoroughly into batter.

Bake by placing in a COLD oven; set temp to 350*.  Bake 25-35 minutes until lightly browned and firm in center.  Cool 10 minutes.  Combine icing ingredients and drizzle over warm cake. 

Yum yum. :)

Chocolate Fudge Cupcake*

This makes a cake mix taste homemade! The batter is so much thicker than the runny version. You can use any variety of cake mix, but the chocolate cupcakes are my favorite!

1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1/2 cup melted butter (butter, not margarine)
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients on low until blended, then mix on high for 2 minutes. Using a large ice cream scooper, scoop into paper lined cupcake pans and bake for 20 minutes.

*recipe from tidymom.net

Apple Pie

1 recipe pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie
1/2 c. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1/4 c. (minus 1 Tbsp.) water
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. vanilla
5-8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white and brown sugar, spices, vanilla and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Add 3/4 caramel sauce with apples. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the remaining sauce while still hot over the crust. Pour slowly so it doesn't run off. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 35-45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Definitely worth the time and effort! I get rave reviews whenever I serve it.

(the pie in the back! You can't tell, but the presentation is delicious!)

Perfect Pumpkin Pie*

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 large egss
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium saucepan, heat pumpkin, spices, and salt. Pour into another bowl and cool for a little bit before adding milk and eggs. Pour into crust and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.


*recipe from allrecipes.com with my own alterations

Peach Cobbler*

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches *or 4-5 fresh peaches
• 1 cups white sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pour butter into a shallow 2-qt. baking dish; set aside. Drain peaches, reserving 1/4 cup juice. In a saucepan, bring the peaches and juice just to a boil. *If using fresh peaches, peel, slice, and boil in 1 tsp lemon juice and less than 1/4c. water. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine white sugar, flour, milk, baking powder and salt; mix well. Pour over butter in baking dish. Spoon hot peaches over batter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. 

*recipe from allrecipes.com, with my own alterations

Rocky Road Fudge

This fudge is totally cheating and stupidly easy, but it's so good! If you like chocolate covered 'mallows, give it a try. :)

2 cups (12-oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1) Line a 9x13 pan with tin foil; grease lightly.

2) Microwave chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a large (uncovered, microwave-safe) bowl for 1 min. Stir, and microwave more if necessary at 10-15 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla, and fold in 'mallows and nuts.

3) Press mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Lift from pan, remove foil, and cut into pieces. This makes about 48 pieces.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies

Mmm, these are yummy and really cake-y. Oh, and this recipe makes a TON (like 7 dozen), so I recommend 1/2ing it! :) People always ooh and aah over these. Mmm.

1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or more ... I always add more:)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1) Preheat to 375*. Grease cookie sheets.

2) In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended.

3) Separately combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts (if you want.) Drop by teaspoon-ish size on the cookie sheets.

4) Bake 12-15 min until edges start to brown. Allow to cool for a few min before removing to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Moist Caramel Apple Cake

(picture from kraftfoods.com)

This is so easy and so good! I served it with vanilla ice cream and it was delicious!

1 pkg. (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) Vanilla or French Vanilla instant pudding
1 cup water
4 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, coarsely chopped
20 caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted bundt pan or a 10-inch tube pan. Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, eggs, and oil in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed 2 min. Gently stir in apples. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 50- 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Microwave caramels and milk on high for 1 1/2 min., stirring every 30 sec., until blended. Cool 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Drizzle over cake.

Chocolate Beet Cake

Yes, I did say beet cake, you read that right. :) I had some beets that I needed to use and I'd heard of this before, so I looked online for a good recipe. I found a winner! This is so good, super moist, and has beets in it?!? Go figure. :) This is the link to the original recipe I used, but I used the converter at the top to 1/2 the recipe, since I only had about 4 large beets. (about a cup when pureed. And not that it's difficult to 1/2 a recipe, but I think that little tool is nifty. tee hee.) So I ended up with with a cute little squatty 1/2 bundt cake.

1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
4 (1 oz each) squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups pureed cooked beets
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. bundt. Bake at 375* for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 min before removing to a wire rack. For the top, I just made a simple powdered sugar/milk/butter/vanilla frosting and drizzled it over while it was still warm. The recipe calls for just a dusting of powdered sugar before serving, so either way.

You'll be surprised how moist and nummy it is. Yay beets. :)

bread machine cinnamon rolls

Ari and I made these today. Yummy rainy day treats! :)

This is another from allrecipes.com, found here.

*UPDATE: Made these with whole wheat flour the other day (that we ground ourselves) and they were awesome. Yum.

DOUGH
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temp
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

MIDDLE
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

FROSTING
1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Place dough ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Your counter might look like this afterwards. :) (except maybe not the weird green color. And you do know the thread-cutting trick, right??) Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400*. I must make mine thinner than I need to, because I always have extras. I put the scrappy ones in a smaller dish. :)
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving. Kids like this part. :)

These don't disappoint! I have to go eat one now, bye.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies - Dangerous!

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped (I like to put them in the freezer first before putting them in the cookies)

Preheat oven to 375F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes (no longer, even if they look like they're not done). Remove from oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes. Press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

The peanut butter cups in the middle then become oo-ey goo-ey goodness...mmmm

"The Best Chocolate Chip Cake in the Whole World"

This is Liz's recipe, but since I just made it, I'll post it. :)

1 pkg. regular devil's food cake mix (not butter or pudding style)

*use these instructions instead of those on the box*
1 small pkg of instant chocolate pudding mix
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. oil
4 eggs
1 (8 oz) sour cream
6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
1 c. pecans, walnuts, or almonds (optional)

1. Grease and flour bundt pan or 9x13 or 3 layer pans
2. In mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, and flour. Stir to blend.
3. Add oil, water, eggs, and sour cream.
4. Mix at medium speed for 2 min. or until well blended.
5. Stir in chocolate chips
6. Pour into pan and bake at 350* for 50-60 min. If using other pans, check after 30-40 min.
7. Can be served plain, with powdered sugar on it or frosting.
   

**Yes, I realize my picture looks like a giant donut -- shoosh. :)

white chocolate raspberry cheesecake

I can't take credit for this recipe at all (it's from allrecipes.com), but it's yummy and I have to share! I've made it twice - num nyum.(this photo also from allrecipes, but this is exactly what it looked like ... except ours had cracks:)

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (we used whole oreos, crushed)
3 Tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 Tbsp sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.
2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 Tbsp sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.
3. Preheat oven to 325*. In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.
4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 Tbsp raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 Tbsp raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to marble.
   
5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.
6. Enjoy, and watch out, your husband will snitch the leftovers. :)

There are some good additional cheesecake tips there too, if you want to peek. Click here.

The best frosting for sugar cookies I've ever made...

4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
5 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
food coloring

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 3-5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

You'll be able to stack your cookies after awhile without them sticking to each other.

Sugar Cookies

This is Jennie's recipe that I made - yum!

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sour
1 egg
1 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup flour

Roll on well-floured board. Bake 425*F for 5-7 minutes - do not let brown.

Crispy Peanut Butter Squares

I got this one from Jennie - the easiest and yummiest treat to ease my sweet-tooth cravings!

Bring to a boil:
1 c. Karo syrup
1 c. sugar

Remove from heat.

Add to melt:
1 c. peanut butter

Pour over:
5 c. Rice Krispies or Special K

Pour & press to flatten on cookie sheet.

Frost with 1 small package chocolate chips - spread over warm krispies to melt.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

LOVE these! They are a cake-ish cookie. **

1 c. shortening
2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking power
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375*. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven (where else?), until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

**Be warned, this recipe makes a ton of cookies. If you make them the size the recipe says, it makes 7 dozen!! I make them bigger, so much less. But they're so good you can distribute them throughout the neighborhood ... or send some with your hubby to work to share, like I do. :) Okay, or you can always 1/2 it.

Who wants PIE???

The last time I tried baking a pie was with my grandma who was nearly a professional pie-crust-maker. Unfortunately my sweet grandma went blind, and I became her 'eyes' as we made a pie crust together. However, my lack of skills and her frustration with not being able to do it anymore led to a not-so-happy experience. I had sworn off pie crusts until one day, my neighbor graciously taught me how to make this simply easy pie crust. I will never go back to store-bought pies. :) These are all my neighbor's recipes that I'd like to share.

Pie Crust 8" or 9" - 2 single pie shells or 1 double (bottom and top crust)

2 C. flour
1 C. Crisco (only Crisco, other shortenings just aren't stiff enough)
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/4 C. cold water

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the flour and salt together. Then cut in the Crisco with a pastry blender or a two knives until it looks like small peas. Mix the egg and water together with a fork, then add it to the flour mixture. Stir with your hands until mixed together (try not to over-stir because the dough may become too tough and not as flaky. It should look a little marble-y with the Crisco mixed in it.) Divide the dough in half and roll out on a floured surface or pastry cloth to about 1/4 inch thick. Carefully put in your pie pan. (If it breaks, just piece i back together with a little water).

To Bake:

* If making a single crust that you want for cream or cold fruit pies, poke holes with a fork in the pie crust before baking (to prevent it from bubbling up). When I say poke, I mean ALL over, covering the entire bottom and sides. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 -10 minutes until lightly golden brown.

* If baking the crust with pie filling (pumpkin pie, cherry pie, etc), bake as the pie recipe directs.

PIE Recipes:

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Make and bake a single pie crust. Allow to cool. Cover the pie crust with sliced fresh strawberries. Make a box of strawberry glaze (found in the baking section near the Jell-O, I think!) and pour over top the strawberries. Easy!


Fresh Peach Pie - 8" or 9"

5 peaches (3 Large, 2 Soft) - it'll make sense later!
1 C. sugar
2 -3 Tbs. cornstarch (depending on how thick you want it)
1/2 C. cold water
1/4 tsp. Almond extract
2 Tbs. butter

Peel and slice large peaches into pie shell (already cooked pie shell). In a blender or with a potato masher, puree or mash the soft peaches. Add sugar, cornstarch, and water. Cook over medium heat until boiling stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and almond extract. Pour over peaches. Refrigerate for 3 -4 hours. Serve with whipped cream topping.


Best Cherry Pie (so much better than the canned pie filling)

1 can tart cherries packed in water (in the fruit or baking section of the grocery store) - Do not drain
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. instant tapioca (dry granules)
1/8 tsp. almond extract
1 Tbsp. cut up butter

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour into a 9" or 8" (unbaked) pie crust. Dot with butter. Moisten rim of crust (this allows the top crust to stick better to the bottom). Then cover with the top crust. Trim the edges and flute (the pretty wavy design on the edge of the pie). Or you can just press the edges with fork. Brush with small amount of milk (helps turn the pie a golden brown on top) and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cut 6 diagonal slits in center of top crust and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 -30 minutes. Make sure the juices are bubbling before removing the pie. This helps ensure that the filling has thickened.

**You may want to cover the edge of the pie with a small foil trim so that the edges don't brown to quickly and get burnt.

**You can also double the pie recipe for a 10" deep dish pie. It may be very full so you may have to remove some of the juice so that it doesn't overflow.

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

1 pound cake, cut into slices
1 large pkg chocolate pudding, prepared
1 c. sour cream
1 3.5 oz bar of bittersweet chocolate, curled
2 c. heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp confectionery sugar
3 small pkg fresh raspberries

Mix already prepared pudding with the sour cream, set aside. Mix cream and sugar together with beater on high speed until stiff peaks form, set aside. Using a trifle bowl, layer 1/2 of the pound cake on the bottom. Cover cake with 1/2 the pudding mixture. Put 1/3 of the chocolate shavings on top of the pudding. Then place 1 pkg of raspberries around for next layer. Spread 1/2 of the whipped cream mixture over the top. Repeat layers one more time. Cover with saran wrap and put in fridge 8-24 hours. Before serving garnish with additional raspberries on top of leftover chocolate shavings.

*Note -- okay, I've never actually made this, but a coworker did and he gave me the recipe. It was soooo amazingly good and looked really pretty and I want an excuse to make it.