Doughnuts, doughnuts, and more doughnuts!

Doughnuts. They could possibly be one of the best foods ever invented. I mean, who doesn't love fried dough covered in sugary glaze, chocolate, powdered sugar or filled with cream or berry filling? Now I will go ahead and say that these doughnuts are not as good as Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme, but for a quick doughnut recipe they were pretty darn good! I had seen this recipe a while back on Everyday Italian and have been waiting on an excuse to make them. I had intended to make them and submit them as an entry for a doughnut blogging event that was hosted recently, but sadly I have been so busy and have barely had time to cook. But I decided to make them as a special treat this weekend while my sister was visiting. We both agreed the cinnamon sugar doughnuts were our favorite followed by the powdered sugar and then the doughnut holes. The glazed ones didn't turn out so great. They were a bit soggy. I had planned on doing chocolate ones as well, but we had a sudden power outage just as I finished frying up the doughnuts so I couldn't melt my chocolate. I think the chocolate would have been great, too. If you're looking for a quick sweet treat, give these a shot. But be warned, you'll probably eat them all just like we did.

Italian Doughnuts

Vegetable oil, for frying
Olive oil, for frying
1 pound prepared pizza dough
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamonPour equal parts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out doughnut rounds. Using a floured 1-inch cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each doughnut. Gather the dough scraps and re-roll to cut out more doughnuts.

Whisk the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl to blend. Set the cinnamon-sugar aside.

When the oil is hot, working in batches, fry the doughnuts until they puff but are still pale, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool slightly. While the doughnuts are still warm, add to the bowl with cinnamon-sugar and generously coat each 2 times with the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm.

*Alternately, cool the fried doughnuts to room temperature. Stir 3 ounces milk chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in a heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until the chocolate melts. Set aside until the chocolate sauce comes to room temperature but does not set. Dip 1 side of each doughnut into the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle with finely chopped toasted almonds or crushed espresso beans and set aside until the chocolate is set.

Other variations I made...

Powdered Sugar Donuts

Glazed Doughnuts-I used a simple glaze of milk and powdered sugar for these.

Doughnut holes-Couldn't waste any of that dough!

Do You Believe in Magic?

I wish I could say that I made this luscious, chocolatey cake from scratch but that would be a lie. Yes folks, it's a boxed cake mix and canned frosting. Sorry, but I couldn't let you go on imagining me slaving away with my apron on, in flour up to my elbows. That just wasn't the case here. Now I rarely make any baked good out of a box anymore since I discovered how easy baking can be and how much more rewarding the results are when you know you made something from scratch. I do however make an exception for this cake. What makes this cake different? Well it's a magic cake! AND, it's baked in the microwave for 12 min. Doesn't get much easier. I was first introduced to this cake a few weeks ago when I had a Pampered Chef party at my house. I had been told about this magic cake, but wasn't too sure about how it would come out. But boy was I impressed! My guests and my husband were impressed too. In fact, my husband who knows nothing about baking, unless you count break and bake cookies stated, "I think I can make that cake," after seeing how simple it was to make. And not only is the cake simple and impressive, it actually tastes really good. Not like "good to be made from a boxed mix" but really, really good! And what makes it magic you may be wondering. Well read the recipe and find out!

Magic Cake

1 boxed cake mix (any kind you like-I used devil's food)
1 can frosting (not whipped-I used milk chocolate)
Pampered Chef stoneware fluted pan

Mix the cake mix as directed on the box using a whisk. Grease the fluted pan with vegetable oil. Pour the batter into the pan, making sure it's even. Scoop the frosting on top of the batter. Put the pan in the microwave and cook for 12-13 min. Remove from the microwave and let set for 20-25 min. Turn the cake out onto a platter and watch the frosting ooze over the cake.

*It is best to use a microwave that has a turn table so the cake cooks evenly. If your microwave does not have a turn table, stop the microwave every 3 minutes and turn the pan a quarter turn to be sure the cake does cook evenly.

*The frosting cooks down through the cake batter and when you turn the cake over onto a platter, it frosts itself!

Source: Pampered Chef

Back to Baking, Sort Of

Ahh the no bake cookie. These yummy little chocolate bites take me back to my childhood. My mom didn't bake very much, but I do remember her making these cookies from time to time. I also remember my sister and me inhaling them as soon as they had set and sometimes before! Last night my best friend was over and I thought we needed a little chocolate dessert. Well I didn't want to spend my whole night in the kitchen standing by the hot oven waiting on cookies to bake so then I remembered these and how fast they are to make. It was actually the first time I've ever made them on my own. The important thing to remember about this recipe is to have all your ingredients measured out and ready to mix together or you could end up with a big ol' mess. These are not pretty cookies, but they sure are delicious. And yes, I still inhaled a couple as soon as they had set. Some things never change I guess. ; )

No Bake Cookies

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Source: All Recipes

So I skipped dinner tonight

It's been a while since I've baked anything. Actually, I guess it was before Christmas. Needless to say, I was having baking withdrawals. I've been eating so much better and really making conscious decisions about the foods I eat. I've also been working out 4 days a week. So I decided I deserved a reward. I figured I would bake some cookies tonight to eat for dessert. But as soon as I got home from work, I was itching to bake. So I got started right away. By the time all the cookies were done, I had eaten 3, warm out of the oven and didn't want any dinner. So I just skipped it altogether But I think I'm ok with that. My great-grandmother (Maw Maw) always told me to eat the best first, and that's exactly what I did tonight. (Maw Maw was one smart lady ; ) ) These cookies are some of the best chocolate cookies I've ever had. They have a very chewy texture which I think makes a perfect cookie. I got the idea to make these tonight from Kayte of Kayte's Kitchen. I am sure glad I decided to make these!


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa (I used Hershey's regular cocoa)
2 cups white chocolate chips (I used 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another large bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined. Add white chocolate chips and stir to distribute evenly.
For cookies: Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.
For bars: Pat dough into a greased 9 inch square baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into squares when cooled

Cheater Mini Trifle

Mmm, doesn't this look like a really fattening, high calorie dessert? The truth is, it's less than 300 calories! I've really been trying to watch my calories this week by using sparkpeople.com to track what I'm eating every day. So far, I've done really well. But tonight, I was really craving a rich, chocolatey dessert but didn't want all the calories. So I grabbed some of my low calorie snacks and came up with this yummy dessert for myself. It really satisfied my craving for sweets and I didn't feel so bad about it because I stayed under my calorie limit for the day!

This isn't really a recipe but it's how I made it.

Cheater Mini Trifle

1 fat free Jello chocolate pudding cup (100 calories)
1 package Keebler Right Bite chocolate chip cookies, crumbled (100 calories)
2 Tbsp Cool Whip whipped topping (25 calories)
1 Tbsp semi sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, mixed (70 calories)

Put a little of the crumbled cookies in the bottom of a wine glass or other pretty dish (makes it feel more like a rich dessert). Next put a layer of chocolate pudding. Then, add 1 Tbsp whipped topping, another layer of cookie crumbles and then a layer of chocolate pudding. Top with 1 Tbsp whipped topping and mixed chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Sometimes when I'm really trying to watch calories I'll add some sliced strawberries and cool whip to my fat free pudding instead of the cookies and chocolate chips. Mmmm, so good and so many fewer calories than brownies and ice cream or some other desserts.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 to everyone! What better way to start off blogging in the new year than with a really decadent and high calorie dessert. This might be my last truly fattening dessert for a while because like so many others, I'm "trying" to be healthier in the new year. We'll see how that goes but for now that's the intention. So anyway, I made this really delicious pie for dessert on New Year's Eve. My great aunt made it for Christmas dinner and it was so good I just had to get the recipe from her. It's really yummy to be so simple.

Caramel Pie

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 8 oz container whipped topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans, divided
1 graham cracker pie shell

Begin by removing the paper wrapper from the can of condensed milk. Place the unopened can on its side in a large pot of water, making sure the can is completely covered with water. Boil for 4 hours, rolling the can around every so often in the pot. (Be sure the can stays covered with water the entire time. You may need to add more water to the pot as some evaporates from boiling.) Remove the can from the pot and set on the counter to cool for several hours or over night. DO NOT refrigerate. When you open the can, the milk should be thick and the color of caramel. In a mixing bowl, combine the "caramel" with room temperature cream cheese and 1/4 cup of pecans. Pour into the pie shell. Top with whipped topping and remaining chopped nuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*This would be great with a layer of chocolate in the bottom of the pie crust or with mini chocolate chips added into the filling.

Source: My aunt Gail

More Holiday Baking

As if my holiday baking list wasn't long enough already, it got even longer yesterday. My sister-in-law called to see if I would be willing to help her do some baskets for a couple people. I said I would, but in my mind I was thinking "how in the world am I going to get this all done??" I still had some last minute Christmas shopping to do last night, I have several gifts that need to be wrapped, not to mention we still have guests staying with us. But I'm a trooper and the kind of person that hardly ever says no, so I figured I would find a way to do it. After I got home from my last minute shopping, which wasn't quite the nightmare I invisioned, I got right to baking. My contributions to the baskets are mini pumpkin bread loaves and these cranberry, white chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies that I saw on Annie's Eats. Well, three hours later my mini loaves were done and I had cookies, cookies everywhere! Seriously, this recipe makes a lot of cookies, but they are so delicious. If I hadn't needed so many cookies I probably would have frozen half the dough. These might just be my new favorite cookie!

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup dried cranberries

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 ½ cup flour

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, dried cranberries and vanilla and let stand for 1 hour, covered with plastic wrap.Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in egg-cranberry mixture and oatmeal. Dough will be stiff. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet or roll in small balls and flatten slightly on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until

lightly browned.

Source: Unknown

It's the Holiday Season!

The holiday baking has begun. Yes, I am getting started very late this year. I've been so busy running around trying to get my house ready for guests, Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, holiday partying, etc etc. I just realized a couple days ago, I have so much baking to do!! I'm running out of time and fast! So anyway, I did a little bit of it tonight. As soon as I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats, I knew I wanted to give these a try. I made the dough on Tuesday, covered it and put it in the fridge until I had time to roll it out tonight. I let it sit out for about an hour before working with it. These turned out so great! I used a frosting recipe I've used before and made a few different colors with food coloring. The decorating was made easier with this decorating set that my friend Elly sent me for Christmas. I love it and I love this recipe!

Ella’s White Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. Yields ~40 cookies.

Source: a family friend of Annie's (Donna)

FROSTING

1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 stick real butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon cream or whole milk

Cream butter, milk and vanilla together.
Slowly add powdered sugar to butter until desired consistency. If
you'd
like, add liquid food coloring for festive cookies
When cookies are cooled, slather this heavenly frosting. For more
texture and color, press the top of the cookie in sprinkles, colored
sugar
or just eat plain!

Source: Joelen from Joelen's Culinary Adventures 
(I believe this came from a co-worker of hers)

My Contribution to Thanksgiving

As much as I love to cook and bake, I did not host Thanksgiving this year. We always have the big meal at my in-laws' house. Of course I always offer to bring something and normally end up taking a main dish and a dessert. Well this year when I asked what I could bring I was told that all the main dishes were taken care of and that I could bring a dessert. Every other year there is always pecan pie and sweet potato pie at the in-laws and then I bring some other dessert. So I decided not to make I pie since I assumed there would be pie. I had seen these apple blondies on a couple food blogs recently and had heard rave reviews from everyone that had tried them. So I figured these would be a good option. Well, there ended up being no pecan pie at Thanksgiving dinner and I was disappointed in that. Safe to say I'll be making one of those soon to satisfy my craving. But the blondies turned out good anyway! I think they are the best blondies I've ever had! I took the advice of others that had made these and didn't make the brown sugar frosting recipe for these blondies. Instead I made up my own frosting recipe. Everyone loved them!

Apple Blondies with Brown Sugar Frosting

Blondies:
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped peeled apples
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (i did not add nuts)


Blondies:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Combine flour, baking pwder and salt. Add to butter mixture on low speed, mixing until blended. Stir in apples, cinnamon and nuts, mixing well. Spread evenly in greased 9x13 pan.

Bake in Preheated oven at 350 degrees until set and golden, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack.

Confectioners' Sugar Frosting
(Icing recipe I made)

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl combine all ingredients and whisk together. Add more milk if needed. The icing should be smooth but thick enough to coat a spoon. Drizzle over cooled blondies just before serving.


*This is the original frosting recipe. Others said it was just too sweet for these blondies so I made a different recipe.

*Brown Sugar Frosting
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring mixture just to a boil then remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Stir in the confectioner's sugar, mixing until smooth. Spread evenly over bar. Let stand until frosting is firm enough to cut. Cut into bars or squares

Puttin' on the Pounds

I told myself that this holiday season I would not gain any weight. Well, here it is, only the middle of November and I've already been in baking overdrive. Now, this wouldn't be such a problem if I could resist eating all of the things I bake. I've tried and tried each year to have a little will power and have failed. So, I've finally decided that the only logical answer is that I have to work out to counteract my over indulgence of sweets during the last few months of the year. Tonight was not a holiday or special occasion, but I decided I wanted to bake anyway. I had made this pound cake once before but it wasn't in my blog. This cake isn't a soft pound cake but a little more "bread like" and dense. It has a really good flavor though. I really chose to make it because it was quick and easy, and I just wanted some dessert tonight. So here it is. The pound cake that will ultimately be the beginning of me putting on the pounds this year. Hopefully I can talk myself into getting on the treadmill tomorrow to avoid that. We'll see. ; )

EASY POUND CAKE
---------------

2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 c. butter
6 eggs
1 tbsp. flavorings (almond, vanilla and butter)
(I just use 1 Tbsp vanilla)

When all ingredients reach room temperature place together
in large mixing bowl. Blend for 10 minutes at medium speed.
Pour into greased and floured tube pan or 2 loaf pans. Bake
at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Source: Unknown

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Not all chocolate chip cookies are created equal. Some are crunchy, some are chewy and some are soft and gooey. I normally make the Best, Big, Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie, aka BBFCCCC, which has more of a bite to it and is very chewy. But I don't discriminate when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, well, any cookie for that matter, so I decided I wanted to try a new recipe this weekend. I had heard good things about Michelle's chocolate chip cookies so I thought I might just try those. So last night I got in the kitchen and whipped these up. I added M&M minis to mine, just because I have a ton of Halloween candy leftover that I need to get rid of. These turned out really good. They were a lot different from the BBFCCCC that I usually make. Very soft and chewy!


Chelle’s Soft & Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Sugar & Spice)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Microwave butter for 30 seconds, stir and set aside. Do not worry if it is not completely melted.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk and beat until combined. Gradually beat in flour mixture, beating just until combined (do NOT overmix!). Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Refrigerate dough for 15-30 minutes.

6. Drop by rounded spoonful (I used a Pampered Chef cookie scoop that holds approximately 2 tablespoons) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are just brown and middle is not quite set yet. Cool on pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

7. Before adding more dough to warm cookie sheets, place sheet in freezer for 5-7 minutes to cool.

Store in an airtight container. Recipe yielded 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Cupcakes for Everyone!

Tomorrow is Halloween so I thought I'd bake some cupcakes to take to work for my co-workers. Of course I forgot half the stuff I needed when I went to the store yesterday so had to run by the store on my lunch break today. Wouldn't you know I couldn't find any cupcake liners on the baking aisle which is one of the things I had forgotten yesterday. I looked high and low and finally found the last two packs in the back of a shelf. One was Barbie and the other these giant foil liners. Well I didn't have time to go anywhere else so I bought the foil ones and a pack of Halloween colored sprinkles. Since I was making the frosting, I thought about making different colors to write words and make different designs on the cupcakes. But I knew they'd just get scarfed down in a matter of seconds so I decided to just stick with the sprinkles. They turned out pretty good. My husband and I were the willing taste testers since everyone knows you can't take food to work without testing it first. : )

For the cupcakes:
(I totally cheated and used a boxed mix)

1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)-prepare as directed on the box.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and fill each liner about half full with cake batter. Bake as directed. Let cool completely.
Makes 24 regular sized cupcakes or 16 jumbo ones.

For the frosting:
(I used the recipe I used for a chocolate cake I made)


Chocolate Frosting

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, beat margarine and cocoa together until combined. Add milk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until desired consistency is achieved. Adjust with more milk or confectioners' sugar if necessary.

*After reading the reviews on the website I got the recipe from I made a couple alterations. I used 3 cups confectioners' sugar and 3/4 cup cocoa powder. It made a great frosting!



Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired.

Original source for the frosting recipe: All Recipes

Happy Birthday Sis!

Another mission accomplished...my first carrot cake! I've been wanting to make a from scratch carrot cake for a long time now. I finally found a recipe on Peabody's blog that looked perfect so decided to make it this weekend. Now a lot was depending on this cake being good since I was making it for my little sister's birthday. She and my mom were up for the weekend so I thought it would be a great time to make this cake. I was a little concerned, not about the recipe, but about my ability to make a wonderful carrot cake and frosting from start to finish. But thankfully, this turned out so great. My sister, mom, and husband loved it! I sent most of the cake home with my mom and sister so they could eat some later and take some to my dad. My dad just called tonight to say it was the best carrot cake he's ever had. This recipe is a keeper!

Check out more great baking recipes at culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com

Solid Gold Carrot Cake (with my alterations)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 TBSP vanilla extract
2 TBSP finely chopped crystallized ginger (I didn't have any so used 2 tsp ground ginger)
3 cups firmly packed shredded carrots
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I used chopped pecans)

1. Preheat to 350F. Butter and flour two 9-inch pans or mini muffin pans.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
3. Beat eggs and sugars together on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. At low speed, add the oil, melted butter, milk, vanilla, and ginger and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just blended. Add the carrots and walnuts and mix until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly.
4. Bake cakes for 25-30 minutes until they are dark golden brown. For mini cupcakes, it took 15 minutes.
5. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. Frost with your choice of frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
PREPARATION:
Directions for cream cheese frosting
Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl; beat well until smooth. Makes enough cream cheese frosting for a 2-layer cake.

Source-cake: Tish Boyle's the Cake Book

Source-frosting: Adapted from Tish Boyle's the Cake Book, 2006

My sister about to blow out the candles. If you look closely, you will see someone else eyeing the cake.

Chess Cake?

I had decided I wasn't cooking dinner tonight because I just wasn't feeling well today. The change in the weather has affected my allergies and I've just been feeling yucky the past couple days. But after dinner tonight, which was leftover beef stew, I was feeling a little better. My husband has been asking me for a while now to make this cake that he loves, so I decided I felt up to making it tonight.

The cake I made is the first dessert my husband ever baked for me while we were dating. Actually, now I that I think about it, it's probably the only dessert he's ever baked for me aside from break and bake cookies. The original recipe was one that he got from his roommate's grandmother. Of course he doesn't have the recipe now so I had to look it up online. Well I finally found a recipe for chess cake. I'm not sure this should really be called a cake, though. It's more like a cream cheese bar or square to me. Whatever you call it, it's a very rich and very sweet dessert. Not a pretty "cake", but still very delicious.

Chess Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/2 cup melted butter. Put into prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, Beat cream cheese until smooth. Blend in 1/2 cup melted butter and 2 eggs. Gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar. Pour over the crust mixture already in the pan.
4. Bake for 1 hour. Cool.

Cut into squares.

Original Source: All Recipes

The Cure for a Bad Week

This week has been just awful. I don't know if it's the full moon or what, but nothing has gone right this week. Work has been crazy; difficult customers, annoying co-workers and it's been insanely busy. To top it off, I burned my meatloaf tonight. Note to self: don't forget to put liquid in the crock pot next time. It's times like these a girl just needs some chocolate therapy. I didn't feel much like baking tonight after my meatloaf disaster, but I wanted some chocolate so I pulled out the mixer. I knew exactly what I wanted too; chocolate chocolate chip cookies. After I got busy in the kitchen, I sort of forgot about my bad week. And when I tasted these cookies, all was right with the world. Sometimes the secret to happiness is a little baking and chocolate.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
2/3 c. cocoa
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Mix dry ingredients and stir into sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Shape into balls and bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

Adapted from this recipe.

First taste of fall

When I woke up this morning and took my dogs outside, I shivered as I stood on my back porch in my pajamas. This is the first day it's been chilly in the morning so that always means one thing to me...fall is on it's way! Yes, it still ended up being in the 80's today but the chill in the air early this morning made me want to make soup and bake anyway. So that's just what I did today. I was on my own for dinner tonight and decided soup would be the perfect thing to make. I normally make vegetable beef soup, but my ground beef was frozen so I just made vegetable soup tonight.


Vegetable Soup

1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
8 oz beef broth
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar (just trust me)
2 1/2-3 cups mixed vegetables (frozen, fresh or canned) Mine was a mixture of potatoes, corn, peas, carrots, and green beans

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 min. Add beef broth and canned tomatoes. Next add the mixed vegetables. Add seasonings and stir to combine. Cover and simmer on low for about 35-45 min, stirring occasionally.

*I add the sugar to bring out the savory flavors in the soup.
*Sometimes I add half lb cooked lean ground beef and 2 chopped garlic cloves to make vegetable beef soup.

I also got to break in my new KitchenAid mixer today. I made a recipe that my husband's co-worker sent home with him. Apparently everyone knows I love to cook and bake because I get recipes from people all the time. I'm very glad I tried this one. It's delicious!



Pecan Pie Coffee Cake Bars

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup self rising flour
2 cups chopped pecans (I only used 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I added this, not in the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, beat all four eggs with a mixer. Add sugar and mix with eggs to combine. Next add the butter and vanilla and combine with other ingredients. Add flour and cinnamon and again combine well with other ingredients. Stir in chopped pecans. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 30-35 min. Be careful not to over cook. The top will be golden brown, but the inside will still be a little sticky when a toothpick is inserted. It will set up as it cools. Slice into bars once cool.

*The outside is slightly cakey and the edges crusty from the sugar that crystallizes as it cooks, but the inside is gooey like pecan pie filling. Delicious and perfect with coffee!

I'm noticing a trend

As I was looking through my blog I noticed that all the baking I do is on nights when my husband is working late. I never feel like cooking when it's just me, but yet I always want to bake. I don't know why that is. Maybe it's because I'm bored or maybe I have too much time on my hands to look at recipes online. Whatever the reason, that's just what I do. Well tonight was no different. After I ate my dinner and the dogs and I were just sitting here staring at each other, I decided I had to get up and bake something. As usual when I start to bake I have no real idea what I'm going to make. I saw this recipe and thought it would be something a little different that my usual peanut butter cookies or brownies. After reading all the reviews of this recipe online I finally decided to just half-heartedly take the reviewers' advice. This is easily the most success I've had with oatmeal cookies. They really did turn out chewy on the inside and slightly crunchy on the edges. I ate way too many too. I guess it's a really good thing my husband doesn't work late very often or I would be baking and eating a lot more sweets!



Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
(I made some alterations based on recipe reviews as well as what I had on hand.)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I added about 1 1/2 cups)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (I added about 3/4 tsp)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt (I added 1/2 tsp)
  
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats (I added 2 1/2 cups)
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (Omitted)
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

(I baked these for about 15 min)



Original Source: All Recipes

Where have you been all my life?

Nutella, one of my new food loves. I can't believe I had never had it up until a couple months ago. I've tried it on a couple things so far; toast, strawberries, cookies, a spoon. ; ) But I figured it had to be good baked into things too so I started searching for a recipe to make with my beautiful Nutella. I came across this recipe and gave it a try tonight. All I can say is that it didn't disappoint. They turned out fluffy, chocolaty and hazelnutty just like I'd hoped they would.


Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2-1/4	cups flour
1	teaspoon baking soda
1	cup butter
3/4	cup brown sugar
1/4	cup white sugar
2/3	cup nutella (1/3 cup for cookies 1/3 cup for dizzle)
2	eggs
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	cup hazelnuts (measured ground and toasted)
2	cups chocolate chips
	teaspoons milk (2-3 tsp) Cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, 1/3 cup nutella and vanilla. In seperate bowl whisk to combine flour and baking soda and toasted hazlenuts(grind the hazelnuts and toast them in a frying pan on medium low heat stirring constanly about 10 minutes, cool). Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar. Add chocolate chips, careful not to over mix. Measure one tablespoon of dough (flaten just a little) on a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 9 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for one minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Once cooled make drizzle for the top. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup nutella with 2-3 tsp of milk over simmering water (double boiler). I used a plastic ziplock bag and poked a hole in one corner with a toothpick, Squeeze a zig zag design on top. Cool completely. Can be stored in a air tight container, with wax paper between layers and frozen. * I baked for about 12 min and also didn't do the hazelnut drizzle on top. I read that it didn't set up well so decided not to do that step. I also omitted the hazelnuts since my husband doesn't like nuts in cookies. I think they would have made the cookies even better though. Original Source: Recipe Zaar

The Name Says It All

Ok, this isn't a new recipe. In fact I've probably made these a dozen times. But when I decided to bake my favorite chocolate chip cookies tonight, I realized they aren't in my blog! Well now they are. These truly are the only chocolate chip cookies that I have been able to make successfully every single time I make them. The name describes them perfectly!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

* I bake mine at 350 for 15-17 min. I found at 325 it took at least 20-22 min. Also I only use a cup and a half chocolate chips.

Original Source: All Recipes

Frozen Key Lime Pie

Here's another recipe I've been meaning to make for quite some time now. I found it a while back online and thought it would be a perfect summer dessert. It requires almost no baking, which is great on these hot summer days in Alabama. Actually in my case, it did require no baking since I used a store bought pie crust. I highly recommend this recipe for an easy and cool summertime dessert.




Frozen Key Lime Pie

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

(I used store bought pie crust)

For the filling:
6 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons grated lime zest
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 to 5 limes)

For the decoration:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Thin lime wedges

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

For the filling, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes, until thick. With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour into the baked pie shell and freeze.

For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm. Spoon or pipe decoratively onto the pie and decorate with lime. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Original source: Barefoot Contessa