My Husband is Right

My husband is right...I don't say that too often, but in this case he is. He tells me all the time that I am spoiled because I always end up getting all these fun, new kitchen gadgets that I want. But I don't think that's any different than him getting every new power tool or electronic gadget that comes out. And besides, I'm much more likely to use my kitchen tools for many more years than he'll use the things he buys. But anyway, back to me being spoiled. I realized today that I really am. I wanted to make some muffins to have for breakfast this week. I was all prepared with my recipe, and then I realized the bowl for my KitchenAid mixer was in the dishwasher (which I had just turned on by the way) along with my food chopper that I was going to use to chop some pecans, and my mandoline that I needed to shred my apples! All things I *needed* to make my recipe! At first I was disappointed because, being spoiled as I am, I couldn't figure out how I was going to make my muffins without my favorite kitchen gadgets. But then a little common sense finally kicked in. I realized that I still do have a hand mixer in the drawer, long forgotten since I got my stand mixer. I also have a hand grater in the drawer that I never use anymore, and as for chopping the pecans, well a plastic baggy and a heavy rolling pin works well for that. So I ended up making my muffins anyway and they turned out to be so delicious. Even my husband liked them and he is not into anything remotely healthy. Thanks to Elly over at Elly Says Opa for the recipe! I had to make some alterations to the recipe based on what I had on hand and I used a little different ratio of whole wheat to all purpose flour. Check out Elly's blog for the original recipe along with her other variations of the healthy muffin recipe.

Healthy Apple Muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or vegetable oil, if you're not calorie counting)
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk (I subbed 3/4 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice)
1 cup shredded apple (1 large apple)
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.

In a seprarate bowl, beat egg with brown sugar until well combined. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, applesauce and shredded apple.

Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts.

Pour mixture into muffin cups and bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

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

Me: 1 Pizza Dough: 0

Over the past year I have faced and conquered many of my cooking fears. I made my own meatballs, made my first homemade cake AND frosting, had my first experience with yeast bread, and roasted a whole chicken. Not too shabby for a girl whose weekly grocery list used to include hamburger helper and frozen skillet meals just a couple years ago. One thing I had not yet tried though was pizza dough. I figured what better night to try it than Super Bowl Sunday. I had seen this recipe a while back on Amber's blog and it looked so simple. And really, it is. If you can turn on a food processor, you can make this pizza dough. Not only is it so quick and easy, it's so good too. I may never buy store bought dough again! I'm really happy to be able to mark this one off as another kitchen fear conquered.


Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: EatingWell.com)

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately

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

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)

Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins

When it comes to breakfast, I'm a muffin kind of girl. I love just about all breakfast type foods, but muffins are at the top of my list of favorites. I decided today I wanted to bake some muffins to have for a quick breakfast this week. I knew I wanted to make something with oats, but wasn't sure what kind I wanted to bake. I finally came across this recipe and decided to go with it. It turned out very good! Not too sweet and very moist. Perfect for a breakfast muffin. I think this will be a keeper for me as far as basic muffin recipes go. It's a very versatile recipe. Other things I think would be good for add ins are chopped apples, cranberries, chopped pecans, bananas, or chocolate chips. I can't wait to have one in the morning with my coffee!


Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup whole milk with 1 tsp lemon juice mixed in)
  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

* I also added 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.

In a bowl, soak oats in buttermilk for 15 minutes. Stir in egg, sugar and oil (and vanilla). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and sal, (and cinnamon); stir into oat mixture just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 16-18 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Source: All Recipes

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

Second Time's a Charm

They say the third time's a charm but in my case the second time was. I first tried making these dinner rolls a couple weeks ago and they were a big flop. If I had posted a picture in my blog, you probably would have thought I was posting about biscuits or possibly hockey pucks. It was really bad. That being said, it was my first time ever making a yeast bread so I guess it was a trial run. I originally saw these rolls on Amber's blog, so I asked her for some tips before I attempted to make them again. Thankfully they turned out very good this time with her help. I was so excited when they actually started looking like rolls and not biscuits!!


Sweet Dinner Rolls
(Adapted from: Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (It only took about 3 1/4 cups flour for me)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions
- Place water and milk in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until liquids reach (110 degrees F/45 degrees C). Pour liquids into mixer bowl; add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add in yeast and let set for 10-20 minutes to proof (the mixture will be foamy).
- Attach the bowl to the mixer and mix on low speed adding the salt, butter and egg. Once well mixed add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. With the machine; knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into desired shape. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. (You can place a bowl of very hot tap water in the bottom of your stove and place the rolls in on the rack above it). Gently brush the tops of the rolls with half of the softened butter.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removing the rolls from the oven brush them with remaining softened butter once again.

The yeast beginning to proof.

The dough after I kneaded it a few more times by hand.

Starting to look like rolls!

The finished product

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.

Baked Pumpkin Bread

Whenever people come to stay at my house, I always like to bake something to have while they're here. My mom and sister are going to be at my house this weekend so I decided I'd get in the kitchen tonight and whip something up for them. The last time they were here, they really enjoyed the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins I made, so I thought pumpkin bread would be a good idea. As I was looking at recipes online, I found that most of them had 1 cup of oil. I thought that was a little too much oil so I kept looking. Now I know you can sub applesauce for the oil but I didn't have any. Well I finally found a recipe that uses no oil. But let me tell you, it is not lacking anything without the oil. This bread turned out so moist and delicious! And so much healthier without the oil.


Baked Pumpkin Bread

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
  
• 1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree (I used 1 1/2 cups)
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any so I used 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1/2 tsp lemon juice)
  
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and smooth the top.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*I only baked this for about 40-45 min and it was done.


Original Source: All Recipes

Real Comfort Food

Tonight's dinner was a huge success for me. I had never made a whole roasted chicken. To be honest, it has always scared me a little. But it really wasn't hard at all. I will admit, when I first took this whole chicken out of the package, it really creeped me out. I can handle boneless, skinless chicken breasts and any other meat, but something about a whole raw chicken is a little icky to me. But I love roasted chicken so I quickly got past that and prepped my chicken. My other worry was how long to cook a whole chicken. I read so many different recipes and finally decided on how I would cook it. I gave my husband specific instructions on when to put the chicken in and at what temp when he got home and crossed my fingers that it would turn out.

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised. My house smelled great and the chicken looked so good! So I whipped up a couple easy sides and dinner was ready. I think I got 2 thumbs up from my husband.

On the menu tonight: garlic and lemon roasted chicken, wild rice, peas, and baked apples.

Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken

whole chicken (mine was 5lbs)
4-5 small garlic cloves, peeled, whole
3/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper, mixed together in a bowl (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 stick butter, cut into 1/4" slices (1/4 cup)

Begin by washing the chicken and patting it dry. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Rub a little of the salt and pepper on the inside cavity of the chicken. Place garlic cloves inside. Place a few slices of the butter inside the chicken as well. Rub remaining butter, salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken making sure to coat wings and legs, too. Pour lemon juice over the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees, 20 min per pound. Baste chicken with pan juices every so often. (I roasted mine for about 2 hrs-20 min longer than it really needed just to be sure
; P )


The baked apples I made as sort of an afterthought tonight. I had wanted to make a wild rice, apple, and pecan stuffing for the chicken but then remembered I used the last of my chopped pecans the other day. I wanted to do something with apples anyway so I made some simple baked apples.


Baked Apples (for 2)

1 large apple, cut into 1" chunks (I used Gala because that's what I had)
1/4 stick of butter, cut into 1/4" slices
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Spray ramekins with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Place apples in the bottom of each ramekin. In a bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples. Place 3 slices of butter on top of each dish. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min until apples are tender.

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

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I had about half a can of pumpkin leftover in the fridge from when I made scones earlier in the week. Well I didn't want it to go to waste, so I had to come up with something to make with it. I thought about cookies or bread, but then settled on muffins. My family is coming for the weekend so I thought I'd bake the muffins to have for breakfast while they're here, along with some banana bread. So I skipped cooking dinner tonight and started baking. These muffins turned out so moist and delicious! I made a few changes to the recipe based on what I had on hand and they were still great.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves(omitted)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (omitted)
  
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

*I added 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.
2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Original Source: All Recipes

Pumpkin, Puppies, and a PSA

I woke up to a beautiful, sunny Fall day here in Alabama this morning. There was a slight chill and breeze in the air. The perfect day for taking a walk, making a pot of coffee, and of course baking. I have been wanting to make my first pumpkin baked good of the season and figured today was as good a day as any to do that. There's a recipe for pumpkin scones that I've seen floating around several blogs lately that I thought looked really great. I had never made scones, so decided I'd give that a shot. Of course I had my two best helpers in the kitchen with me this morning; my dogs, Tag and Riley. And while they don't really help, they love to be wherever I am and are great company. They love to watch while I'm cooking or baking in hopes that they'll get a little taste. : )

I have to say, this recipe was really easy. So don't be afraid to try this if you've never made scones before. They turned out so tasty, too!



Pumpkin Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup white chocolate chips (optional) (I omitted these)
1/3 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any so used 1/3 cup milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice)
½ cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the egg wash:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk or cream


Preheat the oven to 400° and place a rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped white chocolate. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut the circle into six equal triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 6 scones.

*I made 8 scones from this recipe

Original Source: The Joy of Baking


I thought I'd add this in here too as a PSA. Last night my best friend and I were out and about and stopped at Target. I found these on sale 2 for $1 in the dollar bins and bought six. At my store they had cream and a rust color. If you're in need of some ramekins, check out your local Target.

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.