Caramel Sauce

Lately I've been making this easy caramel sauce to have on waffles with bananas and whipped cream.  So healthy.

Caramel Sauce
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk

Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add 1 t. vanilla.

Grandma June's Coffee Cake

I have never made this recipe, but Grandma June was way famous for her coffee cake.

Grandma June's Coffee Cake
3 c. flour
3/4 c. butter
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cloves
2 c. buttermilk
chocolate chips
raisins

Sift flour, sugar, and spices. Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal.  Reserve 1/2 c. dry mixture.  Combine buttermilk and soda.  Add to remaining crumb mixture in halves, beating thoroughly after each addition.  Stir in raisins or chocolate chips.

Grease and flour a 9x13 metal baking pan.  Pour batter into pan and sprinkle remaining crumbs on top.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Cake Mix Cookies

John was famous for cake mix cookies when we were dating at BYU.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 cake mix
1 egg
1 cube butter
1 t. vanilla

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 for 10 minutes.

Caramel Corn

1/2 c popcorn, popped

1/4 c butter
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/3 c brown sugar
Bring to a boil. Boil 2 min.

Add 1/2 c marshmallows. Stir 1 min. Pour over popcorn.

I make homemade popcorn in the microwave in a paper bag.  I put 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels in a bag and cook for about 2 1/2 minutes, watching it.  For this recipe I make two bags worth.

The kids also like the homemade popcorn with butter and salt (the way daddy makes it!)

BYU Mint Brownies/Monsters Inc Birthday Cake

Dalton looked over my shoulder at Pinterest while I defined the type of cake mommy can't make and we picked out a simple frosted Mike Wazowski circle cake. He wanted a chocolate cake though, and I am tired of buttercream on chocolate cake (bleh) so I was trying to think of something else when John suggested mint. Oooh, mint brownies! I used the BYU mint brownie recipe, baking it in two circular cake pans. I greased and floured the pans first, baked the cakes about 20-22 minutes (instead of the 25 the recipe called for) and they popped right out when cool.

BYU Mint Brownies Recipe
1 c. butter
1/2 c. cocoa
2 T. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Melt the butter and mix with the cocoa. Allow to cool.  Mix chocolate mixture with honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in the nuts.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Mint Icing Recipe
5 T. butter, softened
dash of salt
1 T. light corn syrup.
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. mint extract.
3 T. milk

Mix the butter, salt, corn syrup, powdered sugar and mint extract. Slowly add the milk until the icing is the right consistency.

The BYU mint brownies also have a layer of chocolate icing. I didn't do this for aesthetics, but if I did, I would sift 1/3 c. cocoa in with the powdered sugar, and leave out the mint extract.

April Fool's Tacos

Here is Maggie's April Fool's Day lunch.

Then for April Fool's "dinner" we had "tacos".

Stand N Stuff Tortillas
Chocolate ice cream (refried beans)
whipped cream (sour cream)
colored shredded coconut (lettuce and cheese)
cherries (tomatoes)
green sprinkles (green onions)

Ta dum! Maggie threw a fit and refused to eat it, but did eventually settle for a bowl of plain ice cream.

We had actually tacos for actual dinner right after.

Black Forest Cupcakes + Stable Whipped Cream Frosting

Maggie wanted a Black Forest cake for her birthday, after seeing one at the grocery store. We settled on cupcakes and came up with this. Super easy since I used a boxed cake mix, but I did make a stable whipped cream frosting to use.

Black Forest Cupcakes
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 jar maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 recipe stable whipped cream frosting
chocolate shavings or sprinkles

Stable Whipped Cream Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. almond extract

1/2 c. sugar

2 c. whipping cream

Beat the cream cheese, extracts and sugar until smooth. Slowly pour in the whipping cream, scraping the bowl a couple times, and beat until stiff.

The frosting was light, but held up, and would be a really good fruit dip as well.

1 1/2 batches for 48 cupcakes.

Dipped Marshmallows for Roasting

John had the idea to start a new tradition of roasting marshmallows on Thanksgiving. He made these special marshmallows for roasting. They are actually pretty easy.  Just get the marshmallow wet, then press it in the crumbs.  He used:

• graham cracker crumbs and shaved chocolate
• peppermint crumbs and shaved chocolate
• Oreo crumbs
• graham cracker crumbs
• peppermint crumbs
• and more Oreos

We don't have a BBQ, so we went to the park with some charcoal and roasted them in the grate.  Yum! My favorite was the Oreo.  John liked the peppermint with chocolate shavings. The kids liked them all.

Simple Apple Tart

Every year I try to recreate the apple tart Leonard has made, but my recipe sources always disappear.  So, here is the simple apple tart I made this year.



Simple Apple Tart

Sweet Pastry Dough
1 1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 egg
1 T. cold water

Filling
2 pounds apples, peeled and sliced
2 T. melted butter
3 T. sugar

Glaze
1/2 c. sugar

Make the dough and cool in the refrigerator 1/2 hour.  Press into tart pan.  Fill with apples and fold the dough over the edges of the apples. Brush melted butter over the tart edges and the apples.  Sprinkle the sugar over the apples and tart edges. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes (I over cooked mine with that time) rotating every 15 minutes.

Make a glaze by boiling the apple cores and peels with 1/2 c. sugar and a small amount of water. (I think this could really be cut down. I'll try one apple peel/core and 2 T. sugar next time.)  Let the tart cool 15 minutes, then brush on the glaze.

I had a helper brushing the glaze on the tart.

Source: Smitten Kitchen

John's "Deceptive" Andes Mint Cookies

Several years ago, John made and delivered these cookies to his Home Teaching families. Later, at church, one of the ladies told him his cookies were "deceptive!" They look just like chocolate chip cookies, but the Andes Mint chunks provide a much different flavor.

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1 pkg Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips

2 2/3 c. flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs. Stir in baking chips and then flour. Chill dough 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Texas Sheet Cake

Why is this recipe not on my blog? Sheesh. Here it is NOT in a sheet pan, since I made this one in a tiny toaster oven, but it's too delicious to keep from you any longer. Grandma June LOVED this cake and I always made sure to bring her a piece.

Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

2 cubes butter

1 c. water

1/4 c. cocoa

1/4 t. salt

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. buttermilk (milk with a dash of vinegar)

1 t. baking soda

2 eggs

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

Boil butter, water, and cocoa. Stir in flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Grease and flour a sheet pan. Bake 20 minutes at 375.

Fudge Frosting

1 cube butter

1/4 c. cocoa

6 T. milk

3 c. icing sugar

1 t. vanilla

Boil butter, cocoa and milk. Stir in vanilla, and add powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over cake while hot.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

This delicious, summery dessert is basically lemon bars with strawberry puree mixed in the lemon curd. Recipe from Baking Bites, but you could just use your own lemon bar recipe and just mix in some pureed strawberries if you like.

This recipe is the same as my favorite lemon squares recipe (originally from Food Network), with the yummy addition of pureed strawberries.

Strawberry Lemonade Bars Recipe
Crust
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 c. flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 t. salt

Filling
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/3 cup all purpose flour

Crust:

Cream together butter and sugar. Add flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Press into an even layer in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake 20 minutes at 350.

Mix lemon juice, lemon zest, pureed strawberries, sugar and eggs until smooth. Add in flour. Pour filling over hot crust. Reduce oven temp to 325 and bake 30 additional minutes, or until set.

White Cake with Strawberry Cream Filling and Strawberry Frosting

Maggie requested "strawberry" for her birthday cake. She also wanted an animals party, and we ended up with a strawberry circus elephant cake! I made a white cake, filled it with strawberry cream, and frosted it with homemade strawberry frosting. It was delicious, if you like excess of sugar.

To make the elephant cake, I baked two round cakes, and cut a cone-shaped trunk out of the center of one. The two sides of the cut cake served as the ears. I had to cut and bend the trunk, as it didn't fit on the baking sheet.

White Cake Recipe

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

4 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (yes, tablespoons)

3 cups flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat well until fluffy. Beat it a lot, or your cake will be heavy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Again, beat the batter a lot. Stir in vanilla extract, then add flour mixed with baking powder. Stir in milk until batter is smooth.

Bake in two greased 9" pans at 350 for 30-40 minutes (until cake springs back when touched).

Strawberry Cream Filling Recipe

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup diced strawberries

Beat cream with sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Stir in strawberries. Don't make this too long beforehand or the cream will sink.

Split the cake in the center, remove the top half and spread with strawberry cream filling. Replace the top half of the cake.

Strawberry Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup strawberries, pureed (about 1/4 cup after pureeing)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter, and blend in strawberry puree and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar until you get a frosting consistency.

This stuff is so good. It tastes like strawberry ice cream. This made just enough to frost two separate cakes, including all the cut edges.

Sources:

white cake recipe

strawberry frosting recipe

elephant cake

Chocolate-Frosted Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

1 c. sugar
1 c. corn syrup
1 c. peanut butter
6 c. Kellogg’s Rice Krispies
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

*Cook sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan until dissolved.
*Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until smooth.
*Stir in Rice Krispies.
*Press into a 9x13 pan lined with wax paper.
*Melt chocolate chips and spread on top.

Variations: You can substitute 3 c. mini marshmallows and 2 T. butter instead of the corn syrup and sugar. Also, you could mix some butterscotch chips in with the chocolate chips for the frosting.

Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

John loves coconut and requested these for his birthday.

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
3 eggs
3/4 t. pure vanilla extract
3/4 t. pure almond extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with a little vinegar)
1 7-ounce package flaked sweetened coconut
cream cheese icing

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer speed to low, and add the eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat again briefly.

Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Fold in only 1 1/3 cups of the coconut.

Fill each muffin cup almost full with batter. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 20 minutes or until the cupcake tops are golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. When cool, frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle remaining coconut on top.

For the frosting I did:

4 oz cream cheese
4 oz butter
1 T. milk
1 t. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar
3 drops food coloring
Beat until smooth. This generously frosted 24 cupcakes.

Baklava

I accidentally bought phyllo dough instead of pastry dough a while ago, and what better thing to use if for than learning to make baklava? It was a little time intensive, but not difficult, and very delicious! I actually made 1/2 the recipe in a 9x9 pan.

1 16 oz package phyllo dough
1 lb chopped nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)
1 c. butter
1 t. cinnamon
1 ½ c. water
1 ½ c. white sugar
1 ½ t. vanilla
¾ c. honey

Butter a 9x13 pan. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Melt butter Unroll phyllo dough. Cut stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a damp cloth to keep from drying out. Place two sheets of dough in pan, brush thoroughly with butter. Repeat for 8 sheets. Sprinkle 2-3 T of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering. Top layer should be 6-8 sheets.
Cut into diamond shapes with a sharp knife. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes until golden and crisp.
For sauce, boil sugar and water. Add vanilla and honey and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool. Spoon cool sauce over warm baklava. Leave uncovered so it doesn’t get soggy.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

This is the cake I made for Maggie's birthday. The frosting is very lemon-y, but balances out the cake nicely. I added a couple drops of yellow food coloring to both the cake and the frosting. You need 3 total lemons. Recipe is from John's sister, Jamie.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Combine:
3 c. flour
1/4 c. poppy seeds
1 t. baking soda

Beat until fluffy:
1 c. softened butter
2 c. sugar

Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time.
Add juice from 1 lemon

Add 1 c. plain yogurt, alternating with dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time.

Blend in zest from two lemons.

Bake at 325 for 50-65 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on rack. Invert pan.

Glaze:
2 T. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
juice from 1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon

Melt butter. Blend in other ingredients. Spoon over cake while still warm.

Sugar Cookies and Buttercream Frosting

This is the recipe my Mom used for Christmas cookies to decorate every year. I mixed it up by using almond flavoring in the frosting for Valentine's Day. One batch of each makes about 2 dozen medium rolled-out cookies. I am very good at saving money and time by leaving out ingredients. I used to make the cookies without the lemon rind, but I recently discovered they are much better with it. So don't leave it out!

Sugar Cookies
Blend together:
1/2 c. butter
1 t. grated lemon rind
1 c. sugar

Beat in:
1 egg
2 T. orange juice

Stir in:
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
1/2 t. nutmeg

Chill for a while to ease handling. Roll to 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 400 7-9 minutes. We rotate the dough in the freezer so it stays cool and easy to roll. Also, if you don't roll the dough thin enough, the cookies will spread and ruin your cookie cutter shape. And, if you keep the cookies in a sealed container, they will stay nice and soft. Just layer wax paper in between.

Buttercream Frosting (James Beard Cookbook)
1/3 c. butter
3-4 T. heavy cream
3 c. powdered sugar
flavoring

Cream together butter and sugar and beat in the cream. Flavor with 1 t. vanilla, almond, or lemon extract. For chocolate frosting, add 1/2 c. dark cocoa sifted with the sugar.

Make one batch for frosting for each batch of cookies.

Twix Bars

These taste just like Twix bars, only better. They are absolutely delicious and simple to make.

Crust:

1 ¼ c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter; room temp

Caramel:
½ c. butter

½ c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. corn syrup

½ c. sweetened condensed milk

Crumble crust ingredients together. Pack into 9x9 inch pan lined with foil and sprayed.. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Combine caramel ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly as it burns easily. Remove from heat. Stir with spoon slowly until it shows signs of thickening. Pour over crust and let cool a little.

Top layer:

Melt approximately 1-2 c. chocolate chips over low heat. Pour over caramel layer and spread carefully. Chill. Cut into bars.

Early Thanksgiving Desserts

Thanksgiving Math: Pie=Yuck. Tart=Yum.

Chocolate Pecan Tart (just made one big tart)

Apple Tart

Pastry Crust (very important - NOT yucky pie crust)

Also, this year we tried a Pumpkin Creme Brulee that was absolutely delicious. We simplified the recipe for us lazy/cheap folks.


½ c. plus 3 T. sugar
5 egg yolks
1½ c. heavy cream
1 t. vanilla
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 c. pumpkin purée

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, whisk together ½ cup sugar and the egg yolks. Combine the cream, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepot, and bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk the hot cream into the yolk mixture through a fine-meshed sieve. Whisk in the pumpkin purée. Fill ramekin with enough pumpkin-cream mixture to reach ¼ inch from the top. Place in water bath to cook. Bake for 20 minutes. Check to see if the edges have set but the center is still wobbly; if the mixture is still liquid, return to oven for up to 20 minutes. Cool at room temperature. When ready to serve, sprinkle the tops evenly with a thin layer of the remaining sugar. Brûlée with a torch until the sugar is golden brown and crispy. (We used the broiler.)