Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Icing

I had left over pumpkin from the Pie Pockets the other day so I needed to make something to use up the rest. I love how these turned out. I make sour cream cookies that should turn out the same consistency but they never do in the altitude. So now I am going to compare recipes so that I can figure if there is anything I can change in the sour cream cookies to make them more rounded and cakey like the pumpkin.


I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com - but made maple icing instead of the vanilla. These cookies will be great for the autumn or the holidays.

INGREDIENTS
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Maple Icing
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons half-n-half
* 2 tablespoon melted butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. (I didn't flatten as I don't feel that often works good in higher altitude)

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, half-n-half, 2 tablespoon melted butter, and maple extract. Add more half-n-half as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.




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From the Weekend Baker....Again...

The Weekend Baker cookbook just has so many wonderful recipes that I want to try. It is also has good tips and lists to help with baking.

In the book, these are called Half-Moon Pie Pockets but I realized after making a few circles that just cutting them into rectangles and making little square pockets would be much easier. This recipes is exactly how it is in the book. I will make notes at the bottom. I made some chocolate pie pockets and some pumpkin pie pockets.

Half-Moon Pie Pockets

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, 9-½ inches square each
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For chocolate-nut filling:
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts)

For the pumpkin-spice filling:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces/ 255 grams) canned solid pack pumpkin (not seasoned pumpkin pie filling)
3 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg


1. Remove both sheets of frozen puff pastry from the box, set them on a lightly floured surface, and cover with plastic wrap. Do not unfold at this point. Let the covered puff pastry sit on the countertop until thawed and just pliable, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, position the oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 425 degrees (220 c). Line 2 half sheet pans with parchment or spray with cooking spray. Have ready the beaten egg and the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

3. On a lightly floured work surface, carefully unfold the puff pastry. Dust the top of the pastry with a little flour. Roll out each sheet, lightly dusting with flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and work surface, into a 12- inch (30.5cm) square. Using a 4-inch (10 cm) round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a 29- ounce tomato can as a guide), cut into 18 circles. Peel away the scraps and cover the rounds with plastic wrap while preparing the filling.

4. For the pumpkin spice filling, combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until well blended.

5. Place about 1 tablespoon filling on the center of the round. Brush the edge of the dough with the egg. Fold half of the dough over the filling to form a half-moon. Using the tines of the fork, press the curved edge to seal tightly. Repeat with the remaining rounds. (At this point, the pie pockets can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 8 hours or frozen for up to 1 month before proceeding with the recipe.)

6. Arrange the pockets on the prepared sheet pans, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the remaining egg and sprinkle evenly with the granulated sugar. Bake until pastry is puffed and browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the sheet pans to racks to cool. Serve warm.

Storage: You can bake the pie pockets up to 6 hours ahead and reheat them in a 300 degree (150 C) oven until warm. About 15 minutes.




NOTES
* I didn't make as much filling because I wanted to do two different kinds of filling. I think I cut each filling recipe in half. I didn't do nuts in the chocolate as Michael doesn't like nuts. I also used a mixture several types of chocolate chips - dark, semi-sweet and milk.

* As I said above I made some rounds and then the rest square. I just cut the dough in rectangles and then folded over to make square pockets.

* I didn't warm back up before serving. Just topped with some whipped cream and ate. Yum!

* I also think doing apple pie filling or cherry would be very good. And so easy.

* I think having some in the freezer and taking a few out when needing something fairly quickly would be great.

Dessert for Easter...

I made...


Orange Butter Cake
This is another recipe from The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. I only have mini-bundt cake pans and I just didn't feel like the work that goes into those (greasing and flouring each one.) So I just used my angel food cake pan. But next time I think I am going to make it as a layer cake and maybe do a cream cheese frosting. And I know I want a wider skewer to poke holes in it so the glaze gets all the way through the cake. It was still moist and delicious but you could tell the glaze only sunk in about half way down the cake.



for the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (I used salted butter so I left this out)
16 tablespoons unsalted butter - room temperature (2 sticks)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest (optional - I had some in the freezer so used it)
4 large eggs
1 cup orange juice

for the glaze:
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 powdered sugar

Position the oven on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan or other fluted tube pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well-blended. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the sugar and the orange zest (if using) and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended. Add the orange juice and mix just until blended. Add the remaining four mixture and mix just until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake until light brown and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few small crumbs attached. 38 to 43 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and the powdered sugar for the glaze. Stir frequently while the cake is baking until the sugar is dissolved.

When the cake is done, transfer the pan to a rack and let cool for 15 minutes. If necessary, run a thin knife around the pan sides to loose the cake. Invert the cake onto the rack and lift off the pan. Set the rack over a large plate or pan. Using a wooden skewer or cake tester, poke 30 or 40 all the way through the cake. Give the glaze a stir and spoon it evenly over the top of the cake (the fluted side). Let the cake cool completely. Transfer to serving plate.

I topped with a little whipped creamed with a little vanilla extract. But topped with any kind of fruit and whipped cream would be great!

Brownies!

These are superfudgy brownies. Full of chocolaty goodness! Typing the recipe out how I did it - it is very very close to the original. The original is from The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. The cookbook is great cookbook for those that haven't ever baked before because it gives lots of glossary terms, tips, equipment lists and so on to make it a first time bakers dream. The instructions for each recipe also are so good for first time bakers. Very easy to understand and follow. But this book is also great for those that just are short on time and can only bake on weekends. It gives good tips on freezing and prepping to bake. I hope to make a few more recipes before I return this cookbook to the library but have already put it on my wish list as it just has so many recipes I would like to try that sound so good.



Prescription-strength Fudge Brownies

12 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - sifted if lumpy
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup topping - optional (anything you want - peanut butter chips, milk chocolate or semi-sweet chips, walnuts or pecans)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish.

Microwave the butter in small bowl for 30 seconds or until the butter is melted. Pour the butter in a large mixing bowl and add the coca powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg. Sprinkle the flour over the cocoa mixture and mix until blended.

Scrape the batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Scatter the topping evenly over the batter (if using.) Bake until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it - about 32 minutes. Don't overbake or the brownies won't be fudgy. Transfer the baking dish to a rack to cool.

Using a knife cut the cooled brownies. If the brownie is still warm it will be hard to cut cleanly (as you will notice from the pictures of mine.)

Recipes says you can freeze the uncut cooled brownies. Invert, wrap tightly and freeze for up to one month.




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Making Bulk Burritos

I came across a link to an article about making "cheap" bulk breakfast burritos for quick morning breakfast. But their cheap, although might be cheap by some standards, weren't by mine. The burritos on that site came to .72 cents a piece. I made 20 burritos that ended up being .37 cents a piece. So Friday after dinner I realized I had all the ingredients and why not make some up.


$2.00 - 20 tortillas - I get tortillas from Sam's Club in a 36 pack (2 packs of 18)
$1.20 - 10 eggs (was going to use a dozen but only had 10 left in that carton)
$1.66 - 2 cups cheese - That is approximate that was in the bag. But I didn't use it all but just using the price for the bag. The cheese is again a Sam's Club purchase where I divide up a 5 lb package into smaller packages and freeze
$1.16 pinto beans - 2 cans - these were what I had on hand but of course doing dried beans in the crockpot would be easy and also much cheaper
.78 Rotel- 1 can - Sam's Club 8 cans in a pack
.62 green chilies - 1 can - these aren't in the package because I just needed a spoonful the other day for something so these weren't a full can but I would normally use a full can

Total = $7.42

So 20 burritos would be .37 cents a piece.


I cracked all the eggs into a bowl and mixed well. I then added the can of Rotel and green chilies. I poured into a pan coated with cooking spray. And cooked over medium heat.


Just before the eggs were fully cooked, I added the beans.



Place a good sized spoonful of egg mixture on a tortilla and top with some cheese.



Fold over the sides of the burrito so that they mostly cover the egg mixture


Fold over one end. And the roll up the rest of the way.


Fold complete after rolling it up the rest of the way.


On a tray to flash freeze* before putting into ziplocks.

To Microwave: I took straight from the freezer and microwaved for 1 minute. I am sure it will vary from microwave to microwave so that might be up to 2 minutes. In the other link it suggested defrosting in the microwave and then cooking. But the ones I made tasted good without defrosting and just microwaving for 1 minute on a plate.

Of course like stated at the link at the beginning there are many variations you could do to these. Add more veggies, different beans such as black beans or add some meat such as ground turkey or pork sausage.

* To Flash Freeze
Place food on a jelly roll pan in a single layer. Freeze until solid sometimes up to 8 hours. Just don't forget about it or it can cause freezer burn. After frozen, place in a zip-lock style bag and remember to remove all air. Label the bag usually with contents, directions and date depending on what it is that I am freezing. And then freeze bag for easy serving.

Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies for Valentine's Day

January issue of Food & Wine had many wonderful milk chocolate recipes. One was milk chocolate cookies sandwiching malt buttercream. It had a malt power in the filling and Michael doesn't like malt so I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I knew I wanted to do heart shaped sandwich cookies as I really haven't ever made sandwich cookies before. So I asked a good friend for a recommendation and she suggested coffee butter cream. The recipe in Food & Wine didn't have the chocolate drizzle on them but I thought they needed a little something more. So added dark chocolate drizzle. Kathie suggested them dipped in white chocolate - I just didn't have any white chocolate so did the dark chocolate drizzle.

This cookie dough was really awful to work with but they taste really good. The recipe doesn't have eggs in it so it just didn't bind together well. It was very crumbly and didn't roll out well. But I eventually got through it. I wouldn't make these again unless Michael requested them or it was a very special occasion. These are just not cookies to whip up to have cookies. They are work. But they were perfect for Michael as a Valentine Day gift. He loves them. Oh and these aren't cookies to make for a crowd. I got 21 cookies out of them (each sandwich cookie of course using 2 cookies.)


Cookie Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (if you want - I didn't - I just sprayed baking sheets with cooking spray as I can't get away without it in the altitude)

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at low speed just until incorporated. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to a scant 1/4-inch thickness and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

3. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as possible and transfer to the baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Gather the scraps and chill, with the cut-out rounds, for 10 minutes. Reroll the scraps and stamp out more rounds. (obviously I used several sizes of heart cookie cutters)

4. Bake the cookies in the lower and middle thirds of the oven for about 10 minutes, until dry and set; shift the pans halfway through baking. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let cool completely.

The buttercream filling - I just did a regular buttercream. I don't really use a recipe for it anymore. And then I just added some coffee.

Here is the original recipe on Food & Wine website.


Had an extra odd cookie and so just frosted it with the buttercream and drizzled it with the chocolate.

Random Tidbits...

Just random little tidbits...

* Made 2 loaves of french bread yesterday. I made meatballs earlier in the day so I just need to heat sauce and make pasta for dinner. Oh and throw the salad together too. So the house smelled really good yesterday.

*The other day I was making croutons and getting quite a mound of them so knew I wouldn't use all the bread I had in the freezer. Often when we have steak sandwiches or brats there is always one or 2 buns left so I put them in the freezer. Also when we eat french bread we often don't finish it before I feel it is getting a little to stale or hard so I stick in the freezer to use for croutons or bread crumbs well this time I pulled out several brat buns and several ends of french bread and decided to make french bread pizzas out of them for lunches. I cut them all in half and then put some tomato sauce on them with seasons. Sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese and topped them pizza toppings and then cheese. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in ziplocks into the freezer. We pulled a couple out for lunch on Thursday and I put them on a pizza pan straight from the freezer to the preheated oven and they tasted very good.

Gingerbread Muffins

The picture trying to show off one of our new plates in addition to the muffin.

Gingerbread Muffins
Makes 8 Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all-spice
1/4 tsp ginger
3 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla


Preheat oven to 350. Line with paper baking cups or spray with cooking oil eight muffin cups. In a small bowl stir together flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, all-spice, ginger and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together oil and brown sugar. When blended add molasses, milk, egg and vanilla. Mix until blended. Add flour mixture and mix until blended. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when pressed lightly in the center. If desired sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or cool.

Cloverleaf Rolls

Bread is really important to Michael and I. We love it and it is obvious! I used to love it when my Mom made cloverleaf rolls. I love pulling the sections apart and smearing them with butter straight from the oven so it melted all over. Yum!

So with the holidays I was thinking about them so decided I would make them for Thanksgiving. So I was fulfilling my craving - by having cloverleaf but Michael likes herbs in/on his rolls. My other requirment was that the dough needed to be mixed in the bread machine. I found a recipe that brushed herbs on the tops and was done in the bread machine.

Recipe: Fragrant Cloverleaf Rolls



They turned out great and everytime Michael has one he ends up going on and on about how good they are so I think they are a keeper.

BLT Roll Ups

I made for a meeting that Michael went to...BLT Roll-ups. The BLT roll-ups was new for me. I was reading another roll up recipe that had bacon and thought why not BLTs. They ended up tasting pretty good. But I never can make my roll ups look perfectly round like most photos I see of them. Anyway....I mixed 1/2 cup of cream cheese (I used low fat cream cheese), 1/4 cup ranch dressing (also light), 1/4 cup mayo (and again light), 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and spread that on tortillas (used 8 tortillas total - I think). I cooked up a whole package of bacon but didn't use 5 slices. I broke the bacon up into little pieces and sprinkled on top of the cream cheese layer. I then chopped some greens up and sprinkled that on as the last layer. Rolled up and cut into bit size pieces - securing with toothpicks.

Here is a picture of them...



Side note: I love that plate I got it for $1 when we were out shopping while my parents were here for my birthday.

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

I have always wanted to make hotdog buns so I finally did using a recipe that I found in The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook.

For a first time I don't think they turned out too bad. Not all the same size but I am sure that will come with practice.

Wet Dough

Well living in the altitude makes cooking an adventure...

I have made the master dough recipe from Artisan Bread Five Minutes a Day 3 times now - as of yesterday. And well this batch turned out totally different.

The first two times were pretty much the same. I had to use less flour and more water. This time I used more flour and I am still wondering if it is too wet. I haven't made bread from it yet. I will today so I will see how it goes. Oh and there is more of it in the container then there has been the other two times.

Picture of the wet dough...which is what they call it in the book so maybe it is how it is suppose to be...

Chicken Nacho Casserole

This is a casserole we enjoy. It is fairly easy to put together. We haven't had it in a while but I am craving it so I think it might be put on this weeks menu.

• 2 cups diced raw chicken - tossed with 1 tablespoon taco seasoning


• 2 cups uncooked instant rice


• 1 can rotel (tomato and chilis) undrained


• 1 small can diced chilis - optional - we like it spicy


• 1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup


• 1 can corn undrained


• 1/2 cup water


• 1 1/4 cup cheddar cheese


• 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2-quart casserole (I used a 9"x13" glass pan) with cooking spray. In casserole, stir chicken, rice, rotel, chilis, soup, corn, water and 3/4 cup of the cheese until well mixed. Top with tortilla chips.

Cover and bake about 1 hour or until rice is tender and mixture is heated through. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese on top of tortilla chips. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We like to top it with some light sour cream.

Cookie Bars (aka Blondes with chips)

Cookie Bars or also known as Blonde's with chips

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I have used salted too and then omitted the salt in the recipe)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chips - your choice - I use a combination depending on my mood. The ones in the picture had milk, butterscotch and semi-sweet -- also could add coconut, white chocolate chips and pecans or combo of chips and walnuts - so many options with this recipe.



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
3. Beat together butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Mix in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fold in chips and spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with finger tip. Cool pan on rack. Cut and serve.




They are so good....gooey goodness that goes straight to the thighs!

Potato Herb Rolls

I did the dough in my bread machine and then took it out, shaped and baked in oven. I didn't want to do my usual just little round bun shape so I googled how to shape dinner rolls and came up with a really great link from Cooks Illustrated. It is a pdf with instructions on how to shape dinner rolls. I did mine a few different shapes just to play and see what I liked best. I did the double knot and then from another website just a single cross over. I didn't brush mine in egg as I was out of eggs.



Potato Herb Rolls

1 C. plus 2 tablespoons water (70 to 80°F.)
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
2 t. dried herbs -- I use more then that and use garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano
3 C. bread flour
1/2 C. instant potato flakes or buds
2 T. nonfat dry milk
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. bread machine yeast


Topping:

1 egg, lightly beaten

To make dough: Measure all dough ingredients into bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer, adding potato flakes with flour. Process on dough/manual cycle.

When cycle is complete, remove dough to floured surface. If necessary knead in additional flour to make dough easy to handle. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 10-inch rope; coil each rope and tuck end under coil. Place rolls 2 inches apart on large greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.

To Top:
Brush tops with egg; sprinkle with sesame seed (optional). Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.

Note: Dough can be prepared in 1 1/2 and 2-pound bread machines.

Biscuit Muffins

I made another recipe from Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger. It was okay. It wasn't bad but it wasn't what I was craving. I made it because it looked like something that would appeal to Michael. And he did enjoy them. I am hoping this is a trend with her recipes too - they stay puffy and raise up like I think normal baked goods do so that makes me happy! As the altitude is always something I am battling with.




Biscuit Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cardamom or ground nutmeg (I used cardamom as I am always looking for recipes with it in it)
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoon butter, cold and unsalted, and cut into small pieces
1 cup cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling, optional



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the cups of a standard muffin tin.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, nutmeg, and salt. Distribute the butter over the flour mixture, and with a fork, or an electric mixer, work in the butter until coarse crumbs are created.

Pour in the buttermilk, and mix using low speed with a mixer, or a fork, until dough forms a sticky mass, about 30 seconds. Do not overmix, you are just letting the dough come together.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Dump the dough out, sprinkle the top with flour, and knead gently, 6-8 times. The dough should remain soft and sticky. Cut the dough into 12 equal portions, and place in greased muffin cups.

Sprinkle with sugar, and bake 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove pan from oven, and transfer muffins to cooling rack to cool for a few minutes before serving.

***I use powdered buttermilk and they came out great! I just made sure the water was really cold and added the powder with the flour mixture.

Vanilla and Cinnamon Crumb Cake

Every month on the first I am greeted with Michael saying, "Happy Anniversary!" Our official anniversary of when we started seeing each other is February 1, 2003 but it doesn't matter if it is February, July or November....if it is the first of the month I get greeted Happy Anniversary, warm embrace and passionate kisses at the start of the day. We love each other and try to celebrate that love and life. The moment we first knew we were right for each other is brought up each month in his words and embrace.

So today being the first of July I decided to make Michael something special for breakfast. I checked out the book Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger recently from library. The book has some delicious looking recipes in it. And it is a book I would like to have on my bookshelf because I know I would use it quite a bit. This morning I tried Vanilla and Cinnamon Crumb Cake from it. And it turned out so good! Michael doesn't like nuts so when I find recipes with a crumb top usually it has nuts in it. And I have substituted other things such as more flour or oatmeal at times but this one didn't have any nuts in it so I flagged it right away as one I wanted to try.


















Makes one 10-inch round coffee cake

Crumb Top
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter - cut into small pieces (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)


Cake Batter
6 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened (3/4 stick so basically the rest of what was left after the crumb topping)
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cake flour - unsifted
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (not fat reduced)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for a dark-finish pan). Line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment, grease the bottom and sides and set aside.

To make the crumb top, in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar; and cinnamon. Cut in the vanilla and cold butter on low speed until coarse dry crumbs are formed. Pour into a small bowl and set aside. If not using immediately, refrigerate until needed.

To make the cake batter, without cleaning the mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract and beat well on medium speed for 30 seconds. The mixture will be loose. Add the flour; cinnamon, baking powder; baking soda, and salt and beat on low speed for 15 seconds. Add the sour cream and beat on medium-high speed only until the lumps smooth out and the mixture looks fluffy, about 30 seconds on medium-high speed. Do not overbeat.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared springform pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the crumb topping. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the top is crisp and feels firm when gently touched in the center; the cake separates slightly from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (it may be a bit moist; that's okay). Do not overbake, or the cake will be dry.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving warm, or cover in plastic wrap to serve later at room temperature.
Store at room temperature for up to 3 days.




















*** Of course I made a few modifications. I didn't have cake flour so used all-purpose - as I said turned out great. I add some cardamom as I just love the flavor and it sounded like a good add for this cake so just did a couple pinches of it in the cake batter. And last thing I changed was the springform pan. I didn't want to use my springform pan as I just didn't want fight with it leaking at all -- although I sure it would look prettier in it so might try that eventually. But today I just used a 9-inch square pan. Only problem that came with that is it seemed to need to bake longer. I baked 1 hour 10 minutes.

Betty Crocker Banana Bread

I have went through many Banana Bread recipes. And they all turn out fine, but for some reason I always come back to the one out of Betty Crocker cookbook. It is easy for me to make. I like that it uses buttermilk too. I always have powdered buttermilk on hand and works and tastes just as good as real buttermilk.

Last week I had a couple bananas nearing that bad point so I peeled them, wrapped them and put them in the freezer as I didn't have time to do banana bread last week. But today I got some time so took those out and made Betty Crocker's Banana Bread (this one on the website is the same one in the cookbook).



1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium bananas)
1/2 cups of buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts - optional

Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9" x 5" x 3" pan. (Or 2 - 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch pans)

Mix together sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk* and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and mix until just moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pan.

Bake 8-inch loaves for about 1 hour or 9-inch loaf 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan and remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

* I put the powder for the buttermilk with the flour and then add equivalent in water where it says to add buttermilk.

Sour Cream Orange Muffins

We normally have bagels during the week for breakfast. But I woke up yesterday morning knowing we didn't have any in the house so I decided to make muffins. I took a quick look through the pantry and fridge to see what I could bake. And I came up with Sour Cream Orange Muffins. They reminded me somewhat of the sour cream cookies I make also. Only difference was the little citrus hint throughout the muffin.



SOUR CREAM ORANGE MUFFINS

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 cup of sour cream - I used light because it is what I had on hand
1/4 cup milk
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar

Heat oven to 375. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper baking cups (or spray with cooking spray.)

In a large bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar, oil, egg, almond extract and orange zest. Add sour cream and milk and mix until just blended. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle batter with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

Toffee and Caramel Cheesecake

We are going to some friends for dinner tonight and so we volunteered to bring dessert. So I made this cheesecake....I might add a picture of just a slice tomorrow.



Gingersnap crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
1 cup ground pecans
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

Cheesecake
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup toffee bits (Heath Bits O'Brickle)

Caramel topping
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream

OR

Mrs. Richardsons Caramel topping or your favorite caramel topping to save yourself the trouble of making homemade caramel which can at times be a little tricky

1/3 to 1/2 cup toffee bits


Photos of the toffee bits just in case anyone wanted to know what to look for at the supermarket

For Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind ground cookies, pecans and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.

For cheesecake: Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in flour and butter, then eggs, 1 at a time, until just blended. Beat in vanilla. Pour 1/2 of batter over crust in pan. Sprinkle 1/3 cup toffee bits over the batter. Then pour remaining batter over the bits. Place a large roasting pan or jelly roll pan on lower shelf of oven. Pour water 1/2 way to the lip of the pan. Place cheesecake pan on middle shelf. Bake cake uncovered for 15 minutes at 350. Turn oven down to 250 and bake 30 minutes. Bake 350 for another 15 minutes and then turn down and bake at 250 again for another 15 to 30 minutes. The edges will puff up and the center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken. Total bake time is 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Slide a knife around the sides and then cover with foil and refrigerate 6 hours to over night.

For topping: 2 hours before serving stir sugar, water, and lemon juice in large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Chill until thickened but still pourable, about 15 minutes.

Spoon caramel over top of cake just to edges (do not allow caramel to drip down sides). Garnish top edges with chopped English toffee. Chill at least 2 hours.


Tips:
* Adding flour helps it not to crack
* Make sure the cream cheese and sugar are really beaten well before adding eggs. Over beating eggs will add air which causes cracks.
* I never do a waterbath as it always made the crust soggy when I tried so I have done the water in the pan below. Supposedly the moisture in the oven helps to prevent cracking also.
* The reason I do the weird turn up and down of the oven temperature again is to prevent cracking and also over baking the cheesecake.
* Doing this cheesecake 24 hours before eating is always best. It just seems to taste better even better after 24 hours in the fridge.