Desserts

Over the past two months, I have not needed to make dinner. For a full month after Abby was born we had meals brought to us! After that, I had one month's worth of dinners frozen that I had made while I was pregnant with Abby. So my recipe trying has been limited to desserts - and I found some good ones! This is Key Lime Pound Cake from Southern Living. The picture is obviously from Southern Living's website and not from my kitchen, but the pound cake was excellent. It was VERY moist and both Jory (who likes his key lime stuff tart) and I (who doesn't) liked it very much.

Key Lime Pound Cake
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cake
Source: Southern Living

1 c butter, softened
½ c shortening
3 c sugar
6 eggs
3 c flour
½ t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 c milk
1 t vanilla
1 t lime zest
¼ c key lime juice

Key Lime Glaze

1 c powdered sugar
2 T key lime juice
1/2 t vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and shortening at med until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs beating just until blended after each.

2. Stir together flour, powder and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk. Beat at low just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lime zest and lime juice. Pour into greased/floured 10-inch tube pan.

3. Bake 75-80 min or until pick comes out clean. Cool 10-15 min then remove from pan.

4. Whisk glaze ingredients. Brush over top and sides of cake. Then allow to cool completely.

These are the orange flavored cupcakes I wrote about on my blog.

Orange Cupcakes
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cupcakes
Source:

2 ½ c flour
1 t baking soda
¼ t salt
½ c buttermilk
½ c sour cream
1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 T orange extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line tins for 24 cupcakes.

2. In large bowl, whisk 1st 3 ingredients. In small bowl, combine next 2 ingredients.

3. Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar, beat until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add extract; mix well.

4. Add flour mixture alternating w/milk mixture until well combined.

5. Pour into baking cups to ¾ full. Bake 30-40 minutes.

Orange Buttercream Frosting

1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
1-2 T water
½ t orange extract

1. Combine all ingredients and then mix at high speed 5 min.

Note: One time when I made this I substituted almond extract for the orange extract in the frosting. I liked it very much.

These are black bottoms and I pulled the picture from a Google search. Mine don't look that pretty and even, but they sure tasted good!

Black Bottoms
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cupcakes
Source: Woman’s Day

8 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1 1/3 c sugar, divided
¾ t salt, divided
1 c mini chocolate chips
1 ½ c flour
¼ c unsweetened cocoa
1 t baking soda
½ c canola oil
1 t white vinegar
1 t vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners. Beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 c sugar and ¼ t salt until creamy. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. In a second large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, 1 c sugar and ½ t salt. Add the oil, vinegar, vanilla and 1 c water. Mix well.

3. Spoon chocolate batter into each cup to fill halfway. Gently spread cream cheese evenly over chocolate to bring each cup to ¾ full. Bake until the cupcakes are puffed and barely golden, 15-20 min.

Notes: 1. I used regular muffin tins, not mini. So I used regular-sized chocolate chips and I baked them for 25-30 minutes until they were puffed and barely golden.

2. I was in poor shape on the ingredient list for this one. I ran out of chocolate chips so I used a half cup of regular chocolate chips and a half cup of white chocolate chips - very good! I also used vegetable oil and white balsamic vinegar and they tasted fine.

Bread Pudding

We love bread pudding in our house! I tried this recipe this week and we were so impressed. I was skeptical because it doesn't have a sauce. I was all set to make my own, but decided to try it as directed first. It does not need a sauce. This is really good and SIMPLE. I have made some labor-intensive bread puddings, so this was a pleasant surprise. Jory loved it. A little goes a long way with this, it really fills you up.


Cranberry Bread Pudding
Category: Desserts
Sub Category:
Source: Woman’s Day

2 c heavy cream
4 eggs
¼ c pure maple syrup
2 t vanilla
½ c brown sugar
¼ t cinnamon
6 large croissants (1 lb)
1 c dried cranberries
1 c white chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350. Butter an 8 in square baking dish

2. In a large bowl, whisk cream, eggs, syrup and vanilla. Add sugar and cinnamon; mix well.

3. Tear croissants into 2 in pieces. Add to cream mixture and toss to coat. Fold in cranberries and chips.

4. Transfer mixture to baking dish. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. May need to cover with foil if it is browning too quickly.

Note: Our store bakery didn't have any croissants, so I bought a container of Pillsbury crescent rolls. This made 8 small

'croissants' and I am sure is no where near what the chef whose mother created this recipe intended. However, it worked great and was really good.

Really good oatmeal cookies

My husband loves these cookies because of the cinnamon and nutmeg in them. This recipe makes 4 dozen, so I either halve the recipe or freeze half of the cookies.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Category: Desserts
Sub Category:
Source:

1 c butter, softened
1 ½ c sugar
1 egg
¼ c water
1 t vanilla
1 ½ c flour
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
½ t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
3 c quick cooking oats
1 c raisins



1. Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well at medium speed until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add water and vanilla, mixing well.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats and raisins.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
4. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Oatmeal Bread

I made this for Christmas morning. I got the recipe out of the newspaper. I have had very good luck with the recipes I have found there.



Oatmeal Spice Bread
Category: Baked Goods
Sub Category: Bread
Source: FW Star Telegram

1 ¼ c boiling water
1 c quick cooking oats
1 stick butter
1 ½ c flour
1 ½ t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
¼ t cloves
1 ½ c brown sugar
2 large eggs

Icing:
1 c powdered sugar
1 T warm water

1 t lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan
2. Pour boiling water over oatmeal and butter. Cover and let stand for 20 min
3. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in bowl and set aside
4. Put oatmeal mixture in stand mixer and add brown sugar and eggs; mix well. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack before removing from pan.
6. When loaf is completely cool, combine all icing ingredients and ice loaf.

Another Breakfast Casserole

This is the casserole I made for breakfast on Christmas day. I make this a lot and I actually just made one for MOPS a couple of weeks ago. It is not nearly as healthy as the other Breakfast Casserole I put on here, but it is good. It is a pretty standard sausage and egg casserole, though, so you may have a similar recipe. We really enjoy this one.



Breakfast Casserole
Category: Eggs and Cheese
Sub Category:
Source: Allison

6 slices bread, crust removed
1 lb ground sausage
4 c shredded cheese
6 eggs
1 t salt
1 t dry mustard
2 c half and half

1. Lightly butter each slice of bread. Place bread in 9x13 buttered Pyrex.
2. Brown sausage. Drain and pat with paper towels. Sprinkle sausage over bread. Sprinkle cheese over sausage.
3. Beat eggs. Add salt, dry mustard and half and half. Beat again. Pour egg mixture over cheese. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Christmas Cooking

I made my annual Christmas Food Gifts for Jory's office yesterday and it went really well. I used three new recipes and was really pleased with each. They were easy, fairly mess-free and tasted really good. Here they are:


Snickerdoodles
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cookies
Source: Southern Living

1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 large eggs
¼ c milk
1 t vanilla
3 ¾ c flour
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
3 T sugar
1 ½ T cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add 2 c sugar, beating well. Add eggs, milk and vanilla beating well.
2. Combine flower, baking powder and 2 tsp cinnamon; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.
3. Combine 3 T sugar and 1 ½ T cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and roll into sugar mixture. Place on un-greased baking sheets and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.
4. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely (about 30 minutes).


Gingerbread Cookies
Category: Desserts
Sub Category: Cookies
Source: O Magazine

2 c plus 2 T flour
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
2 t ginger
1 t allspice
1 t cloves
½ t fine salt
12 T butter, room temp
¾ c sugar
1 egg
¼ c molasses

1. In large bowl, whisk together flour and next six ingredients.
2. Beat butter and sugar on low until pale and fluffy, 1-2 min.
3. Add egg, vanilla and molasses beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth.
4. Divide dough between two large sheets of parchment paper and roll up snugly to make two 8-inch logs. Refrigerate until firm, about two hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Place about ¼ c sugar in shallow dish. Cut dough logs into ¼ in slices. Dip the top of each slice in sugar and place 1 in apart on baking sheets. Bake until just firm around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Note: I cut each dough log in half and sliced the cookies from the center. When I got to the ends of the logs (which were smaller than the center), I took all of the leftover dough and rolled them into balls, dipped the balls in sugar and flattened them with a glass. They came out exactly the same as the ones that had been sliced.

Puppy Chow
Category: Desserts
Sub Category:
Source:

½ c Peanut butter
¼ c butter
1 c chocolate chips
½ t vanilla
9 c Crispix cereal, any flavor
1 ½ c powdered sugar

1. Combine peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl
2. Microwave for one minute. Stir to blend all ingredients thoroughly. Add vanilla and stir well.
3. Put Crispix in very large bowl
4. Pour chocolate over cereal tossing evenly and making sure all cereal is coated.
5. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar tossing to cover each piece of cereal.

Note: I recommend doing this recipe in batches - make 1/2 or 1/3 of the recipe at a time. I did a full recipe the first time and had a hard time mixing all of the cereal and toppings. I did a third the second time and it was very easy and much neater. Also, I used Chex cereal and it worked fine.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I made this coffee cake for Sunday School this week. This is one of our favorite things and it is always a hit. Sweet Meghan made it for Jory and me when we visited her over a year ago. I HAD to have the recipe and have made it plenty since.

Cranberry Coffee Cake
Category: Baked Goods
Sub Category:
Source: Meg Scully

2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
½ c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1 t almond extract

Glaze:
¾ c powdered sugar
2 T warm water
¼ t almond extract
¼ t vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs one at a time. Add almond extract
3. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream
4. Grease and flour bundt pan. Pour 1/3 of batter into pan. Spread ½ can cranberry sauce. Continue with 1/3 batter, ½ cranberry sauce, and end with last 1/3 of batter on top
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes
6. Combine all glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled cake.