Questions Please!

To the few that come and visit I have a favor to ask and in return I will try to help you:) One of the reasons (pretty much the biggest reason) I started this blog was to get me back into baking and remembering techniques and skills I've learned. I've been out of school for almost 3 years and haven't had many opportunities to really use my skills and knowledge to the best of my ability.

A few Sundays ago we had a lesson in Relief Society about ways we can use our degrees and continue to expand on them. I've tried many times to go back into my books, but it's kinda hard. I get distracted and what not. So this is where you all come in. I want to know what you all want to know about baking. Whether it's different techniques, cooking methods, recipes, food lingo, whatever! You can ask as many as you want. The more the merrier. I will then answer those questions in different posts. So stay tuned to find the answer to your questions, and to many others!

S'more Brownies

Growing up I was never much of a camper (still really not, but trying to be). The only thing that could really entice me were the s'mores. Gooey marshmallows toasted and squished in between graham crackers and chocolate. Mmm.....Heavenly..... For Christmas one year I even got a s'mores maker. I could have the gratification of a s'mores and not have to be outside camping! I loved it. I was satisfied with toasting the marshmallows over a candle just to have this simple treat. So when I fell upon a recipe for a s'mores brownie I knew I had to make it.

I found many recipes, but one from Food Network stood out the most. It had a graham cracker crust, brownie center, and toasted marshmallows on top. Many had everything mixed in together. But one of the best parts of a s'more is biting into each layer of goodness. The only downside to the Food Network recipe was that the brownie portion had really bad reviews. So i just went ahead and used my own brownie recipe. You could probably use just a box too. I also made mine in a muffin pan rather than an 8x8 pan. I honestly think it was much easier to make it this way and they were already individually portioned. I ended up with 15 brownies.

These brownies were very simple, but so delicious. Especially if you're a s'mores fan. Todd thought they were too sweet, but I personally thought they were just perfect. Just be prepared for some messy crumbs while eating! I went to "try" one and ended up savoring each and every bite of the whole thing. It was hard to stop at just one bite.

S'more Brownies
Crust from Food Network Kitchens-Brownie from Allrecipes.com

Crust:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp. sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie:
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1 /2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 . flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Topping:
4 c. large marshmallows

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325F. Line an 8x8 square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.
2. For the crust lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir in rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the brownie. Cream together melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. In a separate bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. You don't want to over mix.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the boiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden. (keep an eye it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently remove the brownies from the pan using aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow form the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.

For cupcake brownies:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325F. Line muffin pan with liners. Spray with a light coat of pam.
2. For the crust stir in the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Fill each liner with 2 tablespoons of mixture. Using the back of a spoon, or the bottom of a small cup, press crust to form to the bottom. Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the brownie. Cream together melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. In a separate bowl mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. You don't want to over mix.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pan (about 1 heaping tablespoonful). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 15-18 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the boiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top of each brownie (use small marshmallows, or cut large in half) and toast under the broiler until golden. (keep an eye it, it can go quick), about 1-2 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

A while back I tried a recipe for Salted Carmel Cupcakes. It was a flop. A huge flop. It just sounded so good, but was so disappointing in the end. Lately I've been seeing a lot of recipes with salted caramel. Truffles, brownies, cupcakes. Then I fell upon David Lebovitz website. He has a recipe for Salted Butter Carmel Ice Cream. It intrigued me. I had a gallon of heavy cream so I decided I might as well venture out and make it.

Making caramel use to really intimidate me. That was until I realized it's not all that hard, and the more you make it the more you really know when it's done. Practice makes perfect right?! Anyway, you have to make caramel twice for this ice cream. Once for the base, and the other to make a little praline that is stirred in at the end. If you don't know how to make caramel, or want to become better, David has a great post How to Make the Perfect Caramel explaining the steps. Much better than I could ever explain.

Most ice creams I've tried, with caramel, have very little caramel flavor, and it's more sweet I think. This is not the case. Still sweet, but has a very strong caramel flavor. The whole thing is caramel. Don't know why I didn't think of that when making it. I thought the pralines would add a little crunch factor, but they melt instead. I'm glad I decided to try another salted caramel recipe. This one produced a much better and exciting outcome!

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

For the caramel praline (mix-in):

½ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon sea salt

For the ice cream custard:

2 cups whole milk, divided
1½ cups sugar
4 tablespoons salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. 1. To make the caramel praline, spread the ½ cup (100 gr) of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan: I use a 6 quart/liter pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil
2. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it's just about to burn. It won't take long.
3. Without hesitation, sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring (don't even pause to scratch your nose), then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.
4. To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they're floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.
5. Spread 1½ cups (300 gr) sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, using the same method described in Step #2.
6. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk.
7. Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).
8. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.
9. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
10. While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about ½-inch, or 1 cm). I use a mortar and pestle, although you can make your own kind of music using your hands or a rolling pin.
11. Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.

    Note: As the ice cream sits, the little bits of caramel may liquefy and get runny and gooey, which is what they're intended to do.

Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust

I've been eying this recipe over at BakeorBreak for awhile. It just keeps calling me, but I kept putting it off until this weekend. First off what could be better than peanut butter pie and then to add a chocolate cookie crust?! I've seen many peanut butter pies, but I have yet to actually make one. Boy am I glad I tried this one out.

It's rich and creamy. Nothing too fancy, but nice and simple. My favorite part, it's served cold with a hot fudge sauce. Delightful. I'm not a huge semi-sweet or dark chocolate fan. So I usually use milk chocolate no matter what. This definitely needs semi-sweet and dark chocolate. Using milk chocolate would have made it way too sweet and not as flavorful. Having the semi-sweet in the pie and the dark and milk chocolates for the sauce gave it a great combination. My taste buds were lovin it!

Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust
Recipe from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies (about 6oz.)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1. 1. Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sugar. Pour the butter over the mixture and mix until well combine.
2. 2. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Put the crust in the refrigerator.

Filling:
1/2 cup (3 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. light corn syrup
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
3.4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. 1. Melt chocolate chips in microwave, or double boiler. Stir in corn syrup. Spread the chocolate in a thin layer on the bottom of the chilled pie crust. Return the crust to the refrigerator.
2. 2. Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined and smooth. Set aside.
3. 3. In another bowl, use the mixer to whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture until uniform in color.
4. 4. Pour the mixtuer into the prepared crust and freese for at least 4 hours. Once frozen, the pie can be coverd with aluminum foil and kept in the freezer for up to 3 days.

Hot Fudge Sauce:
6 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped
6oz. dark chocolate (64% cacao), finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup1. Place both chocolates in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.

1. 2. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in corn syrup. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Allow to sit for 2 minutes. Starting in the center and working out to the edges, whisk the chocolate mixture in a circle until smooth.
2. 3. Spoon onto pieces of pie before serving.
3. 4. After sauce is cooled to room temperature, it can be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator for 3 days. Rewarm sauce in a microwave on medium heat for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until warm.

Pizza Dough

Todd and I use to have pizza pretty much ever Friday night. During the beginning of our marriage I was trying different pizza doughs quite often. I'd find one and kinda like, but after a few times I'd go searching for a new one. That was until I found The One.

This has been my all time favorite pizza dough. It's made with mainly bread flour, but has just a 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I've made it with just all white flour, but the wheat just gives it a nice chewy texture and a little more flavor. The recipe yields 3 pizzas. I'm not quite sure how big those are suppose to be. I use a 17" pizza pan. When I half the recipe it creates a nice thin crust. Well, thin enough for Todd and thick enough so I have some what of a crust. I usually like to make 3/4th of the dough and use all of it on my 17". To me it's the perfect crust! But I believe that the best part of a pizza is the crust. So you could go ether way depending on your liking. Also if you have a hard time with getting the crust cooked all the way and your toppings cooked just right, bake the crust for about 5 minutes before adding the toppings.

Pizza Dough
Allrecipes.com

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

5 1/2 cups bread flour

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until creamy; about 10 minutes.
2. Stir the olive oil, whole wheat flour, salt and 4 cups of the bread flour into the yeast mixture. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume; about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds and let them rest for about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
4. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into the desired shape, cover it with your favorite toppings and bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for about 20 minutes or until the crust and cheese are golden brown.
   

(if you want to add a little extra flavor, before baking brush the crust with melted butter. Then sprinkle on some grated parmesan and garlic powder.)

Bananas

This past week I must have been craving bananas because everything I made consisted of the delicious fruit. The recipes I found just sounded so good. My first recipe to try out was a Banana Cream Pie from Our Best Bites.

This was suppose to be an easy and quick dessert, which is what really appealed to me. You're suppose to use a store bought pie crust, jello pudding, whip cream, and sweetened condensed milk. Well, when I got to the store they didn't have any of the Oreo crusts. I could have gone for just the regular graham cracker crust, but I really wanted the chunky monkey version. So I decided I could just make my own. Just an FYI, I wouldn't buy the store brand Oreos. Not nearly as good as the actual Oreo brand. I was trying to save money cause I didn't have a lot of extra cash on me, but really saving a dollar and losing on the quality was not worth it in the end. I also ended up just using cool whip, rather than whipping cream (i was trying to make this just a little healthier). The end product wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the best. I don't think the cool whip caused a problem cause the filling was pretty good. The main issue was pretty much the crust. It just gave an awful flavor. I'd try this again, but just make sure that I got an actual Oreo crust.

My next recipe is from Annie's Eats. She posted about Banana Bread Waffles the other and I knew I wanted to try them. One reason the bananas, the other is because it called for yeast. I've never made waffles with yeast. You start by making the recipe the night before and then finish it the next morning. That part was nice because it meant less work for the next morning, but it also meant I had to remember to start it the night before. They were pretty delicious. I thought with the yeast they'd be a little puffier, but they weren't. They turned out like all my other waffles. These are definitely a repeat recipe. Although next time I wouldn't mind chopping up some walnuts and adding them in:)

This last recipe was the one I was looking forward to the most. Banana Pudding Ice Cream from Home Sick Texan. I don't know, when I first read it, it just sounded perfect. Don't ask me why, for some reason I've been having a hankering for bananas. I love ice cream and then to make it a banana pudding ice cream. Mmmm.. delightful.

Anyway, it didn't quite turn out the way I imagined. It was pretty simple to make. I thought you would keep the sliced bananas in them, but after making the custard you let it sit for 45 minutes with the bananas, then remove the bananas, and let it chill for at least 4 hours. When I first took the bananas out I tasted the custard, but there was really no banana flavor, so I thought maybe it'll come out after chilling. Right... Nope. I knew it wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure I hoped it would. After freezing it, in my mixer, there was a very faint taste of banana. More of a little aftertaste. I was pretty bummed. Last night I sliced up bananas and served them with the ice cream and it tasted pretty darn good. Looking back at everything I did, my only conclusion is that my bananas weren't ripe enough so it didn't create enough flavor. I really want to make this again and see if that was my problem. If that wasn't the problem, then I'll throw it out, but as for now it's still a keeper.

Cinnamon Rolls

My very first "real" job was working at Cinnamonster in Grapevine Mills Mall. I was 13 and it was the first time I received a check, not just money from babysitting. I thought I was pretty cool. It was also my first job working in some sort of a bakery. I can remember coming home from work and always smelling like cinnamon. My clothes, my hair, just me in general. I don't know if that's when I feel in love with cinnamon, but since then I cannot get enough of it.

My next job was at The House of Bread. My favorite bread...Cinnamon Swirl. It was soooo good. Especially when I was the Assistant Baker. I put so much extra cinnamon swirl goodness that when the breads came out, and were dumped on the racks, the filling would drip down. Seriously it was the best site ever.

I have tried to recreate both the cinnamon swirl bread and cinnamon roll from my previous work experiences. I have now mastered one! The cinnamon roll. What's funny, to me at least, is that the recipe is actually called Clone of a Cinnabon. Cinnabon is Cinnamonster's competitor. But I have to admit these rolls are pretty close to what I can remember making as a 13 year old.

They come out, as told by my husband, "delicious, and cinnamatastic". Honestly they are truly just that. They're flaky, big, sweet, gooey...... I usually add a little more cinnamon, just because I can't get enough cinnamon. I think what reminds me the most of Cinnamonster's rolls is the frosting. Cream cheese frosting. Once again I add more cream cheese and not so much powder sugar. I just don't like having the flavor of powdered sugar.

What else is better than cutting into something so "cinnamatastic" to start the Valentines weekend?!

Cinnamon Rolls
Allrecipes.com

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. Add eggs, margarine, flour and salt. Mix until a ball is formed. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
   
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Coconut Almont Fudge

Coconut + Almonds + Fudge = Greatness. There's a little store here in town called G's Dairy. Todd and I use to frequent it quite often. Mainly for their ice cream. They have many different varieties, but the one that I keep going back to is Coconut Almond Fudge. I'm seriously in heaven when I eat this particular ice cream.

While I was looking over a few recipes I came across one called Mound Bars on Allrecipes.com. It screamed "make me, make me". It had very few ingredients, looked pretty simple, and consisted of coconut and chocolate. So I put it in my recipe box with the intentions of making it one day.

Last night Todd had a Vet Club meeting to go to and Everett was fast asleep. What was I to do? Turn on Grey's Anatomy and bake. I pulled up the Mound Bars recipe and got everything together. You start by making a basic graham cracker crust. While I was pressing the crust onto the bottom of my pan I kept thinking "man, I really wish I had almonds. I bet this would taste so good with almonds." Then low and behold I see a can of nuts that we got for Christmas. So I went through and picked out all the almonds wishing I had more.

Once the crust came out I sprinkled what little almonds I had, added the coconut, and then poured the sweetened condensed milk on top. And then it went back into the oven and baked while I went back to the TV to continue watching Greys. For a second I thought how great that moment was. Sitting watching my choice of a tv show, the baby asleep, no channels being flipped, and the gradually increasing aroma of coconut filling the air. Mmmm....

Anyway, back to the bars.... The recipe tells you to bake these for 15 more minutes once you add the coconut and milk. It doesn't explain what it should look like really. Once my 15 minutes were up the bars didn't look too great. The edges were slowly starting to toast. So i decided to leave it in until it looked as though most of the coconut was toasted. It ended up being a little over 20 minutes. Once out the melted chocolate was poured on top and then they were put into the fridge until I took them out this morning to cut.

As I cut, I contemplated whether or not I should try one at 7:00 am. But then what better way to start your morning?! And let me tell you it was worth biting into all that coconutty goodness bright and early!

With my variations I decided to call these Coconut Almond Fudge Bars. In rememberance of a very delicious ice cream. Biting into these you go through a nice thick layer of chocolate, then you get to the gooey coconut filling where you get to taste a tiny bit of almonds, and then you hit the crunchy sweet crust. I honestly don't think you could go wrong with these. Unless you forgot they were in the oven and they burned:) They were simple to make and tasted great. This recipe is a keeper for me!

Coconut Almond Fudge Bars
adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
1-2 cups chopped almonds (depends on your preference)
1 (12oz.) package chocolate chips, melted (you can use whatever you like. Milk, semi-sweet, dark...)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Mix and pat into the bottom of one 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
2. Once the crust is out sprinkle with crushed almonds and coconut. Pour the condensed milk on top. Slowly spread over the crust (you'll want to be careful because if you are too hard on the spreading the coconut starts to pull up the graham cracker crust). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes, or until coconut is toasted.
3. Spread the melted chocolate chips over the top. Let cool and cut into squares.
   

Baking, Working, & Raising a Kid

I really don't know who all even reads this. I haven't posted anything for 3 months now. I've come to the realization that I can't do everything I want to do! Well, I can, but then writing about it makes it a little harder. I've even neglected my family blog. Working and raising a kid takes a lot out of me. But I'm trying to become better at organizing and prioritizing things. So hopefully there will be new things on here soon. In fact I'm trying out a new recipe this weekend, but maybe, just maybe if Everett cooperates and goes to bed on time, I'll make it tonight.

Plus we invested in a new camera and I'm really excited to test it out on photographing food. Everett's been our tester so far, so maybe I'll give him a little break.

Pumpkin Cookies

What better to make this time of year than pumpkin cookies. Well, anything pumpkin I think. You might as well take advantage of it while you can! I've never made pumpkin cookies so I thought I'd give it a try this year, and I'm glad I did. They're really good!!

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It's suppose to have a glaze on top, but I didn't have powdered sugar like I thought I did, and I didn't want to run to the grocery store. So I improvised. I melted some chocolate and drizzled it on top instead. Having done that I'm not sure if I would have liked the glaze topping. I think it might have made it a little too sweet. I honestly liked them plain without the chocolate too. They're very cake like and moist. They're not too sweet like most cookies. The only bad thing is that they're a little addicting. Especially if you're a fan of pumpkin.

What I really like is that they're super easy to whip up. Just your basic ingredients and a cup of pumpkin puree. Pretty simple. The recipe says to bake for 15-20 minutes. I only baked mine for 12 and I think I could have probably done them for 10-11 minutes. Not a bad cookie I'd have to say so myself.

Pumpkin Cookies

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

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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.
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, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookie

Well, I guess I've decided to start posting again:) It's been a fun, busy last couple of months and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of having a baby and still accomplishing things. Hopefully I'll keep this up a little better. I have sooo many things I want to bake and try and talk about. But I thought I'd start back up with my all time favorite cookies.

I found this recipe when I was in high school and have been in love sinse. They are dangerous to bake though. I tend to start eating the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter cups......mmmm.....Anyway.....

They are pretty simple and come out great. It's hard to tell when they're done cause they are a darker cookie, but I usually under cook mine a little cause they come out better that why. I bake them for 9 minutes. They still look pretty soft, but you don't want to cook them for too long. The recipe says to let them sit on the cookie sheet after taking them out and you should. They are really delicate, especially right out of the oven. I also use a bag of miniature Reeses, freeze them, cut them, and then fold them in while they're still frozen. That way they don't smash and you can really taste them when you bite into it.

These are truly the best. But beware, they are also very tempting. I always have to give mine away so I don't get too tempted!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 10 chocolate covered peanut butter cups, cut into eighths

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter cups. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 1 or 2 minutes on sheet before removing, or they will fall apart.

Dinner Rolls

I wasn't going to post about these rolls. I've been making them forever, but they're just so good and I think I've finally gotten to where I really know how to make them. The recipe comes from one of my mom's cookbooks. I honestly don't know the name of it. We just always called it the "Mormon Cookbook".

If these are made just right they come out so soft and fluffy. Breads are fun to make, but I've noticed everytime I make some sort of bread it's always done a little differently. Sometimes I have to add more flour, while others I don't add quite as much. It's all about the touch I think. You can do exactly what the recipe calls for, but it might not turn out quite right. This recipe calls for 6 cups All-Purpose flour. I usually end up with 7-8 cups, just depending. If you have a scale and are able to weigh out your ingredients you can usually get a more accurate about of what you're suppose to put in. Weighing is better than measuring:)

When mixing dough you want to be able to touch and pick it up after it's done kneading, but you don't want it to be compeltely dry. I like my dough where there's still stickiness to it. If that makes sense. I usaully have to get a little flour on my hands to handle it and form it into a ball and let it rise. If you get it so that it's really easy to handle, then the rolls usually turn out hard and dense, not light and fluffy.

One thing that I loved learning in school was the window technique. A recipe will tell you to knead for 8-10 minutes, but how do you know you're done? The kneading process is done to make your dough elastic and that's exactly what you want. If you take a piece of the dough and slowly start to spread it and it just tears, it's not done. You want to create a "window". I usally roll a little piece into a ball and then slowly start stretching it. If I can get it pretty thin and it hasn't ripped then I usually let the rising process start.

For these rolls I weigh my pieces out into about 3 oz. portions. I'm not good at eyeballing and I like my rolls to look somewhat similar in size. 3 oz. makes a pretty good size roll. For this batch I made 2 dozen rolls with that size. If you have something to cut each roll out it works better then tearing the dough apart. I use a metal bench scraper. After cutting I rolled them, let them rise for about 30 minutes and then I baked them for 10 minutes and once they came out started rubbing butter on the tops. They're so good and make the house small so nice. I love the smell of cooked bread!

Dinner Rolls

2 packages (2T) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
6 cups flour scooped
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1 T. salt
2 cups warm water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup oil

Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water to which sugar has been added.

In a large bowl stir together flour, dry milk, and salt. Making a well in the center, add 2 cups warm water, yeast mixture, eggs, and oil in that order. Stir until well mixed, adding more flour, if needed, to make a soft dough.

Cover. Allow to rise in a warm place until double. About 1 hour.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead a few times to make dough easy to handle. Pinch off smooth round pieces about egg size; arrange 2 inches apart, on a greased baking sheet. Cover lightly with a clean towel. Allow to rise 20 minutes. Bake 10 minutes, or until golden brown, at 400F.

Cookies N Cream Cake

If you want a chocolate cake with a little something extra, this is perfect. Especially if you like oreos, or Cookies N Cream Ice Cream. Todd's birthday was last week and I wanted to make him something special, not just a plain chocolate cake. I found this idea on Annie's Eats. What's funny is that she uses the same chocolate cake and icing I always do. It's just the Hershey's recipe you can find on the back of Hershey's Cocoa. I love this recipe. It always turns out so moist.

So I just used my typical cake recipe and then made the cookies n cream filling. It was just whipped cream with chopped up oreos folded in. I was a little leery about what it'd taste like, but I thought it tasted pretty similar to what the ice cream tastes like. My only problem was, was that after putting the filling on the bottom layer of cake and then putting the second layer on it would kinda slide around. I don't know if it was because our apartment was a little warmer, but maybe next time I'll let the whip cream sit in the fridge for a few minutes before putting it on the cake. It might let it chill again and be a little firmer. But that was pretty much my only problem. I thought it was going to me hard to cut into, but it wasn't. It turned out just right! We served it was Vanilla Ice Cream, but I thought with the whipped cream it could be eaten without ice cream and still be good.

Cookies and Cream Cake

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the filling:
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
10 chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped

For the frosting:
½ cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat on low speed until all sugar is incorporated; increase speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in chopped cookie pieces with a rubber spatula.

To make the frosting, melt the butter in a medium bowl. Stir in the cocoa. Alternately add confectioners’ sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cardboard cake circle. Pipe a ring of the chocolate frosting around the outside edge of the cake. Fill the area inside the ring of frosting with a thick layer of the cookies and cream mixture. Place the second cake layer on top. Frost the sides of the cake layers with chocolate frosting. Pipe a decorative border of the chocolate frosting on top of the cake. Fill the area inside this border with a thick layer of the cookies and cream mixture. Garnish with extra chocolate sandwich cookies and whipped cream if desired.

(the recipe calls for 10 cookies, I think I used about 15. I kept adding till I got it the way I liked it)

Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

These brownies were sooooo good. Especially if you're a fan of chocolate and peanut butter. I found these on the Betty Crocker website. You start with your brownie. Make a peanut butter frosting, and then top it off with a nice little chocolate glaze. So easy and oh so good. The recipe calls for a brownie mix. I was going to use my own recipe, but at the last minute decided to be lazy. Plus I think most brownie mixes come out better then brownies from scratch.

The recipe states to either grease your brownie pan, or line it with foil. I lined mine with foil. It made it so much easier to work with. Once the brownies were cooled I just lifted the ends, of the foil, and took em out. Peeled the foil away from the sides and then started frosting it. After spreading the frosting on I let it set in the fridge just to firm it up and make it easier for the glaze. Once I put the glaze on I let that set up in the fridge also. I tried cutting some before it was completely set cause I was trying to go somewhere, but it's best to wait. When it came time to cut the rest I kept running my knife under warm water and wiping it clean so you'd have clean looking brownies, if not the peanut butter comes up and gets in the glaze. Also I made these pretty small which I'm glad I did. They were way rich and easier to eat that way.

(see how the peanut butter came up into the frosting on the middle one. clean knife makes them look much better)

Go here if you'd like to try the recipe out! Beware they are very addicting.

(once again sorry for the poor picture taken. I was tired and in a hurry.)

Challah

Alright, well I've taken a few weeks off. Due to traveling and being sick, I couldn't muster up anything to try and bake something nice. But now that I'm back I wanted to work with something I LOVE.

BREAD

I could bake and eat bread all day if it would constitute a healthy diet. But unfortunately you've gotta add some other stuff with it. There's nothing better than baking bread and having the aroma consume your home. I love it! Then the whole getting your hands in and kneading the dough. It's a little therapeutic in a way. There's just something that bread does that any other baked good can't do for me.

Anyway, when I was in high school I worked at a bakery where I was able to make Challah (the C is silent by the way). It's a Jewish egg bread, and it's oh sooo delicious! It's good as a sandwich, french toast, regular toast, or just snacking on. YuM! What I think is fun about it is that you get to braid it and not just put it in a loaf pan. Lame I know. But still, it's fun :).

The recipe I choose came from The Bread Bible. This cookbook is really indepth stuff. I was honestly really excited. For this challah you start by making a sponge either early in the morning, or the night before. It consists of part of the yeast, flour, and water for the dough. Then after it rests for atleast an hour you add more flour and yeast and let it rest for another 4 hours. Then you start mixing the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough. So needless to say it's an all day process, but one I was looking forward to!

Well, from this experience I learned that I need to be more prepared. The recipe tells you to use only a certain kind of flour and oil, but I thought I could just use what I had and I'd see what happen. This recipe wasn't a complete flop for me, but at the same time it was. My challah did not turn out to be anything like challah is suppose to really be. From the picture you can tell it doesn't look like it's suppose to. It usually has a much darker coloring. That is my fault. Well, everything that went wrong was my fault. Like I said before I was not prepared like I thought I was. I ended up running out of eggs so I couldn't do the glaze which gives it the right color. I ran out of honey, so it didn't have the right sweetness to it. Then when I was braiding it, I compeltely forgot how I did my 4-braids so it didn't turn out too pretty by the time I figured it out. I thought that even if it didn't look exactly like I wanted it should still have the same taste, but nope. Obviously being a little short on honey does take away the sweetness, but the right texture wasn't there either. It was real heavy. It just wasn't great. But we live and learn right?!

I really want to do this recipe again, but do it exactly how it says to and with the exact ingredients it says. So for furture reference, if a recipe tells you to use King Aruthur unbleached All-Purpose Flour, use exactly that. It really does make a difference.

Homemade Oreo Cookie

Alright, this week I wanted to do something nice and simple. Since going to school I've realized that I'm a simple baker. If that makes sense. I love baking and making something taste so delicious that's all someone will think about while they're eating my creation. I'm not a decorator. I, in all honesty, HATE cake decorating. I've tried and tried, but I'd rather spend my time on the taste then the appearance. You can still make something look amazing with out all the hoopla. I'm still trying though. Just ask Todd. He knows when I'm trying to decorate a cake. Practice makes perfect right?!

Anyway....off my little rant...so since I didn't have much time this week (we're leaving for Denver on Friday), as I said before I wanted something simple. I don't think I've craved too much during this pregnancy, but a couple weeks ago I was walking through Walmart and saw a bag of Oreos. They looked so good. I knew Todd would want to get them if I mentioned it. But surprisingly enough he said we didn't need them. Shocking I know. Since then I've been wanting some with a glass of milk (and for those that know me know I can't stand milk). Mmm...sounds so good though. When I was trying to figure out what to bake this week it popped into my head Homemade Oreos. I've made them before and they're quite easy. All you need is a couple boxes of cake mixes, a few basic ingredients, and cream cheese. The best part, they're way better than store bought:)

The recipe says to bake them for 10-13 minutes. Usually depends on your oven and the size. Mine only cooked for 8 minutes. As the cookies cooled mine became a little hard. I thought I over cooked them, but when you bite into them they're just right. They soft, but give a little crunchiness so they're almost like the real oreos you buy. The recipe made a ton of cookies. Didn't really get to count them, but if you don't need tons I'd half it next time. It took forever. Part of that could have been due to the fact that I made them pretty small.

Homemade Oreo's

2 Devils Food Cake mixes

1 1/4 C Butter

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:Mix well. Roll into cherry sized balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes. Cool on rack.

Cream Cheese Filling

(1) 8 oz pkg cream cheese

1/4 C butter*1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 C Powdered Sugar.

Mix well and spread between cooled cookies.

Strawberry Shortcakes

This past week I decided to try making strawberry shortcakes. I LOVE strawberries and they're soooo good right now. I found this recipe on Good Eats N Sweets. If you want to see better pictures I'd check out her blog. I've never made shortcakes before, or at least that I can remember. The recipe was pretty simple. Having never made these, I'm not sure if my shortcakes came out correctly. I know the batter was like making biscuits and you're not suppose to work them too much. The cakes rose a little, but not much. There was still room to cut in half. I actually don't think I would have wanted them any bigger. There might have been way too much cake. The recipes tells you to pat the dough into a square, but I actually rolled it so that probably could have done something to not make them rise too much.

The strawberries were sooo nice and refreshing. My favorite part about strawberry shortcakes are that they are light and don't make you feel like you're eating a real heavey dessert. If you're in the mood for a spring/summer dessert I'd try these. Simple and sweet!

Strawberry Shortcakes
FOR THE SHORTCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar plus 1 tablespoon for glazing
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream, for glazing

FOR THE STRAWBERRIES
1 dry quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
3 tablespoons sugar (or more to your taste)

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

BEFORE YOU START
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

TO MAKE THE SHORTCAKES
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it resembles a course meal. Little by little, stir in heavy cream until the dough starts to hold together (you may use a bit more cream if need be).
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat together to form a rectangle 5 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches long that is about 1 inch thick. Cut the long side of the dough into thirds, and the width in half to form six 2 1/2-inch squares. Place the shortcakes 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
Brush the tops of the shortcakes with the milk or heavy cream and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
While the shortcakes are cooling, prepare the strawberries. In a medium bowl, combine the sliced strawberries with the sugar. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes to macerate.

TO MAKE THE WHIPPED CREAM
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the heavy cream and vanilla on medium speed. In a slow steady stream, add the sugar and beat until the mixture forms medium-stiff peaks.
The whipped cream is best used when just made, but can be refrigerated in an airtight container overnight and beaten again before serving.

TO COMPLETE THE SHORTCAKES
Fork split each shortcake in half horizontally. Place one half on each of six plates. Spoon 2 tablespoons of berries on each with a large dollop of whipped cream. Spoon more berries on top. Place each of the remaining halves on top of the berries. Garnish with more cream and berries, if desired. Add a sprig of mint for garnish, if you’d like.

(sorry about the pictures. They're not the greatest. I couldn't get the camera to focus and then the sun was going down which didn't help with the lighting. Maybe working on my photography skills will be my next project!)

Apple Pie and Cinnamon Ice Cream

For my first recipe on here I decided to make an Apple Pie. I wanted to just do something basic. I figured when you're trying to get back into the habit of something you go back to the basics and work your way up. I went ahead and also made some cinnamon ice cream. I've been wanting to make cinnamon ice cream for forever so I thought this would be the perfect time.

The apple pie I made was from Martha Stewart. It was made with lime juice, something I've never done before. It added a nice little flavor. Everything else were your basic ingredients. Apples, flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon. I learned that I need to practice my pie dough skills. The dough turned out fine, it was just the rolling out and then forming it all together. But practice makes perfect, so I'm guess I'll be making more pies in the future!

Cinnamon Ice Cream is FABULOUS!!! I love cinnamon. LOVE IT. I added just a little more cinnamon then the recipe called for and I'm glad. I don't think it was too overpowering. Just right. Mmm...so good. I could probably eat the whole batch, but luckily we have neighbors who helped us eat both the pie and ice cream.

I had so much fun making this pie. It's funny when you've stopped doing something for awhile, and then when you restart, things just start coming back. While I was tossing the apples, with everything, I kept remembering things my chef told me to do and different terms. I started laughing cause I really didn't think I'd start remembering things like that. Today was a refreshing start. I seriously love baking. There's just a neat aspect of taking all these different ingredients and creating something so delicious with it!

Apple Pie:

Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons ice water

Filling:

• 3 1/2 pounds (about 8 medium) heirloom apples, such as Arkansas Black, Caville Blanc, Carpentin, Jonathan, Knobbed Russet or Northern Spy.*
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sanding sugar

Crust:

Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until the mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into two disks, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to two days.

Pie:

On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Roll remaining disk of dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until cold and firm, about 15 minutes.

Peel and core apples, then cut them into 1/2 to 1-inch chunks and place them in a medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla seeds, and toss.

Place apple mixture in prepared pie dish, and dot with butter. Center dough round over apples, and tuck overhang under edge of bottom dough. Using your fingers, gently pinch dough along edge to seal. Using a paring knife, cut eight 2 1/2-inch vents in dough to let steam escape. Freeze pie until firm, about two hours.

Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix yolk and heavy cream in a small bowl, and brush over dough. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place dish on rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° F, and bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 50-60 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Cinnamon Ice Cream:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.

Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

(Sorry no pictures of the ice cream. Pictures didn't turn out too great!)