Cream Puff in a pan...

Fall has arrived. momLife has begun. (A ministry at our church that I am very involved in and keeps me pretty busy.) And now maybe I will have some regular time to begin blogging again???

Here is a yummy favorite of mine. I found the recipe originally in a Pampered Chef cookbook. Jason's aunt makes a version too - it is a recipe that works great for diabetics because it can be done with a sugar free version of pudding. Marilyn makes it that way so that Jace's grandma can enjoy it. I hope you'll give it a try. The cream puff is made in basically the same way as the top layer of Swedish Pastry.

The recipe:

1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
4 eggs
8 oz of cream cheese softened
2 (4 oz each) packages of vanilla instant pudding mix
2 c. milk
12 oz frozen whipped topping thawed
1/4 c. chocolate syrup (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bring the water and butter to a boil in a 2-quart sauce pan, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking them in as they are added. Add a dash of salt and a 1 t of almond flavoring if you like.

Spread the batter in a greased 10 x 15 baking dish (I like to line mine with wax paper and grease that). Bake for 25 minutes. Cool. It will look like this:

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the pudding mix and the milk. (Add the milk first, then the mix - it will help you avoid lumps in this layer.) Beat until well combined.

Spread this mixture unto the baked layer. Top with the whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate syrup if desired.

Makes 36 servings.

Enjoy!!!!

Christmas Baking: Some new things for you to try...

I have been baking like a crazy person! I am still not done making everything I plan to make but who knows, I may be forgoing some of the plan because I am running out of days! Here is a tray of some of the things I've made lately. Jace took this to work the other day. The buckeyes aren't baked but I have a great recipe for them. Maybe I'll share that another day. I really love making candy at Christmas (chocolate candy). :) And of course I made some sour cream sugar cookies. These are especially lovely, if I do say so myself. I love white frosting with sanding sugar or edible glitter.

Okay, on to the recipes in this post. The bars on the far left of the picture are called Caramel Chip Bars. But my family affectionately knows them as Excedrin Bars. My dad nicknamed them this after deciding they were worth the headache he would get after eating them. :) His sister makes them each year for our family Christmas. They are a Taste of Home recipe, you can find here. They are a rich and super sweet cookie, I like them cut really small.

And finally, I tried these Pistachio Cookies for the first time this year. They were a simple (started with a cookie mix), festively colored option (the green cookies in this picture). I made them for a cookie exchange with my moms small group.

The recipe:

1 pouch of sugar cookie mix (like Betty Crocker, 1 pound, 1.5 ounce)
1 box of pistachio instant pudding and pie filling
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs

Mix and drop by teaspoon full unto baking sheet. Press down slightly with fingers to flatten. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then remove to wire rack.

I made these two ways. The first batch I mixed in 1/2 c. of dry roasted, salted pistachios slightly chopped and 1/2 c. dried cranberries before baking. These aren't in the picture - I really liked them. They were a recipe I found on All Recipe's site. And the second way, add a 1/2 teaspoon of almond flavoring to the cookie dough and 1 c. of mini chocolate chips. After you remove them from the oven, put a thumbprint in the center of each cookie and add a chocolate covered pistachio by sticking it down with a bit of almond frosting piped on in the thumbprint depression.

Enjoy! And have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Making Baking Healthier: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I cleaned my cookbook cupboard last week. That is not the cookbook cupboard of a skinny person. It is the cookbook cupboard of a person who REALLY likes all things sweet. :)

I am not sure these cookies can really count under my making baking healthier title but I am going to put them there anyway. I cut the fat in half for these, plus, cut the chocolate chips by half and made them very small. This way they counted as 2 weight watchers points each.

They were still very tasty - friends even had some and agreed. The only problem is you still want to eat 6 or 8 at a time... Ah, well.

The recipe:

1/4 c. salted stick butter softened
1/4 c. shortening
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 c. flour
1/3 c. old fashioned oats
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and shortening. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar. Cream in eggs and vanilla.

Add baking soda, salt and first cup of flour. Add second cup of flour and mix until well combined. Then add handful of oats and the mini chips. Mix until just combined.

Dough will be a bit dry - loosely form 1 inch balls, just getting dough to stick together and place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Makes about 48 small cookies. Bake at 365 for 8 to 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!!!

Failing at Macaroons...

So I have attempted to make macaroons two weekends in a row - once for a gathering with friends and once for Easter with the family. The recipe I was using was a weight watchers one but it's directions were horrible!!!

My first attempt didn't even deserve to be photographed - they turned out like mounds of coconut on top of a fried egg. Really gross looking - they tasted fine and I was able to salvage the second pan by adding some more coconut. And I dipped the bottoms in chocolate since I had to slice the first pan off the wax paper because of the fried egg situation - the chocolate held them together.

Anyway, all that to say that my second attempt was not a complete failure but they still weren't quite right but I thought I'd share them anyway. They were still very tasty and maybe I will make some that turn out to look like the picture on the recipe some day. And if not, oh well. Not everything I make is picture perfect. :) I think this second batch may have been over beaten - they were much more like meringues then macaroons.

The recipe:

3 egg whites
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. coconut (unsweetened if you can find it), packed into the measuring cup
1/3 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

Beat the egg whites until they are holding soft peaks. Begin adding the sugar a little at a time while still mixing the egg whites. I mixed my second batch until the egg whites held stiff peaks. You can test the meringue to know it hold a stiff peak by dipping a spoon in - if it leaves a little mountain peak behind that holds it shape - the meringue holds stiff peaks.

Mix in by hand the vanilla and the coconut. Drop by level tablespoons full unto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Bake for about 15 minutes - until lightly browned. Move to a cooling rack - cool completely.

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minutes stopping to mix them every 15 seconds. Put a small dollop of chocolate on the top of each cooled macaroon using a teaspoon. Cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set. About 30 minutes.

Makes about 36 macaroons.

Enjoy - even if they are more like meringues. :)

Jazzing Up a Boxed Brownie Mix: Mint Brownies

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This is such a simple thing - it really isn't a recipe but it is one of my favorite things to make.

Bake a box of brownies that have the chocolate chunks in them as directed on the box. Cool.

Whip up a batch of frosting (kind of like you can read about here) but instead of almond and vanilla flavorings at 1 t. of mint extract. And a couple drops of green food coloring.

Frost the brownies. And for a final, wonderful touch - melt one square of unsweetened or semi-sweet baking chocolate with 1 T. butter. Drizzle on top of the frosting and smooth into an even coat.

Refrigerate until serving. These are so yummy cold. Love them!!!!

Making Baking Healthier: Chocolate Cake with an unusual ingredient

I have decided to do Weight Watchers for a few weeks and I don't want it to mean I can't bake.

So I want hunting for some Weight Watchers dessert recipes and I found LaaLoosh. While searching her dessert recipes, I found a Weight Watchers' Dark Chocolate Cake.

I gave it a try - even though it has a very unusual ingredient, sauerkraut. Yes, you read right - sauerkraut. I don't know why exactly but it works and you'd never know it was in there. Jace even ate two pieces of it (though he said it had a weird after-taste - Ella and I didn't agree).

Be brave and try it yourself. It serves 14 and only has 4 weight watchers points per serving. Even with a little sprinkle of powdered sugar and drizzle of Hershey's syrup.

Here's the recipe:

2 c. of all-purpose flour
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 1/2 c. hot water
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sauerkraut, pureed until smooth (think applesauce consistency)
1 t. unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a Bundt pan with non-fat cooking spray with flour (I didn't do that - I was careful to hardly coat it with a bit of canola oil and a bit of flour, I'm sure that added a bit more to the point count but hardly and I just didn't have any spray on hand).

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and 2/3 c. cocoa together. Add melted butter, hot water, and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in center of the oven for about 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan at least 20 minutes before turning out onto serving platter. Sprinkle with 1 t. cocoa.

So good!!!

Making Baking Healthier: Brownies

Can you bake things that are a bit better for you? Can you add some good things to baking and take out some of the things that aren't good for you? I attempt it every now and then and plan to attempt it more. Because when you love to bake and you love to eat what you bake, the results can be bad. :)

So today a recipe for low-fat brownies. These aren't no fat, just lower fat. And they certainly aren't health food - they still have a lot of sugar, but a good choice if you really need a brownie. They are really yummy. I found the recipe in a Kraft Food and Family Magazine (a great free magazine - does Kraft still offer it? I haven't gotten it in a while but always found it had some good recipe ideas + some coupons). It's from the Winter 2008 issue.

The Recipe:

4 squares unsweetened Baking chocolate
1/3 c. Canola oil
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sugar
8 large egg whites
1 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped pecans if you like (I skip these, we have nut haters at our house plus they do add fat, but healthy fat and fiber. :) )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over the sides of the pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH, in 1 min intervals. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla; mix well. Stir in sugar. Add egg whites; stir until well blended. Add flour and pecans; mix well. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake 25 min. or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely. Remove brownies from pan using foil handles.

Makes 24 servings, 1 brownie each.

I find these work perfectly for cutting out with a good, metal cookie cutter because you lift them right out of the pan with the foil. I usually make mine heart shaped, you wouldn't want to use a very complicated cut-out. We had them last week for Ella's birthday. She's a chocolate lover. :) That's when I took my picture of them.

Enjoy!