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!!!!!!

After school snack: Apple Cider Breakfast Bars

I made these bars for the kids recently that I found on the back of the cider jug. They were an intriguing combination. And required me to reduce cider which I had never tried before. As usual with me, I plunged ahead anyway and I think I did it right??? :) It was fun to do. I did have to pour the reduced cider into a measuring cup a couple times to check how close I was to the correct amount and had to pour it back into the pan then and go a bit further. It ends up not giving the bars a cider flavor but an extra sweet flavor. Maybe they would have had more apple taste if I had used dried apples with the cider reduction, I just didn't have any on hand.

The recipe:

1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. softened butter
4 c. toasted o's cereal
1 c. cider
1/2 c. chopped dried apples (optional)
1 egg
1 c. oats
1/2 t. salt
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Boil apple cider and chopped dried apples (if using) in a saucepan until reduced to 1/4 c. Mix sugar, butter, peanut butter, cider, vanilla, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except the cereal. Then gently stir in cereal. Pour (more scoop) into an ungreased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

I liked this recipe and I think I'd make them again but I was kind of surprised by how the texture of the o's was changed by baking. It gave the bars a chewy texture. The kids gobbled them up and they made a super after school treat. Give them a try and see what you think.

Pumpkin Cookies...

Here are some recent pumpkins I made. I was inspired by these pumpkin decorated cupcakes. I decided that three small circle cookies made from my sour cream cookie recipe and decorated with my almond frosting would be cute decorated in this same way.
This takes a ton of frosting! :) I should have used my very smallest round cutter. About an inch in diameter would be the right size. And make your frosting very stiff -
use extra powdered sugar. And don't forget to pipe frosting between the cookie layers.

I wrapped them up and shared them with my mom's group small group.
They were cute and yummy! Give it a try in these next few days before Halloween. But maybe plan to make only part of the batch into these and cut the rest with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. Otherwise you will need 10 sticks of butter and lots and lots of time. :)

Pretty in Pink: Maraschino Cherry Cake

I made this yummy and pretty pink cake early in the summer but never had a chance to share. This picture was all that was left to photograph by the time I remembered to do it. :)

I was really intrigued by this recipe with it's egg whites and maraschino cherries. It is from "Old-Fashioned Baking Book" by Jim Fobel. I found it at a flea market in Florida about 18 months ago. It was a really fun find. Full of fun recipes that I have yet to try. I need to get to work on that...

The recipe:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. granulated sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. juice from maraschino cherries
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. almond extract
4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
4 large egg whites
18 maraschino cherries, drained and quartered

Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease two 8-inch round cake pans (or I used a 9 x 13). Line bottom with waxed paper and then grease the paper (if using rounds, not necessary if you are using a 9 x 13).

In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl stir together milk and cherry juice. Add to the flour mixture along with the vanilla, almond, butter and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer just until smooth. Add the egg whites and beat for 3 minutes at medium speed. With a spoon, stir in cherries. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely and remove round cake from pans before frosting with Cream Cheese frosting or frost in 9 x 13 pan, if desired.

This is a unique cake - not over the top sweet. Lovely with the cream cheese frosting. When I make it again I will add more cherries. The original recipe calls for walnuts but we are a no nut family so I skipped those and felt like it needed more cherries in the mix. Just my two cents. :)

Enjoy!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookie Bars

I made these yummy and fast treats for a recent meeting I had.
Here they are all wrapped up and ready to go.

I hope to be posting more regularly now that fall has arrived. I have more time to bake and several things I have already baked and haven't had the chance to share yet. Stay tuned!

The recipe:

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. of Crisco
3/4 c. of brown sugar
3/4 c. of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
2 1/4 c. of flour
1/2 c. of old fashioned oats
3/4 c. of dried cranberries
1 1/2 c. of white chocolate chips

Blend butter, Crisco and both kinds of sugars. Add eggs and mix until well blended. Add vanilla, salt and soda and flour. Mix well. Add oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips. Mix until just blended. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake in a 365 degree oven for about 22 minutes or until golden brown around edges but not over baked. Cool and cut into 20 bars.

I love these for a fast and easy sweet addition to a brunch. And I think they are best enjoyed the day after baking. They are just perfect then. Enjoy!

Pizza Crust

I realized I did not post temp for oven or cooking time in the original post: 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.

Original post:

A savory baking recipe for you today. Pizza crust. This recipe was originally shared on the Reading Rainbow program on PBS. Years ago. My mom started using it then for her own homemade pizza. It's simple and delicious.

The recipe:

1 c. warm (not hot water)
1 to 1 1/2 T. instant yeast
1/2 T. sugar to feed the yeast.

Swirl together and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. This will get your yeast working.

Add...
2 1/2 c. to 3 c. bread flour (you can use all-purpose, but bread really is best)
1 t. salt or garlic salt for a little more flavor

Knead in the last 1/2 c to 1 c of flour. Mixing this with the dough hook on a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer is easiest - allow dough hook to knead about 5 minutes. Allow to rest, covering bowl with a clean towel for half an hour to an hour. Oil pizza pan and your hands well. Spread dough out on pan. Top with your favorite pizza toppings.

Makes one large, thick crust pizza. I used this amount to make the two smaller pizzas pictured in this post with slightly thinner crusts.

Making Baking Healthier: Blueberry Lemon Cookies Revisited

One of my sweet friends just recently discovered I am blogging about baking when she saw my blueberry lemon cookie post posted to my facebook. She immediately tried the recipe out but gave it her own healthier twist. I asked her if I could share the healthier version with you and she agreed!!!

This is a photograph of her blueberry lemon cakes taken by her. Don't they look great???? And here is her recipe and a few words from her too (all noted in italics.)

The recipe

1/2 c. butter (any trans fat free version should work)
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
(Didn't have zest, so...)
1.5 -2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 eggs (could have used 3 whites)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. skim milk
Lots of blueberries

Mine went in at 350 degrees in greased extra large muffin tins. Each had about 3/4 of an ice cream scoop's worth of batter. They probably baked 15-20 minutes. I removed them still warm and covered them with lemon icing (just powdered sugar and lemon juice) My family devoured them! They are extra yummy served warm out of the oven with a fork... Splenda people could also use like 1/2 c. Splenda and 1/2 c. brown sugar and that would still be good with a lower glycemic index.

Thank you so much for sharing, Amanda!!!!! And share again any time. :) Love getting ideas for lighting a recipe. I can't wait to try this one. We have to go and pick some more blueberries!