RECIPE: Fudgey Chocolate Chunk Brownies

By the time this recipe goes live weeks will have passed, never mind that.  It's a Munchkin weekend but he's off to see a movie for a couple of hours and I've got a bit of a sweet tooth coming on.  Nothing drastic but still a small craving is building.  Brownies maybe?  I've not made brownies in eons.  Off to Pinterest I went to find something new, different, brownie-ish.  And I found these at Something Swanky.  I had to give them a try.  Never mind that it's closing in on bedtime.  Never mind that the last thing I need to is indulge in brownies, or anything so rich, that close to bedtime.  I had to make them!  And I did.  And they were delectable, the perfect rich ooey-gooey yumminess that soothed my sweet tooth and made a happy Munchkin when he came in (just as they were coming from the oven).

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (or a bit more, who actually measures vanilla?)
2 eggs
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips if that's all ya got and its late - they totally work!)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x9 banking dish with parchment paper.  (Invest in parchment, it's so worth it!)  Beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a standard mixer bowl.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.  Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture.  Mix in the baking soda.  Mix in the chocolate chunks (or chips) with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Once the batter forms (it will be thick), scrape it into the prepared dish and spread evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes, until brownies begin to pull away from the side of the pan.  Serves 9-12 (or a 9 year old for less about 12 minutes).

Seriously amazing for a late night snack.  Last step, as always, Enjoy!

RECIPE: Banana Bread

It's kids week on the blog which means another treat from one of the Minions of Mayhem.  Goobie was supposed to get his turn this month but alas, he's still in California visiting with the grandparents.  I was in a panicked bind when a few other things worked out to my advantage so I simply switched him and Munch around.  With Munch doing all the book reviews this week as well I feel like it should be called Munch instead of Kids Week.

We talked bout options and then chose to dip into my Grandma's recipe collection.  Let me tell ya, Grandma Atkins was quite the cook, but especially quite the baker.  I've been promising the Minions banana bread for a while, and have a freezer full just waiting to be utilized when Munch decided it had to happen.  This week.  So that's what we did, or should I say he did.  There were a few hiccups with leveling over the counter and floor instead of the container or perhaps pulling the mixer out of the batter still on, but that just means he gets to clean up. Right?

Ingredients:

 1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Cup mashed bananas (I use more as I like a stronger banana flavor)
1 Cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup chopped pecans (we left them out, I want to live)
I also added about a Tablespoon of vanilla (sorry Grandma but vanilla makes everything better!)

Directions:
Beat all ingredients together.  Pour into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan, leaving center lower.  (I used mini loaf pans instead).  Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until done (mini loaves about 30 minutes).  Let stand 20 minutes.  Serves 10. (Or one Munchkin twice.)

Let's talk about measuring ingredients.  It was a great opportunity to teach him that not only do we need to measure but that baking is really based on proportions and that leveling ingredients is important to ensure that the same amount is used each time.  It was easy with the little stuff, the big stuff...well easy yes messy yes-er.

I brushed on just a bit of butter as they came out of the oven and after letting sit we shared some with our friends next door and then feasted ourselves!

RECIPE: Grandma's Christmas Cake

Grandma’s Christmas Cake

Author: Wanda Brunstetter

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  35 mins

Total time:  1 hour 5 mins

Ingredients

For Cake:

• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1¼ cups milk
• 1 small (3 ounce) box red Jell-O
• 1 small (3 ounce) box green Jell-O
• 1 (8 ounce) tub Cool Whip

Filling:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) tub Cool Whip

Instructions
For Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside. In mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl frequently and pour into two greased and floured 9-inch round pans.
2. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done. Cool. Prick cakes several times with a fork and leave in pans. Dissolve red Jell-O in 1 cup boiling water and carefully pour over one cake. Dissolve green Jell-O in 1 cup boiling water nd pour over other cake. Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours.
3. Take cakes out of pans using a spatula and put on a plate, one on top of the other, spreading filling between layers (see recipe below). Frost cake with cool whip. Decorate with red and green sprinkles if desired.

Instructions
For Filling:

1. In a bowl, mix cream cheese and Cool Whip until combined.

Notes

If you have trouble removing the cakes from the pans, try placing the bottom of the pans in a shallow sink of warm water for 2-3 minutes.

This will make a fluffy cake. It shouldn’t turn out lopsided unless you’d like to purposely do so by shaving off part of the cake.

This weeks recipe is brought to you by Kristin from A Simply Enchanted Life. 
Kristin is a stay-at-home mom to six beautiful girls. She enjoys reading, photography, aromatherapy, Sims (2 and 4), Star Wars, The Legend of Zelda, and the random show about crime scene forensics, particularly Bones. Although she has been known to binge on NCIS on occasion.
A self-described dreamer, Kristin enjoys all things bookish. She identifies herself as a Sith and was sorted into Slytherin House—making her a Sitherin.
Kristin enjoys large cups of coffee, music by Lindsey Stirling and curling up with a good book.
In addition to her hobbies, Kristin also advocates for awareness of invisible illnesses such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, Chronic Migraines and Orthostatic hypotension. Her dream is to see a world where people are accepted for all their perfect imperfections. For we are all truly, fearfully and wonderfully made.

RECIPE: Apple Cream Pie

So, yesterday, if you were paying attention, my review of 'The Seekers' by Wanda E. Brunstetter went live.  All the recipes in the book were included for the reader.  Off all the recipes this was the only one I would and/or could eat.  So of course I had to make it.  Since I have amazing neighbors I took some for myself and sent the rest next door.  I mean seriously, I don't need a whole pie to myself.  Want?  Of course!  Need.  No way!

Ingredients:
3 cups apples, finely chopped (I used Granny Smith because well, Granny Smith!)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 rounded Tablespoon flour
1 cup cream
1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell

Directions:
Preheat over to 450 degrees.  Mix apples, brown sugar, salt, flour, and cream.

Put in unbaked pastry shell.  Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees for an additional 30 to 40 minutes.  When pie is about halfway done, take a knife and push top apples down to soften.

Halfway Done!  And blurry since well, phone pictures and I aren't besties!

After pie cools, store in refrigerator.

Don't make my mistake!  I totally didn't read the 'rounded' part of the recipe correctly and put a level Tablespoon of flour.  I'm pretty certain, almost positive, that this is the reason my filling didn't set up like it should have.  It was yummy and surprisingly I didn't miss the cinnamon and/or nutmeg at all.  But it was more apple cream soup in a pie shell.  Though not near as bad as when I made cream of broccoli cheese foam (I'll tell you that story another day, don't worry!) Don't make my mistake!

RECIPE: Chocolate Chip Cookie

So,  I went browsing Pinterest looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that turned out soft cookies, not crisp cookies.  I have used lots of recipes but they always have a crisp cookie.  So, I found this one. I almost went by it just due to the ingredient list.  But then I found some work arounds that did not require a run to the store and decided to give it a whirl.  The original recipe can be found here --> Chocolate Chip Cookies.

So let's get started with this massive ingredient list.

Ingredients: 
 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour *
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour *
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter 
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar 
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar 
2 large eggs, room temperature 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1 1/4 pounds chocolate chips (original recipe calls for chopped dark chocolate)

OK, seriously don't freak out, let's talk about flour.  I started with Google to find out decent ways to substitute bread flour.  I found a website called The Balance and found a quick easy substitute, and a little education about, for bread flour.   That same website had a quick and easy substitute for cake flour as well. So, now that we have a better grasp on our ingredients let's get cooking!

Directions:
Step 1: 

 Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.  I don't have a sifter so it was just a mix really well and set aside.

Step 2:

 Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes.  Reduce speed and add eggs and vanilla.  Again, I don't have a good mixer with a paddle attachment so I just did what I do best, go with what I got and make it work.  With me so far?

Step 3:

 

Slowly add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 24-36 hours.  DO NOT SKIP THIS REFRIGERATION.  OK, so as I was adding the dry ingredients back in I noticed that it was very crumbly.  Almost as though there was too much dry to the wet.  I wonder, in hindsight, if this was due to my doing measurements instead of weights.  Or the use of an incorrect mixer.  And then of course part way through the mixing my mixer decided to become antisocial and didn't want to blend it anymore.  Mixing by hand was not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening.  And to top it off I couldn't even have fresh warm cookies to ease my sore muscles!

The Next Day:

 When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.  Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.  OK, again I digress here.  First as you can tell I prefer to bake on parchment, makes clean up SO much easier.  But also, I'm not a fan of hte spoon method.  My cookies are never even and well yeah.  I actually am a little bit crazier and use a melon baller to scoop my cookies.  I prefer the smaller, bite size cookies as opposed to the larger cookies from a spoon drop or even a cookie dipper.  I baked at just 10 minutes and the cookies were perfectly done and lo and behold, the ultimate goal...the were still soft after they cooled.

You can bake them all at once and enjoy cookies for days.  Or do what I did and enjoy cookies, and cookie dough, for days.  I made a couple of sheet pans and put the rest of the dough back into the refrigerator.  I don't recommend doing this forever but over about 3 days I used up all the dough and it was still amazingly delicious.

RECIPE: Baklava Muffins

I first found this recipe on Pinterest.  The original blogger got it from a cookbook.  Here's the link to the original blog post -->  Late Night Concoction.  And made it.  And loved it.  So, I decided it was time to share it with you.

  The Ingredients:
for the filling:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I personally leave these out due to nut allergy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 TBSP melted butter

for the muffins:
1 cup plus 7 TBSP all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 cup plus 2 TBSP buttermilk

for the topping:
1/2 cup honey

The Directions: 4 Easy Steps to Snackage or Dessert

Step 1:  Create the filling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix all the filling ingredients together in a small bowl, and then get on with the muffins.  Again, I omitted the nuts from the original recipe.
Step 2:  Create the Muffin

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. In a wide-mouthed measuring cup, whisk the egg, melted butter, and buttermilk. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid, and mix lightly and gently, remembering to keep it bumpy rather then going all-out for smooth: anything more than the gentlest handling makes for a heavy muffin. Fill the muffin cups 1/3 full, add scant TBSP of filling, then cover with more muffin mixture until 2/3 full. Sprinkle any remaining filling on top of the muffin.
Step 3: Bake
Bake for 15 minutes. Put the muffins onto a plate and drizzle with honey.
Step 4:  Enjoy  

 

Source: Adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.