Almond Raspberry Muffins

More Saturday morning muffins. Can I reiterate how much we all love this tradition?

 

Almond Raspberry Muffins

1/2 c. oil

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. raspberries

Mix together oil, sugar, and egg. Add the yogurt, milk, and almond extract. add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and mix. Batter will be lumpy, do not over mix. Fold in the raspberries. Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups, either greased or lined with paper liners. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Custard Cake

This custard cake is really good! It's different than normal cake but so yummy! You make a batter and pour it into the pan and it seperates into three layers as it bakes! It's amazing! There is a crepe-like bottom, custard middle, and cake top. 

 

Custard Cake

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

3/4 c. flour

2 c. lukewarm milk

You need two bowls to start: a medium sized bowl and a small bowl. Separate the eggs, whites in the small bowl and yolks in the medium bowl. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  In the medium bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the butter and vanilla; beat about two minutes. Add the flour and mix it in. Add the milk in slowly, beating well with each addition. After it is mixed in, add the egg whites, folding in 1/3 at a time. Please note that this batter is pretty liquid-y and the egg whites won't fold in easily. Be gentle: you want the air bubbles so don't over mix. You may have some small egg white lumps but this is ok. Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 inch pan or one lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees about 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

For the strawberry topping: I mashed up a bunch of strawberries with a couple tablespoons of sugar and spooned them over each piece. 

Blueberry sauce:

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Combine water, sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. Add the blueberries and lemon juice and continue stirring. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil 2-3 minutes, or until thickened. Serve warm or cold.

 

  

To make the chocolate version, simply add 1/2 c. cocoa powder in with the flour. Yum!

Fudge Popcorn

A fun, yummy treat for a Sunday afternoon...

This reminded me a little of the chocolate covered boyscout popcorn. I love that popcorn, but it's so much money for a small bag (when you are feeding 6-8 people, it's a SMALL bag!) This made plenty for not much money and was delicious with very happy boys. 

 

Fudge Popcorn

1/2 c. unpopped popcorn kernals

4 Tbsp. butter

1 c. evaporated milk

2 c. sugar

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. mini marshmallows or 10 large + 2 c. mini marshmallows, divided

1 tsp. vanilla

Use an air popper to pop the popcorn kernals. Put them in a large bowl - you will need room to mix. Over medium-high heat, place the butter, evaporated milk, and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir constantly. Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, 1 c. marshmallows, and vanilla. Stir until all is melted and mixture is smooth. Pour over the popcorn and begin mixing. Add the remaining 2 c. mini marshmallows and stir until everything is coated with the chocolate mixture. Pour out onto lightly greased aluminum foil and allow to cool.

Waffles

My kids love it when I make them breakfast in the mornings. It is never often enough for them! Waffles are a favorite. Well, anything that involves syrup is good for them!

 

Waffles

1 3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix the milk, oil, and eggs in a medium bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well, but do not over beat. The batter will still have some lumps. Pour into heated and greased waffle iron and cook according to the manufacture's instructions. 

Orange Cheesecake

My husband doesn't ask for a lot of goodies. Which is a little disappointing when you like to bake. He thinks everything I make is delicious and claims to love it all. So when he asked for something - an orange cheesecake - it was going to happen. I didn't have any orange cheesecake recipes, which was a little shocking because I have recipes for just about everything I thought, so I got on-line and looked around. I found two. Apparently orange cheesecake is not a thing. I didn't like either one. One used Jello to flavor the cheesecake. Um, no. I wanted it to be orange, like with an actual orange. Clearly, I was going to have to come up with my own recipe. So I did. For all the orange in this cheesecake, I bought an orange and grated/ squeezed until I had what I needed.

 

Orange Cheesecake

crust:

1 10 oz. package shortbread cookies.

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

Place the cookies into a gallon sized bag and crush into fine crumbs. Combine the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix together. Press into a springform pan, pressing the crust partway up the sides. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

filling:

4 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

3 Tbsp. flour

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel

Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese. Add in sugar and flour, beating well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla. Grate orange peel into the bowl and squeeze the orange to get 2 Tbsp. juice in the bowl. Mix well, scraping the bottom and sides. Pour filling over the crust and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking to see if it is done by gently shaking the pan to see if the center is set. remove and allow to cool.

topping:

1/3 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel

1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

4 Tbsp. butter

Whisk together the juice, peel, sugar, and eggs in a small sauce pan over low heat. Be careful not to boil this. Add the butter and continue stirring until the mixture is thickened and will hold the marks of the whisk. Remove from heat and cool in the fridge. When it has cooled, spread it over the top of the cheesecake. Cool the cheesecake thoroughly - at least overnight.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Squares

After making the Boston Cream Pie Bars, which I loved, I thought about how good they would be with more chocolate than just on the top. So I made some. And they are even better than the Boston Cream Pie Bars!

 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Squares

1 package brownie mix or your favorite brownie recipe

ingredients to make brownies

 Make brownie according to the instructions for an 8x8 or 9x9 pan and bake as directed. I used the Ghiradelli mix because they are amazingly good. Allow to cool completely. 

filling:

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding

3 c. milk

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer. Slowly add milk, mixing while adding. Adding the milk slowly should mix in the cream cheese without little lumps. Add the chocolate pudding and mix well. Pour over the brownies and place in the refrigerator.

ganache:

1/3 c. cream

1/2 c. chocolate chips

2-3 Tbsp. Karo syrup

Pour cream into a small saucepan. Over low heat, melt chocolate chips with the cream. When it is smooth, turn off heat and add Karo syrup. Pour over pudding and smooth to the edges. Refrigerate until serving.

Caprese Bread

My husband made this for me for Mother's Day. Oh my goodness! It was SO good! We went to church then came home and had it for lunch with a salad - which was perfect. Except there wasn't enough to keep eating it all afternoon, which I would have done. I think it's a caprese, but I'm not sure that is really what it's called. I wouldn't normally eat it because of the tomatoes, but on this they were amazing. Please don't be upset about this, but most of these ingredients were eyeballed, not measured out exactly. Experiement a little and enjoy the process!

 

Caprese Bread

1 loaf French bread, sliced in half

1/2 c. softened butter

garlic paste

Italian seasoning

sliced fresh mozerella cheese

tomatoes, slcied thin

fresh basil

balsamic vinegar

In a small bowl, mix the butter, garlic paste (squeeze a bunch in, whatever looks good to you), and Italian seasoning (again, use what looks good to you. My husband used about a tablespoon). Spread the butter mixture over the two halves of the bread. Place the slices of cheese over the butter and bake at 350 degrees just until the cheese is melty. Place the sliced tomatoes over the cheese when it comes out of the oven. Sprinkle with fresh basil (we used dried because the store was out of fresh) and balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

Orange Slice Cookies

I was really skeptical the first time I made these cookies. I mean, I was told they were good, but orange slice candy? That doesn't go in cookies. Except it does. And they are amazingly good!

 

Orange Slice Cookies

1 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

2 c. oatmeal (I use quick oats)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. orange slice candy

pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add in flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I slice each piece of candy into 4-5 pieces and dump them into the flour and oats before I mix everything up. The open edges of the candy bits are really sticky so the flour and oats help to keep them separated from each other. I don't measure them out, either. I just add them until it looks good, usually close to the whole bag, minus a few pieces so you can test for quality. You know, someone has to do it. When the layer of candy gets to be more than I can add more pieces without them sticking, I stir a little bit and keep going. When all the candy is added, mix everything together. Drop onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.

Boston Cream Pie Bars

Boston Cream Pie... so good! These bars are a delicious variation on them that we all love! I also made them for a boy scout fundraiser. There was a dessert auction and this was my contribution to it. The boys wanted me to bid on them, but... um, no. We had more at home! I am not a huge cake fan - it's fine sometimes but it has to be done right or I won't eat it. But treats made from cake mix that aren't exactly cake... well, those are delicious!

 

 Boston Cream Pie Bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 c. butter, melted

2 eggs

Combine cake mix, butter, and eggs in a small bowl. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 inch cake pan and press batter into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. 

Filling:

2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding

3 c. milk.

Mix milk and pudding together. The higher the fat content of the milk, the better the pudding will set. Since the chocolate ganache uses some cream and I buy 1% milk I will pour out what I need of the cream, then use the rest for the filling along with the 1% milk. Pour the pudding over the cake, smoothing to the edges, and put in the refrigerator while you make the ganache.

Chocolate ganache:

1/3 c. cream

1/2 c. chocolate chips

2-3 Tbsp. Karo syrup

Pour cream into a small saucepan. Over low heat, melt chocolate chips with the cream. When it is smooth, turn off heat and add Karo syrup. Pour over pudding and smooth to the edges. Refrigerate until serving.

Brownie Dip

Another of our favorite dips from our dip nights!

 

Brownie Dip

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 c. butter, softened

2-3 c. powdered sugar

5 Tbsp. cocoa powder

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

3 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

 Beat the cream cheese and butter together in a medium sized bowl. Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and vanilla and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and milk (1 Tbsp. at a time) until you reach the desired consistency. Beat until smooth. We eat this with pretzels, graham cracker sticks, and vanilla wafers.

Peanut Butter Muffins

And... another muffin recipe from our Saturday morning adventures. This week was peanut butter muffins. Any muffin with chocolate chips is a hit in this house. Chocolate makes everything better, right? That includes muffin recipes!

 

Peanut Butter Muffins

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp.salt

2/3 c. brown sugar

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 eggs

1 c. milk

3/4 c. chocolate chips

Put flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar in a medium sized bowl and make a well in the center. Add butter, peanut butter, eggs, and milk. Mix to combine - batter will still be lumpy. Add chocolate chips and stir in. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease muffin tins. Fill 2/3-3/4 full and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the muffins begin to turn golden brown. Makes 12.