Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles

I love cookies. They are great! They are portable, they come in individual serving sizes, the don't require any serving dishes... it's hard to beat a good cookie. And who complains if you show up on their doorstep with a plate of fresh-baked cookies? Um... no one. 

I love caramel, too. I make caramel stuffed chocolate cookies, too (recipe will come) so I thought I would branch out a little and try some other recipes with it. Snickerdoodles with caramel - delicious! Just so you know, chocolate chips cookies with caramel are also delicious. I've made that, too.

 

Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles

1 c. butter, softened

1 1/4 c. sugar plus 3 Tbsp.

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 . flour

2 tsp. cream of tarter

1 tsp. baking soda

3 tsp. cinnamon

Rolos - about 6 rolls or 1 bag

Cream butter, 1 1/4 c. sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in flour, cream of tarter, and baking soda. Mix well. Combine 3 Tbsp. sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon in small bowl and mix. Take about 2 tablespoons of dough and shape around Rolo. Roll on cinnamon/ sugar mix coat completely. Repeat with remaining dough and Rolos. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degree 10-12 minutes.

If you don't have Rolos or don't want the caramel in the middle, these are also fabulous without it.

Pizza Dough

My kids are normal kids and love pizza. We enjoy having family movie nights were we sit in front of the TV and eating while we watch something no one agreed on and mom had to step in and pick a movie no one else is happy with. At least, until it starts and every one settles back down and enjoys the show and the food. Pizza is great because you can top it anyway you like to meet the desires of various people and have everyone happy with dinner. Some of our favorites are ham and pineapple, pepperoni, and bacon and black olive. Yum!

 

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 c. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

3 c. flour

1/4 Tbsp. salt

This is another recipe I use my Bosch machine for. I make at least three pizzas each time we have pizza so it's a lot of dough to knead by hand. Start with the water, yeast, and sugar. If you want to proof the yeast, let that sit for about 5 minutes so it can get foamy.  Add 1 cup flour and salt and turn on Bosch. Slowly add additional flour just until you get a stiff dough that doesn't stick to your hands when you shape it. I use a pizza paddle and a stone pizza pan. Put the pizza stone in the oven and turn on to 400 degrees. Get out the pizza paddle and sprinkle liberally with cornmeal. Shape dough into shape on pizza paddle. Top as desired and bake at 400 degrees about 15 minutes.

If you are not using a Bosch or Kitchenaid, mix the water, yeast, and sugar as above. Stir in 1 c. flour and salt and mix. Slowly add in additional flour and knead on counter until you can't mix more in. Shape and bake as above.

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Burritos

Sundays are the best days for me to bake. At least, the Sundays I am not working. I wanted to try something new this week and ran across an idea while cruising around the internet. My husband looked at the recipe and said that it would be better with cream cheese. So, several tweaks later, this is what we came up with. Everyone declared it "awesome" so it seems to be a hit!

 

I used soft taco sized tortillas and smeared cream cheese on them.

 

 Then I used apple pie filling on each and sprinkled some extra cinnamon on that.

 

Roll them up into burritos.

 

And bake! 

Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Burritos

12 soft taco size flour tortillas

8 oz package cream cheese

2 cans apple pie filling

cinnamon

Open wrapper of cream cheese and score into 12 sections. I scored it in half first, then each half into halves, then each quarter into thirds. I cut each scored section off and smeared it onto the center of each tortilla. Each can of pie filling does 6 burritos and I spread it over the cream cheese. Then sprinkle the cinnamon lightly over all. Roll up into a burrito and place in greased 9x13 inch pan. You have to squish them all in a little bit to get them all to fit.

Sauce

3/4 c. butter

3/4 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. water

Put all in medium pan. Heat on medium high heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Allow to boil 2-3 minutes then pour over burritos. Allow to soak in sauce about 30-45 minutes, depending on how patient you are. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Corn Bread

Mmmmm, corn bread. I love it when it is right out of the oven with butter melting into it and honey drizzled all over it. Delicious! I like to make chili and cornbread, but some of the boys decided that cornbread was no longer an acceptable side to meals. So I had to figure something else out. They love waffles so I decided to try making the corn bread into waffles and put chili and cheese on top. It worked! They love the corn bread waffles and usually don't complain too much about dinner! Winner!

When I use this recipe to make corn bread, I keep it as is. When I am making waffles, I double it so we get enough waffles for seconds. Just put the batter in a waffle iron, just as you would to make regular waffles. I always grease the waffle iron, but mine sticks a lot.

 

Corn Bread

1 c. corn meal

1 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 c. milk

1 egg

Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 8 inch greased baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Peanut Butter and Honey Popcorn

Our church has General Conference twice a year. We are able to sit at home and listen to our church leaders over the internet or TV and hear what they have to tell us. It's really nice to be able to sit at home and learn from the prepared talks. I remember the days of going to church and sitting in the hard pews for hours on end (it felt like). Then we would have lunch on the lawn and do it all over again. It's nicer to sit at home and enjoy there. It's also nice to enjoy a snack while we watch. I tried this peanut butter honey popcorn this year and everyone loved it. We'll be making it again.

 

Peanut Butter Honey Popcorn

2 quarts popped popcorn

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. honey or Karo syrup

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cook sugar and honey to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Stir while it is heating up. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over the popcorn while stirring to coat all. Enjoy warm or after it's cooled - it you can wait that long!

Pumpkin Muffins

When my kids were little they liked to get up on Saturday mornings and watch TV. They weren't able to find the channels by themselves or get breakfast. One day I had a thought... what if I made muffins the night before, poured milk in cups and left them in the fridge, and set the TV to the right channel (back in the day when you actually had to get up and turn a knob to change the channel) for cartoons? Would I be able to sleep in.... why, yes! I would! It worked out really well and muffins on Saturday mornings became our tradition.

Pumpkin Muffins
1 2/3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 c. pumpkin
1 stick butter, melted
1 c. chocolate chips

Mix flour, sugar, pie spice, and baking powder. You are supposed to mix eggs, pumpkin, and melted butter in a separate bowl but I always make a well in the dry ingredients and put the wet ones in the well. Mix well. Add in chocolate chips - I don't measure those. There's no such thing as too many chocolate chips, right? Line muffin tins with liners or grease them. Divide dough into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

This recipe came from my ex-husband's family. It is one his grandmother used to bake and I loved! I never ate her version, but my ex's sister would make these from time to time for me. So yummy! I like the molasses/ spice combination and I cheat when I make them. A lot. Who wants to be patient waiting for cookie dough to chill? Not me!

Molasses Sugar Cookies
adapted from the recipe of Blanche Lindsay
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
1.2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon

The recipe calls for 1 tsp. salt. I never add salt to recipes. I use salted butter instead. I don't like adding salt, my personal preference. Do what you will with that.

Mix melted butter, sugar, molasses, and egg and beat well. Add flour, baking soda, and spices and mix well. This is where you are supposed to chill the dough. I don't and they turn out fine. I use a cookie scoop to make little balls of the dough. Roll dough in granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.