Mexican Puppy Chow

Before I get started, I have to beg technical help from any of my readers that might navigate blogger with less trouble than I do. I used to be able to figure these things out, but medication has either made my brain foggy or blogger is getting more difficult to navigate.

I changed my photo at the top of this blog and now my blog title needs to be a different color. Trouble is I can't figure out where to do that -- I think blogger switched things. If you know where to make the changes, take pity on me and leave a comment. Thanks.

Puppy Chow, that yummy peanut butter, chocolate, crunchy cereal treat, is one of the snack foods that my kids have never enjoyed, since one of them, my youngest son, has a peanut and tree nut allergy. Not that anyone ever needs to enjoy Puppy Chow, but it is an easy-to-make, tasty treat.

Recently I came across a cinnamon version of the original treat and I was so happy that I would finally be able to make it for my kids. My allergic kid was particularly happy with the new version because he is a cinnamon kinda guy. I modified the recipe I found, mostly because I only had half of a bag of cinnamon chips, but I also think this version has to be better because it has chocolate, hence the name. Mexican chocolate is a cinnamony chocolate and this one has a great combination of both flavors.

If you buy gluten-free cereals, this is a gluten free snack.

Mexican Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex cereal (I used 4 cups of corn and 5 cups of rice Chex -- just the store brand)

1 cup cinnamon baking chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Place cereal in a large bowl -- larger than you think you need because you have to toss it.

In a microwave safe bowl place all the chips and heat in micro for one minute. Stir. Repeat, heating for 30 seconds each time and stirring after each heating, until smooth and melted.

Meanwhile mix cinnamon and sugars in a small bowl.

Pour chocolate/cinnamon mixture over cereal and toss until coated. 

Pour about half of sugar over the top and toss some more.

Dump mix onto a large sided baking sheet. Toss with remaining sugar. Cool and enjoy.

Noah's Ginormous Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

My youngest son, Noah (and the biggest as it turns out), has been harassing me to make these cookies. Oreo-stuffed anything is not my idea of a good cookie, but after he begged and begged and even offered to help, I gave in.

I admit, they were good. I couldn't have eaten more than one, but they were pretty darn good. And Noah was really happy with the whole helping-mom-make-cookies thing. All by himself. Which is really funny since he's a good head-and-a-half taller than me.

And you better believe he hid the cookie jar after we filled it. He is forcing his siblings to ask him for a cookie. Tee hee.

You can find the recipe all over the internet and in foodie magazines, but Noah did the research and he picked the Picky Palate's recipe. We followed the recipe exactly the way it was written, but ours required a slightly longer cooking time. They looked pretty gooey after the timer went off, so I gave 'em another five or so. I altered the time in the recipe to my oven and taste. We had regular Oreos, not Double Stuff, so less of our cream shows. You decide which to use.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 2 dozen really big cookies

2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 T. pure vanilla

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

10 oz. bag chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet, Ghiradelli)

about a dozen Oreo cookies

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

 In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto  baking sheet and bake cookies 12-18 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.  Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  

Source: modified from The Picky Palate

Got teens?

School's out for the summer and suddenly I have teen boys at home all day, and they are hungry!

I don't realize how much food they don't eat when they are just somewhere else. Holy cow! It's all they think about.

Last night after dinner they were clamoring for dessert (two boys ate 16 Drumsticks in four days) and I had just seen this dessert at sophistimom on Pinterest (gosh it's hard these days to find the original recipe. Click, click, click....).

This dessert just has "teenage boys" all over it.

Stressed out mommies, too.

It was delicious and though it served eight pieces, if you have a big family, you'd best invest in another pan. This is a keeper.

PS I used an 8-inch cast iron skillet and followed the recipe exactly, except for using chocolate chips (Ghiradelli dark) instead of chunks.

Skillet Chocolate Chipper

serves 8

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in an 8 inch cast iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat. Let rest until pan is warm, but no longer very hot, about 5 minutes.

 Crack an egg onto the butter and sugar mixture, and use a fork to whisk it well into the mixture. Place flour, baking soda, and salt on top, and very carefully stir into the mixture until smooth and well-mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes*, or until starting to turn golden on the top and around the edges, but soft in the center. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

* Mine took at least 10 minutes longer than the recommended time, but it would have been good with only five minutes more -- it wasn't terribly gooey and gooey is a good thing.

Oh-so-good-and-yummy Granola Bars

Granola bars have become a recent favorite snack food in our house. I used to not buy them because most of them contain nuts, or are manufactured in a facility with tree nuts or peanuts.

My son Noah who has the tree nut/peanut allergies was actually afraid to even try the ones we deemed safe because for so long we had avoided them. But recently he tried one and decided they are a wonderful treat. Because he's 15 years old, 6 feet two inches and around 200 pounds, he can just about eat my weight in granola bars.

I found this recipe recently (actually I think my daughter's little friend gave it to her) and modified it a bit to suit our taste (and budget!). The original recipe came from Rachel Ray. They are super easy to make, and though they still have quite a bit of sugar in them, at least I know what everything is. One batch makes a loaf pan -- then I just cut straight across for six or seven bars. A double batch makes a 9x9 pan which I cut in half one way and then each half in six or seven bars. You can add mini chips to the top (pressing them into the granola bars) or add some nuts, seeds, toasted coconut, raisins -- whatever -- to the mixture. Just don't add so much that they don't stick together anymore. And if you use nuts chop them up.

I tried reducing the sugar content and they didn't turn out as well (they didn't stick together well), but let me know if you have success with that.

the ones with the peanuts did not stick together well at all. Chop your nuts!

Granola Bars

1 cup Rice Krispies

2 cups quick oats (not old-fashioned)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

Grease a loaf pan (9x5). 

In a large bowl mix oats and Rice Krispies.

In a small saucepan place butter, honey and brown sugar. Heat to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. 

Pour over oats and Krispies and stir to combine. Pour into loaf pan and press down firmly to compact the mixture really well. I tried buttering my hands, but the best tool was a wide spreading sort of spatula.

Let cool completely -- at least an hour. Refrigerate if necessary. Turn out onto cutting board (or cut in pan). Wrap in waxed paper and store in a glass jar or other airtight container. They will keep for a week or more (if they last!).

Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe is a rerun on my food blog, but it's been a couple years since I posted it and I had such a hard time finding it here that I thought I'd repost it.

 I brought these cupcakes to a family get-together on Easter Monday (hence the candy egg-topped frosting) and my father-in-law later said they were the best thing he ever tasted. Ever! He cracks me up. He is either a total brown-noser or he just loves sweets too much! I suspect it's the former, but he does have a sweet tooth.

 The cake part of these cupcakes is a really yummy cake recipe and would be wonderful even without the cream filling. They dome very well for a scratch cupcake and are moist and tender. I find that chocolate cupcakes really are superior to white in the moist and tender department.

 The cream filling part is easy peasy. I fill a decorator bag (with a star tip), and then push a sharp-tipped knife through the cupcake paper on the bottom, stick the point of the bag in and squeeze to the count of three. No need to cut away the cake, the cream just oozes in and makes a little pocket. Lovely!

 The frosting is a soft, chocolate buttercream, just the right topping, but they are also yummy with this Vanilla Buttercream on top.

The recipe makes a lot so they are perfect for a bake sale, scouting get-together, or just a family party!

Chocolate Cream-Filled Cupcakes

makes about 30

3 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. sugar

⅓ c. cocoa

2 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 eggs

1 c. milk

1 c. vegetable oil

1 c. water

1 t. vanilla extract

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Filling

¼ c. butter, softened

¼ c. shortening

2 c. confectioners' sugar

3 T. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

pinch salt

In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients.

Add eggs, milk, oil, water and vanilla.

Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, shortening, confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Fill a decorator bag, fitted with a star tip, with filling. Slit the paper on the botton of the cupcake just slightly. 

Insert tip and squeeze to the count of three.

Frosting

1/4 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. cocoa

3 c. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

about 1/3 c. milk

In a mixing bowl, whip butter. Add cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla. Add small amount additional milk, if needed.

(If you are going to frost cupcakes using a decorator bag and tip,

 you will want to make more frosting -- 1.5 or 2 times the recipe)

Cap'n Crunch Chicken

I have had some busy weeks creating rosaries and scapulars, but today my little chick is sick on the sofa so I am spending exactly one hour, not a minute more, catching up here as much as I can.

This recipe we have already had twice since I first discovered it and it's a big, big hit. Faith asked me the other day (on our second go-round) why it is that the chicken doesn't taste like Cap'n Crunch, and I guess I didn't have a very good answer. It just doesn't. The breading is crisp and slightly sweet, but nothing like a bowl of the Cap'n. The panko, flour and seasoning mellow it out I guess. I turn my oven on warm so that as I fry, I can place them on a rack over a pan until all the pieces are cooked. We easily eat two packages of chicken tenders. And speaking of which, I buy the chicken tenders because they are no more expensive than the boneless breasts, and that saves the step of cutting the strips (I multiply the breading times 1.5 for two packages of chicken). Besides the tenders are really tender and I cut time off the marinating step.

These are great with garlic mashed potatoes or mac and cheese, and definitely make the honey mustard. Yum.

Cap'n Crunch Chicken

vegetable oil for frying

2 skinless chicken breast fillets (or a package of chicken tenders)

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal

½ cup panko bread crumbs

½ cup Wondra flour

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

Creole Mustard Sauce:

2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Mix together and chill in refrigerator.

Cut each chicken fillet, lengthwise, into 5 long slices pounded flat (chicken fingers). Put in a bowl, cover with buttermilk, and marinate overnight. Just before breading, mix in an egg to the marinade. Smash the Cap’n Crunch into crumbs using a food processor, or put the cereal into a plastic bag and start pounding. Combine the cereal, crumbs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from milk and completely coat it with the dry mixture. Discard leftover milk. When the oil is hot, fry the chicken for 4 to 6 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Remove to paper towels or a rack to drain. Serve hot with chilled Creole mustard sauce on the side for dipping. 

Source: Favorite Family Recipes

Firecracker Sugar Cookies

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Maybe you can't decide whether to prepare an Apple Pie or something chocolatey for your Fourth get-together, or maybe you are looking for something cute and kid-friendly to add to your dessert buffet. Either way this is an idea I think will make a big bang (pun intended) on the dessert table this holiday weekend.

I saw the idea executed at Recipe Girl, baked my favorite sugar cookies and used some store-bought decorating aids to create these sweet little firecrackers. I admit I was not nearly as particular as Recipe Girl about my decorating, partly because I am never that fussy about how food looks -- come on...we eat it -- and also because my nine-year-old daughter, Faith, was helping.

I used Wilton's Cookie Icing to top the baked and cooled cookies with white icing and then used Wilton Icing Writer in blue and red to make the fireworks. Just follow the directions at Recipe Girl, or just give the stuff to the kids -- they'll figure it out. It's an easy and cute idea and your crowd will love them. (I tasted the icing and it's really not bad at all. Faith thought it was good and licked her fingers a lot!).

The cookie icing was firm and stackable after about two hours.

PS Wilton's icing products found at Michael's.
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Chocolate Cupcakes

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I have another summer supper to post here, but I need more than a few moments to gather my recipes and post them. In the meantime, I'll post this absolutely scrumptious recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes. You can make them in almost the time it takes to say Chocolate Cupcakes three times. Maybe a little longer ;-) but they are really easy.

I combined two really yummy cupcakes to come up with them. I made this recipe from Tasty Kitchen a few months ago but I really was not gaga over the cake. You know me and cake. So for my son's grad party, I took my favorite, super easy cupcake recipe and combined it with the truly delicious ganache frosting from the other recipe. The cupcake is so soft and moist and perfect, and the ganache gets a little bit firm (unless left in the heat -- don't do that!). It's delightful to break through the topping to get to the soft cupcake. It's very, um, Hostessesque, but so much better. I modified the ganache recipe for ease in measuring and for a little bit more ganache.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache
24 cupcakes

 

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1 pkg plain devil's food cake mix
2 T unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
½ cup oil
½ cup water
3 eggs
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners (I do one pan at a time, so youu can just use one pan if you want). Set pans aside.

Place cake mix, cocoa powder, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Blend on low for 1 minute. Scrape down sides and beat 2 minutes longer. Pour batter into cupcake lined pans two-thirds full. Bake until cupcakes spring back lightly when touched, 20-26 minutes. Cool on racks for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on rack until completely cool. Frost with ganache and refrigerate if it's very warm in the house.

½ cups heavy cream

 ½ cups butter 

2 cups good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat the heavy cream and 1/2 cup butter in the microwave until it is steaming. Remove and add the  chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes (really -- just let it sit, don't fuss) then stir until smooth. If necessary, heat again very briefly until chocolate is completely melted.

Let it sit for at least an hour or until it becomes ‘spreadable’. You may have to put it in the fridge in summer months in order to help it along. Spread on cool cupcakes. 

Number 2 Stovetop Mac and Cheese

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My family loves, loves good old-fashioned baked macaroni and cheese. But that's a recipe that I don't make for lunch -- it's a little more involved than I like to get into for lunch when we are sometimes schooling right through the lunch hour. I love this recipe for a quick mac 'n' cheese, but sometimes for lunch my kids beg me (I mean it) not to make the kind with veggies. O.k., sometimes you just want simple comfort food without the veggies.

Rachel Ray's Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese is just right for a quick comfy lunch without the neon orange cheese that comes in the blue box. It's soft and creamy and very cheesy. I call it the Number 2 Mac 'n' Cheese because all the ingredients come in twos -- super easy to remember. It does call for 2 cups of half and half and when I read that the first time my arteries gave me a gratuitous squeeze. I do use half and half, but I water it down -- about 1 1/4 cups half and half with the rest of the two cup measure being water. It tastes just as yummy. I'm sure you could use milk as well, just don't use a really low fat milk (fat = flavor). Don't forget to taste and salt and pepper at the end, and if your people like a little spice, add a dash of cayenne pepper. I use an 8 oz. block of sharp cheddar cheese shredded in the mini cuisinart and reserve a little to put on top of each serving.

Number 2 Stovetop Mac 'n' Cheese

serves 4

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2 cups elbow macaroni 

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

2 cups half-and-half, warmed

8-ounce bag shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente; drain in a colander.

In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the warmed half-and-half and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is steaming hot and thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar until melted. Stir in the cooked macaroni and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Source: Rachel Ray .

Jam Filled Muffins

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This recipe is a just a slight modification to my recipe for Nancy's Sweet Muffins. A couple weeks ago I had planned breakfast for dinner (one of my favorite dinners) and we needed a little something to round out the meal.

I know most folks today are trying to pack as many nutrients into every bite of food as they can, but, frankly, sometimes we just need some inexpensive belly filler. I think our diets are pretty healthy all around and I refuse to worry about feeding my kids a little white flour and sugar. When I was little, no one ate whole wheat anything and we were perfectly healthy. It seems today people are either worrying themselves sick (pun intended) about feeding kids the perfect diet, or they don't care at all and they feed them all crap. I'm looking for a happy medium. Tasty enough to be fun, cheap enough to keep us in the black, and healthy enough to, well, keep us healthy.

These little muffins definitely fall in the tasty and cheap department, but rounded out with some eggs, peppers, potatoes, and some orange wedges, they are just lovely. Use your favorite flavor of jam, or give everyone their favorite flavor. I used seedless strawberry myself.

 

Jam Filled Muffins

makes 6

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1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup jam

sugar to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease the cups of a jumbo muffin tin (six cups). Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs; add oil and milk. Make a well in dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Stir only until moist. 

Divide about half the batter among each muffin tin. Top with about 2 teaspoons of jam, right in the center. Top with remaining batter, pushing the batter down around the edges to seal the jam in. Sprinkle with a little bit of table sugar.

Bake in greased muffin tins for 15-20 minutes, until golden on top and toothpick comes out clean.

CAUTION: If you enjoy these muffins straight from the oven, the jam will be very hot.

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Yogurt for kiddies

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Back in the post I wrote about my new yogurt maker, a lovely reader, Shaun, mentioned that her daughter likes the yogurt that comes in fun cups and is produced in a color of pink not found in nature (actually Shaun didn't say all that -- I'm embellishing). Shaun felt it would be difficult to convert her daughter to homemade -- the difference is just too much. I can completely sympathize as my daughter thinks that yogurt that comes in crushable cups is "the bomb."

Yesterday, however, when I was stirring a spoonful of strawberry jam into my homemade yogurt, I had a bit of a revelation concerning homemade yogurt and kids who like it sweet and pink. It's possible that a squirt a Hershey's Strawberry Syrup might just make that homemade yogurt a little more palatable. The strawberry syrup is mostly sugar, but since commercial brand yogurt that is marketed for kids is mostly sugar (sugar is the second ingredient in Danimals Crush Cups), you're not doing any more harm. There are, however, other ingredients in commercial yogurt that is not found in homemade, nor in sugar syrup, so I do think it would be healthier overall. Eventually you can cut back slowly on the syrup until it's just a wee bit sweet and pink.

If the kids don't like strawberry, I noticed that allrecipes.com has a recipe for milk syrup using packaged Kool-Aid -- in which the flavors are nearly endless (and ingredients are even more controlled by you).


In making homemade yogurt and using a syrup additive, you will also save money. In my yogurt maker post I reported the cost savings in making my own yogurt. It's a remarkable money saver if you, or your kids eat a lot of yogurt. If the kids must have fun cups to eat their yogurt from, either save up some of those plastic cups from the commercial brand, or pick up a few cute melamine bowls with their favorite cartoon characters -- only to be used for yogurt.

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Chili Dog Casserole

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I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe...almost. My youngest son loves, loves chili dogs. He has been asking for a chili dog casserole for quite a while and I just didn't think I could make it palatable. But it was! It was actually pretty tasty, and incredibly easy. And because I used some fairly decent ingredients, I can't even say it was unhealthy. If you like chili dogs, or someone in your family does, it's a sure winner. Doug and I ate ours with a squirt of yellow mustard and chopped onions, but the kids enjoyed theirs as is.

A note about ingredients: I used reduced fat Hebrew National Beef hot dogs. While I do love a cheap hot dog once in a while, it's worth the splurge on a "healthy" dog for dinner. The same goes for the chili -- I used Campbell's Chunky Roadhouse Beef and Bean Chili (regular, not spicy) and it was very, very good. I would eat it straight from the can.

This would make a great weekday (or weekend) lunch for a group of kids, or a fun addition to your Superbowl spread.

Chili Dog Casserole

serves 6

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1 package quality hot dogs, cut crosswise in quarters

(2) 19 oz cans quality canned chili, with or without beans -- your choice

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (use another cup if you really like cheese)

5 oz. package cheese croutons (I used these), crushed slightly

yellow mustard and chopped onions, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with baking spray; pour one can of chili. Layer hot dogs, croutons and one cup of shredded cheese. Top with second can chili and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until chili is bubbling.

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Reindeer Mix

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This yummy snack mix is based on a recipe I found in a Betty Crocker Christmas cookbook. And though it is called Reindeer Mix, I guarantee we still eat it all year long (I actually can't figure out why it is called reindeer mix, I believe it was just a gimmicky name due to the holiday nature of the cookbook). I made a big batch for New Year's Eve and when I was eating a little bit of the leftovers the other day I realized that if I lefty the pretzels out (not hard to do since they don't add that much to the flavor or texture of the snack) it would actually be a gluten-free treat. Yay!

I make mine a little bit differently that the original recipe -- just because I prefer more popcorn  than Bugles, but this is a flexible recipe -- do your own thing. I make my own popcorn because I don't eat microwave popcorn (too many chemicals) so I have listed the quantities for making your own -- it ends up being 4 to 5 cups of popcorn). The seasoning is tasty, but mild -- nothing spicy here.If you leave out the pretzels to make it gluten-free, just substitute with one of the other ingredients or something else that is gluten free (some rice chex would be nice).

Reindeer Mix

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1/3 c. butter

1/2 t. chili powder

1/4 t. garlic powder

salt to taste

heaping 1/3 c. popcorn kernels

2 T. corn oil

2 c. Bugle snacks (regular flavored are gluten-free; I don't know about the flavored ones)

2 cups pretzel sticks, broken in half

1 c. potato sticks (like these)

 Heat oven to 300 degrees F.

Heat oil in a large pot over high heat and add popcorn kernels. Heat until first kernel pops and then cover, sliding pot back and forth on flame to keep kernels moving in the pot. As popcorn pops, occasionally lift lid slightly to allow steam to escape. When popping slows down, remove from heat. Scoop popped corn into a large mixing bowl, taking care to not transfer and unpopped or half-popped kernels. Add Bugles, pretzels and potato sticks.

Place butter and seasonings in a glass measuring cup and heated until butter is melted in the microwave (or on low in a saucepan).  Pour melted butter over dry ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly. Pour onto a large baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring twice. Cool.

Adapted from Betty Crocker Best Christmas

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Vanilla Cupcakes and Vanilla Buttercream Fosting

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For the big 25/50 party we hosted a couple of weekends ago, I made many, many desserts and froze them because I knew with Thanksgiving just two days before the party that my party baking time would be limited. I had not ever frozen whole cakes, or even cupcakes, so it was quite an experiment for me, and fortunately all turned out well.

The first experiment was on these cupcakes. I baked them, wrapped them and froze them and then the next day took one out, thawed it and tasted it. They were fabulous - nothing was lost in the freeze and thaw. I frosted them after they thawed, however, because I knew the frosting would not do well in the thaw.

The recipe for these cupcakes came from the Brown-Eyed Baker and they were so good I don't know if I'll ever use another recipe for vanilla cupcakes. The frosting especially was really rich and tasty. Yum! They are very high in butter content, however, so eat in moderation!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

makes 12

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ t. baking powder
½ t. table salt
8T.  unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1½ t. vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

Fill cupcakes tins a little more than halfway (do not overfill -- leave a little bit of batter out rather than overfill). Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Yield: Enough to frost 12 cupcakes

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla extract

Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

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Source: Brown-eyed Baker

Carpe Diem -- Hot Pumpkin Pie Milk

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Seasonal eating does not just mean eating fruits and vegetables that are available locally and seasonally. That's healthy seasonal eating.

Seasonal eating in a broader sense means eating those yummy foods that are only available at certain times of the year, like Trader Joe's Joe Joes, and Peeps, and Pumpkin Pie ice cream.

We created a treat this year with Pumpkin Pie ice cream based on a recipe I saw for Pumpkin Pie lattes made with Pumpkin Pie ice cream. My kids loved them made with just milk and so we are drinking our way through the grocer's ice cream freezer of Velvet Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. Yum!

Hot Pumpkin Pie Milk

1/2 mug filled with milk

a large scoop pumpkin pie ice cream

whipping cream

cinnamon or nutmeg

Place ice cream in mug with milk. Heat in microwave for 90 seconds or until as hot as desired (alternately you can place milk and ice cream in a saucepan and heat on the stove until steaming). Top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg.

To enjoy the Pumpkin Pie Latte, fill the mug halfway with coffee and proceed with ice cream the same as with the milk.

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Pizza Rolls

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Lunch is such an issue in my house. My picky children just don't like to eat the same thing all the time. I could eat peanut butter and jelly every day. They balk if I serve the same thing two weeks in a row. Most of the time I just ignore their complaints, but once in a great while I create something new, and to their liking. These pizza rolls were created to shush them. They are just like cinnamon rolls, but with pizza toppings inside instead of cinnamon and sugar. They are really yummy. I used pepperoni and cheese, but you could use cooked sausage, or veggies, or make it into something else entirely -- like corned beef, Swiss and sauerkraut, or ham and Swiss with Dijon mayo -- the possibilities are endless. They would be great to serve at a party or for a ball game on the television.

Pizza Rolls
serves 6

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1 cup warm water
2 t. yeast (or one package)
2 T. sugar
2 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour (amount needed depends on brand of flour and humidity)

6 oz. package sliced pepperoni
8 oz. package shredded pizza cheese (or mozzarella)
14 can pizza sauce, or 2 cups homemade

Combine water, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 c. flour, oil and salt and mix with dough hook until dough forms (or if mixing by hand, with a spoon). Add flour, 1/4 c. at a time, kneading at low speed until a smooth elastic dough forms,
about 5 minutes, in mixer (or if kneading by hand, turn onto floured surface
and knead until smooth and elastic). Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise about one hour, until doubled. Punch down. Roll dough out into a rectangle 24 inches long and about 10 inches wide on a lightly floured surface.

Spread with about 2/3 cup sauce. Place pepperoni and cheese in bowl of food processor and pulse until chopped finely (but not pureed -- see picture of mixture). Spread pepperoni mixture over sauce. Roll up from long side and pinch edges to seal.



Cut in half and then cut each half in half. Cut each quarter into three pieces for a total of twelve rolls. Place rolls in a greased 13 x 9 pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. and when preheated, bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until rolls are golden brown and when poked in the middle look completely baked.

Let cool for 10 minutes or so and serve with leftover sauce warmed up.

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S'more Bars

I have to apologize that it took me a whole week to share these little lovelies with you. I made them last Sunday and I have, honestly, been thinking about them since the last one was consumed sometime in the hours after I went to bed Sunday and when I awoke Monday. They didn't even have a chance to be my breakfast on Monday morning. Drats! My oldest teenage son has an enormous appetite and sweets left untended during the night are gone by morning.

It was probably for the better because one bar after dinner gave me heartburn. Paired with black coffee in the morning, it would surely have been trouble, albeit worth every nibble. These bars are just as good as a true-blue s'more, maybe better. The crust has the flavor of a s'more, but with added buttery goodness. The melted chocolate stays pretty gooey even after they cool, and the marshmallow bakes up and gets just a little bit sticky -- perfect texture.

I had a little trouble getting the top crust right, and in fact, the marshmallow oozed up through the cracks in it. Christy at The Girl Who Ate Everything (where I found this gem) patted her top crust onto parchment and then transferred it to the bars. I, in my usual impatience, could not be bothered, so I sort of pressed walnut-size pieces flat with my palm and then placed them carefully on top of the marshmallow. The cracks, however, allowed the marshmallow to ooze. That was not really enough of a negative thing for me to alter my method next time. However, if you want a pretty top on your bars, you better do what Christy did. I was not able to find jumbo Hershey bars at my grocer (we -- jokingly --call my discount grocer the Communist grocer because you get what you get), so I used four regular bars. I would do the same again so my change is noted below.

S'more Bars
16 bars

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1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 regular-size Hershey bars
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (7 1/2 oz jar)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. (I pressed walnut-size pieces flat in my palm and placed them over the marshmallow. Try to get them to meet so the marshmallow does not ooze up.)

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 16 cookie bars.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

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Fourth of July Sugar High

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I love creating a dessert table -- something for everyone, a bit of this and a bite of that. Yum! This year's Fourth of July dessert table included four pies that I served with vanilla ice cream (two shown here -- one Apple Crumble and one Apple Blueberry -- just like Apple Crumble but with half blueberries, one Cherry, and one Very Berry -- like this, but with four berries), Whoopie Pies, Fudge Krispies (recipe below), along with Good 'n' Plenty, Good 'n' Fruity, red fish, and M 'n' M pretzel candies. See something you like?



These Fudge Krispies are a treat my mom used to make. They have the yummy flavors of butterscotch, peanut butter, and chocolate all in one "krispie," crunchy treat. I use Sunbutter to replace the peanut butter because of allergies, but they tasted almost identical to the treat I remember from my childhood. I made them a couple days ahead and stored them (wrapped tightly in the pan) in the fridge -- you could even put them in the freezer. I cut them once with a bench knife (or a strong, sharp knife) before I chilled them and then just gave them a quick cut along the same cuts when I got ready to serve them. I added some little red, white and blue cake decorations using some icing glue for the Fourth.

Fudge Krispies
makes 24

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12 oz. bag butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
8 cups Rice Krispies
12 oz. chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
6 T. butter
1 c. powdered sugar

Melt together the peanut butter and butterscotch chips (I use the microwave, but a large saucepan over low heat could also be used). Stir until smooth. Add Rice Krispies and stir to coat. Pour half the Krispies into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Place in the refrigerator. Reserve the rest of the krispies. Meanwhile, melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir in powdered sugar. Spread over the bottom layer of krispies. Top with the remaining krispies and press down with buttered palms. Cut with a bench knife or strong, sharp knife. Chill until ready to serve.


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Rita's Gelati Knock-Off

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We are huge fans of Rita's Ice at our house. It's frequently a treat in the afternoons during the summer, but even with my "frequent buyer" card, it's pretty pricey to eat regularly. One our favorite flavors is Fruit Punch, so I recently tried something at home to make a quick and much less expensive Gelati -- what Rita's calls their half fruit ice, half custard treat.

I bought a jug of Hawaiian Punch, chilled it, and poured about three cups into my ice cream maker. In about 15 minutes, I had Hawaiian Punch slush. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream it was almost just like Rita's. The flavor of the Hawaiian Punch was a little different than Rita's flavor, but the texture was just right. I'm looking forward to trying this with other flavors -- maybe lemonade, or cherry juice, or grape juice, or blue raspberry punch... Yum.

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