Cookies! Shortbread to be exact. Recipe can be found here and it only takes three ingredient that you probably already have in your kitchen. If you really feel like jazzing them up add in some toffee bits!
DPP 2017 ~ Day 3
Tag: baking
DPP ~ Day 16
Holiday baking…cookies, cakes, pies, and candy.
Doesn’t it all just smell wonderful?
Recipe for this brown sugar shortbread goodness can be found here.
Pinterest Test Kitchen #84 ~ Kentucky Butter Cake
I feel like I owe my sweet Mother an apology. Since she has been looking after an elderly aunt lately I offered to make her some pound cakes for her church’s Thanksgiving dinner. And I made 36 really cute miniature pound cakes.
And they tasted good! Seriously, they were good pound cakes complete with five eggs and a whole cup of butter called for in the recipe. I’ve been looking for a good pound cake recipe for years now and really thought I had found the one that would be my go to. I even made a regular size one Friday night when we had friends over for dinner and everyone really enjoyed it.
But then a conversation on facebook came up and reminded me about this recipe I had pinned ages ago and never actually made. I think mainly because I was scared of it not flipping out of the pan well. But, flush with success from my previous pound cake triumph, I determined I would make it for our Sunday lunch.
And that’s why I feel like I should apologize to my Mama. Oh, my goodness this Kentucky Butter Cake is my all time favorite pound cake recipe and definitely the one I will be making for family Christmas. There is this butter sauce that you make and pour over the cake that is just.so.darn.good.
What you’ll need:
1 cup of butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (I set mine out with the butter to be at room temp too)
1 TBS vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup of buttermilk
What you’ll do:
Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Mix well.
Pour into a well greased bundt pan. (I use Baker’s Joy and the cake slipped right out.)
Bake at 325 degress for 45 to 65 minutes depending on your oven*
*I always set my timer on the lower end…you can always keep cooking but you can’t undo overcooking. Once a knife or tooth pick come out clean it’s done.
What you’ll need for the butter sauce:
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBS water
2 tsps vanilla
What you’ll do:
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter is melted.
Do not let it come to a boil.
Using a knife, poke holes all over the warm cake while it’s still in the pan.
Gently pour the butter glaze over the cake.
Let the cake sit in the pan in all that buttery goodness until the cake is completely cooled.
Flip it out onto a serving plate. (You might want to loosen the edges with a knife if needed.)
Dear goodness, but this is so simple and just so good! I’m not going to say it’s the best ever because you may not think so but that’s how it’s going down in my book, y’all.
Test Kitchen # 80 ~ Oreo Bars
Pinterest is flooded, I mean flood-ed, with gobs of recipes of every imaginable kind of rice krispie treat combination…milky way rice krispie treats, peanut butter cup rice krispie treats, salted caramel, cake batter, cookie butter and even a red velvet version.
And I am just not even tempted because…well, I don’t like rice krispie treats. I don’t enjoy the flavor or the texture. So normally I just scroll by those recipes if they pop up on my pinterest page.
But then I saw this recipe for a rebooted version that uses oreo cookies instead of rice krispies and suddenly my aversion disappeared. I made some slight changes based on what I had on hand (I used mini marshmallows and did not top mine with additional Oreos. I also don’t have a microwave so I made mine on the stove top)
Because I am me I was trying it out for the first when friends were coming over and instead of doubling the recipe I made two batches, one with regular oreos and one with golden oreos. I preferred the golden ones but the chocolate ones went fast.
What you’ll need:
1 package of Oreos, crumbled
1/2 stick of butter
5 cups of marshmallows
What you’ll do:
Melt the butter in a large stock pot.
Stir in marshmallows and continue stirring until completely melted.
Add in crushed cookies and mix completely.
Spread into a parchment paper lined 8×8 dish and press into an even layer.
Allow them to cool completely before cutting into squares.
They’re pretty tasty and keep well if you store them in an air tight container…if you have any left.
This recipe came from one of my new favorite blogs so click on over and check out the tasty goodness from Kleinworth & Co.
Pintrest Test Kitchen # 77 ~ White Sour Cream Cake with Butter Cream Icing
So, I knew it had been a while since I shared a recipe but I had no idea it had been since December.
I mean it’s March already! Can you believe that? Where does the time go?
(Totally unrelated to the recipe but last week we took our oldest daughter to visit MSU and I had the most surreal experience on the drive over. Sarah was sitting in the back seat and said something and Rob turned his head to answer her and I had the craziest flashback. Seriously, it was like something out of the movies…I could see her as a little girl on our first road trip, little curls all over her head and feet swinging and bouncing. The echo of her laughter was as clear as day. I cried a little.)
While we may not be able to stop time from flying by and our children from growing up too fast we can slow it down a little and enjoy a piece of cake every now and then with a cup of coffee.
That was a really smooth transition to the recipe wasn’t it? Yep, that’s why everybody reads my blog 🙂
This cake is kind of a mash up of box and homemade. You begin with a cake mix but jazz it up a bit for a nice dense cake. Also, I am not normally a huge fan of butter cream icing but I made this the morning and kept it refrigerated until after lunch and it was quite tasty all nice and chilled. Here is a link to the original pin but I changed a few things. Mainly because you need two cake mixes to get the amounts required and I didn’t so I added an extra cup of flour. I also reduce the amount of sugar added.
For the cake ~ What you’ll need:
1 box white cake mix
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBS oil (I use canola)
1 1/3 cup water
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
What you’ll do:
Mix together all dry ingredients with a whisk.
Add liquid ingredients and beat on low until well combined.
Pour into prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. (Time will depend on size of pans so check after 30 minutes.)
The cake is pretty dense and heavy and pairs well with the butter cream frosting. This is the strangest icing recipe to me. Other than the Hershey icing I’ve never made one that required cooking.
For the icing ~ What you’ll need:
5 TBS flour
1 cup of milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
confectioner’s sugar to taste*
What you’ll do:
Whisk together the flour and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir constantly until it thickens being careful not to burn it.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Allow it to completely cool before finishing or it will not work.
(I emptied mine out of the hot saucepan and into a small bowl to help it cool quicker.)
Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy.
Add in the cooled flour mixture.
Keep beating it until it has the consistency of whipped cream.
*I mentioned that I am not a fan of butter cream frosting. The taste is a little sharp to me so I added just a wee bit of confectioners sugar until I liked the flavor. You may be fine without it so suit yourself.
The cake iced well although it was a little plain looking so I covered the top with some lovely gold sprinkles. In my opinion taste is only part of it…pretty counts for something.
Would I make it again? Yes and no. It tasted good and everyone seemed to enjoy it but I am solidly a cream cheese icing gal. But I don’t think I will ever make a cake any differently other than to tweak the amount of flour depending on how stout I want the cake. It has a great texture and flavor and it seems rather versatile. I’ve made it using a cup less flour and a yellow cake mix with almond extract and it went together nicely with some strawberries and whipped topping. I’m trying to figure out some kind of chocolate and mint combination now…maybe in time to celebrate the luck o’ the Irish!
I’d love to know if you try it as is or if you tweak it.
Pinterest Test Kitchen # 75 ~ Snickerdoodle Caramel Apple Something
Catchy title, isn’t it?
It came about like this. I saw the recipe and pinned it of course. Then last week while I was making my grocery list I wrote down the ingredients, knowing I was changing out oatmeal raisin cookie for snickerdoodle, and then while at the store decided to swap out the regular boring caramels for the cute little round ones. The point being that I was thinking through the recipe several times.
I felt comfortable with the recipe. Felt like I understood it…like I got the essence of it.
Turns out I missed a few key parts to actually making this recipe. Like you are supposed to use the giant cookie squares but that really wouldn’t have made much difference since I only eat raisins in trail mix. But the biggie I missed was that I should have melted the caramel and drizzled it over the cooked cookie bar.
Still, I came home with an empty dish and everyone delighted in the snickerdoodle caramel apple something I made…not cake like at all but not really a bar either. (I still cut it in squares but you definitely had to eat it with a fork.)
What you’ll need:
2 packs Snickerdoodle break apart cookies
1 can apple pie filling (I used my scissors to cut the apples up into smaller pieces)
1 bag of caramel bits (These are the sole reason I was drawn to this recipe…not gonna lie.)
What you’ll do:
Take one package of break apart cookies plus three rows of the other pack and press into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
Top with the pie filling.
Break apart the remaining cookies and tear into little pieces, scattering them over the pie filling.
Sprinkle with caramel bits.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes or until the cookie is a golden brown and the edges are bubbly.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.
As I said, this was well received but I will probably give the original recipe another shot. You know…actually follow it. Except for the snickerdoodle cookie part. Because frankly, snickerdoodle is much more fun to say that oatmeal raisin.
Test Kitchen #74 ~ Amazing Coconut Pie
I don’t know about you but I rarely get a recipe from the back of a package with the possible exception of maybe cookies.
If I am buying Bisquick it’s usually because I have already found a recipe that calls for it. Same with chocolate chips, and coconut, etc.
But then a few weeks ago I was with a delightful group of pastor’s wives and one of them mentioned the recipe on the back of the Baker’s Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut. She said it was super easy and really delicious and she was right on both counts.
Or at least I am assuming she was since I have made it twice now and have yet to even get a bite!
Amazing Coconut Pie…you mix everything together in a blender and pour it into a pie shell. A lovely creamy almost custardy pie is the result.
What you’ll need:
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose baking mix (I used Bisquick)
4 eggs
4 TBS butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup coconut
What you’ll do:
Add everything into the blender except for the coconut and blend for three minutes.
Pour into a greased pie plate.
Sprinkle with coconut.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until the center of the pie is set and the top is golden brown.
Can be served warm right out of the oven or let it cool first.
Pinterest Test kitchen #68 ~ Nutella Cheesecake Brownies
Mm mm, the deliciousness of Nutella paired with a a decadent brownie recipe.
So, so good.
I was actually surprised that I hadn’t shared this recipe before. But better late than never, eh?
My girls were surprised, and a little grossed out, at the addition of applesauce to a brownie recipe but you don’t taste it and it keeps the brownie incredibly moist. I have followed the original recipe exactly but the last time I made them I changed the way I did the cream cheese Nutella topping and liked it much better all mixed together.
What you’ll need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 TBS water
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup of oil
1 8oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
6 TBS of Nutella
What you’ll do:
Mix together the first five dry ingredients.
Add in the water, applesauce, and oil stirring until blended.
Pour into a greased 9×13 pan.
Mix together remaining ingredients until smooth.
Drop by spoonfuls onto the brownie batter and then swirl it evenly across.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Like I said…so, so good.
Sharing with Creative Monday, Titus 2 Tuesday, and Tuesday’s Table.
Pinterest Test Kitchen #51 ~ Death By Chocolate Cake
Once upon a time I was really scheduled with this blog and I shared a recipe every Monday.
That, it seems, is a thing of the past. Nowadays, I am just winging it around here. But it’s working so there’s that. Which is a good thing because March is full of Peter Rabbit teas, Cowboy Days, Medieval feasting, and a day celebrating our founding fathers. Not busy at all really. Do I need to point out that that was totally written tongue in cheek? Because it was. It is busy. The only thing that could possibly make it any busier would be adding in a quick trip to Washington, D.C. next week. And that would be totally cray cray wouldn’t it? Well, welcome to my craziness because that’s the plan.
So, how’s a girl to cope with all that activity? Baking of course! And nothing less than a delicious chocolate cake will do.
I’m not a big cake eater but this one meets my first major rule for cakes that do not have the word cheese in front of them. It’s moist. Dry cakes are the worst and no amount of icing can hide it. This cake is moist and needs no icing although since it’s a bundt cake you could probably drizzle some chocolate over it if you wanted to.
What you’ll need:
1 chocolate cake mix
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of oil
3/4 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup of chocolate chips
What you’ll do:
Beat the eggs and sour cream together until they are well combined.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
The batter will be slightly thick.
Pour into a greased bundt cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The original recipe called for 45 minutes but mine got done way faster.
After it cooled complete I gave it a light dusting of powdered sugar across the top for a little pizzazz. I only tasted a pinch (which was very good) but there was nary a crumb left so everyone else thought it was very good.
Test Kitchen # 50 ~ Pineapple Casserole
This is one of those weird dishes that you will either love or hate. (Kind of like the frito dessert I shared here.)
I happen to fall into the love category…there is just something yummy to me about the blend of salty and sweet. I first had it years ago made by an elderly woman in our church. I forgot about it for a while and then around the holidays remembered it but couldn’t find my recipe. But I did find it on pinterest (Is anyone surprised by that? Yeah, me neither.) The recipe isn’t complicated and centers around a love triangle between pineapple, cheese, and Ritz crackers.
What you’ll need:
1 cup of sugar
6 TBS all purpose flour
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 20oz cans of chunked pineapple drained (but reserve 6 TBS of the juice)
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter, melted
What you’ll do:
Stir sugar and flour together.
Add cheese and toss until well mixed.
Add the pineapple and stir until well combined.
Spoon into a 8×8 or medium sized casserole dish.
In a separate bowl combine the reserved pineapple juice, Ritz cracker crumbs, and the butter until it is evenly mixed together.
Sprinkle over pineapple mixture.
Bake at 350 degree for about 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
When I make this for a potluck most people aren’t sure whether to include it with the desserts or not. You can but it makes a great side for pork which is usually what I pair it with.
Enjoy!
The Common Place 