26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted in Baking, Brownies & Bars, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
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Baked, Baking, Brownies & Bars, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, Dessert, Easy, From a Mix, Postaweek2011, Recipes
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Amongst many other baking expeditions (that I have failed to post on) over the last week, this one turned out …
18 Sunday Sep 2011
Posted in Baking, Candy, Dessert, Postaweek2011, Recipes
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I had heard of it, but hadn’t yet seen, much less entertained the though of it. I mean it brings …
29 Friday Jul 2011
Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Postaweek2011, Recipes, Sweet Breads
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Chocolate fix for breakfast! Not a lot to say today, other than it has been a very long summer, quite …
29 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Postaweek2011
Tags
Baked, Baking, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, From Scratch, Party Cakes, Recipes
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I have a teenage daughter. She like boys, British boys. She really likes Prince William. Yes, I am pretty sure …
25 Friday Feb 2011
Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Postaweek2011, Recipes
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Baked, Baking, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Chocolate, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Have a spare cake mix just screaming to be used? I did. As I’ve said before, I have no shame in using a cake mix. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy “from scratch” baking too. So the other morning I had some spare time before I woke the house up and threw these together. The recipe is extremely easy and yields a tasty breakfast option. You can mix and match for flavors too, but I went with the kids favorite, chocolate chip. Here is the base recipe…
Cake Mix Muffins (Chocolate Chip)
Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Line 2 muffin pans with paper cups or use baking spray.
Combine all ingredients except for chocolate chips. Stir until moist then fold in chocolate chips. The batter will be lumpy, don’t over-stir. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake 23 – 29 minutes. Note I filled the cups nearly full and it yielded 18 muffins. As you can see they don’t rise a lot, so I don’t think you can overfill them.
I hope you enjoy this shortcut recipe. The original recipe came from the book “101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix” by Stephanie Ashcraft and it was for a double chocolate chip muffin using a fudge cake mix and chocolate instant pudding.
15 Tuesday Feb 2011
Posted in Candy, Cookies, Dessert, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Candy, Chocolate, Cookies, Cream Cheese, Dessert, Easy, Oreo Truffles, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Oreo Truffles are no secret to the food blog world, especially with Valentine’s day, but hey, I liked how these turned out, so why not post on them! Besides, it will ensure I get my post a week in… (LOL). This is your classic 3 ingredient truffle made with cream cheese, Oreos and candy coating. I would say it is pretty user-friendly. After I combined the first two ingredients I rolled level tablespoon spheres (I hate the other word) and placed them in the freezer to harden. Then I used a small heart-shaped fondant cutter resulting in these cute, one-bite heart truffles. I will post the recipe just in case you don’t know it.
P.S. I really don’t care for Valentine’s Day. It is so commercialized and a financial rip off, but I have three kids and I don’t want to be a Valentine Scrooge…
Oreo Truffle Hearts
adapted from, well anywhere.com
Ingredients:
Directions:
Finely crush the Oreo cookies (a food processor is ideal here) and combine with cream cheese until well blended. Roll into desired shape and size and refrigerate or freeze until hardened.
Melt candy coating according to package directions, dip and let the coating dry before indulging.
12 Saturday Feb 2011
Posted in Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Postaweek2011, Recipes
Tags
Baked, Baking, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, From Scratch, Oatmeal, Postaweek2011, Recipes, Weight Watchers
It has been an exciting few weeks, to say the least. Ok, exaggerating completely. I have been MIA from my blog for several weeks. I hate that too. It has just been hectic and everyone in the family has been trading virus’. The most recent one knocked 4 of the 5 of us out for several days. Don’t get me wrong though, I haven’t starved my family, I just haven’t had the time or energy to photograph and post on the recipes. I have been experimenting with new dinner recipes too – but haven’t taken pictures and I don’t like to post without them. I am hoping now I will have a little more time to devote to this blog… and to the kitchen!
On to the reason I am typing now… I have had this weight watchers cookbook for over two years and scan these cookies quite often. I don’t do WW, I just prefer to purchase cookbooks that have nutritional values listed… and often these tend to be diet cookbooks. Here is the recipe taken directly from the Weight Watchers 20 Minute Recipes, Fall 2008 cookbook. The recipe is quite easy and it’s not a terrible choice for a chocolate treat, especially with this coming Monday… Valentine’s day (and I will save my opinion of this day, I am just not a fan). Taste you ask? I didn’t actually try one (shame, shame) but my daughter said they were really good. I like the fact that it is a rich cookie, but the richness is mellowed out by the white chocolate and the oatmeal.
Double Chocolate-Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (this is important)
In a large bowl combine the first five ingredients, beat until smooth.
Combine the oats, flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, stirring just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart on parchment. Bake for 9 minutes or until cookie centers are almost done. Remove and cool for 1 minute on pan then transfer to wire rack to cool completely (or indulge in a warm one!)
Makes about 10 cookies
Per serving (1 cookie): Calories: 109, Fat: 4.3g, Sat Fat 2.4 g, Protein 2 g, Carbs 17g, Fiber 1.1g, WW Points (old) 2 points
*Update, thank you to Susitrvl at Mad for Mexican Food for calculating the WW points in the new system – they total 3 points!
This post is linked to Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies - check it out!
08 Saturday Jan 2011
Sadly, our home team will not see the NFL playoffs… again, at least not from field level. Actually, I really don’t care much about NFL football, I am more a high school and college fan. I just can’t appreciate the site of grown men running around knocking each other down. That is not the point of this post however…. Have you ever had a Oreo Truffle? They are an easy, three ingredient candy that is rather difficult to screw up. They can be easily adapted for different affairs. I’ve seen them at birthday parties, baby and wedding showers and holiday events.
This “adaptation” fits right in with the ongoing playoffs and would be a great addition to your Superbowl party. You could even choose candy melts in your teams colors for dipping. I didn’t have any colored melts, just some chocolate bark. Shaping them like football’s makes an unbiased candy that can be enjoyed by both teams.
Classic Oreo Truffles (original recipe from Kraftfoods.com)
Ingredients:
Directions:
Finely crush the Oreos and mix with the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls*. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then remove and shape into oval football shapes. Return to fridge until the chocolate is ready for dipping.
Melt the dipping chocolate according to the package directions and dip the balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour or until the chocolate has set. Melt white chocolate and pipe on as pictured. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
*I used my food processor to both crush the Oreo’s and to combine with the cream cheese. The Kraft recipe doesn’t call for them to be refrigerated, but this is helpful in keeping the shape and setting the chocolate.
23 Thursday Dec 2010
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Need a boost this time of year? A chocolate indulgence? This little number here will keep milk farmers in business. It’s the classic sheet cake and it delivers. I’ve made a similar cake before but the base was from a cake mix. I’m really trying to convert to a non-cake mix baker, but often time does not afford me that opportunity. Thankfully, this is a straight forward recipe with ingredients most likely in your pantry. It is Ree Drummond’s, a.k.a. “Pioneer Woman”, recipe which she refers to as “The Best Sheet Cake. Ever.”
Prep. Bake. Enjoy…
Here’s the recipe taken directly from her site. I left out the pecans, I am not a nut lover, sorry. She has some beautiful step by step pictures at the link too…
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.
12 Sunday Dec 2010
Posted in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes
Back in September, King Arthur Flour’s baking blog “Baking Banter“, posted this long time favorite recipe… They refer to it as a Cake Pan Cake, but I’ve heard it call Krazy Cake, Emergency Cake, Funny Cake etc… I allude to this being a “Flat Broke” cake because of its origins to the Great Depression, when the price of butter and eggs gave this recipe a boost of popularity.
Call it what you’d like, it’s really good, and really easy… it’s even allergy friendly because it doesn’t contain eggs. I made the recipe “last-minute” in place of a sour cream pound cake that my husband had requested… seeing as I had no sour cream, eggs or softened butter.
If you want a moist, chocolate cake that yields “frosting optional” results, this one’s a keeper…
One Pan Cake ~ A King Arthur Flour Original
Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.
Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8″ or 9″ round or square cake pan; if you use an 8″ pan, make sure it’s at least 2″ deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.
Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the vegetable oil into the third.
Take the cup of cold liquid (water, coffee, milk, etc.) and pour it directly over everything in the pan. Note: If you’ve used espresso powder, adding coffee will make this a mocha cake. Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven. Yield: 12 to 16 servings.
I doubled the recipe, making two 8″ rounds, and layering and frosting with a cream cheese frosting. And in preparation, as suggested for “clean release”, I used a mixing bowl and poured the batter into prepared pans.
