Gingerbread cookies

These were so delicious! Soft, flavorful and had a great time making them :) We left out the pepper and the orange zest, but I think it would be interesting to try it with it another time which is why I left them on. But we rolled them out to about 1/4 inch thick and cooked them for 8 minutes, they were delicious. :)

Gingerbread Cookies

Source: http://www.alaskafromscratch.com/2012/12/14/spiced-gingerbread-cut-out-cookies/
Makes: 24-36 cookies

3-1/2c flour
1t baking soda
1-1/2t cinnamon
1-1/2t ground ginger
1t allspice
1/2t ground cloves
1/2t ground black pepper
1/2t salt
1/2c butter
1/4c shortening
2/3c brown sugar
2/3c molasses
1 egg
1/4t fresh orange zest

Instructions

1. Into a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and brown sugar until fluffy and well-combined. Add the molasses, followed by the egg and orange zest, beating until smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour/spice mixture until it all comes together. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness (thinner for crisp cookies, thicker for soft, chewy cookies). Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and place on the prepared baking sheets. Roll, cut, and repeat with the remaining dough. Bake in the preheated oven 7-9 minutes or until just cooked through but still soft (mine were perfect at 8 minutes). Carefully remove cookies to a cooling rack. 

Royal Icing
Source: http://www.ironwhisk.com/2012/12/gingerbread/ (this is a great tutorial for gingerbread)
Makes: enough for maybe 42 - 50 cookies

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
~ 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Add in icing sugar and beat until the icing is thick. Pipe onto cookies as desired.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Camille had her pumpkin party last night and it was so fun! There was pumpkin macaroni and cheese, pumpkin ginger snap dip (coolwhip, small can of pumpkin, small box of vanilla pudding, pumpkin pie spice = SO GOOD), pumpkin cheese cake, pumpkin bars and cookies, pumpkin soup, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin egg nog and I made this pumpkin pie cake.  It turned out great. I changed it a little from the original but mostly I just added some extra spices.

Pumpkin Pie Cake 

Adapted from: http://www.whatscookingwithruthie.com/2012/09/21/pumpkin-pie-cake/
Makes : 13x 9 in pan

1 (18 oz) yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 C butter, melted
1 (29 oz) canned mashed pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 C white sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2/3 C evaporated milk
1/4 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C pecan pieces, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cooking spray and flour a 9×13 baking pan.  Reserve 1 C of cake mix from package. In a mixing bowl combine remaining cake mix, melted butter, and 1 egg.  Press mixture in the bottom of pan and up the sides to form a crust.  In a large mixing bowl combine pumpkin, eggs, white sugar, cinnamon, and evaporated milk.  Mix well.  Pour over crust. Combine brown sugar and remaining cake mix.  Cut in butter using two knives or a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle over the filling.  Top with pecans if desired.  Bake 50 minutes. (I had to cook an extra 15 minutes...)  Cool on a rack.  Refrigerate until serving.

Cake Mix Fudge Crinkles

I went to make cookies on a Sunday and sadly I didn't have flour! Being Sunday I wasn't able to run to the store so I was in a panick. Then I remembered that I could use a cake mix to make cookies. As I searched nothing really interested me until I ran into these delicious Fudge Crinkles.

I was amazed at how moist they were, reminded me a lot of a brownie. Even when the outside felt a little tough the inside was moist and soft and a rich chocolate flavor.

Cake Mix Fudge Crinkles
Makes: about 30 cookies
Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/fudge-crinkles-a-great-4-ingredient-cake-mix-cookie-32614

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box devil's food cake mix (Betty Crocker Super Moist suggested)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 350
Stir dry cake mix, oil and eggs together till combined. 
Roll into walnut sized balls then roll in powdered sugar. Don't dust off the powdered sugar (otherwise the powdered sugar will all dissolve in the oven.) Place on a greased cookie sheet. 
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (or until just set) 
Take them off the pan and let them cool.

Peanut Butter Cookies

So I came home today and decided I wanted cookies after a long day of work. Though really, I think its an after thought from yesterday. I was going non-stop yesterday! I woke up went to work, taught for two periods then went and did a cycling class then ran to the temple then did genealogy for an hour or so then went and tutored for two hours and then showered went to dinner, had a book club meeting then came home to prepare a test for the next day then went to sleep and woke up and went to work, then did some genealogy, then came home and made cookies. Wow... what a past two days. But I feel like right now is such a nice time to just sit and eat a delicious peanut butter cookie.

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Source: http://www.everydayhomecook.com/2011/08/soft-chewy-peanut-butter-cookies/
Makes: 4 to 4 1/2 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Beat together butter and peanut butter until well combined.  
3. Add sugar and brown sugar, beat until fluffy.  
4. Mix in egg, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.  
5. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix just until blended.  
6. Roll balls of dough about the size of walnuts then roll in white sugar before placing on a baking sheet.  
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Cookies will be puffy, soft and slightly brown on the edges. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely (here is where they will continue cooking).  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Watermelon Sorbet

One day I was craving a watermelon like nobody's business - so I bought one. It was huge, like twenty pounds and the next thing I new I'd eaten a quarter of it! But sadly even though I'd eaten that much our fridge was too full and I wouldn't be able to store all of it. What a dilemma. Then I realized our freezer wasn't that packed.. so I googled frozen watermelon treats and found this delicious recipe. 

Watermelon Sorbet
Source:  http://www.williammillerhouse.com/blog/2011/07/lactose-intolerant-try-this-watermelon-treat-to-beat-the-heat/
Serves: estimated 10-12 half cup servings

5 cups of cubed and seeded watermelon
1 cup sugar

2 envelope unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup fruit juice

1. Place watermelon cubes in a food processor, or a blender. Cover, process or blend until smooth. You should end up with about 5 cups of pureed watermelon.
2. Stir in sugar.
3. Combine the gelatin and juice in a small saucepan.  Let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir  the cranberry juice and gelatin mixture over low heat until the gelatin is dissolved.
4. Pour dissolved gelatin into the pureed melon and stir.  Then, pour entire mixture into an 9x13-inch baking pan. Cover and freeze two hours until firm.
5. After two hours, break up frozen mixture and place in a chilled mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium to high speed until it is fluffy. Return it to the pan. Cover and freeze about 6 more hours until firm.
6. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 5 - 10 minutes. Its a little nicer to eat when its a little softer. 
 

It was so delicious! I loved just nibbling at it. Not to mention it was so light but had such a yummy sweet flavor. One of my favorite things about making this was probably working with the unflavored gelatin. I had never done that before and it created such an interesting texture before you warmed it up. I would definitely make this again. (Only next time I would get a seedless watermelon, it took a while to pick out all the seeds)

S'mores

First.. I know, its been forever. Basically summer and blogging just didn't work out this year. But hopefully now that I'm on a better schedule I'll do a little more. 

Anyway, today I checked the mail and found this cute Halloween Pillsbury Cookbook (Copyright 2011, p.3). As I glanced through it the only thing that really caught my eye was their fun s'more ideas. I didn't want to keep the whole book just for that, so I thought I'd just record them here :) 

S'more Makeovers: 

Midnight Ginger = Gingersnaps + Marshmallows + dark chocolate

Caramel Apple = Cinnamon graham crackers + Marshmallows + caramels + apple slices

Chocolate Mint = Chocolate graham crackers + Marshmallows + chocolate covered mints (like Andes) 

Peanut Butter Banana = Graham Crackers + Marshmallows + sliced bananas + peanut butter

Since i haven't actually tried this one, if you do make sure that you comment! One that sounds absolutely delicious to be is the Midnight ginger and the chocolate mint. I bet this would be super fun to just bring a whole bunch of innards and make all sorts of different kinds of s'mores. Let the imagination run wild! 
 

Chocolate Banana Soup

Tonight was one of those fun girls nights. Watched Nacho Libre, made chocolate banana soup and ate pizza. We had decided we wanted to make something a little experimental. I was looking through one of my cookbooks that I love to just read. Its called "Dessert Circus" by Jacques Torres. Its basically fancy dessert cooking. I came across this soup and thought well this is interesting and has potential.

We made a few alterations to the original, number one we didn't soak the bananas in rum... but in a makeshift rum. Which is made through molasses, pineapple juice and almond extract (http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol6.htm). Who knows if that's really what its like or not but it was tasty either way.We also wanted to eat the end product a little faster so I added a thickener to the chocolate soup portion, like 1/4 cup of flour, this way it would get thick enough for the meringue with just like half an hour of cooling instead of 2 hours. Yes... sometimes I'm a little impatient. We also made the dish in a souffle dish, next time I do think it would be better in smaller dishes, this way I think everyone would get a more even bananas to chocolate to meringue ratio.

We also attempted to caramelize the sugar about 5 times and every time it just didn't work. I've put the links to some youtube videos that will hopefully help you on your venture of caramelizing.The first one lets you see the whole process very nicely and the second seems very similar to what we want to do for this caramel since you add in the butter. We kept having the issue of the caramel becoming rock hard when we added anything into it. Now when I googled why it hardens, it seems as though we got the temperature to high. It shouldn't get above 250 degrees. I will have to try this again and see if I can ever really caramelize sugar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E623VT_330
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGd138dlfKk&NR=1

Wow, it was so rich! (It tasted like something you should be eating at a restaurant!) Very yummy though. Especially when you are eating the bananas in the chocolate it tastes like a chocolate covered banana. It only gets better when the light fluffy meringue gets added in. :)

Banana Chocolate Soup
Source: Adapted from Dessert Circus by Jacques Torres. Copyrighted 1998. p.104
Makes: 8 servings

Caramelized bananas
4 large bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 tbsp molasses
1/4 c pineapple juice
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)

Soup
4 c Whole milk
1/4 c flour
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Meringue
7 large egg whites
1-3/4 powdered sugar

1. Mix the molasses, pineapple juice, and almond extract in a mixing bowl. Here you are just diluting the molasses to get 1/4 cup of this mixture. 
2. Mix the sliced bananas into this mixture till covered, let sit as you make the caramel. 
3. Heat a pan on medium high heat. When it is warm add the sugar. Coat the bottom of the pan evenly.
4. Shake and sift the sugar around (a good demonstration is in the first youtube video) till all is melted then add in the butter to add smoothness to the caramel. 
5. Add in the banana mixture and mix the bananas and caramel. If there is a lot of extra liquid let it sit in the pan a little longer on heat till it evaporates a little then put into your dish/dishes. (I used a souffle pan)
6. Mix the milk and flour in a sauce pan.
7. Heat the whole milk in the sauce pan till boiling then add the chocolate. Stir till melted. Take off heat, Pour into your baking dish/dishes.
8. Put dish/dishes into a 13 by 9 inch pan and place in the fridge till thick enough to support the meringue. Suggested 2 hours. (I probably only had it in there for a half an hour to an hour) 
9. Make the meringue by beating the egg whites in a large mixing bowl till frothy. Then 1 tbsp at a time add in the powdered sugar till it creates stiff but not dry peaks. 
10. Take the chocolate soup out of the fridge and top with the meringue in a decorative manner. If your soup has gotten cold inside (feel the outside of the dish on the sides) cover the sides of your dish as close to 1/3rd of the way up as you can with warm water and let it sit for 30 minutes to warm the soup. 
11. Heat the oven to 450. 
12. Remove the soup from the warm water bath and place on a baking sheet. Put in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until the meringue begins to brown. Then serve! 

The chocolate soup after cooling.. mmm.... 

Delicious toasted meringue topping

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Frosting

I borrowed a mini cupcake pan from a friend and decided I needed to make cupcakes! So I started my search for a delicious recipe and found this one by El at freshnewengland.blogspot.com. Her blog is so beautiful and these cupcakes were no exception. 

I decided to do an experiment - try half of the recipe with white flour and half with wheat flour and see if I could tell a difference -- verdict is no. So go for wheat flour!!

Secondly I thought that these cupcakes were so rich so it might be nice to add something fresh to them to kind of make them my own. I decided to dice up strawberries and sprinkled them into a meringue and put that on top of the cupcakes. That was divine! Like a chocolate strawberry shortcake! I also made that meringue with honey, to see if the natural sugar was still good. You could taste the honey a little in the meringue, but I found if you toasted the meringue once on the cupcakes, the honey flavor wasn't overpowering.

I also made a chocolate meringue frosting and a white chocolate meringue frosting. They were all delicious. These were both very yummy. Much like a mousse. I especially enjoyed the chocolate frosting. I felt the texture was very yummy and it was extremely chocolaty. In my pictures I accidentally flattened my white chocolate meringue so it doesn't look as fluffy, but originally it was fluffy. I just learned don't beat the meringue when you add the chocolate. Fold it in! Otherwise, all fluffiness leaves!

Ultimate Dark Chocolate Cupcakes 

Source: From El at Fresh (http://freshnewengland.blogspot.com/2010/10/ultimate-dark-chocolate-cupcakes-with.html)

Makes:50 mini cupcakes

1/2 cup plus 2 tsp. cocoa powder

1 cup plus 2 tbs. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cups (whole wheat) all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

12 tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2.  Mix milk and cocoa powder together in pan. Heat gently until well blended. Mixture should be warm but not hot. Turn off heat. Add vanilla and stir.Whisk remaining dry ingredients together and set aside.
3. Beat butter in bowl fitted with paddle at medium high speed about 35 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Gradually sprinkle in sugar; beat until white and fluffy 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating a full minute after each addition. Scape down bowl.
4. With mixer on lowest speed add 1/3 dry ingredients mix until almost incorporated. Add 1/3 chocolate mixture mix until almost incorporated. Repeat process until ingredients are added. Be sure to scrape down bowl. Beat until mixture looks satiny about 15 seconds.
5. Line cupcake tin. Fill 3/4 full of batter. Bake for 20 minutes.(For mini cupcakes, bake for about 13 minutes) Allow to cool before frosting.

Chocolate Meringue Frosting 
Makes: enough to frost 24 cupcakes

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz semi sweet chocolate
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream (could probably just use milk)

1. Separate the egg whites and put into a bowl add the cream of tarter and vanilla. Beat until frothy. 
2. Add sugar slowly and beat until soft peaks form (they may never quite get there.. if not as long as really soft peaks form). 
3. Melt the chocolate (best way is in a double broiler) and add the heavy whipping cream. Allow the chocolate to cool a little. 
4. Fold in the meringue till combined and smooth. 
5. Put a dollop onto each cupcake. 

White Chocolate Meringue Frosting
Makes: enough for 24 mini cupcakes

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp sugar
2 oz white chocolate (or vanilla almond bark)

1. Separate the egg whites into a bowl. Add cream of tarter and vanilla extract. 
2. Beat till frothy
3. Slowly add in the sugar beating between each addition
4. Beat till forms soft peaks
5. Melt the chocolate, let cool slightly
6. Fold the chocolate into the meringue till combined and smooth. 
7. Top cupcakes with frosting.

Strawberry Honey Meringue
Makes: enough for about 24 mini cupcakes

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp honey
7 strawberries, diced

1. Separate the egg whites into a bowl, add the cream of tarter and vanilla. Beat until frothy. 
2. Add the honey slowly, beating between each addition until soft peaks form. 
3. Add diced strawberries and fold in, then top cupcakes with the frosting.
4. If desired, broil the tips of the frosting to toast the meringue.

Banana Cream Pie

So the other day my friends and I decided to celebrate Crisco. Now, I thought it was the 75th anniversary, but after further research I believe it was the 100th anniversary. 

So one of my favorite pies that I've been making recently is Banana Cream. At this lovely pie celebration we (friends from dinner group and me) made 6 pies! But the one we will talk about today is the Banana one. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of it before it was demolished.. but maybe next time I make it I'll take one and add it to the blog. But this particular recipe is delicious! I have found that I am a lover of meringue! It mixes perfectly with the bananas and pudding and is healthy (or healthier than cream :) ). At least I feel it is healthier than cream. I have also been converted to making homemade pudding. mmm... it is amazing...  (Is this healthier? probably not... but it tastes better!) We also put this in a vanilla wafer crust. It added an extra sweetness but didn't take away from the pie. You could do a normal pie crust, but I just really like it with the vanilla wafer crust.

Now this is my first non-healthy recipe... who would have thought. I really didn't think I would be doing a health food blog, but it is kind of turning into that. So just to mix it up I think I needed to add a pie recipe in here. Plus pie is my favorite dessert so it needs to be represented! 

Banana Cream Pie

Source: adapted from Rhonda at All Recipes and comments (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/banana-cream-pie-i/Detail.aspx)

Servings: 8

Vanilla Wafer Crust

1-1/2 c crushed vanilla wafers

6 T melted butter and bake for 5 minutes at 350

1. Mix ingredients till all is moistened. 
2. Press mix into pie plate to form a crust
3. Bake for 5 mins at 350

Pie

¾ c white sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

2 c milk

3 egg yolks beaten (save the egg whites for the meringue)

2 tbsp butter

1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

4 bananas, sliced

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner. 
2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture into the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency. 
3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture. 
4. Chill for three hours and serve.

Nutritional Data:  Calories per serving: 303     Total Fat: 11.1 g     Cholesterol: 89mg

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp vanilla

3 tsp sugar

1. Beat the first three ingredients until frothy.
2. Gradually add the sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
3. Spoon onto pie and decorate as desired, then toast it. (I use the broiler because I lack a cool cooking torch - but keep a close eye on it!)
4. Put back into fridge till time to serve.