Janae's Banana Bread

 Janae's Banana Bread

3-4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups of flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix butter and bananas.  Add sugar, egg and vanilla.  Add baking soda, salt, flour.

Pour into a greased 4X8 loaf pan. (I like to line the pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray for easy removal after baking.)

Bake for about one hour until done. 

Honey Spice Cake

Honey Spice Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F

Beat: 

• 1/2 cup melted butter

• 1 cup honey

• 2 eggs

Add and mix well:

• 3/4 cup water

Sift and add to other bowl:

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1+ tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• nuts (optional)

Mix well.

Pour batter into greased and floured 13x9 inch cake pan.  

Bake for 30 minutes. 

Serve with applesauce.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

9-12 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:

• 10 oz cream cheese, room temperature (I just used an 8 oz pkg and then went shy on the rest of the ingredients)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat then oven to 325° F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper or foil allowing a little overhang and spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined.  Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes.  Remove pan to a cooling rack.  Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.
3. While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cooking dough.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.  Mix in the flour on low speed, and mix until just incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.  (*Note: This mixture is going to be dry...that's okay.  It's rather like a crumble topping.  You're going to crumble it on top of the cheesecake layer.)
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated.  Pour the cheesecake batter onto the prepared crust. Use your hands to form "clumps" of the cookie dough, smooth it together and flatten it out.  Distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps.  Be sure to use all of the dough.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake.  Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.  Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.
6. Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.

Source: brandysbaking.blogspot.com found on pinterest.

5 Minute Chocolate Frosting

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 ¼ cups baking cocoa
1 cup butter – softened
⅓ cup milk
1½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Put your softened butter in mixer; mix until it is creamy.
2. Add in vanilla, sugar, & baking cocoa. It will get VERY thick here.3. Slowly add in milk!
That’s it! Now you are ready to frost your cake. It will make quite a bit of frosting and the first time I frosted a cake with it, I didn’t put enough on and had half the bowl full of frosting. The cake looked like I had to much frosting on it, until I went to eat it later. It compacts down, so don’t be afraid to frost the heck out of the cake!
I love to put this onto the Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge Cake — double chocolate heaven right there. Maybe some vanilla ice cream on the side too, you know, to even things out!

Recipe source: http://www.discountqueens.com/diy-5-minute-chocolate-frosting/

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
2 Tbs milk
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix.
• Add flour and baking powder; mix
• Roll dough out and cut with cookie cutters.
• Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes.

(Recipe from Emily C.)

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 cup oil
2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs

• Preheat oven to 350*.  Prepare a 15x10 pan.
• Blend together all ingredients and mix at low speed for 2 minutes.  Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool.  Frost. (Frosting recipe below).

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter

3 oz cream cheese

1 Tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla

• Combine ingredients to make frosting.  Spread frosting over cooled pumpkin bars.  Store in refrigerator.

(Recipe from Emily C.)

Strawberry Raspberry Trifle

3 cups milk
2 packages white chocolate pudding mix
1 prepared angel food cake (14 oz) cut into 1" cubes
3 cups sliced strawberries
3 cups raspberries
1 carton (8 oz) whipped topping

• Whisk milk and pudding mix.  Let stand 2 minutes.
• Place a third of the cake cubes in a trifle bowl.  Top with one third of the pudding, 1 cup strawberries; 1 1/2 cups raspberries, and one third of the whipped topping.
• Layer with a third of the cake and pudding, 1 cup strawberries, and one third of the whipped topping.
• Top with remaining cake, pudding, strawberries, raspberries and whipped topping.  
• Garnish with strawberries.

(Recipe from Emily C.)

Raspberry Peach Delight

1 prepared angel food cake (8"), cut into 1" cubes
1 package (.3 oz) raspberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
1 can (15 oz) sliced peaches, drained and halved
3 cups cold milk
1 package (1.5 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 carton (8 oz) frozen cool whip, thawed

• Arrange the angel food cubes in 9x13" pan.  In a small bowl, dissolve raspberry jello in boiling water; stir in cold water.  Pour over cake.  Arrange sliced peaches over jello.
• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 2 minutes.  Spoon over the peaches.  Top with cool whip.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

(Recipe from Emily C.)

Baked Doughnuts

Shelley's notes:  These doughnuts were so fun to make!  I loved the fact that the were baked for two reasons:  1- Healthier than fried; 2 - I do not have a deep fryer and frying on the stove just doesn't cut it for me as it's hard to reach and maintain the correct temperature to work optimally. 

The original doughnut recipe (below) just did the cinnamon/sugar coating.  I decided to try a glaze also, and included that recipe after the doughnut recipe below.  I personally preferred the cinnamon ones with this recipe but all were good and it seemed to be a toss-up for the rest of my family.  For the glazes I did a plain glaze and a chocolate glaze.  If I'd had some maple flavoring on hand I would have definitely made some maple frosting too, but I used it all up the other day.  I'm still not sold on the glaze recipe and may try a different one next time...  But anyway, here are the recipes that I used this time around. Enjoy!

*I didn't have the liners on hand for the baking sheets (parchment paper or silpat liners) so I sprayed my pan with cooking spray and then dusted it with flour and that seemed to work well.  Although I did brush the flour off the bottoms  of the doughnuts and holes before glazing and coating.

BAKED DOUGHNUTS
recipe source: www.melskitchencafe.com


*Note: These little beauties are best made and eaten the same day, preferably warm right from the oven. The great news is that you can make the dough, roll and cut out the doughnuts the night before and let them do their second rising in the fridge, covered. Remove them from the refrigerator and put them on the counter about an hour before baking. I used instant yeast in the recipe. If you only have active dry yeast on hand, proof the yeast with 1/3 cup of the warm milk and the sugar until it is foaming before adding in the rest of the milk and proceeding with the recipe.



*Makes about 1 1/2 dozen doughnuts/doughnut holes


INGREDIENTS:

Doughnuts:
1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon salt


Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon




DIRECTIONS:
Place the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Add the butter. Mix the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt. Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands) for 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablespoons at a time or more milk. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky – don’t overflour! Knead the dough for a few minutes (again, by mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size (the exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen).


Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough. Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap. (At this point, you can refrigerate the doughnuts overnight or proceed with the recipe.) Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled.


Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the doughnuts around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.


Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the melted butter and toss or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately.


GLAZE

source: www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com

Ingredients:
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 cup Cold Water Or Milk


Directions:
Mix all ingredients together until smooth. If the glaze seems a big too runny, add more powdered sugar. If the glaze seems too thick, add a bit more water or milk. Dip 1/2 of the doughnut into the glaze, and then rest glaze side up on wax or parchment paper to dry. Top with nuts or sprinkles before the glaze sets up.


To make the Chocolate glaze, simply add a bit of cocoa powder to taste. A little goes a long way!

Shelley's Note:  I also added a little less than 1/2 tsp of almond extract just because I like that flavor with some recipes.  It was good, but the glaze was still a little lacking in my opinion.  Still need to search for a better one. :)

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

Candy Crunch Pudding Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 pkg. (5.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP whipped topping, thawed, divided

2 milk chocolate English toffee candy bars (1.4 oz. each), chopped, divided
   (I just used packaged HEATH English Toffee Bits from the baking section)
1 OREO pie crust (6 oz.)

1 square BAKER'S semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions:Beat milk and pudding mix with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1/2 the Cool Whip and all but 3 Tbsp. candy bits.  Spoon into crust. Top with remaining COOL WHIP and candy.  Drizzle with chocolate.

Icebox Cake

From the Keri Fisher collection

Serves

12

Introduction

This dessert is like a very rich chocolate-cream pie — with no baking necessary. Read more about no-bake summertime desserts in Keri Fisher’s article “Chill out.”

Ingredients

Filling

	¼	cup cornstarch
	¾	cup sugar
	½	cup unsweetened cocoa powder
	~	Pinch of salt
	2	cups whole milk
	8	oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish (see Note)
	2	Tbsp. unsalted butter
	1	Tbsp. vanilla
	1	box (14 oz.) graham crackers (see Note)

Topping

	1½	cups heavy cream
	2	Tbsp. sugar
	2	tsp. vanilla

Steps

1. Whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, and pinch of salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then boil, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate and butter until melted and smooth. Stir in the 1 tablespoon vanilla and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Arrange one single layer of graham crackers in a pie plate or a 9-inch-by-11-inch baking dish. Top with one-third of the chocolate pudding. Repeat with remaining graham crackers and pudding, ending with a layer of pudding. Refrigerate while you prepare the whipped topping.
3. Combine the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream in an even layer on top of pudding. Garnish with grated chocolate.

Notes

If you have a zester or, even better, a Microplane, use it to create chocolate shavings for the garnish.

Graham crackers that aren’t made with hydrogenated oil and high-fructose corn syrup can be hard to find. As a substitute, use any dry, crumbly, neutral-flavored cookie, such as a thin butter cookie.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I had a friend over to dinner last night and she made this yummy recipe for dessert.  I wanted to remember it so I can make it again sometime!

Pop 1/2 cup kernels or 2 bags microwave popcorn. Sort through and get rid of unpopped kernels.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
20 large marshmallows (or 2 cups miniature marshmallows)
Melt those in the microwave. Then add:
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
Pour over popcorn and stir. Put in the fridge to unstickify it!! YUMMY!


Thanks Heidi!

Apple Crisp

APPLE CRISP

INGREDIENTS:

12 cups Apples, thinly sliced

Topping:

2 cups Oatmeal

2 cups Flour

2 cups Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 cup Butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.

Place apple slices in a 12x9 baking dish. Combine the topping dry ingredients. Cut in the softened butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for 45 min. Serve in bowls with a little milk poured on top. Makes 8 nice size servings.

Carmel Popcorn

Carmel Popcorn

This is quite similar to the carmel popcorn recipe that we always made when I was growing up. It is pretty simple and doesn't take quite as long to cook as the one I remember making. It stays soft and is so yummy!

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (I usually just put the whole thing in unless I have another use for the other half)
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 giant bowl of popped popcorn (I usually have plenty of carmel for one large and one medium bowl of popcorn - usually 3/4 full so there is stirring room)

Directions:
Combine first 4 ingredients in medium saucepan and stir over medium/high heat. Stir continuously. Let boil for 2-3 minutes (no longer) and then remove from heat. Add the milk and vanilla. Return to heat and stir until it just barely starts boiling again. Remove and drizzle over popcorn. Stir well to completely coat the popcorn.

For Sweetened condensed milk recipe from powdered milk, click HERE.  (Recipe found on Everyday Food Storage website.)
1/2 cup hot water (then boil - about 45 sec in microwave works great!)
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup pwd milk
1 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend very well.

(For printable handout, click HERE.)

Cheesecake

Cheesecake
Yield: 1 9"x13" pan
(Double this recipe for 1/2 sheet pan)

Crust:
2 packages graham crackers, crushed (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup melted butter
6 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Mix together and pat into bottom of 9"x13" baking dish. Put in fridge to let butter harden a bit.

Cheese Filling:
1 1/2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese
8 oz whipped cream
2 cups powdered sugar

Mix together and spread over graham cracker crust. Chill.