Delicious Spice Muffins

At my daughters  preschool they have a day at school where the dads get to come into the classroom and see what the kids do on a daily basis.  It is called "Doughnuts with Dad" and Abby was looking forward to it for two weeks. The sad thing is the day that Doughnuts with Dad came around we were all sick, and by sick I mean the stomach bug (I hate cleaning up barf).  Well Abby has been asking for doughnuts ever since, so we started looking at recipes to make some.  After some research I found this recipe here and it looked and sounded delicious. I loved that the doughnuts were baked, but I didn't have a doughnut pan to bake the doughnuts so I decided I would make mini muffins instead. I had to adapt the recipe a little bit because I have a little one who has some food allergies and can't handle pumpkin.  So I substituted applesauce for the pumpkin and choose to add a crumb topping instead of the cinnamon sugar topping.  It reminded me of a Costco muffin and my family thought it was delicious.

Delicious Spice Muffins


1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoons ground cloves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup milk

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oats
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven 350 F.  Butter a mini muffin tin and set aside.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and set aside.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, applesauce and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixture and stir until just combined.
 
Fill each muffin tin with the batter. I find it easiest if I place the batter in a zip-lock bag and cut the corner off to fill the tins.  I love that there isn't any mess.  

Make the Crumb topping by combining the brown sugar, oats, flour, and cinnamon.  Then using a fork stir in the softened butter until the topping is combined.  Place the crumb topping on top of the muffins and bake for 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.  Place muffins onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Enjoy! 

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Snickerdoodles

On Sunday my family asked me to make some cookies.  The only thing is I didn't have the ingredients of the cookies that I normally make. I usually make plain chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cookies, or oatmeal raisin cookies; but I was out of chocolate chips, pumpkin, and oatmeal. So I went searching on the internet and found a snicker doodle recipe that would work.   This original recipe was found here from our best bites, but I had to change it a little because I didn't have all the ingredients. 

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter(not margarine) at room temp

8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) coconut oil

2 large eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Combine 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.  Whisk flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt together in medium bowl.   Beat butter, remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, and coconut oil together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated, scraping down bowl if needed.

With the mixer on low slowly add flour until combined, about 30 seconds.  Give dough final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain.

Roll the dough I nto balls, then roll them around in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until edges of cookies are set and just barely beginning to brown, but centers are still soft and puffy, about 10-12 minutes.  The cookies should look raw between the cracks and seem underdone.  Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.  Makes about 2 dozen 3-4 inch cookies.

Quick 10 Minute Caramel Apples

When fall comes around there is nothing I love more than some delicious baked treats, but fall would not be the same without caramel apples.  I was craving caramel apples one day, but the thought of making caramel on the stove with a candy thermometer quickly turned me off to the idea.  I remembered reading somewhere that you can make microwave caramels in about 7 minutes or something.  So the search began and I found a pretty quick and easy recipe to share.

First you need to find some good apples.  Everyone's preference for the type of apple to use for caramel apples vary so use whatever apple you want.  I usually purchase my apples from the local orchard because they are delicious and there isn't any wax on the apples.

Start by washing your apples and make sure they are really dry.  If the apples are wet the caramel won't stick to your apples.  Make sure that you also put some wax paper down and just to be sure spray it with some non-stick cooking spray so the apples will be easy to get off.  Then put a stick in the middle of the apple and make the caramel.

Super Easy Microwave Caramels   

Originally found at Eat Cake For Dinner adapted by Rachel.  

Makes 4 Caramel Apples plus some extra caramel to eat.

5 Tablespoons Butter

1/2  Cup Honey

1/2 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk*

1 Teaspoon vanilla

Place Butter, honey, sugars (white and brown), and milk in a large microwave safe bowl (the bigger the bowl the better otherwise you will have a big mess to clean up in your microwave).

Microwave the caramel mixture for 6 minutes stirring every 2 minutes.  Depending on your microwave will make a big difference on how long you will need to cook the caramel for. The caramel looked pretty good after I did it for 4 minutes.  Once the caramel is cooked stir in the vanilla.  Then take your apples and start dipping them in the caramel.  Then enjoy these delicious fall snacks or treats.

*If sweetened Condensed Milk isn't something that you have on hand it is really easy to make.  I usually have powdered milk in my pantry so it is easy to make just the amount that I need.  To make just enough sweetened condensed milk for this recipe you place 1/4 Cup Hot water, 1/2 Cup Dry Powdered Milk, 1/2 Cup Sugar, and 1/2 Tablespoon Butter in a blender and blend very well.  This recipe should make you enough for 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk.

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Chocolate Gelato

Well the weather has been a lot warmer recently so than means that I have been wanting to eat foods that are cold, especially after a trip to the park.  So when I say food I really mean dessert.  I think one delicious thing to eat in the summer is Gelato.  I adapted the recipe that I found here because I didn't have all the ingredients that it called for, but my improvising worked just fine.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of Salt

2 1/2 Cups of milk, divided (original recipe called for whole milk, but I used what I had)

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine the 1st three ingredients, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Then gradually add 1/4 cup of milk while whisking to dissolve the cornstarch. Then whisk in the remaining 1 3/4 milk. (reserve 1/2 cup for the end)

2.  Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (this takes the longest).  Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring occasionally then remove from heat. 

3. Add the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

4. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.  Mix in the additional 1/2 cup of milk and the vanilla. 

5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

6. Place your gelato into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy!

Please excuse the terrible phone pictures but my camera battery charger is broken and a new one is on it's way.

 

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Cake

As I was looking through this blog I found a couple of drafts that I began and never finished. This was one of those drafts that I began a while ago. But after making it again I decided it was time to share. So here is a really yummy dessert for you. If you are looking for a really easy dessert that you put in the slow cooker and serve it when you are ready then this is the recipe for you. This cake is pretty good, and although this picture that I have doesn't show the hot fudge but it is really good. The cool thing about this cake is that the hot fudge you end up mixing on top of the cake but during the baking process the hot fudge ends up being on the bottom.

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
3 Tbs, unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Mix together 1 cup brown sugar, flour, 3 Tbsp. cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
2. Stir in milk, butter, and vanilla. Spread over the bottom of slow cooker.
3. Mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over mixture in slow cooker.
4. Pour boiling water. Do not stir.
5. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream

I hope you enjoy trying this delicious cake and sharing with your family and friends.

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Cinnamon Caramel Corn

I came across this recipe a while back and wanted to try it really bad. But I didn't have some of the ingredients that it called for. So I wanted to wait to get them. After many months of not trying it and still not having some of the ingredients, I decided I was just going to try it with the ingredients that I had. So below is the recipe that I used and it turned out really good.
The original recipe is found here at our best bites.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn

What you will need:
12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C honey
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

*You can use air popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, choose a flavor that’s low in butter and salt.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Place popcorn in a large bowl and set aside.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a big, 2-Quart microwave-safe bowl. Incorporate the cinnamon into the brown sugar so that is all mixed together.
Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour honey over the top of everything.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds (just to soften the butter a bit) and then stir to combine.
Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.
Remove from the microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.
Pour the mixture right over the popcorn. Stir right away, and stir a lot. If you take too long the caramel will harden on you. Keep stirring until everything is well coated.
Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
When it’s done, spread out your caramel corn on a clean piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.
When it’s cooled and hardened break into chunks and enjoy!

Doesn't that Look Delicious!

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Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

This recipe is really easy and makes a delicious snack that you will end up coming back for more.
I will post pictures of them soon so you can see what the finished product looks like.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
 

1 cup white sugar
½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg white

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups almonds

Preheat oven to 250. Cover a baking sheet with, foil, parchment paper, or grease it well. In small bowl combine sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl slightly beat the egg white. Add vanilla and beat until very frothy, but not stiff. Add the almonds and stir until well coated. Add the cinnamon sugar mixture and toss until evenly coated. Spread evenly on the prepared pan. Bake for one hour, stirring half way through. Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container.

Sherbet

This is a really easy recipe and will be great during the summer when it is hot and when you want something cold and fruity.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Package of unsweetened Kool-Aid (any flavor of your choice)

3 Cups of Milk


Instructions:

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients until the sugar is dissolved.

2. Pour into a shallow freezer container; Cover and freeze for one hour. (I just put the mixture into my ice cream maker and allow it to mix for 20 minutes, then put it in a container in the freezer. If you don't have one, please follow the rest of the directions.)

3. Transfer to a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Return to a freezer container, freeze until firm. 4. Remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving. Makes 3 Cups.

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This cake was requested by my husband for his birthday. So since I had never had one before I was on a quest to find a good one. This one was the simplest one that I could find and it was really good. Thank you Betty Crocker. Pay special attention to the high altitude instructions, it makes a huge difference in your cake.



1/4 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained
9 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired
1 1/3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.

2. In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Increase flour to 1 1/2 cups and baking powder to 1 teaspoon. Bake 50 to 55 minutes.

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

If you like banana bread and you like chocolate, then you will love this bread. It is really rich and delicious and it doesn't take that long to make. The longest thing is waiting for it to bake.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (about 3)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom of an 8X4 loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. Beat sugar, eggs, and oil in a large bowl at medium speed until combined. Beat in banana and vanilla at low speed. Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda in a medium bowl; beat in the banana mixture at low speed, just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips

3. Spoon Batter into pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

This is what the finished product looks like.

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