Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

I've seen versions of these muffins all over the food blogs lately, and decided to make them one morning. Delicious! Make them now!

Recipe

Caramel Layer Cake

For my birthday this year, I wanted to make a different cake then the usual chocolate. After flipping through various recipes, I found this caramel layer cake that sounded interesting.

It was pretty easy to make, just make sure you have a lot of brown sugar! The cake turned out pretty good, it's a very dense cake, very sweet, and tasted a bit like coffee cake. The frosting is very thin, and the recipe for it produces a large batch. Next time, I would cut it in half as I didn't use it all.

I am not sure if this cake needs to be refrigerated, but I did just in case. I might leave it out next time I have a piece to see what the difference is at room temperature.

Enjoy!


Ingredients:

cake-

2 1/2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

caramel frosting-

2 cups brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with flour.
2.) Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.
3.) Cream the butter and brown sugar.
4.) Add eggs, one at a time, to the brown sugar mixture and beat after each addition.
5.) Stir the vanilla and milk together in a measuring cup.
6.) Add the milk and the flour to the brown sugar mixture, alternating each.
7.) Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cook in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack.
8.) Meanwhile, make the frosting. Combine the butter, sugar, and half-and-half in a pan. Bring to a boil and stir often.
9.) Cover and boil for 3 minutes, then uncover and let it boil until thick.
10.) Pour into a bowl and let cool a bit. Using a hand mixer, beat the frosting until it is thick and creamy. This will take a while!
11.) Put one cake on a plate, put frosting in the middle, put the other cake on top, the frost the entire cake.

*I believe this recipe is from Moosewood...though I could be wrong.

Vanilla Cupcakes

I apologize for not updating my blog as much, but I have started graduate school, moved back to Park Ridge temporarily, and am not able to cook as much. However, when I get the chance, I will try to post new things.

This cupcake recipe was used for a "Fat Tuesday" party my husband and I hosted for some church members. I have been in a cupcake mood lately, and as soon as the idea of a party came up, I knew exactly what to make for dessert.

This recipe comes from a cookbook that was given to me by my Aunt years ago, and while I flipped through it often, I had never used it until now. The cookbook, Cupcakes!, by Elinor Klivans, is an excellent guide to cupcake baking. It begins with the necessities for baking cupcakes, and the author gives a lot of advice on how to bake, store, and frost your cakes. There are basic recipes for vanilla (which I made) cupcakes, sour cream chocolate cupcakes (which I also made but do not have a picture of), and simple frostings. Being pressed for time, I have to admit I used store-brought frosting.

The author also includes many unique cupcakes, such as upside down pecan cupcakes, peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes, and a poppyseed cupcake.

You can find the recipe for her vanilla cupcakes here.

What I loved about these cupcakes was that with the addition of sour cream, they were very moist and stayed like that for a few days after baking. Do be sure you cool your cupcakes completely before frosting though- and have some fun and add sprinkles or sugar for an extra sparkle!

Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake

One of my very first blog posts was sharing the recipe for a delicious lemon tart, a tart that I made for dinner guests who ended up getting sick and canceling.

This beautiful bundt cake was made for those same dinner guests- who months later, after lots of scheduling for both of us, finally made it to our apartment for a meal. I didn't want to make the exact same dessert, but went with the same flavor: lemon!

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com, and is absolutely delicious. I just cannot get enough of lemon, and this cake not only has the lemon zest (which you can see beautifully speckled in each slice), but also uses the juice to create a sweet glaze that oozes over the top, and spills down the sides.

Ingredients:

Cake-

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 T grated lemon peel

Glaze-

1/4 cup lemon juice
1 T water
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3/4 cup sugar


1.) In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extracts.

2.) Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add this to the creamed mixture, alternately with milk. Stir in the lemon peel.

3.) Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes longer.

4.) Place the rack on waxed paper. Combine the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the warm cake. Cool completely before serving.

*Serves 12.

Buttermilk Biscuits

Second buttermilk recipe. Biscuits seemed like a good choice- unfortunately, I am not yet sure what I will serve them with, so they are currently in the freezer.

This is another Joy of Cooking recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon)

1.) Whisk the above ingredients together in a large bowl.

2.) Drop into the bowl 5 to 6 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut in small pieces. (I used 5 tablespoons.) You then need to cut the butter into the dough- if you don't have a pastry blender, like me, you can use a fork to mash the butter around the flour. You need to get the mixture to become crumbly (Joy of Cooking says it will resemble breadcrumbs, with the largest pieces pea-sized.)

3.) Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and stir good.

4.) Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the sides and bottom of the bowl 5 to 10 times, turning and pressing any loose pieces into the dough each time until they adhere and the bowl is fairly clean.

5.) Put the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. You can then make round biscuits using either a round cutter or the top of a glass, or made square biscuits by rolling the dough into a rectangle and cutting it into squares. (I made round biscuits using a glass.)

6.) Put the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, brush the tops with melted butter or milk to make them brown (optional), and stick them in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (I did for 12 minutes.)

7.) Let the biscuits cool a bit. Serve them hot.

Chocolate Madeleines

My Nana was one of the best bakers. Every time we came to visit, she always made us her special chocolate chip cookies. We also got to bake with her while we visited- brownies, cakes, cookies, and much more. Nana had a baking day and every week she would make something. Often, she would make treats to bring to the Elkette's meeting, or something to bring to friends or neighbors. My Papa also got to partake in the desserts she made.

It is because of Nana that I love baking so much- it brings back many fond memories of measuring flour and carefully distributing cookie dough in her kitchen. I have many of her recipes, and hope that I can try them all at some point.

Today, I decided to make her recipe for Chocolate Madeleines. I inherited one of her madeline cookie sheets, and was excited to try this new type of baked good. As with many of her recipes, she put little notes on the side, tips for baking, or whether she had made them before. This recipe she made several times, and she indicated that they were good.

She was right! These are more of little chocolate fudge cakes than cookies. They have a very intense chocolate favor that quickly satisfies your craving. She suggests dusting them with powdered sugar once finished (which I did) for an extra touch. You will love these!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 pound stick (1 stick) lightly salted butter (refrigerator firm), cut in 16 pats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs


1.) Use 2 madeleine pans, each with 12 wells. Grease wells generously with unsalted butter. In a small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder.

2.) In a medium bowl, beat til blended: butter, sugar, cocoa, and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time, until blended. Add flour mixture and beat gently until blended.

3.) Spread a rounded tablespoonful of batter in each well, filling about 2/3 full.

4.) Bake in 425 degree F oven until cake tester in center comes out clean, 5-7 minutes.

5.) With the tip of a paring knife, loosen the edges and remove the madeleines to a wire rack to cool, shell side up. Serve while still warm or cool completely. You can add powdered sugar to them as well.

*Makes about 24 little cakes.

4th of July Brownies

For my birthday recently, my mom got me a hand mixer (which we really needed- we found that out when we tried to whip eggs into peaks with a spoon...) and an awesome baking cookbook: Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. I immediately started perusing the recipes for something I could make. This cookbook has all kinds of recipes for cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, scones, muffins, breads, etc.

When my mother in law asked me to bring brownies to our 4th of July celebration in Columbus, I immediately went to my new cookbook and decided to make Classic Brownies.

They were super easy to make, and turned out delicious!


Classic Brownies

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional, but really good)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (according to taste)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chopped chocolates and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted-you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

With a whisk, stir in the sugar. Don't be concerned when your smooth mixture turns grainy. One by one, whisk in the eggs. Add the vanilla and give the ingredients a vigorous whisking before gently stirring in the espresso, if you're using it, salt and flour; stir only until incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the chopped walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake the brownies 30 to 33 minutes, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the brownies to room temperature.

When the brownies are completely cool, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares, each a scant 2 inches on a side.

"Healthy" Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have many fond memories of chocolate chip muffins: getting them while living in the dorms at Illinois State University, hot from the oven, and stopping by Einstein's bagels in uptown Park Ridge to get one for breakfast before leaving with my family on our summer trips to Glen Arbor, Michigan.

So a few days ago I had a sudden craving for a good chocolate chip muffin. But as I'm trying to eat healthier, I added 'healthy' in front of my recipe search for these delicious muffins. I'm not sure how healthy you can actually get with a muffin (unless you are eating bran, which I've never had, and don't ever want to have,) but decided it was worth a try.
So, here is recipezaar's take on "healthy" chocolate chip muffins.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder1 banana
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips1/4 cup almonds

*A quick note before I continue: our milk went bad this morning, and as I didn't feel like rushing to the grocery store and was halfway through mixing ingredients, I substituted half and half. I'm sure this added to the caloric intake, but I didn't taste a difference. I also didn't have almonds on hand, so omitted those. But I do think they'd make an excellent addition.

1.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

2.) In a small bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder. Set aside.

3.) Mash together the banana and brown sugar. Mix well.

4.) Add the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla into a bowl. Beat together until well blended.

5.) Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, including the banana and brown sugar mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips and almonds.

6.) Pour the batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until done.

Here they are:
They were very good- they seemed more filling then a regular muffin, I think because of the addition of whole wheat flour. There was also a nice banana flavor, which was a sweet surprise. I know that tomorrow I will be enjoying one of these with my morning cup of coffee.

Very Lemon Wedges

Very Lemon Wedges
This dessert was originally made for a dinner party, but our guests canceled last minute so we got to reap the benefits of the extras!

I don't remember where I found this recipe, but it's pretty easy to make, is mostly ingredients that you would already have in your kitchen, and is perfect for spring.


I served it with some powdered sugar dusted on top. Next time, I would save some of the lemon zest to sprinkle on top as well.

Ingredients:

Base-
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour (I used all-purpose flour)

Topping-
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 egg
zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) To make the base, mix butter, sugar, and flour to a dough, using a blender or food processor. (This will not form a big ball of dough- instead, get it to where it will press together between your fingers and stick, and then you can easily press it down into your pan with a spatula.) Press into a round tart pan, ovenproof dish, or pie pan.

2.) Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees, for 15-20 minutes, or until just golden. (Don't over bake! I kept mine in a bit too long, and it still tastes wonderful, but it's hard to cut.)

3.) For the topping, blend cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together until smooth in a blender or food processor. Spoon the filling over the cooked base and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until just set.

4.) Let cool, then cut.

Two types of peanut butter cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

My husband and I made these cookies for a Christmas party we had at our apartment. Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate?


Ingredients:

48 Hershey's kisses, unwrapped
1/2 cup shortening or butter (I always use butter)
3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar1 egg
2 T milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
sugar for dusting


1.) Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2.) Beat butter and peanut butter until well blended. Add 1/3 cup of sugar and brown sugar, and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt, and gradually beat this mixture into the peanut butter mixture.

3.) Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
4.) Bake for 8-10 minutes until browned lightly. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Remove cookies to a rack to cool.

*This makes 4 dozen cookies.



Magical Peanut Butter Cookies



So there is a theme going here... peanut butter! These cookies are super, super easy to make and require very few ingredients. This recipe is from Paula Deen. I would double or triple the recipe, as these will go quick!

*I used real sugar, not Splenda.