Blueberry Breakfast Cake

This breakfast cake was wonderful and we actually ate it for dessert this week instead of for breakfast.  Everyone in my family really liked it and it was so light and fluffy.

INGREDIENTS
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk***

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top
*** To make homemade buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for five minutes.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.   Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.  Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are excellent.  Chocolate and gooey caramel goodness.  :)

INGREIDENTS
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
24 Rolos
1/4 cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla then mix until combined. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt & cocoa powder. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three batches, mixing well between each batch. Chill dough for 1 hour in the fridge or 20-30 minutes in the freezer. Scoop out ~1 Tablespoon dough and wrap it around a Rolo candy. Roll dough in sugar and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, rotating pan half way through. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse

This recipe was not as challenging as I thought and was a nice change for us at dessert time for the past couple of nights. You can tell from the picture that this little guy loved it so much that he stopped using his spoon and just dove right in.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cacao powder 
(unsweetened dark cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee
3 large egg yolks
3 teaspoons maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
3 large egg whites
1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Combine butter (1/2 cup), plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup, cacao powder, vanilla, pinch of salt, coffee, and 3 tablespoons water in a medium heat-proof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan filled with 1 inch of simmering water. Whisk frequently until smooth and remove from heat.
Whisk egg yolks, 1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, for about 30 seconds, until it lightens in color. Add chocolate sauce and whisk until combined. Let cool until just above room temperature.
In a bowl of a standing mixer or with an electric mixer, whisk egg whites on low until frothy. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup. Increase the speed to medium high and whisk until soft peaks form. Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate liquid, and then fold in the remaining whites by scooping the egg whites into the mixture gently, cutting down the bowl, across and up the other side, Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and keep folding until liquid and egg whites are combined.
Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold all of the whipped cream into the chocolate liquid until no white streaks remain, using the folding technique above.
Ladle mousse into individual bowls. Cover and refrigerate until set and firm, about 2 hours.

Dutch Apple Pie with Oatmeal Streusel

This is a great recipe and a little different than the regular apple pie that I normally make.  It didn’t necessarily photograph as good as it tasted, so I didn’t include a picture:)

INGREDIENTS
1 (9 inch) pie shell
5 cups apples - peeled, cored and slices
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Fit pastry shell into pie pan and place in freezer. To Make Apple Filling: Place apples in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine 2 tablespoons flour, white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix well, then add to apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated.Remove pie shell from freezer.  Place apple mixture in pie shell and dot with 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil lightly on top of filling, but do not seal. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. While filling is baking, make Streusel Topping: In a medium bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, oats, and lemon peel. Mix thoroughly, then cut in 1/2 cup butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Remove filling from oven and sprinkle streusel on top. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until streusel is browned and apples are tender. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning.

Chocolate Cookie Pudding

Obviously, I know this isn’t healthy, but it was super easy and a dessert that my oldest son could help me make by crushing up the Oreos.  It’s kind of a nice change from our usual cookies or ice cream that we have occasionally for dessert.  :)

INGREDIENTS
1 (5.9 OZ.) package chocolate instant pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 (3 OZ.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8 OZ.) container cool whip, thawed
16 double stuffed Oreos, crushed

DIRECTIONS
Whisk together pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes. Cover and chill for 5.  Stir together cream cheese and whipped topping, blending well.  Place 1 cup crushed cookies evenly in an 8 cup bowl.  Spread half of cream cheese mixture over crushed cookies.  Spread pudding evenly over the top; spread remaining cream cheese mixture over the pudding.  Sprinkle remaining cookies on top.  Chill and serve.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

The boys had cranberries for a morning snack and while I was pouring them in a bowl, I saw this recipe on the back of the package.  I’ve seen the recipe before and have always wanted to try them, and today seemed like the perfect day.  We make chocolate chip cookies  A LOT, so these were a nice way to change it up a bit for dessert.

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter  and sugar together in bowl until light and fluffy.  Add eggs mixing well.  Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each.  Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 – 12 minutes.

A Fun Dessert

The four of us made these yesterday before dinner and Hayden had a good time unwrapping the Kisses and putting the M n M’s on top.  I think that you could do some neat things with these around the holidays with holiday colored M n M’s or the white chocolate swirl Kisses.  I’ve also seen people make them with Reeses instead, which would be just as good.  The recipe did say to leave the Kisses in the oven for 3 minutes, but I didn’t think that was enough…..maybe 4 or 5.  Some of our chocolate wasn’t quite melted enough to spread out.

INGREDIENTS and DIRECTIONS
Just melt Hershey’s kisses onto tiny twist pretzels (275 degrees, 3 minutes), remove, and immediately press a single m&m; on each. Refrigerate until eating to make sure they are deliciously solid!

Pretzel Bites

This is another recipe that I saw from, where else, Pinterest.  I thought these looked like so much fun and something that Hayden or Bennet could help out with one day.  I’m just going to give you all the direct link to see how the original cook made them.  I couldn’t find the dough that she was talking about at the store, so I used some premade pizza dough from Harris Teeter.  I added flour to it when I started to roll it into the balls so they weren’t as sticky.  I added some pizza sauce for my parmesan bites and I did make the vanilla glaze for the other sweeter bites…..so good, yet, so bad for you;)

http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=932

Easy Dessert

I saw this brownie recipe on a friend’s blog and thought we’d give it a try.  It literally could not be easier and it’s a new fun snack.

INGREDIENTS
1 box of devil’s food cake mix
1 can of pumpkin

DIRECTIONS
Mix them together and bake at 350 for 40 min. or until done.

Apple-Butterscotch Brownies

Yesterday we went to the Altapass Orchard along the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was such a neat experience. We thought that it would be a lot of fun to actually pick some apples in the mountains.  It was a beautiful fall day and so picturesque.  Definitely something that we’ll be venturing out and doing again.  We came home with a huge peck of apples, and I knew that I wanted to try out a different recipe with them.  So this time, it was apple-butterscotch brownies.  To say the least, the brownies didn’t disappoint.  We did alter the recipe some though and although it called for three cups of peeled/diced apples, we only used one and added butterscotch chips. 



INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup pelled and diced apples

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 – 10 minutes.  Stir together brown sugar and next 3 ingredients.  Stir together flour and next 2 ingredients; add to brown sugar mixture and stir until blended.  Stir in apples and pecans.  Pour mixture into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 – 40 minutes.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie

INGREDIENTS
Prepackaged Pillsbury Pie Crust
8 large fresh ripe peaches
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. butter, cup into pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tbsp. granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
Peel peaches, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; cut slices in half.  Stir together brown sugar, next three ingredients; add peaches, stirring to coat.  Immediately spoon peach mixture into piecrust in pie plate with bottom layer of pie crust already in and dot with 1 1/2 tbsp. butter.  Place the rest of the pie crust on top of mixture and seal edges.  Brush with beaten egg mixture and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tbsp. butter.  Cut to vent. Freeze pie for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat a jelly-roll pan in oven for 10 minutes.  Bake at 425 on lover oven rack for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 375; bake for 4o minutes.

Peanut Butter Icing

INGREDIENTS
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.S

Chocolate Chip Dip

This weekend we’re going to have some friends and their kids over for dinner and I have been looking for a new dessert to serve. Not only is this recipe good, but it is easy and very kid friendly.



INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. cream cheese (I always use 1/3 less fat and you can never tell the difference)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients together and serve with gram crackers.

Scotcheroos

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
6 cups rice crispies
1 pkg. (11 oz.) butterscotch chips
1 pkg. (11 oz.) chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS
Stir sugar, peanut butter and corn syrup in pan until soupy.  Pour over rice and stir.  In cake pan, pour in and flatten.  Melt chips for topping and place on top.  Put in fridg. to chill for at least an hour.

Swedish Pancakes/Crepes

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
1 cup milk
3/4 cup flour

DIRECTIONS
Mix well, and cook like regular pancakes.  Top with syrup or fruit.  For a fun dessert, top with nutella and bananas.

Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 (16 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 cup (12 oz) can undiluted Carnation evaporated milk
1 (9") unbaked homemade pie shell or frozen

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425. Combine filling ingredients in order given; pour into pie shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350. Bake an additional 45 min. or utnil knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 oz.) pkg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust
6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs. flour
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. lemon juice (although I always skip this step and it doesn't seem to make a difference)

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 425. Prepare pie crust according to direction on package. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Cut slits in several places after putting the ingredients in. Bake 40 - 50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Oatmeal Caramel Bars

INGREDIENTS
1 Package of Betty Crocker’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
1 Stick of Butter or Margarine (softened)
1 Egg
35 Caramels
1/4 Cup Milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375
Mix butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in cookie mix.
Transfer all but 1/2 cup of mixture into 8x8 pan
Bake for 15 mins.
Meanwhile, melt 35 caramels and 1/4 cup of milk
Once  done baking, pour melted caramel over cookie bars
Drop spoonfuls of remaining batter on top of mixture
Bake for an additional 10 mins.
Let cool and serve

Apple Crisp

INGREDIENTS –I cut it all in half, b/c I only had 5 apples
10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. I used an 8x8 inch pan for half of the ingredients.  Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate morsels
1 cup finely chopped pecans (not a fan, so I took these out:)
1 1/2 pounds chocolate bark candy coating, melted

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add chocolate morsels and pecans, mixing well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper; chill 2 hours.
Note: Since the dough is sticky, roll your fingers into flour. This will make it easier to roll.
Melt chocolate bark candy coating in a double boiler. Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into candy coating to cover. Place on waxed paper and chill to set. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.