Apple Muffins

I'm always looking for a new little treat to make for the ladies who come to Tuesday night Bible study at my home.  I don't lead the study, which gives me the time to go that little extra bit when it comes to treats.

Last Tuesday it was apple muffins.

I found this recipe at The Girl Who Ate Everything blog.  I followed it pretty faithfully, which is near shocking for me.  The only thing I "tweaked" was that I added a little nutmeg along with the cinnamon.  But, c'mon, I'm totally justified in that it is fall!  After all, what is fall without nutmeg?  Exactly.

So I used Honey Crisp apples because... well, I was given a bushel and that's what I have.  Besides, Honey Crisps are the bomb.  I understand someone wanting to go with a tarter apple like a Granny Smith, but in this house it's the HC.  And because they are HUGE, I only used two apples diced to make the three cups required.



Preheat your oven to 350 and line your muffin tins with paper cups.  This recipe makes 18 muffins.

Peel, core, and dice enough apples to make 3 cups. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together:
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup oil (yeah, I know... but it's fabulous, trust me)
1 TBS vanilla

In a smaller bowl mix your dry ingredients together.  Feel free to sift them all if that is what you do, I'm too lazy.
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix completely.

Okay, so the mix is REALLY thick.  Like between a cookie dough and bread dough.  Add your apples.  I found the best way to do this was just knead it in with my hands.

I then used an ice cream scooper to fill the muffin cups.  One heaping scoop does the trick while using another spoon to scrape it out.  These muffins won't rise all that much, so fill it good and full.  The blog says 3/4 full, but you'll have plenty of batter so don't be shy.

Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake for 20-24 minutes.  I actually let these bake for more like 25-30 minutes, but my oven is like that.  I don't think with a whole cup of oil, that you'll need to worry about these being too dry!

As you can see, there isn't much to fret about when it comes to filling them too full.  Not much rising happening here.
So yummy and makes the house smell warm and inviting.  Now, where's my cup of coffee?

Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

As if Christmas hadn't brought enough treats, chocolates, and fattening goodies... I decided I wanted to make something for dessert that we hadn't yet tried.

I opened up my 21 year old Betty Crocker Cookbook that I received as a wedding gift, and on the first page marked "Baked & Cooked Desserts" was the recipe for Hot Fudge Sundae Cake.   I perused the ingredients to make sure I had everything on hand. Sounded too easy.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In an ungreased 9x9x2 baking pan (I only had an 8x8x2.5 which worked fine) mix together the following dry ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 TBS cocoa (I used dark cocoa)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix in the following wet ingredients using a fork until smooth:

1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS vegetable oil

You can stir in 1 cup chopped nuts if you desire... someone in my household does not desire nuts, so we skipped them :) The recipe also says instead of nuts you might want to try a cup of miniature marshmallows... mmmm.

Spread the batter evenly around the pan.
Sprinkle with 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa.  Then pour 1 3/4 cups hottest tap water over the sugar and cocoa.  (Don't stir, just leave it a puddle)

Bake for 40 min.
Serve warm and with a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream.

This really was an easy treat to make from scratch with good, real ingredients.  Plus, you only use one dish to make and bake it!!  Enjoy :)

Celebration Cinnamon Rolls

Today is my baby's 12 th birthday.  My "Bubby";  my boy;  my sweetness.  Every momma should have a son as huggibly delicious as my Eric.  Can I just say... I love my kid?  This child will jump up at the chance to help you with groceries, LOVES to make you smile or laugh, and can't pass kissin' a baby's cheeks even if he wanted to. I mean, c'mon, they just don't make them like him anymore.  I s'pose I get to take some credit for him, but really, I think God just gave him to me like this.  I am blessed.

So, it's no secret that I work very hard in the garden and once in a while I get pooped before I'm really finished.  Cleaning up my tornado of weeding isn't my strongest point, so I often strike up a deal with my dear son in order to get him to clean up after my gardening garbage.
This week, the deal was a week long menu of breakfast dishes.  I'd like to be able to say that I make a piping hot breakfast for my kids every morning, but the truth is... I don't.  I'm more apt to make breakfast for dinner than for the actual slotted time for breakfast.  So I agreed to make Eric breakfast every day this week, beginning with Tuesday.
Tuesday we had french toast.
Wednesday was scrambled eggs and bacon.
Thursday saw Chocolate chip waffles.
But today is my Bubby's birthday, so we are going all out with homemade cinnamon rolls. He's beside himself.  I think he might have even had trouble sleeping last night. ;)

Celebration Cinnamon Rolls
I made the dough last night by using my "Favorite dough recipe" dough with an added teaspoon or two of lemon juice in with all the wet ingredients.  I let it cycle through in the dough cycle on my bread machine, then I went to work making the sweet rolls.      

 I rolled out the dough into a rectangle.  Betty (Crocker) says to make the rectangle 15x9...  Well, I don't have a ruler, but I guess this will do.  

Then I softened about a 1/4 cup of butter (half a stick) in the microwave and brushed it all over one side of the dough.  You don't want to get butter too close to the edge because you don't want the sugar to get in the way of the dough sticking to itself when you roll it up.  So keep a good inch or so clear of butter and sugar.  I cheat and use the cinnamon n' sugar combo you can find at wal-mart.  I hear brown sugar is a pretty incredible alternative... it's supposedly what Cinnabon uses, but we're fine with white sugar here.  

Roll the dough up so you have a really long snake of dough.

Next is a trick Betty taught me:  Use a piece of string to cut the rolls instead of a knife.  A knife will squish the dough, but a thick piece of string will just pinch the roll right off.  I like to use a thick coated piece of quilters thread, but really any kind of thread will work. 

See. :)

Keep the thickness of each cinnamon roll the same.  You want to make them a little thicker than you might first think.  I like to squish them down a bit once I put them into the pan to rise.  

Now, cover these and let them rise for an hour, or cover them and put them in the refrigerator to bake the next day.  If baking them the next day, take them out an hour before baking, and continue as normal.  They won't rise quite as much after they have been refrigerated, but it sure beats trying to do everything early in the morning!!

Bake at 375 degrees about 25-30 minutes.  Spread rolls with glaze while they are still warm.  

Simple Glaze:  

1 cup powdered sugar

1 TBS milk 

1/2tsp. vanilla. 

 Mix until smooth.  Remember the glaze will thin out when poured over hot rolls, so leave it a little on the thicker side.

Cinnabon cream cheese glaze:... should be illegal it's so good. ugh!

4 tablespoons softened butter
3 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

ENJOY and Happy Birthday Eric!!!

GIANT Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was on a quest for the best Giant chocolate chips cookies, EVER. 

 I decided to gather information from across cyber space and see what I could do in my very own kitchen.

 Here's what happened.  

After reading several articles on what makes the best cookie... I opted to stick with a tried and true to nearly every American household recipe.  Yes, I speak of the TollHouse cookie recipe on the back of your Nestle chocolate chips package.  Remaining true to my collage-kind of cooking... I took the recipe and added a bit from here and there and everywhere. 

 Here are my alterations:

 THE DOUGH:

• Instead of all purpose flour, I used 1 cup cake flour and  1 and 1/2 cups bread flour.  
• I sifted all the dry ingredients together.
• Instead of Nestles chips, I used Ghirardelli's bittersweet chips. (really any 60% cocoa chip works)

• I grated the cold butter in order to get it to room temperature faster.
• I put the two eggs into warm water (inside their shells..duh) in order to get them to room temperature.
• I refrigerated the dough for 36 hours.  (at least 24 hours).

THE PROCESS:

• I used a silpat baking mat. 
• I used an ice cream scooper to scoop the dough.  Yes, they were THAT huge. 
• Before baking, I sprinkled each ball of dough with a little sea salt.
• I baked them until the outside ring was golden brown and the middle ring was golden and the center wasn't quite golden.  In my oven it took 11-12 minutes.  
• Test your own oven temps by watching the first batch carefully.
• I made 15 giant cookies.

After baking, transfer the entire silpat off the cookie sheet and onto a cooling rack.  I meant to take a picture of all the cookies piled high on a platter, but I wasn't fast enough.  They were gobbled up! :)

Too Much Chocolate??

Is there even such a thing as "too much chocolate"?? I seriously doubt it.

I came across this recipe for "Almost Too Much Chocolate Cake" online, and I must admit, it hooked me.  I recently made it for a friend's birthday and it really was as good as it looked, but I can hardly say it was "too" much :)

The site I found the recipe on was Make it and Love it.  However, I believe someone else is to be credited as the author/baker.  Either way, this is one recipe that will be repeated in the Pool household.
Find the Recipe HERE

Here is my quest for too much chocolate ;)

I followed the recipe and found the batter to be really rich and thick.  This was great as I was concerned that the chocolate chips might fall through a thinner batter.  This way, they will stay in the center and not sink to the bottom of the cake pan when baking. 

 One thing I recommend: weigh your cake pans as you fill them. 

 This ensures that you will have evenly sized layers.  

About this time, I was second guessing the "8-inch" pans that were suggested in the recipe. 

 Seems like an awful lot of batter to me...

Yup.  Next time I will bake in 9-inch pans.  This will prevent the "muffin top" look that you see above.  

 Now this is where I deviate from the recipe.  It says to leave cake "in the pans" for at least 30 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack to cool completely.  Well... My experience is that this only leads to dry cake.  See, the cake continues to bake while it's in the pan.  This is fine if you're the kind of person who takes the cake out before it's really ready.  I personally only use the timer as a suggested guide, and instead let my nose tell me when it's finished baking.  This can be tricky, but the rule for me is:  When the first kid comes to me and says...

" MMMMmmm are you making cake??".. I have about 5 minutes before I need to take the cake out. ;)

I then immediately wrap the cake in overlapping layers of plastic wrap.  Yes, while it is still hot and steamy.  This seals in the heat and condenses the steam back into the cake, creating a moist cake no matter how much you've over baked it... well, within reason,  I mean c'mon, if you burn it... it's burnt.

Next put both layers in the freezer.  Yes, the freezer.  Ever try to frost a fresh cake?  One word.  CRUMBY. For three years I worked in a bakery and learned a few tricks about decorating cakes.  First lesson. It's much easier to frost a frozen cake than a fresh one.  I like to make my cakes at least a day in advance.  

Before frosting, I needed to de-muffin my cakes.  I used a serrated knife and just cut off the cake that was sticking out to make two round layers.

I have never made, used, or eaten ganaache before... oh what I have been missing!!  I will use this easy peasy frosting again for sure!  The corn syrup gives it a beautiful shine that butter-cream, whipped cream, and fondant just can't give.  Plus, it's just plain YUMMO!

So because this was a cake for a friend's birthday, I didn't decorate the top with nuts like the blog suggests.  I mounded deep purple and lavender roses in the center and used chocolate butter-cream to decorate the edge.  

The cake is sitting on a piece of cardboard saved from a frozen pizza and covered in foil.
The doily is a paper doily that I get from walmart in the cake decorating section

My buttercream recipe for roses is extremely simple... in fact I don't even measure the ingredients out!

Powdered sugar

shortening

milk

rum flavoring

almond flavoring

I listed the ingredients in order of amount.  Obviously, you want more powdered sugar than anything... Say, half a bag?  About a 1/4-1/2 cup shortening and add the milk a tablespoon at a time, probably 3-4  You want this frosting to be a bit stiff if you're intending to use it for flowers.  The important ingredients are the flavorings.  They make all the difference.  Just a dab'll do ya!

I have to say, this was a very tasty cake and I will most definitely be making it again!!

Oh yea, and...

Happy Birthday, Sarah! ;)

Wash Day Peach Cobbler

One of the family's favorites. Very easy.

This is just a regular 13x9 for a single recipe.  When I double it,
 I use my Pampered Chef  Rectangular Baker stoneware.

I got this from a cookbook called "Madison County Cookbook; Winterset, Iowa".  This cookbook was given to me by a good friend (Hi Diane!!) nearly...15 years ago... sheesh!  Anyway, I love this old, falling-apart cookbook and this is my favorite recipe in it.

1 (16 oz.) can peach fruit or your choice  (I use my home-canned peaches)
1 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 C. milk
2 tsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
1 stick margarine (I use butter)




Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  (350 if making a double batch)
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook fruit until boiling.  Set aside.  In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, milk, baking powder, and salt.  In a 2 quart casserole (If doubling, use a deep 13x9).  Melt margarine (butter) in the microwave then pour into the baking dish.  Pour batter over butter (do not stir).  Add hot fruit (do not stir).  Sprinkle a little more sugar on the top just before baking.  Bake at 400  for 20-30 minutes.  (If doubled bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.)
Makes 4-6 servings (8-12)

Serve this with some vanilla ice cream or even just some whipped cream.  Trust me, it won't last long!