Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

I love gingerbread and I love pumpkin muffins. Combine the two and you have a wonderfully moist, delicious treat. Great for breakfast, packing into lunch bags or for dessert topped with a little whipped cream, applesauce or ice cream!

This recipe was posted at FamilyCorner.com by a friend of mine who goes by "cat lover" on the forums. She turned her recipe into a cake. I made muffins from the batter. The only thing that I changed was to add a little more spices to the batter. Either way, it's great!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

1 - 16 oz can pumpkin
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light molasses
1/3 cup water
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the bowl often. Beat at medium speed 3 minutes, again stopping to scrape the bowl.

Line muffin tins with paper liners. Spoon into paper liners and fill to the top of the cup - I used a large ice cream scoop to fill the cups. Do not level off evenly. The muffins will round out when they are baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of a muffin comes out clean - check often so that you do not overbake.

For an extra sweet treat, top with whipped cream, warm apple sauce or ice cream.

Makes 30 muffins.

Linking up to:

Jane Deere Fusion Fridays

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Spiced Apple Crumb Bars

By this time of the year I'm ready for fall. I love the colors, the scents, picking apples and pumpkins, Halloween...every part of it. Still, even after 6 years of living in NC (borderline SC), I still can't get used to the fact that fall pretty much doesn't exist around us. The temps. during daylight are still in the 80s and the lows at night dip down into the 40s and 30s. It's nuts, I tell ya!

To keep from missing out on all of the fun of fall, I've filled my house with leaves (fake of course, I'm not that nuts!), cinnamon and pumpkin candle melts and I'm making time to head back into the kitchen ('bout time, huh?) to start baking some scrumptious desserts! I apologize ahead of time if I get carried away and bombard my blog for a little while with apple and pumpkin desserts. I can't help it, we love them!

Happy Fall Yinz! 

(no disrespect to all of my southern friends and bloggers, but I can't say ya'll because I'm from Pittsburgh and that word just won't come out of my mouth.)  ;)

Spiced Apple Crumb Bars

To make the bar part of the recipe:
1 box white or yellow cake mix
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (can use apple pie spice)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves, opitonal
6 tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 old fashioned oats 1 egg + 2 egg whites
1 tbsp. water

Filling:
5 - 6 Granny Smith apples
2 tbsp. butter
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (can use apple pie spice)

Extra for Crumb Topping: 
1/8 c. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350*

Stir together cake mix and spices.

Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the cake mix until it resembles course crumbs.

Stir in oats. Reserve 1 c. of the mixture for the crumb topping on the bars.

Pat the remaining mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13 dish and set aside.

To make the filling: core, peel and thinly slice the Granny Smith apples. Add the apples and butter into a frying pan. Saute over medium heat until the apples are fork tender. Before removing the apples from the stove, stir in the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices.

Layer the cooked apples over the crumb crust in the pan.

Stir the brown sugar into the reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle it over the top of the apples.

Bake for 28 - 30 minutes, until the edges start to turn light brown.

Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before cutting into bars.

Secret Recipe Club: Orange Berry Cake

I can't believe that another month has flown by so quickly. It's time for another round up for the Secret Recipe Club. I'm baking from Alessio's blog, Recipe Taster. His blog features beautiful pictures and recipes. Many of his recipes stem from his Sicilian background. Delizioso!

When I saw his recipe for Orange Cake, I knew right away that I wanted to try it because I love the fresh taste of oranges in cakes and pastries. I will admit that some worry and nervousness set in when it came time to convert the recipe from grams to the American equivalents. I don't own a kitchen scale so I knew that I was going to have to rely on any Internet findings to get me through this time. You can imagine my surprise when I realized that there were no exact conversions for this measurements in this recipe. I decided to wing it anyway and I must say, I'm so happy that I did. This was a truly delicious cake. It was very light and moist, showered with a wonderful orange flavoring. The orange zest hits it out of the park. Do not even be tempted to leave it out.

Alessio shows several different ways to decorate the cake on his blog but I choose to use a low sugar real berry jam as a glaze for the top of the cake, along with a sprinkling of orange zest on top.

So simple and pretty! It pairs perfectly with a cup of herbal tea. The recipe will definitely go into my "favorites" pile.

Orange Berry Cake
adapted from the blog: Recipe Taster

7 tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
zest of 3 lg. oranges
1 lg. egg yolk
2 lg. eggs
1 3/4 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. 100% real orange juice
1 c. all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
4 heaping tbsp. low sugar real berry jam
zest of 1 orange for decoration

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour a 9 inch or 10 inch spring form pan and set aside.

I would recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe, although it could be mixed with a hand mixer.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar to the butter and beat until no longer grainy and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Mix in the orange zest from 3 oranges.

Add egg yolk to the mixture and beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until everything is mixed together and looks smooth and creamy.

With the beaters still running, stream in the canola oil. Mix well.

Alternate pouring the flour and the orange juice into the wet mixture in the bowl. Mix well after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the spring form pan. Tap the pan on the counter top to release the air bubbles in the batter.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. My cake was perfectly baked at 22 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a cake platter.

Melt 4 heaping tbsp. low sugar real berry jam in the microwave or on the stove top. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the melted jam over the top of the cake.

Sprinkle the zest of 1 orange over top of the jam.

My husband and kids, as well as I, really enjoyed this cake so I can't tell you what to do with any leftovers. I would imagine that the cake tastes the best if eaten the same day it was baked.

Time to gear up for next month's Secret Recipe Club event! Click here from more info. on how you can join in on the fun!

You just can't help but to drool over all of these beauties below. We love comments! Let us know what you think!!

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Shrimp and Rice Bowls

I've been searching the Internet for recipe ideas that would be outside our normal everyday meals. I found a recipe on Kraft.com for Pineapple Shrimp Kabobs. Instead of making this a kabob meal, I made it a "stir fry" of sorts. It turned out to be a quick 30 minute meal with tons of flavor.

I made some changes to the recipe and in the end I was very pleased at how it turned out. My happiest moments came as my kids took their first bites and both surprisingly said "I really like this!" You had to be here while I was preparing the meal. My daughter kept insisting that she hated shrimp and that she wasn't going to eat dinner ...and, of course, she said that I was going to starve her on purpose. She ended up eating more shrimp than anyone else. My son admitted that he thought that he would hate but that he really liked it.

What more could I ask for?  :)

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Shrimp and Rice Bowls
adapted from Kraft.com

4 cups of cooked rice of your choice, kept warm
3/4 c. zesty Italian dressing
2 tbsp + 2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 - 4 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice
2 bags large size frozen shrimp, tails removed and thawed
3/4 can of unsweetened pineapple chunks
1/3 c. fresh basil, chopped

Prepare rice and keep it warm until ready to eat.

In a medium-sized frying pan, stir together Italian dressing, brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce and pineapple juice. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and starts to thicken just a bit.

Stir in shrimp. Cook for 5- 6 minutes.

Add pineapple and basil. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes.

To Serve:

Scoop rice into individual bowls.

Spoon the pineapple shrimp sauce over the rice.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Linking to:

Tempt My Tummy

Tuesdays at the Table 

Tasty Tuesdays

May Secret Recipe Club: Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream

It's strawberry time here in NC. When I decided to participate in this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was hoping that my secret blogging buddy would have a strawberry recipe on her/his blog that would draw me in and convince me to make it.

I was in luck! I was matched up with Ruchi @ Ruchi's Simply Food. She has a delicious recipe for Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream that I just had to try. Her ice cream recipe has just a handful of ingredients and she made it into a no churn recipe.

I made a few changes to the recipe, plus I used my ice cream maker to make it smooth and cold. I did need to convert her recipe amounts. Once I converted the amounts, I rounded everything up for ease and also so that I didn't have bits of everything left over. The results were delicious. A thick and creamy strawberry ice cream that my whole family loved. Excellent in a dish or a cone!

You can view her original recipe here.

Here's my version:

Strawberry Mascarpone Ice Cream

14 ounces strawberry, diced into small chunks
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
8 ounces homemade mascarpone cheese* - recipe below
8 ounces heavy cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar - I added this to make the cream a bit sweeter

Mix chopped berries, powdered sugar and lemon juice together and set aside.

Using a hand mixer, mix together Mascarpone cheese* and heavy cream.

Mix in extra 1/2 c. of powdered sugar.

Mix in strawberries.

Pour mixture into the frozen bowl of an ice cream maker.

Process according to manufacture's directions until ice cream is thick and creamy.

Serve in bowls or ice cream cones or freeze until ready to eat.The consistency will change from smooth and creamy to a hard ice cream texture if frozen. It is delicious either way.

To make homemade Mascarpone Cheese:

8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 1/2 tbsp. sour cream

Mix together until smooth and creamy

If you would like to join us in the Secret Recipe Club, here's what you need to know.

Enjoy our blog hop! Comments are welcomed!

Linking to:

It's Berry Season! Gooseberry Patch

Pineapple Sage Cupcakes

I'm so happy that my little herb garden is in full bloom. I planted the regulars like basil and oregano but I also veered off the beaten path and bought some pineapple sage and cinnamon basil that day, mainly because they smelled so good. I figured that I would find something to do with them when the time came to use them.

I was looking through a new cookbook that I just received called "Southern Living Big Book of Cupcakes". In it there's a recipe for Lemon Basil Cupcakes that convinced me that I could use my pineapple sage to flavor some cupcakes of my own.

The results were light, airy cupcakes with a hint of pineapple. I used pineapple in the cupcakes to add to the flavor of the pineapple basil since the flavor of the pineapple basil is so faint when you cook or bake with it. Whole wheat flour adds a bit of nuttiness to the cupcakes, too.

Pineapple Sage Cupcakes
inspired by Lemon Basil Cupcakes from 
Southern Living Big Book of Cupcakes

3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. unsweetened pineapple juice, reserved from can of pineapples
1/3 c. unsweetend pineapple chunks, crushed or cut into very small pieces
4 tbsp. pineapple sage, chopped into small pieces
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt 

Preheat oven to 350* Line cupcake pans with papers for 24 cupcakes and set aside.

Stir together milk and pineapple juice.

Crush pineapple chunks in a food processor or cut the chunks into very small pieces. Add to the milk and pineapple juice.

Cut pineapple sage into small pieces. Stir into the pineapple mixture and then set the bowl aside until you have finished mixing the dry ingredients.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Combine flours, baking powder and salt. Mix in butter mixture, alternating with pineapple mixture, mixing just until everything comes together resembling a cake batter.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full - do not over fill. These cupcakes do not rise too high.

Bake for 14 - 15 minutes or until the edges of the cupcakes turn light brown.

Cool in pans for 2-3 minutes. Remove cupcakes to cooling racks to cool completely.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Linking up with:

Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade

April Cookie Carnival - Toasted Coconut Shortbread with Pineapple Filling

One of the Cookie Carnival recipes this month is Toasted Coconut Shortbread with Pineapple Filling by Anna Olson of the Food Network Canada.

I wasn't sure that I was going to find the time to make these cookies this month. Since it is raining today and we couldn't get out to clean and wash the car like I'd planned, I decided to make the cookies since I had everything on hand. I'm really happy that I did.

The shortbread cookies are stacked with pineapple cream filling in between and on top of the cookies. I could sit and eat the pineapple filling with a spoon! It's that good. The little cookie stacks would make a perfect Easter dessert served in single serving cups.

When reading the recipe, I thought that it might be a little more work that I really wanted to do but it ended up being a really simple recipe that came together quickly.

Toasted Coconut Shortbread with Pineapple Filling
from Anna Olson on Food Network Canada

Ingredients:

Shortbread1/2 cup sweetened coconut, fine shred
1 cup and 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
dash salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

Pineapple Cream
1/2 cup cream cheese at room temperature
1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2/3 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
pineapple slices (I omitted)

To make cookies:

Shortbread

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spread coconut on an ungreased baking tray and toast for 10 minutes, stirring once. Allow to cool. (I did not toast the coconut first. I just added it to the dough out of the bag.)

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter in pieces and pulse just until dough is crumbly.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle toasted coconut over. Work coconut into dough until dough comes together.

Dust work surface again and roll out dough into a rectangle about 1/8 –inch thick, and cut into circles using a cookie cutter or small glass.

Use a spatula to lift cookies onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake, on the center rack of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, just until edges of cookie color slightly.

Cool cookies on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Pineapple Cream

Beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar and vanilla. Stir in pineapple and fold into whipped cream. Chill until ready to serve.

To assemble:

To plate, place a cookie on a plate with thinly sliced pineapple. Then spoon or pipe about 2 Tbsp of pineapple cream onto cookie and top with another cookie. Spoon or pipe another 2 Tbsp of cream and serve or refrigerate until ready to eat.

**Note** The recipe says it makes 12 cookies but I ended up with 14 cookies using a 3 inch cookie cutter. If you were to use a 4 or 5 inch cookie cutter to be able to hold the pineapple slice, you would most likely get 10 - 12 cookies. 

Would you like to have fun baking with us in the Cookie Carnival? Click here to find out what it's all about!

Quick & Easy Strawberry Shortcake

I ran into Aldi a couple of days ago to pick up a couple of things. They were having a sale on strawberries - large containers for .99. Great deal! I picked up 3 boxes with bright, juicy berries. For this time of year, these strawberries were surprisingly sweet. Still, I cleaned them, put them into a container and dumped some Splenda on them. There are foods that we like the taste of Splenda on better than sugar. They sat on the kitchen table for a couple of hours after dinner.

I had some biscuit mix in the cupboard so I whipped up some shortcakes to go along with the strawberries for an easy dessert.

Not a fancy recipe but it sure makes a pretty dessert.

Quick & Easy Strawberry Shortcake

strawberries, cleaned and sliced
sugar or Splenda for topping strawberries

Recipe from the back of the biscuit mix box:

2 c. baking mix
3 tbsp. Splenda
3 tbsp. margarine, melted
1/3 c. milk - I used 2/3 c.

Top strawberries with sugar or Splenda. If your berries aren't really juicy, sprinkle them with a little water, lemon or orange juice. Set aside to macerate.

For biscuits, stir together ingredients until well blended. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle the tops with Splenda. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

To serve:

Split biscuits and cover with berries. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Hummingbird Cupcakes in the Buff

The hummingbird cake seems to have deep roots in the south. There are many speculations as to where it originated. Some say it was a recipe submitted to Southern Living Magazine by a southern lady. While others say it originated in Jamaica...bananas and pineapple are from the area so these ingredients were use often in cakes. The cake is said to be named after Jamaica's national bird. N o matter where this cake originated, I'm glad that the recipe made it to our neck of the woods.

I had never heard of hummingbird cake before moving to the Charlotte area. It's very popular all around here. Since cupcakes go over way better than cake at our house, I decided to give them a whirl. Think banana bread filled with fruit and nuts. MMM! Bananas keep the cupcakes moist and delicious. The pineapple takes on a glazed, sugar-coated taste and the coconut and pecans give a nice little crunch. The sugars from the bananas and pineapple form a slightly sticky crust around the edges of each cupcake.

Traditional hummingbird cake is usually frosted with cream cheese frosting. My cupcakes were so sweet and moist and delicious that I decided to leave them plain. Why add more sugar if it's really not needed? My family agreed.

Take a look at those bananas peeking through. Don't you just want to stick your finger right into it?

I've done a lot of research on recipes for hummingbird cake. Most of the ingredients are the same - the only change, depending on which recipe you use, is choosing to use either oil or butter.

Hummingbird Cupcakes in the Buff

3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp cloves
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. sugar
3 lg. eggs
2 c. ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 large bananas)
8 oz. crushed pineapple
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. sweetened coconut

Preheat over to 350*  Line cupcake pan with liners or use silicone holders.

Wisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter, vanilla, and sugar until combined.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy.

Stir together banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture, mixing until combined.

Stir the fruit mixture into the flour mixture.

I used a large ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners. Fill 2/3 full. Do not be tempted to fill to the rim. The cupcakes won't bake higher, they will just spill out onto the pan. (I proved it.)

Bake for 22-25 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.

Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

I'm linking up to:

House of Hempworths
Life As Mom 
I'm Lovin' It
Sweet Tooth Friday 
Muffin Monday

Banana Cream Cheese Nut Muffins

I like to bake muffins for a quick grab-n-go breakfast in the morning. It's hard to get my kids to eat anything before school - I guess they take after me in that respect. I never ate breakfast when I was in school. Yet, I've read all of the studies that say breakfast is "brain fuel" and that it has been proven that kids do better in school when they eat breakfast. I've found that if I mix it up and don't allow the foods to become a routine, they will grab something and eat it. Case in point, these banana cream cheese nut muffins.

You can't bribe my daughter into eating a banana right out of the peel. Once in a great while my son will eat one. I love bananas and since I've been craving some banana bread, I decided to try a banana bread recipe that I've had for a while, making muffins instead of bread. The recipe is from a Southern Living mag from 2005.

One of Alexis' favorite things to do is stick her finger in the batter of whatever I am making. She has to taste it. When she realized that I was making banana muffins, you should've seen her face. She thought that I had ruined the whole experience for her. Her curiosity got the better of her, though, so she had to taste the batter. It was SO good! The combination of cream cheese, bananas, sugar and ground pecans worked for her! I was shocked that she was raving over the batter. Even better, she ate a whole muffin right out of the oven. My son also loved them. He had two as soon as I took them out of the oven.

Here's the original recipe with only one slight change in bold.

Banana Cream Cheese Nut Muffins

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 - 8 oz- cream cheese, softened
2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas - about
4 medium
1 c. chopped pecans, toasted - I used 1 c. ground pecans
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions


Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in bananas, pecans, and vanilla. Spoon batter evenly into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. (*Note* - my muffins only baked for 20 minutes.)

Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 24 large muffins.

Rustic Apple Pie

Sit down with a warm slice of apple pie and enjoy your favorite holiday shows. This is a super easy dessert that looks like you spent a lot of time making it. All of the imperfections make it look even better.

Rustic Apple Pie

1 recipe for brown sugar apples* - recipe link below
1 refrigerated pie crust
extra brown sugar for sprinkling over the top

I used my recipe for brown sugar apples, adding 1 c. of raisins to the apples while they are cooking.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Stretch the pie crust out on the sheet - doesn't have to be a perfect circle.

Pour the cooked apples into the center of the crust, leaving 3-4 inches of dough all around the outer edge.

Pull the pie crust to the center of the pie, overlapping the crust as you fold it around forming a circle.

Lightly sprinkle 2 TBSP of brown sugar over the top of apples.

Bake at 350* until the pie crust is light brown - you do not need to cook any longer because the apples have
already been cooked.

Use a large spatula to loosen the pie from the pan. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer the pie to a cutting board or a large plate. Serve warm.

August Cookie Carnival - Zucchini Pineapple Bars

The trees are starting to turn colors but someone forgot to tell Mr. & Mrs. Heat and Humidity that they are supposed to go on vacation for a while. It's still 90* + here!  At least the bright orange, yellow and red leaves can put me in a fall state of mind. I hope that everyone reading this has a relaxing Labor Day. We sort of hung out here at home today but we did run shortly to pick up some groceries. We don't have much planned for tomorrow, either.
   
This was the perfect time to bake the Zucchini Carrot Bars that was chosen for the Cookie Carnival.  I decided to switch the carrots out for some crushed pineapple that I had leftover from adding to the 2nd Cookie Carnival choice, Coconut Cherry Bars. (You can read about that debacle at the end of this post.)

If you look closely, you can see the flecks of pineapple and the raisins poking out.

We loved these zucchini bars. They were moist and delicious. Because they are really hearty I cut them into even smaller bars than suggested. My kids even took them in their lunches.

Here's my recipe, including all of the changes that I made:


Zucchini Pineapple Bars

For Bars:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained well
1 1/2 cups honey nuts flakes
1/2 cup All Bran flakes
1 cup raisins

Lemon Glaze

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine flour, soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat together brown sugar, butter, egg whites and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in zucchini, pineapple & cereals. Add dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Spread evenly into
13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.

To make Lemon Glaze:

Combine butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread evenly over warm bars. I will
leave the butter out of this glaze recipe the next time that I make them. I used real butter but I didn't like the taste of it with the lemon and powdered sugar.

Cool completely before serving. Cut into bars. Cover and store in refrigerator.

The original recipe for Zucchini Carrot Bars can be seen here.

Like I mentioned before, I did try the Coconut Cherry Bars, too, after seeing all of the great pictures sent in by everyone who baked them this month. I have no idea what went wrong with my bars but they were nothing like the original picture or any of the bloggers pictures. First of all, I added some crushed pineapple but I don't think that hurt anything. I think that the downfall started with the crust. It just didn't look right ...too puffy. I chopped the cherries in the food processor so that turned the top mixture dark pink - very pretty - but something happened when it baked. The crust broke away from the cherry topping and this mixture baked solid, not soft like in the pictures. I was so disappointed in how they turned out that I dumped them before taking a picture of them. They weren't good...even though my hubby did eat a couple of pieces of them. I think that he was trying to make me feel better. aaawwwww!!!  These bars look delicious. If I can muster up the courage, I might try them again....following the directions with no added ingredients.

If you would like to join us in baking cookies from month to month, join the Cookie Carnival today!

 

Chai Lattes & Hearty Pumpkin Bread

I love chai tea lattes but I rarely treat myself to one when we are out because they are so expensive. Now I won't have to worry about the expense of it because I've found a delicious recipe that enables me to make them on the cheap at home. It's also a healthier recipe that cuts back on fat and calories - always a plus!

Chai Lattes
from Eat What You Love
makes 2 servings

1/2 C. lowfat evaporated milk
1 1/2 C. water
2 TBSP Splenda (3 packets)
2 individual chai tea bags (I used vanilla chai tea)
1 tsp honey

In a small pot, whisk together milk, water and Splenda. Bring to a low simmer.

Carefully add the tea bags and return to a low simmer. Continue simmering for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and remove tea bags. Stir in honey.

Serve hot or cool down and serve over ice.

Here it is served hot

This chai latte paired wonderfully with this old-fashioned pumpkin bread

Also a lower fat, lower version of a traditional pumpkin bread.

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Bread

1/4 C. canola oil
1 C. canned solid pumpkin
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 C. low-fat buttermilk
2 TBSP molasses - I didn't have any so I subbed honey
1 C. Splenda granules
1 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. white whole wheat flour - I used 100% stone ground
whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon - I used 2 TBSP because we like a lot of spice flavor
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice (optional) - I didn't use it
1/4 tsp cloves - I didn't use it
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly coat a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray - I used a pan that holds 4 mini loaves.

Whisk together oil, pumpkin, whole egg, egg whites, buttermilk, molasses, and Splenda.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and stir. Make a well in the center and pour in the pumpkin mixture. With a large spoon or spatula, stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Spoon the batter in the loaf pan and smooth tops.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until cracks appear dry or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean - my mini loaves baked from 34 minutes. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes and then remove the loaf from the pan. I cooled the loaves for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.

I sliced one loaf while it was still warm and served it with honey butter. It was delicious.

Store in a tightly sealed container. Can be frozen.

June '10 Cookie Carnival - Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies

My spin on the second cookie for June's Cookie Carnival is Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies.

The original recipe is Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies from Cooking Light.

I searched and searched several stores in my area here in NC but I couldn't find almond paste anywhere. Many people who I talked to had no idea what it was. I decided to try to find a recipe for making here at home. 

Almond paste is fairly easy to make yourself - providing you have blanched almonds. The recipe that I used is from Taste of Home.

I would not recommend using sliced almonds with skins. Although the almond paste turned out ok, the cookies dried out really fast and didn't last overnight. However, the cookies were really tasty right out of the oven.

My favorite part of the cookie was the blueberry jam that I made for the cooking filling. The recipe is from a cookbook that I will be doing a giveaway for in the coming days!

Classic Blueberry Jam 
from Put 'em up!

8 C. blueberries
2 C. sugar
1/4 C. bottled lemon juice

Combine the berries with a splash of water in a med. nonreactive pan. Bring to a boil, stirring and crushing the berries to release their juice. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Stir in the lemon juice. Continue to cook at a steady boil, stirring frequently, until the jam reaches the desired gel.

Remove from the heat and let the jam rest for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to release air bubbles and prevent fruit float. Skim any foam from the top of the jam.

Refrigerate: Ladle into bowls or jars. Cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.

I waited until the jam had cooled down and then used it to fill the cookies.

Here's a link to the Kids Bake Cookie Carnival recipe: S'mores Cookie Bars.

From June thru August, there will be 2 recipes sent out for the Cookie Carnival - the first will be a kid's cookie recipe and the second will be a little more complex(but definitely nothing too complicated!).

Everyone is invited to bake one or both of the cookies! Get the kids involved!

If you haven't joined the Cookie Carnival yet...what are you waiting for? I'd love for you to join us!
Here's how!

 **New**

I've had a few people email me to ask "Can I join the Cookie Carnival without having a blog?"

YES!  You can join the Cookie Carnival if you follow these rules:

Please email me to let me know that you would like to join. I will add you to the email list so that you will start receiving the recipes each month. At this time please let me know that you will be participating via email.

1. You must email me one picture of your cookies - no bigger than 50 x 50, please.

2. Please include a sentence or two about yourself - ex: your name and where you live

3. Please include a comment about the cookies - good or bad or just a thought pertaining to the cookies.

4. Please let me know if you followed the recipe as written or if you made changes - and if you did, what changes did you make? I will post those changes, too.

I look forward to meeting and talking to everyone! If you have any questions or comments about the Cookie Carnival, please email me! yinzerfan {at} gmail {dot} com

Happy Baking!
Tami                                                                                                                                                                    

Granola on a Stick

These granola bars can be cut into bars or molded onto "sticks" like I have done. Either way they are the perfect snack for your family's camping or hiking trip. They're a great accompaniment for a bonfire and a ghost story!

**Note** - Unless you have access to an oven while camping (in an RV or elsewhere) you will want to prepare these treats at home ahead of time.

What You Need:

1/2 C. Light Corn Syrup
1 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Butter, Melted
2 Tsp Vanilla
3 C. Quick Cooking Oats
1 1/2 C. Fruit, Seed & Nut Trail Mix
3/4 Mini Chocolate Chips
Large Pretzel Rods

Additions might be: shredded coconut, M&Ms, marshmallows, etc

 What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix corn syrup, brown sugar, butter and vanilla until well blended. Stir in oats. Add trail mix and chocolate chips. Stir in additional goodies 1/4 C. at a time, making sure that the mix is still sticky enough to mold around the sticks. Marshmallows are not recommended for the granola sticks but may be added if you are going to cut the granola into bars.

To Make Granola Sticks:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Measure out 1/2 C. of granola and shape into a log. Starting from the bottom of the log, stick the pretzel into the granola, shaping it around the pretzel. Do not worry about the shape because you will be reshaping it after it bakes. Fill the baking sheet side by side with 5 granola pretzel rods. Make sure you leave ample room between each one. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until light brown. Do not panic when you see that the granola has melted away from the pretzel rod. Once the sticks have baked for the required time, removed the tray from the oven and working quickly with two knives simply mold and shape the granola back around the pretzel sticks. As the granola cools, it will harden around the pretzel stick.

This recipe makes about 10 granola sticks depending on how much granola mix you measure out for each pretzel rod.

 To Make Bars:

Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish. Firmly press granola mixture into the pan. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. It is very important to allow the bars to cool completely before cutting them with a sharp knife.

Caramel Mandarin Orange Cake

I found a new cookbook, The $7.00 a Meal Cookbook, on one of my thrift store jaunts last week. It appears to have never been opened. After quickly thumbing through it, there were several recipes that caught my eye. For 99 cents, I couldn't pass it up.

The book lists tips and suggestions to go along with the recipes. It also shows the calorie count (but unfortunately not the carb count) for each recipe.

I decided to try any easy dessert recipe for my family. All of the family love mandarin oranges so I figured that everyone would like this cake. Even though I did not try this cake, it looks and smells delicious. I could've eaten the caramel icing with a spoon - I resisted the temptation to do so ...my willpower was working OT that day.

(Just overlook that large holes in the cake. I talk about my mistake later on in the recipe.)

Caramel Mandarin Orange Cake

2 (9 oz) boxes yellow cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 C. vegetable oil
1 (11oz) can mandarin oranges, undrained
1/2 C. coconut
1 1/4 C. brown sugar
2 TBSP honey
5 TBSP butter
6 TBSP milk
2 tsp milk

Preheat oven to 350* Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with spray containing flour and set aside. ( I didn't have a 9 x 13 pan available since I was using it to bake a chicken in at the time. I used 2 - 8 x 8 glass pans instead. The next time I will make it only one layer so that the whole cake soaks up the caramel topping.) 

In a large bowl, combine cake, eggs oil and undrained oranges.

 Beat on low speed until combined, then beat at medium speed for 2 -3 minutes. Fold in coconut. Pour into pan.

Bake for 25 - 35 minutes or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and top springs back when lightly touched. (Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't overbake. It took my cakes about 30 minutes to bake.) Place on wire rack to cool.

While cake is cooling, make caramel topping. In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, honey, butter & milk. Boil for 3 minutes.

Using chopsticks poke about 20 holes in the warm cake. (Very important to use chopsticks and not the end of a wooden spoon like I did or you will end up with big holes in it like my cake.)

Add vanilla to caramel topping and slowly pour over cake, spreading evenly if needed. (I cooked this topping for 7 more minutes but it still wasn't "spreadable". I took it off of the heat and sat the pot in cold water, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes. It thickened right up to a silky consistency of caramel sauce.)

Total cost: $4. 17

The verdict: My son loved it, although he said that it was really sweet. My husband thought that it would be better if it wasn't so sweet. I would definitely use the caramel topping on other cakes - it would be great on an apple cake, apple sweet rolls or even apple pie.