Kurtis's Gramma's Molasses Cookies

Kurtis and I made these two nights ago. Last night we made cookies with Corn Flakes & walnuts, but I had to send my camera in to get fixed (Note: this time it wasn't my fault).

I put a Cheerio in one of them (to see what it would look like), but we didn't keep track of which one it was, so I have no idea where it is or what it looked like. I also made a snake-ish shape, but I didn't take a picture of it. Mmm...spicy and flavorful.

Blueberry Muffins

Baked 1.2009

Found this recipe when searching for a good blueberry muffin receipe. Glad I did!

Makes nice muffin tops...not too sweet...lots of blueberries.


Blueberry Muffin RECIPE (original here):

* Note: Flour and sugar are listed twice because you use different amounts of the same ingredients at different times

* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 3 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 tablespoons white sugar
* 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar

1) In small bowl, beat eggs, milk, & butter
2) In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, & 2 tablespoons of sugar
3) Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients
4) In third bowl, mix together the blueberries with remaining sugar & flour
5) Gently fold blueberry mixture into the muffin batter in large bowl
6) Fill cups & bake at 400 degrees F for ~20 min

Lawsuit Buttermilk Muffins

Baked 1.16.09

I had some extra buttermilk after making apple muffins...so I decided to try this Lawsuit Buttermilk Muffins recipe (because Ivonne said they were "the best muffins ever") from Cream Puffs in Venice, who is now at this site. The original recipe actually comes from Marcy Goldman, author of The best of BetterBaking.com, which is, of course, based off of BetterBaking.com recipes. These are really good, but I didn't follow the recipe exactly. The orange zest gives it a nice tart, orange-y flavor. Maybe next time I'll add more almonds (I was just experimenting with those on the tops). They don't stick to paper liners!



RECIPE:

* Changes I made from the original recipe):
1. I didn't make the streusel topping, although I did sprinkle the tops with chopped almonds and brown sugar
2. I used a bit less than 1 cup of brown sugar (instead of 1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar)
3. I only used about 1 tablespoon of orange zest (instead of 1 1/2 tablespoons)
4. I used 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour & 1 cup of whole wheat flour (instead of all all-purpose flour)
5. I added 1 cup of blueberries and an apple for the fruit (instead of measuring out 1 3/4 cups fruit)

Muffin recipe that I used (without streusel):

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* ~ 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 tablespoons grated citrus zest (I used orange)
* 1 egg
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 3/4 cups of fruit (I used 1 cup of blueberries & almost a full small apple)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F & line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with oil & flour (or spraying oil made with flour!! it's awesome)
2) In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, & baking soda); set aside
3) In smaller bowl, mix together oil, brown sugar, citrus zest, & egg. Once combined, stir in buttermilk & vanilla extract
4) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.
5) Gently mix in fruit. If batter too liquidy (mine wasn't), then add a little more flour
6) Spoon batter into muffin cups to the tops
7) Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees
8) Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 12 minutes.

Pete's (not Peet's) Coffee Brownies

Baked 1.10.09 (along with these apple muffins again...original recipe here)

This is the third recipe I've tried from Pete's blog. So far they've all come out good (and well).

I was really worried about these brownies because I was making them for someone I sorta wanted to impress (not a boy), and a few of the comments on Pete's post were bad (they tried and failed). Mine came out just fine though! Thank goodness. They're pretty easy...except the melting & cooling the baking chocolate took awhile (I got impatient and cooled it in the freezer & refrigerator). Oh--and the edges are fantastic. Recipe below.

Oops...forgot to take an AFTER picture again. Here's the BEFORE (so light in color!):

COFFEE BROWNIES RECIPE (original here):

1 cup butter (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate (melted and cooled)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2-3 Tbsp instant coffee * I used a little bit more than 2 tablespoons

1. In a large bowl, blend together the butter & sugar
2. Add vanilla, eggs, melted chocolate, coffee, flour, & chocolate chips
3. Pour into a greased and floured 9×13-inch pan
4. Bake at 325 degrees F for 35 minutes (I had to bake them for extra long because they seemed too gooey/raw)

Hershey's Holiday Fudge Torte

This is sooo good and rich. My mom always says that we have to make this every year for our family New Year's party. This year I made two of them, but, for some reason, one's batter came out creamier and lighter than the other, but I don't understand how that happened because I was so careful making them. Oh well...I make mistakes all of the time. They seemed to taste the same.

The glaze is to die for.

See? One came out lighter than the other:



RECIPE for ONE TORTE (original recipe from the 2001 Hershey's Holiday Collection):

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's cocoa (you don't have to use Hershey's of course; I didn't)
1 1/2 tsp powdered instant coffee
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (softened)
3/4 cup dairy sour cream (or 8 oz.)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Fudge nut glaze (recipe below)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease 9-inch round baking pan; line bottom with wax paper
3. Grease paper
4. Flour paper and pan
5. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, instant coffee, baking soda, & salt in large bowl
6. Add butter, sour cream, egg, & vanilla
7. Beat on low speed of mixer until blended (I did this one by hand 'cause we can't find our mixer)
8. Increase speed to medium & beat 3 minutes
9. Pour batter into prepared pan
10. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
11. Cool 10 minutes & then remove from pan to wire rack
12. Gently peel off wax paper & cool COMPLETELY
13. Prepare fudge nut glaze (recipe below).
14. Place cake on serving plate
15. Pour glaze evenly over cake, allowing some to run down sides (I let it all drizzle down)
16. Refrigerate until glaze is firm (~1 hour)

FUDGE NUT GLAZE RECIPE:

1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup
1/3 cup Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips (I didn't use Hershey's)
3/4 cup hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, or pecans (I excluded the nuts this time)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine all ingredients except nuts and vanilla in small saucepan
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils
3. Cook, stirring constantly, for five minutes
4. Remove from heat
5. Cool 10 minutes
6. Stir in nuts & vanilla

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

This was really easy to make, and you can actually taste the pumpkin AND the chocolate (like Baking Bites said). Made this last night for a family New Year's party.


Here's the recipe (got original recipe from here, which includes a graham cracker crust recipe):
*Note: I only used the filling recipe because I had an extra premade crust that I used

Filling:
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1 - 15-oz. can pumpkin puree (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
~1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (orig recipe calls for ginger and other spices)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk (I used non fat milk with a tiny bit of heavy whipping cream)

1. Set oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until slightly foamy (about 1 minute).
3. Whisk in remaining ingredients (except milk) and beat until smooth.
4. Whisk in milk.
5. Pour mixture into prepared cooled pie crust (can also use a pastry crust or a store-bought pie crust) and bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F.
6. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 more minutes until the pie filling jiggles only slightly and a knife comes out clean.
7. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting and refrigerate if storing leftovers.