Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Betty Crocker Apple Crisp

Found a great way to use up the extra apples after making applesauce. Carol found a recipe for apple crisp that took no time at all, and was a nice treat with ice cream after all of our hard work :) We didn't alter it, it's from Betty Crocker's cookbook/website: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/apple-crisp


I promise to get more ambitious/creative with my next baking endeavors!

Autumn Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cream or Ice cream, if desired

Instructions:
Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.




mmm warm and delicious!








Applesauce- (not exactly baking)

Had a great time on Sunday making applesauce- never knew it was such an easy process. Time consuming? yes. Complicated? no. Carol put it best by saying it's the little things you can look forward to that distract from the fact that awful, dreary winter is almost here. What a fun little way to spend a nice fall day. AND- a take-home lesson: applesauce is GOOD when eaten warm. Who knew?








Saturday, October 10, 2009

Cranberry Lime Soda Bread


Disaster! This recipe is straight out of a Rachel Ray mag- the first time I made it, it came out perfectly- the best part is that you can easily come up with variations for each season- cranberry lime was good for the summer, maybe with currants and orange glaze for fall/winter. I thought I might try blueberry-lemon at some point too. Anyway, this was only the 2nd time I've attempted it and it was a COMPLETE disaster- it's in my trash can as I write this. Some slices were salvageable, but I took it out of the oven about 5 mins too soon, so the outside was nice and golden/crusty- the center was doughy. I ended up with 2 slices in the fridge for breakfast on Monday.
Cranberry Soda Bread with Lime Glaze

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 cup dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Grated peel and juice of 1 lime

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/3 cups milk and the lemon juice; let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Rub in the butter until coarse crumbs form, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cranberries.
Beat the egg into the milk mixture; stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until it just comes together; form into an 8-inch round and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using a knife, score a 1/2-inch-deep "X" in the round. Bake until dark golden and crusty, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, lime peel, lime juice and the remaining 1 tablespoon milk. Drizzle the cooled soda bread with the lime glaze.


Looks done, does it not??


Somehow my glazed bread doesn't look quite like the bread on the Rachel Ray website...



These were the only slices that I could declare edible. Such a shame

Caramel Peanut Butter Brownies

This morning I bought ingredients for lemon sandwich cookies, caramel brownies, and cranberry lime soda bread (a Rachel Ray recipe)- a rainy Saturday morning granted me lots of time to bake! I skipped the cookies and decided just to make the brownies and bread today, both of which I've made before. I found the brownie recipe on Nestle's website but tweaked it to add the peanut butter. These turn out SO messy but are super rich and chocolately- definitely need to be paired with milk or ice cream.

Nestle Caramel Peanut Butter Brownies
Ingredients:
1 bag Kraft individually wrapped caramel candies
1 package devil's food or German chocolate cake mix
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup peanut butter morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13" baking pan
Place unwrapped caramels and 2 tbsp evaporated milk in a sauce pan over medium-low heat, stir constantly until melted. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, remaining milk, and butter. Pour half of this mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes and remove pan from oven.
Pour melted caramel over cake, sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chunks and 1/2 cup walnuts.
Mix remaining chocolate chunks and walnuts with remaining cake batter.
Drop tablespoons full of cake mixture over caramel layer, spread gently to edges of pan. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Melt peanut butter morsels in the microwave, add some milk if the consistency becomes thick. Drizzle melted peanut butter over brownies, let cool completely before cutting.
Serves about 32.

I used a disposable baking pan because I'm taking these to a party- makes the clean-up so much easier!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Here goes nothing...

It's a Friday night and I'm still getting over my Thursday night out at the Phillies playoff game and McFaddens/Mad River, so what better time to start up a cooking blog? It sure beats spending hours on end sifting through pictures of People-I-hardly-know-but-call-my-Friends on Facebook. Not to mention the fact that winter is right around the corner, and knowing me- I'll be spending it in hibernation (anything to avoid the cold).
While looking up recipes for caramel brownies to make tomorrow morning for a friend's birthday, I came across a baking blog and thought it sounded like a great idea. This will either be a passing phase- and I'll post like 3 recipes and call it quits, or this could be my new favorite way to spend my time outside of work! Regardless, I'm excited to post my first recipe tomorrow and see what I'm getting myself into.