Caramel Apple Dip

We are always looking for new ideas about what to bring to our weekly small group meeting for church. My husband found this recipe at howdoesshe.com. I must say, I'm not a huge fan of caramel, but this recipe changed my mind. It has also worked well so that my 2 year old will eat more fruit without any complaints. In fact, he is often found liking up the last of the dip with his fingers!

Click here for the original recipe.

Caramel Apple Dip

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup whipping cream (I used the whole 8 oz container)

*Makes 2 1/2 cups

In a medium saucepan combine sugars, syrup and butter.

Cook over medum heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil, about 5 – 6 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.

Stir in whipping cream.

Pour into a jar and store in refrigerator.  It will thicken when cold.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

I love oatmeal in the winter. There's something about the warm heartiness that I've always enjoyed. Plus, it's usually a fairly quick thing to make in the morning.

Well, it just got even easier...

I found this original recipe for raisin nut oatmeal in the October-November 2012 issue of Healthy Cooking. I changed a few things to make it even yummier to me. Instead of an apple, I used a pear (bartlett is my favorite), instead of raisins I used craisins, I omitted the pecans, and I added more cinnamon.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

3 1/2 cups skim milk

1 large pear, chopped (I keep the peel on for added fiber)

3/4 cup steel-cut oats

3/4 cup craisins

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a 3 quart slow cooker coated with cooking spray, combine first eight ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Spoon oatmeal into bowls; sprinkle with pecans.

**You may substitute 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats for the steel-cut oats and increase the milk to 4 1/2 cups. However, the steel-cut oats hold their texture in the slow cooker better than quick-cooking oats, which take on a smoother consistency.

Chocolate Cappuccino Crumb Muffins

This is a recipe I had to beg from a friend because I loved it so much. I'm not a coffee fan but I could eat about a million of these muffins. Even my 2 year old son loved these "cupcakes".

Chocolate Cappuccino Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cup milk

1 cup butter, melted

1 egg

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon instant regular coffee (I double this to 3 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

10-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (minis work best for this muffin)

Crumb Topping (makes enough for a double batch of muffins)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter cut into chunks

Combine all ingredients and stir with fork until well combined.

Directions

Blend milk, butter, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. 

Blend in a large bowl flour, sugars, baking powder, coffee, salt, and cinnamon. 

Add liquid ingredients all at once to dry ingredients.

Mix on low speed just to blend. Do not over mix.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Place approximately 1/3 cup of mixture into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each with crumb topping.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Yield: 15 muffins

Upside Down Apple Pie

Yet another amazing excuse to bake...our church's now annual chili and pie bake off. I participated with an apple pie 2 years ago that didn't place. So I knew I had to find something to stand out among the other entries. I'm not a huge pie fan myself but when I came across the recipe for upside down apple pie at nobblepig.com, I had to try it. Click here for the original website.

So, how did I do with my pie you might ask? I received second place (technically it was a tie). Not too bad if I say so myself. A couple of the judges came up to me afterwards raving about it. It really is that good and it's really very easy.

Upside Down Apple Pie

6 Tablespoons butter, melted & divided
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice 
5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & cut into 1/2" slices

Coat a pie plate with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Coat the paper with cooking spray also. Now,I ran out of parchment paper and used aluminum foil instead. It worked okay but parchment paper would be best to keep the sugar from sticking to the foil.

In a small bowl combine 4 Tablespoons of melted butter, brown sugar and pecans. Mix well and spread evenly over the bottom of the pie plate, on top of the parchment. Place one of the crusts in the pie plate, pressing it firmly against the nut mixture and up the sides of the plate. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Mix well. Add the apples in and toss gently to coat. Spoon into the pie crust.

Place the second crust over the apple mixture. Trim and fold the edges together to seal and cut some slits in the top of the crust for venting.  (I sealed the edges the best I could. I really couldn't fold and seal but it didn't matter at all.)

Bake 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until crust is golden brown in a 375 degree oven. Make sure to place a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch any drips from the pie.

Let the pie cool for 5 minutes and then place a plate that is larger than the pie on top of it and flip it over. Use oven gloves as it will still be hot. Remove the pie plate and gently lift the paper. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blueberry Muffins

I've been craving blueberry muffins for awhile and finally decided to make them for a play date (I love finding a good excuse to bake). The original recipe came from allrecipes.com, click here for the website.

A couple of things I changed. I did double the recipe and it made 21 muffins. I added 3 cups of frozen blueberries (I rolled them in some of the flour first to prevent them from bleeding into the batter). I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I added some vanilla into my batter.

Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  3/4 cup white sugar
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons baking powder
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  1 egg
  1/3 cup milk
  1 cup fresh blueberries
  
  
  Crumb Topping
  1/2 cup white sugar
  1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  1/4 cup butter, cubed
  1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix together the vegetable oil, egg and milk (I added a 1/2 tsp vanilla). Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Banana Bread

I've made this banana bread recipe about 3-4 times so far and have yet to try it since I usually give it away as gifts. Well, I had some leftover ripe bananas and decided it was finally time to try it. This is a very quick and easy recipe that I would recommend. I found the original recipe at the Simply Recipes website.

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• I often sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on the top to give it a little more sweetness and taste

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

Homemade Finger Paints

 One of my friends found this recipe on Pintrist. I'm not sure how much I like it because it turned out more like jelly than paint. My son enjoyed using it and it was fairly easy and quick to make. It might be a good science experiment for older children.

Homemade Finger Paint

3 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup corn starch

2 cups water

Combine ingredients in small saucepan. Warm until mixture thickens. Cool and pour into containers. Add food coloring to create desired colors.

I would recommend using the egg carton for little ones. This recipe makes quite a bit of paint. Putting a small amount into the carton made clean up much easier. Also, I was impressed that the paint didn't stain anything.

Eggplant Parmigiana

My father-in-law recently delivered a variety of vegetables from his garden. One vegetable in particular was eggplant. I wanted to try something new (especially since I've been reminded that I haven't posted in awhile).

I found the original recipe here at Food Network and chose it since I already had all the ingredients. It was fairly quick and easy to make. If you enjoy chicken parmigiana, then I would recommend trying this vegetarian alternative.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggplant, about 2 pounds
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows I used my homemade canned pizza sauce
• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/8-inch thick
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs, lightly toasted under broiler

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Using some extra-virgin olive oil, oil a baking sheet.

Slice each eggplant into 6 pieces about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. Lightly season each disk with salt and pepper and place on the oiled sheet. I brushed my eggplant with oil and then seasoned them to help them brown a little more. Bake the eggplant at 450 degrees F until the slices begin turning deep brown on top, about 12-15 minutes. Remove the eggplants from the oven. Remove the slices from the baking sheet and place them on a plate to cool.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F. In an 8 by 12-inch brownie pan, place the 4 largest eggplant slice evenly spaced apart. Over each slice, spread 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and sprinkle with a teaspoon of basil. Place one slice of mozzarella over each and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon grated Parmigiano. Place the smaller slices of eggplant over each of the disks and repeat with tomato sauce, basil, and the 2 cheeses. Repeat the layering again until all the ingredients are used.

Sprinkle the toasted bread crumbs over the top of the eggplant dish, and bake uncovered until the cheese is melts and the tops turn light brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Basic tomato sauce:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, 1/4-inch dice
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
• 1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
• 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
• Salt

Tomato Sauce:

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Yield: 4 cups

I had to share this picture of my son Benjamin who just turned 2 years old. We were making pizza and this recipe at the same time. Ben insisted on helping roll out the pizza dough. He's a very big helper which will be nice since we are expecting his little brother to arrive any day now.

Enchilada Casserole

This recipe comes from my Clovia cookbook and a very dear friend, Sara (Schwinn) Sedgwick. When I was living in Kansas, my friends and I made this recipe every other week.

Enchilada Cassereole

1 lb cheddar cheese, shredded

10 tortillas

1 can mild enchilada sauce

1.5 lbs cooked and drained hamburger

1 can tomato soup

Wrap shredded cheese in tortillas and put in a 9x13in pan. Mix sauce and soup with hamburger and pour over tortillas. Warm through in oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Homemade Dog Treat Recipe

This is a very quick and easy recipe for the four-legged members of your family. I try to make these every Christmas for our dog Izzie and her friends. The original recipe comes from http://www.bullwrinkle.com/, they have a variety of homemade dog treats to choose from but this is my favorite to make.

Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.

Bake for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container.

Cupcakes - from SCRATCH!

These cupcakes are so delicious and easy to make, you'll never want to buy a box mix or can of frosting again! I've always wanted to make cupcakes from scratch, but every recipe I've found is so complicated. NOT this one. So, give it a try!

 

This recipe comes from Dave Ramsey's website. To see the original recipe, click here.

Cupcakes

Chocolate

3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Hersey's Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
3 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate square (found in baking section), grated

1. Allow eggs to stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners. I like to use the foil liners because they are both decorative and sturdy. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl; beat 2 minutes more. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
3. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined. Beat on medium to high 20 seconds more. Stir in finely grated chocolate. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. (If you have more batter than cupcake pans, cover and refrigerate remaining batter until ready to use.)
4. Bake cupcakes on middle rack of oven. Every cupcake pan, liner, and oven is different, so you should monitor your first batch of cupcakes closely. Check after 10 minutes of baking time to insure that your cupcakes are cooking evenly. You may need to turn the cupcake pans halfway through baking time to guarantee even baking if your oven cooks faster toward the rear of the oven. When done (inserted toothpick should come out clean), remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a cooling rack and cool completely before applying icing.

Vanilla


6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 2/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups buttermilk

1. Separate eggs. Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes (reserve yolks for another use). Meanwhile, line cupcake pans with cupcake liners. I like to use foil liners because they are both decorative and sturdy. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg whites all at once; beat on medium-high 3 minutes. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined (batter may look slightly lumpy). Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. (If you have extra batter, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.)
3. Bake cupcakes on middle rack of oven. Every cupcake pan, liner, and oven is different, so you should monitor your first batch of cupcakes closely. Check after 10 minutes of baking time to insure that your cupcakes are cooking evenly. You may need to turn the cupcake pans halfway through baking time to guarantee even baking if your oven cooks faster toward the rear of the oven. Mine were done at 17 minutes. When done (inserted toothpick should come out clean), remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a cooling rack and cool completely before applying icing. Yield: 3 dozen

Buttercream Icing

Chocolate I divided ingredients in half and had plenty for 3 dozen cupcakes

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups of unsweetened Hersey's Cocoa Powder
2 (16-ounce) boxes of confectioner's sugar
2/3 cup of whole milk

1. Beat butter, vanilla and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. In separate bowl, whisk together unsweetened cocoa and powdered sugar.
3. Alternately add the cocoa/sugar mixture and milk to the butter mixture, beating on low after each addition until blended and smooth. Beat in an additional tablespoon of milk if needed for desired consistency.

Vanilla


1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 (16-ounce) boxes of confectioner's sugar
6–7 tablespoons milk

1. Beat butter, vanilla and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on low until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in an additional tablespoon of milk if needed for desired consistency.

Homemade Pizza

Sorry I don't have pictures, I'm having some techincal difficulties.

We really enjoy making homemade pizza here on a fairly regular basis. I really like this dough recipe better than the recipe from my bread machine. To see the original recipe, click here.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 30 minutes Ingredients

Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)

3 1/2 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)

I use 1-1/2 cup all-purpose and 2 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Ingredients

Olive oil

Cornmeal (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)

Making the Pizza Dough

1 In the large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.

2 Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

3 Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with a dry towel. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas

1 Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.

2 Punch the dough down so it deflates a bit and divide the dough in half. Form two round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

3 Prepare your desired toppings. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese

4 Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Let the dough relax 5 minutes and then continue to stretch it until it reaches the desired diameter - 10 to 12 inches. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

5 Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second ball of dough.

6 Lightly sprinkle your pizza peel (or flat baking sheet) with corn meal. Transfer one prepared flattened dough to the pizza peel. If the dough has lost its shape in the transfer, lightly shape it to the desired dimensions.

I typically let the crust bake by itself for 10 minutes so that it cooks thoroughly.

7 Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.

8 Sprinkle some cornmeal on the baking stone in the oven (watch your hands, the oven is hot!). Gently shake the peel to see if the dough will easily slide, if not, gently lift up the edges of the pizza and add a bit more cornmeal. Slide the pizza off of the peel and on to the baking stone in the oven. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more cheese.

Yield: Makes 2 10-12-inch pizzas.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies

This recipe quickly became a Stephens family favorite after my mother-in-law made these cookies for a family gathering. The recipe is from Hershey's.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1-1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1-2/3 cups (10oz pkg) Hershey's cinnamon chips

3/4 cup raisins (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips, and raisins (batter will be stiff).

3. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.

BAR VARIATION: Spread batter into lightly greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen bars.