From the Kitchen :: Oatmeal-Maple Cookies

It was brought to my attention the other day that my children have never eaten a homemade oatmeal cookie.  This is probably due to the fact that my husband would much rather have chocolate chip cookies, and I try to cater to his tastes.  Oatmeal cookies happen to be one of my favorites, so we pulled out the mixer the other day during the little ones' naps, and mixed up these delicious cookies.

There are tons of recipes for oatmeal cookies, and you probably can't go too wrong with any of them. Although adding raisins is a definite turn off for me. I knew I had a recipe from my Mom, so I rifled through my disorganized recipe box and finally found her recipe:  "Can't Eat Just One Cookie".

I tweaked my Mom's recipe a little bit, giving these cookies a hint of maple and cinnamon.  They are the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, and quite delicious.  Adding nuts or butterscotch chips would also be tasty.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal-Maple Cookies

1 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup coconut
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together.  Add egg and maple flavoring.  Mix in dry ingredients until well combined.  Drop by spoonfuls onto greased or parchment lined baking sheets.  Push tops down slightly with a floured fork.  Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.  Cool on wire racks.
Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.



PS -- The kids loved them.

From the Kitchen :: Ice Cream Cake

What do you do when your baby is turning one and you're still unpacking boxes and finding your way around the kitchen?  First of all, you rejoice that Cow Appreciation Day is on her birthday, so no need to make a birthday feast.  Secondly, you stop packing on her birthday long enough to round up some pictures from her first year of life for a blog post and load up the kiddos for a morning at the beach.  Thirdly, you purchase the necessary ingredients from your local Target, because that's the closest store that has grocery carts which hold more than one child, and you make an ice cream cake that is most. definitely. not.from.scratch.

 Somewhere on my social media feeds I saw a picture of an ice cream cake made from ice cream sandwiches.  Genius.  No baking, no mixing, just put it together and make it look pretty, or kind of pretty.  One year old children only care about getting messy and eating sugar for the first time. {Except when it's your fourth child and they've been eating ice cream since they were five months old.  You first time parents, don't judge so fast}.

Seriously though, this cake was good.  And if I do it again, I'm going to doctor it up for my adult tastebuds.  Bits of toffee pieces between the layers, coffee ice cream, homemade fudge sauce, the possibilities are endless.  I even saw ice cream sandwiches that were banana flavored, if that's your thing.  I don't think banana flavoring should have ever been invented, but hey, whatever floats your boat. :)

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
1 box ice cream sandwiches (my box had 12 sandwiches)
1/2 gallon ice cream, flavor of your choice, softened
8 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed
1 jar fudge sauce, warmed for easy drizzling
sprinkles

Line an 8x11 dish with saran wrap {this will keep the ice cream from sticking to the pan}, leaving enough as an overhang.  Line ice cream sandwiches along the bottom of the pan, breaking pieces of some in order to fill in the gaps.

Spread layer of softened ice cream over sandwiches.  Repeat layers.  Cover with saran wrap and freeze for about four hours.

Remove ice cream cake from saran wrap and place on a serving platter.  Spread Cool Whip over entire cake.  Drizzle with warmed fudge sauce and decorate with sprinkles.  Freeze for another two hours before serving.

From the Kitchen :: Southern Style Banana Pudding

Now that we've lived in Georgia for over three years, I'm finding myself more and more drawn to southern things.  Large front porches with hanging ferns, grits, pimento cheese, monograms, and even hairbows.  I can't wait to try making a Hummingbird Cake {I recently tasted one for the first time and it was delicious} and I'm going to keep cooking Shrimp and Grits until I have it memorized and perfected.

One of the classic desserts of the South is banana pudding.

I remember seeing dishes of this at potlucks when I was a kid, but I always made a beeline for chocolate chip cookies and ice cream sundaes.  The value of banana pudding was lost on my childish palette.

Now, it's one of my absolute favorite desserts.  In fact, I've made it for company twice in the past month.

Here's my disclaimer:  I use instant vanilla pudding mixes.  Feel free to stop reading right here if you're offended by this, and my blog is titled "Only From Scratch".  Pudding made from scratch is wonderful, but it shouldn't be used for this recipe.  The instant kind just works better.  And, I'm usually a stickler for brand name Nilla wafers, but I found Publix makes a fantastic copy, and costs almost half as much.

Southern Style Banana Pudding

3 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
5 cups milk {whole or 2%}
8 oz sour cream
1  8 oz container Cool Whip
1 box Vanilla wafers
4 ripe, but not spotted, bananas

In a large mixing bowl whisk pudding mix and milk until thickened.  Fold in sour cream and Cool Whip until combined.

Place a small scoop of pudding mixture in the bottom of a trifle bowl.  Cover with a layer of Vanilla wafers.  Slice 2 of the bananas and distribute evenly on top of the wafers.  Cover with a layer of pudding.  Repeat layers ending with the wafers.

Cover and chill until ready to serve.

recipe adapted slightly from our church cookbook

Uses for Leftover Halloween Candy

We're now two weeks past Halloween and there's still a lingering collection of candy in our pantry.  Part of me wants to just throw it away so the temptation to indulge will be gone.  Thankfully, my kids love the fruity sticky stuff and leave the chocolate goodies behind.  Unfortunately, this means I end up eating said chocolate goodies.

Yesterday, as I stood there debating about which kind to snack on, I started thinking about how to use up all this candy.  Maybe you've wondered that too.  I've rounded up some creative ways to put candy into cakes, cookies, or to use it for other crafty projects.  You don't have to eat it in its simple form.  With a little bit of time and some creativity you can enjoy your Halloween candy without just sneaking it in the pantry.


Chocolate Chip Snickers Cookies

Twix Cake

This next one is actually a recipe for homemade sprinkles, which look really amazing!  But, if you look at the picture closely, they resemble the candy Nerds.  Use Nerds as sprinkles on a cake for an easy colorful display.

Skittle Straws

Trail Mix

Starburst Candy Sculptures

Sorting and Graphing with Sweet Tarts

Candy Train Game

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I didn't sneak any candy yesterday :).

Simple Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting, from Martha Stewart

When my Martha Stewart Living magazine arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, the girls loved the picture on the front:

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They proceeded to look at the entire copy with me on the bed one day.  It was fun to have my girls interested in home decorating, baking, and gardening.  When they found out that there was a recipe for the cake on the front cover photo, they wanted to give it a try.

We donned our aprons and got to work one morning.  The icing recipe is my favorite ever, I think, as there was PLENTY to generously ice the cake, and there was even some leftover.  After dinner that evening we enjoyed delicious slices of vanilla cake.

This is the perfect cake for birthdays, parties, or just everyday.  It's easy and OH, so much more tasty than a cake mix!

Simple Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Cake
1 stick unsalted butter, softened, plus more for cake pans
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
5 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup half-and-half {original recipe calls for whole milk, but I like to use this instead}
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cake:  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans and either line with buttered parchment, or butter and flour pans.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat together butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add eggs and beat well, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined.  Add milk and vanilla and beat until just combined.

Divide batter between pans; smooth tops with an off-set spatula.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 33 to 35 minutes {If using 9-inch pans, 28-30 minutes}.  Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes.  Turn out cakes onto racks to cool completely.

Frosting:  Beat together butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 1 minute.  Reduce speed to medium.  Add confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add salt, half-and-half {or milk}, and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  If not using immediately, cover surface of frosting with plastic wrap.  Frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week.  Before using, bring to room temperature, then beat on low speed until smooth.

Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate and spread 1 cup frosting on top.  Place remaining cake layer on top.  spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting, swirling to coat in a decorative fashion.  Cake can be covered with a cake dome and refrigerated overnight.  Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

source:  Martha Stewart Living, May 2013

It's Strawberry Time & a Strawberry Tart Recipe

My strawberry picking this year consisted of driving 5 minutes down the road and carefully selecting eight gallons of pre-picked strawberries from a local berry stand.  The price wasn't that much more, and in my current pregnant condition, the husband forbade me to go to the strawberry patch with the kids this year.  I'm glad he put his foot down!  I spent most of one morning just hulling strawberries and freezing them for a year's worth of smoothies.  I also made two batches of strawberry freezer jam.

Then, I ventured out and tried three new strawberry recipes over the weekend.

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These scones were delicious.  They did take a bit longer to bake than the recipe said, but I loved the brown sugar crumble topping.

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I also tried the Strawberry Icebox Cake {minus the rosewater and chocolate on top} pictured above and it was wonderful.  I love that it wasn't too sweet and even our eight-year old neighbor boy next door enjoyed it.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is from Faith Durand's new book, Bakeless Sweets, which is a great cookbook and especially wonderful at this time of year.  This cookbook is full of delicious recipes that are perfect for summer when backyard entertaining is in full swing and no one really wants to turn on the oven.

The crust has white chocolate in it, which is one of my favorites, as well as old-fashioned oats, so you could really say that it's a healthy crust....

The filling is somewhat of a cheesecake/lemon-gelatin combination with some chopped strawberries.  I only had strawberry slices for the garnish, but white chocolate shavings and almonds are recommended in the recipe.

This was super easy to make and was cool and light--the perfect summer dessert combination.

Strawberry Tart with White Chocolate and Oat Crust

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats, roughly chopped
4 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped, plus more for garnish
1 generous cup graham cracker crumbs
2 lemons, zested and juiced {I only did the juice part}
2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pound strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped, divided
1/2 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted {I omitted these}

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, then stir in the chopped oats and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the white chocolate and cook, stirring frequently, until it has melted.  Pour the mixture over the graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl and stir until it has a wet, sandy consistency.  Quickly press the warm mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and place in the refrigerator to begin chilling.

Put the lemon juice in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface.  Let the gelatin soften for 5 minutes, then warm the pan over medium heat until the gelatin is fully dissolved.  Turn off the heat and set the pan aside.

In the blow of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the cream cheese until very light and fluffy.  Add the condensed milk, lemon zest {if using} and gelatin mixture and beat until well combined.  Gently fold in half of the strawberries and spread this mixture into the chilled pie crust.  Top with the toasted almonds {if using}.  Chill for a full 2 hours, or until quite firm.

Serve slices topped with the remaining strawberries and shavings of white chocolate.

source:  Bakeless Sweets, by Faith Durand

Paula Deen's Lemon Bars

When I returned home after being gone for 2 weeks, it was nice to have several magazines to look through.  I received a subscription to Food Network for my birthday, and I am loving it.  Their magazine has such a great balance of easy to make dishes and some that require a little extra time and not-so-on-hand ingredients; I love the combo of both.

Paula Deen has a recipe in this month's edition {which I noticed is still on the magazine racks in the stores if you want to pick up a copy} of her lemon bars.  I've been a sucker for pretty much anything citrus during the past few months, so I knew I wanted to make this one.  Lemon bars that I've tried in the past have been way too powerful on the lemon flavor for me, but this recipe has the perfect balance.

I'd recommend using your fingers, as the recipe calls for, instead of a pastry blender for cutting in the butter in the crust.  You'll enjoy being able to lick, or um, clean, your fingers when that step is finished.  The sweet buttery goodness is oh, so delicious.

If you're looking for a fairly quick and light dessert, this one is perfect.  I like what Paula said in the magazine and it's wonderfully true, "I love making these because you don't even have to pull out a mixer."  Thanks, Paula, for making it easy on us.

Paula Deen's Lemon Bars

For the crust:
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces and at room temperature {plus more for the dish}
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice {from about 2 lemons}

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil and butter the foil.

Make the crust:  whisk the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter with your fingers to make a crumbly dough; press into the prepared baking dish.  Bake 20 minutes, then transfer to a rack and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, make the filling:  mix the eggs, sugar and flour in a bowl with a fork.  Mix in the lemon juice.  Pour the filling over the crust and bake 25 more minutes; transfer to a rack and let cool completely.  Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.  Lift out of the pan and cut into pieces.

source:  Food Network, May 2013

Linking to:

No Bake Cheesecake in a Jar

A few weeks ago we were preparing to host over 20 adults for lunch after church on Sunday.  I wanted to serve a nice meal, with a good dessert, but I didn't want to do a ton of work in the morning before church, or as people were arriving to eat.  After some brainstorming, online research, and input from my husband, I landed on a dessert recipe that ended up being perfect.

This cheesecake recipe is the easiest thing to make, it tastes good, and it looks pretty in the little mason jar.  I made a chocolate cheesecake and a plain one, then topped the plain cheesecake with fresh blueberries and raspberries, and the chocolate ones were topped with toffee bits.

I used various sizes of mason jars, just whatever I had in the kitchen.  If I was making these for a shower or bringing them to a friend's house, I would opt for those cute wide-mouthed small jars.  They are the perfect size, travel well, and would look super cute with a fun label on them.

Ready for the recipe?  I think you'll be shocked at just how easy these are.  I mixed them together the night before and then threw the fruit and candy on in the morning before church.  The toughest part was finding enough room to store 25 of these in my already packed fridge!

No Bake Cheesecake in a Jar

Plain Cheesecake:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*For the crust, I purchased a box of graham cracker crumbs and followed the recipe on the back of the box.  I then placed enough of the mixture into each jar to give it enough of the crust taste.  I refrigerated the jars like this for at least an hour before finishing.*

Combine all ingredients and spoon about 1/2 cup mixture onto prepared crust.  Top with fruit {or other toppings} of choice.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.


Chocolate Cheesecake:
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chocolate syrup

*For the crust on the chocolate ones, I purchased two pre-made chocolate cookie crusts {find it in the baking aisle} and crushed it up to make my cookie crumbs.  After placing in the bottom of the jars, I refrigerated these for at least an hour before putting the filling in.*

Combine filling ingredients and place 1/2 cup filling on top of prepared crust.  Top with toffee pieces, raspberries, or chocolate shavings.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

source:  slightly adapted from I am Baker

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

For my birthday I decided to make myself a cake.  It might sound silly, but I had seen an episode on the Food Network of Giada de Laurentis making a chocolate layer cake, and I knew that's what I wanted.  Thankfully, her recipe was online, as I couldn't remember the exact ingredients.  This cake is delicious and we will definitely be eating it again. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Cake:

1 box chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1/4 cup raspberry freezer jam {original recipe calls for raspberry puree, but I didn't have any and the freezer jam worked just fine}.

Dump cake mix into a large mixing bowl.  Scoop out one tablespoon of mix and stir it with the chocolate chips in a separate bowl.  {This keeps the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake}.  Add oil, water, and eggs to the cake mix and beat at medium speed until well combined.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Divide batter into two 9-inch round baking pans.  Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes.  

Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove to wire cooling rack until completely cool, about 1 hour. 

To make frosting:

Combine butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, cream cheese and sour cream in a large mixing bowl.  Mix with an electric mixer until well combined and fluffy.  

Remove 3/4 cup of this chocolate mixture and add it to 1/4 cup raspberry jam.  

Place one cake on cake stand or platter and frost with the chocolate/raspberry frosting mixture.  Place second cake on top of this and use remaining chocolate frosting to cover the cake.  Garnish with fresh raspberries.  

Cake needs to be refrigerated, and can be made one day ahead.  Just be sure to store it in an airtight container.  

source:  slightly adapted from Food Network

Disclosure:  Yes, my blog is titled 'Only From Scratch'.  However, there are occasionally recipes that I find that are not completely from scratch, and yet are so delicious that I must share them here.  This is one of those recipes.  You could easily make this cake using a recipe for a chocolate cake from scratch, and just add the chocolate chips and make the frosting as called for above.  

Apple-Pear Crispler

Earlier in the fall, I decided to do some research on fruit desserts.  There are crisps, cobblers, pies, buckles, crumbles, and probably more.  I was curious as to what defined the difference between these, especially a cobbler and a crisp.  The basic difference is that a crisp has a topping that consists of flour, sugar, butter, and an egg.  A cobbler's topping is basically like a biscuit that becomes a little puffy while baking, and there is no egg.

I wanted to try to combine a cobbler and a crisp {which is why this is called a 'Crispler'}, and I liked what I came up with.

This is easy to make for last minute company, or just for a weeknight family dessert.  It's best served warm with some vanilla ice cream.  Or, if you're like my dad, you can serve it warm, with ice cream, for breakfast, and try to convince your children that you're eating oatmeal {yes, he really did that when we were little}.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Apple-Pear Crispler

2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons sugar

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Mix fruit with cinnamon and sugar and place sliced fruit into a buttered 8x8-inch baking dish.  In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and sugar.  Stir in melted butter to combine.  Using fingers, place clumps of topping mixture on top of fruit to cover.  Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes.

Chocolate Dream Bars

One of my all time favorite cookies that my mom makes every year for Christmas are Seven Layer cookies.  True to its name, there are seven ingredients, all layered into a pan:  butter, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and nuts.

I've been wanting to change it up a little bit and finally got the ingredients I needed the other day.  Instead of graham cracker crumbs, I crushed up some pretzel sticks I had in the pantry.

Then, I omitted the butterscotch chips and used four different kinds of chocolate.  If you like chocolate, you'll love these.

Milk, dark, semi-sweet, and white chocolate chips melt together to create a dreamy chocolate taste!  Even though I don't normally like coconut, somehow in these cookies it adds to the taste instead of overpowering.

The sweetened condensed milk gets evenly drizzled over the top, and then bakes for 35 minutes.  I try to avoid nuts as much as possible when baking, since my husband is not a fan, but you could definitely finish these off with some chopped pecans on top.

Make sure you have some milk in the fridge if you're going to make these.  You can cut them small and serve on a cookie platter.  OR, make the pieces a bit bigger, serve them warm, and place a scoop of ice cream on the top.  An easy dessert that is sure to please.


Chocolate Dream Bars

3/4 stick butter or margarine
3/4 cup pretzel crumbs {or graham cracker crumbs}
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

Spread butter or margarine on the bottom of 8x8-inch pan.  Sprinkle pretzel crumbs evenly over top.  Then, sprinkle chocolate pieces; top with coconut.  Drizzle sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top, being sure to cover as much of the coconut as possible.  Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes.  Cool before slicing.

This could easily be made in a 9x13-inch pan.  Just double all the ingredients and use on entire can of sweetened condensed milk.

Linking to:

Chocolate Slice Shortbread Cookies

 My sister recently gave me a new cookbook titled, Around My French Table, and I have thoroughly enjoyed looking through it. Reading cookbooks is a hobby of mine.  In fact, there is often a cookbook or two on my nightstand reading stack.  This cookbook is great because there are hundreds of French recipes, but they are not all complicated.  The author does a great job of giving tips for each recipe on whether or not you can freeze it, various ways to serve the dish, and other little tips to help in the kitchen.

Beware, because I'm going to be sharing many recipes from her book and most of them contain LOTS of butter!

This cookie recipe was one that I flagged upon my first perusal of the book because it combines two of my favorite things in a dessert:  butter and chocolate.  Not only that, but in her little side tip, she suggests serving these cookies as an ice cream sandwich using Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream.  Coffee ice cream just happens to be my favorite flavor, and with a little Heath Magic Shell topping, you have the perfect combination.  These cookies added a nice touch.

Chocolate Slice Shortbread Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 sticks (10 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped {optional}

Whisk the flour, cocoa, and salt together.  In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.  Add sugar and beat until creamy, but not airy.  Mix in the vanilla.  Gradually add the flour mixture until incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate at this point, if using.

Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a log about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.  Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Slice the logs into 1/2-inch thick cookies {or 1/3 inch if you want them thinner} and place on baking sheets.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating sheets at the halfway point.  Cookies should be firm to the touch.  Cool on wire racks.

You can refrigerate the dough for 3 days, or freeze it for up to 2 months.  If freezing, just add a minute or two to the baking time.  


source: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan