Miracle Bread

I'd been meaning to make this for awhile. Tonight was the perfect time, since I was out of bread and was improvising dinner. I decided on soup and grilled cheese. So, I made this recipe for the grilled cheese :-)

It turned out pretty good, definitely something to make in a pinch. Made good sandwiches. I didn't get to try any warm from the oven with butter (the BEST way to eat bread), but I bet that would be yummy too. 

Miracle Bread 

Low Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

My 16 year old often complains about breakfast items, or the lack thereof. I seldom keep cereal in the house, and he doesn't like the school breakfasts. So this morning since I was up earlier than usual, I searched Pinterest and found a recipe that was quick and seemed like it would be filling. Low Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars fit the bill.

The only thing stopping me was that I had no applesauce. Then I remembered -- baby food. I have several jars of baby food that my now-toddler never got around to eating, so I went hunting. Lo & behold, 2 jars to choose from: apples & blueberries or apple-banana-strawberry. I wasn't sure how much each jar had; since I was doubling the recipe I needed half a cup. Come to find out, one jar of baby food apple/fruit sauce is almost exactly half a cup. Perfect!

Mixing these up was really easy, really fast, and the result is really good. Mixing everything and getting it in the pan was done within 10 or so minutes, and they were baked in 20 minutes. 

I sliced the first row carefully and put them on a plate to stick in the freezer so they'd firm up for easier eating. They're delicious warm but kind of crumbly; 5 or so minutes in the freezer and they were perfect. 

The aforementioned 16 year old had a few with a glass of milk and pronounced them acceptable. (*whew*) He said they were filling, and sitting here after having a couple, I definitely agree. Hooray!

As I said, I doubled the recipe and made a 9x13 pan. When you've got 6 people in the house, an 8x8 pan of anything isn't going to last very long. If I'm putting the effort in to cook, I want there to be plenty! The recipe doubled nicely, and I'm planning to do some experimenting with different chips and maybe some dried cranberries or raisins. 

Make these - you won't be sorry!

Ah, Cupcakes!

I got a KitchenAid stand mixer for our 18th anniversary last month. One of the first things I made was of course our anniversary cake, and frosting.

The recipe for the cake and the frosting came from the same place. They were paired on a Pin, and I'd been waiting to make them. Let me tell you, do NOT attempt a buttercream without a stand mixer. I've kind of made it before, but the KitchenAid makes a world of difference. Now it's actually good!

Anyway, I digress. These 2 recipes are very (very) good. Seriously, look no further. The cup(cake) recipe starts with a boxed mix; no shame in that! You doctor it though and by the time you're done it kinda feels like you did it from scratch ;-) The flavor is good, the cupcake is sturdy but moist, and not crumbly.

The buttercream is simply yum. Very simple, but sometimes simple is best. You can use it as a base and then flavor as desired, perhaps leaving out the vanilla if you do. I've made chocolate and strawberry.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Ah, Cinnamon Roll Cake, how I love thee.

This one is a winner. Perfect. Not only is it delicious, it is just about as easy as it gets. I make a pan and that pan is empty within hours. I don't think I've ever had the chance to try it after it sits overnight, because there's never been leftovers!

You will not be sorry. Well, you might, because after the first bite you'll be addicted! ;-)

No-Bake Cake Batter Truffles

Are you sensing a theme here? No-Bake Cake Batter Balls were another new thing I tried during the holidays.

I messed up this recipe because I broke one cardinal rule: READ THE ENTIRE RECIPE before you make it! Whoops. Once I realized my mistake I did the best I could to fix it, but to give an honest opinion of this one, I really owe it to the cook to try again.

They were kind of dry for my liking, but that may well have been because of my mistake. I will try these again, next Christmas. Gotta do something besides "just" Oreos ;-)

Sugar Cookie Truffles

For some years now I've been making Oreo Truffles during the holidays. Everyone loves them, it seems like you've spent a lot of time & effort, and the combination of Oreos & cream cheese turns ordinary items into something decadent.

So when I came across a recipe for Sugar Cookie Truffles, I was really jazzed. Unfortunately, I didn't find them to be as yummy as the Oreo version. They were a little dry and just not quite as good. Not terrible, just not the knock your socks off reaction the Oreo Truffles get.

Would I make them again? Not sure. Maybe if I let the cream cheese & sugar cookie mix set for awhile so that the cookie part would be a little softer it might be different. I think the missing element is that there's no "cream", like Oreos have. If there was something to add to the sugar cookie mixture it might work.

Thinking just now, I wonder how a sugar cookie dough, without eggs, would work. Yes, I'm talking raw cookie dough (either no eggs or a pasteurized egg substitute, maybe?) rolled into balls and dipped per the recipe. Might just give that a try next Christmas!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

I love lemon. L.O.V.E. lemon.

Blueberries ain't too bad either.

I was really excited to see the recipe for lemon-blueberry bread. However, this was another "meh" result, darn it!

However, that might have been my own fault, so before I deliver a final verdict, I think I need to remake it.

Problem #1 - I used a mixture of whole wheat & white flours. Probably not the best choice. Whole wheat is better, but let's be honest, white flour makes better goodies.

Problem #2 - I doubled the recipe. Probably not the best idea, given it was my first time with it, but my aunt & uncle were to visit the next day and I wanted to send a loaf home with them. I should have just prepared as-is on the first go-round.

Problem #3 - I divided the batter between 2 pans. The loaves were HUGE. Huge!! Another site (where the original pin led) mentioned getting 2 loaves out of the single batch, and she was probably right; I no doubt could have had 2 nicely sized loaves from the un-doubled recipe.

So, as you can see, I really owe it to the author to give this bread another try. Next time I won't double and I'll use all white flour ;-)

I have to say that the glaze for the bread is absolutely delicious. Just terrific. I could see using it on other lemony items. Yum yum!