Sugar Cookie Pops

This is so much fun for children and adults. There are so many creative was to decorate this cookie. FUN! FUN! FUN! I made several dozen for a special occasion and decorated the sugar cookie with fondant after it was baked and cooled. They were so cute and good. This is a fabulous sugar cookie recipe. I got a Styrofoam pyramid from Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, and covered it with aluminum and stuck in the pop’s sticks it it. It was a fun way to serve.

You can also fill up a container with jellybeans and stick the cookie in that. There are endless ways to make and decorate these sugar cookies.

What’s so great about this recipe is that you can make it months in advance and freeze. Take out what you need and refreeze the rest. So simple.

Also, you may want to buy several containers of colored sugars and jimmies so you’ll have plenty for coating these wonderful cookie balls.

I found this in last years Southern Living Big Book of Christmas. It’s on page 335.

Sugar Cookie Pops Recipe

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
¾ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Colored sugar, sparkling sugars, and multicolored jimmies
4” white craft sticks

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla beating until blended.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture; blending well. Cover and chill dough 2 hours or overnight.
Shape dough into1 ½” balls. Roll each ball in colored sugar or jimmies in individual bowls, pressing gently, if necessary, to coat balls. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. Insert craft sticks about 1” into each cookie to resemble a lollipop.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 11 minutes or until set. Let cool 2 minutes on baking sheets; remove cookie pops to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 4 ½ dozen.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm taking the week off---Have a great "Turkey Day". Will blog more next week.
Tricia

Libby’s Pumpkin Roll

I love this time of year with all the wonderful “pumpkin” recipes. I wanted to try this recipe because it appeared so easy but yet elegant. And I wasn’t disappointed. This is such an easy recipe to make, and you can make it and freeze, even with the filling. As a matter of fact, it will probably taste better if you froze it for a couple of days. All the wonderful spices will “mesh” in the cake.

The filling is basically a buttercream recipe that I use to frost cakes and cupcakes. This buttercream can be frozen for up to several months. So it’s a great recipe to have. I am going to make this recipe again and add ground-candied ginger to the buttercream. I made that last year and it was absolutely delicious. The ginger gave it a flair that was unbeatable. I’m going to have a “Pumpkin Roll” taste test this weekend. You can make this recipe this weekend and freeze to get ready for Thursday. You will be that much ahead for Thanksgiving dinner.

This recipe was on the back of a Libby’s Pumpkin can.

Libby’s Pumpkin Roll Recipe

CAKE:
Powdered sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup chopped walnuts (opt.)

FILLING:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
6 tbl. butter softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
powdered sugar

FOR THE CAKE: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts. (Opt.)

BAKE for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool o wire rack.

FOR THE FILLING: Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Sherry Cherry Tomatoes

I made this recipe because I needed a very fast side dish. If you need something extra for Thanksgiving Dinner and you don’t have time, this is a great recipe for you.

You can find cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes all year long in the grocery store. You will be surprised at how tasty this tomato dish is. The red pepper flakes adds a “pop” of spice that’s wonderful. The color of this dish adds a “zest”of personality to the table at fall time.

All around, this is a quick, light, and fun side to any meal at any time.

I found this recipe online.

Sherry Cherry Tomatoes Recipe

2 tbl. extra-virgin, olive oil,
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 tbl. sherry vinegar or dry sherry wine
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Preheat a skillet over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and onions. Sweat them out 2 to 3 minutes then add cherry tomatoes. Turn tomatoes to coat in fat. Add sherry vinegar or sherry, sugar, pepper flakes and salt. Toss to coat tomatoes and roast for 18 to 20 minutes

Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake

This is lovely bundt cake to give as a gift or to make for dessert. It’s also great for a “tea time”. I love all the spices that are used in this cake. When you take your first bite, it’s a “different” but intriguing flavor. No one will ever be able to know what spices are used but you. When I make this again, I would consider using just a few more cranberries.

As you bite down on the fresh cranberries, it tastes like wonderfully fresh and but yet bold bite. I just love every aspect of this cake. It’s light, but complex. I was looking for different recipes with fresh cranberries and found so many. This particular recipe had so many different spices that I was curious about.

This recipe can be made days in advanced and stored at room temperature. Bon Appetit.

I found this recipe my Epicurious Application on my i-phone.

Spiced Cranberry Bundt Cake Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
¾ cup almond flour or almond meal
1 ½ tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plain reduced-fat (2%) Greek-style yogurt
1 cup chopped toasted almonds
1 cup halved fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
½ cup dried sweetened cranberries

ICING:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp. (about) orange juice


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract, then Greek-style yogurt. Add dry ingredients; beat just until blended. Fold in almonds and all cranberries. Transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool Cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely.



FOR ICING:
Stir powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of orange juice in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Mix in more juice by ½ teaspoonfuls to reach consistency of heavy cream. Spoon icing over cake, allowing it to drip down sides.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

The reason I chose this recipe this morning was that I had 4 very ripe bananas that I didn’t want to throw away. Nor did I want to make “your typical” banana nut bread. I wanted to find something different that sounded yummy. After looking through about 6 or more cookbooks, I found this recipe. It really looked and sounded good. What I loved about this recipe is that all the ingredients were in my pantry, except for one. I didn’t have whole milk but I did have half and half. So guess what I used? Yes—the half and half. These muffins turned out so good.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if a muffin is done when some of the ingredients are bananas and/or chocolate chips. But I did the toothpick test and decided they were done in about 23 minutes. What I forgot to do, which I think is important is, when using chocolate chips for any recipe, coat them in flour before placing them in your batter. If you do that, then the chips won’t sink to the bottom of the batter. I forgot to do that one little step and I think all the chips are in the bottom of the muffins. Oh well, they’re still excellent!!!!

This is a great muffin to wake up to in the morning. This recipe came from the cookbook, “Baked”. They are on page 32.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4 medium)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup (1stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the rack.

Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Red Velvet Cake

There are so many Red Velvet Cake recipes out there that seem to be delicious. After finding two different recipes, I had a “Red Velvet Cake” taste test. This is the recipe that won!!!! This recipe is dedicated to Alexandra Hirsch. I make this for her birthday. She has told me that this is her “favorite” cake. And when one tells me she loves my cakes, then I MUST bake this for her, right?

I think what makes this recipe stand out above the other, is the butter. There are other recipes, which are still good, however those recipes call for shortening. Not to say there’s anything wrong with the cake, but the butter adds the flavor!!

I also make cupcakes and mini-cup cakes with this recipe. If you love Red Velvet Cake, you need to make this one. It is so delicious and it leaves you wanting more. I usually frost mine with plain cream cheese icing, but this recipe comes with the coconut-pecan icing. If you don’t want to add the coconut or nuts, just leave them out. This is a delicious frosting without those 2 ingredients. This is a perfect cake to make weeks in advance and freeze. You can also make the frosting in advance and keep in refrigerator until you need it. Be sure to freezer wrap the cake good if you decide to put in freezer. You don't want to cake to taste like your freezer.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite dessert books, “Southern Cakes”. It’s on page 103. Enjoy

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbl. cocoa
one 1-ounce bottle (2 tbl.) red food coloring
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tbl. cider vinegar or white vinegar

TO MAKE THE CAKE, heat the oven to 350°. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans generously, and line them with waxed paper or parchment paper. Grease the paper and flour the pans.

PREPARE THREE SEPARATE MIXTURES for the batter: combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl and use a fork to mix them together well. Stir the vanilla into the buttermilk. Combine the cocoa and the red food coloring in a small bowl, mashing and stirring them together to make a thick, smooth paste.

IN A LARGE BOWL, beat the butter with a mixer at low speed for 1 minute, until creamy and soft. Add the sugar, and then beat well for 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one, until the mixture is creamy, fluffy, and smooth. Scrape the cocoa—fold coloring paste into the batter and beat to mix it in evenly.

ABOUT A THIRD of the flour mixture, and then about half the milk, beating the batter with a mixer at low speed, and mixing only enough to make the flour or liquid disappear into the batter. Mix in another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and then the last of the flour in the same way.

IN A SMALL BOWL, combine the baking soda and vinegar and stir well. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to quickly mix this last mixture into the red batter, folding it in gently by hand. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.

BAKE at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes, until the layers spring back when touched lightly in the center and are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pans.

COOL THE CAKES in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Then turn them out on the racks, remove the paper and turn top side up to cool completely.

ICE WITH COCONUT-PECAN ICING

COCONUT-PECAN ICING RECIPE

1 cup milk
2 tbl. all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Combine the milk and flour in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking or stirring often, until the mixture thickens almost to a paste, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
2. Meanwhile, beat the butter with a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in thirds, beating well each time, until the mixture is creamy and fairly smooth. Add the cooled milk-and-flour mixture and beat to 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides now and then, to combine everything well. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir in the vanilla, coconut, and pecans, mixing to combine everything well into a thick, fluffy icing.

Brandied Apple-Raisin Bundt Cake aka Brandied Pear-Raisin Bundt Cake

After reading this recipe, I knew this is a dessert that everyone in my family would love. However, I didn’t have apples in my refrigerator, only pears. So I changed this recipe from apples to pears. That’s not the only ingredient I changed. I really don’t like regular raisins. So therefore I switched regular raisins for golden raisins.

With these minor changes, the cake was delicious. I used brandy in the raisins and glaze, which intensified the pears and added moistness to this cake. This cake improves with age, so make it a couple of days in advance and you will still have a scrumptious cake. I froze leftovers and I can only imagine how yummy this dessert will be when thawed!!! Serve this cake with ice cream or whipped cream, and you will forever be the most popular chef in your house.

I found this recipe in a small magazine from the cooking club. If you want to make this wonderful cake for the holidays, make it now and freeze it. Take it out of the freezer the day before Thanksgiving. You will be that far ahead of the game.

Brandied Apple-Raisin Bundt Cake Recipe aka Brandied Pear-Raisin Bundt Cake Recipe

CAKE
1 cup raisins (I use golden)
¼ cup brandy or apple cider (I use Brandy)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chopped peeled Braeburn or Rome apples (I used red pears)

GLAZE
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
3 tbl. water
¼ cup brandy or apple cider


1. Heat oven to 350°. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine raisins and ¼ cup brandy in small bowl; let stand 15 minutes.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat eggs, 1cup sugar and brown sugar in large bowl at medium speed 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. At low speed, beat in oil and vanilla until blended. Beat in raisins with brandy. Beat in flour mixture just until combined. Stir in apples (pears); pour into pan.
4. Bake 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat butter, ¼ cup sugar and water in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Bring to a gentle boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in ¼ cup brandy. Whisk glaze before using.
6. Invert cake onto wire rack. With thin wooden skewer, poke holes about 2 inches apart in top and sides of cake. Brush all glaze over cake. Cool completely on wire rack. (Cake can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Eggplant Marinara Flatbread

I wanted to make something different from my usual desserts. I thought since I didn’t have too many appetizers on my blog, it would be nice to add one. This is a very nice appetizer. It doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare. As a matter of fact, the only part of this recipe that needs to be cooked in advanced is the eggplant.

This is such a nice appetizer, especially if you like cheese. I used fresh mozzarella, but the recipe calls for shredded mozzarella, which can be bought already shredded. The ciabatta bread is so nice and crispy after you take it out of the oven. It’s like a pizza!! I can make a meal out of this as it is. I bought regular goat cheese, but grocery stores have different herbs that are already added to goat cheese. This will really change flavors.

When having a dinner party, this is a nice appetizer to make. Everyone loves pizza—don’t they?

I found this recipe in the October 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. It’s on page 60.

Eggplant Marinara Flatbread Recipe

4 tbl. olive oil, divided
6 1/3” to ½” inch thick eggplant rounds
1 loaf ciabatta, cut horizontally in half, trimmed to 9-inch length
1 ¼ cups purchased fresh marinara sauce
2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil plus 6 whole leaves for garnish
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle eggplant with salt and pepper. Place in skillet. Cover. Cook until tender, turning, 10 minutes. Transfer to plate. Brush cut side of bottom half o bread with rest of oil. Cook in skillet, cut side down, until golden, 1 minute.

Place bread; cut side up, on baking sheet. Spread with ¾ cup sauce. Crumble goat cheese over; sprinkle with chopped basil. Top with eggplant. Mound mozzarella on eggplant; spoon remaining sauce over.

Bake bread until topping is hot and crust is crisp, about 12 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces. Garnish with basil leaves.

“Phenomenal” Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

This is one of the absolute best Sweet Potato Pie’s that I have ever tasted-- by far!!! When most sweet potato pies are dense and have numerous spices, this particular pie is light and airy with very few spices. What makes this pie stand out above the rest is the lemon zest and freshly cooked sweet potatoes.

Erica wanted to make with this pie with me last night. She was in charge of the filling. And what a wonderful job she did. This pie was very easy to make, but time consuming. That is why we did it in two stages. We made the pie last night and I made the Marshmallow Meringue this afternoon. If you want a different type of Sweet Potato Pie for the holidays, this is one you should make. As a matter of fact, make one to take to share and one for the freezer. If you freeze this pie, do not freeze with the Marshmallow Meringue. But OMG, you won’t be sorry. You can consume this pie in one sitting. It’s that special.

Now I’m not fond of marshmallows, but this frosting was so extraordinary. It wasn’t too sweet, but so light, fluffy, and just the right amount of frosting to pie. As my husband said to me after his second helping, this was his all time favorite. I can make this any day for him. Now that’s the ultimate compliment.

I found this recipe in the November Southern Living in the grocery store now. It’s on page 124.

“Phenomenal” Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue Recipe

Be sure to lightly pack the mashed sweet potatoes in your measuring cup for a fluffy filling.

CRUST
½ package refrigerated piecrust
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 Tbl. whipping cream

FILLING
¼ cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
3 large eggs
3 cups lightly packed, cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup half-and-half
1 tbl. lemon zest
3 tbl. lemon juice
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

MARSHMALLOW MERINGUE
3 egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
¼ cup sugar
1 (7-oz.) jar marshmallow crème

1. Prepare crust: Preheat oven to 425°. Poll piecrust into a 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate; fold edges under, and crimp. Prick bottom and sides with a fork. Line piecrust with parchment paper or aluminum foil; fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 9 minutes. Remove weights and parchment paper. (This is called “blind baking”).
2. Whisk together egg yolk and cream; brush bottom and sides of crust with yolk mixture. Bake 6 to 8 more minutes or until crust is golden. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
3. Prepare filling: Stir together melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and next 2 ingredients in a large bowl until mixture is well blended. Add sweet potatoes and next 4 ingredients; stir until mixture is well blended. Pour sweet potato mixture into prepared piecrust. (Pie will be very full.)
4. Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, shielding with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Transfer pie to wire rack, and cool completely (abut 1 hour).
5. Prepare meringue: Beat egg whites and next 2 ingredients at high speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, 1 tbl. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
6. Beat one-fourth of marshmallow crème into egg white mixture; repeat 3 times with remaining marshmallow crème, beating until smooth (about 1 minute). Spread over pie.
7. Bake at 400° for 6 to 7 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned.

NOTE:
Pie can be made up to a day ahead. Prepare recipe as directed through Step 4; cover and chill up to 24 hours. Proceed as directed in Steps 5 through7.