Banana Oatmeal Cookies - May 27, 2012

I got this recipe from my cooperating Kindergarten teacher when I was student teaching. I don't care for bananas, but I like the flavor of them baked into things. These cookies are yummy and I have no problem eating them any time of the day. I think they have less sugar in them than banana bread does, and more good-for-you stuff, so I see no issue with eating them for breakfast.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 c. shortening

1 egg

1 c. mashed bananas

1 3/4 c. oatmeal

Mix wet ingredients together, then slowly mix in dry ingredients. I used more flour because the dough seemed pretty runny. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes (or a smidge longer).

Husband Review:

All I got was "they're good". I liked them, and my daughter loved them. Like I said before, I feel no shame in eating a couple for breakfast as there is only 1 cup of sugar in them.

Coffee Cake - May 20, 2012

So, it's Mother's Day today (not when I post this) and I woke up and checked facebook and saw that a friend of mine had posted a photo of her grandmother's coffee cake. I immediately got a craving, and because it was Mother's Day, I decided to indulge my craving and my little girl and I set to work.

Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

4 Tbsp. shortening (melted)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp shortening - melted (I used butter)

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all cake ingredients together and scrape into a 8x8 glass pan. (I sadly don't have an 8x8 glass pan, so I used a rectangular ceramic dish). Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over the cake batter. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I had to bake it almost 10 minutes longer because my middle would not bake.) Once it comes out of the oven sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top (or powdered sugar, or make a glaze).

Husband Rating:

This guy likes cinnamon flavored stuff. He came home right as it was cooling, and he ate my test photo plate. He said it was good. I just went and grabbed another piece just now, and noticed that a whole row was missing. I think he liked it a little more than "it was good". ;)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars - May 13, 2012

A recipe I found in my recipe book. I love me some peanut butter/chocolate combos. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Ingredients:

1 c. margarine

2 eggs

1 c. peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 c. flour

1 bag chocolate chips

Cream together margarine, eggs, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix thoroughly. Finally add the chocolate chips and mix. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Husband Rating:

My husband likes the peanut butter/chocolate combo more than I do, so these were a hit with him. For some reason all my chocolate chips sunk to the bottom and formed a chocolate layer, but the taste was the same: delicious.

Carrot Cake - May 6, 2012

I like carrot cake. Mmmm. It's so good, and it has carrots in it, so it's got to be good for you, right? Right?! ;) My husband and I had a date night a while back and went to this restaurant in Madison that made this delicious carrot cake. We ordered a couple things off the dessert menu, and decided to take the carrot cake home to eat later that weekend. Well, it made it home, but didn't make it in the fridge. :) Since then, I've been meaning to make my own. I've never made a carrot cake before, so I thought, what the hey, and found a recipe and bought the ingredients...

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups shredded carrots

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I didn't put walnuts in ours because we had a friend over that doesn't like nuts in baked goods... boo)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of one 13x9-inch pan or two 8-inch or 9-inch round pans with shortening; lightly flour. (I used two round pans with parchment paper cut to fit the bottom. It was very easy to pop out onto a cooling rack after baking this way.) In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. (I, of course, used my fork mixing method.) Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the salt; beat on low speed 1 minute. Stir in carrots and nuts. Pour into pan(s). Bake 13x9-inch pan 40 to 45 minutes, round pans 30 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (You may have to bake longer. I had to bake about 5-7 minutes longer.) Cool rectangle in pan on cooling rack. Cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable. Frost 13x9-inch cake or fill and frost round layers with frosting. Store in refrigerator.

Husband Rating:

He said the frosting was amazing, but the cake tasted "eggy". I loved it. It was just what I needed at that time of night. Mmmmm. While it was cooling, our dog took it upon herself to taste it to make sure it was good enough for human consumption. I was able to salvage half of the one cake she took a bite of and the other one was fine, so I made a sort of lopsided tower. It didn't look too pretty, but it was still good.

Cream Cheese Bars - April 15, 2012

I'm terribly sorry for not posting on Sundays like I had originally planned. Dan and I found out we were pregnant with baby number 2 and it's been a little difficult to stomach making a lot of these desserts. :) But, I'm not giving up, so you'll get a recipe every week, but I can't guarantee it will be early in the week.


These bars are super rich and yummy. You don't need a whole lot of ingredients and it's simple. I made this and my husband ate the whole thing within a couple days. He's a fan.

 Cream Cheese Bars

Ingredients:

2 cans crescent rolls

2 (8oz) pkgs. cream cheese

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg (separated)

Roll 1 can of rolls on bottom of greased 9x13-inch pan. (I usually bake the bottom layer for about 8 minutes before going to the next step. Otherwise I find that it's really doughy and I don't like that.) Cream together the cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and egg YOLK. Spread on top of rolls in pan. Spread remaining can of rolls on top, stretching to cover the entire area. Beat egg white and brush on top. Sprinkle sugar on top, about 1/4 cup. (I never sprinkle sugar on top... but mainly because I always forget.) Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes. 

Husband Review:

He LOVES this stuff. My mom made it for the first time for us years ago, and he just loves it. I can't describe it any other way... he just loves it. It's really delicious and very simple to make. There's that perfect amount of flakiness paired with the gooey creaminess of the center. Yum, I'm thinking about making this again soon.

Jello Poke Cupcakes - April 8, 2012

Once in awhile, back in the day, we had jello cake for dessert in our school lunch. I always loved this cake, but never really thought much about it after I left high school. I came across this recipe on pinterest (of course) and I had to try it out.

Jello Poke Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box white cake mix

(eggs, oil, water per box directions)

1 box (standard size) jello mix (any flavor) I used strawberry

1 container white whipped frosting

Follow directions on the box on how to make the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes are done baking, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Then take a fork and poke a bunch of holes in the top of each cupcake. Mix the jello mixture with 1 cup boiling water. Spoon the dissolved jello juice over each cupcake letting the juice seep into each hole. (*This was extremely messy for me. I ended up putting the cupcakes in a pan and then spooned the jello over each one. A lot of the jello runs off the cupcake into the pan and creates a giant mess... you've been warned.) Chill in the fridge for about 2-3 hours to let set. (*I had hungry cupcake lovers at my house, so I only let mine set for about a 1/2 hour... but they still turned out good.) Once completely set, frost and eat!

 This is what it looked like before I frosted it.

Next time, I'll try to get more juice in the cupcake so it seeps down more.

Husband Review:

These were a huge hit for our family. We had them for Bella's (first) 2nd birthday party. They were very delicious. I'm not a fan of cake myself, and I loved these guys. (I should explain... I'm not a fan of most cakes... I do like angel food and a lot of white cakes like this one. Chocolate cake? Not so much. I think it has to do with the frosting - blech.) I will definitely be making these again. I saw a variation on this where the blogger used lemon cake with lemon jello and lemon frosting. I think my parents would like that one. You can make it to fit any color theme. Red, white, and blue anyone?

Crepes - April 1, 2012

I love making crepes in the morning. I have a recipe that I got when I was in 5th grade, and I absolutely love it! I make these once in awhile for the family, and more often for just my daughter and I. Enjoy.

Crepes

Ingredients:
1 C. flour
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. milk
2 eggs

Beat eggs, add milk and rest of the ingredients. Take 1/3 c. of the batter and pour into a greased frying pan and swirl the batter around until it coats the pan and is really thin. Cook over medium heat until it's brown, flip and brown the other side. These don't take long to cook. Fill with your favorite filling: syrup, fruit, preserves, etc.

Husband Review:

Dan likes my crepes. He eats them like a pancake with butter and syrup. I think the only thing he doesn't like about these little guys is that you can only make one at a time and you can eat them a lot faster than you can make them. I can never make them fast enough. I like mine 3 different ways: with butter and powdered sugar, with Nutella filling, and just plain. These are really good, and really easy to make.