A Sweet Treat – Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies

After having 10 days off, it was pretty hard heading back to the office. To make it a little easier, DH and the kids spent time baking cookies so I would have a special treat to take with me. DH found a new recipe he wanted to try and of course Baby was ready to tie on her apron and get baking! I really wanted Daddy to wear the matching apron of mine, but you can probably guess how that request was received.

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 (17.5 ounce) pouch sugar cookie mix
2/3 cup raspberry baking chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy with an electric mixer, then beat in the egg until thoroughly combined.

3. Mix in the cookie mix, then stir in the raspberry chips.

4. Drop the dough about 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets with a tablespoon or small scoop. Lightly pat the cookies to flatten.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden, 9 to 12 minutes. Cool before serving.

We substituted semi sweet chocolate mini chips since they were on hand from other holiday baking. They were also kind of preferred, since our house is full of blossoming chocoholics.

Matching aprons and the threat of salmonella aside, fun was had by all.

I took a few cookies to the office when I returned, and it surely did make my day just a little bit sweeter.

What do you do to ease yourself back into the work routine after vacation?

You can find the recipe here at AllRecipes.com.

McCormick® Gingerbread Men Cookies

I love ginger flavored cookies. Gingersnaps, Spiced Wafers, you name it, they will be eaten. Having so much time off from work this year for the holiday allowed me to actually bake and decorate gingerbread cutouts with the kids. It was a wonderful day spent in the kitchen.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons McCormick® Ground Ginger
1 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions
1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
2. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well.
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
5. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
*****************************************
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface.
7. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter.
8. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
9. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown.
10. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
11. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

Making the cookies and waiting for them to cool so they can be decorated, can be a little time consuming. I know my 2 littles tend to get a little impatient. I baked and cooled the cookies while they were at the playground with Dad to save my sanity time. Then after cooling the fun can really start.

I made a simple icing for the cookies of corn syrup, milk and powdered sugar. This way the decorations would easily stick to the cookie.

Once dried, they icing was nice and shiny, and the decorations definitely stayed put.

Pretty impressive for our first attempt, if I say so myself, and they taste as good as they look!

*****************************************

Disclosure
I was in no way complensated byMcCormick® for this post. I found the recipe here on AllRecipes.com.

Super Easy Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Bread

I am completely addicited to pull apart bread lately. It brings back a number of memories of my mom baking buttery garlic pull apart to accompany our weekly spaghetti dinners. Being queen of short cuts, I tried making a pepperoni and mozzarella version using the premade pizza dough from my local Publix grocery store. The trial came out so well, I decided to make a super loaded version for a friend’s Christmas Eve party.

I was a little over zealous when buying the packages of dough, so with some of the leftover dough, I made smaller version for my own family spaghetti night. In a nutshell, this is a super simple version of the the amazing Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread over at the The Pastry Affair that started this obsessession in the first place.

Ingredients:
1 Package premade pizza dough
1/4 C Parmesan and Basil Dipping Olive Oil
2 T Garlic Powder
1/3 C Grated Parmesan cheese
Marinara sauce for dipping (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Pour flavored dipping oil in bowl
3. Cut dough into small 1″ pieces add to olive oil and toss to coat
4. Add coated dough pieces to bundt pan; layer with garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese
5. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown
6. Remove from bundt pan and serve warm with optional marinara sauce for dipping

Serious deliciousness!

What’s your favorite style of bread to accompany spaghetti night?

Dad is Great…He made us Chocolate Cake!

Well, technically, he made Baby a chocolate cake for her birthday, but we all enjoyed it.

Photo from MyBakingAddiction.com

Obviously, given the photo credit, you have to already know my husband did not make the cake you see above.

This is the cake he made.

Oh, and it gets better.

I love that DH tried to bake a chocolate cake and make homemade icing for Baby’s birthday instead of our usual store bought cake. Unfortunately, he forgot to grease the pans, and struggled to remove the cake layers from their pans. The rough texture of the cake made covering it in icing even harder. I give him an A+ for effort though. It was a very sweet gesture.

And I will also state, what the cake lacked in beauty, it made up for in flavor. The cake’s deep chocolatey flavor was delicious, and the icing had a great creamy texture. I would seriously recommend you this recipe if you are looking to make a yummy chocolate cake.

Just remember to grease your pans first.

Ingredients
Cake
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Icing
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
5 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer.
5. Stir in the boiling water by hand.
6. Pour evenly into the two prepared pans.
7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.

1. To make the frosting, use the second set of ingredients.
2. Cream butter until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the cocoa and confectioners’ sugar alternately with the milk and vanilla.
4. Beat to a spreading consistency.
5. Frost the outside of the cake.

You can find the recipe here from AllRecipes.com.

Top Ten Tuesday – An Apple a Day

As a family of four, there are very few things everyone in the family enjoys to eat. The hardest to satisfy lately is my two year old. Jed is at the stage where he only wants to eat fish sticks, dinosaur chicken nuggets, and cheese sticks.

Lately, Jed has been asking for applesauce with dinner, and he likes fresh apples too. I am always trying to offer other alternatives at meal time to get him to eat at least a few servings of fruits and vegetables per day. After this past weekend’s trip to the apple orchard, I decided to do a top ten list on ways to use apples. Hopefully we can use some of our fresh apples to make one or two ways from the list. YUM!

1. Fresh sliced apples with peanut butter
2. Southern Skillet Fried Apples
3. Mini dessert apple pies

4. Chocolate Caramel Apples
5. Apple Pie
6. Apple Cider
7. Apple Fritters

8. Apple Dumplings
9. Apple cake
10. Fruit Blended Applesauce

OK, so now I want to eat an apple.
Go figure.

What’s your favorite way to eat apples?

*************************************

Do you want to join in on the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun?
Hop on over to Oh Amanda’s blog here to see how!

Sunday Baking in the Kitchen – Low-Fat Blueberry Bran Muffins

It’s a lazy Sunday. We had a breakfast of leftover ham and hash brown casserole, DH headed out for a walk while I sipped coffee and tweeted watched some cartoons with the kids. When he returned he was was ready to bake. Baby loves blueberry muffins and he promised earlier in the week to make her some.

DH also wanted to make a version a little healthier than the store bought ones, so he found this recipe for blueberry bran muffins. He and Baby set to baking while I was upstairs working on the next installment of the great organization project of 2011, so I apologize for the lack of pictures during the making of the muffins.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup nonfat milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Grease muffin cups or use paper muffin liners.
3. Mix together wheat bran and milk, and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl, mix together applesauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in bran mixture.
5. Sift together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into bran mixture until just blended.
6. Fold in blueberries.
7. Scoop into muffin cups.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped.

The muffins turned out great! Kudos to DH for his recipe choice! The only change DH made to the recipe was substituting wheat germ for the wheat bran. They fresh blueberries had a nice pop of tartness and the muffin didn’t crumble as you took a bite. I can’t stand crumbly muffins! As I ate one, my inner Paula Deen was screaming the muffin would taste even better with some butter slathered on it, but we were trying to make a healthier version, y’all. It’s also nice DH used the mini muffin tins. This way it’s a fun treat to accompany Baby’s usual bowl of cereal breakfast.

Did you bake anything this weekend?

You can find the recipe here at AllRecipes.com.

Apple Enchiladas – Delicious Dessert for Mexican Themed Dinner

I promised to share the wonderful dessert that DH surprised us all with at the end of our Mexican pizza making fest so here it is.

You will not be disappointed.

Ingredients
1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Spoon fruit evenly onto all tortillas, sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down on lightly greased 8×8 baking pan.

We shall not speak of DH’s mad tortilla rolling skillz when he is making us dessert.

3. Bring margarine, sugars and water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

4. Pour sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with extra cinnamon on top if desired. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

5. Makes 6 large tortillas; may be cut in half to serve 12.

I personally thought the sauce was too sweet. I think it would definitely benefit from cooking longer to really bring out the carmelized notes. Next time we may just bake the enchiladas without the sauce and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Or after cooling slightly, we may try drizzling with honey or a little warm caramel sauce.

This was definitely a fun ending to our Friday night fiesta. You can find the recipe here from AllRecipes.com.

What’s your favorite dessert after eating Mexican food?

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

One of the fun events I am planning to attend at the  BlogHer conference this week is the Quaker Wake Up Workout and Breakfast with Bob Harper. And yes, it is THE Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser. There is also going to be a workout with Bob segment before breakfast, but I didn’t try and get in sadly space was extremely limited and I wasn’t selected.

Ironically, the same week I registered for the breakfast, DH asked if I liked oatmeal raisin cookies. Seems he saw the recipe on the Quaker Oats canister in the pantry and was itching to bake again after his last success.

Who was I to stop him? Right?

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies*

Ingredients:
1/2 C. plus 6 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
3 C. Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 C. raisins

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
5. Add oats and raisins; mix well

Since we are not fans of raisins in oatmeal cookies, DH substituted cherry juice infused Craisins. They give the same nice chewy texture, but change the flavor to slightly more fruity note.

6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets;

9. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

I would definitely request DH make these cookies again. They were delicious and what I really liked about them was the sweetness level. They were not super sweet like a store bought cookie, and as much as our family likes dried fruit, the variations are endless. I am thinking I may request dried cherries next time and a little raspberry extract to brighten up the berry flavor. Maybe even a batch to take on the plane with me to share with some friends in San Diego?

Are you coming to BlogHer?
Want to meet for some coffee and oatmeal cookies?
I’d be more than happy to share!

**********************************
* Recipe courtesy of the Quaker Oats container lid.

Disclaimer – Even though I am attending the Quaker sponsored breakfast at BlogHer, I was not compensated in any way for this recipe post. We just happen to like oatmeal cookies and all opinions are my own.

Treats From My Sweet – Lemon Bars

My husband and I have very different personalities. We do things very differently when it comes to everyday household duties and my ocd self sometimes has to let go a little since he is the one home during the day to get things done. One of the funniest things is his groceery shopping routine. He will go to our local Super Target 2-3 times a week for 5-6 items at a time. Sometimes he will search out recipes and go for just the ingredients he is missing.

I, on the other hand, will do BIG shops. I stock the pantry and extra freezer so we have everything for daily meals. Every few weeks, when the pantry starts looking anemic, we gather the kids and all head out to do a big shop together. On a recent trip, DH and I were discussing his new found interest in baking and I was giving a narrated tour of the baking aisle. I stopped and saw a box of lemon bars (which are my all time favorite). I told him that’s what he needed to make sometime…lemon bars. He agreed in that whatever you say tone, and as we moved on I admitted that I have never actually made lemon bars, not even the boxed variety.

Days passed and life moved on until one day I came in from work and what do you think I saw on the kitchen island right smack in the center…..

LEMON BARS!

My husband baked for me.
I honestly couldn’t believe it.

It was such a sweet gesture, and they were quite tasty so you know I had to share the recipe with all of you!

*************************************

Annemarie’s Lemon Bars
Ingredients – crust
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar

Ingredients – filling
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

2. To make crust mix together the butter, 1 1/3 cups flour and 1/4 cup sugar with a fork until crumbly.
Press into an 8 inch square pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Crust will look white. Do not brown.

3. Combine the eggs, 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, baking powder and lemon juice in a blender.
Blend until well mixed.

4. Pour filling over pre-baked crust.

5. Return to oven and bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let bars cool before cutting.

*************************************

I’m still a little bowled over by my husband’s cuteness. If you feel inclinded to make something sweet for your sweetie, check the recipe out over here. The crust was super buttery and almost like a shortbread cookie. The lemon flavor in the filling was not overpowering and was more cake like than the usual gel like filling I am used to, but totally delicious just the same.

What’s your favorite sweet treat to eat?

Sugar Coma Festival – Spring 2011

Love all things sweet?  Then you would have loved the Sugar Coma Festival – Spring 2011 Edition!  Shameeka Ayers (aka The Broke Socialite) put on a super sweet affair and I was there to enjoy every lip smackin’ bite.

30 plus vendors were gathering in an open gallery to sample their treats.  I needed to be there.  I had previously attended The Broke Socialites Sugar Coma Redux and knew that this event would be even more awesome.

Being a Sunday I was a little worried. I try and give DH a little free time since he is with this kids all week while I am at the office. When I registered for the event, I saw children were welcome, and up to age ten they were free of charge. Problem solved. DH was able to enjoy a kids free day watching the G Braves, while I wrangled had the children with me.

I did get a few minutes to scarf down some bite sized cupcakes check out some vendors sans kids.

Elegant Event Sitters sponsored an out of the way area complete with crafts for kids. Baby and Jed both enjoyed icing and decorating cookies and coloring adorable cupcake shaped cards.

There were cookies by Tank Goodness Atlanta, which by the way is a business that will deliver warm cookies and cold milk to your door.

There were cake pops and cupcakes for miles! Lenox Cupcakes even had a Bacon Maple Cupcake and of course I had to try it!

There was cotton candy by Crave Cotton Candy Factory.

And OH MY there was ice cream High Road Craft Ice Cream & Sorbet and The Pop Shop.

Many of the vendors are still building their businesses. They rent space in commercial kitchens as opposed to the traditional brick and mortar store fronts. They need us to support them. I could go on for hours attempting to describe all the delicious flavors that I sampled, but I would not due their creators justice.

However, I think this picture sums it all up quite nicely.

Disclaimer
I bought a ticket to this event.
All sampling and tastings were included in the price of the event.
If you don’t get yourself a ticket to the next event you might end up kicking yourself.