Fall Baking! Bring On The Butterscotch!

Butterscotch Brownies

Soo...it's the middle of July! I found this fall recipe and HAD to share it with you! They are awesome brownies to make ANY time of the year. But, the color and flavor are perfect for fall. They would be a great addition to any fall gathering, especially Thanksgiving!

I stumbled upon this recipe in a church cookbook under "Late Pentecost" recipes. The brownies have a wonderful texture! Crisp on the outside from the butter and brown sugar and gooey on the inside. I topped them with mini chocolate chips. I did not put the pecans in as the recipe calls for. But, YOU should! :) Bake 'em, eat 'em, share 'em, enjoy 'em!

 Fresh out of the Oven!

 

 Original recipe

Butterscotch Brownies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 12-ounce pkg (2 cups) butterscotch chips)

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

4 medium eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans (optional, but you should totally do it.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside. In small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Using a double broiler (or pan with glass bowl) melt butter and butterscotch chips and stir until smooth. Pour mixture into a large bowl and stir in brown sugar. Cool for 5 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour mixture and pecans. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Makes 35 2-in. Squares

Recipe is from "Keeping the feast"

Cranberry Walnut Salad

"Sometimes you feel like a nut! Sometimes you don't!" Salad

Summer salads are SO refreshing and healthy! They make everyone smile. :) We made this salad for a church picnic and it was a hit! Very simple to put together. Total prep time 7 minutes!

Ingredients

8 cups of washed baby spinach 

1 Cup of sliced almonds (if you're nutty)

1 pkg of Fresh Gourmet Cranberry toppings

1/2 Cup of vinaigrette salad dressing

4 diced dried apricots

In a large bowl toss all ingredients. Add more or less nuts if you like your salads crunchy. May be seasoned with a dash of sea salt. 

ENJOY GUILTLESS SUMMER EATING! :)

"An Apple Cake A Day Keeps The Doctor Away" Cake

Fresh Apple Cake! 

 Who can resist a fresh apple cake with cream cheese frosting!? This cake is delicious! The oil in the cake makes the batter moist, yet crisp around the apples edges so they are NOT SOGGY! No one likes a cake or even a muffin that has baked fruit that is soggy. 

When making the frosting, make sure to have cream cheese at room temperature. This cake is great for breakfast or dinner! Gobble up and enjoy!

The Original Recipe

Fresh Apple Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups oil

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

3 cups chopped apples with or without skin (great either way)

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Beat oil and sugar until well blended. Add lightly beaten eggs and vanilla extract. In separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.Gradually beat into sugar mixture. Fold in apples. Batter will be thick. Spread in prepared pan and bake for 1 hour.

Cream cheese Frosting Recipe

1 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature

4 cups of sifted powdered sugar

milk

Mix cream cheese on low until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and just enough milk to your liking for spreading consistency. Spread frosting on cooled cake!

Decadent Dinner Delight

"This Little Piggy" Sandwich

My husband is a great cook. Praise the Lord because I tend to bake almost everyday but, not cook. He cooks most of our suppers. Thought I would share with you his recipe for what he calls "This Little Piggy Sandwich".

 

Ingredients: 

 

6 pork tenderloins

1 pkg. of Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

1 can of sliced pineapple

6 slices of maple bacon

6 slices of american cheese

Sweet and Tangy BBQ sauce 

Place maple bacon in frying pan. Fry until nice and crispy. Set bacon aside. DO NOT drain pan. :) Add pork tenderloins to pan. Fry pork until no longer pink. Place cooked pork tenderloins on Kings Hawaiian rolls. Top with cheese, pineapple, bacon and sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. Enjoy, "This Little Piggy"!

Patriotic Goodies

4th of July/Memorial Day

We were invited to a BBQ for Memorial Day. I thought it would be nice to bring some sweet treats that are easy to grab! My mom had sent me a recipe with Kraft Carmel Baking Chips Click here if you would like to see a photo of them. I did not know the carmel baking bits existed until she sent me a recipe from Midwest living for Salty Pecan Oatmeal Carmel Cookies (click for recipe).

These cookies are amazing! The oatmeal with the pecans and carmel throughout every bite brings SO much flavor to your mouth! 

I also decided to bake brownies from Allrecipes.com. These brownies have 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars (click for recipe)

I added  2 Tbs. of Milk to the frosting recipe. Also, I recommend melting the butter for the frosting like the reviews suggest. 

The brownies turned out great! The reviews were right! They are super moist. Not cake like. Not Fudge like. The added frosting makes them melt in your mouth!

Calling All Chocolate Lovers!

Choco Chocolate Muffins

 

Chocolate is awesome. Muffins are awesome. Having a combination of both will make anyone's breakfast perfect! This recipe creates a nice, moist textured muffin. Not too sweet. Add 2 tsp. of instant coffee or 1 cup of chocolate chips for a variation in the recipe. Also, I was able to get 18 muffins from the recipe. :) Click here for Choco Chocolate Muffins recipe

 

  

Morning Berry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Our two year old daughter's favorite color, and only color she can say is blue. Every color she points too is always "Bluuuuuuue!" That being said, these muffins were fun, because when she said "It's Bluuuuue!" I could say "Yes! You're right!" The muffins are delicious! Nice and moist. Almost taste like cake! The originally recipe calls for a variety of berries. I did just blue. But, the 4th of July is coming up and these would be great with raspberries for a 4th of July, red white and blue muffin! Click here for Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Banana's Going Bad? Here's a recipe for you!

Banana Cake With Jumbo Chocolate

 

B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Talk about a great recipe for your old bananas! I've got to tell you that I do not have a "go to" banana bread recipe. I have not found a recipe that really "wows!" me. So, this time I decided to make banana cake. This recipe did "Wow!" me. Very moist with cream cheese frosting! The recipe calls for an 8in. square pan. I used a 9x13 and topped it with the cream cheese frosting and added jumbo chocolate chips instead of nuts. Click here for delicious Banana Cake Recipe 

 

Did someone say Chocolate?

Double Chocolate Crumble Bars

This recipe comes from Waco, Nebraska. The subtitle says "These are scrumptious!" and I must agree. They have a light cake/brownie on the bottom with a marshmallow middle and a chocolate peanut butter crispy topping. The combination of the three textures is bombastic! 

The Original Recipe

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup flour

2 Tbs. cocoa

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup nuts, opitional

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 6 oz. package of chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cup Rice krispies Cereal

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla, mix well. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and nuts. Spread into a greased 9x13 glass baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over top. Return to oven for 3 minutes. In large saucepan melt chocolate chips with peanut butter. Add Rice Krispies and spread over top of baked mixture. Refrigerate and cut into bars. 

 

Fireworks In A Night Sky Frosting

The BEST Brownie Frosting

Need a sweet fast? I have a recipe for you! It's quick, it's easy...what more could you ask for?! This needs to be your "go to" recipe! I love these! They are brownies from a box that have home-made frosting, making them taste like they are 100% from scratch! Super moist and fudgy. 

Bake your favorite brownies from a box, or if you are really ambitious make 'em from scratch! I used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate baking mix. Bake as directed on box. Click here for brownie frosting recipe The key to this recipe is pouring frosting on WARM brownies. :) If you are using an 8x8 or a 9x9 baking dish make sure to half frosting recipe. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar. I only used 1/2 a cup of sugar giving the frosting more of a chocolate flavor.

Breakfast Is Served

Crispy Potatoes With Fried Eggs

I LOVE breakfast and have been craving fried eggs with home fries! Here is a great recipe for home fries. Click here for Home Fries Potato Recipe. The potatoes come out nice and crispy. NOT soggy. I used red bliss potatoes but, I'm sure the russet potatoes the recipe calls for will be just as delicious! Top your potatoes with fried eggs, sunny side up eggs, scrambled eggs...whatever you are feeling up too! Also, feel free to top with cheese and Tabasco.

 

Grandma Sponaugle's Poppy Seed Bread

SUPER Moist Poppy Seed Bread With Orange Glaze

 

When I told my husband I was making poppy seed bread, he was not thrilled. He said "I do not like poppy seed bread". But, as our house quickly filled with the aroma of a delicious baked good he HAD to try it! His reaction was "Wow, this is delicious! It's like cake! I always thought poppy seed bread was gross until this!" Haha. He can be a little dramatic. :) If you have a poppy seed bread recipe I ask you to please try this one! I guarantee you will love it!

The Original Recipe

Ingredients

3 Cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/8 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 Cup sugar

1 1/2 Cup milk

1 1/2 Tbs. poppy seed

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

Cream together sugar and vegetable oil. Add eggs one at a time beating well after addition. In separate bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, sugar and poppy seeds. Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar mixture alternating with milk and finishing with the dry ingredients. Once combined add almond, and vanilla extract. I did not use the butter flavoring. But, if you have it...go for it!

Pour batter into 2 greased bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. 

When bread is done cool on racks for 5 minutes. 

Frost in pan with Orange Glaze

Orange Glaze

1/4 Cup Orange Juice

3/4 Cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients well and pour over warm loaves. My grandma's notes say "Very good, Freezes well." 

  

Lalaloopsy Cupcake Toppers

How To Make Lalaloopsy Cupcake Toppers

 

For our daughters 4th birthday I wanted to make some sort of "character" that she liked for a birthday cake/birthday cupcake. It seemed like all of the character's she enjoyed were hard to make into a cupcake/cake. I needed something quick and easy! She likes the Ninja Turtles...Octonauts....Barbie...and those all seemed somewhat complicated to make into a cake/cupcake. So, in my pondering I looked down on the ground...and there it was! I saw our Lalaloopsy blanket and thought "AHA!" Perfect! Naturally the first thing I did was head to pinterest and look for a how to make Lalaloopsy cupcakes. And to my disappointment, everything was made out of fondant...or looked WAY too complicated to make. I needed something fast and easy! So, here are the Lalaloopsy cupcake toppers I came up with!

What You Need

 

You will need some sort of flat wafer cookie to decorate. In perusing the cookie/cracker aisle at Publix I found these "Maria Cookies" According to the package they are Spain's #1 cookie. They're a great cookie to decorate because they are sturdy and not too sweet. The butter-cream icing you will be decorating with adds a touch of sweetness to the cookie making it taste a little better. :)

Ingredients

2 pkgs of Maria cookies

1 recipe of buttercream icing

4 drops of hot pink food coloring (I used McCormick's)

9 drops of black food coloring

Piping Bag

Cake decorating tip 10

cake decorating tip 4

Separate buttercream icing into two bowls. Add black food coloring drops to one bowl and pink food coloring drops to other bowl. Stir until you have a smooth consistency and no white icing is showing.

Once colors are to your liking, fill piping bag with hot pink icing equipped with a number 10 tip. Make 3 lines in varying lengths on each side of the cookie to look like hair. Once this is done add bangs to connect the hair.

With a piping bag fitted with a number 4 tip, make the bow and think "2 triangles" All a bow is, is 2 triangles when you are cake decorating. Make black triangles with your cake decorating tip 4 and make sure they are connected to look like a bow. :) Next make 3 small lines in the form of a smile on the cookie. Change back to tip 10 and make Lalaloopsy eyes. Place on top of your favorite cupcakes! These are quick and easy!

 

 

 

Add Cheese To Your Sloppy Joe? Yes Please!

The Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joe's + Cheese and Chips

 

This is a delicious sloppy Joe Recipe by The Pioneer Woman! Forget the manwich! There are NO chunky tomatoes in this recipe. You end up with a very smooth textured sloppy Joe. The recipe has brown sugar, ketchup and is full of dried spices for a "WOW" flavor in your mouth. You'll love 'em!

Here is the link to the recipe and Add a slice of American cheese! You won't regret it!

Cinnamon In Every Bite Coffee Cake

  Buttermilk Coffee Cake

 Talk about a delicious not too sweet coffee cake! This cake is full of cinnamon with a wonderful crumb topping. It's a nice moist cake with cinnamon flavor in every bite. 

The Recipe

 

Ingredients

 

2 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup of vegtable oil

1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix flour, salt and both sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add vegtable oil and mix until ingredients crumble together. Set aside 1 cup of mixture.

In a small bowl add baking soda, beaten egg, baking powder and cinnamon to the buttermilk. Slowly pour milk mixture into flour mixture mixing until just combined. Batter will be runnie. Pour batter into a 9x13 cake pan lined with wax paper. Top cake batter with reserved crumble topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

 

ENJOY!

Mmm...Hot Milk Cake, Similar to Angel Food Cake!

Hot Milk Cake

 

 

This is a delicious spongy cake! VERY similar to an angel food cake. It's so nice and fluffy you can almost feel it jumping in your mouth!  It's a great cake that's not too rich. The brown sugar frosting compliments the cake perfectly.

The Recipe

 

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup hot milk

2 tsp. baking powder

1 scant tsp. cream of tarter

5 egg whites

pinch of salt

In a large mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar and baking powder several times. Once combined pour 1 cup of warm milk over mixture and mix well. Set aside. Beat 5 egg whites, when egg whites are half beaten add cream of tarter and pinch of salt. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into cake batter. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. 

 

A Cake...with Fruit Cocktail!? YES!

Fruit Cocktail Cake  

This recipe is one of my grandma's hand written recipes. It is her own recipe and also according to her is my aunt Donna's favorite cake. So naturally if it's my aunt Donna's favorite cake I HAD to make it. And wow! I see why that is! This is one of the moistest cakes I have ever made. And there is NO butter or oil in the recipe! You have to love old fashion recipes. I never knew that a can of fruit cocktail could taste so good.

The Original Recipe

Fruit Cocktail Cake 

Ingredients

2 eggs divided

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1 can of fruit cocktail

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pecans

In a large mixing bowl beat together sugar and 2 egg yolks. In separate bowl mix together flour and baking soda. Gradually add dry ingredients alternating with fruit cocktail. Mix until blended. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into cake mixture. Spread into a greased 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Frosting

1 Cup of sugar

1 Cup of evaporated milk

1 stick of butter

Cook all ingredients on stove top until thickened. Spread over warm cake. Eat and enjoy!

Apricot Crumb Bars

Apricot Crumb Bars

Let me just start out by saying...these are delicious! They are made with 1 1/2 cups of cooking oats to create a nice healthy crisp crumb crust. The Apricot flavor is perfectly balanced with the crumb topping! These are great because they are not too sweet.

 

The Recipe

 

Apricot Crumb Bars Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups quick oats

3/4 cup chilled butter

1 16 oz. jar of apricot preserves

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and oats. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press 2/3 of the mixture on bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Spread preserves on top (if they are too thick add a few teaspoons of water until they have reached spreading consistency.) Sprinkle with remaining crumbs and bake at 350 degrees over for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Makes about 2 dozen squares.