Cheesecake Brownies and My Famous Oatmeal Cookies

Originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009

Cheesecake Brownies

3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup softened cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350. Melt together butter and cocoa. Whisk into a bowl with sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour half into a 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. In another bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and flour. Pour oven bottom brownie layer. Drop in the rest of the brownie goo and swirl with a knife or fork. Bake for 35 min. Let cool, refrigerate for 4-8 hours, or more. Cut into squares.

Mmmm, cheesecake and brownie together....

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together sugars and butter. Stir in eggs, vanilla and milk. Add in flour, soda and powder. Mix in rolled oats. Mix in chocolate chips and stir until well blended. Bake for 10 min.

This is the traditional recipe I've been making for years. And I forgot to take a picture, but chances are most people I know have had them once before. EDIT: Picture now added.

Butter Tarts and Homemade Candy

These were originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009. I just made the candy again last night, with a twist!

Butter Tarts

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frozen tart shells (unsweetened)

Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs. Add other ingredients and mix well. Spoon into tart shells. Bake at 425 for 10 min and then reduce heat to 350 and bake for a few more minutes until pastry is lightly browned.

Homemade Old Fashioned Sugar Glass Candy

2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup corn syrup (you're supposed to use light but I used regular)
1 tsp flavouring
A few drops of food colouring
Candy thermometer

Cover cookie sheet in parchment paper. In a heavy bottomed saucepan stir together sugar, water and syrup until sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a boil and cook until candy thermometer reaches 300-310 F or 149-154 C. Remove from heat and stir in flavouring and food colouring. Immediately pour onto cookie sheet. Break into pieces when cool.

This was my first attempt at making candy and I didn't expect it to turn out well. But it did! It was tasty, although I didn't put in any flavouring or food colouring but I will next time.

I made these again only this time I mixed some Kool-aid powder in with 1 1/2 tbsp of water and then mixed that in instead of the food colouring and flavouring. Mmmmm, cherry candy

Vanilla Pretzels

Originally posted June 8, 2009

I made these this afternoon because I had 3 egg yolks left over after the cupcakes I made on Saturday. The recipe's out of my Christmas cookies magazine and I've been eying it for a while.

Plain Vanilla Pretzels

6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
Pearl decorating sugar (I don't know what this is but it's just for decoration so I used icing sugar instead)

Beat butter and flour together. Add in baking powder and salt. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Then gradually add milk and flour. Gather the mixture into two balls and chill for 4-24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Pinch off a bit of dough at a time and roll into a rope about 9 inches long on a lightly floured surface. Twist dough into pretzel shape. Beat together final egg and water and brush over pretzels. Sprinkle with decorating sugar. Bake for 13-15 min.

I made these again a few weeks later and I dipped some in chocolate and covered some in sprinkles. The results were pretty tasty.

Crepes and Crack Bars

Originally posted on Facebook June 28, 2009

This morning I was up a little early. So I made Crepes. Crepes have always been a special treat breakfast in our house because they take so long to make. When I was little I always thought that was because they took hours to chill. But it turns out it only takes one hour to chill. Anyway, so if you're up early and want to make a tasty breakfast or brunch, these are pretty awesome. (Although not filling at all)

Crepes
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl beat together eggs, milk, water and butter. Then add flour, sugar and salt. Stir until smooth. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Stir before cooking.
(I don't actually know how to do the cooking part, the following is my best description of how my parents cook these things) Drop a small amount of batter into the pan. Tilt the pan around to spread the batter. Cook until bubbles form on one side. Carefully flip and brown the other side. Transfer onto a plate for serving. Serve with lemon juice and icing sugar. (Or your favourite crepe toppings)

These are amazing and get eaten far to fast for a picture to be taken.

Originally posted on Facebook, June 7, 2009

These are a family favourite of ours. The boys and their friends call them crack bars because you can never eat just one. They're good for breakfasts, lunches and swapping with your friends to get better lunch food. They're great because they're so tasty and filling.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup margarine
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. Beat together peanut butter, sugar, syrup, margarine, egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake for 20 min, cool before cutting.

All the ingredients after the rolled oats are optional. I usually use sunflower seeds, wheat germ and chocolate chips.

Cupcake Fest: Part 3

Part 3 of the Cupcake Fest is entirely devoted to Grad Cupcakes. The idea for these cupcakes came from the immensely talented Bakerella. I made two rounds of them with two different flavours of cupcakes each time.

Decadent Brownie Cups
1 cup butter (margarine)
* 4 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
Mini peanut butter cups

*Each Unsweetened chocolate square can be substituted with 3 tbsp of cocoa powder and 1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 18 muffin cups. Melt together chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and mix with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Then add flour and salt. Spoon into muffin cups. Press a peanut butter cup into the centre of each. Bake for about 18 minutes.

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
**8 (1 oz) squares semi sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

**I substituted 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips for the semi sweet chocolate squares. They can be easily melted in the microwave

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 18 muffin cups. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add oil, milk, eggs and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate until well mixed. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Bake 25-30 min.

Chocolate Surprise

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
1 cup chocolate chips, melted
30 mini Reeces peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 30 muffin cups. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. In another bowl beaet sugar and butter. Add milk and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture slowly. Add egg whites. Stir in melted chocolate. Spread one heaping tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Add one mini peanut butter cup and then cover with more batter. Bake 24-26 min.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 18 muffin cups. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Beat butter and peanut butter together. Beat in sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add in flour mixture and milk alternating in small batches. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake 23-25 min.

For the peanut butter frosting I just added an extra 1/2 cup or so of peanut butter to my regular frosting recipe.

For the grad hat toppers. Take a mini Reeces cup, turn it upside down. Put some frosting on the top. Top with a square chocolate. Then add a Reeces pieces and a licorice, securing with more frosting.

Oh, and as a note, I think I should add my frosting 'recipe'

I don't really have a recipe for icing. Basically you start with 1/4 cup or so with butter and stir in a cup or so of icing sugar. Then you add a teaspoon of vanilla, a few tablespoons of milk and enough icing sugar until it is the consistency you want. For chocolate icing just add 1/3 cup or so of cocoa powder to the second batch of icing sugar addition.

Cupcake Fest: Part 2

I made these for a youth group get together a few weeks ago, originally posted June 14, 2009

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

1 package of white cake mix
1 cup water
3 egg whites
2 tbsp vegetable (canola) oil
1 can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
Red food colouring

Preheat oven to 350, prepare 24 muffin cups. Mix together cake mix, water, egg whites, oil and and some of the pink lemonade. (The recipe book says 1/3 cup but I didn't think that tasted very pink lemonade-y so I used about half the container, basically put in as much or as little as you want) Add in some food colouring to make them as pink as you like. Spoon into muffin cups, bake for 18-22 minutes.

For icing, I just made my basic icing and added some of the pink lemonade until it tasted pink lemonade-y then I added more icing to thicken it up. But then I was running out of icing sugar which is why the icing in the pictures doesn't look very solid.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (margarine), softened
2 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
1 cup crushed Oreos (about 10)

Preheat oven to 350, prepare 24 muffin cups. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in sugar. Add milk, butter and vanilla. Add egg whites and stir. Mix in oreos. Bake 20-25 min.

I iced these with just regular vanilla icing and topped them with more crushed oreos.

I made these for my Young Adults group a week or so ago. Originally posted July 12, 2009

Hazelnut Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup Nutella
1/3 cup butter (margarine), softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk

More Nutella

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 18 muffin cups. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine Nutella and margarine until smooth. Beat in sugar then eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Spoon butter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. When cooled, frost with Nutella. Top with chopped hazelnuts.

These were pretty amazing. Although I think it was entirely the amount of Nutella involved. The cupcake parts weren't particularly special but with the Nutella frosting they were pretty tasty. I think in the future I'd just make regular chocolate cupcakes, throw hazelnuts into the batter and then frost with Nutella. But still, they went over well at YA, one person I know at at least 3.

Cupcake Fest: Part 1

I've made a lot of cupcakes since I started with my bake-a-thon. So I'll post them all in a row over the next few days, starting with the first ones I made.

Froot Loop Cupcakes - originally posted March 6, 2009

This week I thought I should make some kind of cupcakes and I wanted to try some non-chocolate ones. I found this recipe in the LiveJournal community bakebakebake.


Froot Loop Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter (I used margarine)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
Zest from 1 Lemon
Zest from 1 Orange
1 1/2 cups Froot Loops
(Optional, but recommended) Icing Sugar

Preheat oven to 350, Line 12 muffin cups
Cream butter. Add sugar to butter and continue to cream. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla.
In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk. (ie mix in some flour then some milk then more flour then more milk ect.)
Add the lemon and orange zest.
Spoon batter into muffin cups and then sprinkle generous amounts of Froot Loops onto each cupcake.
Bake for 20-25 minutes then let them cool completely before sprinkling icing sugar on the tops.

So, I really like cupcake part of this recipe but unfortunately baking the Froot Loops makes them a little dry and stale. I think little kids would probably love these and they're really easy to make but I'm not sure if I'll make them again. I'll probably use the cupcake part of this recipe again because they were very tasty cupcakes.

Sorry about the quality of the picture, I didn't have a camera so I had to angle the webcam on my computer to take a picture without getting icing sugar all over it.

EDIT: Okay, I felt I had to add this. These cupcakes are good the first day you make them only! The cake part is still good the next day but the Froot Loops turn into these weird chewy soggy fruit loops. So I would suggest only making these the day you plan to eat them. They are not good after that.

These cupcakes are, however, amazing, if instead of Froot Loops, you top them with:

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz (half a package) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Icing sugar (about 3 cups)
Yellow Food Colouring

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Beat in about a cup of icing sugar and the lemon juice. Continue adding icing sugar until it is the desired consistency. Then add some yellow food colouring.

This is pretty tasty icing! I liked it, its lemony and sweet and pretty good. But it made too much for the dozen cupcakes that the froot loops recipe made so I decided to make some more cupcakes. So I found this recipe.

Lemon-Lime Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups butter (or margarine), softened
3 cups white sugar
5 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon extract
3 cups flour
3/4 cup of lemon-lime pop (ie Sprite or 7-Up, I used Sprite Zero because its what I had)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs, one at a time. Add in the lemon extract and some of the flour. Add the rest of the flour and the pop in small bits alternating between the two. So add a little flour, a little pop, a little flour, a little pop ect. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Decorate with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing.