Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Fruity Cream Cheese Coffee Cake- New Favorite!

I was looking on pinterest for something to make a few nights ago, as usual. My guinea pig (aka: my mom), requested something fruity and cream cheese. I didn't have the time or patients for a cheesecake, so I just kept looking at 'pins' until one recipe caught my eye. It's a raspberry cream cheese crumble coffee cake. I am so glad I stumbled across this recipe. I changed it a little to make it my own, and it's one of my new favorites. It's pretty sweet so it works as breakfast or dessert. My mom took some to her bible study and it was gone when she came home, which always makes me feel good! So I really recommend making it soon. ps- it has a lot of ingredients and steps, but I promise it is super easy! Here's what you'll need
 Butter, sugar, eggs, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, sour cream, oil, milk, cream cheese, and of course you're favorite flavor jam. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.. no sifting necessary!
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, melted butter, oil, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Pour into the dry mixture
Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just combined
 Scoop into a well greased 9x13 baking sheet
Once all of the batter is in the pan, spread out evenly. It doesn't have to be perfect, this is a pretty easy going recipe
Set that aside and start on the next layer. Combine softened cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl
whisk together until there are no lumps. Spread over the coffee cake batter
Now scoop a jar of jam on top.. yes a whole jar. I didn't and I regretted it. I was debating between raspberry or blackberry, but we didn't have raspberry, so blackberry it was
Lastly, create you're crumble topping. In a bowl, throw together brown sugar, flour,  salt, and cinnamon
Mix it up, add in sliced butter
Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut the butter in.. OR to make it fun, use your hand
Once you're mixture represents chunks, sprinkle over the jam
Once again, this seems like a lot.. but you gotta trust me, it was the best part because the cake alone is not very sweet and this topping helps it out a whole lot. Pop that in the oven
When it is finished baking, pull it out and cool completely! Store in the fridge up to 3 days because of the cream cheese. My favorite way to serve it was room temp with some extra fruity love all over it
Great for a ladies brunch, or just an everyday sweet/breakfast. Here's the recipe.. enjoy :)

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cake:
¼ cup oil
½ stick unsalted butter, melted
2 TB sour cream
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup + 2 TB milk or half & half
2 tsp vanilla extract
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a separate, microwavable bowl, melt the butter. Add in all the remaining ingredients and whisk together until there are no lumps. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Fold these mixtures together by hand until just combined. Scoop batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Spread out evenly; set aside.

Cream cheese mixture:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
3 TB sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and well combined. Spread evenly over the uncooked cake batter; set aside.

Fruit layer:
1 jar of your favorite flavor jam (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, etc.)

Pour jam/jelly over the cream cheese mixture and carefully spread out, being careful not to mix the jam into the cream cheese mixture; set aside.

Crumb topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced in TB

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Add the cubed butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or 2 knives.. or your hands. Whatever floats your boat. Once your mixture resembles course crumbles, sprinkle it over the jam layer, completely covering the cake. Pop in the oven at 350 degrees. Bake about 30-40 minutes, testing with a butter knife to check if it is done. It will be pretty buttery on top from the crumb topping, but that just makes it even better. Cool before serving. If desired or for decoration, serve with an extra scoop of jam on top and a glass of milk. Store left-over's in the fridge up to three days.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

PB&J Blondies

I don't know if yall have figured it out yet, but my sister and I are kinda obsessed with peanut butter and jelly combo. So why not put it in all of your favorite desserts?! This is just a basic blondie recipe with peanut butter and jelly swirled into it. Little kids love these and they are super easy. Of course, I got the recipe from pinterest and tweeked it a little. Ps, if you don't have pinterest.. sign up for one asap. I mean it. So here's what you'll need for these babies:
 Butter, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, reese's peanut butter chips, peanut butter, and your favorite flavor jelly (I used strawberry). In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Add packed brown sugar
Stir together; add vanilla and egg
Beat those ingredients in until well combined. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pb chips
Scoop your finished batter in a greased foil lined baking dish
Spread out evenly. Scoop tablespoonful amounts of peanut butter over the blondies
Fill the open spots with a generous amount of jelly
Using a butter knife, swirl pb and jelly into the blondie batter
Bake in a preheated oven
Let cool on a wire rack. You can see the melty pb and gooey jelly.. and these are definitely gooey. Slice and serve!

PB&J Blondies
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup pb chips
creamy peanut butter
your favorite flavor jam

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Add brown sugar  and mix well. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Then add in the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and pb chips. Once well combined, scoop into a foil lined and greased 9x13 pan. Scoop desired amounts of pb and jelly over unbaked brownies. Swirl in with a butter knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes. Cool completely. Slice, serve, enjoy.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Whatever You Got cookies

Sorry it has been forever since our last post! We have been baking more than ever, but we had some technical difficulties.. First, I broke the camera.. so I couldn't take pictures. Then, we couldn't access the blog because we have conflicting accounts or something. Too complicated for me, but I somehow found determination to figure it out! So here we are, better late than never, right? Onto, food.. the other night my mom was having the usual sweet tooth, and as usual it was my duty to fulfill it. So I go look around the pantry trying to figure out something new and creative. She wanted white chocolate, there were some oreo's I felt the need to get rid of, and what goes better with oreo's than peanut butter? So, I grabbed the jar of peanut butter as well. Then I was feeling really unhealthy, so I added oatmeal.. problem solved. What do you get when you throw all of that together? A white chocolate oatmeal peanut butter oreo cookie. That's right. Weird I know, but I am telling you.. these flavors were amazing together. Here's what you'll need to make this crazy thing
Butter, peanut butter, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, flour, baking soda, oats, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and oreo's! Place butter and peanut butter in a large microwave safe bowl
gotta love that stuff... Now microwave 30 seconds at a time until melted. Stir until well combined. Add both sugars
Stir those in well. Next, add your eggs and how ever much vanilla your heart deisres
Whisk together well, add your remaining ingredients
Fold all that together until well combined. My spatula wasn't doing the trick, so I went with the old fashioned way...
This way you get to lick your fingers when you're done. Perfect. Lick and wash your hands. Scoop dough into balls, making sure you get a little of each ingredient into each cookie
Bake about 8 or 9 minutes, no more.. nobody likes a frisbee for a cookie
Cool on baking sheet about a minute or two. Scoop off onto foil or cooling wrack. You can wait until cool, or if you don't have patients, dig in
Remaining dough can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container up to 3 days. Hope you enjoy these! Also, if you are not crazy about oreo's or white chocolate, you can omit them and add whatever else you can find in your pantry. Peanut butter is a great team with about anything. 

 White Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 cup of old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/3 cup of your favorite peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
10 oreo cookies, chopped (may use more or less)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add butter and peanut butter to a large microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second intervals until melted; stir together well. Let cool. Add both sugars, mixing well. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Add remaining ingredients and fold in until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to bring it all together. If necessary, add 2 teaspoons of milk, but I did not need this. Scoop the dough into balls and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the middle is no longer gooey. Do not over bake. Let cool on baking sheet about a minute, transfer to foil or cooling wrack. Serve warm or cool completely. Enjoy!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Copy Cat Great Harvest Bread

This past summer, we got a Great Harvest Bread Company. They make all the breads there and they are all amazing. My very favorite was the garlic cheddar bread. It had melty cheese inside of the bread, I was just amazed. WEll, thanks to Pinterest.. I found a copycat recipe of that bread. That being said, I made it right away and so should you :) Here's what you'll need
Milk, yeast, salt, flour, sugar, butter, cheddar cheese, and garlic. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, salt, and yeast
In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, butter, and milk until fully melted and combined
Remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes. Pour into the flour and yeast mixture
Stir that together on low speed until just combined. Knead in remaning flour. Add shredded cheese and minced garlic
Knead those ingredients into the bread. Roll into a ball, then cover in oil
Cover with a thin, warm and slighty damp towel; set aside and let rise about an hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down and let all the air bubbles out
Place the bread in a greased loaf pan. Top with more garlic and cheese. Place in a preheated oven and bake
Let the loaf cool in the pan about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely
I hope you like cheese, because this recipe is not shy on the cheese. Slice 
And, if thats not enough garlic for you, add some garlic butter
Enjoy! Whatever is left-over, store in tight wrapped foil. Before eating again, I put it back in the oven, still in the foil and heated it up.

Copy Cat Garlic Cheddar Bread

  • 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 c. flour
  • 1 T. yeast
  • 1 c. milk
  • 2 T. butter or margarine
  • 2 T. sugar
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded Sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 c. flour and yeast.

2. Add the milk, butter or margarine, sugar and salt to a small saucepan. Heat until warm and the butter is completely melted. Add to mixing bowl and stir by hand or beat with an electric mixer until combined. Slowly add remaining flour until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky. Add 1 1/4 c. cheese (reserve remaining cheese) and garlic until combined.
3. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for at least 1 hour.
4. Punch dough down and remove from bowl. Form dough into an oval-shaped loaf and place on a baking sheet. Or place in a well greased loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and a little more garlic.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.
The garlic in the bread is purely a matter of taste. Feel free to add more, less or omit all together. You could also cut it into slivers instead of mincing it if you prefer chunks of garlic. Slice up and slab on some garlic butter if you would like. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Better late than never right? It's still November, which means it is still pumpkin season. The last pumpkin recipe of the year, pumpkin cupcakes or cake.. whatever you prefer. This cake is so moist and flavorful.. just make it today before you get the christmas flavor craving. Here's what you'll need
Oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and of course, pumpkin. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar
Beat together until combined. Add vanilla and oil
Mix it all together; add in all your dry ingredients
Stir on low speed until just combined. Now its time for the pumpkin
Stir it in until well combined, but being careful not to overmix. Scoop batter into lined cupcake pans
Bake!
Pop those babies out of the pan and let cool completely. While cooling prepare the cream cheese frosting. Here's the step by step frosting recipe that we've made many times before
If you want to change it up a little, you can make cinnamon cream cheese frosting. The only difference is adding a little cinnamon when you add the powdered sugar. Simple as that. Frost and decorate with those little pumpkin candy corns.. which is optional, I just wanted an excuse to buy them :)
Store these in the fridge.. enjoy you're last pumpkin fix for a while and happy late Thanksgiving! 

Pumpkin Cupcakes
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 heaping cup pumpkin

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar; beat together. Add vanilla and oil, mixing until well combined. Stir in the dry ingredients on low speed until just combined. Dump in the pumpkin and stir, being careful not to overmix. Scoop into mini lined cupcake pans. Bake at 350 degress for about 10-15 minutes. Cool in pans for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. While cooling, preare the frosting.

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, almost room temp.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft
2 tsp. vanilla
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon, if using. Beat until well combined and there are no lumps. If using pecans, fold in. Frost cupcakes and enjoy! Keep stored in fridge.

... This recipe is split in half. If you want to make a cake, double the recipe and bake in 8 inch round cake pans for 25-30 minutes or a bundt pan for 40-50 minutes.