Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Mini Donut Muffins

Posted on April 22, 2011
Filed Under Snacks, Sweet rolls and Coffee cakes

If cooking was basketball, this would be a slam dunk! Seriously, these little things are aWeSOmE!!! (I only put 3 exclamation marks there because I know some people get annoyed when bloggers go wild with exclamation marks, but in my mind, I’m adding about 30 more.) You’ve gotta try them… your taste buds will love you. They won’t take much of your time… 40 min from walking into the kitchen to popping one in your mouth.

STOP.

What was it that you could be doing 40 minutes from now?

Ok, just wanted to be sure you caught that.

Here’s a little unnecessary tidbit… I made these with one hand. I was going to quickly get them into the oven before putting Megan down for a nap. Well, just as I was ready to start, she got crabby and clingy, it was over, naptime was NOW.
Unless I was holding her.
So, I thought ‘oh well, no age is too young to start training a little cook’. Actually, I didn’t think that, I just thought it right now, but it would’ve been a cool reason to hold her while making these! So, yeah, from measuring the first ingredient to spooning the batter into the pan (including taking pictures), I had a 24-lb 10-month-old on my hip. She was tired enough to just lazily watch and not grab stuff. Then, while they were baking, I put her to sleep. Yep, I rock my babies to sleep. My babies were never trained to just lay down and go to sleep on their own. Not saying it’s for everyone, but it’s definitely for me. It’s 18 months out of each of their little lives that I rock them to sleep and that’s some cozy little moments that I’ll never regret. And it gives me plenty of time to try to memorize the feel of them in my arms in hopes that when they’re all grown up, I can reach in and grab those memories again… and remember.

Ok, where was I? (Yeah, I know this is a cooking blog, but I don’t do a personal blog, so I like to (and my mom likes me to) stir bits of life into here sometimes.)

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Donut Muffins …taken from here, but I’d have probably never found and tried them if my friend Diane hadn’t alerted us to them on a message board I frequent. So, Diane, if you’re reading this, thanks a ton! :)

1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted (I used butter)
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup flour

1/4 cup margarine, melted (it’s up to you… you can either add a few Tbsp more right away or you can melt more butter when you’re running out halfway through dipping them ???? )
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, and nutmeg in a bowl.
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Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined.
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Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full. Yeah, I know these aren’t all evenly filled, but I was never a perfectionist, and probably never will be. Plus, I was holding a baby and by this time, my left arm was starting to kill me.
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Bake until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. During this time, a mouth-watering nutmeggy smell will be wafting throughout your house. While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted margarine, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture.
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Let cool and serve. I don’t know WHY it says ‘cool and serve’! I say ‘serve warm’! I only had one and that was a warm one and it was such incredible melt-in-your-mouth awesomeness that I’d try to serve them warm on purpose, if possible.
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I don’t know what category to put these in. They’re so versatile.
— Make them for an after school snack.
— Take them to a ‘bring food’ church function.
— Make them for brunch.
— Serve them for dessert.
— Make them this evening for a bedtime snack.

Coming up next… a Lightning McQueen cake. ????

Comments

14 Responses to “Mini Donut Muffins”

  1. Cindy on April 22nd, 2011 1:53 pm

    note to self: never read kay’s blog when this hungry!!!!!!!!!! (using lots of exclamation points because i like to. and they don’t annoy me, i have kids that do that. so excessive punctuation does not.)

    these sound wonderful. i already printed off the recipe and am going to make ’em instead of folding laundry. :) yum.yum. only 40 minutes till heaven. and btw. i like how you stir bits of life here in your kitchen blog. you have a way of “seasoning” it just right.

  2. Shannon on April 22nd, 2011 2:37 pm

    They look marvelous! Might have to give them a shot (if I have nutmeg). :)

  3. Cindy on April 22nd, 2011 2:39 pm

    my laundry is still in heaps…
    but my taste buds are.so.happy.

    these are what we call in our family, make-again-good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Kay on April 22nd, 2011 3:01 pm

    CINDY!!!!!!!!! You totally made my day! Honestly, the best thing anyone could do for me in the comment section is say they’re gonna make what I posted RIGHT NOW and then come back in less than an hour and give a review on it. :) Love ya!

  5. Wilma Troyer on April 22nd, 2011 6:00 pm

    Unfortunately I cannot make these muffins right now, but I WILL make them sometime very soon. And btw, I like the life bits you share. I also rocked my babies ~ all six of them. I know, too, that it’s not for everyone, but I sure don’t regret it. I cherish the memories now.

  6. Beth on April 22nd, 2011 6:42 pm

    I also like the life bits…keep ’em coming! These things look good — we had cinnamon rolls around here today, so these will need to wait for another day, but I already know I’ll LoVe them. So…may I ask what a serving size was this time? Ok, I won’t ask. :)

  7. Mary Gingerich on April 22nd, 2011 8:17 pm

    This is very similar to a recipe my mom used to make…that we called french breakfast puffs! I haven’t made them for quite awhile and my boys have been asking for them. Maybe it will be tomorrow morning!

  8. Kay on April 22nd, 2011 10:06 pm

    Beth, in this case, serving size was one…. until I needed another one, then 1 suddenly morphed into 2. :) No really, I justified it because I could’ve made these into 12 reg-sized muffins and had a whole one (which would’ve been the same mass as 2 little ones) AND I really needed to try a room temp one to see if they were still good after they cooled.

    So, here I am with an “after they’re cooled” opinion… good and still could’ve eaten half the batch, but not NEAR as good as warm. Not near. When they’re warm, they just melt in your mouth; when they’re cooled, they taste exactly like a donut hole (a cake donut, that is).

    Wilma, glad to hear of another rocked-my-babies mom… I’ve always been in the minority in that dept. :)

  9. Twila on April 23rd, 2011 8:58 am

    Oh my!! I made these for brunch this morning and 4 of us ate almost all of them!! I couldn’t remember what they were called because yesterday I just jotted the recipe on a sticky note, so we just kept saying, “pass whatever those things are called!” I think there were about 5 left which I just put on a plate because I knew they’d get eaten as people walk through the kitchen. I will definitely be making them again. Often!!!!

  10. Amy Burkey on April 23rd, 2011 9:19 am

    We’ve been making these here for a few years too and we love them….but I never thought of doing them in a mini muffin pan! I’ll bet they’re even batter that way. So that’s what I’ll try next! After I lose these next few lbs…..Ha Ha!

  11. Chandrima Pal on April 25th, 2011 1:55 am

    Hi there,
    I have recently started a saturday morning baking session with kids – all for fun and teaching ourselves some team spirits and ways to have fun. I was searching for some new ideas and saw your blog. It is very nice resource and specially you have done a lot of kids friendly stuff. Stories behind the food you cook are very good read too I will keep coming to you!

  12. Mom on April 26th, 2011 1:02 pm

    Hey! How did I miss this one? – must have been off to AK at the time! Yes!! that’s the “sugary spice” I like “stirred” into your posts! And yes! the recipe will have to be tried, maybe next Sunday (40 minutes from start to finish!) when we have company here for breakfast – they’ll be warm!! Count my exclamation marks!!!

  13. Kay on April 26th, 2011 1:21 pm

    Mom, I just knew you like it because you said that when I make a cookbook, I need to put that ‘extra’ stuff in there too, not just the recipe. :)

  14. Evangeline on May 1st, 2011 3:39 pm

    I made these and they were very good! Has anyone tried these, rolled in powdered sugar? I think I’ll try that next time. I’m not real fond of crunching white sugar, so thought that might be a nice alternative. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!

Make these danish pastries for breakfast tomorrow morning!

Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under Breakfasts, Sweet rolls and Coffee cakes

An easy yummy-sounding recipe showed up in my email Inbox on Tuesday. It was from my cousin-in-law, Sharon. Is cousin-in-law a proper term? I don’t know, it sounds strange. Anyway, she’s married to my cousin. Not like you need to know that or anything. Thanks for the recipe, Sharon. They were easy and fast and delicious. And I had fun playing around with them too… bonus pictures at the end.

It only takes 4 ingredients. I like recipes like that because there’s more of a chance that I’ll have everything on hand! Although, yesterday, I wanted to make potato salad (way more than 4 ingredients) and I had everything except milk! Really, who runs out of milk?! I did have chocolate milk, but I didn’t think that would work too good. Anyway, that has gotta be one of my biggest cooking pet peeves… going to make something and not having all the stuff. That’s why I need to live nextdoor to the grocery store.

So, here’s our easy 4-ingredient recipe.

Cherry Cheese Danish

1 tube (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls
4 Tbsp. cream cheese, softened
1 cup cherry pie filling (or your choice) I used strawberry.
1/2 cup vanilla frosting

Separate crescent dough into four rectangles. Place on an ungreased baking sheet; seal perforations.
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Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese onto each rectangle.
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Top each with 1/4 c. pie filling.
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Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Place frosting in a microwave-safe bowl; heat on high for 15-20 seconds. Drizzle over warm pastries. I didn’t have frosting, so I mixed 2 Tbsp butter, about 2 Tbsp. milk, about 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, and a bit of vanilla. That made about exactly 1/2 cup!
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Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers (if there are any :) ). Yield: 4 servings.
I think I should’ve let them cool a bit more before glazing. It all ran together and you can’t see the striping anymore.
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Here’s a note that Sharon wrote at the end: I don’t usually have vanilla frosting on hand, so I make my own powdered sugar glaze. I add almond extract for cherry pie filling, a little cinnamon for apple, lemon for blueberry, nutmeg for peach, etc. Don’t you just love that sentence? She’s such a good creative cook! Wish I’d think of stuff like that! They’re quick and perfect for a special Sunday morning breakfast, or for company, or for just anyhow with coffee. And they’re even good made light, which I usually do (reduced fat crescent rolls and cream cheese).

Bonus:
I decided to play with them a bit…
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We have a regular flat one, a pinwheel, a turnover, and a spiral. The spiral turned out to have way too much filling in it and made a mess when I rolled it up (like a little jelly roll). The turnover and spiral should’ve been baked a few minutes longer.

The pinwheel was my favorite (not for taste… they all tasted the same). It was easy to do and looked a bit fancier. Next time, I think I could make them neater, too. It was Tiffany’s favorite too. She said, “I want dat one” about 10 times while I was taking the pictures and her little pointer finger kept coming into view in my camera window whenever she’d say it.

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These pastries are so good! Perfect with a cup of coffee! I just made them for the girls and I, and since the girls eat about as much as a chickadee does, there was actually some left over. The next morning, I ate another one and instead of warming it up, I ate it refrigerator cold and it was really good that way too!

Try them! Try them! Try them!

Comments

7 Responses to “Make these danish pastries for breakfast tomorrow morning!”

  1. Sharon on May 8th, 2008 5:14 pm

    awwww, kay, you didn’t have to mention me…now I feel like a celebrity or something. ???? I think YOU’RE the one that’s creative–like I’ve never thought of all the different things you could do with ’em. Love that spiral too, think I’ll do that sometime!

  2. Freida on May 8th, 2008 5:26 pm

    Try them I will!!!!

  3. JoAnn on May 8th, 2008 6:10 pm

    Sounds perfectly delicious–and I have everything on hand! Sounds like a good bedtime snack!

  4. Shannon on May 8th, 2008 7:32 pm

    Ohhh, looks wonderful. I need to go get some pie filling.:)

  5. Liz on May 8th, 2008 8:40 pm

    Those look really good! I think Elvie would like them too. I have cream cheese, blueberry pie filling and apple pie filling on hand but no cresent rolls. Maybe I should head over to JoAnn’s for a quick bedtime snack.=)

  6. Susan on May 19th, 2008 6:24 pm

    Mmmm! Those look yummy! And just right for a nice cup of coffee!

  7. Roni on November 13th, 2008 5:08 pm

    Use preserves if you don’t have pie filling. Put some lemon in the cream cheese, too…

Ahhhh, this is the way to start a day! (and other rhymes)

Posted on April 18, 2008

Posted on April 18, 2008 
Filed Under Breakfasts, Sweet rolls and Coffee cakes, Tidbits

…start it with raspberry cream cheese rolls and coffee!

Sometimes I wonder if I should try a post that’s in poem format. This would be a good one to do that on because the title rhymes… and that just happened, didn’t even try it. The best poems are ones that flow, that you can’t tell the poet was working hard to get it to rhyme. An example of working too hard to rhyme would be like this:
My friend and I met
this morning at eight.
Our coffee we drank
and our donuts we ate.
You just don’t say “our coffee we drank” and “our donuts we ate” in regular conversation, you say “we drank our coffee” and “we ate our donuts”. That is one of my pet peeves in poetry. I know it’s ‘legal’, but it just makes it sound so much more formal. It would be much better to say,
Coffee and donuts
and a friendly chat,
Breakfasts don’t get
much better than that.

I used to get a kick out of writing poems in my adolescent years. My favorite has always been a 6-line style where lines 1& 2 rhyme, 3&6 rhyme, and 4&5 rhyme. I don’t know what it’s called, kind of like a limerick, but not quite. Around 16, I wrote a whole poem consisting of about 10 stanzas in that style. The first stanza was:
In August we moved
To what actually proved
To be home at Valley View Orchard.
At first, work was fun,
But before all was done,
We thought we were seriously tortured.
…and so on it went, about life on our orchard.

My dad was/is great with poems. I still remember when I we were growing up, Dad would start making up a poem about this or that and just kept going and going for quite awhile, not having to pause to think of a rhyming word. It was amazing to me even at a young age how he could do that. Of course, the bar was pretty low because we were just kids and were thrilled with anything that rhymed.

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Anyway, when I started this post, I had no clue I’d get into poems! So, instead of erasing the poem parts, I went up and added “(and other rhymes)” into the title. I was just posting to tell you that I made raspberry cream cheese rolls this morning AND that I finally have a new FAVORITE coffee mug once again! Here are both:

My friend, Shannon, from OH,  sent me that coffee mug. It’s perfect. The ‘walls’ are thick, just how I like them. It’s heavy and solid. And the design is great. And she said that they’re hard to break… which is good! Did you know that I break more dishes than my 2 children do?! Sometimes I wonder if I’m clumsy. Anyway, it’s a Longaberger mug, if you’re interested in getting one. She tells me Longaberger mugs are the best. And I think I’m convinced.

And those raspberry cream cheese rolls (here is the link to the recipe), they are just the best! Seriously, try them! I just thought of it now, I got the recipe for these rolls from Shannon, too (same one that just gave me the mug). These rolls are easier than they look and the dough is SO nice to work with because it doesn’t stick to anything… not to the rolling pin, not to the counter, not to your hands. The raspberry filling is just regular pie filling from the grocery store (I put it into a plastic storage bag, cut a corner off, and pipe it on). It doesn’t have to be raspberry, in fact, this time I used strawberry. I put it in the food processor so there wouldn’t be big chunks. The cream cheese filling is from a bulk foods store in plastic bag tubes. BUT, Barb, if you’re reading this, you had asked a question about the cr. ch. filling if you don’t have a bulk foods store around. I made it from scratch this time just to experiment and it turned out great! I edited the post that the rolls are featured on and added that filling recipe.

:)

So, now everyone, tell me what you had for breakfast in a comment! You can make it in poem form if you want to.

Here I’ll start:
My roll was first-rate
My coffee was great
And Shannon confirmed that when he ate his.
You may have guessed
These are the best
And I don’t care who your grandmother is!

Comments

19 Responses to “Ahhhh, this is the way to start a day! (and other rhymes)”

  1. Arla on April 18th, 2008 11:22 am

    Kay dear, I am one of those old-fashioned cooks that doen’t know much about things like doughnut mixes. I found quite a few bags of last sumemer’s blackberries in my freezer this morning and was just wondering what to make with them. Your raspberries rolls look wonderful, and I can figure out how to make pie filing of my fresh frozen wild berries, but I am lost about the doughnut mix. Are these rolls cakey or bready? if you know what I mean? What shall use in place of the mix? I love your website BTW.

  2. Kay on April 18th, 2008 11:40 am

    Arla, don’t even try to look for donut mix around here. I looked everywhere from Duluth to Eau Claire and couldn’t find it in the big grocery stores and Pine Knoll bulk food store doesn’t have it either. You could try hot roll mix… the rolls are bready like regular cinnamon rolls, not cakey (it’s raised donut mix). My friend from Ohio (Shannon, who’s mentioned above) sent me some donut mix from a bulk food store near her.

    :)

    There are a few rolls left… if you’re going to town today, stop in and I’ll give them to you. Seriously.

  3. Sharon on April 18th, 2008 12:50 pm

    Hey, Arla & Kay, they have donut mix at Weaver’s Store here 10 minutes out from Eau Claire. It’s “my” bulk food store. If you want me to bring you some sometime, holler. I betcha these rolls would work with another cinnamon roll dough, but I personally love how fast the mix make them.

  4. Ali on April 18th, 2008 2:50 pm
    :)

    I had an extra, extra big mug of coffee with splenda and cinnamon vanilla creamer.

  5. Monica on April 18th, 2008 3:00 pm

    Gotta love the Longaberger mug!! Looks just mine! Couldn’t come up with anything to rhyme with my boring breakfast of Multi-Grain Cheerios!! Those rolls look and sound delicious!! Monica

  6. barb on April 18th, 2008 3:33 pm

    First of all, I don’t have a rhyme. I would have to think to hard and I’m sorta in a hurry. But…
    after thinking a while I finally remembered what I had for breakfast (yes, it’s been a long day)
    I had a homemade cinnamon roll. I’ll tell you why I just happen to have homemade cinnamon rolls around, because that don’t happen around here very often. A couple of days ago, I was making french bread and had some extra dough. I thought I would rather have cinnamon rolls than extra french bread, so I just rolled it out, spread some butter on, sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar, rolled ’em up and Wow, easy cinnamon rolls(at least if you are making bread dough anyway:)

    I guess you didn’t ask for us to write a book about our breakfast but it just kind of happened.

    The only poem of any significance that I ever wrote was for my sister when her baby died at birth. It was inspired by God, because I can not write poems like that, but I really do like to read poetry.

  7. Liz on April 19th, 2008 8:11 am

    I guess you won’t be getting a poem from me. I don’t like writing them and don’t make a practice of reading them. (I had to read yours to see what you wrote.)=) I just had cereal for breakfast but yesterday for brunch I was able to sample some of the delicious rolls.=)

  8. Arla on April 19th, 2008 9:46 am

    Thanks Kay, So I guess I’ll just use Melinda Kulp’s Cinnamon Roll recipe that’s in the Dirstine Cookbook and go from there. I couldn’t believe all my typos in what I’d written before. I write to communicate, mostly, not to inspire, thus no poetry from me, either, but it’s an eighth wonder you could even follow my hasty question there, sorry about that.

  9. rosa on April 19th, 2008 1:13 pm

    I love your mug. I was actually gonna post and tell you my favorite mug is the exaxt same one but I never got around to it. I have 2 of them and I always claim them!

  10. amy on April 19th, 2008 1:27 pm

    Your rolls look great,
    But I’m watching my weight,
    You never could see
    By looking at me.
    Sweet things like your rolls,
    Make me lose all control,
    So I’ll make them not,
    And stick with celery and carrots.

    Okay that was lame, but very fun.

  11. amy on April 19th, 2008 1:28 pm

    Oh and I’ll probably end up making them too. I just needed things to rhyme:)

  12. Elaine on April 19th, 2008 2:40 pm

    I MUST stop reading this site for the next several months. This morning, I had Special K protein cereal and tomorrow morning I am planning to have whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with sugar-free maple syrup. They’re both what I would call edible, but not what I would call a wonderful way to start a day!

  13. Katie Mast on April 20th, 2008 2:48 pm

    Well I am with the post just above me, I may need to stop reading your delightful post as well, my stomach is churning so bad. I am really really trying to watch my food intake this week, just eating salad’s and veggies. For breakfast I am having protein drinks, yikes!!! Those rolls really look good, i have been wanting to try them. Just waiting for company so i dont eat them all cuz bread is my weekness. I love your site. I get all excited when i see you featuring pampered chef items. Now i know your not paid to cook with those items, but I love all my PC products.

  14. Shannon on April 20th, 2008 5:11 pm
    :)

    Ummm, I love you mug too.

  15. Shannon on April 20th, 2008 5:12 pm
    :)

    And I’d love to come over and tell you all about our weekend over some rolls and coffee. The comment submited before I was done.?

  16. Judi on April 21st, 2008 11:57 am

    Protein, grain and fat
    Just a little not too much
    Energy stays strong.

    Egg, toast and butter
    I enjoy it every day
    Perfect start of day.

    I think a Haiku is a poem of sorts. Haiku is groups of words making a statement with 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 syllables. I’m new at this, but I need the practice lol. I start my day with a scrambled egg and toast every day. It gives me a strong start and holds me til I get around to eating again, be it 4 hours or 7 hours. I’ve tried changing to others things, but too much carbs makes me starved in less than an hour. And sugar – forget it I’m ready for a nap in less time than that.

  17. Susan on May 19th, 2008 7:04 pm

    I like your mug, and those rolls look scrumptious! I liked Amy’s poem, too! Very cute!

  18. Longaberger Mugs on June 2nd, 2008 10:09 pm

    Your friend is right about the Longaberger mugs. We own the exact same mug (except ours are green) and I’ve dropped them many times. They are very durable.

    Alicia Smith

  19. Violet Sorc on June 5th, 2008 4:55 pm

    I would like to boast,
    That I had some toast.

Wake up and smell the coffee… cake

Posted on February 21, 2008
Filed Under Breakfasts, Sweet rolls and Coffee cakes

I have started making breakfasts on Saturday mornings! I know, most of you probably already do that, plus do it Monday mornings and Tues mornings and Wed mornings…   Anyway, I do try to steer clear of recipes that require me to get up early though! Here’s one we had recently on a Saturday morning…

Peach Coffee Cake… which actually ended up being Apple Coffee Cake. Recipe taken from the 2006 Quick Cooking Annual Cookbook

1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 can (21 oz) peach pie filling (I used homemade apple pie filling that Mom gave me, or was it Grandma? I am blessed!)

ICING:
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 to 4 tsp. milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture and beat until just combined. Spread 3 3/4 cups of batter into a greased 15″ x 10″ x 1″ baking pan. (I didn’t measure out 3 3/4 cups!)
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Carefully spoon the pie filling to within 1″ of edges.
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Spoon remaining batter over filling.
coffee cake4 Ok, THIS is harder than it looks! At times like this, I’m glad I’m not a perfectionist. At this point in the recipe, I had decided I might not feature this after all. Thankfully, it came out of the oven looking much better with the ‘islands’ more connected and not so choppy and oddly shaped!)
Bake at 350 for 20 – 25 min or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (cover loosely with foil if edges brown too quickly).
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Cool on a wire rack. In a small bowl, combine the icing ingredients. Drizzle over coffee cake. Yield: 16 – 20 servings.
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coffee cake1  Mmmmmmm! Just delicious! I came back to them later for a late-morning snack and I thought it actually tasted even better at room temp than when it was warm from the oven… just my opinion. I’ll bet this would be good with about any fruit. I do want to try it with peach sometime… I didn’t have any peach filling on hand when I went to make these.

Thanks to those of you who tried the biscuits and then mentioned it. It’s always fun to hear feedback from you if you try recipes on here! Also, a big thanks to heidirhodes for taking time to post your recipe! I’m planning to try that one next time I make them.

Comments

One Response to “Wake up and smell the coffee.. cake”

  1. S.L. Martin on February 22nd, 2008 11:25 am

    Just checking if the comments work.

Cooking From Scratch, er, Scraps

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Do you ever do this? Go leafing thro’ a magazine and clip out the recipes that reach out and grab you before throwing the magazine away? Then what? I have all mine in a folder and my goal is to try every single one and then make a decision between A or B:
A. Throw it away
B. Paste it into my ‘blank’ cookbook (that isn’t so blank anymore)   In case you don’t know what a blank cookbook is, it’s set up like a cookbook with all the different categories (breads, meats, main dishes, veggies, desserts, etc), but the pages are either lined or blank. I got mine from mimmistidbits about 5 years ago and love it!
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The clipped recipe I’m featuring this time is:

Pecan Cinnamon Buns    …from a Bon Apetit magazine

Filling:
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Combine everything except the butter in medium bowl. Stir in melted butter (filling will be dry and crumbly).

Dough:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 1/2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
9 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, divided (I divided it before it was melted, then melted each part separately…
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Preheat oven to 425. Spray 10″ diameter cake pan with 2″ high sides with nonstick spray. Whisk 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Stir buttermilk and 6 Tbsp melted butter into dry ingredients until blended. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour by teaspoonfuls if dough is too sticky, about 8 turns (I added probably at least an extra 1/2 cup). Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to 12×10″ rectangle. Brush dough with 1 Tbsp melted butter.
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Sprinkle filling evenly over dough, leaving 1″ plain border on 1 long side. Press filling gently into dough to adhere.
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Beginning at long end opposite plain border, roll up dough jelly roll style. Pinch border of dough to seal. Cut dough crosswise into 8 equal slices.
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Place 1 bun in center of prepared cake pan; surround with remaining 7 buns, spacing apart (buns will expand to fill spaces during baking). Brush tops of buns with remaining 2 Tbsp melted butter.
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Bake buns until golden brown, about 23 minutes (some filling may come out sides of buns). Cool buns in pan on rack 5 min.
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Drizzle icing (recipe below) over warm buns, then serve warm or at room temperature.
pcb7The only round pan I had that was big enough was my springform pan. Turned out to be handy because I just took the sides off and the rolls were easily accessible!

Mascarpone Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. mascarpone cheese (an Italian cream cheese available at many supermarkets)
2 Tbsp. buttermilk
Whisk in medium bowl until smooth.

And now the real question: Will this recipe… A. Get thrown away or B. Go in my blank cookbook?

The answer is A. One reason is because I don’t keep unsalted butter, buttermilk, and mascarpone cheese on hand, so I’d always be substituting salted butter, reg milk with vinegar, and cream cheese anyway. Also, while they were really good, they weren’t quite as light as reg cinnamon rolls.

One thing that I really liked about this recipe, though, was that I didn’t have to get up early to have hot fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast! No waiting for it to rise twice!

Comments

2 Responses to “Cooking From Scratch, er, Scraps”

  1. Ali on April 18th, 2008 1:52 pm

    I use a hanging file system for all my torn out recipes. It comes in handy if you have a TON of them, which I do. Also, when I know I want to make a specific item, like a casserole, or a cheesecake, for instance, I grab just the particular folder that I need. So it can be less messy that way than if you were to just throw them all into one big file folder. :)

  2. Ali on April 18th, 2008 1:53 pm

    Oh, I also use cute colored filing folders, pinks, greens, blues, and store them in a purple tub (that is specifically made for hanging files) and I think it just makes it look a little cuter.

Scones…

I always run across scone recipes in my cookbooks and wanted to try them sometime, but didn’t know how or when to serve them. The recipes didn’t give any tips except ‘serve warm’. I guess you’re just supposed to automatically know!   Anyway, after a little research and asking questions, I got a few tips. So here’s the ones I made, although in my research I found out that chocolate chip scones are too American. I want to try some that are more authentic sometime. They’re kinda like fancy biscuits.

Chocolate Chip Scones   …recipe from an Easy to Bake, Easy to Make recipe card.

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400. Grease a baking sheet. Combine flour, sugar, b. powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form. Stir in cream until a dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.  Knead dough gently on lightly floured surface 8-10 times. Pat dough into an 8″ round, about 1/2″ thick.
scones1
Cut round into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. Place on prepared baking sheet. I put the chunk of dough on the baking sheet, THEN shaped it into an 8″ round.
scones2  At the bottom of the card it said “Helpful Hints: If you prefer soft scones, arrange the wedges on the baking sheet so they are touching each other. For scones with crispy edges, place the wedges about 1 1/2″ apart on the baking sheet.” I thought soft would be better, Shannon thought crispy would be better. So, that’s why they’re arranged like they are, that way we’d have some of each.

Bake scones until golden brown, 20-25 min.
scones3
Serve warm. Tips I got were to split them apart and spread butter and/or jam in them and to put whipped cream on top. I did the butter and whipped cream… didn’t know if jam would go with choc chips.
scones4  I know, I should have a cup of tea sitting beside the plate. These were really good! Easy to make too. Another note on the recipe card was “For biscuitlike scones, do not knead dough. Drop dough into 8 mounds on prepared baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes.” So, I guess they’re not necessarily all wedges. 

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Note: On the post before, I forgot to say where the recipes came from. The Broccoli Casserole and the Pudding Pumpkin Pie both came out of the 2006 Quick Cooking annual cookbook.

“Mom, how do you make… ?”

From my mom…

Easy Cinnamon Biscuits (not sure of the real name, if there is one)

2 7.5 oz cans Pillsbury biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
2 handfuls brown sugar
Cinnamon
8 oz Cool Whip

Grease 9×13 pan and put biscuits in.
biscuits1
Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.
biscuits2
Spread Cool whip on top.
biscuits3Looks more like a dessert now, doesn’t it?
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.
biscuits4
biscuits5  These are great!!!!! There’s a goo at the bottom and next time, I’m planning to add some pecans on top before putting on the Cool Whip. They take very little time to assemble, plus no rising time. Very good! Keep on hand for a warm breakfast on busy mornings!

From my mom-in-law…

Yum Yum Pudding

60 Ritz crackers
1 stick butter
2 qt vanilla ice cream
2 boxes instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

Crush crackers. Mix with melted butter. Spread out in a 9×13 pan and bake at 350 for 5 min.  (I made a half batch for us, so used a smaller pan here and should’ve used a smaller bowl later!)
pudding1
Beat softened ice cream. Add milk and pudding. Put crumbs in the bottom of a serving dish, saving some crumbs to sprinkle on top.
pudding2
Pour ice cream/pudding mixture over crumbs.
pudding3
Top with remaining crumbs.
pudding4
pudding5
Store in refrigerator (not freezer).  Yum is right! I didn’t remember having it before and as I was making it, I was so tempted to add some chocolate for an extra layer. Glad I didn’t because it was so good!!!! Lots of buttered toasted crackers!

1 recipe without a picture and 1 picture without a recipe

First the picture:
date pinwheel These are date pinwheel cookies made by my mother-in-law. I don’t have the recipe and don’t want the recipe, because just the fact that I’m married to her son guarantees that I’ll get to taste these now and then. They are her specialty and they look hard to make… you should see the rolls of them before she cuts and bakes them… it’s rolled very thin!   They are just delicious!!!!

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Now for the recipe. The reason I don’t have a picture is because I used Shannon’s camera. But now that I’m ready to feature this, he has his camera. So, I may edit it later to add a picture. I made it on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Banana Bread   …from the 2004 Quick Cooking Annual cookbook

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I’m going to use milk chocolate next time )
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Beat in the bananas just until combined. Stir in the walnuts, chocolate chips, and cherries.     Pour into a greased 9″x5″x3″ loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 70-80 min. or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 min before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 loaf.      This was VERY good, but then I love banana bread! The cherries in it made it look more festive, and they tasted good too. I know it’s past Christmas now, though. Next year, I want to make a real fruit cake. I saw all the fruits featured in the middle aisle with the baking stuff at the grocery store all Christmas season, but didn’t try it this year.

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Now, I’m going to throw out a question, just out of interest and because I love to hear from you too… What is the theme/color of your kitchen? And anything else you’d like to say about it.

Mine is Coca-Cola. It started a couple years after we were married when we saw some kitchen Coke stuff one time and thought it would be neat. Then, when you keep your eyes peeled for it, it’s amazing how much there is out there!!!! So, my colors are red and black… which is why the colors of this site will always be red and black.

Brunch

Ham/sausage/bacon & egg & cheese muffins
Raspberry Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
Fruit and dip

We had a brunch for Lexi’s 4th birthday party, then she opened her gifts and we had the cake and ice cream closer to noon then. I tried a new recipe for the brunch. It was a hit!!! I was replenishing the fruit tray and the eggs and was going to eat after everyone else was done… until… people started coming out for seconds and saying “these rolls are awesome” type of comments. So, I got a plate and got a roll before they got all. They were soooo good! My mom copied the recipe down and my mom-in-law confirmed that I would put it on this site and said she’d get it then. So, this is something I will DEFINITELY make again and it wasn’t just the taste I liked… they were so easy to make too. By the way, if you remember back around Thanksgiving, I was planning to make these T-giving morning, well, it didn’t happen then, so here they are finally!

The recipe comes from my friend Shannon.

roll.jpg

Raspberry Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

1 Tablespoon yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water

Mix.
Then add

7 to 8 cups donut mix

Mix dough and let rise till doubled. Reserve 1/4 of dough. Roll out the 3/4 and spread with melted butter (I used a little over a half stick) and brown sugar ( I had it maybe about an 1/8″ deep) and cinnamon. Roll it up, cut into 12 pieces, and lay in a 9×13 pan.
roll1  Tips for cutting rolls: I use a string… slide it under the rolls, bring the ends up over, cross them and pull, and it makes a nice cut without smashing… ok, maybe everyone cuts rolls like that… I learned it from my mom. Also, to get them an even 12 pieces, cut in the middle first, then each section in half, then thirds from there (if you count my pieces, there are 14 because I cut the ends off first).

Swirl raspberry filling and cream cheese filling on top of rolls. roll2 I piped it on, then tried to swirl them together with a knife, but as you can see, it didn’t get too good. I stopped after doing 3 and just left them like that.

Edit: If you don’t have access to the cream cheese filling, try this:
8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Beat till smooth. Put it in a plastic storage bag (or a decorating bag), cut the corner off, and pipe it onto the rolls.

Roll out the rest of the dough. Spread with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and cut into small pieces. Lay on top of filling. Let rise about an hour.
roll3

Bake 25-30 min at 350. Drizzle with glaze (1 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 Tablespoons milk).
rolls-baked.jpg  They sorta billowed out of the pan… maybe because I used the 2 ends after all. I drizzled the glaze on right away and it kind of melted and pooled. Next time, I’ll let them cool for a few minutes first. Madisonsmom2, I don’t know if this looks like yours did. ????? 

Edited January 2012 to add: I often put about 3 rolls in a different small pan so the 9×13 doesn’t billow over. Also, I often make them the evening before, put them in the fridge overnight (unbaked), pull them out of the fridge and put em in the oven, then turn the oven on. I don’t preheat the oven if I’m pulling them out of the fridge because I’m afraid the cold pan would crack on the hot oven rack.

Anyway, they were just scrumptious and another great thing about them is that the dough was not at all sticky! I didn’t get my hands or the rolling pin messy. I could just roll on top of it without it sticking to the rolling pin or the counter!!!

Here is the rest of our meal…
meal muffins  Ham is in the closest crockpot, eggs are in the farthest crockpot… we just used those to keep them warm. I should’ve made a sandwich and taken a picture of it… didn’t think of it.
meal fruit

Comments

7 Responses to “Brunch”

  1. Bernice Wagner on April 5th, 2008 6:48 am

    Good morning, I come everyday to your site to see ‘what’s cookin’…what is the raspberry filling and cream cheese filling? Did I miss a recipe for them? Also, is parsley the green flakes in the Red Lobster biscuits? I’ve had them at the resturant and can’t wait to make them! Blessings to you for sharing your cooking skills! thanks, Bernice

  2. Kay on April 5th, 2008 7:27 am

    Hi, Berneice,
    Thanks for the comment and for stopping by my site often!
    I got the cream cheese filling at the same bulk foods store where I got the donut mix. The filling comes in plastic tubes. The raspberry filling is just a can of pie filling from the grocery store. If I have a pie filling with chucks in it, I put it in the food processor to get rid of the chunks. So, nope, you don’t have to make the fillings. :)

    On the Red Lobster biscuits, the green flakes are parsley and Italian seasoning. I know, the recipe doesn’t call for it and I don’t put it in anymore, I should change that picture!

  3. Barbara Miller on April 9th, 2008 9:59 pm

    I want to try the rasberry thingys but I have no bulk food store where I live so how could I make the cream cheese filling? Thanks Barb

  4. Kay on April 9th, 2008 11:11 pm

    Good question, Barb. I’m planning to make these rolls sometime soon (got so hungry for them again after posting them!) and instead of buying the cream cheese filling, I’m going to make it and see how it turns out. I found a couple recipes. Google ‘danish cream cheese filling recipe’, that’s what I did. The filling recipes have eggs in them, but that should be ok because it gets baked.

    After I make the rolls, I’ll let you know what recipe(s) I used and how it turned out. I’ll also post it here.

  5. Kay on April 18th, 2008 10:35 am

    Update: I added the cream cheese filling recipe into the post above.

  6. Lydia Jo Martin on July 7th, 2011 5:48 pm

    Thank you for steering me this way. Were you being nice or is this some sort of evil diet plan to deter me? No really, from that photo you can tell that the dough rolled out so nice. Looks like a great thing to keep stuff on hand for. I will now go eat a piece of sugar free dove chocolate and try not to think of cinnamon rolls again today!