Strawberry Pizza

I needed to make a recipe for a baby shower, and just couldn't seem to figure out what to make.  I decided I wanted to try something new and had a lot of strawberries in my house that needed to be used up.  After searching around, I found this recipe and decided that it would be easy to make and I had everything needed to make it.  I thought it would basically be a fruit pizza with only strawberries on it, but I was wrong.  It turned out MUCH better as a hybrid of fruit pizza ans strawberry pie.  Of course, I forgot to get a photo of it before the baby shower, but now you can see just how much it was liked by all the ladies there!  I can't wait to have an excuse to make this one again!  The only thing I would do different, is I might make this in a 9x13 pan next time so it's easier to cut into bars instead of wedges.

Ingredients
6 T. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4t. almond extract
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

FILLING:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
2 c. sliced fresh strawberries
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 c. crushed fresh strawberries

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Beat in egg and extracts. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Build up edges slightly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over crust. Arrange sliced strawberries on top.
4. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and crushed berries until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool slightly. Spoon over strawberries. Refrigerate until serving.

Pumpkin Monkey Bread

I found this recipe while surfing around Pinterest. I seem to get into a lot of trouble doing that, but we've also tried a lot of new things because we have seen them on there first. This one seems to be a hit. I just placed it on the table, and the boys already asked if they could eat their dessert. That was followed by plethora of, "Mommy, I like this!" I'm mean, who wouldn't like some monkey bread with a little bit of pumpkin thrown in?  I also just had an idea, what about turning these into cinnamon rolls...hmmm....

 Ingredients
 Dough 
2 T. butter (browned, if desired)
1/2 c. milk
2 1/4 t. (1 envelope) active dry yeast
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 1/2 c. bread flour

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
1 c. sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
2 T. butter (browned, if desired)

Buttered Rum Glaze
2 T. butter
2 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. milk
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T. rum (or vanilla)

 

Directions

1. I threw all of the dough ingredients into my bread machine, and  ran it on dough cycle.  If you do not have a bread machine, follow step 2.  If you use your bread machine, skip step 2.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown 2 tablespoons of butter, letting it bubble up and turn a dark golden brown but being careful not to allow it burn (turn black). Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the milk, return to stove and heat through. Pour the milk and butter into the bowl of standing mixer (fitted with a dough hook) and allow to cool so it is no longer hot but also not cool (about 100-110 degrees F). Once it has reached a warm but not hot temperature add the yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar and allow to proof (this can take up to 8 minutes, the top will look foamy and the liquid cloudy). Then add the the pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Stir until combined then add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and knead for 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and just slightly sticky. If the dough is too moist, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time.Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.
3. When the dough is almost finished, brown another 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.  Set aside. Next, grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.
4. When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and flip out onto a clean floured surface and knead with hands for 1-2 minutes.  Then pinch or cut off pieces that are about the size of a golf ball.  Dip them in the melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Then place the coated dough balls into the prepared loaf pan. Cover the pan with a clean towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.
5. In the meantime preheat an oven to 350 degrees. After rising in the pan, bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is a very deep golden brown.
6. To prepare the glaze, heat the butter, milk, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil then immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum and powdered sugar.

Turkey Treats

Okay, so how cute are these?!?!?!? I found them through pinterest. They originally were suppose to stand up, but I decided that was too much work and they are totally cute just like this. I think everyone will be thrilled to see these on turkey-day! I tried 2 different kinds of cookie frosting. Wilton's cookie frosting was much to thin and not suitable at all for this, but the Betty Crocker cookie frosting seemed to work great. I'm sure it's easy to make a nice cookie frosting that is thick and will harden up, but as I had surgery earlier today, I opted for EASY! To make these, you need fudge striped cookies, candy corn, peanut butter cups, nutter butter cookies, mini brown m&m's, red and yellow jelly belly's. The yellow jelly belly's need to have the tip cut off so they stick out nice for a nose. Other than that, once the frosting dried it was all stuck together like glue. Totally can't wait to show these off at Thanksgiving! Thanks for the extra hand, Allison!

Candy Corn Cupcake (also egg and dairy free)

Okay, so we have a Fall Birthday Bash/Halloween party with our playgroup. I had to come up with some dessert that was egg free and kid friendly, but also perfect for a fall party. This seemed perfect. The cupcakes you can make with any old yellow box cake mix, but you can follow below to see how I made them egg and dairy free. I think they turned out really well. They seemed to rise well. The only thing was that they were quite crumbly, but I'm pretty sure that is the case with all egg free cakes.  I also didn't have a really ripe banana on hand, but thought that would help hold it together a little better.  I ended up making these with about 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 a banana, but that was a little too much moisture.  I've adjusted the recipe accordingly

Ingredients

1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix (look carefully at allergen list)

1 1/3 c. water

1/3 c. canola oil

1 banana, ripe and mashed, or 1/2 c. applesauce

1 t. baking powder

1 T. vinegar

orange food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line muffin baking pan with cupcake liners.
3. Using an electric mixer on low speed, blend the ingredients together (except food coloring) until moistened (approximately 30 seconds) in a large bowl.
4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and blend on medium speed for another minute.
5. To make the candy corn color, pour half or slightly less of the mixture into a bowl and add a color of drops of orange food coloring.  Be careful not to overfill the cups.
6. In each cupcake liner, pour a little yellow cake mix and then top with a little orange cake mix.  You'll want the tins to be about 2/3 full.
7. Bake according to the directions on the box (this batter can, of course, be used for making cakes of different sizes, not just cupcakes).
8. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
9. I frosted the cakes with a simple butter cream frosting, but you can easily buy egg free dairy free frosting at the store (just make sure to look at the allergen listing)

S'mores Bars

Okay, so the picture didn't turn our great, but the bars are all gone, so this is what you get. It looks a little more like a mound of S'mores, but whatever - they tasted GREAT! These seemed like a perfect dessert for trick or treating night. My husband was so upset when they were all gone. I guess I'll be making these again!

Ingredients

10 oz. bag (6 c.) mini marshmallows

12 oz. package semi sweet chocolate chips

5 T. butter

12 oz box (8 c.) Golden Graham cereal

1 t. vanilla

Directions

1. Place package of chocolate chips in the freezer to chill.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan, set aside.
3. Melt butter in a pot over medium heat.
4. Once butter is melted, add in 5 cups of marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted.  Don't worry about making sure they are all melted!
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Remove from heat and add cereal, stirring to coat.
7. Once cereal is coated, remove chocolate chips from freezer and add to cereal mixture. Also add in the remaining cup of marshmallows. Gently stir until evenly distributed.
8. Press cereal mixture into prepared baking pan.
9. Once cooled, cut into squares and enjoy!

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Bars

Okay, so this might be one of my hormonal pregnancy things, but I saw this recipe and HAD to try it. I don't know that it was really any better than normal rice crispy bars, BUT the kids sure enjoyed all the sprinkles and it made a great dessert for our Labor Day picnic.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter

1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows

1/3 - 1/2 cup yellow cake mix

6 cups crispy rice cereal

1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they melt.
2. Add in cake mix one spoonful at a time and stir until it is all combined.
3. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture.
4. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix.
5. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles.
6. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Okay, this was great, but I forgot to get a picture of it before we ate half of it!  It's been a long time since I have had rhubarb crisp of any kind, and I had forgotten just how yummy it is.  Thanks to all my facebook friends for recommending that I make this.  Yum!

Ingredients

1 c. sugar (I think you could use less if you wanted)

3 T. flour

3 c. sliced fresh strawberries

3 c. diced rhubarb

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. butter

1 c. rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In 9x13 pan, mix together first 4 ingredients
3. In large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats using a pastry blender.  Crumble mixture on top of rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
4. Bake 45 minutes, or until crisp, lightly browned, and bubbly.
5. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake

Well, Brandon wanted some strawberry shortcake, so I delivered. It's simple, but this is the recipe he loves. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Strawberries

Sugar

1 c. baking mix (like Bisquick)

1T. sugar

1 1/2 T. melted butter

1/4 c. milk

Directions

1. Clean and cut up strawberries.  Mix in sugar and let rest.
2. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Mix together baking mix, sugar, melted butter, and milk.
4. Drop by spoonful onto baking sheet to make 3 shortcakes.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
6. Serve warm with strawberries and whipped topping.

Churros con Chocolate

Okay, so my cousin is helping with a Spanish themed bridal shower brunch this weekend and was put in charge of bringing homemade churros.  One might ask why, but well, let's not.  Anyway, she asked if I would help with a dry run and I said sure.  The only thing I didn't have was a pastry bag and a star tip, as I don't decorate well anyway, why bother.  We decided that they would be fine if we just cut a hole in the corner of a plastic storage bag and made them round.  Sure enough, worked great.  The only really hard part of making these is making sure your oil is hot and to make sure you don't crowd the pan to keep the oil hot while frying.  Otherwise, these were delicious!  As a lessons learned, we think we could have made the hole in the plastic storage bag smaller, fried them to be a little darker golden, and perhaps serve them with some dulce de leche as well.  Yum!  I wish I was attending this bridal shower!

Ingredients

Churros

3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. water

1/4 c. butter

pinch of salt

2 eggs, beaten

cinnamon sugar

Chocolate Sauce

1 c. milk

2 t. corn starch

4 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped

2 T. sugar

Directions

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil.
2. Add the flour and stir vigorously.  The flour will come together to form a soft ball
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in eggs until you have a thick paste.  (This step takes a while, but get it into one good ball of dough.)
4. Heat oil (3/4" to 1") in a large skillet to 350 degrees.
5. Put the dough into a pastry bag with star tip or plastic bag with small hole cut in corner.  Squeeze out about 4-5 lengths of the churro into the hot oil.  Cook on each side until dark golden brown.
6. Remove from hot pan, to a plate with paper towels and quickly transfer into a plate of cinnamon sugar.  Toss to coat with sugar
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until all churros have been made.
8. Mix 1/2 c. milk  and chocolate to a small sauce pan and heat over low to medium low heat to melt chocolate.
9. In a small glass, mix the other 1/2 c. milk with corn starch and sugar.
10. Once the chocolate has fully melted, add the cornstarch mixture to the chocolate.  Heat until the mixture thickens.
11. Serve the churros with a small bowl of the choclate and enjoy!