Holiday Bread Pudding -- posted by Jessica

I found this recipe in the newspaper for an ad for Smart Balance Spread. I had some slightly dry pumpkin waffles (still trying to get the hang of my new waffle maker!) so decided to give this recipe a try using up the waffles and it turned out great! The sauce is really yummy!

Pudding:

11/2 Tb Smart Balance Original Spread, melted
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 Tb vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
8 oz Italian bread torn in small pieces

Sauce:

1/4 cup Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tb milk
3 Tb bourbon or apple juice (I used brandy as I did not have bourbon)
1 tsp vanilla (as I type this recipe, I realize I must have used 1 Tb vanilla for the sauce as it was very vanilla-ey but delicious!)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 11x7 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray and add melted spread.
Combine next 7 ingredients; whisk till well blended. Add cranberries and bread and stir gently (do not overmix).
Pour mixture into baking dish and bake uncovered 35-40 min or till knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients, except vanilla, in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve with bread pudding.
8 servings

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins -- posted by Jessica

So, I was at Starbucks a couple months ago and saw they had pumkin cream cheese muffins. They looked delicious, so I bought one and it was really good! Now, of course, anything at Starbucks is way overpriced so I figured I should try to make them myself. So thanks to Google, I found their recipe! I did use less sugar in the muffin batter and in the cream cheese as I thought the one from Starbucks was a bit too sweet. I also used 1/2 cup applesauce for 1/2 cup of the oil as I didn't want them to be too greasy. They turned out really well. Very moist, good spice and pumkin flavor and I love the cream cheese middle! I did not make the pumpkin seed topping as I did not have any around. I'll have to try that next time. I can't remember the website I found this recipe, but thanks to whoever originally posted it!

Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Cream Cheese

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Candied Pumpkin Seeds

• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup pepitas (raw shelled pumpkin seeds)

Muffin Batter

• Muffin Batter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 12 cup muffin pan
• Paper muffin cups

• Cream Cheese:
• Using an electric mixer combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Cover and chill until firm
• .
• Preheat over to 350 degrees F
• Line 12 cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
• Candied Pumpkin Seeds:
• Spray large baking sheet with cooking spray. Heat seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until the seeds begin to pop. Add sugar, and stir constantly about 1 minute or until sugar begins to liquefy and caramelize; add cinnamon and salt. Spread seeds on prepared baking sheet, and cool. Break apart the seeds that are stuck together, once they have cooled.
• Muffin Batter:
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, combine eggs, sugar and vanilla, mix on low speed just to combine ingredients. Add pumpkin and oil and continue to mix about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until batter is smoother, about 30-60 seconds.
• Baking Muffins:
• Spoon batter into paper muffin cups, making batter level with top of the muffin cup. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture to the top of each muffin and press cream cheese down into the middle of each muffin cup of batter. Sprinkle muffins with candied pumpkin seeds. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slighly browned on top. To test for doneness insert a toothpick into center of muffin (not cream cheese), will come out clean.

Here's a pic of how mine turned out:

Carrot Cake -- posted by Jessica

One of my favorite cake flavors is carrot cake. I love the moist cake with the cinnamony taste and the sweet cream cheese frosting! I'm not a big fan of super sweet frosting so when I make this recipe I use a third of the powdered sugar and it turns out wonderful. I have made this cake several times with great success and good compliments! Thanks to Cooking Light for this amazing carrot cake recipe!

Notes: I usually cut the sugar in the cake down as well as the coconut and pineapple add sweetness. I also add cinnamon to the frosting as it is my favorite spice!

Cake:
11/2 c flour
1 1/3 c sugar (3/4 to 1 cup is fine)
1/2 sweetened flaked coconut (sometimes I sub. in raisins)
1/3 c chopped pecans
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tb oil
2 large eggs
2 c grated carrot
1 1/2 c canned crushed pineapple, drained

Frosting:
2 Tb butter, softened (I use 1 Tb)
1 8 oz block 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
3 cups pwd sugar (I use 1 cup)
2 tsp vanilla
A couple pinches of cinnamon if desired


Combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, soda, salt and cinnamon. Combine oil & eggs; Stir egg mixture, carrot and pinepple into flour mixture. Spread in greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 350 for 35 minutes or till done. Cool on wire rack.

For frosting: combine butter and cream cheese. Beat till smooth Beat in pwd sugar and vanilla (and cinnamon if using) just till smooth. Spread on top of cake.

Yield: 16 servings.

Tandy Kakes -- posted by Jessica

These taste just like Tasty Kakes peanut butter kandy kakes without the preservatives and are pretty quick and easy to make. Yum!

1 c milk
1 Tb butter
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 pound peanut butter (1 cup)
12 oz chocolate chips

Scald milk and butter. Blend flour, sugar, bk pwd, salt, vanilla & eggs. Add milk mixture; blend well. Batter will be thin. Spread batter in greased and floured 15x10 pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min (don't overbake as they tend to dry out really fast). Cool completely. Spread with p.b. (helps to microwave the p.b. for 30 seconds or so to make it easier to spread). Once p.b. hardens, melt chocolate chips and spread over top. Cut into squares while chocolate is still warm. Let  chocolate set and enjoy!

Summer Blackberry Cobbler with Vanilla-Rum Creme Anglaise--Posted by Joy

Taken from Cuisine at Home

Summer Blackberry Cobbler 
with coconut-pecan topping


Toss Together:
8 C blackberries fresh or frozen (thawed slightly if frozen)
1 C sugar (to taste, in my opinion--much more sugar if using wild blackberries from my experience)
1/4 C instant tapioca
Juice of 1/2 lime
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375; toss berries with sugar, tapioca, lime juice and salt. Spoon into a 2qt baking dish.

Combine; Knead In:
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C pecans; coarsely chopped
1/2 t. baking power
1/4 t. table salt
1/2 C cold unsalted butter, cubed (1 stick)

Combine flour, coconut, sugar, pecans, b. powder and salt; with fingertips knead in butter until blended; mixture should look like coarse sand.

Blend In; Top Berries With:
1 egg

Blend egg with berries; top berries with topping in clumps. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until topping is golden and crisp and filling is thick and bubbly. Cool on rack for at least 1 hour before serving.

Serve With: 
Vanilla-Rum Creme Anglaise

Vanilla-Rum Creme Anglaise


Warm: 
2 C half and half
2 T. sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped; pod chopped into 1' pieces

Warm in saucepan over medium heat until steaming; about 5 minutes.

Whisk Together; Temper Milk Into and Cook:
5 egg yolks
3 T. sugar
2 T. light or dark rum
1/4 t. kosher salt

Whisk yolks, sugar, rum and salt together in a bowl; when milk mixture is steaming, temper into the eggs whisking constantly. Pour the custard back into the pan and return to burner. Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard coats the back of a spoon, 5-8 minutes.

Blend and Strain; Add:
1 t. vanilla extract

Blend custard and vanilla bean pod in a blender for 1 minute. Strain into a bowl, add the extract, cover and chill.

MY NOTES: This recipe felt like a lot of work at the time, though reading it now I'm not sure why other than the tediousness of watching the anglaise carefully. I also picked my own blackberries and they were quite tart so it really needed at least double the amount of sugar the recipe called for. It was late in the season and the blackberries had large seeds in them as well so I didn't enjoy that so much. I had made a much simpler blackberry cobbler some years before that I loved. If I can ever find that recipe I'll post it as well. The Creme Anglaise was AWESOME. I made it a few times for other things--it was just as good with extract and not the hassle of the vanilla beans, but of course the bean made it very rich and pretty to look at as well. The topping was good--I would probably tweak it with a bit more sugar or...something. Not sure what. But worth playing around with if you have the motivation and time :-) 

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Bread

I wanted to find some new zucchini bread recipes to try and found this one from a google search. I already have a good chocolate zucchini bread recipe I like to use, but thought this one sounded good too. I alterred it a bit. The original recipe did not call for an egg I suppose to make it vegan. I added an egg and a half cup of oats and a 1/4 cup sliced almonds. It turned out well, very moist. Next time I would use less oil though. 

Chocolate Banana Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups shredded raw zucchini
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 large banana
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup nuts
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Shred zucchini to get 1 1/2 cups. Set aside.
3. Mix the flour, oats, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
4. Mash the banana with the sugar, oil, and vanilla and egg. Fold in the grated zucchini. Stir in the dry ingredients and then mix in the dried cranberries and nuts.
5. Pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

10 - 12 slices

Chocolate Chip Orange Zucchini Bread

Here's another good way to use up end of summer zucchini. The only thing it needs is more orange flavor; maybe more orange zest or a little orange extract.


Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tb orange zest

Heat oven to 350.  Grease two 9x5 loaf pans. Sift together flour thru nutmeg. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate and zest. Blend in the flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 50 min or till done.
Yield: 2 loaves, 12 slices each.