Homemade Oreos

Every ‘homemade’ Oreo recipe I’ve seen is actually made from a boxed cake mix. I never have boxed cake mixes – it’s just not something I keep stocked in my pantry. Which may or may not have something to do with a story someone once told me about hers gong rancid and everyone getting sick from it…that and I think it’s almost as easy to just make a cake from scratch. And I most always have the ingredients to make a cake from scratch! And of course it tastes better, because that is the unspoken rule of ‘homemade.’

If you’re in the mood for a smack in the face of chocolatey richness, go make a batch of these babies. And have a glass of milk handy! So good.

Ingredients:

Cookies-

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350^F. In a large bowl, cream together butter, and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well. Combine cocoa, flour, and baking soda. Gradually mix into creamed mixture. Create rounded balls of dough – about 1 Tbsp each (keep them fairly small for best results). Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until puffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cook on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack or wax paper to cool completely. When completely cooked, frost will cream filling.

Cream Filling-

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

4 oz (1/2 pkg) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold into whipped cream.

 

Buttercream Frosting

I am not a frosting fan. I like the kinds made with whipping cream and pudding, but regular, sugary frosting makes me gag. Too sweet and the texture is too grainy. My four year old and I make the perfect team when it comes to frosting – she scrapes it all off and I eat what she left – basically everything but the frosting. 🙂 I made this recipe because I had to make something to decorate my cake with, and the whipping cream frosting doesn’t have enough structure to it to write words with – or should I say ‘intelligible’ words. “Happy Birthday” turns into “Blah blah blob blah,” in about two seconds flat. So, I did a little searching, and settled with this recipe, not thinking much about it; only, that it would suit my purposes and that was that. And then, I made the life changing gesture of licking my finger when a little of my frosting spilled. Oh. My. Heavenly. Frosting. It is good – really, really good. I am a frosting convert.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 Tbsp heavy cream, or milk

food coloring of your choice

Beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar gradually until the sugar has been fully incorporated. Add vanilla, salt, and cream/milk and beat until smooth. Add food coloring if desired.

Original recipe found here: http://www.copykat.com/2012/02/11/cheesecakes-with-buttercream-frosting/

Buttercream Syrup

This is my low-fat syrup (in case you haven’t read the ingredients yet – that was sarcasm). It is so perfectly indulgent and I never even feel guilty slathering it on.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and serve.

 

Apple Fritters

Tried these out for breakfast the other morning – yum! I was expecting them to be like the bear claw donuts…apparently I’m not so ‘in the know’ when it comes to fritters. They are like little, deep fried muffins (and who can go wrong with deep fried?). They have a nice crunch to the outside, which compliments the soft inside ever so nicely. These are done in a couple minutes – and that’s including mixing up your batter. I love fast. Drizzle them with icing while their still hot and eat away.

Ingredients:

Fritter –

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 cup chopped apple

Glaze –

2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir in milk and egg. Fold in apples. Heat oil in a skillet – about 1 1/2″ deep. Carefully add dough in heaping tablespoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes until both sides are browned. Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil. Make glaze by mixing powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over fritters.

Caramels

I found a post on Facebook today, all about how honey and cinnamon are the cure-alls for just about anything that ails you. Someday, someone is going to make an incredible break though declaring caramel and chocolate to be the single two ingredients needed for good health and world peace.

I stink at making candy, but, turns out, my husband is pretty good at it. The trick is to follow the advice of your thermometer. Don’t try to guess (it doesn’t work out…trust me) – and if you don’t have a thermometer, well then go out and get one. And make caramel…lots of caramel. World peace, remember?

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup evaporated milk

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup butter

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

Grease a 12×15 inch pan. In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) remove the pot from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let the mixture cool completely. When cooled cut the Carmel into small squares and wrap them in wax paper for storage.

*Original recipe found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caramels/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=caramels&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=%2f404.aspx

Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream

As I’ve said before, I am a very simple recipe type gal. Every now and again however, I’ll get a little crazy and go outside of my comfort zone. I’ve been using blueberries a lot lately because I have a huge bag of frozen ones – nice and convenient! I found this recipe for Blueberry Muffin ice cream and just couldn’t resist. I wasn’t even scared away by the words ‘compote’ (what is that?!) and ‘browned butter’ (turns out, not near as fancy or complicated as I made it out to be – it’s really just butter…browned – go figure). I was brave – but good heavens, I’ve never spent so much time on ice cream in my life. Worth it? Absolutely. It wasn’t hard to make, it just takes some time because there are multiple components and they all need time to cool before heading into the ice cream maker. So, if you want to impress with some fancy dairy delights, start early, and wow them with this yummy treat.

Ingredients
3 cups half and half
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 egg yolks
3/4 tsp kosher salt
4 oz butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup blueberry compote or jam
3 tablespoons cinnamon streusel

Simmer the butter on medium heat until takes on a nice golden brown color. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. In a large pot, bring the half and half up to an almost boil over medium high heat. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks, sugars and salt until smooth. To temper the egg mixture, carefully whisk in about 1 cup of the hot liquid into the egg mixture until smooth. Then whisk the egg mixture into the remaining amount of half and half in the pot. Return to medium low heat, and cook up to 170 degrees F, constantly stirring along the bottom of the pot to ensure even cooking. Once it has reached the 170, remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and brown butter. Strain through a wire mesh strainer. Allow to cool to about room temperature in an ice bath and pop in the fridge.

Once the mixture is chilled through, put it in your ice cream maker. Once it’s gotten pretty firm, pour the ice cream into a large bowl and fold in the blueberry compote and then the streusel so it ribbons through it. Put in a container and freeze until firm. Enjoy!

Blueberry Compote

Ingredients:
4 half pints blueberries
Juice of 3 limes
2 cups sugar

Combine everything in a bowl to coat, and then heat over a medium flame until the blueberries liquify and if you stir a spoon through it, you can see the bottom of the pan for a beat. Basically, it should look kind of syrupy. Pour into a jar, tighten the lid, and flip upside-down until room temp. Keep refrigerated.

Cinnamon Streusel

Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
2 oz butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Using your fingers or a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon and then mix in the butter until crumbly. Place on a baking sheet with a silicone mat and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Break apart and mix the streusel up, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Crumble and cool.

 

*Original recipe found here: http://simplystated.realsimple.com/2011/07/25/blueberry-muffin-ice-cream-recipe/

Biscuit Dough Donuts

My grandparents celebrated their birthday’s this week – my grandma on the 14th and my grandpa today, the 16th. He is turning 95, and she would have been celebrating 93 – she passed away at the end of January this year. I miss her laugh and her voice. My grandpa is cranky and opinionated and is the scariest driver – who gave him a license anyways? 😉 – and I love him to death. I think he has struggled more than he wants to admit from the loss, but I know he has gained a greater appreciation for what they had together since she has been gone. My parents took the opportunity to make the drive to be with him on his birthday and they had dinner the other night with my cousins at the Ranch Enchilada (it was the Whole Enchilada when I was a kid, and I still have a hard time calling it anything else!), and today did breakfast at IHOP. My grandpa made the comment that he doesn’t know how other restaurants stay open when there is an IHOP. 🙂 I wish I could have been there too. One thing about death, as sad as it is, it has a funny way of reminding us how important those still here are. I am so grateful for my family – for my parents and my sisters, and my cousins who we reconnected with over our stay there for the funeral. For my sweet grandpa who gives hugs like he never did before, and has learned to say things like, “Thank you” and “I was wrong” because of the new appreciation he has gained for life and those he loves.

In honor of my grandma, I made her ‘homemade’ donuts. At her funeral, everyone talked about making donuts with Grandma. You could count on two things at her house – grapefruit and  donuts. I’m on the younger side of all the grandkids, and I had never known that she made donuts! We always had deli pastries or store bought donuts (the grapefruit never went anywhere…I’m sure she’s still having one for breakfast every morning!). But in all my years, I don’t think I saw her use the kitchen once, except the little toaster oven to warm the pastries. So, I was excited to get the recipe for these famous donuts and try them out. I laughed out loud when my cousin sent me the recipe. Biscuit dough – so easy, and so Grandma. 🙂 She would punch the hole in the middle with the lid of a salt shaker. I’m going to have to get one, just for tradition’s sake. They really are super yummy! I was expecting them to taste more bicuit-y, but they are light and perfect and literally take 5 minutes to make. Thanks, Grandma! Love you and miss you.

Ingredients:

Cooking oil

Refrigerated biscuit dough

Icing or sugar to coat

Pour about 2″ of cooking oil into a large pot and preheat to about 350^F – be careful not to overheat. Open cylinder of biscuits, remove and separate into individual biscuits. Poke holes in the middle of each biscuit with finger, knife, or salt shaker lid :). Carefully place biscuits into hot oil and cook until bottom is golden brown, then flip and cook other side. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on paper towels until cool. Top with icing or roll in sugar – granulated or powdered. Repeat for donut holes.

 

 

Lemon Syrup

When my mom was young, their family lived in Tonga. At that time, Tonga relied heavily on the boat that brought supplies and conveniences once a month to the island. They had most everything a family could need – except one thing. Maple syrup. They didn’t even have maple extract! I count this as a blessing in disguise, because had that simple ingredient been available, my grandma would never have ‘made do’ with her lemon extract. I don’t really even like maple syrup for the simple fact that I grew up on something way better. 🙂 My husband is another story – he doesn’t like my syrup at all. So, in my house, we have Mommy Syrup and Daddy Syrup – it’s a bit of an unspoken rivalry. I get a secret, small pleasure when the kids pick mine. Maybe not so secret… 🙂

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp butter

cinnamon to taste

Dissolve sugar in water in a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil – until liquid is clear. Remove from heat. Add lemon extract, butter, and cinnamon. This is an easy recipe to make according to your taste – keep the sugar to water ratio 2:1 – the rest you can adjust according to your liking. Add a little more lemon if you like a stronger flavor. If you like a thicker syrup, you can also add 1 Tbsp karo syrup or cornstarch.

 

Creamed Chicken and Biscuits

I got this recipe in the mail from the mortgage company that we got our very first home loan through – have I mentioned that we changed mortgage companies almost seven years ago and I am still on their mailing list? I’m grateful regardless, because gems like this one pop up here and there. Plus, we get free tickets to the local water park every year for ‘customer appreciation day’ – is it dishonest of us to still go? 🙂 You can go the lazy route (I’m all about lazy…no judging here!) and use the pre-made biscuits, or a biscuit mix. Most of the time I don’t pre-plan my meals (so wish I had the self discipline to do that!), so I don’t usually have either of those stocked in my kitchen. Luckily, homemade biscuits are pretty easy, if a little messy, and require very basic ingredients. So, you can always make your own in a pinch!

Creamed Chicken:

4 cups shredded, cooked chicken (can use canned)

1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350^F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking dish. Combine chicken, soup, sour cream, and milk in a medium bowl and mix well. Spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake for 15 min (this is a good time to prepare your biscuits if you are making your own). Remove from over. Sprinkle baked layer with 3/4 cup cheese. Arrange uncooked biscuits in a single layer over top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and the sauce is bubbly – about 20 min longer.

Buttermilk Biscuits:

1 3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl (I don’t usually have bread flour, so I will use regular all purpose for both the 1 3/4 cup and 1/3 cup). Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk all at once and stir just until dough forms a ball – it works best if you mix with your hands. Pat or roll 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into rounds. If baking separate from recipe above: bake on a greased baking sheet for 15-20 min at 425^F until golden brown and flaky.