Applesauce Cake

The answer is yes, I have fallen to the busy holiday season. That's one reason for the lack of blogging lately. Well, and really I haven't been
cooking as much. Christmas Eve was with Al's family and Christmas day with mine...and I only had to make potatoes au gratin and cookies. (Which were awesome by the way...cookie dough truffles, pumpkin molasses, nutella no-bakes, butterscotch drops, and super soft sugar cookies with fun icing!)

Anyways, on to something that's kind of special to me. A little over a year ago, Al's side of the family threw me a bridal shower at which I received a family cookbook. Filled with pages and pages of recipes passed down from generation to generation. Mixed in with a family tree and some really neat photos from as early as the 1860s. This is a recipe that comes from that cookbook. Craving something sweet and not having a ton of ingredients, I found myself with just about everything for this cake. I skipped the frosting, it was good enough without. And I didn't add in raisins or walnuts which are in the recipe. This turned out to be a delicious moist cake. Loved it.

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened natural applesauce
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 teas cinnamon
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas salt

optional:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

*In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs well. Add applesauce, sugar, and oil, mix well. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients, stir until well combined.
*Pour into a coated baking pan. (13x9)
*Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
*Sprinkle with powdered sugar, eat plain, or top with some frosting! Enjoy.

Gingerbread Mini Muffins

I hinted to these bad boys yesterday. This was one of those "I saw it on pinterest and was immediately in my kitchen" kind of things. The recipe, coming from a pinch of yum, makes these as mini donuts. (I altered slightly, due to my lack absence of allspice.) Well, with a big sigh I say that I don't own a mini donut pan. And since making these, I have toiled with the thought of getting one. Even making up-in my head-a pro con list as to why or why not.

PRO: I love donuts.
CON: Its money that could be spent on something else used far more often.
PRO: I love mini donuts!
CON: Having a pan of this sort would cause me to want to use it to get my money's worth...thusly consuming far too many donuts.
PRO: They are baked donuts, so so much better than fried.
CON: They are still donuts.

So you see...its really just a toss up. But so far I've held out. Hence these guys became mini muffins instead. And really...still tasted awesome. All the steps were still the same and I, I mean we, got to enjoy a fun treat!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
3/4 teas baking powder
1/4 teas baking soda
1 teas cinnamon
1 teas ginger
1/2 teas ground cloves
1/4 teas salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, dived
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tbls maple syrup
3 tbls milk, divided
4 tbls butter, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Mix in egg, applesauce, syrup, 1 tbls milk, and 2 tbls of the butter.
*Transfer batter to a ziplock bag and cut the corner off. Pipe into an already (cooking) sprayed pan filling each space 1/2 full.
*Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from pan onto cooling rack.
*In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tbls butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Let boil for 2 minutes then add 1 tbls of milk and bring back to a boil. Add the powdered sugar. If needed thin out with remaining milk.
*Turn down heat to low to keep glaze going. Dip each and let set.
*Enjoy/try not to eat all of them right away.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Today I am thankful for....

the cozy side of fall.

Ya know...blankets, hot beverages, snuggling, candles, and the aroma of freshly baked pie. It makes you do that thing where you closer your eyes, tighten up your shoulders, and smile! Love it.

Speaking of an aroma wafting through the house. I for sure had that going on last night. I made these awesome cookies...or should I say banana-bread-bites-from-heaven. They were excellent. AND!! Come out to only about 140 calories per cookie, which isn't half bad. I had a couple for breakfast this morning...yum!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 medium bananas, mashed

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
3/4 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas nutmeg

*Cream together the softened butter and sugars. Once fully incorporated add bananas, egg, vanilla, and oats. Then combine with the rest of the dry ingredients.
*Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
*Spoon out onto baking sheet, make sure to spread the batter out just a bit, not quite flat but not a heap of a mound either.
*Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool on baking rack and then watch these things fly.

Apple Donuts

So just a little update for everyone...on why there weren't many posts last week. Our happy little puppy, Bueller, got sprayed by a skunk! Ugh, and it seriously affected like everything! It was a rough week last week. But enough of that, back to food!

Its October, so that means apples are......everywhere. For those that read my post last weekend, this one has the same base recipe: beignets. When I made those last time it was way thinner then I thought it would be, so I added more flour and they came out more like donut holes. This go 'round, I followed the recipe exactly and then took apple slices and coated them in the batter, and fried as normal. After they cooled for a few minutes I then tossed them in cinnamon sugar. These were seriously divine!!! I brought them to church on Sunday and were gone so fast. Again, a bit time consuming but well well well worth it. It was like five steps up from mini-donuts....and to put it mildly I'm a mini-donut connoisseur. So make these. Seriously. Do it.

Candy Corn

Apparently I have a sweet tooth lately. And I'm not much of a chocolate fan, so that gets rid of a ton of options. Yet, somehow it doesn't take me long to think of something I want...and then I'm making it! This is not for the faint of heart. It is decently time consuming...or at least it was for me, perhaps I'm not a competent concoctor of candy corn. Nevertheless, I powered through. They aren't exactly like the candy corn you buy this time of year, but they suffice for a sweet tooth craving. They have a softer consistency as well, again, this may have been how they turned out for me. But yeah, I'd make it again. I'd be more likely to if I had a partner in crime to help in the shaping of the pieces. TIPS: use plastic gloves or cling wrap when working with the "dough". Don't roll out too thin, or it will break. They get better the longer they are left out, getting slightly hard on the outside.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup 
5 tablespoons Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
a pinch of sea salt
red & yellow food coloring


*In a sauce pan bring the sugar, corn syrup, margarine, and vanilla to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and boil for 5 mins stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.
*Sift the powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Then add the sifted dry ingredients into the pan, stir to combine. Let stand for about 20 mins.
*Divide into 3 pieces. Add food coloring to create the yellow and orange and leave the white plain. Work each ball, kneading until color is established and they are smooth. 
*Roll out into 3 ropes of equal length(they will be long!) and push the ropes together. Take a rolling pin over the top to flatten just a bit, joining the ropes together even better. 
*Use a knife to cut into triangles, form as you wish!

Beignets

I made these on this past weekend when desiring something sweet. I could not believe my little brown eyes when I saw that these were vegan! Not to mention honestly simple. If you have the time I totally suggest them. They were awesome. Kind of ended up more like a light donut consistency rather than beignets that we're all used to. (I mean, we have all had them right?! Right?!!?) I'm going to make these again soon, with sliced apples inside, cause that sounds down right superb!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teas salt
2 tbls sugar
4 teas dry active yeast
1 teas cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of water (120 - 130 degrees)
1/2 teas lemon juice
oil for frying(I used veg oil)
powdered sugar

*Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add water and lemon juice, stir until well blended. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for about 45 mins.
*Heat oil to 350 degrees(medium to medium-high heat). Drop in the batter in heaping spoonfuls. Once golden brown, flip over once. With a slotted spoon remove and place on a cooling rack with a paper towel.
*Serve with powdered sugar dusted on top.