Chocolate Quick Bread/Cake

oh my goodness! It has been too long since I blogged, life's pace is definitely picking up! Despite the craziness of life, I have still found time to bake, I made this cake yesterday after a particularly hectic day at work, and it turned out lovely. Decadent and chocolaty, all those work stresses went right out the window! It's topped with fluffy frosting and mounds of marshmallows and I finished it off by grating dark chocolate over the marshmallows. I actually poured half the batter into the pan, sprinkled on a layer of marshmallows, and topped it with the rest of the batter. I don't recommend this, it really didn't make any difference in the cake, the marshmallows just melted and got sticky. Cake was still good (really good) but a bit sticky around the edges. If you make it, just leave them out, as I did in the recipe below. Next time I make it I'm going to throw a few handfuls of chocolate chips in for an even more intense chocolate flavor. For the frosting use canned or homemade whichever you prefer. I used homemade buttercream leftover from some cupcakes I made for valentines day. I had saved the extra in February by freezing it, all I had to do was thaw it and rewhip it, no problem!

Chocolate Quick Bread

Recipe from Thatsmyhome.com

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/4 cups sour milk*

Topping

Frosting

Marshmallows

Chocolate shavings

*Sour milk: add 1 tbsp. vinegar to 1 cup milk at room temp. Allow to sit 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Sift together first five ingredients. Add remaining ingredients.

Combine until just blended. Pour into sprayed 9 x 5 loaf pan. Bake at for about one hour or until a pick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs attached. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely. When cooled, remove from pan.

Frost with buttercream or other frosting and top with plenty of marshmallows and a sprinkle of chocolate shavings.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up at Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Rook 17, and Funky Junk Interiors.

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Spring has sprung here in Oregon, we are getting sun about one day a week, which is pretty darn good for the Northwest! Spring makes me happy, and when I'm happy, I bake (and run which is needed due to all the baking!) My most recent baking accomplishment is a carrot cake cookie sandwich. I used Martha Stewart's Carrot Cookie Recipe and sandwiched the cookies together with a cream cheese frosting. Martha's recipe calls for raisins but I left them out as I used up all my raisins making these. I also had no cinnamon so I added in pumpkin pie spice instead, sounds weird but surprisingly worked really well in the cookies! They are super moist and the carrots give a nice subtle flavor, don't worry not too carroty. I even had a veggie hater sample one and he declared them delicious, actually he just ate two more so I declare that they must've been delicious!

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

Adapted From Martha Stewart

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside.

Combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; stir to combine.

Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended.

Mix in oats and carrots. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough.

Once cooled completely, spread cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie.

Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Happy Easter!

I will be linking up at Sweet Tooth Friday, Rook #17, Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming, and Weekend Wrap Up at Tater Tots and Jello.

Cinnabon Clones

I happen to adore cinnamon rolls. Especially Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Giant, cinnamony, flaky.... need I go on?! I had never tried recreating them until I ran across this clone recipe, originally from Tod Wilbur's "More Top Secret Recipes". I always thought Cinnabons would take sooo long, and honestly when I wake up in the morning the last thing I want to do is spend the first few hours of my day baking bread. I need sustenance immediately, waiting around for breakfast is not a good plan for me, I tend to get cranky without food :) Thus the perfect solution, freeze and bake cinnamon rolls! I used a recipe adapted for the bread machine to make it even more effortless and got tips from the King Arthur website on how to freeze yeast breads before baking. All I had to do was make the cinnamon rolls on a leisurely weekend afternoon and pop them in the freezer. I kept them in the freezer for a week, then the night before I wanted to eat them I just put them in the fridge and in the morning into the oven and voila! Homemade Cinnabons! If you like your cinnamon rolls super decadent (like me) you can whip up an easy cream cheese frosting to slather on once the cinnamon rolls are baked. Yum!

Cinnabon Clones

From More Top Seceret Recipes, by Todd Wilbur via food.com

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

4 cups flour

FILLING

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

ICING

8 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions For Bread Machine (see bottom of page for by hand recipe)

Put all ingredients for dough into your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (usually wet first, then dry, then make a well in the dry ingredients and add yeast). Set to dough cycle and let the bread machine do it's work!

When dough cycle is complete. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 thick. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.

Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.

Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.

At this point I had one extra that didn't fit in the pan so I stuck it in a muffin tin and baked it right then and there!

Ten minutes at 400 degrees.

But, moving on to the freezing of the rolls... Carefully place them in a plastic bag,

one large enough to “tent” over the risen buns. Place the bag in the freezer. When the buns are frozen solid, gently press the bag more tightly around them, and reseal. The evening before the morning you want to serve the buns, remove them from the freezer. Unseal, and “poof” the bag up a bit, so it’s not touching the buns. Reseal, place the buns in the refrigerator, and let them thaw overnight.

Next morning, remove them from the fridge, and take them out of the bag. Let them sit at room temperature while you preheat your oven.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.

Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.

When the rolls are done, remove from oven. Allow to cool 10 minutes.

Flip pan over onto a serving plate.

Spread generously with icing. If your rolls are still hot, like mine were, when you spread on the icing, it will begin to melt just fyi.

Melty frosting...

If you prefer your rolls without icing, sprinkle with some chopped nuts, and enjoy!

By Hand Recipe

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.

Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.

Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.

Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. Once doubled in size continue with directions above (from the step after dough is removed from bread machine).

Linking up at Sugar and Dots, My Backyard Eden, Good Cheap Eats, Paisley Passions, Friday Favorites, Prairie Story, It's A Keeper Thursday, Tater Tots and Jello, By Stephanie Lynn, and Trendy Treehouse.

St. Patty's Day Mint Oreos

Ive been wanting to try homemade oreos for awhile, I used a chocolate cookie recipe from Joy of Baking (an amazing website by the way). The filling recipe I borrowed from Sister's Cafe. It is basically a cream cheese frosting to which I added mint extract and green coloring, in honor of St. Patty's day.

It was quite delicious, but not very oreo-esque. The actual oreo filling recipes all included shortening and that didn't sound too appetizing to me... thus the frosting filling. The cookies are super chocolaty and crisp up as they cool. Much better than the store bought oreo cookies, and not hard to make at all!

Homemade Oreos

from Joy of Baking

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (50 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons (45 grams) margarine (or Smart Balance)

2/3 cup (140 grams) packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large (30 grams) egg white

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and margarine until well blended. Add the sugars and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg white. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Place the dough on your work surface and, using your hands, form the dough into a log shape that is about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Carefully wrap the dough in aluminum foil, parchment paper or wax paper and fold or twist the ends. Try not to flatten the log (easier said than done, some of my oreos were square). Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a sharp knife, slice into 1/4 inch thick wafers. Place on the baking sheet spacing about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the the cookies puff and the tops of the cookies have crackles (ripples). Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10 days.

Cream Cheese Filling

From Sister's Cafe

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 block of cream cheese, room temp (8 oz)

3-4 cups - powdered sugar (depending on desired consistency)

1 - tsp mint extract

A few drops green food coloring

Cream butter and add cream cheese, add food coloring and mix well.

Add powdered sugar slowly until you reach your desired consistency.

Frost backs of cookies and smoosh together.

I used a pastry bag and tip, but a knife would do the trick.

I took lots and lots of pictures....

Mint-astic!

Happy Weekending!

Linking up at Sunday Showcase Party, Sweets for A Saturday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Foodie Friday and I Heart Naptime, and I'm Lovin it at tidymom.net

Apple Pumpkin Pie Bites

Happy Wednesday! This recipe was definitely a learning experience. I wanted to make pumpkin hand pies. So I used the recipe for the filling off of the pumpkin pie can and I bought two refrigerated pie crusts (cause I still have never made a pie crust... i know, how lame of me... but I WILL do it some day....). I figured I would just cut circles out of the refrigerated pie crust, add the filling, and top with another circle of pie crust, easy peasy. The problem turned out to be that the pie filling I made was waaay too liquidy, and I ended up with A LOT of it. A BUNCH more than I needed!

I am solution oriented though, so I added some flour to thicken it up, and used the extra filling to make these bars from picky palate. At the last minute, I was inspired to dice up an apple and add it to the pies. I had an extra one left over after making this cake, so I ended up with pumpkin apple pocket pies! They are delightful, flaky little bites of fall. The apple adds a great texture and flavor to the creamy pumpkin filling. The crust is nice and flaky, I'm sure homemade would be better but Pillsbury worked for me. I have posted the recipe I used (the one that makes a ton of filling), if you don't want extra pumpkin pie filling, just halve the filling recipe and that will make about the right amount of filling for 12 pie bites.

Apple Pumpkin Pie Bites

Ingredients

Original Ingredients

Plus...

Last Minute Add-Ins

1 can pumpkin

1 12 oz can nonfat evaporated milk

3/4 cup white sugar

9 tablespoons flour

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small apple, diced

2 refrigerated pie crust doughs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small tart pan (you could also use a muffin pan or a muffin top pan) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, and spices.

Set aside.

Roll out pie crusts, and using a three inch circle cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from each crust (you will need to bundle up the scraps and re-roll them).

Place 12 of the crusts in the prepared tart pan.

Sprinkle on a few pieces of diced apple, cover with a scant tablespoon of pumpkin filling. Brush the edges of each bottom crust with a bit of water and top with another circle of crust.

Pinch the two crust edges together (make sure they seal or else you will get filling seeping out the sides). Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min or until lightly golden brown.

Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons milk

Whisk together sugar and milk making sure to break up any lumps. Drizzle over mini-pies before serving.

Yay Fall!!