Cranberry Fritters

Remember all those cranberries I bought? Well here comes recipe number two! And it's a good'un... You know apple fritters? You like apple fritters? Well, meet their delicious holiday cousin, CRANBERRY FRITTERS (aka cranberry doughnuts). They are quick, festive, AMAZINGLY SCRUMPTIOUS and sorry to say, not the least bit healthy (actually I'm not sorry to say it, everything in moderation, right?)

Cranberry Fritters/Doughnuts

from Taste of Home

Ingredients

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

Oil for frying

Additional sugar

Directions

In a bowl, beat egg; add sugar and butter.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk.

Fold in cranberries. Heat oil in an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer to 375° (I don't have either of these so I just used a good ol non stick pan! Just make sure your oil is at 375).

Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into oil. Fry doughnuts a few at a time, turning with a slotted spoon until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels; roll in sugar while still warm. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

Hope your week is amazing!

Brown Sugar Streusel White Chocolate Cranberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cranberries were on sale for a dollar a bag at Safeway yesterday! I am not the proud owner of 5 pounds of cranberries.. good thing they freeze well! You can expect to see many cranberry recipes in the coming weeks. I am starting off with a brown sugar streusel white chocolate cranberry cream cheese coffee cake. Whew.... longest name ever, but it's so chock full of good stuff! I used a recipe borrowed from Alicia's Homemaking, a lovely blog with lots of good recipes and home making tips. To her recipe, I added fresh cranberries and white chocolate chips. I also decided to try it topped off with streusel. The streusel got a bit browner than I like. But the end result was a crisp, buttery brown sugar coating that goes great with the creamy cake. and OH MAN the cake is good! Super creamy thanks to the cream cheese and studded with juicy cranberries and sweet, milky white chocolate chips. Delicious overload and the perfect way to use up your left over cranberries, right??

White Chocolate Cranberry Coffee Cake (shortened title)

Recipe Adapted from Alicia's Homemaking

Makes 2 Loafs

1/2 cup butter

8 ounces cream cheese

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 to 1 cup white chocolate chips (depends how much extra sweetness you want)

1 cup cranberries

(I gave mine a quick chop, but you could use them whole too) tossed with 1 tablespoon flour and a sprinkle of sugar (so they don't sink to the bottom)

Streusel topping

1 stick butter (softened a bit)

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream sugar, butter, cream cheese and eggs together in a large bowl. Add vanilla, salt, and baking powder.

Gradually add in the flour, keeping the mixture smooth. Add milk.

Fold in the cranberries and chocolate chips.

Pour into greased, floured or sugared (I sugar my pans) pans, dividing batter in half.

For the topping, mix together butter, flour, and brown sugar until they have the texture of wet sand.

Sprinkle over the batter covering completely.

Put cakes in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

*Note: The streusel turns very dark brown (I used dark brown sugar), but it caramelizes and gives a lovely crunch to the cake. If you are not a fan, by all means, make the cakes without the streusel and they will still be delicious :)

Happy New Years (I know I'm a little early),

Cookie Brittle Revisited

Remember this post about easy peasy cookie brittle? Well, for employee gifts at work this year I tried a few variations on the original that I would like to share with you! First version.... Mint Chip Cookie Brittle.

All I did was switch out chocolate chips for a mix of dark chocolate chips and mint chips. The other type I made involved the addition of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.

This was my fave! Something about cranberries puts me in the holiday spirit... They just seem so jolly! The lovely thing about this brittle recipe is you could really mix in whatever goodie you have in the cupboard. If it works in a cookie, it should work as Cookie Brittle, nuts, peanut butter, coconut, raisins, oats... other ideas?

Cookie Brittle Two (or more) Ways

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups mix-ins (cranberries, white chocolate, mint chips, whatever!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie pan with parchment paper. Mix the butter and vanilla together.

Add in the flour, sugar, salt and whatever add ins you want, using your hands or a wooden spoon mix it all together until well combined.

The dough will be fairly dry and crumbly. Dump the dough onto lined cookie sheet.

Press it into a thin layer using your hands. Mine didn't completely fill the cookie tray. The thinner you press it, the crispier it will be and the quicker it will cook, so adjust accordingly.

Bake for 20 minutes, check, if edges are lightly brown and center is set, remove from oven. Allow to cool COMPLETELY (this is probably the hardest part, I put the whole tray in the fridge to speed up the process ☺).

Break up into pieces, give gifts!

Cranberry Upside Down Muffins!

I love cranberries! This particular recipe is one of my absolute favorites thanks to the delightful pairing of tart, juicy cranberries with comfortingly sweet pound cakey muffins. You could make this as a cake, but I prefer the muffins as a form of portion control (not to mention they are quite pretty)! They make a great breakfast or top with some whipped cream for a light, festive dessert. I gave this batch away to the local meal program, wrapped in individual baggies for easy transport. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Cranberry Upside Down Muffins:

From Joy of Baking

Cranberry Sauce Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice or water

Muffin Batter Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Butter well or spray, with a non stick vegetable spray, 12 muffin tins.

In a medium sized saucepan place the cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice (or water). Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries start to pop open, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly while you make the batter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg, vanilla extract, and melted and cooled butter. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour mixture.

Stir just until combined. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough when baked.

Evenly divide the cranberry mixture among the 12 well greased muffins cups.

Evenly spoon the batter over the cranberry sauce.

Place in the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack so the the cranberry topping is face up.

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins.

Happy Holidays!

P.S. Check out my guest post later today on bigbearswife.com!