Archive for DESSERTS

Apple Cranberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

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Apples and cranberries go so well together.  Pair them together in these muffins topped with sweet streusel topping and you’ve got a real treat on your hands.

I made these for a PTA-sponsored Teacher Appreciation Day one year and it was wiped out in no time.  These muffins are great for potluck breakfasts, and they make great snacks for a packed lunch.

Top the muffins with my apple cream cheese frosting (recipe below) and now you’ve got a decadent dessert.

Give my recipes a try.  I think you’ll like them. 🙂

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Apple Cranberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
 
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Apple and cranberries baked in a moist muffin and topped with a sweet streusel and buttery apple frosting
Author:
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Muffins:
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour (set aside 4 tablespoons out of the 4 cups of flour)
  • 2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 2 cups white, granulated sugar (you can use Splenda or Truvia made for baking)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ⅔ cup orange juice (with pulp)
  • 1 cup craisins
  • ⅔ cup coarsely chopped walnuts, optional
Ingredients for Streusel Topping:
  • ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • ⅔ cup finely chopped walnuts, optional (or use your favorite nut)
Ingredients for the Apple Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 box powdered sugar
Instructions
Directions for the muffins:
  1. Place cupcake liners in two regular sized muffin pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl toss 4 tablespoons of flour with the diced apples; set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl cream the 2 sticks of butter with the granulated sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and orange juice; mix until creamy.
  4. Mix together the remaining flour, baking soda and salt; add to the butter mixture.
  5. Fold the apple mixture, craisins and chopped walnuts into the batter (it will be quite thick).
  6. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about ⅔ full.
  7. Top with streusel topping then bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
  8. Cool the cupcakes/muffins in the pan for 10-15 minutes then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Streusel Topping:
  1. In a medium bowl combine the brown sugar, 4 tablespoons of flour, lemon zest, melted butter and chopped nuts (you can use a food chopper to chop these nuts very fine).
  2. Mix well (you can use a fork) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Make the Apple-Cream Cheese Frosting:
  1. Place the diced apples, brown sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the apples have softened, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Place the cooked apple mixture in a blender or food processor to finely chop the apples (small bits are okay). Set aside to cool completely.
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer. Add the apple mixture; mix until combined. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until creamy. Refrigerate the frosting until you’re ready to ice the cupcakes/muffins.

 

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Easy Ultra-Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Ahhh…the delicious aroma of cake baking is rivaled only by that of gooey chocolate chip cookies baking and filling your home with happiness. 🙂

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Red velvet cake topped with sweet cream cheese frosting is one of my favorites.

These cupcakes were topped with a marshmallow flower made by slicing marshmallows (use a pair of kitchen scissors for easy cutting) then sticking the petals together to form a flower.

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This is a super-easy recipe.  Mix a box of red velvet cake mix with eggs, milk, oil, instant chocolate pudding, and red food coloring (for a deeper red color).

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Fill cupcake lines 3/4 full.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Let the cupcakes cool then frost and ENJOY! 🙂
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Easy Ultra-Moist Red Velvet Cupcakes
 
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Author:
Serves: 2 dozen
Ingredients
  • 1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe red velvet cake mix
  • 1 box (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 4 large eggs
  • ¾ cup oil
  • ¾ cup milk*
  • 12 drops of red food coloring
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix all ingredients together.
  3. Pour into cupcake tins lined with paper liners, ¾ full.
  4. Bake 18-20 minutes.
  5. Frost with your favorite frosting.
High Altitude Adjustments (for altitudes higher than 3000 ft):
  1. *Use 1 cup of milk (instead of ¾ cup)
  2. Do not preheat the oven. Prepare the batter and fill the cupcake tins, THEN turn on the oven. When the oven temperature reaches 250 degrees, place the pans in the oven.
  3. Bake for 10-15 minutes; the time starts when the temperature reaches 350 degrees (check for doneness at 10 minutes). The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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Posted in Cakes, DESSERTS

Caramel Apples

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This recipe is one of the simplest, and if you get your kids to help, it’s fun too!

My recipe is makes just the basic caramel-covered apple, but you can up the WOW! factor by adding toppings to the freshly dipped apples.

Our favorite toppings are:

  • Toffee candy bits
  • Chopped nuts
  • Cookie pieces
  • Mini M&M candies
  • Sprinkles
  • Miniature marshmallows
  • Miniature chocolate chips

The options are virtually endless when it comes to jazzing up your caramel apple.  Give my recipe a try.  Your kids will love you for it. 🙂

Caramel Apples

 

Caramel Apples
 
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Crunchy apples covered with sweet, melted caramel
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 6 small apples
  • 1 bag (14 ounces) individually wrapped caramel candies, unwrapped
  • 2 tablespoons milk (or heavy cream or coconut milk)
  • 6 popsicle sticks
  • Parchment paper
Instructions
  1. Rinse the apples; dry them completely (or else the caramel sauce won't stick to them). Insert a popsicle stick into each apple.
  2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  3. Place the unwrapped caramels and milk into a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly until the caramels melt. Let the caramel sauce cool for about 2 minutes before dipping the apples.
  4. Holding the popsicle stick, dip the apple into the caramel sauce, covering it almost completely. Let the excess caramel sauce drip into the pan then place onto the parchment paper to set. If adding additional toppings, do so immediately after dipping the apples into the caramel sauce then place onto the parchment paper.
ENJOY!

 

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Posted in DESSERTS, Other Desserts

Baked Yeast Donuts

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I love making fried yeast donuts for my family, but in an effort to make this indulgent dessert a bit healthier, I decided to bake them instead.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it.

 

Baked Donuts and Donut Holes

Baked Yeast Donuts - 05

Chocolate Frosted with Coconut (my favorite!)

Baked Yeast Donuts - 15

Cinnamon Sugar

Baked Yeast Donuts - 13

Chocolate Frosted (my kids’ favorite)

Baked Yeast Donuts - 16

Vanilla Glaze

Baked Yeast Donuts - 14

Donut Holes with Chocolate, Vanilla Glaze, Cinnamon Sugar, and Sprinkles

Baked Yeast Donuts - 12

Baked Yeast Donuts
 
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Baked, not fried yeast donuts...all the indulgence with a little less guilt. 🙂
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 20 donuts
Ingredients
Yeast Mixture:
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ cup warm milk (between 98-105 degrees)
Dough Mixture:
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • ½ cup warm milk
  • 1 egg
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2½ to 3 cups all-purpose flour (you might not need it all)
Chocolate Glaze: (this makes enough to glaze about 10 donuts)
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
Vanilla Glaze: (this makes enough to glaze about 10-12 donuts)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Cinnamon Sugar topping:
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Honey Butter:
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup honey
Other ingredients/items:
  • Sweetened coconut flakes
  • Sprinkles
  • Butter cooking spray
  • Plastic Wrap
Instructions
MAKE THE DOUGH (DONUTS):
  1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ¼ cup warm milk. Stir together to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Let it stand for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to proof (it will get very bubbly).
  2. Meanwhile, mix together the 2 tablespoons melted butter and warm milk. Mix in the egg, ⅓ cup sugar and salt. After the yeast has proofed for 5 minutes, add the milk-butter-egg-sugar-salt mixture to the yeast. Using your mixer's dough hook, turn the mixer on to medium low speed to combine. *Note, if you don't have a large stand mixer, you can use a sturdy mixing spoon or spatula to combine the ingredients.
  3. Add 2½ cups of the flour to the mixing bowl. Reserve the remaining ½ cup flour. Turn the mixer to medium speed, mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. After mixing for about 2 minutes, if the dough still looks very sticky and is not pulling away from the side of the mixing bowl, add in more flour, a few spoonfuls at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

    **DO NOT add more than the remaining ½ cup of flour, even if the dough is still sticky.**
  4. Once the dough pulls away from the sides, turn the mixer to medium high and mix for 5 minutes to knead the dough. *Note: if you are doing this by hand, mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Once all of the flour is incorporated, turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface (use some of the remaining ½ cup flour to flour the surface) and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. If the dough sticks to your hand while kneading, use whatever remaining flour is left from the ½ cup of flour. If the dough is still sticking to your hands, spray your hands with butter cooking spray (DO NOT add more flour or your resulting donuts will come out hard as a rock).
  5. After kneading, place the dough into a clean bowl that has been sprayed with butter cooking spray (you can use softened butter as well). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to let the dough rise and double in size.
  6. After the dough has doubled, take it out of the bowl and gently punch it down. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, rolling the dough until it's about ½ inch thick. Use a donut cutter to cut out donuts (and donut holes).
  7. Place the cut donut shapes (1 inch apart) onto a baking pan that has been sprayed with butter cooking spray. Spray the tops of the donuts then cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again until doubled.
  8. After the donuts have doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. DO NOT overcook the donuts, even if the dough still looks "white". Remove from the oven and let the donuts sit on the pan for 5 minutes then remove them to a baking rack to finish cooling.
  9. While the donuts are cooling, make your glazes.
MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
  1. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and corn syrup for one minute. Remove from the microwave. Stir in the chocolate chips to the heated mixture; continue stirring until the chocolate chips have melted. Using a whisk, mix in the powdered sugar. Continue whisking/mixing until there are no more lumps from the powdered sugar and the glaze is smooth and shiny. Dip the donuts into the glaze while the glaze is still warm. If the glaze thickens up, reheat it for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. Mix until there are no lumps and the glaze is smooth and creamy. Dip your donuts into the glaze.
MAKE THE CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING:
  1. In a small bowl, place the melted butter.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
  3. Dip the donuts first into the melted butter, then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
MAKE THE HONEY BUTTER:
  1. In a small microwave-safe bowl, place the butter and honey; heat for 30-45 seconds, or long enough for the butter to soften and just begin to melt. Stir to combine the mixture; mix until you get a creamy, spreadable consistency. Spread honey butter on top of the donuts.
Optional:
  1. Top the glazed donuts with sweetened coconut flakes, sprinkles, or any other topping you like (nuts are good too).

 

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Posted in BREADS, DESSERTS, Donuts, Yeast Bread

Spanish Rolls

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Spanish Rolls are one of my favorite things to eat!
They are a soft, sweet bread dough rolled flat and filled with sweetened butter, then rolled jelly-roll style.  The rolled dough is brushed with melted butter then topped with a sprinkling of a sugar-breadcrumb mixture and baked to golden brown perfection.

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Eat them as a snack, dessert, or have a roll or two or three 😉 for breakfast with
a steaming cup of your favorite coffee.

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It’s not that difficult to make.  Follow my complete recipe below and mix up a batch of sweet bread dough.  Flatten pieces of dough and brush with a butter-sugar mixture.  Roll up the dough, jelly-roll style and let the dough rise.

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Spread more butter on top of the rolls and top with a sugar-breadcrumb topping before baking.  Use turbinado sugar, also called sugar in the raw, to top the rolls.

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The sugar-breadcrumb mixture bakes up into a sweet and crunchy topping that compliments the soft and incredibly fluffy, buttery rolls.

Don’t you wish you could just reach into your computer and pull one of these
scrumptious rolls right off that pan?

Give my recipe a try.  I know you’ll like it. 🙂

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Spanish Rolls
 
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Soft, fluffy rolls with a buttery sugar filling and topped with a crunchy, sweet sugar-bread crumb topping
Author:
Recipe type: Yeast Bread
Serves: 24
Ingredients
Dough:
  • 1¼ cup milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 packets active dry yeast
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 4½ cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
  • 2 sticks softened butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
Topping:
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup turbinado sugar (also called sugar in the raw)
Instructions
  1. Place the milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute and 15 seconds. Pour the hot milk into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar to the milk, mixing until the sugar is dissolved, about one minute.
  2. Add the yeast to the milk-sugar mixture then mix until dissolved. Let the yeast stand for about 10 minutes to proof (the mixture should become very foamy).
  3. Let the melted butter cool down a bit then mix it with the salt, egg and egg yolks. Pour the butter mixture into the mixing bowl with the yeast mixture.
  4. Mix in the flour, a half cup at a time until you've used four cups of flour.
  5. Change the paddle to the dough hook then add the last half cup of flour. Knead with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, or until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
  6. Spray the ball of dough with butter cooking spray then cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled (about 45 minutes to an hour).
  7. After the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down then place it onto a clean countertop. Knead gently for 1 minute. Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into ovals.
  8. Prepare the filling by mixing the softened butter and sugar together until creamy.
  9. Evenly spread about a tablespoon of the butter and sugar mixture over each piece of flattened dough (you will have some of the mixture leftover; save this for use later).
  10. Roll the dough, jellyroll-style. Place onto a baking sheet about one inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; place the pan in a warm place to rise for about 20 minutes.
  11. While the rolls are rising, mix the breadcrumbs and turbinado sugar together.
  12. After the rolls have risen, gently spread some of the remaining butter-sugar mixture on top of the rolls. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the buttered rolls.
  13. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm from the oven and ENJOY!

 

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Posted in BREADS, DESSERTS, Other Desserts, Yeast Bread
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