Cranberry Crisp Bars

This recipe turned out much different than I had planned, but it was still really good.  I had been hoping to create a coffee cake with a crispy cranberry struesel.  However, I didn't check my pantry for ingredients before I started my baking-oops!

After making the struesel, I went to the pantry to grab a box of French Vanilla cake mix and was bummed when I realized I didn't have one.

So I got out one of my favorite church cook books and found a recipe for a cake - Grandma Cake to be exact.  It has to be good with a name like that, right?!

They were yummy warm out of the oven with ice cream.  And they were nice and crunchy the next morning for breakfast (no ice cream!)

 

Cranberry Crisp Bars

3 cups Cranberry Crisp Cereal

3/4 c. brown sugar

1+1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2/3 c. butter, melted

Mix this all together in medium bowl.  Set aside.

For Cake:

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

2 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 T. cinnamon

Mix the above ingredients in a large bowl in the order given.  Mix well.  Place half of this mixture in a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Top with half of cereal mixture.  Spoon remaining cake mixture over that. And top with remaining cereal mixture.  Sprinkle 1 cup white chocolate chips over crisp.  Bake 40-50 minutes at 350 F.

Frosting Filled Bugle Bites

After making Egg Nog Thumbprint Cookies this Christmas I knew I wanted to try that fabulous frosting in or on something else.  As I was shopping at Meijer a few weeks I ago, I came upon a lone bag of Caramel Bugles sitting up on a shelf where it didn't belong.  I tossed it in my cart and became excited realizing that General Mills makes a caramel flavored bugle.  Plain bugles are yummy, I can't imagine how good they must be covered in sweet caramel.  And then I got more excited at the thought of filling those bugles with the frosting! 

I dipped some in melted white chocolate and chopped pecans - but after tasting them I decided I liked just a simple drizzle of melted milk chocolate.  They are a little time consuming to make, but they are a fun and yummy little treat!

Frosting Filled Bugle Bites

1 bag Caramel Bugles

1/4 c. butter, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

1-2 T. rum (mine was coconut flavored)

milk chocolate chips, melted - to drizzle

Mix together butter, powdered sugar and rum until creamy.  Pipe frosting into bugles (I used a frosting bag and tip).  Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Candy Cane Coffee Cake

Happy New Year!  It feels like forever since I have been on the computer and updated my blog.  I hope you all had happy holidays.  Our family was so blessed to spend the weekend of Christmas all together at my parent's house.  Eighteen people under one roof, two nights in a row.  It was my best gift.

I had wanted to get this recipe posted BEFORE Christmas but it just didn't happen.  This coffee cake is something my mom has made for many years.  One recipe makes three coffee cakes so she'll make them and give them as gifts to friends and neighbors and she also saves a few for our family to enjoy on Christmas morning.  (She still makes one with raisins just for dad!)

 I have made these myself the past few years and hope to carry on the tradition. 

I love mixing the dough with my hands and rolling it all out

I also love decorating it and making it look "pretty"

Candy Cane Coffee Cake (Betty Crocker)

2 c. sour cream

2 pkgs active dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water (105 F to 115 F)

1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

1/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

6+ c. flour

Heat sour cream over low heat just until luke warm.  Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Stir in sour cream, 1/4c. butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 2 c. flour.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. 

Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth - about 10 min.  Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover; let rise in warm place until double - about an hour. 

Heat oven to 375 F.  Punch down dough; divide into 3 equal parts.  Roll each part into rectangle, 15x6 inches; place on greased baking sheet.  With scissors, make 2-inch cuts at 1/2-inch intervals on long sides of rectangles. 

For the filling, mix together 6 T. butter, softened, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 3 T. sugar, 1 1/2 t. cinnamon.  Spread 1/3 of mixture down center of dough.  Crisscorss strips over filling.  Stretch dough to 22 inches.  Curve to form candy cane.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Repeat steps twice with remaining 2 parts of dough.

For the icing, mix together 2-c. powdered sugar and 2-T. water.  Drizzle 1/3 mixture over each cane. 

*To decorate you can use red hots or red frosting and green frosting to make holly berries and leaves. 

Cardamom Stars

It is so hard to believe today is Christmas Eve.  My son is so excited...I am too!  We have our first of many family celebrations today.  Yay!  I hope you all have a very happy, healthy and blessed holiday season! 

Merry Christmas!

These cookies have been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember. 

I remember the first time I made them all by myself I felt like I had really accomplished something big.  The way some people feel when the cook a turkey for the first time (which I still have yet to do!)

Cardamom Stars

2+3/4 c. sifted flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. sour cream

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom onto waxed paper.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Stir in flour mixture, a third at a time alternately with sour cream.  Cover and chill several hours or overnight.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Using cookie cutter, cut into stars.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 F for 7 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely. 

Cover cookies with pink glaze (see below) and decorate with ornamental frosting (also below)

 Pink Glaze

Mix together 1 lb. powdered sugar and 6 T. water.  Stir until smooth.  Tint with red food coloring to make light pink.  If glaze stiffens add water a little at a time to make smooth again.

Dip the cookies into the glaze and let dry on cooling racks.  You could also use a spoon to glaze the cookies.  If the glaze is as smooth and runny as it should be it will drip from the cookies - you may want line the table or counter with wax paper under the cooling racks.

Can you see the way the drips fall into perfect pink little circles on the wax paper?  Its hard to keep little fingers away from them! 

Ornamental Frosting

Beat one egg white with 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/8 tsp. vanilla until foamy.  Slowly beat in 1+3/4 c. powdered sugar until frosting stands in firm peaks and is stiff enough to hold a sharp line.

Sweet Cashew Popcorn

I love getting together with my family.  When we are together we like to tell stories and play games - board games, word games, card games. We also like to eat snacks.  All kinds of snacks.  Some of our favorites are Jelly Bellys, M&Ms, popcorn, party mix, scotcharoos, chips - the list goes on and on.  I am so excited that my brother and his family will be coming in from Tennessee later tonight.  I can hardly wait for us to all sit around the table laughing, playing games and eating of course! 

Last week I whipped up a batch of this delicious popcorn/cashew mix.  It came from a recipe I have for a sweet cereal mix.  I wanted to see how popcorn and cashews would taste instead of Chex and Crispix cereal.    I chose to use my new favorite popcorn.  Popcorn Indiana's Kettle Corn.  It is so good.  I could not stop eating it.  I literally ate it until my tummy hurt.  But it was worth it.  This will definitely be a new addition to our snack table this year (if I don't eat it all first!)

Sweet Cashew Popcorn

1 - 10 oz bag popped popcorn

(I used Popcorn Indiana's Kettle Corn)

1 large can of cashews

1/4 lb. butter (not margarine)

1/2 lb. brown sugar

1/4 c. lite Karo syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Dump popcorn and cashews into a brown paper sack (spray inside of sack with Pam first)

Mix butter brown sugar and Karo syrup in small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour syrup over popcorn in sack and SHAKE!  Microwave on high 90 seconds.  SHAKE!  Repeat.  Spread out on cookie sheets or wax paper to cool.  Break apart any big clump as it cools.  Store in airtight container.